July 20, 2025

What to Know "Before and After" the Next Storm Hits with Restoration 1 of East Baton Rouge

In this episode of Local Leaders the Podcast, Jim Chapman sits down with David and Marissa Hofstetter of Restoration 1 of East Baton Rouge to discuss the lesser known facts of storm prep as well as other information to get you ready should disaster strike.

Restoration1 on the web:
https://restoration1.com/east-baton-rouge

Restoration1 on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/R1EBR





WEBVTT

1
00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:16.760
Hey everyone, and welcome back to local leaders of the podcast.

2
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:20.839
And look, I'm excited today because I have some familiar

3
00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.160
faces in front of me, knowing them a long time,

4
00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:27.359
and if you are in the Livingston Parish area you

5
00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.839
might know them too. They're David and Marissa Hofstadters. So

6
00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:35.840
first off, and you're with Restoration one. But first off, welcome, yep,

7
00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:38.920
thanks for having us, Thanks having I am excited to

8
00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:42.520
have y'all here. And look, we couldn't pick better time.

9
00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:45.840
And we were talking about this off air prior to

10
00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.880
recording this podcast, but we have a storm actually in

11
00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:51.920
the golf right now as we record a crossing into

12
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:52.320
the golf.

13
00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:55.399
You just never know where they're going to pop up.

14
00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.920
It's that time of year. It's uh, we're all used

15
00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:01.280
to it at this point. Yeah, for South Louisiana, it's

16
00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:02.240
just that time of year.

17
00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:04.319
That's right, And that's going to kind of be the

18
00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:06.959
cusp of what we're going to talk about today, is

19
00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:10.000
the fact that you've always got to be prepared this

20
00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:14.280
time of year for storms, not only hurricanes, but sometimes

21
00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.840
like what's coming in the Gulf, it's more of a rainmaker,

22
00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:20.159
but that can be worse for South Louisiana.

23
00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:22.879
Yeah, depending on precipitation up to maybe a given year

24
00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:25.560
and the ground saturated, and we've had some rain here recently.

25
00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:28.120
It otherwise may not be an issue, but it feels

26
00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:30.480
like they're getting kind of earlier and earlier every year. Yeah,

27
00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:32.359
you know, the whole say the whole thing, June first

28
00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:34.879
and November first, But like here in the last few years,

29
00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:38.079
we've had some events that are occurring earlier and earlier.

30
00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:41.239
Absolutely, So before we get into it, and we're going

31
00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:44.799
to give you some tips today, folks that are off

32
00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:48.040
the beaten path, if you will, what you're used to hearing,

33
00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:51.840
but as important or more important, So stay tuned for that.

34
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.680
I do want to talk a little bit about restoration

35
00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.840
one your company, and David, I'd like to start off

36
00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:02.359
with you. You a story about you know, I call

37
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:06.319
it the LinkedIn story. It's become a famous story in

38
00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:08.800
these parts, but it blows my mind every time.

39
00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:09.080
You tell it.

40
00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:13.120
So just quickly some up. How you ended up in

41
00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:14.400
the restoration business.

42
00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.120
Yea rest Following the flood in twenty sixteen, I left

43
00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:18.759
kind of the corporate field and went to work for

44
00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.080
a local builder here. Did that for a few years,

45
00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.520
and was having a lot of success, was happy with

46
00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:26.000
what I was doing, but there was just something inside

47
00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:28.840
of me, that entrepreneurial spirit that I just wanted to do.

48
00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:32.240
Turned on at the time, I think it was called

49
00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.560
career interest on LinkedIn, where it would it would send

50
00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:39.199
out your resume, your profile, but not alert your current employer, which.

51
00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.280
Is always a good Yeah.

52
00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.039
So I turned that on and get flooded sort of

53
00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:47.120
with in my inbox with offers and interests, i should say,

54
00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:52.199
and this guy selling he's a franchise broker selling different franchises,

55
00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:53.840
and after about a ten minute call with him, I

56
00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:54.840
knew it's what I wanted to do.

57
00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:55.080
You know.

58
00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.360
We talked about it last time, researched her for a

59
00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.599
few weeks before I brought up to Marisa's attention, and

60
00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:03.039
answer was okay, let's do it. And fast forward seven years,

61
00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:04.560
here we are. We've had a lot of success, been

62
00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:06.360
very fortunate, been able to serve and help a lot

63
00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:09.919
of people, have created careers for our employees, and I mean,

64
00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:11.280
we could not be more proud of what it is

65
00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:12.080
we've accomplished.

66
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:16.199
Yeah, yeah, it really has been a journey for you.

67
00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:20.639
And look, I'm not surprised From a minute that I

68
00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:23.479
met you, folks, I knew you had it together. I

69
00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.439
knew you have what it took to be an entrepreneur.

70
00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.520
Definitely have the spirit for an entrepreneur, which is an

71
00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:33.280
important thing, and you've really just taken that ball and

72
00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:37.159
run with it. You have a company, franchise company behind you,

73
00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:41.080
Restoration One, that is really amazing with the training.

74
00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:42.560
I always see.

75
00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.759
You on Facebook, both of y'all going to training events

76
00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:47.560
and just constant education.

77
00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:48.039
Right.

78
00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.879
Yeah, it's been a huge part of our success is

79
00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.319
not just limiting ourselves to our local market in terms

80
00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:58.000
of knowledge. We've got plenty of people in the professional

81
00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:00.719
world that we lean on. Vendors, right, You've served that

82
00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.120
role for us for quite some time, but we've really

83
00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:06.680
taken advantage of the national footprint of Restoration One and

84
00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:09.159
what we're able to offer. For example, next week Monday

85
00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:11.759
and Tuesday, I'll be up in Ohio within our peer group,

86
00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:14.599
which is about fifteen other Restoration one owners. They lock

87
00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:15.919
us in a room for two days and we talk

88
00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:18.959
about business. It's all structured, and you know that has

89
00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:20.839
been invaluable for us. For the last number of years.

90
00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:21.959
We've been able to participate in.

91
00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.879
That absolutely, And of course you're in an area where

92
00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:30.120
we're prone to having events, if you will, But you

93
00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:34.319
don't just serve people when these hurricane events happen.

94
00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:35.519
Are storms, I mean.

95
00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.839
Yeah, fire, yeah, you know, which could be possibly out

96
00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:40.040
of the blue.

97
00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:44.160
You help with that, Yeah, absolutely, Marissa.

98
00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.439
So you are the other side, I guess, the other

99
00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:51.839
side of restoration one, the part B of this power couple,

100
00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:55.199
if you will. We've talked about fires before and things

101
00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:58.079
that people miss, and one of those things is like

102
00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:01.439
dryer land. That was one of the things that surprised

103
00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.600
me that cause a lot of fires. And I'll tell

104
00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:09.000
you how serious this is. I'll tell you a personal story. Actually,

105
00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.360
you gave a talk at a networking group that I

106
00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:14.040
was a part of. I went home and I told

107
00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.240
my wife, you won't believe this, but Drydalant. You got

108
00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.160
a whole house kitchen on fire. And that's the number

109
00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:20.279
one thing that people miss.

110
00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:22.120
And what does my wife do.

111
00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:25.800
She goes and pulls a limp thing and it was full,

112
00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.240
chalk full. Now she was like a dog to a

113
00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:31.439
bone at that point. She's getting it out of there.

114
00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:33.759
So we try to suck it out with the vacuum

115
00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:37.199
only got so much so she's ordering things off Amazon

116
00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:39.040
that you fish in there to pull it out. You

117
00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:41.800
wouldn't believe how much we pulled out just doing that.

118
00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.920
Just shocking, how much how important that is to do that,

119
00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.360
you would never think, right, You see a lot of

120
00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:53.720
that when you when you go on these jobs or

121
00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.879
you get called out for an emergency, and it's it's

122
00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:59.759
things that could have been avoided just taking a few

123
00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:00.600
some steps.

124
00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:05.680
Yeah, Preventive maintenance is a very real thing. Equally as

125
00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:09.079
much though, you know, insurance is designed to protect us

126
00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.519
as consumers from things that they deem you know, sudden

127
00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:15.600
and accidental. Although cleaning dryer linens are preventedive maintenance thing,

128
00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.360
a lot of what we see just happens with with

129
00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:22.439
sort of no signs of warning. Electrical shorts. I mean,

130
00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.839
when you consider how much electrical is given inside of

131
00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:27.720
a building and plumbing, it's really quite fascinating of all

132
00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.720
the different contact points where you could have something like

133
00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:34.160
that occur. So there's a huge degree of me that's

134
00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:37.639
you know, it's not divine, but you know, if something's

135
00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:39.560
going to happen, it may be something that you absolutely

136
00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:41.639
had no control over. Sure, however, you get into like

137
00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:43.279
Christmas season, and we see it all the time with

138
00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.839
space heaters and overloaded circuits and maybe an old breaker

139
00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:48.879
that was supposed to trip at fifteen amps but it didn't.

140
00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.439
Then it continue to let it get hot and then

141
00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:53.800
it causes a fire. So there's some things that as consumers,

142
00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:56.800
you know, we can stop ourselves from doing. But GYM,

143
00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:58.959
a lot of it is sudden and accidental. I mean

144
00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:03.399
you had no real way of knowing. Oh I didn't know.

145
00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.560
I was supposed to inspect my plumbing once a year

146
00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.839
to make sure everything was fine. Until something happens. It's

147
00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.560
just kind of it. There's no way to see it coming.

148
00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:14.079
Yeah, Like speaking of Christmas, I mean you probably have a.

149
00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.319
Drawer full of chargers. Yes, everybody does.

150
00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:21.240
And just because it fits into something doesn't mean it's

151
00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:23.879
the one you should use. But again, if someone's not

152
00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.759
educated on that, it fits and walks away, whether it's

153
00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:32.319
hoverboard or you know, new toy from Christmas. All yeah,

154
00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:36.120
different things and those can you know, catch fire and

155
00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.000
cause a lot of damage if not caught immediately.

156
00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.000
So and just things like that.

157
00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.879
That was something I also learned from you, you folks,

158
00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.560
And I'll tell you I have a charger now for

159
00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:50.480
my lawnmar. My lawnmar runs off battery. It's awesome actually,

160
00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:55.279
but uh, you know, these are big batteries, really big batteries,

161
00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:59.319
and so I'm very careful and watching that. Of course,

162
00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.079
I have to charge a thing up, but I don't

163
00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:04.040
leave it plugged in all the time because it kind

164
00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:05.439
of feels hot when you do that.

165
00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:07.920
I've I've found myself so many times in the last

166
00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:10.800
few years going into the garage and taking my Ryobi

167
00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:13.519
or Milwaukee batteries off the charger that have been running

168
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.000
for a month, or like the hot wheels, I don't

169
00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:18.519
know what it's called, the little jeep we have for

170
00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:22.160
our sun. Yeah, it'll be you know, sometimes ten o'clock

171
00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:23.639
a night, I'll open the grass let me. I won't

172
00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:26.040
plug that because we've just seen so many of these

173
00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:31.600
house fires occur around golf carts, lawnmowers, anywhere you have

174
00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:35.399
battery and electrical it's possible for it to happen.

175
00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.440
Yeah, a large amount of them start in the garage,

176
00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:41.000
So I mean that's a really good place to start

177
00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:44.159
if you're trying to you know, just kind of do

178
00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:47.159
audit and see what can I be doing what can

179
00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.320
I be checking on what can I do to prevent

180
00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:52.399
something like this happening, which, of course you're not gonna

181
00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.039
prevent it all, but the garage is definitely a good

182
00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:55.679
place to start.

183
00:08:55.960 --> 00:09:00.240
Yeah, and I'll tell you you folks.

184
00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:03.120
Are dealing with people in some of the worst times

185
00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:07.200
of their lives. In some cases, maybe their house burned down.

186
00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:11.600
I mean, we saw a irreplaceable plantation home burned down

187
00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:14.720
right across the river from us. That was likely an

188
00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:18.639
electrical related issue in that case.

189
00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:20.399
But things happen out.

190
00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.120
Of the clear blue, and you have to have I

191
00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:27.720
would imagine Marissa's a demeanor about you, if you will,

192
00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:33.679
to be someone that has a calming nature, because these people,

193
00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.799
whoever you're dealing with, this is a bad moment in

194
00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:39.240
their life, and it's probably something you got to.

195
00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.519
Keep in mind all the time. I don't know how

196
00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:42.480
you do it. Really.

197
00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:46.919
We're in restoration, but we're in the business of people,

198
00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:52.879
and people come before the restoration, before the work authorizations,

199
00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:58.639
before the contracts, all of those things, and it's you're

200
00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:04.720
helping someone navigate, like you said, one of the most

201
00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:08.840
devastating events in their life, possibly and especially if it's

202
00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:09.440
a home.

203
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.519
That is that's their their.

204
00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:14.960
Their sanctuary.

205
00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:18.480
Yeah, thank you, they're they're sanctuary. That's where their things are,

206
00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.600
their children's things, all of the all of the memories,

207
00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:25.320
all of the keepsakes, all of the photos. You know,

208
00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:28.360
there are things that can be replaced, but it's it's

209
00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:31.000
just the emotional toll that it takes on someone that

210
00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:35.440
really has to be put before anything else. And so

211
00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.960
we we make sure to really invest in training.

212
00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:39.879
Our team on that.

213
00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.960
And I think we've done a really good job at

214
00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.360
just making sure from the get go that we hire

215
00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:49.840
people that already embody those same values that we have,

216
00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:53.039
and they are people people. They are there for the

217
00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:54.720
person first before anything else.

218
00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:56.559
Well, one thing I'll kind of add on that is,

219
00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:59.720
you know, we were not privy to the after right,

220
00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.279
you know, whether it's a fire or water damage. We

221
00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:03.879
get in there, we do our job, and we turn

222
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.639
the keys back over and say, hey, welcome home. I've

223
00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.240
followed up with a few of our clients in the

224
00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:11.519
past or had you know, was it a referral and

225
00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.360
we knew these people personally. One of the things that

226
00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:16.720
has never talked about from my perspective is what happens

227
00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:18.480
in the six to twelve months after something like that,

228
00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:20.519
especially a fire, I mean that there's gonna be some

229
00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:23.399
pretty traumatic experiences. You know. You know what's gonna happen

230
00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:25.080
the first night we spend back in there, if the

231
00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:28.039
fire started upstairs in the kids bedroom, and I'm gonna

232
00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:30.039
be really concerned that that's gonna happen again, because we

233
00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:32.440
just went through the six to eight month ordeal. So

234
00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:34.399
for those that go through these types of things, it's

235
00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.879
not just from the time of the event to the

236
00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:39.919
time we give you your keys back. It's it's probably

237
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.039
a lifelong thing. We were talking about the twenty sixteen

238
00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:45.279
flood off air and how we see what's happening across

239
00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.399
the country and we naturally feel, Man, we just went

240
00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:49.600
through that kind of stuff. And if you've lived in

241
00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:52.360
South Louisiana long enough, you've probably been through multiple events.

242
00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:55.480
So it's it's also just as important, I think, to

243
00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:58.799
not only take care of people, but in the event

244
00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:03.559
they have some lingering trauma from what they've experienced, is

245
00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.080
to try to be there for them if necessary there

246
00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:06.519
as well.

247
00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:09.799
Yeah, and and PTSD is a real thing when it

248
00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:13.120
comes to that. I know many many people that have

249
00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:16.840
PTSD from the flood and including myself. I mean when

250
00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:19.000
it when they talk about a lot of rain, you

251
00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:21.840
better believe I'm hyper focused on that a meet river

252
00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:26.000
at Denim Springs and what the the the level is

253
00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:29.159
of that river as it rises. And I never did

254
00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:32.679
that before twenty sixteen ever. Uh So that is a

255
00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:37.399
byproduct of going through that. Let me let me switch

256
00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:41.200
gears a little bit. One thing that I think is

257
00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.519
just awesome about your company is the recognition you've received

258
00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.279
for the great work that you've done. Both of you

259
00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:55.159
look Future five winners, right Marissa Hofstadter one one in

260
00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:59.399
twenty twenty two. I say one was selected for Future

261
00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:01.320
five in twenty twenty four.

262
00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.600
David was selected. Couldn't couldn't agree with that more.

263
00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:08.200
That's a testament to your leadership ability and the things

264
00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:09.519
that you do for your community.

265
00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:10.600
I think that's awesome.

266
00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.919
Just follow him Marissa's footsteps. Yeah, there you go.

267
00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:14.960
That's right.

268
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:17.519
That's right, said it, not me, he did.

269
00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:21.639
And uh you were also a Livingstone Young Professionals Member

270
00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.919
of the Year in twenty twenty. Uh So you're very

271
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:27.919
involved in your community out and that's the point I'm

272
00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:31.480
getting at there. Outside of your business your business does

273
00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.399
tie into your community, but you're very involved. You give

274
00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.440
a lot of yourself outside of just to your business.

275
00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:40.960
And I think that's important when you're when you're dealing

276
00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:45.759
with companies, especially in the restoration business, because there's reputable

277
00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:49.720
ones and there's ones that maybe aren't so reputable. Uh,

278
00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:54.080
And so one thing about restoration one you've got to

279
00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:58.519
you've got it's a legit company behind that name that

280
00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:01.000
is going to see it through all the way whatever

281
00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:01.679
event you're going.

282
00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:03.639
Yeah, I've told the Risks this a few times. You know,

283
00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:07.080
she's from from Livingston Parish. I'm not, but I've lived

284
00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:09.039
here for the last ten years and this is home.

285
00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:09.519
You know.

286
00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.759
I grew up in Washington Parish, which is always going

287
00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:13.840
to be a degree of home for sure.

288
00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:15.799
But yeah, I think a watermelon into one, I think

289
00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:17.120
the best around.

290
00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:20.000
I've picked a few of them. Yeah, but you know,

291
00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:22.240
not not having been born or from this area, but

292
00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:24.600
I've lived here now the entire time we've been married,

293
00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.279
and Livingston Parish is home, you know, and it's just

294
00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:30.480
such a great community. It has been a great place

295
00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:33.440
to start a business and grow and uh, serving that

296
00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:35.879
community is very important. Speaking for myself.

297
00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:41.320
So yeah, and when you look at our business and restoration,

298
00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:45.039
we're not traditional contractors where you come up with an

299
00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:49.360
idea or an addition or a new home, you're planning

300
00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:53.279
for it, you're budgeting for it, you're shopping around all

301
00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:57.480
of these things. When you call us, it's a oh

302
00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:01.000
crap moment and it's something that has to be taken

303
00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.960
care of right away, and you don't have the time

304
00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:06.799
to shop around to you know, compare this or that.

305
00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:10.480
So trust, like you said, is so huge. We're asking

306
00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:13.919
people to blindly trust us to come into their home,

307
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.080
their sanctuary, and tell them what needs to be done,

308
00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.639
and do it all very you know, in a very

309
00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:21.919
short amount of time, very quickly.

310
00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.519
So of course it's important.

311
00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:27.840
Reputation is huge for us and important for us not

312
00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:29.679
only because I'm from here and we live here and

313
00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:31.200
our kids go to school here and play.

314
00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:32.159
Sports and all those things.

315
00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:39.159
But we understand the gravity of that call and that choice.

316
00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:43.919
And so the more we have helped our community and

317
00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:47.200
get to know the people in our community, it just

318
00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.039
builds that trust, and we hope that makes it easier

319
00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.879
for someone to just kind of say, hey, you're the expert,

320
00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:54.840
please just do what.

321
00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:55.919
You know needs to be done.

322
00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.919
That's right and it reflects as a matter of fact,

323
00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:03.559
just this or best of Winter for restoration services by

324
00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:04.440
the advocate.

325
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.559
Huge honor. Now huge honor. There's some good ones out

326
00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:09.320
there and say to.

327
00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:13.840
Win that, uh, well deserved and another huge honor for

328
00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:17.000
your company that just continues to do great things.

329
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:20.200
Uh. Let's talk about some of the things that you

330
00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:20.879
do do.

331
00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:25.320
I know obviously house fires big or small.

332
00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:26.919
Uh what else?

333
00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:32.399
Storm damage, work, floods, things like that, water damage, I

334
00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:35.639
guess of any sort. Uh am I leaving anything out.

335
00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:38.399
Mold mold remediation.

336
00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:40.240
So in the sale Louisiana, you do have to be

337
00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:45.399
licensed in molder remediation. We do hold a mold license,

338
00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:47.480
so we're able to do that if the water damage

339
00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:51.840
was not mitigated quickly enough or something that was kind

340
00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:55.559
of hidden and when unnoticed for some time, so we're

341
00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:59.919
able to take care take care of that as well. Biohazard,

342
00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.160
it could be anything from bad bugs to.

343
00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:07.960
Crime scene clean up.

344
00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:13.319
Yeah, we've that's probably an episode for another day in

345
00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.640
terms of the bio because it can did pretty pretty gnarly.

346
00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:18.359
But one thing in the last couple of years we've

347
00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:20.839
started a new division is in personal property. So you

348
00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:23.440
know we talked about house fires a lot. You know,

349
00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.160
if if your property sustains smoke or fire damage, you know,

350
00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.440
we can come in and inventory every widget down, everything

351
00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:31.559
in the junk drawer, submit that list back to your

352
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:34.920
insurance company for compensation, you know, if it's damaged, or

353
00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.160
we can take that property, clean it stored off site

354
00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:39.720
so that your house doesn't become a storage locker. It

355
00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:41.799
just makes the entire process that much easier. So it

356
00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:45.839
usually starts with personal property, then the mitigation phase, and

357
00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.640
then the subsequent repairs that need to occur. And they know,

358
00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.279
by the way, we'll come back at the very end

359
00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:51.799
of the job and put everything back in your home

360
00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:54.640
and set it back up to your specification. So that's

361
00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:57.440
the personal property side. We started about two years ago

362
00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:01.160
when we moved into our new facility. And yeah, a

363
00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:06.759
general contractor at heart, but we offer some services that

364
00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.519
nuance in the area of property and casualty.

365
00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:11.039
Very interesting And.

366
00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.680
I'm gonna give you a scenario real quick, and you

367
00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:18.680
tell me how this would be handled. So I wake

368
00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.759
up at three o'clock in the morning, maybe I'm going

369
00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:23.920
to the restroom, I step in the bathroom and I

370
00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.160
feel water, and then I look down and maybe.

371
00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:27.880
A pipe's busted.

372
00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:32.079
Most people aren't gonna deal with that a whole lot

373
00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:35.880
in their lives, but when they do, they probably aren't

374
00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:37.960
going to know really what to do other than turn

375
00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:40.519
the water off, which you have a water main in

376
00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:42.720
the front of your house. Once that is done.

377
00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:43.839
A couple of.

378
00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.400
Interesting things about your company. Number One, you're twenty four

379
00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:48.640
to seven. So if it's three o'clock in the morning,

380
00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:52.039
I can still call David might not am, he might

381
00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:53.279
answer Hello.

382
00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:55.279
I'll probably call him directly.

383
00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:56.960
And I had that frog in my throat at three

384
00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:58.200
am a few times.

385
00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.759
Just and if he doesn't answer, yeah, sometimes you.

386
00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:03.559
Know is a right, I get it.

387
00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:08.119
But you are twenty four to seven, so that's especially

388
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.200
good for businesses who may need to get up and

389
00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:11.720
running as quickly as possible.

390
00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.279
Absolutely.

391
00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:16.759
But in addition to that, you also you work with

392
00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.039
the insurance, right.

393
00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:24.200
Yeah, absolutely. So one of our biggest value add services

394
00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.640
I WILL is not the physical restoration whatever we're doing,

395
00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:32.359
it's being a trusted partner in the process in the

396
00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:35.759
nuance of insurance and navigating claims. Yeah, I want to

397
00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:38.079
be very clear, we are not licensed adjusters. We do

398
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.880
not make coverage decisions behin any stretch. However, we do

399
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:43.279
offer advice to people that say, oh, well, you have

400
00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:47.319
a state farm policy and here's what I see, here's

401
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:49.680
what we might be able to expect from this policy

402
00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:53.359
based on previous experience. However, we still need to corroborate

403
00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:55.440
that with your adjuster to make sure all as well.

404
00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.519
And most people are trusting in that sense, right. Sure,

405
00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:01.039
that goes back to reputation, and a lot of phone

406
00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:02.839
calls to get are based on the reviews we have

407
00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.000
and people have done that homework before they even call.

408
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:09.920
But just simply put, not only restoring physical property, but

409
00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:14.400
helping the insured navigate that insurance process can be invaluable.

410
00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:17.279
Of course, I feel that way, and I'm sure if

411
00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:19.680
you would pull people that we've served, they would say, yeah,

412
00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:21.599
I mean I didn't never been through this before. I

413
00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:24.359
wasn't sure what to expect. So again, not just having

414
00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:26.799
someone that's good from a trade standpoint, but also having

415
00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:28.599
someone with some experience to say, hey, here's what you

416
00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:32.880
can expect to happen. And it's also really satisfying when

417
00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:35.279
we explain that, and then it just domino. It just

418
00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:38.440
falls into and you can see minute by minute that

419
00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.839
trust starting to grow. Like yep, I did talk to

420
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.920
my adjuster. They did corroborate what you said about X

421
00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.920
Y Z. Okay, thank you. Obviously I was a little apprehensive,

422
00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:48.119
but hey, let's move forward. That's always a huge one

423
00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:50.839
is being able to get someone to see that. Yeah,

424
00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:52.559
I mean we do have experience in this, of course.

425
00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.799
And when these insurance claims are made, is there money

426
00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:58.119
required up front?

427
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:02.599
No money up front, just insurance verification somewhere once.

428
00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.279
You explain kind of the mitigation kind of starting in that.

429
00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:07.279
You talked about blind trust a second ago. Want you

430
00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:10.440
just kind of talk about that not only the blind

431
00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:12.519
trust from the client to us, but us the blind

432
00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:14.000
trust we put in the insurance company.

433
00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:14.799
Sure.

434
00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:19.359
So, yeah, when we were talking about this is a

435
00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:23.319
oh crap moment, you're not planning for it. So what

436
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.160
we're asking someone who's standing in front of us in

437
00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:30.599
a flooded house or a burning house or whatever it

438
00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.880
might be, We're saying, we need you to sign this

439
00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:37.839
work authorization giving us permission to begin work.

440
00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:40.920
We don't know the.

441
00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:45.079
Exact costs yet, but we're going to work with your adjuster.

442
00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:48.160
Every step of the way. We use the same exact

443
00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:51.319
software that they use for pricing. It's line item pricing.

444
00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:54.440
We're going to keep them informed. If there's anything that

445
00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:56.960
comes up, we're going to make sure that they know

446
00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.279
about it. If there's anything that needs special permission, we're

447
00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:02.480
going to talk to them out it, and we're kind

448
00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:05.319
of just we're gonna vi that liaison between you know,

449
00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:10.799
the two between the insured and the insurance carrier, and

450
00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:13.680
we're going to make sure that there are no surprises

451
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:17.480
and that everything is done and documented correctly so that

452
00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:22.359
whenever we submit this invoice on your behalf, that we're

453
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.680
gonna get that you know, that payment from the carrier

454
00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:30.119
that that you're owned based on your policy. So again,

455
00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:33.119
that takes a lot of blind trust from someone, which

456
00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:36.319
is also why it's so important to have the reputation

457
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:40.359
in your community to earn to earn that trust from somebody.

458
00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:43.480
And then on the flip side of that, we're also

459
00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:49.240
performing work with zero dollars down and we're trusting blindly

460
00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:55.640
trusting our customer that whenever that those funds are deposited

461
00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:59.480
or received, that they're going to give us what we're owed.

462
00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:03.839
Sure so both parties are asking, you know, for a

463
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:07.519
lot of trust from one another in that sense.

464
00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:11.119
And I'll tell you you almost cannot put a price

465
00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:16.759
on the the I don't want to use the term

466
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.240
you're holding somebody's hand and walking them, but you kind

467
00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:23.079
of are people that And this is a stressful time

468
00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:27.200
already for people, especially people that don't deal with it often.

469
00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:28.880
And so the last thing.

470
00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:32.920
They want to have to do is deal with not

471
00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:35.880
knowing the proper steps that they need to take in

472
00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:39.039
order to get resolution to that issue, whatever it is,

473
00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:44.799
whether it's water damage, smoke, mold, whatever. So you just

474
00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:47.880
can't put a price on it. And you can mention reviews,

475
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.000
and I'm glad you mentioned that I wanted to. Throughout

476
00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:54.359
this podcast, I'm gonna review a couple of these reviews

477
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:58.519
with the people listening. I think those are important, and

478
00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:00.839
I'm going to one that really stuck out to me.

479
00:24:01.160 --> 00:24:04.079
I'm gonna read it quickly, says woke up at three

480
00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:08.240
point thirty am to chaos my neighbor's garage, fire, jumping

481
00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:12.119
to our place, cats freaking out, tearing up the side

482
00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:12.519
of the house.

483
00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:15.200
This person can write, by the way, very well.

484
00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:18.440
And through the attic between the fire and the water

485
00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:21.480
from the firefighters. The house was nearly a total loss,

486
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:23.640
and you don't think about that, but the water from

487
00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:27.880
the fire hoses eventually stripped down to the studs. Needed

488
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:31.759
a new roof and second floor frame. Truly terrible situation,

489
00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:37.279
but here comes restoration. One of Baton Ruge specifically, is

490
00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:40.599
it end to one. Okay stepped up big time. He

491
00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:43.519
was my main point of contact through the entire ordeal.

492
00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.680
And that right there is what we were just talking about.

493
00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:49.759
There's a contact there that is working with you. This

494
00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:54.359
person described it as an ordeal. This is not something fun.

495
00:24:54.599 --> 00:24:56.680
You know. His sister lives.

496
00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:59.039
Down the street, called him immediately and he was there,

497
00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:02.440
introduced himself while things were still unfolding. By ten am,

498
00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:06.200
his crew was already tarping and securing what was left

499
00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:11.480
of our house. The immediate response in a crisis meant everything.

500
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:12.880
Yeah. Huge.

501
00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:16.640
We pride ourselves so much more reviews because I mean, look,

502
00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:18.640
anyone can get on there and say whatever they want,

503
00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:23.359
right so we you know, we don't take feedback like

504
00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:26.200
that for granted, and this case in particular, I mean

505
00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:28.880
this was a ten month relationship from the time the

506
00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:30.920
fire occurred to the time these folks were able to

507
00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:34.839
move back in was ten months. Jim, you're talking we

508
00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:37.519
were a part of their life for a significant portion.

509
00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:37.720
Oh.

510
00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:40.079
By the way, these folks got married a month into

511
00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:43.839
this what the fire occurred and they wow, got married,

512
00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:46.000
went on a honeymoon, and when they came back, we

513
00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:49.599
had accomplished mini scopes. So yeah, you talk about trust.

514
00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.279
You know, we can't underscore how important that is huge.

515
00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:56.599
And and the fact that this person took the time

516
00:25:56.759 --> 00:26:00.759
to really and I only read a couple paragraphs of it, folks,

517
00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:02.880
but you can go on there and look, and I

518
00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:06.480
encourage you to do that. Check out these reviews. But

519
00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:10.039
that meant the impression you put on them was something

520
00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:12.319
where they said, you know, I'm going to really be

521
00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:16.039
descriptive about how happy I was with the service from

522
00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:16.519
this company.

523
00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:17.279
It's huge.

524
00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:21.559
It's hard people will I say it all the time.

525
00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:24.559
If they have a bad experience, in two seconds, they'll

526
00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:27.400
give a negative review. Someone that has a good experience

527
00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:29.319
sometimes they.

528
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.920
Expect that, so they don't go give the review.

529
00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:34.079
But you have a lot of glowing reviews, and I

530
00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:35.720
think that is a testament.

531
00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:37.440
To the good work you're doing. For the community, there's

532
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:38.359
no doubt about it.

533
00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:44.640
Let's get into some hurricane prep stuff that we've put

534
00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:45.440
together today.

535
00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:47.079
I want to talk a little bit about that.

536
00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:53.240
And you know, it's not always a hurricane that comes

537
00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:56.880
through as we as we discussed earlier, that may cause

538
00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:59.000
a situation where you need to call restoration.

539
00:26:59.160 --> 00:26:59.359
One.

540
00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:03.240
The good thing about hurricane or the good thing about

541
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.359
the fact that hurricanes blow through here is that usually

542
00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:09.000
have a little warning, right, there's a little time, a

543
00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.160
little time when it's sitting in the golf. One thing

544
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:14.400
people need to keep in mind though, Uh, you can't

545
00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:16.200
call and get insurance when it's in the golf.

546
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:18.480
Golf it's over.

547
00:27:18.920 --> 00:27:22.359
Yeah, So once it hits that, once it hits that

548
00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.960
golf it is it is too late. So make sure

549
00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:28.759
number one that you're insured. What what is something that

550
00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:31.920
maybe you see more often than not that they miss

551
00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:36.279
you mean as far as coverage, Well, both coverage and

552
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:38.359
the proper work ahead of time.

553
00:27:39.640 --> 00:27:44.200
Yeah, coverages are and I want to be again like

554
00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:46.160
a full disclaimer about me and I am not a

555
00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:49.640
license insurance professional. However, we see this so much that

556
00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:52.559
it has forced me to go review our own policies

557
00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:54.880
right after seeing something with a certain carrier, like let

558
00:27:54.880 --> 00:28:01.160
me make sure I've got that on my house. As

559
00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:03.400
hard as this is to ask the audience to do,

560
00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:05.880
you really need to know your policy as well as

561
00:28:05.880 --> 00:28:08.599
you can. And that's why you have an agent, you know,

562
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:11.480
whoever you bought that policy from. That is their job.

563
00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:13.960
And the agents that we partner with and the people

564
00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.079
we talk to want to be that conduit to say

565
00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:19.160
I want you to understand what's in your policy. I

566
00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:22.119
would suspect as an agent that if an event occurs

567
00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:25.200
and I have someone call me and I've got to say, hey, Jim,

568
00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:27.799
you don't have coverage for that because of X, Y

569
00:28:27.960 --> 00:28:30.000
Z right, and I gotta imagine it's a pretty gutting feeling.

570
00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:34.680
You know, you want to be there. You've sold them something. Obviously,

571
00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:36.960
I would imagine that that's a challenging thing to deliver,

572
00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:40.319
to say, yeah, you have this policy, but here. So

573
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.000
we find a lot of those agents want to explain it.

574
00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:44.960
They want their clients to be educated on what it

575
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:46.799
is they are covered for and against, and frankly it

576
00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:49.599
should make I would imagine it makes their job easier

577
00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:52.200
in the time of event because they've laid the correct expectations,

578
00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:55.880
so I don't I'm probably going to indirectly answer your question,

579
00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:58.839
but just knowing your policy, knowing what coverages you have,

580
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:01.200
no one wants to be surprise. You mentioned off air

581
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:04.400
during the flood of the difference between you know, structure

582
00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:06.759
insurance and contents on flood YEP. I canna imagine that

583
00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:09.039
was a big kick in the gut. Oh yeah, and

584
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:11.319
we've heard dozens of those stories. You know, we didn't

585
00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:13.480
have flood insurance back in twenty sixteen flood zone X

586
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:16.079
didn't know any better. Yeah, we'll never make that mistake again.

587
00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:20.640
But anyway, it you know, you pay this premium, you

588
00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:23.319
have coverage in place. You really and the owner should

589
00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:24.920
be one to use the policy holder to know what

590
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:28.559
you have. Sure again talking about blind trust, that's okay too,

591
00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:31.440
but communicating those needs to your agent and say, look,

592
00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:33.480
i've heard these stories of X y Z. I don't

593
00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:36.160
want that to happen to me. What's that provision and

594
00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:38.880
that policy going to cost extra if anything, for us

595
00:29:38.920 --> 00:29:40.039
to be insured against that?

596
00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:43.279
Yeah, great point, and one thing that you probably run

597
00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:46.000
into a lot. And I know with my policy, I

598
00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.960
didn't realize that this was an adnum to your policy.

599
00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:53.960
It wasn't something automatically included, was like sewer coverage. So

600
00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:57.680
if you sewer back, if you sewer backed up, your

601
00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:00.480
toilet backed up, I don't know, pick a t tragedy.

602
00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:05.440
But unless you have that extra endorsement endorsement on your

603
00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:09.079
insurance yeap, on your own, you'll probably see that.

604
00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:11.440
We see it, We see it often, and a lot

605
00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:13.920
of carriers will cap that coverage at around ten percent

606
00:30:13.960 --> 00:30:16.440
of policy max. So if you're insured for two hundred

607
00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:19.000
and fifty thousand in your structure, you've got twenty five

608
00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:21.359
thousand dollars worth of coverage in that example for sewer

609
00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:24.680
and drained backup if it applies, and there's there's different

610
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.519
kickers on what is concerned, you know, considered sewer and

611
00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:32.440
drained backup versus not, But that that twenty five thousand

612
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:36.440
includes all of it, the mitigation, the personal property, the repairs,

613
00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:38.160
an the al e, which we'll get into in a

614
00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:41.240
second terms of what that means. That's an all encompassing coverage.

615
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:44.119
So if the mitigational loan is ten thousand dollars, will

616
00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:46.440
you really only have fifteen left to put it back together?

617
00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:49.640
And often those coverages may not be enough to support

618
00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:52.440
the amount of damage that's there. So anyway, just knowing

619
00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:55.400
what's in your policy, it's critical please consult your agent,

620
00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:59.279
review it annually. If you hear something happening to someone,

621
00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:02.799
go autit your own policy and just just I emplore

622
00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:04.559
you to make sure you have the coverage necessary.

623
00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:08.039
Yeah, and making sure that you have access to it

624
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:14.559
after the event may happen. Whether I mean, I would

625
00:31:14.599 --> 00:31:17.839
say having both digital you know, whether it's screenshotting it

626
00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.279
on your phone, but then let's say the power goes out,

627
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:23.279
you don't can't charge your phone, it dies, whatever the

628
00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:26.039
situation is, having a paper copy as well, and just

629
00:31:26.119 --> 00:31:30.519
making sure to you know, seal it in something watertight

630
00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:32.359
to keep you know, putting it up high, putting in

631
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:35.400
a rubber made container or you know ziploc bag. Just

632
00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:39.839
things like that that you know, once the the damage

633
00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:42.200
has been done, you're not thinking about that. Those are

634
00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:44.160
things you can do ahead of time to just be

635
00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:46.480
prepared all hurricane season long.

636
00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:48.079
I've got to give a shout out to the people

637
00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:53.319
of Livingston Paris. It may surprise you. It surprised me

638
00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:55.759
in the early days of how many people have physical

639
00:31:55.799 --> 00:31:58.880
copies of their policies these days, it's actually really high.

640
00:31:59.279 --> 00:31:59.519
Yeah.

641
00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:02.200
I've been on countless jobs where I show up and

642
00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:05.000
this is not always a rhetorical question. I'll say, Hey,

643
00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:06.519
do you happen to have a copy of your policy

644
00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:08.599
your declarations page at least so that we can see

645
00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:10.200
what you have? Yeah, I'm problem. Here you go and

646
00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:13.440
it's like that happens a lot. Yeah, so I want

647
00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:15.240
to give a shout out to the people of this parish.

648
00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:16.480
It happens a lot.

649
00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:18.079
Love paper around here.

650
00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:22.720
I'm a paper go see, that's exactly what I'm saying.

651
00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:25.720
That was not rehearsed. It happens so often, and as

652
00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:29.000
a contractor, again, we're not determining coverage, but at least

653
00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:32.960
giving us an idea. It happens often on fire. Personal

654
00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:38.119
property can sometimes be undervalued. Sure, Jim, if you go

655
00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:42.440
in your house right now, I'm not gonna loudcap you here,

656
00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:46.279
but you you and your home have upwards, if not

657
00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:50.079
more than, one hundred thousand dollars worth of clothes, spoons, cups.

658
00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:52.400
I mean, your personal property adds up in a hardening you.

659
00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:57.680
No doubt about it, especially larger families. Oh my case,

660
00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:58.559
five people.

661
00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:00.680
It's it's nothing for a two thousand square foot house,

662
00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:02.279
just to give a number to have one of two

663
00:33:02.359 --> 00:33:06.119
hundred thousand dollars worth of actual clothing. Shoot, I mean

664
00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.079
just anything, computer screens everything. I mean, those.

665
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:11.039
TVs are so unbelievable.

666
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:13.319
We see it often. On the personal property side. There

667
00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:17.079
sometimes can be some coverage deltas, and it's so important

668
00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:19.200
for us on that very first day to go, hey,

669
00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:21.599
you have a two thousand square foot house, I would

670
00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:25.279
suspect you have X in terms of value. You have

671
00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:28.319
seventy five K worth coverage. We need to be very

672
00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:31.400
careful on what you're requesting here because we don't want

673
00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:34.559
to run up a tab with the insurance company and

674
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:37.480
take away from that number to get you reimbursed for

675
00:33:37.559 --> 00:33:39.640
your mattresses, your couches, your clothes. Like, we have to

676
00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:41.960
take all that into consideration. Yeah, all that to say,

677
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:46.000
having copies of your deck page for us often helps

678
00:33:46.039 --> 00:33:48.119
steer the ship in terms of how we should approach something.

679
00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:48.640
Yeah.

680
00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:53.119
Yeah, it's it's a roadmap to what to what you

681
00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:55.799
need to get back home again or what's possible.

682
00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:59.200
And I think to going along with that, the just

683
00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:05.119
the documentation of your contents ahead of time, It's different

684
00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:09.519
than if you know, you had a leak in your bathroom,

685
00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:12.679
someone like restoration one would go in and document those

686
00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:15.840
things after the fact, because that's not going to affect

687
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:19.840
hundreds of thousands of dollars of contents. But we're talking

688
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:25.400
about hurricanes, storms, floods. You've probably heard to just go

689
00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:26.920
through every room of your house and.

690
00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:28.599
Video would be the quickest way.

691
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:33.119
But you can take timestamped photos, especially those higher priced items,

692
00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:38.880
those jewelry, valuables, things like that, because God forbid your

693
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:42.159
roof get torn off, or you know, flood comes up.

694
00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:45.840
Six feet in your house. You know, how are you

695
00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:48.079
exactly going to prove exactly what it was that you had.

696
00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:50.559
I cannot tell you how many times this just happened

697
00:34:50.599 --> 00:34:53.000
here locally for a house fire we were doing. You

698
00:34:53.079 --> 00:34:55.159
know I mentioned we it's called a pack out and

699
00:34:55.239 --> 00:34:57.800
a pack in inventory. We take everything out and then

700
00:34:57.800 --> 00:35:00.599
we bring it back when it's time. We brought a

701
00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:03.000
client's belongings back to them after the house was put

702
00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:05.519
back together, and the feedback that got to me was, oh,

703
00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:07.559
I forgot I had this. I forgot I had that.

704
00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:11.119
I mean, in your home, you may have some things

705
00:35:11.159 --> 00:35:13.000
stashed away in a closet that you sort of forgot about.

706
00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:15.920
But people, you have a lot of stuff. Whether you're

707
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:18.280
a collector of things or not, you know, just an

708
00:35:18.440 --> 00:35:21.239
any one person that is affected by this has more

709
00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:23.119
than they consider. It always happens when you move right.

710
00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:25.559
I did not realize how much stuff we had, yes

711
00:35:26.360 --> 00:35:28.840
to pack it, unpack it right or after.

712
00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:31.119
The flood when when when you're packing it out to

713
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:34.840
the fourt yard and it's a mountain and you're like, wow,

714
00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:36.599
we had as much stuff in the.

715
00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:42.559
House and on that to also, you know, people want

716
00:35:42.599 --> 00:35:44.599
to get the wet stuff out as soon as possible

717
00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:48.280
and in a large event like that, but a lot

718
00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:51.000
of times the adjusters are going to want to see

719
00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:53.800
what was removed from the house, or at least have

720
00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:59.840
good video and photos of it. So before throwing stuff,

721
00:36:00.039 --> 00:36:02.800
I'll make sure that you you know, speak to your

722
00:36:02.920 --> 00:36:06.480
guster and and get the okay or get that documentation.

723
00:36:06.840 --> 00:36:09.119
Yeah, because that's a proof that you actually had it.

724
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:14.800
And I remember, specifically during the flood a lot of

725
00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:17.239
chatter of if you throw it in your front yard,

726
00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:19.840
don't let them pick it up, keep it there or

727
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:22.480
take pictures of it or something. First, I have some

728
00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:27.159
proof of what you lost, which you know after the

729
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:29.880
fact we all did, but taking a video of it

730
00:36:29.960 --> 00:36:32.360
ahead of time, I think if.

731
00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:33.440
It's a fire, it's gone.

732
00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:36.320
So if you take a video of it, at least

733
00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:38.800
you have something there to remember what you had, because

734
00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:42.239
unlike a flood, with a fire, it's non existence. A

735
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:46.159
lot of stuff just burns up completely. Absolutely so very

736
00:36:46.239 --> 00:36:49.639
important and very good point. And I'll say something else

737
00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.559
on that front, and that is make sure that you

738
00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:56.280
you know, you start you generating. You pretty much everybody

739
00:36:56.280 --> 00:36:59.159
if you live in South Louisiana, you've got a generator

740
00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:03.480
at least, and make sure you start that every season

741
00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:06.760
when it starts June first, for those that don't know.

742
00:37:07.519 --> 00:37:07.639
Uh.

743
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:11.000
And actually I went out there to do it last season,

744
00:37:11.639 --> 00:37:14.400
and when I started it, my gas was leaking everywhere,

745
00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:17.519
a dry rot at hoses and I ended up getting

746
00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:20.280
another generator. But I wouldn't have known that if I

747
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:22.400
wouldn't have went out there. And the worst time to

748
00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:24.320
find that out is after a storm when you don't

749
00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:25.119
have electricity.

750
00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:27.599
Yeah that not only the lines at the box stores

751
00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:31.199
get pretty long. And if you mayerators and not oh yeah,

752
00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:34.760
everything else. Yeah, again, being being from South Louisiana or

753
00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:38.679
your listeners here are obviously gonna likely this won't be theory.

754
00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:41.880
They will be reflecting on some memories of I remember that. Yeah,

755
00:37:41.960 --> 00:37:44.599
I remember Ida Gustave. I remember those.

756
00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:48.960
Oh yeah, And you know it doesn't this year, for example,

757
00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:52.000
they they projected at the beginning of the hurricane season

758
00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:55.280
it was gonna be a higher than average year. Now

759
00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:57.320
they've kind of backed off on that a little bit.

760
00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:01.760
But just some information for everybody. Don't take too much,

761
00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:06.199
don't pay too much attention to those numbers. In nineteen

762
00:38:06.280 --> 00:38:09.119
ninety two, they have one storm hit Louisiana. That was it,

763
00:38:09.320 --> 00:38:12.679
but it was Hurricane Andrew and it was a mess

764
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.400
around here for quite a while. If you remember that,

765
00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:19.079
I was in high school when that when that storm hit,

766
00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:22.679
and I do remember it only one that year, but

767
00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:24.239
all it takes is one.

768
00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:25.199
That's the thing.

769
00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:27.840
You know, you mentioned something earlier. That's typically we do

770
00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:32.159
have some some runway time to Yeah, hay storms on

771
00:38:32.199 --> 00:38:35.559
the way. If you and your listeners will remember, i'da

772
00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:37.960
spun up and within seventy two hours it was on

773
00:38:38.119 --> 00:38:41.440
shore as a Cat three that I just remember it

774
00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:43.719
formed off the Yucatan right there in the southern golf

775
00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:46.199
Oh yeah, and that way it seems like within you know,

776
00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:48.280
twenty four hours, it's like, get out of town. I mean,

777
00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:50.760
just things going to be serious, get away from the coastline.

778
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:55.599
From my recollection, the path for the longest was between

779
00:38:55.679 --> 00:38:58.920
Lafayette Baton Rouge, right, if we all remember, I mean

780
00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:01.760
that thing towards spring Field Albany Up. I mean that

781
00:39:01.880 --> 00:39:05.519
that path kept shifting to the east and almost like

782
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:07.880
it was changing every hour on the hour. And then

783
00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:10.320
I remember when it came on shore. It's set, it's

784
00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:12.639
set on top of La Fouche Parish for what seemed

785
00:39:12.719 --> 00:39:15.079
like hours, right, and then it kind of jogged and

786
00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:17.239
then that's when it came north. But these things are

787
00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:19.639
just so unpredictable, you know, you talk about being fascinated

788
00:39:19.719 --> 00:39:22.559
with weather and just the sheer respect we should have

789
00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:24.840
for these things. And that's why it's important not only

790
00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:26.920
from a coverage standpoint to make sure we're taking care

791
00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:30.239
of ourselves, but just respecting these things in general, because

792
00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:33.039
you know, everyone remembers two thousand and five with Katrina

793
00:39:33.039 --> 00:39:36.880
and Rita. That was I mean, God forbid we ever

794
00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:39.400
experience anything that devastating again.

795
00:39:39.360 --> 00:39:40.320
Yeah, that was right.

796
00:39:40.440 --> 00:39:45.000
And then Laura Delta Zeta late you know, Southwest Louisiana. Yeah,

797
00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:49.320
what it's been five years now, which is crazy, But yeah,

798
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:51.719
these these things are just it's good to be prepared,

799
00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:53.840
but just respect them in general because you never know

800
00:39:53.880 --> 00:39:54.440
what could happened.

801
00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:58.960
Yeah, and and another good U hint for you to

802
00:39:59.239 --> 00:40:03.920
prep for type of storm. Always have a waterproof bag

803
00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:08.880
with your prescriptions and things like that in it. One

804
00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:12.039
of the most important things she can do. You know,

805
00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:14.920
medicine gets ruined or.

806
00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:20.079
Or if it's you know, the damage is catastrophic, and

807
00:40:20.199 --> 00:40:24.800
your local pharmacies aren't opened for yeah, a month, two months,

808
00:40:24.840 --> 00:40:27.639
three months, so it just makes it that much more

809
00:40:27.719 --> 00:40:31.599
difficult to get those refills and things like that. So yeah,

810
00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:34.960
I mean I would things like that that you can

811
00:40:35.039 --> 00:40:38.920
go out and do some things that most people.

812
00:40:38.679 --> 00:40:39.239
Don't think about.

813
00:40:39.239 --> 00:40:41.639
We all know to go get your canned foods, go

814
00:40:41.800 --> 00:40:43.639
get your hurricane snacks, you.

815
00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:47.000
Know, get stocked up on all the things. But you know,

816
00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:49.320
you don't think about sting kits.

817
00:40:49.960 --> 00:40:54.519
Yeah, you know, you're you're picking up debris and you're

818
00:40:54.920 --> 00:40:58.719
you're disturbing things that haven't been disturbing sometime and there's

819
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:02.360
a huge nest and someone gets stung or just you know,

820
00:41:02.440 --> 00:41:05.840
those are those are often the things that are thought

821
00:41:05.960 --> 00:41:07.559
up in that initial planning.

822
00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:11.199
But you know, cooling kits for your pets.

823
00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:13.000
Great point.

824
00:41:13.280 --> 00:41:14.559
You know they have all of those types of.

825
00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:18.559
Things out there that are available and often, you know

826
00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:22.199
in South Louisiana people like to joke about, you know,

827
00:41:22.280 --> 00:41:24.519
when a hurricane comes and it's not bad, and then

828
00:41:24.920 --> 00:41:29.400
you know, I would rather that every single time getting

829
00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:33.119
more damage than you know you expected. So this is

830
00:41:33.159 --> 00:41:35.679
stuff that you can buy ahead of time, have it

831
00:41:35.840 --> 00:41:38.599
ready just in case. Hopefully you don't have to use it,

832
00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:41.760
but when when the time comes and you need it,

833
00:41:41.800 --> 00:41:43.280
you'll be very thankful that you did.

834
00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:45.519
Yeah, I say a lot. I would rather have it

835
00:41:45.599 --> 00:41:47.360
and not need it than need it and not have it.

836
00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:49.320
I mean every day of the week.

837
00:41:50.119 --> 00:41:52.239
Because I've been on both sides of that and in

838
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:58.800
different things, so I totally agree with that. Now let's

839
00:41:58.840 --> 00:42:02.320
switch gears again and let's talk about the mistakes that

840
00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:05.559
people make when when these storms come.

841
00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:07.920
What do they miss the most? And I know one

842
00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:11.719
of those is what we've already discussed, access to insurance.

843
00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:15.199
They didn't maybe print out that form and put it

844
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:18.400
in a waterproof deal and you may say, hey, everything's

845
00:42:18.440 --> 00:42:19.960
online now I can just pull it up.

846
00:42:20.039 --> 00:42:21.440
Well not if you don't have internet.

847
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:26.239
Been there, done that a couple of times. So always

848
00:42:26.360 --> 00:42:30.760
have that backup. No understanding of what's actually covered, which

849
00:42:30.840 --> 00:42:31.960
is something you help.

850
00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:34.119
Walk people through. Yeah, I mean you can look.

851
00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:37.360
Over he's not a state farm agent or an agent

852
00:42:37.400 --> 00:42:40.639
of any type, but he certainly deals with insurance.

853
00:42:41.559 --> 00:42:44.559
I would say, you know, not to belabor this point,

854
00:42:44.599 --> 00:42:46.920
but just knowing what's in your policy, it's just so important.

855
00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:49.920
You know, in the time of natural disaster, you know,

856
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:52.920
everyone wants to get started as soon as possible. There

857
00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:56.679
is nuance to this. Getting approvals maybe hard. You know,

858
00:42:56.840 --> 00:42:58.840
often in a cat event you've got adjusters from all

859
00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:01.480
over the country that fly in. You know, for certain

860
00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:04.679
natural disasters, you're you're, you're. Your adjuster may be from

861
00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:08.360
who knows where, USA and may be here on a

862
00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:10.519
deployment for a month to adjust as many of these

863
00:43:10.519 --> 00:43:13.960
as possible. You're, you're, that's your field adjuster. Your desk

864
00:43:13.960 --> 00:43:16.599
adjuster may be sitting in Dallas somewhere, or in Los Angeles.

865
00:43:16.679 --> 00:43:20.840
You never know, so uh, documenting things, Uh, you know,

866
00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:24.800
for me, expectations are very important in life. And uh,

867
00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:28.559
you know, we loosely had a discussion about deductibles. You know,

868
00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.360
many people get caught off gore during a name storm

869
00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:35.519
that their hurricane deductible is two to five times what

870
00:43:35.719 --> 00:43:37.679
it may normally be if you have a one percent

871
00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:41.079
deductible or your hurricane maybe two to five percent. Wow,

872
00:43:41.280 --> 00:43:43.559
And and it comes in a lot on on a

873
00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:45.880
large event. If you have one hundred thousand dollars worth

874
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:49.920
of damage and you have a five percent deductible, that

875
00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:51.800
money is going to come out of your pockets as

876
00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:54.679
the insured. You know, contractors are not allowed to eat

877
00:43:54.679 --> 00:44:00.199
deductibles public service announcement as it does happen. But any way,

878
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:02.519
it's it's incredibly important to have the right set of

879
00:44:02.559 --> 00:44:04.519
expectations to you know, we talked about sort of being

880
00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:08.039
let down from a from a knowledge standpoint. We want

881
00:44:08.079 --> 00:44:09.840
as many people to go into an eye as wide

882
00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:12.719
open as possible and not number one have to be

883
00:44:12.760 --> 00:44:15.079
the bear of bad news when we say, Amos Smith,

884
00:44:15.639 --> 00:44:18.639
did you notice this five percent deductible here? Well, no,

885
00:44:18.760 --> 00:44:20.599
what does that mean? And then we've got to deliver

886
00:44:20.679 --> 00:44:23.039
that information. It's a lot easier to say, hey, I'm

887
00:44:23.079 --> 00:44:25.880
just making sure you're aware of your deductible. Yes, I'm aware.

888
00:44:25.920 --> 00:44:27.679
I know it's high. You know, we'll figure it out.

889
00:44:27.880 --> 00:44:28.039
Yeah.

890
00:44:28.119 --> 00:44:30.360
That's a much more comfortable conversation than being the one

891
00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:32.880
to literally tell them, hey, this is going to cost

892
00:44:32.920 --> 00:44:33.920
you a few extra bucks in here.

893
00:44:33.960 --> 00:44:36.679
So I can only imagine, yeah, that that cannot be

894
00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:40.360
any fun at all, especially when you're already going through it,

895
00:44:40.679 --> 00:44:45.239
you know, and you hear things about that. One thing

896
00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:47.960
I want everybody to do right now is I want

897
00:44:48.119 --> 00:44:51.320
them to take their phones and I want them to

898
00:44:51.480 --> 00:44:55.400
type restoration one in it in a phone number. First

899
00:44:55.440 --> 00:45:00.519
of all, what's your contact information anything, anything anybody has

900
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:06.480
in the way of water damage, fire damage, smoke damage, mould.

901
00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:09.079
Re mediation, those sorts of things. What's the phone number

902
00:45:10.239 --> 00:45:11.159
so you can reach us.

903
00:45:11.119 --> 00:45:15.639
At two two five to seven seven zero eight zero seven. Now,

904
00:45:15.719 --> 00:45:18.320
of course, if you were to Google us or Google

905
00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:21.360
my business number is different. They all come to this

906
00:45:21.559 --> 00:45:24.679
to the same place. We can be reached on any

907
00:45:24.719 --> 00:45:29.199
of our social media platforms. Sending a message on Facebook,

908
00:45:29.880 --> 00:45:34.920
Instagram LinkedIn those will get answered very quickly. But calling

909
00:45:35.039 --> 00:45:37.000
us this of course, is the quickest way to get

910
00:45:37.039 --> 00:45:40.320
in touch with someone on our team who is ready

911
00:45:40.440 --> 00:45:41.480
and willing to help.

912
00:45:41.719 --> 00:45:43.320
We talked about the twenty four to seven things, so

913
00:45:43.440 --> 00:45:46.159
we I think it's important that we have four people

914
00:45:46.239 --> 00:45:48.639
on call at every moment of the day, three hundred

915
00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:49.559
and sixty five days a year.

916
00:45:49.679 --> 00:45:50.159
That's humble.

917
00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:54.599
You know, that blows my mind because that's some logistics there,

918
00:45:54.719 --> 00:45:58.079
and I'm like, man, how does David or us pull

919
00:45:58.159 --> 00:45:58.519
that off?

920
00:45:59.639 --> 00:46:04.280
Google calendar? And really really good people who believe in

921
00:46:04.360 --> 00:46:06.599
the mission and the values of what we represent.

922
00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:09.519
Ant And I think that is something that I want

923
00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:14.880
everybody to get out of today's podcast is people matter,

924
00:46:15.320 --> 00:46:18.079
And to me, it matters. I want to do business

925
00:46:18.159 --> 00:46:20.360
people that are good, people that care about the community,

926
00:46:20.559 --> 00:46:24.920
give beyond themselves, things like that, and you are both

927
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:26.920
shining examples of that.

928
00:46:27.360 --> 00:46:30.559
And in addition, you're pretty darn good at what you do. Yeah,

929
00:46:31.079 --> 00:46:33.159
and so it's the best of both the world.

930
00:46:33.599 --> 00:46:35.239
I tell our team this all the time. You know,

931
00:46:35.400 --> 00:46:39.360
having a servant's heart is critical to our success. And

932
00:46:39.880 --> 00:46:41.800
I've been very upfront with people that I've worked for

933
00:46:41.880 --> 00:46:43.960
us in the past. If you lose sight of that,

934
00:46:44.039 --> 00:46:45.679
if you lose sight of the empathy of the people

935
00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:47.880
we're serving, You're not going to make it in this industry.

936
00:46:47.880 --> 00:46:51.400
It's too tough. Is it is unlikely that if you

937
00:46:52.280 --> 00:46:54.440
don't care about what we do when I call you

938
00:46:54.480 --> 00:46:56.559
at three am to get out of bed, yeah, when

939
00:46:56.599 --> 00:47:00.400
it's thirty degrees outside, If you don't care about serving,

940
00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:02.920
you're probably not gonn last very long in this industry.

941
00:47:02.920 --> 00:47:05.639
And it's not just us. So having that servant's heart

942
00:47:05.840 --> 00:47:10.440
is just critical to us providing the level of service

943
00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:11.360
that we need to provide.

944
00:47:11.880 --> 00:47:15.880
I can't agree more. And so, folks, I'm gonna link

945
00:47:16.360 --> 00:47:20.039
the website in the description of this podcast and some

946
00:47:20.159 --> 00:47:23.039
of their social media go give them a like on Facebook.

947
00:47:23.159 --> 00:47:27.039
They share great tips on the Facebook.

948
00:47:26.599 --> 00:47:28.679
Page that keep you engaged.

949
00:47:28.760 --> 00:47:33.599
If you will also take your phone restoration one. Put

950
00:47:33.679 --> 00:47:37.079
in the number now if you ever need them, it's

951
00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:41.519
already in there. You ain't gotta go hectic looking for

952
00:47:41.719 --> 00:47:44.360
what was the number of that local leader's podcast. Put

953
00:47:44.400 --> 00:47:46.599
it in there right now, it'll be there. Save it

954
00:47:47.239 --> 00:47:50.679
and twenty four to seven, We're ready to serve, Ready

955
00:47:50.719 --> 00:47:53.480
to serve. Thank you so much for coming on and

956
00:47:54.320 --> 00:47:57.119
helping get people prepared for what they can do to

957
00:47:57.239 --> 00:47:59.920
maybe take some of that sting out of hurricanes seas

958
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:01.719
and should a storm come.

959
00:48:01.639 --> 00:48:03.239
This way, and Jim, thanks for having us. Thrilled to

960
00:48:03.280 --> 00:48:03.519
be back.

961
00:48:03.559 --> 00:48:06.920
It's a few years, it has been, you know. It's interesting.

962
00:48:06.960 --> 00:48:09.920
It popped up on my Facebook feed. I want to

963
00:48:09.960 --> 00:48:12.320
say last week or the week before, but it said

964
00:48:12.400 --> 00:48:14.599
three years ago or something like that, and I'm like, wow,

965
00:48:14.639 --> 00:48:15.480
has it been that long?

966
00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:17.079
And thanks for the great work you do and getting

967
00:48:17.079 --> 00:48:19.519
the words out for long businesses. It's invaluable things.

968
00:48:19.599 --> 00:48:20.239
Labor love.

969
00:48:20.320 --> 00:48:24.599
For me, I'm just blessed to sit down with good

970
00:48:24.679 --> 00:48:27.639
business people and I learn every day just like everybody else.

971
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:31.239
With good business people that come on this show, you

972
00:48:31.360 --> 00:48:34.599
certainly reflect that. I am so happy to see the

973
00:48:34.760 --> 00:48:37.840
massive success that you've had. It's all earned and it

974
00:48:37.960 --> 00:48:38.519
came through a.

975
00:48:38.599 --> 00:48:41.079
Lot of hard work. And here we go.

976
00:48:41.440 --> 00:48:43.679
Our success is o to our team, and we'd be

977
00:48:43.760 --> 00:48:45.480
remiss if we walked out of here without saying that

978
00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:48.599
that we've had the success we've had because we've got

979
00:48:48.639 --> 00:48:50.519
the right people in the right seats. We've got people

980
00:48:50.559 --> 00:48:52.599
that care about what they do. We have people that

981
00:48:52.679 --> 00:48:54.559
care about serving the person in front of them. And

982
00:48:54.719 --> 00:48:57.360
without our team, which has grown to twenty five plus

983
00:48:57.400 --> 00:48:59.559
at this point, I mean, without them, this doesn't exist.

984
00:48:59.639 --> 00:49:02.039
So there's no way we're walking out of here without

985
00:49:02.079 --> 00:49:05.320
acknowledging them. They're they're the real real heroes behind all

986
00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:05.519
of this.

987
00:49:05.880 --> 00:49:09.519
Yeah, no doubt about it. And all of that, uh

988
00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:14.000
comes from good leadership. And look y'all, y'all our husband

989
00:49:14.039 --> 00:49:18.559
and wife duo here and uh and so it requires

990
00:49:18.599 --> 00:49:20.760
a strong relationship to be able to pull that one off.

991
00:49:21.559 --> 00:49:25.760
And so it's you have no doubt about it, Wendy Chatman,

992
00:49:25.840 --> 00:49:27.519
you ain't coming to work here any times.

993
00:49:27.760 --> 00:49:28.960
They just kid double cut that.

994
00:49:29.039 --> 00:49:31.960
Out in the dryer, lint out.

995
00:49:32.480 --> 00:49:34.599
Yeah, that's right, get that lit out.

996
00:49:35.320 --> 00:49:35.719
That's right.

997
00:49:35.800 --> 00:49:37.480
Well, thank you so much for coming on.

998
00:49:38.199 --> 00:49:41.559
And uh, folks, give them a like on Facebook. I

999
00:49:41.599 --> 00:49:43.440
want to see some people out there hitting that like

1000
00:49:43.559 --> 00:49:47.239
button and click that link and check them out on

1001
00:49:47.440 --> 00:49:51.480
their website for more information. And until next time, I'm

1002
00:49:51.599 --> 00:49:54.760
Jim Chapman, your host of Local Leaders of the podcast

1003
00:49:55.159 --> 00:50:00.199
reminding you love your community, support local business and coal

1004
00:50:00.280 --> 00:50:02.519
restoration companies and keep leaving.

1005
00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:03.639
Thank you very much,