Turning Dreams into Reality with Chuck Drews

There’s a strong chance you’re not that far off from winning in business and at the game of life. It just takes one idea, but you gotta have unwavering belief and burning desire. If you can couple that with a lockdown strategy that’s fueled by heart, hustle and muscle, you got a shot at winning. There’s one thing that all champions have in common.

They get shit done. So welcome to the get shit done experience. Well, well, well, we’re back at it again. You’re in studio. This is the Get Shit Done Experience, also known as the GS Dx podcast. You can find us@www.gs dx podcast.com. We’re rolling. Thank you to all those that have subscribed and you’ve, uh, sent notes out to friends and family to, to kind of chime in and participate in this amazing journey that we’re on.

We’re having a blast. We’re bringing on some fantastic guests and we’ve got one of them on here today. You want to talk about a serial entrepreneur? We’re talking about somebody who started in 2001, uh, as an industrial engineer, me mainly dealing in plastics, got together with some partners and started a company called fast pro.

And now has another business called AccuPro. He’s been part of several businesses, but we’re going to. Show you a little bit about what he’s done, but really today we want to dig into the man and that man is Mr. Chuck Drews. How are you, sir? Thank you. Do it good. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. We, uh, we are very, very thankful that you came in studio here today.

Uh, so I always like to understand what in the world makes a person decide to take all the risk. To cash it all in to say, Hey, look, I’m going to go out on my own. Even though you had partners, you’re still taking a massive risk. I mean, you’re cashing in 401ks. You’re putting the second mortgage down, scrapping together every dollar that you can to launch this thing.

Cause you got to have the working capital, get it going. That’s right. Where does, where does that come from? Like, where does that self belief, you have to have

massive self belief. I do. And well, first I want to say. I’m popping my cherry here on this podcast. I really don’t know much about it. Thank, thank you very much.

I thought a podcast was something you put on when you break a bone. And then that’s just a first support. Now I got it. Yeah. Uh, but to answer your question. So my, my grandfather, my dad’s dad and my dad, they’ve been entrepreneurs. Okay. So I grew up in that environment and I always knew I was going to follow in their footsteps some way.

So I worked with my dad. Uh, when I was in college and in high school, he, uh, he, he did a lot of rental properties and manufactured homes and stuff like that. And I did, um, I did some things where I would do the gardening, cut lawns and do some maintenance for him in the summer. And then when I went to college, I said, okay, uh, I’m going to go into the business aspect.

I’m probably going to work with my dad in some aspects. And when I went to college, I took business classes and then they had a, uh, Uh, a career day and then I went to career day and they had this thing called industrial technology and it was a hands on type of a feature of what they offered in industrial engineering and they had these machines you could get you roll up your sleeves and check it out.

So I got into the plastics injection molding, which they were highlighting in this a career day. And I said, you know, I might want to get in this, uh, man. And I got to go tell my dad, I think I might go on to this engineering side, this economics and accounting. And these classes like this are not really doing it for me.

So when I went to him, I was kind of nervous. I’m like, Hey dad, this is what I’m going to do. I think I’m going to switch my major. He’s like, well, good for you. Congratulations. He goes, you know, you’re a man now. I’m not going to tell you what to do. He goes, that’s what I did. I worked with my dad in the sawdust business.

And there was one day he had a wallah moment and said, I’m going to go into real estate. And then that’s what he did. So then I went through college. Um, I got into, uh, the plastic, uh, technology engineering. I graduated, I got married right away. They had three kids right away. That’s what you do, right?

That’s what people did back then. They got, yeah. I said, okay, I’m, I’m 22. I know how everything works. Yeah, I got it all figured out. And then, uh, I went to work at some plastic companies and things of that nature. And then, um, I always knew I always kept my, my, my blinders open my door. I go, I don’t know how this entrepreneur job business I’m going to have.

I might be a hot dog. You can see it though. I knew it was going to come. And the main thing that I thought was, I didn’t know what form or shape I was going to just kind of let it come to come. And I go, well, I’m young. However it comes, it comes. It’s probably going to be in engineering or some, something of that nature.

So then through my career, I’ve, I, I, I job hopped a lot, you know, I was getting promotions and getting better things. And I remember after my fourth job in this injection molding company, my dad goes, listen, he goes, you don’t want to get a reputation for switching jobs and hopping around and things of that nature.

He goes, stay here for a little bit, you know, especially in the late eighties,

early nineties or nineties in general, it was about loyalty. Like how long have you been in an organization? And what’s changed now, interestingly enough, is like. Corporations are kind of like, why have you been there for eight years?

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world has changed, right? That’s that’s right. And it has changed. I just always wanted to better myself. Yeah. And I was just rolling with the punches, right? And then I had three kids and I was like worrying about them. And then I got my real estate license.

I was still in real estate on the side and really hustling. So then six months after this last job, I got right after my dad told me, you don’t want to be hopping around. Um, the, the, the administrative assistant who was part, uh, part of the engineering team, she comes up to me, she goes, Hey, Chuck, I play volleyball with this crew of people.

Uh, and there are by chance happened to be hiring someone who does what you do. You know, estimating and project engineering. And I said, listen, Marshall, thanks a lot. I go, I just started here six months ago. I go, I like you. I like everyone that’s here. She goes, well, I kind of told him about you and this and that.

I said, why did you do that? So Marsha became your agent. Don’t tell him about me in the back of my head. I hear my dad going don’t do it. Yeah. Yeah, not again So then I get a call a couple days later from this guy Mel. He goes listen Marsha told me about you. We do We’re a production metal stamping house.

We do gas production. I go, listen, I’m in plastics. I went to college for this, da, da, da, da. He goes, listen, just do dinner with me and visit with me. The way she described you would be someone we want in our company. Um, I says, no, I’m not interested. He kept calling me, calling me. Finally, he called me. I’m like, all right, I’ll meet you.

Where are you located? He’s only two miles from my house. Okay. So I go and visit with them. Showed me around and he made me an offer. I couldn’t refuse in the, in the opportunities as a career wise, going forward, we’re endless. So I said, Oh my God, here we go. Don’t tell dad, let’s do it. So then I did it. And that’s when I met my two partners who I’m with now.

So we were in mass production. Now it’s in the late 1990s now things in, in production and in manufacturing in the U S we’re going offshore to low cost regions, like in Asia. Yeah. Then this company got bought out. So the company I was working at, um, with my two partners, we started a prototype product development department within this mass production company.

And the reason we started that was the owner said, Hey, I need you guys to get together, figure out how to make prototype parts so we could get on the ground level with big companies.

So, so the big organization was doing prototypes short run. And long run production, just long run, just long run. This company was just, so the department was coming up with product ideas that could be long run manufactured

customers were like Motorola, Barry, Samsung, Sony.

There was a company called Nokia. If you remember, Qualcomm used to make phones. So they were the customers from mass production. So those customers would say too bad. We couldn’t make just a couple of samples and you could help us engineer it before we invest in all this, uh, Progressive dye and tooling and da, da, da, da.

So the three of us then came up with a way to do it. And we did quick turn then after a couple of years. Then things started going to low cost regions like Asia and Germany and Europe. Uh, then the company was sold. And then I said, okay, we got to get a new job. All three of us, my, my current company, uh, partners.

Now we were looking for a job. Then we were at lunch one time, kind of licking our wounds. What are we going to do? Uh, how many interviews were you on? I was on five and I’m happy with this guy at a stack of resumes this big, because everyone was getting laid off. So then, uh, We actually had a whole law moment.

I go, listen, I go, you know, what’s not going to go to China and all these low cost regions, you know, if anything, they’re going to rip off our ideas. We’re on the front end of ideas and product development and prototype. Why don’t we do what we’re doing in this department and make a company out of it? So then we got a lawyer and accountants and figured it out.

We refinanced our houses and. We rented a building in Elk Grove and then that’s how we canapulted ourself off. And

that’s FastPro. And that was FastPro. Alright. You know. So I’m gonna hold something up to the camera. Here’s my camera right here. If you could zoom in on that. Those of you that are listening to this on Apple or Spotify, if you’re on YouTube you’re seeing it, but if you’re listening on Apple or Spotify.

What I am holding up, if you remember the Razer phone, and you probably had a Razer phone, and if you’re like me, you probably had a girlfriend, now wife, who had the pink Razer phone, and if you remember what that keyboard looked like on their Fast Pro, Was at the forefront of design, engineering, and short run manufacturing of this through Motorola, right?

Through Motorola came to us. So I was knocking on doors. It’s amazing. With our old company, we had a non compete, right? Non disclosure. Yeah. So that was kind of a blessing in disguise. I’m like, man, I can’t even go to my old customers. But it made me hunt for new customers in new markets and new industries.

And Motorola was one of them. And this guy finally answered my call and he goes, listen, Chuck, he goes, I’m showing, I, we got this idea for this keypad, but everyone thinks we’re crazy because it’s to make that in mass production, it’s very hard to do. It’s a different type of process. It’s called chemical latching is how we do that.

Okay. Um, I said, Oh yeah, we know how to do it. We’ll, we’ll figure it out. I go back to my partners. They’re like, what did you just do? What are you doing? I go, listen. We refinanced our houses. We got six months to make this work. Yeah. My dad’s ready to kill me. He told me, okay, this is up to you. You’re going to be living back in our house.

If it doesn’t work with three more kids. Oh my God. So we figured out a way to make this part. So it took us a year to develop it. So it’s a phosphor bronze part. We went to a watch manufacturer. As you could see that part, you were holding up. It’s kind of a starburst off the navigate, uh, navigation key.

You see how it kind of, when the light hits it, it does that. So we can’t to make a long story short, over a couple of years, we came up with this design. They said, thank you very much. Can you make us some samples for, for photo ops and for commercial and for, and for billboards? We said, yeah. They said, okay, thank you for taking a chance on us.

Motorola said, you’re going to be an extension of our model shop. And I’m like, yeah, let’s go. We kind of did it. We kind of did it. So then I was, I was kind of happy and we were all celebrating one time, uh, with me and my friends and I was telling them about this to go check this out. I think this company is going to make it.

We came up with this idea and my guys, they’re giving me, uh, you know, they’re, they’re razzing me and they asked me, Oh, look at this big shot, this, this, and that. So then. It was a late night on a Friday. I wake up Saturday morning. I was up to like four in the morning on Friday, celebrating about this. I get a phone call and it’s a guy with a Chinese accent.

It’s like, Oh, Mr. Chuck, I need to talk to you. Uh, you make the razor phone for Motorola. And I thought it was my buddy. So I was playing with, I go, listen, I don’t have time for this, Dave. I got to go. Yeah. So that Monday I happened to be the one to open up the shop seven in the morning. I get to the, I get to the shop and we got a big doc door and there’s a car sitting in the driveway and then there’s two Chinese guys sitting in the front seat with cameras around their neck and McDonald’s rappers in the back seat.

I knock on their door and I go, can I help you? And they was like, Oh, are you Mr. Chuck? I said, God,

they were resilient. Huh?

I go, I didn’t even know it wasn’t. Yeah. I forgot about what, you know, I kind of forgot what was going on. Pickled. You hang up on us and I go, Oh, I go, yeah, I go. I thought you were from China.

We are when you hang up on us. My boss told me you get down to fast pro and you find out how they make these parts because what happened was Motorola went to a big contract manufacturer to have the first 50, 000 of these produced in seven different languages. These guys in China had a way that they thought they were going to make these and it was the wrong way.

And the tooling they made kept breaking and breaking. So were you able to sell them tooling as well? No, this is, it wasn’t about a tool. This is a chemical etching process where you kind of, it’s acids and masking and things of that nature. Because those details are so fine. They’re so fine. If you were to punch that with metal punches, they would break.

And that what was happening. So they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. So. Motorola had to get this to T Mobile in these languages. They were advertising it. They had to be there. So I said, listen, guys, I, I can’t let you in the shop, but since you came all this way, I’ll tell you the way you’re doing it is not the way to do it.

It’s a chemical latching process. And then they took off and they got back on the plane, went back to China. They weren’t even allowed to get a hotel room. Yeah. Then a big wig about three hours later, calls me from Motorola. He goes, listen, did you have some people come over and visit you? I said, Oh, I go, I’m sorry.

Send them back over. I’m thinking, Oh my God, they just told me I’m going to be an extension of their model shop. I said, I kicked these guys out. Oh my God. He goes, no, no, no, no, no, no. That’s their problem. He goes, can you make 50, 000 of those or 500, 000 in seven different languages? I go, yeah, well, yeah, we can figure it out.

And then once again, I went back to my partner’s going. Alright guys, here’s the deal. Chuck is the yes and guy. Yeah, we’ll figure it out later. And then, so that was kind of, and then we did it, we came up with a way to do it. We were sleeping in the shop and making it happen. And then this gave us some breathing rooms to pay off our loans, to be able to market ourselves, to buy other equipment.

Then nine 11 happened and that was kind of like, Oh my God. And a lot, and then things were going to China. A lot of businesses were going out of business. So then. Uh, it was good for us because we were then involved with a lot of auctions. So we’re buying equipment for pennies on the dollar to be able to start up our company and then move forward from there.

Okay. So where, where does this yes. And philosophy, because this is now in your story three times you, somebody asked you to do something you didn’t know how to do it. Let’s be honest. No, no. But you said yes, and then you figured it out. That is like the purest get shit done attitude that could possibly exist.

So where does that come from? Did, was that you as a kid, like, or did you, did you develop that? Or did you get so much knowledge that you just could bet on yourself like that?

Well, it, it, it, it, it ramped up because you know what, we started the business. I go, I like this being able to do things on my terms and make as much money as I can, but there’s a lot of risk.

Sure. Risk

upside.

No risk it, no biscuit. No, that’s the way it goes. And

if, and some people aren’t, are afraid of that. They don’t want to do it. But I had two great partners, one, one is Igor and Brett and some other guys. So these guys, you know, can really bring it on and can really make it happen. And the three of us together can really make it happen.

In fact, thinking of make shit happen. Our motto, my motto is make it happen. I love it. Employees. I got it everywhere in the shop, make it happen. Period.

There we go. Right back to it again, folks. If you’re an entrepreneur, you own a small business, you need to have your core values visible. First off, you have to establish core values.

Then you have to make them visible. You can’t expect your employees to carry out your core values if they don’t know what they are and they can’t see them so that it becomes conscious and subconscious and they’re living them out on a daily basis. That’s how you create that energy, right? It

is. In a company, a lot of people kind of do what we do.

A lot of people do, there’s a lot of companies that do certain things in manufacturing and certain other things. But every company is like a family. Every company has a culture and a personality.

Yeah.

Our culture was make it happen. Yeah, and we’re a small company. You

hired people that had that philosophy.

You got it But you don’t know until they start working for you, right? So you hired some people they interview good The resume looks awesome. And then some people look oh, it’s five o’clock. I gotta go Oh, I go. Well, these people haven’t paid us. Can you ask them for money? Well, I thought i’m just uh, i’m Well, we’re not that so then it’s like you’ll realize these people in fact I had a At the old company that we, all three of us met, there was a girl I hired and she was awesome.

And I always thought when we get big, I’m going to hire her back with, with us when we can, when we’re able to afford her, when we get to that. So like 10 years later, after we’re in the business, I reached out to her and I said, Hey, um, Hey Susie, you think you want to come? Oh, I love you, Chuck. I would love to come and work for you.

So when she came to work with us, she was working for the old company who became huge in corporate so much. That she changed her personality. Really? It was eight, 12, one, five. And I was like, oh my God, I felt so bad because I kind of took her out of there. And from what I remember her from 10 years ago was different.

She didn’t fit the culture. She had been

indoctrinated into the corporate USA, you know, get here on time, leave on time, go to lunch at this time. That’s

not my job description. Yeah. You know, we don’t have, oh, I don’t do that. I don’t do that. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, I never did that before. Yeah. And it kind of got in the way with us being successful and unfortunate, you know, I kind of told her, Hey, this is the way we do things, you know, and she changed and I changed and we came back 10 years later and it was different.

So it’s very important. You have people that fit your personality. They may check all the boxes on the resume and with all their experiences, but, um, you gotta have the personality and the culture that makes you successful. And people have got to be that way. You know, we don’t say, Hey, work nine to five, you got a job to do, get it done.

If you want to take a couple days off, yeah, you could still get that job done, get it done. So

you work on deadlines, just get the thing done,

work on deadlines. The name Fastpro, right? Yeah. They’re supposed to be a T in it. But at the time when we were, uh, thinking about the company name, it, there was already a Fastpro with a T in it.

Yeah. For a website. Right? So you’re like, well, FASTPRO fa, it’s faster to say

there’s

one

less letter. It’s one less letter.

People think I’m saying Bass Pro .

They dunno what the hell I’m saying. Your hats aren’t as aren’t selling as well as the fast pros are.

No, no. So it’s, but the fast pro is fast prototype, fast production.

So that’s what separates us from a lot of people can do stuff like this, but our customer service, we answer the phone. Um, we get quotes out within 24 hours. We get product out within five days and we charge a premium for that. And we can. Because no one does it like

that. I’m hearing more and more the differentiator for businesses is the personal touch.

It is. It’s amazing. Um, I have this philosophy that I think I’ve seen enough to think that it actually is, is, is true. You know, when folks zig, you should zag. Right. And I think that so many companies have gone to this system. This is the way this is our approach. And, um, the companies that have really installed this technology driven focus, they tend to lose their personal touch, their human experience, that customer service, one on one connection, the brand community type thing.

They lose that for. Um, How much can we make? How much can we do? Right? Yeah. And they lose that personal touch. And the more I talked to CEOs and founders like you who held true to that core value that they started the business with, it’s we’re going to run through walls for you. What’s the difference? The price is going to be similar.

The technology might be similar. A lot of people could do this, but the difference is we’re going to run through walls for you. We’re going to answer the phone when you call. It’s going to be done with a personal

touch and we’re going to be, it’s competitive. We’re going to be faster. We’re going to be more responsive.

And like I said, but we’re a little bit more expensive than the average guy. Can you pay for what you get to, but you pay with what you get. And it, and we take problems off of our customers because we’re dealing with engineers who are dealing with big projects and the little, the little select space that we’re doing stuff for them.

It’s like less of a hassle. Yeah, you’re taking plates off the table. Yeah. And they’re like, okay, we’ll pay the extra because Chuck’s got this. I just throw it over the fence and it’ll show up here next.

It’s like hiring the best employee they could ever hire. Right. They just, it is, you know, it’s going to get done.

So what’s the collaboration process look like with Brett and Igor?

Like as far as what’s like the, yeah, I mean,

you know, partnerships, especially, uh, 50, 50 partnerships tend to struggle because nobody ever is really the decision maker. So it becomes hard, right? 33, 33, 33 might even become more difficult because now you got a two verse one scenario that could potentially happen.

That’s true. You’re not playing man to man coverage. You’re playing zone defense, right? It becomes a little different. So for companies to succeed with multiple partners like that, there’s got to be a way that you guys play nice together that you collaborate really well together. What is that process?

Like, have you fallen into your categories where you know, hey, that’s a Chuck has that like if he says that’s the way we all kind of go, yeah, that’s the way and then. And then Igor’s got his thing, right? That’s right. How does that work? What’s the collaboration process like? And that’s a great

question.

Because when we started the company, or we were thinking about it, you heard all these horror stories. Oh, I started a company with my brother in law, my best friend, and we don’t talk anymore. I’m like, oh my God. So we started off as a working relationship at the old company we worked at, and we became friends.

So like I said, when we started the company, I said, why don’t we do what we’re doing in this department where we weren’t tripping or walking over each other. We depended on each other. You were in your system. We were in our system and we just transferred that system over and we all hit, we overlap, but we also have our own unique.

Like the Olympic rings, like exactly, that’s exactly what I picture when you say that. So it’s like the Olympic rings and thank God there’s days we don’t see each other. We’re just doing our things. We trust in each other. We know we’re going to get each other done. And then at the end of the day, it’s like a funnel and then everything just comes streams out.

So we were blessed to work with, with each other, but it’s very important that. And no, one’s got these egos or this, this, and that. And, and we know our roles and I’m more of, I got a personality. I’m an engineer. So I could walk the walk, talk to talk Igor, who is brilliant. You know, he could build a space shuttle or an atomic bomb and he gets stuff out.

So that’s why, like when, when we got that razor phone, I’m like, yeah, we could do it. And I’m like, Igor. I can’t do it, but he can, and then we kind of got excited about it. And we just kind of know our, and it just morphed into evolved into that. Thank God. Igor is like

the Kraken

bring in the Kraken. He’s got it.

And then Brett is like, he’s got a photographic memory. Okay. He’s like a project guy and he’s good with dealing with vendors and people and project people. So it’s just, we’re blessed that we were brought together. And it’s amazing. Yeah. And, and then how it just morphed into we’re here. We are 30 years later doing this thing.

So

when it’s the three of you,

pre employee hire one, right. It’s the three of you, it’s probably a little bit easier at that point to know who fills what gap, because you had worked together and it’s almost like you don’t even have to speak it. You just kind of know, you just like, Oh, you’re the shortstop.

No doubt. You play center of definitely you’re pitching, right? You just kind of know that. That’s a good way to put it. But then you start hiring people and people have a tendency to know how to play people. So they know how to, if mom says no, I go ask dad. Yeah. Right. So how does that change? You start hiring people.

How does it change now the management style? Because what you’re talking about is more of a, The technical part, like the tech now, technicalities of what you do. This, this type of product is probably going to go to Chuck. This type of design feature is probably going to go to Igor. But now we’re talking about management of people.

How did, how do you get that message across that you come to me for this, but you go to Igor for that and you go to Brett for this, like, how do you start to define that? So the employees. Understand what the dichotomy of the relationship is.

And it’s so like, for me, like engineering and on the sales side and customer service, it kind of was like, okay, I’m going to.

Get those kind of people. Yeah. I wanna hire those people. And of course they’re gonna interview with everybody else.

Mm-Hmm. .

Um, and we’re hands on. And like we said, we don’t have, uh, we, we, we don’t have a, a description of your role or a lot of people are like, Hey, well what do I do on a daily basis? I want it all.

Mm-Hmm. . I go, well, we don’t have that. Well, that’s, so you’re hiring people you want to be, so we’re hiring people, entrepreneurs, we don’t even actually know how they’re gonna fit. Yeah. Number one was the personality and the culture, and after hiring a few people, I got to the point, we got to the point, where we would rather train people, I’d rather teach a new dog new tricks, than an old dog and new tricks.

Cause you gotta unravel what they were taught. You gotta unravel what they taught, and hopefully they weren’t taught too much. If you have a brain and you could learn and have a willingness to learn. And I always tell the people, I go, don’t look at this like you’re working for me. I go, look at this like your own business.

I don’t know where this company is going. I don’t know how big it’s going to get. I don’t know what type of manager or what type of position you’ll have in the future. It’ll be big if you succeed. If you see areas you could fill in, go ahead. So I wanted people who kind of had an entrepreneur. Spirit. Yeah.

And I really didn’t know what we kind of, we kind of knew the roles, but we didn’t know how it would mesh together. The

roles aren’t, aren’t like stingent defined. It’s you kind of got more like, yeah, they got more as you, as you grow. So, uh, here’s the question. Do you believe more in a culture fit or a culture ad?

Um,

culture fit, I would say. Okay. Why? Um, you mean like as far as the employees getting in the culture? We, I think that’s the hardest part. I mean, it’s, it’s like your personality or, you know, your hobbies and stuff. That, that’s what it is. If you, you know, if you don’t like golfing and I do, I’m not going to teach you to like it.

You got to fit this personality, this culture. And it’s easier for me or us to shape you with your skills and responsibilities and all that stuff. If you have a willingness to look, you have to be willing to learn, not just to collect a paycheck.

See, I, I’ll push back just a smidge on that because I see the benefit in both.

But what I found was when you’re trying to build a team, right? You’re trying to build people that, uh, you’re trying to build a team of people that can cover all angles. And sometimes when you, when you hire a fit, Strictly a fit. They, they do have a tendency to do what you said that you didn’t like, which was to kind of just fill that, like, well, I don’t do that part.

Yeah. Yeah. Right. And we can

see that.

And so, um, there’s this fine line between a fit and an ad that I keep going back internally, I keep going back and forth with, do I want to fit? Or do I want to add, I think that I’ve said both on podcasts before. I always say you want to, it is

both, but I think it is both took it as.

If I had to pick one over the other, one that weighed more than the other. Yeah.

And I think I’m, I think that for me, it’s like, it’s like the balance. I think it keeps shifting for me. I love the idea of an ad because I want people to come in here that bring their own attributes that could bring something unique and different to the organization that we don’t have for sure.

But I also like the idea of in a specialized market, when you’re hiring somebody, you’re hiring because you probably need that thing. So if there’s a way to get them technically to fit, but from a personality standpoint and additional attributes to be an ad, like they bring something fresh and new and creative that we don’t have currently in the building.

I think that that’s like the ultimate. Oh, it

is, but you don’t know that until over time. Right? No, that ad part morphs itself. So maybe I’m thinking, maybe you do

hire a fit. Maybe you do hire a fit and then you, you try and bring out the ad.

Well, like I, that story I told you earlier with the girl who used to work for me, you know, that was an ad, but then she changed and I kind of changed my ways and then it didn’t fit, you know what I’m saying?

So I said, okay. Cause we, we were trying to add thing. I never thought of it that way. But when you articulate it that way, I’m thinking, okay, we’re adding things. So then I said, okay, let’s, let’s do the fit thing. I didn’t consciously say it, but I think that’s what I was saying.

It’s an interesting concept because I think there’s merit for both angles.

No, you, well, eventually you need, yeah, you need

both. Yeah, you need both. But when I, when I’m going to interview you and then I got to make a decision in a week, um, you’re going fit first. Yeah. Fit. Then hopefully the ad comes in and then the ad could surprise you, right? There’s people that, that are working for us.

I’m like, wow, look at that talent. He’s like, what talent they go. I didn’t know you could do stuff like that, or you could talk like that. Or, Hey, maybe you could help us make some marketing materials or. Maybe, you know, I need someone at a trade show that could be my, I can’t handle all you and you’re coming with me to the trade show.

You get, you go to a good way to communicate people like you, um, you know, so then the ad just morphs and that’s how we get, you know, So the ad,

the ad would be for anyone who’s listening, who’s an employee at an employee level. The ad is your, is your way to career path. Cause if you can show you could do more, that makes you more valuable and potentially you invent your next role.

That’s it. Some people don’t even know what they could add. Yeah. Some people don’t know their potential. And that’s the thing as a, as a manager, as a boss, as an owner, you have to let people, you got to have guardrails, pretty nice, big ones and let them, It’s kind of playing between a play and, and, and, and not let, not micromanage, not let them look over your shoulder.

And when they come and talk to you, you gotta be, you know, you’re, you’re loyal to them. Like when, when I’m with my employees, like no one knows I’m the owner of the company. Now it’s probably going to be exposed after being on here, but you know, when I meet with customers, most of them don’t know I’m an engineer, I’m a sales guy.

Oh, Chuck, you know, your price is a little high. You think you’re like, Oh, geez. I’m going to talk to my boss. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that’s. You go look at

the mirror.

Yeah. Chuck,

can I do better?

Chuck? Yes, you can. You know, and that’s, it’s just a nice way. And it. And it sometimes intimidates people. And my employees, when I’m, when I, when I’m with them or I’m, I’m visiting customers out of town, like I’m going to Germany Saturday, we’ve got a big trade show.

We’re going to bring in some employees. These people work with me. I don’t introduce myself. Hey, I’m the boss. These guys, we work together. We’re on the same level. Yeah,

that’s all. That’s the way I treat people. Yeah. That’s great. You know, so you, you sold me, I’m, I, I’m going to change my perspective on it because I, I had been a culture ad, but I think the, the way you just said it makes a ton of sense.

You don’t know that they’re an ad until you get them in the role. And then once you see they can be an ad, then it’s up to you as a manager to bring that out of them. Like a parent, yeah,

you know,

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Archer them, but you always got to keep. Like to start a business.

You could say, okay, I went to school for plastics. I’m going to be in plastics. I’m going to my, I’m when I own a business, it’s going to be in plastics. Here I am. And if you would have told me 30 years ago, I’d be sitting here, talk to you about this, I’d be like, you’re nuts, but I always kept my options open.

And I do the same thing with the people I work with, the people who work for me. Is let’s just see where this goes. You know, let’s, let’s take the reins off. No expectations, just no expectations. Yeah. You know, you got your guidelines and what your responsibilities and your accountability. Um, and then let’s see where it goes from there.

And then you could be surprised and people surprised themselves. Sometimes people are like, man, Chuck, you really brought the best. I’ve had people tell me that. Um, and, and it’s a compliment and I’m like, wow, I’m glad. I’m not just, are we making money? We’re making each other better people.

Yeah,

you know, now you had

mentioned your father, your grandfather, you clearly have a great relationship with their business partners.

Um, who’s been maybe outside of that circle? Who’s been tremendously impactful in your growth and your maturation process? A mentor, somebody could be a baseball coach or a football coach in high school, somebody that, that, you know, If you look back, you go, man, a lot of the way I do things, I probably got from my time with that person.

Well, my

dad is number

one. I know you want to go up, but that’s

definitely what made me feel, you know, because when I was with him, I knew nothing else than how he did. So I said, he owns a business. We’re going to own a business. That’s the way it’s going to go. So. Sometimes being ignorant of not having, you know, what you don’t know, you don’t know, you know, but I would say probably the owner of the company we all came from the way he managed because he let me be me.

The other companies I worked for, I always felt like I was being watched, being judged, or if I had an idea, I would be cut off short. This guy was awesome. He would be like, Chuck, what do you think? And I’m like, I don’t think he really What a, what a powerful question.

What a powerful question to ask an employee.

What do you think? It was awesome. It’s such an easy thing, but you just gave permission to, for them to be creative, for them to showcase their knowledge. It’s a great question.

It wasn’t. I can remember the first time he told me in his office and I was estimating a big job and he goes, okay, you, you know, this customer you’ve estimated a few goes, do you think that price is good?

You want to know what I think? You want to know what I think? Okay. Here’s my opinion. And he’s like, all right, let’s take that in consideration. And I go, wow, that felt good. Yeah. You skipped out of there. Like hell yeah. Well, and then I, and then. He relied on me more and my ideas came through and he, and like you said, Hey, I need you guys to start a prototype and a department and figure out how to wait.

He goes, figure it out. Here’s your budget. So he just empowered you. It empowered me. I didn’t feel restrained or like I was in a straitjacket like the other companies, but you just thought that’s the way it is.

Yeah.

So, uh, I would say him is

So you take that with you now in what

you’re doing? I do. You know, I never really thought about it until you asked me, but it’s always in the back of my mind.

Yeah. And I said, I’m gonna treat people like this guy treated me. And then I would dive on a grenade for him in the foxhole. I love it. the people are with us.

So, as it relates to the business, And, and to our listeners, something that we could learn from you, like, what is your best, uh, business attribute?

What are you awesome at? And you know, you’re awesome at it. So don’t be humble and tell me that. I don’t know. Like, you know, there’s a part of the business where you’re just absolutely, that’s your thing. Nobody steps on your toes on this thing. You’re the final, the final say, what are you awesome at? Oh, there’s a lot of things, John.

Oh, no, I’m just kidding. I love it. Um, I would say, My, my personality, my communication and my technical, uh, skills that accompany that, you know, normally you don’t see all that. And people’s, I, I, people’s trust in me and their loyalty to me. I mean, I really, really people I’m in fact, sometimes I’m shocked where people are like, all right, if you think we should do it that way, let’s do it.

And I’m like, okay, I’m not even half sure, but I guess so. So I would, I would just say my personality and, and, and comfortability with people, people have a very calm, um, uh, just, uh, comfortability.

Yeah. You haven’t make sense. You have an energy about you. I mean, when, when I walked up to meet you in the lobby, there, there’s some people that just kind of radiate personality.

I could just tell right away.

Well, people used to tell me that, like when we started the company, I wanted to be an engineer and design and do it behind the scenes. And people, and, you know, my two partners now and other people like, man, you got to be out front, man. He goes, look at people are gravitating to you.

I know that we started doing trade show years ago, before the company, it’s like, look, there’s a, there’s a line of people there. He goes, people seem to be, be, be, be, be, you know, coming towards you, attracted to you just because of the way your personality is. And I tell them the truth and I kind of have the technical abilities to go along with it.

Yeah.

So that’s what I think it is. It’s not, you know, there’s nothing.

It’s no, it’s it. But by the way,

it’s a God given, it’s a

God given thing. And when God gives you something, you better use it. You were meant to use it.

Well, and I, I didn’t think I was, I didn’t think I had that. You know, when you’re born with this, you know, if you’re a great golfer, you become a golf pro.

It’s like, wow, this is easy for me on this. But this was just like, really? I go talking to people. Yeah. You guys having trouble with this? Shocking. How

many people do though? It is, and

can communicate and then also give a trustworthy, you know, personality.

And being, being somebody who’s trained on the technical side, it makes it very easy for you to come across as natural as an advisor, because you’re not selling.

You’re just talking your expertise, solving problems. That’s it. And

I’ll tell people, you go, you know what? This price point ain’t working for you. This isn’t that I’ve recommended people to our competitors and said, you know what, these guys are kind of better for you. Yeah. I go, we’re a little bit too much for you or, Oh, you want this?

You know what? As much as I want your business, you know, this, you should go that route because trying to help people. Yeah. You know, and I get as excited when I get a purchase order now is when I did the first one we ever got, you know, and it’s about people. And when we solve a problem for people and they send me an email saying thank you very much or any of our employees, I go, that’s what I like.

Yeah,

that’s it. The cool thing is when you are capable of developing business and building relationships and partnerships, you can do that. You can, you know, if you’re grasping at straws to get your next sale, it’s tough to go, Hey, they’d be better for you. But when you, when you’ve got a business that is beyond solvent is, is growing and sustaining, and you’re bringing in great partnerships that are lasting and you’re doing such great work for them that they’re probably referring other people to come work with you.

At that point, it makes it, um, uh, much easier for you to hold to that line of, Hey, look, we’re not right for you. And to be very selective as to who you take on, so you can maintain that level of satisfaction.

And it has, and it’s maybe for that certain project we’re not right, but that person’s like, wow, this guy steered me in the right direction.

So they come back. Guess what, I get more business. Or they go to a different company. Yeah. Hey, remember me? And I kind of, I don’t remember everybody, but I’m like, well, not really. He goes, oh, you, I worked here and there, and we worked on this project you recommended. Hey, I, you know, you always made an impression on me.

I want to come back and you haven’t. And that’s where I kind of started. You know, there’s that other company Acupro, you know, this is my baby, but Acupro started where I saw opportunity where like after, after nine 11 things, things became tightened up and, and. And the way business was done kind of changed where like buyers and engineers were handling projects before they were just saying, okay, you buy plastic, you buy metal.

It was that conveyor belt

process. Now they’re having to do it all.

Now. Yeah. We got to tighten the belt. You gotta be, you know, you gotta have more variety in what you do. So I was noticing, man, people have projects and in the Chicagoland area where we are, like Elk Grove, um, Bensonville. We have such a huge concentration of mom and pop shops.

Oh my gosh. We could do anything here. Yeah. Because in the beginning I used to go to companies like in, in, in California, Silicon Valley, and this and that in Florida, there’s a lot of, uh, avionics, aerospace, government defense, all well named companies that I’m, I can’t believe I’m doing business, but I am.

And I would say, why the hell are they coming to Chuck? And I like to the heights. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Don’t they? Cause anything I want done here, you know what I’m talking about?

But I mean, those of you that are out of state listening to this, you literally could drive to Elk Grove. You could take a right on a street and drive down it and probably cover about 19 things that you need for your business.

You can build a car. I mean, like there is so much industry in, in Bentonville, uh, so many shops. Oh my gosh. It’s unbelievable.

And then, so, so as. Things changed in the early 2000s where we were handling projects. We just didn’t become a metal fabricator in engineering and design. I said, let’s stop all these people’s problems.

We got all these, these, these network of people that we’ve developed relationships with over the years. We know where to go. Um, and that’s where the Acupro comes. Now I kind of put that end of the business. I handle projects. People are like, Hey, I want to build this thing. I want to make this thing. And then over the years, design.

Different, you know, maybe they wanted painted and powder coated and welded and, and hardware inserted, and they want plastics, which I know, I know all these people, but I know how to trust them and I know how to work with them. So people are like, they just dump a project on me.

Yeah.

Fastbro is more metal fabricating.

Yeah. Some other, you know, your land design. So I incorporate them. And then with the Acupro side of the business, I handle the projects and I could solve problems for these people because of the relationship. I built with my vendors and other people in this area. And I’m, you know, we’re only a couple of miles away from visiting them.

Yeah, that’s awesome. So what is, um, what is the, the vision for AccuPro? I know you, I know that fast pros, the collective group, AccuPro is your personal, uh, organization, 100 percent owner of that. What’s the vision for that?

That is, you know, I’m just, I’m just handling these projects. And is it, but is it letting me be more like at fast pro, you know, I kind of.

Spreading my wings a little bit now. I’m still heavily involved, but there’s these projects. I wanted I wanted to are they more creative projects kind of more creative, but they involve people and coordinating people. And I think that you like that. I like people. Yeah. And in watching this. But P other P other people with expertise that if they don’t work or they can’t, you know, make this happen, then this project is going to go down.

So for me to be the coordinator, the maestro, and to bring this all together and the, all these people that I network with on the same. You know, like I said earlier, there’s a lot of companies that do what you do. There’s a lot of companies and vendors you deal with that do what you do, but they got to be fast.

They got to be customer orientated. So I’ve assembled these people and they’re kind of hard to find. If you don’t know where to find. And, and, and companies and I call them up, we call each other anytime, you know, we call on Saturdays and Sundays and this and that I got a hot job, this and that. And, you know, some people I call it Saturday.

What are you calling it for? I said, but there’s people I said, well, screw you. I’m going to go with this guy. Yeah. Because he

answered

and he wants to make things happen. So now I got suppliers and vendors make it happen, make it better on the same culture and personality as my employees are. So this AccuPro lets me get the creative side or spreading.

You kind of do light up a little

bit when you talk about it.

I do. Yeah. It’s exciting. You know, it’s good. Well, you know, half of me goes, I can’t wait till I retire. And then the other half goes, what the, what the hell am I going to do?

Yeah. Yeah. What hobbies do you have, Chuck? What hobbies are we doing?

One way.

Oh, I like fishing. I’m a fisherman. Okay. That’s my get away from it. Cause a hobby has to, you have to be able to get away from it. Yeah. You have to be able to absorb in yourself and think about other things and strategize. And, and, and that’s what I kind of do. People are, I know people cause you don’t golf, you don’t golf.

You know, I, I have two metal hips. I have two hip replacements, but I still can’t, but, but so funny story, the reason for golf, since we brought it up, you got a second. I do. We got plenty of seconds, Chuck. We are in a show, baby. So my first job out of college was at this plastic company. I was a little cocky.

Okay. Because when you leave college, you go, Yeah, the world is mine. I got a degree.

Yeah, world is mine, baby. Who

wants to hire me? You know, but you don’t, you know, that just gets your foot in the door in college. And I tell my kids that. Then you gotta do

stuff.

Yeah, that’s, now, now if I were to get a new job, I wouldn’t even show them where I went to college.

It’s about what I, what have I done lately. Getting the job is one thing. Doing the job is in the experience. So I started with this job. So when I was in college, I had a, a, uh, internship with Wilson sporting goods. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the plastic sites, it was really kick ass over there. So I was working with the golf, the golf ball department and the, uh, and the tennis rackets.

And the shoes. So we would on part of my thing was we were to, so a golf ball, you know, it has dimple and it has different chemistries and recipes to make a golf ball. The core of it. There’s the core and then there’s the outside, the skin. So the skin is the most important part. So there’s all these millions and millions different type of combination, but PGA says what all these combinations, you got to stay within these boundaries.

Otherwise

it’s not ready. If you

use too much rubber or too much neoprene,

you can

make that ball fly. Yeah.

So it’s got to compress the right amount. It’s

got to compress and you can only use a little certain amounts of these different types of chemistry that go into it. So there’s so many different combinations.

You’ll never do them all. So part of my internship was to get the core and then mold the outside with the engineer wanting us to mold. And we would mold all these different kinds. And I would mold God when they weren’t talking, we would, we would take golf balls that would go 600 yards. Oh yeah. So they had this like windmill over.

I got a tournament coming up. You know, I wish I did. I gave them all away. We made tennis rackets that would, would take a tennis ball and go 150 miles an hour if you string it right. And it was all out of Kevlar in the head, but you all had to stay within these. So anyway, uh, so they had a company store and then they, I said, and you could buy things for pennies on the dollar.

So I didn’t go off. I go Monday, I’ll go off. I bought a golf. Sam’s need golf bag and golf clubs for like eight bucks. I had him in my car for a couple of years. So then I fast forward, um, I started this new company. It’s almost good Friday. So every year he has, uh, the owners of RCA. You remember the TV RCA?

Yeah. Yeah. They’re from Japan. They would come, they were the biggest customer. They would come in every year to do golfing on good Friday. So the, I, I was just there for a few months. The owner comes to me, you know, big strapping man. He’s like, Hey, he goes, do you golf? And I’m like, I think of how hard it is.

Yes. And yeah. So my manager who was really cool, Mike, he’s, he’s looking at me like, I didn’t know he golfed. So he goes, I need you good Friday. He goes, they’re coming in and there’s a tournament. It’s a whole day thing. Then we go to the club and we do this, this, this, and that. And I said, okay, I got these nice shiny golf clubs.

I’m thinking to myself, yeah, I’ll go to the golf range, figure it out. So my boss goes, you go off. I’m like, well, I worked at Wilson sporting goods. I mean, that qualifies me. I’m like, so. I go, yeah, I golf, Chuck,

Sam is not going to swing the club for you.

I did. Yeah. No, I, now I know that, but that’s why I don’t go off now because I got PTSD.

So what I did, I went to the golf club, right out of practice and golfing and golfing and golfing and you know, I got three kids, I’m on a limited budget. So he goes, make sure you get some golf balls. I go to the golf store by God, big, these title is golf ball and never, I don’t want to 12 bucks. I don’t know what they cost.

Ballatas at that point, you probably get in the ballatas. You, if you bladed the thing and put a smiley face in it, remember those golf balls, the real soft ones,

God, if they could bring those back, they were awesome. That would have been perfect for me, but these, these balls were so expensive. So I said, you know what?

I ain’t buying, this is too expensive. I went back to the range. I was practicing on the range. I had a few days to practice. So I went into the range basket and I picked out the cleanest balls and I threw them in my bag. So here it is. Good Friday. Oh my God. Your boss. We go to the terrified. We go to the golf range or the golf club.

I don’t have golf shoes or anything. I wear my Michael Jordan. So we pull up. These guys get out of limo. Oh yeah. They got the knickers on deck to the plan. Oh yeah. Hat

just like pain Stewart.

Now my heart’s going.

Yeah.

They go, man, I got the wrong fit on. I’m thinking, I don’t want to show these guys up.

They’re all serious. I was, I was awesome at the range. And the boss looks at me and the owner goes, you golf, right? I go, yeah, yeah. I’m thinking I nailed it at the range. So we go to the tee. He goes, all right. Age before beauty. I was a young guy at the time. He goes, all right. A tee off. I teed off. It was a great hit.

No kidding. All right. It’s pretty good. Under pressure. Yes. So then as we’re walking, I don’t know any of the rules and it was raining that day. So I go to my ball the next time. Right. He goes, okay, it’s your turn again. Right. So I take a tee out of my, Oh my God, I put the T down and I’m kind of looking at all these clubs going.

It’s fun. Which looks a nightmare. They’re leaning on their golf clubs going. So that then the owner goes, you ain’t going to hit that ball. Are you? I go. Oh, yeah. He goes, there’s a red stripe on that ball. It’s from a range. And I’m thinking, how do you know it’s from a range? He goes, because there’s a red stripe on it.

I thought you golfed. He goes, don’t kick me out of this. He goes, you don’t have balls. I go, it’s, I’ll go. Yeah, I got 50 of them. I got a bucket. He goes, you can’t hit those. And he goes, what’s it doing on the tee? Yeah. I go, don’t use it for everything but putting. He goes, no. You go, he goes, get it off the tee.

And then it went downhill from there.

Oh, he went downhill from there. Well,

then I, I never hit a ball off the grass. I was always hitting it off

to the

rain. Yeah. I thought this and they had

the little rubber team. You figured you just put it on that. Every time I had a

million teas, he gives me a, A thing of balls.

I lose all the balls. Uh, there were bets going on. I lost all this money. I was, Oh, they were loving you while I was sweating. Oh, I’m sure. Cause this was competitive and I didn’t in best ball or whatever. I still don’t know what the hell I was doing. So the owner goes, we finally get done. I lost all my balls.

I think my score was 200 and something. And, uh, We get back to the club and my, my manager and I go, let’s do it. You’re fired because this is a big deal for him. This is our biggest customer. He goes, I thought you golf pissed off. So they’re all changing in the locker room. I didn’t change. I wore them the same clothes I wore.

Yeah. So. I go to the bar and the Japanese guys come, you know, walking out and they’re laughing. Oh God, they probably loved you. Oh, they loved you. Chuck, you’re funny, man. You shoot 200. You get your money’s worth, Chuck. You got your money’s worth. How you feel? We buy you a drink. Oh, they loved

you. They loved me.

Yeah, because you were you. You were just you. I was me. Then the owner was like, oh my God, Chuck’s the savior. They like him. Yeah.

Because you’re so lucky you got this job.

You’re so lucky. That is just an amazing story. But the last

three hours of the golf game or whatever it is, I got so fired up. But anyway, Psycho, that’s it.

No more golf. I’m fishing.

Yeah, fishing is probably the better. You still wear the Jordans to fish? No, I don’t do that. They wore them.

After a while. I wish I saved them. Yeah. I’m surprised

Nike hasn’t come out with the Jordan fishing shoe yet. They’ve got everything else. I

got to pitch that

though. All right.

So amazing story. I don’t know how to segue from that, but let’s segue this way. So everyone that we’ve had on the show has a way. I think your way is probably just to be a super infectious, energized communicator. Uh, but you probably have a way of a style of getting shit done. If you could, in so many words, explain like the way that you look at a problem.

And how you get to a solution. Is there a way that you specifically attack, and it could be, Hey, we’re going to bag up leaves for the fall. It, you know, it doesn’t matter what the thing is. If you do it one way for one thing, you probably do it that way for another thing. So, how do you solve problems? How do you attack problems and get shit done?

Good question, and it’s probably not the best advice for people, but for me it works. I kind of procrastinate. Really? I kind of do. Okay, this is going to be, I want to see how you

bring this one back. Like

you said about the leaves. Yeah. Alright, the leaves are falling. My wife will go, why don’t you start?

Chipping at him now. I said, well, there’s going to be more falling and this and that. And then all of a sudden the first no falls on the way. And I don’t procrastinate that much, but the pressure. Of a timeline to me, it doesn’t work. I have a lot. If I, if I, it’s going to take me three days to do this, this problem, but I have three weeks.

I ain’t working on it right now. Yeah, so you work under pressure.

You like the pressure would be the way I don’t procrastinating. You like that. You almost create your own pressure. That’s when you get clear. This is, by the way, I’ve heard this and I might be similar

time where I

started panicking going, I’ll deal with that later.

And I get add. Yeah. So I think I might be similar to you because when, when I would, in school, I can recall you got three weeks to do this project. The ones that I did early almost always were a worse grade than the ones that I did two days beforehand, or even the night before where the brain just goes.

It just, so I, I think I might agree with you. I think it sounds harsh the way you said it, like, Oh, I’m saying it right. I think people would take that and be like procrastinating. That’s not the way to get your part of it. I think it’s, it’s putting yourself in a position where your back’s against the wall and it causes all the cylinders to work at max capacity.

It does, and the

college is a perfect example. I was the guy that did the all nighters. Yeah. You know, you get a chemistry class, I remember I had a chemistry class, I had to get a C or else I couldn’t make it to the engineering, uh, you know, uh, uh, class, and then, You know, I waited to the last day to kind of really do it.

And then I, I

did it. See, the organized folks could not stand the folks like you, because they were working on it, going to the library, going back and forth and missing out on the parties. And then you were at all the parties, you were doing all the social stuff. You just kind of had a way about you. And then all of a sudden you just kind of buckled down the hatches.

And the night before, and then you go get a better grade. Oh my God.

And, and it’s not that I was any smarter than anyone, because there was people that didn’t have to study. Yeah. I mean, I had to study. I had to work hard.

Yeah.

Well, I just waited

it to be compact, like in a compact timeframe. Yeah.

I, I, if that makes sense, that’s kind of was the best way for me to perform.

And I, I, I still do that to this day.

I love it. Alright, I don’t know if I would recommend that to people, but you know your personality type, I think I’m a similar personality type, I do way better when it’s, when there’s a deadline, it’s up against the wall, it does tend to make me concentrate, and I struggle to concentrate, um, otherwise, like if I have a long timeline, so I do, I do enjoy that, we have a new segment, we’re calling quick hits, So Quick Hits is rapid fire questions.

I’m gonna ask you a bunch of random questions. This is a get to know Chuck and how Chuck thinks. Could be completely off the wall. You know, give us your, give us your raw, organic, authentic answer. Oh boy. And, uh, we’ll go from there. Alright, you ready? Let’s go. Quick Hits, here we go. Thin crust or deep dish?

Thin crust. Thin, really? Interesting. Chicago guy, which one?

Uh, let’s see if we get a

sponsor. Giordano’s. I don’t know if I had to pick

one of the named ones, you know, like that,

I think I would say Rosati’s on the thin crust and I will go lose Lou Malnati’s on the deep dish. I would

go Lou on the deep dish.

No, I lie. I got to have my fix a deep dish every so

often. You have to

have it, but you can’t have too much of it or you lose sight

of how beautiful it is. And that’s why I like the thin crust because I don’t want to end my meal in a minute and be like, now what? I want to have a couple of beers and have a few

slices of it.

There you go. So thin crust on the regular, deep dish to kind of splurge and celebrate. Patty of meat? Patty of sausage? Or just cheese? Or how do you do it?

Um, Oh, I like my sausage. I gotta have the sausage. You know, I got my sausage. I like, I like meat. I don’t like pepperoni. It gets too oily on there. I like my, I like sausage.

And then I like, there was a place by my house that they called it the, uh, Oh God. It was like the mafia pizza. They would put Italian beef on it. Oh, the beef, the beef pizza. Yeah. Jardiniere. The peppers, sweet peppers, hot

peppers.

It was like an Italian beef sandwich

that they would make. Beautiful. It’s great.

If they pour a little au jus sauce on it, a little bit of the sauce. Come on. So those of you that have never had a Lou Malnati’s pizza, it’s a deep dish butter crust pizza. It’s almost like the thickness of a pie, but it’s the crust. Then they put the mozzarella cheese down. Then they put a patty of sausage.

It’s so just picture the circle. It’s a wheel of sausage. I mean, it’s one piece like a big hamburger. So every bite. has a piece of sausage. It’s not like the little rolled up balls. And then they put chunks of tomato sauce. We’re talking about like, it’s a whole tomato. You could, you’re, you’re biting into and it’s sweet and salty and it’s like everything, but you can’t eat it every night because you’d be 480 pounds by the end of the year.

It’s, it’s definitely a treat. It is. Okay. Quick hit. Ready?

Yes, sir.

Favorite team, Cubs or White Sox Cubs. Favorite player of all time. On Cubs or on the Cubs,

on the Cubs, Ryan Samber.

Okay. We’re boom. We’re best friends. No, no better second baseman. I mean, just absolutely brilliant. Okay. So if you could be, uh, any of these things, what would, what would you choose?

If you could be a Superbowl winning quarterback for the Chicago Bears. The captain of a Stanley Cup championship Chicago Blackhawks team or the ace world series winning pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Which one would you choose?

I need a three sided quarter. And if you

got one, we’re going to go with the hustle people.

I would say the Bears. Bears star quarterback.

Yeah. That leads me to this question. You’ve watched now five, six Caleb Williams games, four and two. Do we have a quarterback?

I think so. I’m not going to get too excited. Yeah. I

gotten too excited

with the Grossman’s and the Trubisky’s and, and, and all that, and I’m not going to, if Cade McNown, I mean, we could go on and, and, and Cutler when they

traded for Cutler.

The whole office. We just left the building. The owner included 800 employees. We just went to the bar. We were like, what just happened? We just got Cutler all pro quarterback. And then they could never put it together. No, it was unreal. The best year he had. Erlacher broke his hand the first game, like first quarter of the first game, and that was his best season.

And then, and then he gets hurt in the playoffs. It was like, man, we could just never put it together. It was unbelievable. So God, I, I get too excited. The

letdown is too much. I’m not getting that. But I like what I see so far.

Okay. So retirement is not too far away, right? Can’t wait. You said, uh, you said you probably will struggle to retire cause you’re somebody who gets shit done and you’re just, you’ll probably retire and start another company.

I’ll probably start golfing. Figure out how to golf. No, don’t, let’s not do that. Let’s, that is not your lane, Chuck. Let’s stay away from it. Okay. So retirement. Yes. And this is a, this is a mutual, I would have a feeling you’ve discussed this with your wife. Ultimate place you would retire. What would you be doing?

Where would you go? What’s the place

I always like speaking of of the Cubs. Remember Joe Madden? Yeah, there was a talk about what he would like RV the RV He’s gonna have a some tiki bar. Yeah in the keys with pink flamingos all Mm

hmm

and playing some, you know, Jimmy Buffett music and talking with people and serving drinks That sounds good.

You’d be an awesome bartender at a resort. That’s always been like a fantasy of mine. You could talk about anything. I want to be a maitre d or a bartender. Yeah. When I thought the bartender ago, I wish I was a bartender.

Have you ever been to, uh, there was a restaurant in Lincolnshire called, uh, Jilardi’s.

You ever been at Jilardi’s? No. He moved up. Now he’s got a place called Philly G’s. It’s up in, um, oh gosh, it’s like north, almost to the Wisconsin border.

Okay.

And the ultimate, uh, the ultimate front man. for a restaurant. He did card tricks, you know, if you went there once, he remembered your name, he knew your wife’s name, he knew what you drank, just the ultimate guy.

I can picture you doing that, but at a tiki bar where everybody who came to that bar, you know, their name after the first time they came there, you’d have a story. Every time you’d be doing some sort of trick. Is that sound like? Yeah,

I would just add a little bit, like we’re talking right now. No, no. And just meet people and, and, and, and kibitz with people.

It’d be more for me than that, you know. Did you just say kibitz? Kibitz. You just did a kibitz. Yeah. Kibitz. I don’t know where that came from.

Do you know how many podcasters are out there right now that are not going to get, get a kibitz quote? You just brought that to our show. Thank you. First, maybe it’s the first time only.

It’s the first, I, I, if you come on the show and you drop a kibitz, you get an extra t shirt or something like that. Ding,

ding, ding. That should happen in kibitz. There you go. But I would, well, the part about remembering names, that ain’t gonna happen. That’s not gonna happen. No, I got a great memory. It really is good.

It just doesn’t last as long as it used to. Yeah, yeah. That’s the problem.

That’s maybe not as great of a memory. It’s good, but it doesn’t last. I’ve got a great memory. I just can’t remember anything. Exactly. Yeah. All right, perfect. All right, quick hits. So if you could start all over. You could start all over what’s one thing that you have learned over your time and your experience that if you could go back, you would have just changed a little bit.

You would have modify. You would have done it just a little different.

Probably. I don’t know what I would. I would probably not have. And it’s in my deal. Procrastinate as much. I would have prepared more. Like in college and like yeah, yeah right now really I wish I was would that have worked for you though I guess I don’t know. I wish I wish it would I wish it could and and still to this day go Okay, I’m gonna start on feeling you’d be fighting against yourself and I do and I still do but I wish I could Yeah, yeah a lot less probably would be less stressful That pressure is stress, but the stress works.

Yeah, but I wish I didn’t

wish you didn’t have I wish I didn’t have to be like this This bad scientist. I wish you could do it a different way. Okay, so uh final question Uh, everybody that we’ve had on the show has left us with some sort of inspiration Whether it be advice or something that is um passionate That they want to say to the audience up and comers people let’s say that are directors and want to get to the c suite Let’s say they’re an employee and they want to become an entrepreneur What would be the best advice that you’ve learned or that that somebody taught you that you could offer up to our listeners?

Um on how

to get more shit done Number one, like I said, make it happen. You got to have the make it happen attitude and take pride in what you do, no matter how minuscule or trivial you think it is, everything you do, you want to put your stamp and your signature on it, no matter what it is. And be proud of what you did, because in business, people recognize that hard work, you know, in business, politics and popularity contest.

That’s off the door, because if that’s the way your business is run and favoritism, that business ain’t going to last true managers and owners recognize the talent and get through the bullshit. And, and, and they realize the people who have pride and work hard and that, and you grind work hard, make it happen and just take pride and keep the, what you’re, The window of opportunity open, always keep your eyes open and look, because then it happens.

Yeah. It just happens. If you grind and work hard and take pride and really take pride in that and, and treat your, your job like it’s your own business, treat your job like it’s your own business and you get recognized. And before you know it, you look in the rear view mirror going, holy shit, I came a long way.

I love that. I do. I’m not the smartest guy or the sharpest knife in the drawer, but that’s what I do. And it worked.

Well, it’s worked quite well, and I want to tell you, um, what, what I get from, from that is, um, the beauty of the law of averages. And if you work hard and you’re busy, you find busy, like you just constantly are on the grind, it’s going to work out.

You just have that, that attitude for it, that make it happen attitude. And, um, the law of averages will play out for you.

It does. And sometimes, you know, when it’s rainy and gloomy and, and things seem depressed, if you keep doing it, it’s gonna, it’s gonna work.

Yeah. Winston Churchill, if you feel like you’re going through hell, just keep going.

That’s right. I like that. Yeah. That’s it. Just keep going. Yep. That’s the way. That’s the way it goes. It will work.

It will

happen.

All right, Chuck. It’s been an absolute pleasure having you on. Ladies and gentlemen, check out FastPro. That’s F A S P R O. Maybe you’re not the person who needs their service, but maybe you know somebody who does, and if you haven’t fallen in love with Chuck yet, I don’t know, maybe go get checked at the doctor, because this is a guy who’s filled with personality, and they’ve been doing cutting edge work, and of course, you’ve got a fantastic project for Chuck.

It’s AccuPro. Wow. Let the creative juices go. Chuck’s got you from start to finish. And Chuck, I want to remind you, sir, you got shit done. Thank you. Cheers. Sweet.

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