In this episode, we follow John’s journey as a young man as he navigates a path from working at his family’s egg farm to the mobile home park they developed and then to the citrus and land business balanced with technology consulting.
Faced with unclear opportunities, he transitions into managing operations at a family-run mobile home park, where he acquires a real estate license and hones his sales and marketing skills.
Despite challenges with the business model in the highest interest rate environment in a century, he creates a customer service department from scratch, emphasizing inspection and quality control to improve customer experiences.
His interest in processes and systems continues through a series of ventures, including involvement in early computerized trading systems and software development.
From becoming the best student of a niche trading product to leading workshops across the USA, his versatile skill set and proactive approach reveal significant lessons on adaptability, learning, and customer service.
00:00 Early Career Moves and Challenges
00:34 Learning the Ropes in Real Estate and Customer Service
02:10 Mastering Customer Service and Process Improvement
05:06 Venturing into Software and Subscription Products
05:35 Deep Dive into Trading and Investment Software
09:51 Expanding Skills into Workshops and Customer Support
10:34 Innovations in Newsletter Automation and Programming
12:01 Reflections on a Diverse Career and Skill Set
And then what'd you do after that?
John:The short version is I
John:went to work at the Lake Alfred
John:headquarters office with my father.
John:And, there wasn't this really,
John:really clear plan laid out
John:for where we were going to go.
John:We had citrus and land.
John:And there were people managing
John:that and there just wasn't a
John:really clear opportunity for me.
John:I wasn't going to drive
John:a tractor in the grove.
John:Right.
John:So, um, I had to figure stuff out and I
John:considered leaving for a bit and going
John:and getting, learning some other skills.
John:The people I talked to about
John:that kind of discouraged that.
John:So about that time, my parents
John:had launched a mobile home park.
John:And, um, they had a partner in
John:that, and there was need for
John:additional personnel there.
John:And I went to the mobile home park and
John:got my real estate license and began
John:to learn sales training as well as
John:marketing as well as customer service.
John:And so it was a great training ground.
John:Again, it was a terrible business
John:model, because we were selling
John:lots in a marketplace where.
John:90% of the other vendors
John:were, were renting the lots.
John:And that was the, the accepted model.
John:And everybody was.
John:It made it a cheaper
John:investment for the buyer.
John:And at that time, that was right
John:about the time the interest
John:rates were peaking at 18%.
John:So people that had money in a CD
John:were not interested in pulling
John:it out to pay for that lot.
John:So it was, it was a very
John:difficult time for that business.
John:Our timing was just unfortunate.
John:But I, yeah, I did learn a tremendous
John:amount and that's where I became the
John:customer service department there.
John:I created basically created it.
John:I mean, otherwise the people that
John:were doing sales were and when
John:somebody needed help or had a
John:problem, they had to pull off of
John:something else to take care of that.
John:And I was, uh, I was too young to be taken
John:seriously as a salesman in that industry.
John:Like, "You remind me of my grandson."
Connie:Or your great grandson.
John:"Could you call an
John:adult for me to talk to?"
John:That's kind of the conversation
John:we had a couple of times.
John:And so no.
Connie:More than a couple of times.
Connie:If I recall.
John:So me switching into customer
John:service and the process, what I had
John:learned at the egg farm about processes
John:and process improvement and systems
John:really worked well for me there.
John:Because I became the person who, when
John:a new home came in, I did an inspection.
John:We had to have two or three inspections.
John:We had one when it first came
John:in to see if there was anything.
John:But well, as soon as it was.
John:So mobile homes come in two parts
John:and they had to be put together.
John:So we had a crew that
John:came in and did all that.
John:And as soon as they put the two together,
John:I went in and did an inspection.
John:And determined.
John:If there were any big things, like
John:sometimes something would shift
John:or, you know, break in transit.
John:So, you know, I would
John:start a list on that.
John:And then once we finished kind of all of
John:the finish work and setup and everything,
John:then I would do another inspection to
John:make sure it was ready for the customer.
John:Because the last thing you want
John:is somebody moving into their home
John:and then finding 50 things that you
John:didn't know about and present you with
John:this list or they're hoppin' mad.
John:Right.
John:So it was all about making that, that move
John:in it, that initial experience for the
John:customer, a really positive experience.
John:And part of it was pre-framing that.
John:There's going to be things that
John:aren't, they're going to need fixing.
John:Okay.
John:We've got a list and here's the
John:list I'll show I'll take you through
John:and I'll show you all these things.
John:Live in the house for a week,
John:week and a half, something
John:like that and add to the list.
John:And when we get, when we feel like we
John:found everything, then we have the, you.
John:You know, we have the factory
John:folks come and fix it all at once.
Connie:Cool
John:Good with that?
John:And, and I mean, it made all
John:the difference in the world.
John:Sure.
John:So I was really, really good at
John:that and really learned a lot about
John:customer service in the process.
John:And, and the age difference was
John:much less of a concern there.
John:Right.
John:Wow.
John:But we didn't didn't plan this.
John:We didn't.
John:We didn't script it.
John:And so this is very organic.
Connie:This is where
Connie:we need to go though.
Connie:These are the, this is, this
Connie:is all part of your history.
John:This is how I built up
John:the skill set that I built.
John:Right.
John:So I built.
John:You know, I learned about process and
John:systems and, I could talk for an hour
John:about this stuff from the egg farm.
John:And the things that I learned
John:about keeping eggs fresh.
John:Remember the oil?
John:We put mineral oil on the eggs.
John:So we had to, if we want
John:somebody wanted to dye their,
John:have eggs for dying for Easter,
John:we had to make sure we had eggs
John:that didn't have the oil applied to
John:them because the dye wouldn't stick.
John:Right.
John:And so we had to plan for that.
John:Right.
John:But, but the oil kept the
John:inside interior of the egg from
John:evaporating through the shell.
John:So it kept the eggs fresher a
John:month longer than an un-oiled egg.
John:It was a tiny little spend for us.
John:Uh, but it, it made it much
John:higher quality product, right.
John:And, uh, so the things like that were just
John:kind of baked into me through experience.
John:So then my next project was.
John:Uh, I became involved with a, uh,
John:actually bought a product, a software
John:product, and it is a membership
John:product and software included.
John:So this was the first, first time I
John:know of a, of, of selling something
John:with the model that we now see a
John:subscription product that we see
John:everywhere now, first one I'd ever seen.
John:And, and it was a kind
John:of a high end product.
John:So that made sense, but it was investment.
John:Investment-related and trading related.
John:And I became just fascinated with the
John:science and the mystery behind this thing.
John:And I don't like, I don't like secrets.
John:I don't like mysteries.
John:I want to solve them.
John:So, you know, it, it, it
John:was a match made, I guess.
John:So, anyway, I became.
John:I was asked to.
John:Yeah.
John:Within a bout two or three years.
John:I became very knowledgeable
John:about this product, asked a
John:lot of questions and developed.
John:Uh, and this was again before really
John:we had the email so much, so I was.
John:I had a letter writing campaign going back
John:and forth with the owner of this company.
John:The questions I was asking.
John:I was sending him charts and me
John:asking and he would send back answers
John:and he liked that I was doing that.
John:And I became his best student.
John:And because he was
John:willing to share with me.
John:I learned a lot alert faster.
John:I learned stuff that nobody else knew.
John:Right.
John:And so then he asked me to, he wanted
John:to expand his business and create a new
John:division, but he didn't want to run it.
John:That know, like and trust thing.
John:Yeah.
John:And so he.
John:He asked me if I'd be
John:interested in doing that.
John:And.
John:Our business.
John:Running with the citrus and the cattle
John:and so forth that I had more free time
John:than a lot of people in business do.
John:So I said, yes, I would love to do that.
John:And again, I saw that as an expansion,
John:sort of an expansion on our business.
John:Because I became now a consultant.
John:I was now.
John:Hey, you know, At creating a new
John:profit center for our business.
John:And, um, and I did that
John:for well over 10 years and
Connie:Well you also did coaching.
John:I did.
John:Our history of coaching
John:goes back to before we met.
Connie:That's another day.
Connie:Podcast.
John:But we, yes, I, I was
John:talking to people about how
John:helping them use this product.
John:But that expanded very naturally and
John:unavoidably into helping them with
John:their computer problems, because
John:this was a piece of computer software
John:that was very early days of Windows.
John:In fact, I was using it
John:before, before Windows.
John:It was a DOS based product.
John:And, um, and then, you know, as
John:windows came along, it transitioned.
John:And so I was helping them operate
John:their computers and, and deal with
John:those issues as well as understanding
John:how to apply this product.
John:You know, to, to the
John:decision support that I was.
Connie:And you were also doing
Connie:the bug finding for the programmer,
Connie:who was building this from scratch.
Connie:And you became his right-hand man.
John:I, yes, I was so involved with
John:him that, um, he, you know, I was
John:using the, the software every day
John:and, and testing, trying everything.
John:And when a new version came out, I
John:tried the new features and I just,
John:I seem to be able to find bugs.
Connie:Yeah.
Connie:We call him Johnny bug
Connie:finder, in case anybody.
John:Yes, that's one of my.
John:One of my Connie nickname.
John:That's right.
John:And a, and.
John:But he said I was the best, uh, software.
John:Bug finder and tester that
John:he'd ever worked with..
John:And he was a career programmer.
John:I mean, back to.
John:You know, the early days of when they
John:had the big reels of tape and stuff.
John:So customer service skills, process
John:development all came into play there and I
John:just continued to evolve that and because.
John:I was also doing, using the product
John:and doing my own trading as I
John:was helping these other traders.
John:So I really knew how to, I was a customer
John:as well as, doing customer support.
John:So I could relate to their
John:situation in a way that a lot
John:of customer support can't right.
John:I.
John:I was on both sides.
Connie:Product of the product.
John:I was a product of the product.
John:Exactly.
John:And trading is very personal, in that
John:it Shows all of your psychological
John:flaws to you, you know, your, your fears.
John:When you're taking a lot of risk,
John:a financial risk and at that
John:time it was the futures market.
John:So they were, they were big swings.
John:Uh, you could easily lose a
John:thousand dollars in a day.
John:And that can really
John:play havoc on your mind.
John:And I experienced that.
John:And so I I learned to help them
John:manage that and be aware of it.
John:And as best you can, I mean,
John:every it's a personal journey,
John:so everybody has to do their own.
Connie:Well, and you also
Connie:developed that into workshops
Connie:that we went all over the country.
John:Yep.
John:We started doing stock workshops
John:and then we started traveling and
John:doing those around the country.
John:And that was a great experience.
John:It was more fun.
John:That was, again, a combination of
John:some coaching, some customer support.
John:We had Joseph travel
John:with us and he was doing.
John:That was great.
John:Yeah.
John:Software support during the workshop.
John:We had a great time with that and, and
John:served the customers to at a higher level.
John:And then they got to have the, you know,
John:instead of just getting up, calling me
John:on the phone or this was before Zoom.
John:So instead of calling me on the phone or
John:just getting this newsletter in the mail.
John:You know, they got to have some face time.
John:I
John:wrote a monthly newsletter for that.
John:I did a form of programming to
John:automate most of the work that went
John:into that newsletter because it was
John:hours and hours of work otherwise.
John:So I wrote that I was able to turn
John:that newsletter into a, that was again,
John:part of that process development.
John:I was learning Excel and I wanted
John:to be, I thought I wanted to be
John:a computer programmer and write
John:the kind of programs like the
John:charting programs that I was using.
John:During this period, I was bilingual
John:with both DOS, Windows, and
John:the Mac world and using both.
Connie:And this was before the internet.
Connie:So we had a big satellite dish outside.
John:It was early days of
John:the internet, very early.
John:That was happening.
John:CompuServe and AOL was,
John:it was coming along.
John:Uh, email was a thing, but, in
John:particular, the, the real-time data that
John:we needed for, for that kind of trading.
John:If you were going to do
John:longer-term trading where you
John:were making decisions once a week.
John:But then you could use, you know,
John:newspaper, there were papers and charts
John:that were mailed out and so forth.
John:You.
John:You could, you could wait.
John:Um, I mean, I, you might remember I
John:got the wall street journal and every
John:night I go through the wall street
John:journal and typed the prices into the
John:software so it could update the prices.
John:But at some point, if you're, if you're
John:going to trade on the shorter term and
John:you need a real-time data feed, then
John:that didn't exist over the internet.
John:Yeah, it wasn't fast enough.
John:We still had just dial up.
John:And so, you had to have a
John:satellite dish and we had that.
John:So, yeah, I've, I've worn a lot of
John:hats and I've learned a lot of skills
John:and some of them, have aged out.
John:I mean, I don't think I'm going
John:to be doing any satellite dish
John:alignment or installation anymore.
John:Oh, that.
John:That was always fun.
John:But, um, it gave me a lot of
John:perspective on different kinds of work.
John:And I think that I bring
John:that into our present work.