Confessions of a Healthy Home Builder

Andy Pace: Welcome to the Non Toxic Environments podcast. My name is Andrew Pace. Every week, my co-host, Jay Watson, and I will discuss healthier home improvement ideas and options. Thank you for finding us and please enjoy the show.

Hey folks. Welcome back to Non Toxic Environments. This is Andy Pace, and Jay, it’s good to have you back this week.

Jay Watson: We’re back in the house, Andy, back in the house.

Andy Pace:

Nice. So we have another exciting episode of the show today, and well, why don’t you set it up for us?

Jay Watts:

Yeah, we’ve done interviews before and we’re always excited when we can do an interview because we’re bringing in people that we feel have something to really say about our business, which is building healthy homes and helping people live a healthy lifestyle, and we’ve had interviews before, but we’ve thought we’d bring them back in again to give us an update on how things are working with them. I’ll introduce Jen and Rusty Stout, and I’m welcoming them back, is this our third interview, Andy? I think it might be.

Andy Pace:

This our third show with Jen and Rusty from JS2, and every time we talk to you guys, we learn new and exciting things, so we’re really hoping to hear that again today. So how’s it going?

Jen Stout:

Awesome, thank you so much for having us on.

Rusty Stout:

It’s going good. During these times when all you can do is work, really, we’re getting a lot of cool stuff going on.

Andy Pace:

That’s fantastic. That’s fantastic.

Jay Watts:

I was thinking about the show this morning, you guys. I was wondering about if this would be possible, aside from you telling us maybe the highlights or some low lights or whatever lights you’ve got going on in terms of some of your projects, but if you could quickly, I’m just kind of was pretending I was a potential client. If you could kind of just kind of in bullet point, kind of give us a walkthrough of how a presentation you would make might go?

Rusty Stout:

Sure. Generally, it starts with a phone conversation with a potential client, just kind of gathering up their needs, any sensitivities they might have, any allergies. And in that first phone call, you can really determine if it’s going to be a fit or not. What we’ve determined in construction is any builder, a good custom home builder, they’re all going to be able to build a nice home. Some have strengths in areas, some have weaknesses in areas, but all in all, a good quality builder is going to build you the home. What it boils down to is, “Do our personalities mesh with this person for probably a year of my life, and they’re going to be spending a lot of my money?”

Rusty Stout:

So that’s kind of what it comes down to. So after that phone conversation, if we take it to the next step, it’s really getting down to the nuts and bolts. And that’s where Jen comes in with her product knowledge, working with you guys during that process. But the silver bullet that we have is my wife, Jen. I mean, I kind of liking what we do, we build these houses for these people, but it’s also how we live our life. I mean, we’re not just some hokey company riding a gimmick. This is really how we live. It’s almost like the Hair Club for Men. Not only am I the President, but I have to live this way, too. So Jen is really the secret sauce there.

Jen Stout:

Thanks, Rusty. You make me blush.

Jay Watts:

I think that’s pretty crucial when, you’re trying to build confidence with a client, they need to know that you have a, and I say this in both ways, physically and mentally, emotionally, you have to have a sensitivity to the client’s needs. And that can mean being able to listen really well to what they’re having to say. I know that probably situations where the client’s talking and maybe the listening on the other end isn’t as good as it could be. And I’m sure this, Jen, what you bring to the plate and Rusty knows that. You’re really good at listening, and because you had to talk to people that could listen to you and you found out who was listening and who wasn’t.

Jay Watts:

And so you can get a sense of how to listen better to a client when they’re talking and hear between the lines what they may be saying, and being able to understand that. Of course, from your perspective of having to walk that through the burning coals, the burning foot coals of dealing with your sensitivity challenges and what that meant to your life and how you had to change course in what you were doing. And now, wanting to bring all of this knowledge you have to the general public with the idea that there is a better way to do things, and I’ve run the gauntlet and I’ve got a good idea. To me, that’s very exciting and certainly encouraging, especially now, so.

Jen Stout:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we looked at it a holistic perspective. It’s not just building a home out of bricks and sticks and a roof. It’s much more than that. It’s where you live. You spend 90% of your time indoors. It needs to be at a healthy place. It’s conducive to productivity and to quality of life, and a lot of different aspects of someone’s life goes into building the home. You look at what their hobbies are, where they spend their most time? Are they culinary experts? Do they want a yoga studio? Do they want an outdoor place? Where they can, I don’t know, go swimming or whatnot. It’s much more than just the nuts and bolts of building a house.

Jay Watts:

Yeah. So how are clients finding you? And I guess the other question on the back of that is, has there been a situation yet where you’ve said, “Hey, listen, that’s not a fit.”

Jen Stout:

We have had a couple situations where, if it’s not a good fit on either end, it wouldn’t be fair either way. I mean, part of the home building process is we need a response because there’s a lot of moving pieces, and if people aren’t being responsive in a timely manner, it’s doing them a disservice as much as it is for us. So we really try to motivate, walk our clients through the whole process because it is very foreign to most people, including myself, the first time I ever built a house. So I’ve been on the client’s end. Rusty’s been a builder for 20 years, but I’ve haven’t always been on the building side, so I’d learned, kind of how to look at both sides of the equation.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah. Generally you can tell, it comes down to trust. If that trust isn’t established from the very beginning, that that stuff can snowball very quickly and six months into a job and it’s going to happen in construction. Something’s not going to go as planned. There’s going to be a delay. Something’s going to cost more than what it originally was estimated to cost. And if that trust hasn’t been established, those times right there are detrimental to a project. So you have to have that at the very beginning or it just won’t work. So that’s kind of what we try to establish early on.

Jay Watts:

Yeah, it makes perfect sense. You know, Andy’s podcast last week, I wasn’t able to attend, but he did touch on this idea of the supply chain being disrupted now because of the situation we’re facing. Are you finding that that’s kind of interfering with your plans, with your clients, at this not being able to get materials in a timely fashion has had a dramatic impact?

Rusty Stout:

It hasn’t dramatically, but it’s starting. It’s starting to catch up. We have one house right now and we just found out that the plumbing fixtures for the entire house, the factory shutdown, and we were supposed to be done probably at the end of August. We’re not going to get the plumbing fixtures until the 1st of October. And that’s a big deal. You can’t live in a house without working plumbing, so. And then, there is some door issues that we’ve had last week. We found out that there’s an electrical panel shortage nationwide. So it’s just slowly starting to just, I have a feeling in the next six months, there’s going to be a lot more of these. The little things are going to turn into bigger things.

Jay Watts:

I guess that brings a question to mine, and that is at this point where you’ve got some really fundamental things that have to happen, how do you go back to the client or does the client come to you and say, hey, we need to make a substitution. I can’t wait. You’re going to have to find a source. And if it’s not the best source, the one we thought we were going to use, how do you walk that line? That would be kind of tricky, I would think.

Jen Stout:

No, we actually did that. The plumbing fixtures are being substituted by another finish they actually have in stock much sooner so they can move back in, and then we’ll go in and switch them out.

Jay Watts:

Oh, okay.

Jen Stout:

And we’re also trying to plan ahead, too. We kind of see the forest from the trees now. So we’re doing actually a couple of homes doing the healthy interior design package for the whole home. And you’d be surprised how long it takes to get a table delivered or even a pot for a garden. It used to take a week or two, now it’s four weeks out. So we’re trying to hedge that, just moving forward.

Jay Watts:

Yeah. Yeah. And I think, Rusty, you’re probably right in thinking that the future probably holds a little bit more of this, and so all your forecasting you’re doing now is going to be very valuable because you’ll be able to say to the client, Hey, you know what? Normally, it’d take this long, but because of what’s going on, it’s going to take this long. At least we think it’s going to take this long.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah.

Jay Watson:

That kind of prepares them for the shock of, whatever shock a little bit.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah, a little bit.

Jen Stout:

It’s still shocking.

Rusty Stout:

A little bit. And it’s not just that. I mean, a lot of people, they’re working with a bank and they have a construction line.

Jay Watts:

Right. Right.

Rusty Stout:

Typically those have a year before they have to be rolled into a permanent mortgage. And a year used to be plenty of time, and it’s just depending on the size of the house. It might not be enough time anymore.

Jay Watson:

And on the financial side, they’re not willing to give a little bit because of the situation or no?

Rusty Stout:

It depends. I mean, you’d be surprise. If it’s a local bank, sure. I mean, they understand. If they have that relationship, yes. If maybe some of the big national banks, they’re just like, “Hey, we got to do what we got to do, so.”

Andy Pace:

So looking at the big picture here, and I’ve been in the construction industry since 1989, both commercial and residential, just like you Rusty. And I saw the rise in the big box stores, HGTV, TLC, all these shows showing us how we can remodel a bathroom in a weekend.

Jen Stout:

Yeah, right.

Andy Pace:

Everybody going to Home Depot to get all their products and everything you always wanted for your houses right there at your fingertips. And then Amazon, which made it even quicker. The way I look at this, it’s actually bringing us back to where you were about 30 years ago when we actually had to plan.

Rusty Stout:

Right.

Jen Stout:

Very true.

Andy Pace:

And I love it. It’s not good for our economy in the short term because people are so used to instant everything. But I love the fact that people actually have to think about it and plan and order ahead because, as a material supplier, I’m really sick of the phone calls saying, “I need $4,000 worth of tinted paint in 38 different colors. And can I have it tomorrow?”

Rusty Stout:

I’m sorry about all those calls in.

Andy Pace:

So, it’s amazing. People watch a show and they think, “Oh, I can get this stuff right away. And I can be doing my bathroom this weekend.” You know, a little bit of slowing down of things would actually be very helpful. And it would make people think about what they’re doing. Put a little more effort into it. What we’re finding also is, along what you’re saying about the shutdowns from COVID, a lot of materials that we use in our projects come from Europe. Well, now that these European manufacturers are finally back up and running, maybe not at full strength, but at least at partial, they all shut down for the month of August because it’s their holiday season. I mean, I’ve got a project right now in Chicago where I’ve got a couple that’s been waiting for their Spanish designed cabinets that are manufactured in Portugal. They ordered them in April. They won’t get them until September or October because they just opened up after COVID and now they’re shutting down again for their month long holiday.

Rusty Stout:

Yup.

Jen Stout:

Wow.

Andy Pace:

So it is a lot that we’re not used to right now. If you’ve been in the industry a long time, this kind of feels a little more familiar to us, but I hope it allows people to slow down and make proper choices and understand that things just don’t happen overnight the way it looks like on television.

Rusty Stout:

That’s a 100% true.

Jay Watts:

How are clients, and that’s second part of my question earlier, how are clients finding you? Or is it web searching, or how’s that working?

Rusty Stout:

I’ll let Jen do that.

Jen Stout:

Yeah, we’ve had some people find us through Google or Facebook. I think a lot of it too, is just word of mouth. The chemically sensitive community is, I’m pretty well in touch with a lot of those folks, and I think that it’s just a matter of them finding out or us reaching out to them via their groups. And we’d really like to expand into working, not just with the chemically sensitive folks, but with forward thinking, young-minded families. I mean, everybody should live in a healthy home. It doesn’t have to be people that are allergic to fragrances.

Jay Watts:

Yeah, exactly right. That’s the common sense. I talk about that all the time, so does Andy. It just makes good sense to live this way, not the other way. Whatever the other way may be.

Rusty Stout:

We also get a lot of leads from this podcast, too.

Andy Pace:

Fabulous.

Jay Watts:

Oh, that’s great!

Jay Watson:

Well, that’s kind of the idea we had here, Andy and I.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah, no. You’re definitely reaching the people in your audience. When they do call, they ask the right questions. So I know that they’re paying attention to what you guys are saying, so it’s pretty cool.

Andy Pace:

Well, that actually says a lot because-

Jay Watts:

It does, it does.

Andy Pace:

I remember years ago, when just starting my retail business, we tried to figure out ways, how do we educate the clientele so that when they call, they know what questions to ask. And the reason why builders across the country aren’t inundated with questions from their customers about healthier options is because most people don’t know what questions to ask that the builder will understand and will be able to answer properly.

Jen Stout:

That’s true.

Andy Pace:

You don’t go to Home Depot and ask questions about how to sauté a scallop, right? So, we thought there’s got to be a way to educate our customers, and now, when I first started the business, I spent 95% of my day, every single day, educating people about the differences between healthy and unhealthy building materials, and then essentially what questions they should ask. I would say today, it’s less than half of the customers that I talk to on a daily basis, do I have to do that education. And I think it’s because of, yes, things like this and other resources that are out there, people are finally starting to understand the terminology, comfortable with how to say certain things that will get the right response. And so to your point about being able to work with folks that are not chemically sensitive, again, 30 years ago, 90 to 95% of my customers were people with extreme chemical sensitivity. Today, I would say our customer base is less than 10%, extremely chemicalyl sensitive.

Jen Stout:

That’s encouraging.

Andy Pace:

It is. And even though we know chemical sensitivities on the rise, I believe that we have more customers who are not because they have family members and friends who are, and they’re like, “Well, anything I can do to keep us from getting this, I’m going to do.”

Jen Stout:

Right. We had an appointment with a functional doctor in San Antonio, not that long ago. And we just were chatting and he asked, “What do you guys do?” And we told them we’re healthy home builders. And he was really interested and he had never really heard of the concept. He actually had just moved into a new space and he was distraught about having all the new chemicals in the office building, and so, I think, it really is an opportunity for us to reach out to people that are like-minded. They just may not know that there is such a thing, and that there is a need for healthy construction. I actually wrote letters to all the functional doctors in Austin a couple of weeks ago and sent them some brochures, just letting them know, if your patients could benefit from learning more about what they could use in their home, please feel free to pass along our information.

Andy Pace:

Excellent. How was the response so far?

Jen Stout:

So far, we got two responses and it was more, “We want to learn more about what you guys do.” But I think a lot of these types of things, it’s good to let people know it’s in the back of their head. Then eventually one day, they’ll be like, “You know what? I think I need to remodel my house or whatnot.” So, sometimes it takes some time.

Andy Pace:

As with all types of marketing, you got to put it in front of their face a few times before they even react. The fact that you’ve got a couple of people reacting already is a really good sign.

Jen Stout:

Yeah. It was encouraging.

Jay Watts:

I think your physician who was kind of shocked at what was going on, the old mantra is, the contractor’s saying, “I’m leaving and all the off gassing is going to leave, too.” So don’t worry about it. Right?

Jen Stout:

Right.

Jay Watts:

Therein lies the problem and to this confusion and people are distressed and all of that. I remember last time in our interview, we were talking just a little bit about the movement towards smaller homes, tiny houses. And that dawned on me as I was thinking about this just now, have you noticed that because of the aging of America and households’ shrinking? You don’t have a family living, you don’t have a nuclear family anymore. Everyone’s spread out and the kids have moved out, and so you’ve got a couple who’s looking to downsize or are you starting to see any action in that regard? Where people are kind of asking you, “Hey, I want to build a smaller footprint here because I don’t need all that acreage anymore.” How’s the tiny house thing panning out? Is it panning out for you at all?

Rusty Stout:

Yeah. I mean, we, I guess, announced that we were going to do one, I don’t know, was that two months ago, Jen?

Jen Stout:

Not that long ago.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah. And I mean, we’ve got a lot of good, positive feedback about it, several phone calls. And so we’ve found a trailer manufacturer that we want to work with here in Austin, and we found a fabricator that can help save some weight on the frame and stuff like that. And we’re just kind of waiting to finish up a couple of projects before we start that. And we’re probably going to build two. The first one for us to kind of tool around with and use a little bit, and then the other one, for hopefully somebody who really needs it. Yeah.

Jen Stout:

To answer your question, Jay. We have had several, even local families, the empty nesters, and they’re looking to downsize, but they still want something nice. But the tiny house, I think, really speaks to people around the US. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish is, they want us to come to California or New Mexico to build them a home, and right now with COVID, it really hasn’t been, with traveling, we have a little baby, it hasn’t really been possible to be able to do that. And so we’re like, why don’t we start this healthy, tiny houses and see how the response is because we have had people call and ask about them for years. And we’re like, well, we build big houses. We can build them small, too.

Rusty Stout:

Sure.

Jay Watts:

Yeah. And it’s a very hot topic these days.

Andy Pace:

It’s a hot topic, and I think the topic of building healthy homes, generically speaking, is going to be even bigger in the next 12 months because of the pandemic. I think it’s making people think about spending all that time in the home- that it’s not healthy. It’s unhealthy for everybody to be spending all this time on a house, cooped up with the same people all day long, and I can’t tell you how many phone calls I’ve received in the last couple of months from customers just saying, “What do I do to make my house healthy today?” Because I know we’re cooped in here, and so I think that as the green movements caused homes to become more energy efficient, and because of the down economy of the late 2000s caused homes to be made more energy efficient, to be more affordable, I think that the pandemic, from a human health standpoint, will force the issue to make our homes healthier.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah, I agree. And I think that one of the challenges that we have is letting our clients know that it can be a normal looking house, right? The houses that we build, and you guys have seen them, they’re not going to stick out. I can’t tell you how many phone calls, I’m on the phone with people and they think that they’re going to have to build a hut out of straw or mud or something. And I’m like, “No, you don’t have to do that. We’ve taken the time.” And you guys know, I mean, we talk to you all often and bounce ideas off each other. And I mean, we’ve really put the thought into this, and so it’s just letting the people know that you can do it. It doesn’t have to be a mud hut, that it can be a real house and beautiful.

Andy Pace:

It’s funny you say it that way, because 25 years ago, I started telling people, “Listen, you think that building a healthy home means that you’re living in a home with dirt floors and straw walls.” And so it’s funny how people still think this. The idea of building the ultimate healthy home is, your friends and family walking into the space and they just look around and go, “Wow, this is beautiful.” And then they have to ask, “I thought this was supposed to be a healthy home.”

Jen Stout:

Right.

Andy Pace:

Well, then you know, you have done exactly what you wanted to do. You made a home that is as beautiful or more beautiful than anything else they’ve seen, but it doesn’t look odd. It doesn’t look different.

Rusty Stout:

Doesn’t smell new either.

Andy Pace:

Doesn’t smell, right. And that’s what they’re going to say is they’re going to say, it doesn’t smell like a new home. And so- you’re right. And this is difficult for some people to imagine, but it doesn’t have to look like you’re building a yurt just to build a healthy home.

Jay Watts:

When you say that, Andy, it makes me think about, the other side of that idea is, I referenced it to buying a new car. There’s some people that if they don’t smell the new car smell, they’re a little bit worried that something wrong. And I’m wondering if someone walks into a home that’s a newly built and they don’t smell all that new stuff, are they going to go, “Wait a minute. Something not right here.”

Rusty Stout:

We’ve had that happen. We had one of our homes, their appraiser went in and he did not believe that it was a newly constructed home, and his exact words, “I don’t smell paint. I don’t smell glue.”

Andy Pace:

That is awesome.

Jay Watts:

Yeah, I think, the downside of that is, if you have to smell it, what are you doing to yourself?

Rusty Stout:

Right.

Jay Watts:

You’re actually poisoning yourself here and you think it’s a good thing you smell it, and we’re trying to tell you, “Nah, it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Jen Stout:

Right. Educating the clients’ is important. Setting expectations.

Jay Watts:

For sure.

Andy Pace:

Oh yeah. So, what do you see in the horizon? I know you’ve got a number of new projects underway, and so what do you want to tell the listeners that you’re working on right now?

Jen Stout:

I’ll let you go first, Rusty.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah so, I mean, off-start, we have one project we’re calling the Lighthouse project. It’s a beautiful Lake home by the lighthouse, and it started as, it was just supposed to be kind of a fit and finish. New flooring, new paint, new cabinets, new tile on the walls and stuff. And once we got into it, I mean, it was a disaster behind the walls. And long story short, it is now a brand new home, aside from the foundation and the framing. It’s completely new. New roof, new insulation, new floors, new paint, new window, every window in the house was replaced. Whoever built that house should have been locked up. They did not flash one window on the house. And so you can imagine the rot on that house. There were holes and there was no underlayment on the roof. It was just plywood and tile, and so it was a disaster. But we brought it back to life. We hope to have some really cool showcase, pictures and videos coming up here in a few weeks to share with everyone because we’re really proud of it.

Andy Pace:

Awesome.

Rusty Stout:

And as you know, Andy, you can probably tell by the orders coming in, we’re getting up on our Paintbrush spec home.

Andy Pace:

Right.

Rusty Stout:

Here in Horseshoe Bay, we’re painting, on the final stages there. And we just broke ground on a new spec home. It’s going to be a super modern, we’re calling it the Douglas project. And it’s in the framing stage right now, poured the foundation a couple of weeks ago. And it’s going to be a really cool, for our area, it’s a small house, but we were able to really do some cool features and it’s going to be one of our signature healthy homes, and we can’t wait to show everyone that, so. But I’ve been busy with that, but Jen has been super busy with a few other clients, too. So I’ll let her tell you about that.

Jen Stout:

Well, earlier we were talking about looking at building a home from a holistic approach and really it takes the entire home to be healthy, and so I’ve had the pleasure of doing two healthy interior design packages for our home here and Horseshoe Bay, and then one also in Las Vegas that we’re currently working on. And it’s funny, most of our clients, of course, we’re thinking about how construction materials may impact the health of the occupants, but they’re not thinking about, okay, the furniture, the rugs, the blinds, artworks, tables, chairs, et cetera, et cetera. And there’s not really a one-stop shop to find these things that are healthy because everyone’s tastes are so different, and that’s the part of the job I love is selections. And it takes me on an adventure every time to do a home’s healthy and interior decorating package. I end up finding really cool pieces, not only locally, but from around the US and around the world.

Andy Pace:

That’s a really interesting point because when I do consultations with clients all over the world, I give them the same story, which is 90% of the toxicity issues come from the things that you can see and touch. And you’re looking at your flooring, your wall finishes, your cabinetry, and then all your personal furnishings and finishes. So your furniture, your artwork, your window treatments, and so yeah, that is a huge part of it. And that’s the one area where it’s so subjective to what your personal tastes are.

Jen Stout:

Yep, absolutely. We found solid wood furniture, of course, avoiding particle board and MDF is a good idea, but the solid wood furniture, we order it unfinished, and then we’ll apply the AFM paints and stains, and it turns out gorgeous. And then you think about it, it’s a true custom piece. I mean, you should match the paint in your home. We’re doing that with a few of the bed frames and the headboards for the home we’re doing here in Lighthouse. It’s going to look awesome.

Andy Pace:

Well, and folks, if you are interested in any of the services that Jen and Rusty offer, and especially this new interior furnishings package, we’ll link their website and their contact information on this episode as we always do. But we just can’t say enough about what they offer, and it’s really good to have a true partner in healthy home design and building with us here on Non Toxic Environments. Jay, do you have any final thoughts?

Jay Watts:

I do have a final thought, Andy, and that is, once we can start moving around here, we’re going to have to load up the video camera and go down to Texas.

Jen Stout:

Please do!

Jay Watts:

Well, Andy and I’ve talked about that. We’ve talked about expanding in terms of beyond just podcasting. We’ve talked about getting video going, and I think we’d have a ball going around the country and interviewing people like yourself and the clients and looking at the beautiful work that’s being done. I’d love to do that. Andy, are you in on me? You in on that, Andy?

Andy Pace:

Oh yeah. Matter of fact, Jen and I have already started a conversation about when the best time is to visit Horseshoe Bay, Texas.

Jay Watts:

There you go.

Jen Stout:

You guys are invited, anytime.

Rusty Stout:

Jay, speaking of expanding, we are currently, I can’t say too much, but we are currently in the works on doing just that. I can’t say when and I can’t say where, but we are in the process of franchising with a builder that we’ve done a project with, and fully vetted, and we’re looking to expand. And if it works, we’re hoping to continue that with other builders that we’ve worked with, that we know are a 100% committed to what we’re doing.

Jay Watts:

You’re giving me goosebumps. You’re giving us goosebumps.

Rusty Stout:

Yes, so this deal has come a long way since our journey to up to see you guys, when was that? 2018?

Andy Pace:

Yeah. It was a couple of years ago, but you guys have done a lot in just a couple of years, I’ll say that.

Jay Watson:

No kidding.

Jen Stout:

That’s true.

Andy Pace:

So, yeah. And I mean, between that and getting married and having a child, I mean, holy cow.

Jen Stout:

We pack it all in.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah.

Andy Pace:

And so yeah, after this pandemic and we’re allowed to travel around the country freely, we’ll have to make plans to come on down and broadcast a couple of shows.

Rusty Stout:

Yeah, we would love it.

Andy Pace:

Right from your area. We’ll have to stop in Austin and go to Franklin’s and have some good barbecue.

Jen Stout:

Sounds like a good plan.

Andy Pace:

And we’ll definitely plan something because this is exciting. After all the years of being in this business, it’s so exciting to have a construction company who’s gone all in and making it happen. So really, congratulations to you two. Thank you for what you’re doing for our industry. And we look forward to hearing more. Jay, another great episode of Non Toxic Environments.

Jay Watts:

I think so, Andy. We just keep piling them on. It’s so exciting. It’s so exciting to be able to do that. Jen and Rusty, thank you for joining us again today.

Jen Stout:

Of course.

Jay Watts:

Every time, whenever we talk to you guys, I get all excited.

Rusty Stout:

Well, thanks. We enjoy it, too. I mean, at this point, it’s something that we’re super comfortable with and it’s just like talking to old friends.

Jay Watts:

That’s good.

Rusty Stout:

So it doesn’t even feel like a meeting, really, so.

Andy Pace:

I sometimes think about what it’s like to be just a listener of the show, and I don’t mean just a listener, but if I wasn’t doing the show as a host, to listen to this, I’m thinking there’s just four people who’ve known each other for a long time, shooting the breeze here about what’s going on in the industry. For me, it’s just a lot of fun, and I appreciate that.

Jay Watts:

Yeah, me too.

Andy Pace:

All right, folks. That’s it for this week’s episode of Non Toxic Environments. Once again, I want to thank Jen and Rusty Stout for coming on the show. JS2 Partners, we will link all their information on the show notes, and we encourage you to reach out and see how they can help you with your project. As always, folks, if you have any questions about this episode or others, please feel free to reach out. Leave us a rating and a review on iTunes. We’d greatly appreciate that. We are still the number one show on the iTunes platform for healthy building and construction. We’ll see you again next week, folks. Thank you so much and have a great week.

Jen Stout:

Thank you all. It was fun.