January 15, 2025 • 27 mins
Join Patrick Somers and Mike Costa, our host and co-host, as they introduce the purpose behind The Tradepreneur Show and discuss the "trades." Are they just manual labor jobs, or are there more avenues to being in the trades?
Questions answered:
Are you in the trades or thinking about joining the trades?
Do you have to start your own business to be successful in the trades?
How to maximize your value as a technician?
What kind of mindset is needed for success?
Is your business a family or a team? What's the difference?
What is Patrick's background?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the first episode of the Trade Canoe World podcast.
(00:16):
I'm really excited to be able to launch this podcast.
It's been a long time in the making, and I'm excited to introduce Mike Costa, my co-host,
who is going to help me get this thing launched and going.
Mike comes from a long line of the entertainment industry, radio, and is actually on a podcast,
(00:37):
pretty popular podcast, The Big Biz Show.
But I'll let Mike tell you about the story.
Well first off, I'm humbled and honored to be able to begin this endeavor with you.
Patrick and I met on The Big Biz Show a couple months ago, and this was kind of being tossed
(00:59):
about a little bit.
He reached out and said, hey, would you be interested?
I was like, well, what are you going to call it?
What is it?
He said it's the Trade Per Neur podcast.
It's not only Patrick's story, but it's the story of so many people going from the ground
(01:22):
floor up to the penthouse, but deserving the penthouse, earning the penthouse in the business
world.
I said, yeah, my background is radio, television, and sports, and so this is a new challenge,
a new endeavor for me.
That's why when you offer the opportunity, I was like, yeah, let's get out of the comfort
(01:44):
zone because I am going to learn a ton from you.
Hopefully I can augment your story on the Trade Per Neur podcast, and I'm really excited
to get going.
Yeah, so am I.
It's going to be awesome.
So am I, and I'm excited to have you honored as well because-
That's always good.
I'm an amateur.
That's always good.
I'm an amateur, right?
(02:05):
You're the pro, and so you can keep me on the straight and narrow because this podcast
thing is all new to me.
You'd really be surprised because anybody who's ever been involved, I have always been
taught by my mentors in radio and television that when you're speaking into a microphone
or you're speaking into a TV camera, just imagine you're talking to one person.
(02:28):
And then it's been taken as far as, hey, pull up a bar stool, sit down, and just talk with
one of your buddies.
That's all you have to think about as you're doing it, and that's where the real, I think,
the conversationality comes out.
More importantly, the story, the gist of the story, the building blocks of the story comes
out.
(02:49):
And you and I immediately started getting along anyhow, so I knew it was going to be
really fun to come out and do this with you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, well, you know, for me, podcast is a way to reach a lot of people in a medium that's
been around a while, but it's still very new, I believe, right?
(03:12):
And to be able to do this and be able to impact people's lives, that's what I want to do,
right?
At the end of the day, I want to be able to impact people's lives.
And there's a selfish component, too, because I want to be able to impact my life, because
I think it goes back to what Ziegler says, right?
If you help enough people get what they want, you can get what you want.
So I think there's a two-way street here.
(03:34):
While there's a lot more people out there that have had much more success than me, although
I'm going to catch up to them.
So my goal is really to say, okay, what are the trades, right?
We typically think of the top trades people think of, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing,
(03:56):
masonry, welding.
Welding is a huge one, huge demand.
But you know what?
It's also where I really want to get people's focuses, there's a lot of other trades out
there that typically people don't associate as being a trade, right?
For instance, my daughter, she graduated from high school, a very good high school.
Most of her friends went to college.
(04:18):
She went to esthetician school.
She's an esthetician.
And that's the trade.
Absolutely.
Cosmetology is a trade, right?
Personal training, that's a trade.
Now you can take all of these trades and augment them with college and higher education, and
that's fantastic.
(04:39):
But there's so many avenues for people to go in out there.
And you know, I want to really just talk about the trades, not specifically the traditional
trades as we think of them.
All right.
So and I should have asked you this right off the bat because I still, and shame on
(05:00):
me for not doing my homework, are asking you beforehand, the name of the podcast is the
Tradepreneur podcast.
What exactly is a tradepreneur?
Because I'll be honest with you, before I met you, I'd never heard that word used.
But obviously, this is the tradepreneur podcast.
What is it?
(05:20):
Well, so when I started as a technician, a general air conditioning employee, I went
in every day.
I was a technician, entry level technician, right?
I was training.
I finally got on my own.
I was still training and learning.
But from day one, even before day one, it started the interview process.
(05:44):
I showed up as though I owned the company.
And I operated every day like it was my business.
And then I took my truck and operated like it was my own business unit, right?
Knowing that I wanted to go into business.
Now, not everybody needs to go into business.
But if you are in the trades, regardless of what you're doing, if you know how to operate
(06:08):
correctly and you can think like an entrepreneur, so the trades, entrepreneur, the merging of
two words, right?
If you can be in the trades and think like an entrepreneur, you create a value to the
customers you serve, to the company you serve, and to yourself, it takes you to a whole other
(06:33):
level.
You're untouchable, right?
So many people show up, I work for the man.
I'm going to work.
I'm going in.
I'm punching.
I'm punching out.
So many people have the mentality like they're Fred Flintstone, you know, and the whistle
blows at the quarry.
They slide off Dino and they go.
Turn off the switch.
But if you're a tradepreneur, and that's fine, right?
(06:53):
That's fine.
It's like in Caddyshack when what's-his-name said to the kid who was trying to…
The world needs ditch diggers too?
Yeah, the world needs ditch diggers too.
Judge smells.
And we do need ditch diggers.
But if you're a ditch digger, right?
Yeah.
What a classic.
If you're a ditch digger, you know, you can be very successful and make a lot of money
(07:17):
and have fulfillment, be happy.
You're getting something done, you're doing something, but you can't have to just show
up and do it.
And that's why in addition to, you know, talking about how to maximize your value and learning
the business side of things.
So even if you're just going out and you're being your tech and you're going your day
(07:37):
in and day out, start to think like a business owner, act like a business owner, bring that
additional value to the three that I said.
Yeah.
It's also about mindset, right?
I see so many young people in the trades that struggle with mindset, right?
Struggle with diet and nutrition.
And you know, in a future episode, we're going to be talking about my own struggle with that
(08:00):
and what I've done and why I've chosen to engage my health and wellness as my number
one priority to make me the number one tradepreneur out there.
So and that's a good point to, I guess, for you to let the people know.
This isn't just a podcast dedicated to this is how you splice wires together type of thing.
(08:24):
Correct.
It is.
It's it is a hub with countless spokes.
Correct.
All under the tradepreneurship, the tradepreneur podcast umbrella.
Yeah, correct.
And while while we may have somebody on that talks about, well, I could, there's success
in splicing wires.
(08:44):
And I'll be honest with you.
I could use a lesson in stuff like that.
That's why I was so excited to be able to do this with you, because when it comes to
things around my house or anything of the technical nature, HVAC to plumbing to construction
to whatever.
Forget it.
Forget it.
(09:04):
These are all phones.
Well, and the trades are just and I tell technicians a lot like you a doctor calls you to their
home because that's not their specialty.
Right.
Exactly.
They go to their home because you're the specialist, just like you go to a doctor specialist.
But yeah, it's we're going to do a lot of mindset.
And one thing I'll tell you, and here's full disclosure, we're going to be controversial.
(09:34):
Happy New Year, Coachella Valley.
This is Patrick Summers, president and CEO, General Air Conditioning and Plumbing.
Listen, we all know that New Year's resolutions usually don't last.
But with proper maintenance and service, your plumbing, electrical and HVAC system will
give you many years of trouble free service.
Give us a call.
Get it tuned up.
Get the inspections done.
(09:55):
Let's make sure you're good to go all year long.
Happy to take care of you.
Happy New Year.
Let's make this year 2025 an amazing year.
Why are we going to be controversial now?
Because if you're not controversial, you're compliant.
(10:17):
And if you're compliant, you become complacent.
Now, what's really important is like any dichotomies, if you just run with it and you don't have
a deep understanding of it and you don't apply it correctly, then you just think being controversial
as well, I'm going to show up late to work.
I'm not going to register my car and I'm going to do whatever I want.
(10:38):
But we'll get into that in a future episode, that dichotomy of being controversial, compliant
and why controversial done correctly.
So I mean, look, I hope I piss a few people off.
I really do.
Right?
Because if we all agree and we all don't banter back and forth and disagree, then we're all
(11:02):
compliant.
And who wants that?
Well, I would fathom a guess, you know, now almost 10 minutes into the very first Tray
Printer podcast episode ever, you don't tolerate a quiet quitter.
No.
It's right.
You know, someone who's just going to go, well, you know what, I'm going to just see
how long I can collect a paycheck and give the minimum effort.
(11:25):
If I get fired, I get fired.
Because at the end of the day, there is something as far as your company, the general is concerned.
It's a standard bearer in the community.
There's a level of professionalism, not only that you expect of your employees, but your
clients expect from you.
(11:45):
Not only the first time out, but maybe the 10th time out.
Yeah, 100%.
100%.
And I will go so far to say I won't tolerate it because I care too much for that person
as a human being.
And if they're just coming in and they're showing up and they're doing the minimum,
the good enough, they're not happy.
(12:05):
They're not fulfilled.
And to me, I don't want somebody to go through life like that.
If you need a job and you're just coming for that reason, look, I'll help you find something
that gets you to be fulfilled.
But yeah, you've got to show up.
I like to say, people a lot of times will say, oh, we're like a family.
(12:27):
And I like some people like, no, we're not.
Families are dysfunctional.
Right?
And families are supposed to have a little bit of dysfunction.
It is so true.
And the difference is you don't choose your family.
You were born into your family.
And you have to learn how to negotiate and navigate the different challenges in that.
(12:49):
And that's part of life.
And that's a good thing, a healthy thing.
I don't want that in a team.
I don't want that in a company.
I want to be like a team.
I want to be like a team that's setting out every single day to win championships.
And to me, the amazing thing about winning a championship is you can't get hung up when
you lose a game.
Right?
The best teams, while they're not happy, they don't get hung up and carry it into the next
(13:14):
game because they know it's the championship that they're focused on.
Right?
So yeah, you just can't.
Quiet quitters, no.
Uh-uh.
OK.
And as the Tradepreneur podcast rolls on and evolves and grows, there's going to be a lot
of topics that you are going to bring to the table.
(13:36):
You mentioned a lot of different guests from all over the working spectrum.
But this is my own curiosity.
Were you always this way, even going back to when you were a kid?
I mean, obviously somebody raised you the right way.
It may not have been the most perfect raising of a child, but somebody somewhere along the
(13:58):
lines installed something in you, whether it was a foot up your butt or a really hard
leg.
They say the greatest teacher in life is a punch straight in the nose.
So I think you and I both have had that time and time again in our lives growing up.
But have you always been this way as a kid?
No.
I mean, so here's my story.
(14:20):
And there's not many people who know this about me.
And so one of the things I've learned, and there's this clip I watch, and I try and watch
it a couple of times a week.
And I'm really trying to get to the point where I can be this way, and that is being
more vulnerable.
OK.
Right?
Because I think there's strength in vulnerability.
(14:40):
And that doesn't mean we just get in a room and hug each other and cry because we don't
like the outcome of an election or something like that, right?
Is that going on right now?
Anyhow.
But in really being able to have honest conversations.
And there's not many people that know this about me.
So the fact that I'm going to say this on a podcast is bizarre.
(15:04):
So as a kid, I was diagnosed with learning disabilities.
And I went to what they call the resource room, the room with a few little kids in it.
And I struggled with learning.
Now I was really good with certain subjects.
Certain subjects I was passionate about.
History.
American history.
I grew up outside Philadelphia.
(15:25):
I used to go to Valley Forge Park with my father all the time.
Love American history.
Would read about it.
Would study it.
Math.
Thank God for Chatchik-T. Thank God for calculators and things like that.
But I saw I had this learning disability, which immediately has a huge impact on your
(15:45):
self-esteem as a kid.
Of course.
Because when everybody else goes to their class over here for math or whatever, you
go into this little room and everybody knows where you're going.
He's special.
And so then I was diagnosed with OCD.
And so obsessive-compulsive disorder.
(16:06):
And so for people that don't know, one thing that really frustrates me is when I hear somebody
say, oh, that's my OCD.
Look, just because you like things straight and organized, that just means you're organized.
But I literally was diagnosed with OCD.
I struggled with that.
Still have it to this day.
But have learned without medication or anything just kind of how to cope and deal with it.
(16:28):
So because of that, at a very young age, my dad, my superhero, God rest his soul, he
gave me my very first book.
I mean, I had read books, obviously, school and stuff.
But the first book he ever gave me, I was maybe 11 years old.
And it was The Power of a Positive Mental Attitude.
And I remember reading that book.
(16:50):
And it really impacted me.
I was like, wow.
This is impressive.
Then after that, he gave me How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Great book.
Right?
Amazing book.
Yep.
Then he gave me, I still have a copy today.
The original copy that he gave me was a Zing Zing or a Single at the Top.
(17:10):
Right?
And it's an understanding that who I am, what I am, and what I'm going to become has a lot
to do with what's between these two ears.
Sure.
Right?
And your belief systems.
And so my belief systems were being formed by outside influences.
Right?
And then I was creating my own self-worth, self-image.
(17:32):
And so fortunately, at a very young age, my father was like, no, you write your own story.
You control it.
And he started educating me through his words, his mentorship, and just being an awesome
father.
But he also, he didn't stop there.
He gave me other mentors to start learning from.
And so that started changing my whole belief system and how I approach things.
(17:57):
So yeah, that's kind of my story.
So were you led to believe that you were dumb or that, and that is such a lazy way of saying
it.
But I'm sure, and it really struck me as you're talking about, as all the other kids go into
this room, you're going into this special room.
(18:21):
And you know how kids are.
Kids are the most cruel when they're on the playground, when they're young, that type
of thing.
So I can only imagine what that was like for you.
Hey, it's time for lunch.
And you're going back with your buddies and stuff.
I mean, how hard was that?
I'm assuming it was hard.
Maybe your friends were great, like, hey, dude, we know what you're going through.
(18:42):
Yeah.
I mean, it was, you know, you get the kids and the friends that are cool over here.
Yeah.
Then you start to make friends with the kids that are in the same room with you.
But that never worked well because I wasn't there.
Exactly.
What I found today, to this day, yeah, do I have a learning disability?
Yeah.
But also I had teachers that sucked at what they did.
(19:03):
So why was I reading books about the American Revolution?
Why was I reading We in the Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh, his autobiography,
when I was 12 years old?
Right?
Why was I doing that?
Why could I thrive in that?
Why could I read something and retain information from it?
And so, but my belief system was I have a learning disability.
(19:26):
So what I was being told by doctors and psychiatrists, psychologists, whoever they are, you know,
all the people that give you tests and then the teachers was that you're never going to
be able to get to a certain level.
You're going to be handicapped by certain things, this, that, they're like, and my dad
(19:46):
was the one who's like, no, that's not true.
Right?
And I'll never forget, we went to this one specialist who did these tests and everything
like that.
And at the time, the big thing was phonics, like reading with phonics, right?
Yeah.
I'm like, I struggled with it.
Couldn't do it.
I'll never forget.
And there was a reader's digest.
Many of you may not know even know what reader's digest is, but it was a phenomenon.
(20:07):
Phenomenal.
I think it might be still around.
It was amazing.
I used to get that.
My dad got that.
I used to read that cover to cover every single month.
But the, this guy, I don't know, he's a PhD or something.
My dad was telling him how I was struggling with the way they wanted me to learn to read.
(20:28):
And he said, hold on, he picked up a reader's digest and he found some word.
I don't remember.
I wish I'd remember what the word was.
It was a pretty long word.
I've never seen it before.
He said, Patrick, focus on that word.
Focus on that word.
Focus on that word.
And then he took it away.
And then he started talking to Dad.
And then he came back like three minutes later.
So he said, Patrick, what was that word?
(20:50):
And I said, spell that word.
I spelled it.
Lawless.
Right?
He said, your son has a photographic memory.
Right?
He's not going to learn that way.
That was the first time to this day.
That was such a significant moment for me because now that was the first guy who didn't
address me as having a learning disability, just learning differently.
(21:13):
Yeah.
Right?
And see, now I went from, and I got a long story of how I ended up in the trades, especially
at a later age.
But I run a company now.
I'm responsible for making sure a lot of families get fed, making payroll.
(21:33):
I don't want to talk a lot about General Air and stuff because that's not what this is
about.
But you can't do that if you have what I was labeled as having.
So no way could you do that.
Can you count cards when you're playing blackjack?
No.
Because we've got to stop the podcast right now and go to Vegas, my man.
(21:58):
I am not that good.
Right?
And I'm not, and that, I struggle with numbers.
Numbers I struggle with.
Right?
I'm actually one of those guys.
I told somebody the other day, don't play blackjack if you have to count with your fingers.
I'm one of those guys.
Right?
But so numbers and everything like that.
(22:18):
Sure.
When it comes to operational counting, love it.
Passion about it.
Because I can make sense of it.
The physics of, when you get into the trades of HVAC, HVAC is one of the most intensive
for the sciences and math.
So physics is real big.
(22:40):
So how can you boil a liquid in a freezing state?
In a very cold temperature.
Well, it's in a vacuum.
Pressure and temperature.
I never really got the pressure and temperature.
Right?
To the extent that I did until I had to use pressure and temperature every day.
(23:01):
So simple stuff like that that you just don't really pay attention to because you don't
apply it.
And then when you have to apply it.
Algebra.
I originally wanted to be an RN.
Right?
I worked in a lot of hospitals.
I figured, you know what?
I'm just going to marry an RN.
So that's what I did.
But when I gave up on that dream because I could not pass algebra.
(23:21):
I was horrible at algebra.
I couldn't make sense of it.
To me it's the dumbest thing I've ever seen.
Well then I got into the trades and I had to learn Ohm's law.
Right?
Which is calculating electrical loads and resistance and electromotive force and array.
And I mastered it.
I was like, because it made sense.
(23:42):
It made sense.
So I would say to anybody out there that's being told, to me that bullshit.
It's your belief system.
And so somebody that's horrible at something over here may be phenomenal at it over here.
And that's what I found.
But back to your original question, the person that influenced me and was there for me to
(24:07):
set me up on the path that got me to where I am today was my father.
And if I had not had him, oh boy, my mom's fantastic too.
Don't get me wrong.
But it was my dad who was really instrumental in that, teaching the work ethic.
He's the one who told me, when you go to work for somebody, you have an agreement.
(24:28):
Your agreement is you're going to give 100% of yourself and they're going to pay you what
you agree to accept.
Right?
And if you don't like what you're getting paid, you don't do less because you have set
that.
Right?
Great point.
He said, if you want to make more money, and if you want to rise up in an organization,
show up every day like you were in the business.
(24:50):
And so that's what I've done my whole life.
And a lot of times it doesn't work out.
A lot of times you just get used and abused sometimes because you're in the wrong organization,
the wrong people, or you're not ready.
I came to General Air Conditioning and Plumbing and it stood out.
I never gave up on that philosophy because my dad taught it to me.
(25:12):
My thought was if my dad taught me that, it's got to be right, it will work out.
And I kept going and going and going.
And dad, it's worked out.
Patrick Summers here, General Air Conditioning and Plumbing.
I want to talk to you about our Service Plus program.
(25:33):
Right now, for $189, you can get your heating tune-up done, a plumbing inspection, and an
electrical inspection to make sure your major systems and components of your home are not
only operating efficiently, but most importantly, safely.
Let's get you comfortable.
Let's make sure you're safe.
Let's get your systems tuned up, dialed in, and ready for a new year.
(26:05):
At the end of the day, that's what the Trey Pinoa Show is about.
That's what this podcast is about.
Love it.
Impacting lives.
And again, impacting my own life as well.
You've got to give to get.
And so, you know, with that, I think we can wrap our very first Trey Pinoa Show podcast.
(26:25):
You know, I'd really like to thank Mike Costa.
Thank you very, very much.
Hey, I'm just sitting here sucking in oxygen.
You're telling the story.
On the other side of the camera, we've got an amazing team that's helping us out.
Mike, Massey, Kelly, Christie.
I mean, it's really at the end of the day, I kind of do the easy part.
(26:47):
And so I hope you like the episode.
I hope you'll continue to tune in.
We've got a lot of exciting things planned.
You can find us on all our social channels and YouTube.
It's at the Trey Pinoa Show.
Check us out.
Like us, follow us, share it.
(27:08):
We're going to deliver.
Welcome to the first episode of the Trade Canoe World podcast.
(00:16):
I'm really excited to be able to launch this podcast.
It's been a long time in the making, and I'm excited to introduce Mike Costa, my co-host,
who is going to help me get this thing launched and going.
Mike comes from a long line of the entertainment industry, radio, and is actually on a podcast,
(00:37):
pretty popular podcast, The Big Biz Show.
But I'll let Mike tell you about the story.
Well first off, I'm humbled and honored to be able to begin this endeavor with you.
Patrick and I met on The Big Biz Show a couple months ago, and this was kind of being tossed
(00:59):
about a little bit.
He reached out and said, hey, would you be interested?
I was like, well, what are you going to call it?
What is it?
He said it's the Trade Per Neur podcast.
It's not only Patrick's story, but it's the story of so many people going from the ground
(01:22):
floor up to the penthouse, but deserving the penthouse, earning the penthouse in the business
world.
I said, yeah, my background is radio, television, and sports, and so this is a new challenge,
a new endeavor for me.
That's why when you offer the opportunity, I was like, yeah, let's get out of the comfort
(01:44):
zone because I am going to learn a ton from you.
Hopefully I can augment your story on the Trade Per Neur podcast, and I'm really excited
to get going.
Yeah, so am I.
It's going to be awesome.
So am I, and I'm excited to have you honored as well because-
That's always good.
I'm an amateur.
That's always good.
I'm an amateur, right?
(02:05):
You're the pro, and so you can keep me on the straight and narrow because this podcast
thing is all new to me.
You'd really be surprised because anybody who's ever been involved, I have always been
taught by my mentors in radio and television that when you're speaking into a microphone
or you're speaking into a TV camera, just imagine you're talking to one person.
(02:28):
And then it's been taken as far as, hey, pull up a bar stool, sit down, and just talk with
one of your buddies.
That's all you have to think about as you're doing it, and that's where the real, I think,
the conversationality comes out.
More importantly, the story, the gist of the story, the building blocks of the story comes
out.
(02:49):
And you and I immediately started getting along anyhow, so I knew it was going to be
really fun to come out and do this with you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, well, you know, for me, podcast is a way to reach a lot of people in a medium that's
been around a while, but it's still very new, I believe, right?
(03:12):
And to be able to do this and be able to impact people's lives, that's what I want to do,
right?
At the end of the day, I want to be able to impact people's lives.
And there's a selfish component, too, because I want to be able to impact my life, because
I think it goes back to what Ziegler says, right?
If you help enough people get what they want, you can get what you want.
So I think there's a two-way street here.
(03:34):
While there's a lot more people out there that have had much more success than me, although
I'm going to catch up to them.
So my goal is really to say, okay, what are the trades, right?
We typically think of the top trades people think of, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing,
(03:56):
masonry, welding.
Welding is a huge one, huge demand.
But you know what?
It's also where I really want to get people's focuses, there's a lot of other trades out
there that typically people don't associate as being a trade, right?
For instance, my daughter, she graduated from high school, a very good high school.
Most of her friends went to college.
(04:18):
She went to esthetician school.
She's an esthetician.
And that's the trade.
Absolutely.
Cosmetology is a trade, right?
Personal training, that's a trade.
Now you can take all of these trades and augment them with college and higher education, and
that's fantastic.
(04:39):
But there's so many avenues for people to go in out there.
And you know, I want to really just talk about the trades, not specifically the traditional
trades as we think of them.
All right.
So and I should have asked you this right off the bat because I still, and shame on
(05:00):
me for not doing my homework, are asking you beforehand, the name of the podcast is the
Tradepreneur podcast.
What exactly is a tradepreneur?
Because I'll be honest with you, before I met you, I'd never heard that word used.
But obviously, this is the tradepreneur podcast.
What is it?
(05:20):
Well, so when I started as a technician, a general air conditioning employee, I went
in every day.
I was a technician, entry level technician, right?
I was training.
I finally got on my own.
I was still training and learning.
But from day one, even before day one, it started the interview process.
(05:44):
I showed up as though I owned the company.
And I operated every day like it was my business.
And then I took my truck and operated like it was my own business unit, right?
Knowing that I wanted to go into business.
Now, not everybody needs to go into business.
But if you are in the trades, regardless of what you're doing, if you know how to operate
(06:08):
correctly and you can think like an entrepreneur, so the trades, entrepreneur, the merging of
two words, right?
If you can be in the trades and think like an entrepreneur, you create a value to the
customers you serve, to the company you serve, and to yourself, it takes you to a whole other
(06:33):
level.
You're untouchable, right?
So many people show up, I work for the man.
I'm going to work.
I'm going in.
I'm punching.
I'm punching out.
So many people have the mentality like they're Fred Flintstone, you know, and the whistle
blows at the quarry.
They slide off Dino and they go.
Turn off the switch.
But if you're a tradepreneur, and that's fine, right?
(06:53):
That's fine.
It's like in Caddyshack when what's-his-name said to the kid who was trying to…
The world needs ditch diggers too?
Yeah, the world needs ditch diggers too.
Judge smells.
And we do need ditch diggers.
But if you're a ditch digger, right?
Yeah.
What a classic.
If you're a ditch digger, you know, you can be very successful and make a lot of money
(07:17):
and have fulfillment, be happy.
You're getting something done, you're doing something, but you can't have to just show
up and do it.
And that's why in addition to, you know, talking about how to maximize your value and learning
the business side of things.
So even if you're just going out and you're being your tech and you're going your day
(07:37):
in and day out, start to think like a business owner, act like a business owner, bring that
additional value to the three that I said.
Yeah.
It's also about mindset, right?
I see so many young people in the trades that struggle with mindset, right?
Struggle with diet and nutrition.
And you know, in a future episode, we're going to be talking about my own struggle with that
(08:00):
and what I've done and why I've chosen to engage my health and wellness as my number
one priority to make me the number one tradepreneur out there.
So and that's a good point to, I guess, for you to let the people know.
This isn't just a podcast dedicated to this is how you splice wires together type of thing.
(08:24):
Correct.
It is.
It's it is a hub with countless spokes.
Correct.
All under the tradepreneurship, the tradepreneur podcast umbrella.
Yeah, correct.
And while while we may have somebody on that talks about, well, I could, there's success
in splicing wires.
(08:44):
And I'll be honest with you.
I could use a lesson in stuff like that.
That's why I was so excited to be able to do this with you, because when it comes to
things around my house or anything of the technical nature, HVAC to plumbing to construction
to whatever.
Forget it.
Forget it.
(09:04):
These are all phones.
Well, and the trades are just and I tell technicians a lot like you a doctor calls you to their
home because that's not their specialty.
Right.
Exactly.
They go to their home because you're the specialist, just like you go to a doctor specialist.
But yeah, it's we're going to do a lot of mindset.
And one thing I'll tell you, and here's full disclosure, we're going to be controversial.
(09:34):
Happy New Year, Coachella Valley.
This is Patrick Summers, president and CEO, General Air Conditioning and Plumbing.
Listen, we all know that New Year's resolutions usually don't last.
But with proper maintenance and service, your plumbing, electrical and HVAC system will
give you many years of trouble free service.
Give us a call.
Get it tuned up.
Get the inspections done.
(09:55):
Let's make sure you're good to go all year long.
Happy to take care of you.
Happy New Year.
Let's make this year 2025 an amazing year.
Why are we going to be controversial now?
Because if you're not controversial, you're compliant.
(10:17):
And if you're compliant, you become complacent.
Now, what's really important is like any dichotomies, if you just run with it and you don't have
a deep understanding of it and you don't apply it correctly, then you just think being controversial
as well, I'm going to show up late to work.
I'm not going to register my car and I'm going to do whatever I want.
(10:38):
But we'll get into that in a future episode, that dichotomy of being controversial, compliant
and why controversial done correctly.
So I mean, look, I hope I piss a few people off.
I really do.
Right?
Because if we all agree and we all don't banter back and forth and disagree, then we're all
(11:02):
compliant.
And who wants that?
Well, I would fathom a guess, you know, now almost 10 minutes into the very first Tray
Printer podcast episode ever, you don't tolerate a quiet quitter.
No.
It's right.
You know, someone who's just going to go, well, you know what, I'm going to just see
how long I can collect a paycheck and give the minimum effort.
(11:25):
If I get fired, I get fired.
Because at the end of the day, there is something as far as your company, the general is concerned.
It's a standard bearer in the community.
There's a level of professionalism, not only that you expect of your employees, but your
clients expect from you.
(11:45):
Not only the first time out, but maybe the 10th time out.
Yeah, 100%.
100%.
And I will go so far to say I won't tolerate it because I care too much for that person
as a human being.
And if they're just coming in and they're showing up and they're doing the minimum,
the good enough, they're not happy.
(12:05):
They're not fulfilled.
And to me, I don't want somebody to go through life like that.
If you need a job and you're just coming for that reason, look, I'll help you find something
that gets you to be fulfilled.
But yeah, you've got to show up.
I like to say, people a lot of times will say, oh, we're like a family.
(12:27):
And I like some people like, no, we're not.
Families are dysfunctional.
Right?
And families are supposed to have a little bit of dysfunction.
It is so true.
And the difference is you don't choose your family.
You were born into your family.
And you have to learn how to negotiate and navigate the different challenges in that.
(12:49):
And that's part of life.
And that's a good thing, a healthy thing.
I don't want that in a team.
I don't want that in a company.
I want to be like a team.
I want to be like a team that's setting out every single day to win championships.
And to me, the amazing thing about winning a championship is you can't get hung up when
you lose a game.
Right?
The best teams, while they're not happy, they don't get hung up and carry it into the next
(13:14):
game because they know it's the championship that they're focused on.
Right?
So yeah, you just can't.
Quiet quitters, no.
Uh-uh.
OK.
And as the Tradepreneur podcast rolls on and evolves and grows, there's going to be a lot
of topics that you are going to bring to the table.
(13:36):
You mentioned a lot of different guests from all over the working spectrum.
But this is my own curiosity.
Were you always this way, even going back to when you were a kid?
I mean, obviously somebody raised you the right way.
It may not have been the most perfect raising of a child, but somebody somewhere along the
(13:58):
lines installed something in you, whether it was a foot up your butt or a really hard
leg.
They say the greatest teacher in life is a punch straight in the nose.
So I think you and I both have had that time and time again in our lives growing up.
But have you always been this way as a kid?
No.
I mean, so here's my story.
(14:20):
And there's not many people who know this about me.
And so one of the things I've learned, and there's this clip I watch, and I try and watch
it a couple of times a week.
And I'm really trying to get to the point where I can be this way, and that is being
more vulnerable.
OK.
Right?
Because I think there's strength in vulnerability.
(14:40):
And that doesn't mean we just get in a room and hug each other and cry because we don't
like the outcome of an election or something like that, right?
Is that going on right now?
Anyhow.
But in really being able to have honest conversations.
And there's not many people that know this about me.
So the fact that I'm going to say this on a podcast is bizarre.
(15:04):
So as a kid, I was diagnosed with learning disabilities.
And I went to what they call the resource room, the room with a few little kids in it.
And I struggled with learning.
Now I was really good with certain subjects.
Certain subjects I was passionate about.
History.
American history.
I grew up outside Philadelphia.
(15:25):
I used to go to Valley Forge Park with my father all the time.
Love American history.
Would read about it.
Would study it.
Math.
Thank God for Chatchik-T. Thank God for calculators and things like that.
But I saw I had this learning disability, which immediately has a huge impact on your
(15:45):
self-esteem as a kid.
Of course.
Because when everybody else goes to their class over here for math or whatever, you
go into this little room and everybody knows where you're going.
He's special.
And so then I was diagnosed with OCD.
And so obsessive-compulsive disorder.
(16:06):
And so for people that don't know, one thing that really frustrates me is when I hear somebody
say, oh, that's my OCD.
Look, just because you like things straight and organized, that just means you're organized.
But I literally was diagnosed with OCD.
I struggled with that.
Still have it to this day.
But have learned without medication or anything just kind of how to cope and deal with it.
(16:28):
So because of that, at a very young age, my dad, my superhero, God rest his soul, he
gave me my very first book.
I mean, I had read books, obviously, school and stuff.
But the first book he ever gave me, I was maybe 11 years old.
And it was The Power of a Positive Mental Attitude.
And I remember reading that book.
(16:50):
And it really impacted me.
I was like, wow.
This is impressive.
Then after that, he gave me How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Great book.
Right?
Amazing book.
Yep.
Then he gave me, I still have a copy today.
The original copy that he gave me was a Zing Zing or a Single at the Top.
(17:10):
Right?
And it's an understanding that who I am, what I am, and what I'm going to become has a lot
to do with what's between these two ears.
Sure.
Right?
And your belief systems.
And so my belief systems were being formed by outside influences.
Right?
And then I was creating my own self-worth, self-image.
(17:32):
And so fortunately, at a very young age, my father was like, no, you write your own story.
You control it.
And he started educating me through his words, his mentorship, and just being an awesome
father.
But he also, he didn't stop there.
He gave me other mentors to start learning from.
And so that started changing my whole belief system and how I approach things.
(17:57):
So yeah, that's kind of my story.
So were you led to believe that you were dumb or that, and that is such a lazy way of saying
it.
But I'm sure, and it really struck me as you're talking about, as all the other kids go into
this room, you're going into this special room.
(18:21):
And you know how kids are.
Kids are the most cruel when they're on the playground, when they're young, that type
of thing.
So I can only imagine what that was like for you.
Hey, it's time for lunch.
And you're going back with your buddies and stuff.
I mean, how hard was that?
I'm assuming it was hard.
Maybe your friends were great, like, hey, dude, we know what you're going through.
(18:42):
Yeah.
I mean, it was, you know, you get the kids and the friends that are cool over here.
Yeah.
Then you start to make friends with the kids that are in the same room with you.
But that never worked well because I wasn't there.
Exactly.
What I found today, to this day, yeah, do I have a learning disability?
Yeah.
But also I had teachers that sucked at what they did.
(19:03):
So why was I reading books about the American Revolution?
Why was I reading We in the Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh, his autobiography,
when I was 12 years old?
Right?
Why was I doing that?
Why could I thrive in that?
Why could I read something and retain information from it?
And so, but my belief system was I have a learning disability.
(19:26):
So what I was being told by doctors and psychiatrists, psychologists, whoever they are, you know,
all the people that give you tests and then the teachers was that you're never going to
be able to get to a certain level.
You're going to be handicapped by certain things, this, that, they're like, and my dad
(19:46):
was the one who's like, no, that's not true.
Right?
And I'll never forget, we went to this one specialist who did these tests and everything
like that.
And at the time, the big thing was phonics, like reading with phonics, right?
Yeah.
I'm like, I struggled with it.
Couldn't do it.
I'll never forget.
And there was a reader's digest.
Many of you may not know even know what reader's digest is, but it was a phenomenon.
(20:07):
Phenomenal.
I think it might be still around.
It was amazing.
I used to get that.
My dad got that.
I used to read that cover to cover every single month.
But the, this guy, I don't know, he's a PhD or something.
My dad was telling him how I was struggling with the way they wanted me to learn to read.
(20:28):
And he said, hold on, he picked up a reader's digest and he found some word.
I don't remember.
I wish I'd remember what the word was.
It was a pretty long word.
I've never seen it before.
He said, Patrick, focus on that word.
Focus on that word.
Focus on that word.
And then he took it away.
And then he started talking to Dad.
And then he came back like three minutes later.
So he said, Patrick, what was that word?
(20:50):
And I said, spell that word.
I spelled it.
Lawless.
Right?
He said, your son has a photographic memory.
Right?
He's not going to learn that way.
That was the first time to this day.
That was such a significant moment for me because now that was the first guy who didn't
address me as having a learning disability, just learning differently.
(21:13):
Yeah.
Right?
And see, now I went from, and I got a long story of how I ended up in the trades, especially
at a later age.
But I run a company now.
I'm responsible for making sure a lot of families get fed, making payroll.
(21:33):
I don't want to talk a lot about General Air and stuff because that's not what this is
about.
But you can't do that if you have what I was labeled as having.
So no way could you do that.
Can you count cards when you're playing blackjack?
No.
Because we've got to stop the podcast right now and go to Vegas, my man.
(21:58):
I am not that good.
Right?
And I'm not, and that, I struggle with numbers.
Numbers I struggle with.
Right?
I'm actually one of those guys.
I told somebody the other day, don't play blackjack if you have to count with your fingers.
I'm one of those guys.
Right?
But so numbers and everything like that.
(22:18):
Sure.
When it comes to operational counting, love it.
Passion about it.
Because I can make sense of it.
The physics of, when you get into the trades of HVAC, HVAC is one of the most intensive
for the sciences and math.
So physics is real big.
(22:40):
So how can you boil a liquid in a freezing state?
In a very cold temperature.
Well, it's in a vacuum.
Pressure and temperature.
I never really got the pressure and temperature.
Right?
To the extent that I did until I had to use pressure and temperature every day.
(23:01):
So simple stuff like that that you just don't really pay attention to because you don't
apply it.
And then when you have to apply it.
Algebra.
I originally wanted to be an RN.
Right?
I worked in a lot of hospitals.
I figured, you know what?
I'm just going to marry an RN.
So that's what I did.
But when I gave up on that dream because I could not pass algebra.
(23:21):
I was horrible at algebra.
I couldn't make sense of it.
To me it's the dumbest thing I've ever seen.
Well then I got into the trades and I had to learn Ohm's law.
Right?
Which is calculating electrical loads and resistance and electromotive force and array.
And I mastered it.
I was like, because it made sense.
(23:42):
It made sense.
So I would say to anybody out there that's being told, to me that bullshit.
It's your belief system.
And so somebody that's horrible at something over here may be phenomenal at it over here.
And that's what I found.
But back to your original question, the person that influenced me and was there for me to
(24:07):
set me up on the path that got me to where I am today was my father.
And if I had not had him, oh boy, my mom's fantastic too.
Don't get me wrong.
But it was my dad who was really instrumental in that, teaching the work ethic.
He's the one who told me, when you go to work for somebody, you have an agreement.
(24:28):
Your agreement is you're going to give 100% of yourself and they're going to pay you what
you agree to accept.
Right?
And if you don't like what you're getting paid, you don't do less because you have set
that.
Right?
Great point.
He said, if you want to make more money, and if you want to rise up in an organization,
show up every day like you were in the business.
(24:50):
And so that's what I've done my whole life.
And a lot of times it doesn't work out.
A lot of times you just get used and abused sometimes because you're in the wrong organization,
the wrong people, or you're not ready.
I came to General Air Conditioning and Plumbing and it stood out.
I never gave up on that philosophy because my dad taught it to me.
(25:12):
My thought was if my dad taught me that, it's got to be right, it will work out.
And I kept going and going and going.
And dad, it's worked out.
Patrick Summers here, General Air Conditioning and Plumbing.
I want to talk to you about our Service Plus program.
(25:33):
Right now, for $189, you can get your heating tune-up done, a plumbing inspection, and an
electrical inspection to make sure your major systems and components of your home are not
only operating efficiently, but most importantly, safely.
Let's get you comfortable.
Let's make sure you're safe.
Let's get your systems tuned up, dialed in, and ready for a new year.
(26:05):
At the end of the day, that's what the Trey Pinoa Show is about.
That's what this podcast is about.
Love it.
Impacting lives.
And again, impacting my own life as well.
You've got to give to get.
And so, you know, with that, I think we can wrap our very first Trey Pinoa Show podcast.
(26:25):
You know, I'd really like to thank Mike Costa.
Thank you very, very much.
Hey, I'm just sitting here sucking in oxygen.
You're telling the story.
On the other side of the camera, we've got an amazing team that's helping us out.
Mike, Massey, Kelly, Christie.
I mean, it's really at the end of the day, I kind of do the easy part.
(26:47):
And so I hope you like the episode.
I hope you'll continue to tune in.
We've got a lot of exciting things planned.
You can find us on all our social channels and YouTube.
It's at the Trey Pinoa Show.
Check us out.
Like us, follow us, share it.
(27:08):
We're going to deliver.
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