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Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome to another exciting episode of Cherokee Business Radio. I’m your host, professional EOS implementer Joshua Kornitsky, and I’m here today with my guests, John Daniels, a Medicare liaison and life insurance, uh, representative in Georgia. I’m here with Craig Reidy, owner of Tom, Kris and Sons Plumbing, and we’ll be joined by Charlie Darrien, CEO of Charlie’s Angels Movers. Thank you for being here. I think you’ll find an interesting and exciting show today. So let’s go right off the bat, John, I’m going to start with you. Again, this is John Daniels. John is a Georgia liaison for Medicare and life insurance. Tell me what you do to help people, John.

John Daniels: So what I do, I sit down with the individual, explain them about life insurance and Medicare. For example, some people I talk to, I’m talking to their children about the Medicare concerns, because a lot of times the seniors are protected by their kids. So most times I sit down with the kids and explain to them why I’m there. What’s my purpose and what we’re trying to get accomplished to protect their mom and father with their Medicare concerns.

Joshua Kornitsky: So Medicare and life insurance? Yes, sir. Okay. So I know when we were talking earlier, you had said to me that that when it comes to life insurance, a lot of people have questions around understanding. You know what I think life insurance is versus what you know, life insurance is. What’s the biggest question people ask you?

John Daniels: How much is going to cost? And how can I get a certain amount of coverage for a little of nothing?

Joshua Kornitsky: So what are you. Tell them.

John Daniels: I tell them that doesn’t exist because everything’s going to be based off your height, your weight, and basically your health. So being truthfully honest, low cost life insurance does not exist.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. What about from a coverage perspective? Are you able to help customize? Yes. Everything that they’re looking for.

John Daniels: Yes you can.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, I know that you have been very active in Bartow County. John and I actually met John is a recent graduate of of the Leadership Bartow program in, in the Bartow Cartersville Chamber of Commerce. Um, what are some of the other things you do in in the ways that you connect with folks?

John Daniels: Well, um, being a graduate of leadership at Bartow has allowed me to network with you. Um, other people in the community and speak at different, um, engagements in Bartow for, um, senior facilities. Um, Cindy Williams has been a big inspiration for allowing me to be a part of the community by being at different functions, meeting a lot of different seniors. Um, being a part of rotary have a lot of great people that allow me to talk at different engagements as far as like, um, um, say, um, Georgia Highlands College, um, at certain churches and certain venues in the community. So that has been a big plus.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you really are pretty active in the community, because I know you said that you’re, uh, on the board of the Salvation Army and the United Way.

John Daniels: Yes, sir.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, as well as a Rotarian, as you mentioned earlier, when you’re in and involved in those different events, are you a real aggressive salesperson or are you out there trying to say, hey, what are your needs? How do you how do you engage with folks?

John Daniels: Well, I can honestly tell you, I don’t believe in selling people. I believe in educating people because some people are already sold themselves on how you treat them. If you treat them nice, they’ll listen. If you treat them bad, they already turn their ears off to you.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so it’s about building the relationship.

John Daniels: Yes it is.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that sounds like that’s something that you must have a lot of practice at over time.

John Daniels: Yes. My mom taught me that very well. You know, you always be polite, kind and interact and you know when to speak, when you ask a question and when you know to be quiet, when people tell you to stop talking.

Joshua Kornitsky: Fair enough. So it sounds like you must have had a pretty solid upbringing.

John Daniels: You did.

Joshua Kornitsky: You did tell us, where are you from originally?

John Daniels: Originally from Atlanta, southeast Atlanta. Um, attended Alonzo Crim High School and went to Georgia State for a while and then dropped out.

Joshua Kornitsky: So. Okay. Um, and the the time from when you were growing up exposed to, let’s say, a diverse community?

John Daniels: Yes, yes. Um, came, um, when I graduated high school, 93. The Olympics was coming. So you saw a lot of diversity coming in Atlanta. Then I went in the military and saw a lot of diversity. So being in sales was just normal because you had to interact with all types of people, but you had to be kind and patient because most people you interact with may have a question or two, and you had to be able to articulate what you’re trying to tell them about yourself.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, first, thank you for your service.

John Daniels: Hey.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you. Uh, we appreciate it very much. And and based on that piece of information, I presume that you’ve learned how to talk to just about everybody.

John Daniels: I guess so.

Joshua Kornitsky: So when you’re engaging with folks, has that training helped you?

John Daniels: Tremendously. Tremendously.

Joshua Kornitsky: In what ways?

John Daniels: Um, well, believe it or not, I can honestly tell you it has helped me listen more and talk less. Because most times when people talk to you, they want to tell you what they’re going through. And we are human. We have a lot of things going in our life repeatedly, but a lot of times people don’t want to listen because we just want to get it over with. But in my line of work, you got to be a listener instead of a talker.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so on that very front, you going back to to how you spend most of your days when you’re not involved in the community. Uh, on the Medicare side of things, I imagine you had intimated that you speak a lot with the the children of seniors, but I’m sure you spend a fair amount of time talking with seniors, so you’ve got to be a pretty patient listener.

John Daniels: You do.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, so let’s talk a little bit about Medicare because believe it or not, I don’t think everybody understands what it takes to qualify for Medicare and what that really means. Can you help us understand that a little?

John Daniels: Yes. Um, basically, a person looking at Medicare may have to be disabled. Would they have to get SSDI or they may be on dialysis?

Joshua Kornitsky: What is SSDI, SSDI?

John Daniels: Ssdi is Social Security supplemental income.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

John Daniels: Through disability, which you have to be qualified for 25 months through government that you are disabled or you may be on dialysis, which is a form of form of dealing with diabetes.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. But that’s something that they’ve got to accomplish before they come talk to you.

John Daniels: Yes, sir.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And how do they go about doing that?

John Daniels: Basically go by, go see doctor, discuss their options. Or they may say, hey, I’m going through some complications with my diabetes, and the doctor may give him a prognosis or a diagnosis of you may be taking dialysis or they may have a bad injury that happened on a place of work or through time of life, and they may have to go before court to justify that they are disabled and they cannot work anymore.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, but just to clarify, that’s sort of guidance from from 1000ft up, because that’s not the the part of the universe that you’re able to help them in.

John Daniels: Exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: Where you help them is, is in finding the coverage they need. So what types of options are out there? Sure.

John Daniels: You have. Um, well, you have a Medicare supplements, which.

Joshua Kornitsky: Are those.

John Daniels: Supplements are plans that you can purchase through a Medicare advocate or Medicare salesman, which is allow a person to get coverage for themselves with a low premium payment for that plan. But it covers certain parts of the policy, which is your doctor visits. Maybe you’re going to emergency, um, procedures, um, maybe getting some things done that you want to get covered without paying a substantial amount of monies out of your pocket. So that’s why a lot of people go to supplement. Where the Medicare Advantage allows you to have additional coverage before your dental, your vision and hearing. And probably a Medicare Part D included in that plan, which a person can get that coverage for, probably low cost out of pocket or maybe zero cost out of pocket.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wonderful. So do you. Do you tell them which one to buy, or how do you arrive at a at the right conclusion for them?

John Daniels: Well, Josh well you can’t tell people what to buy. You got to you got to explain to them the difference and they have to decide, okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you just kind of shine a light onto the the different aspects of it to help them understand what it is. And then then they’re able to make an informed decision.

John Daniels: Yes, sir. Um, because typically people have different lifestyles and people have different choices in mind. So okay, you want to kind of give them that reassurance that their decision is the best decision for them.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, and that brings me around to another question, because thinking about life insurance. Right, sir? I’m sure people are thrilled to discuss that.

John Daniels: Oh, yes, they’ll be flying off the hinges for that.

Joshua Kornitsky: So, you know, what is it about life insurance that nobody likes to talk about?

John Daniels: No one likes to talk about death.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wait. You have to die to collect.

John Daniels: Yes.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so how do you handle that?

John Daniels: Um, typically, you just want to just sit there and listen to people because everybody has something that’s very close to their heart. And people want to talk about what’s important to their heart. And being an agent, you just really just try to talk to them and guide them through the process because, you know, one day you’re not going to be here and you want your family to be well taken care of, but you want someone you can trust to help your family through that process.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sounds like you lead with a lot of empathy.

John Daniels: That’s all you can do.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well that’s amazing. So when we talk about empathy, it makes me think about something else you discussed. And I want to ask you about from from what you shared with me, you spend a fair amount of time in, in mentoring programs. Yes, sir. Can you talk to us a little bit about what you do there?

John Daniels: Sure. Um, I deal with a lot of fifth graders at Altoona Elementary and at Altoona Elementary. It’s a community that has a big financial struggle. And a lot of the students there are very intelligent and very great kids, but they have a lot of anger. Okay. And I spend a lot of time with these young men and talk to them about confidence, um, how to be confident where they are and be passionate to share it with others because anger doesn’t allow you opportunity to destroy your opportunities. So I talked to a lot of men about anger and frustration because, you know, we have a lot of social media out here that promotes a lot of great things in kids, but a lot of kids get confused with short term goals and getting frustrated with long term goals. And I try to show them it’s more to life than trying to get things overnight.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, that’s pretty incredible work. How did you get into that? That line of of I guess we mentoring, coaching, helping. How did you get there?

John Daniels: Well, young man named Joshua took me under his wings.

Joshua Kornitsky: Not not me. For clarity. For clarity.

John Daniels: Well, um, I got into it. Um, believe it or not, by just being a part of Bartow County community. Um, okay. Bartow is a very great community, and they see something in you, they’ll grab on to you and they will not let you go. So a lot of people talk to me highly and told me I should be getting involved in mentoring.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, I’m glad you have and you clearly are making a difference. And all of this is really a nice way of kind of building the use case to say that John really goes out of his way to engage at every end of the spectrum, and that’s really where the trust is built from. So I know that you’re involved with a great number of different, uh, community activities you had shared with me, I think. Is there a golf tournament coming up?

John Daniels: Yes. Um, on May the 5th, we’re going to have it at the, um, Country Club of Cartersville. We will have that for a United Way. And recognizing Rick Mason, he was a person, a part of the United Way.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

John Daniels: And he passed away some years ago. So they built this in the form of him. So we have that on the 5th of May.

Joshua Kornitsky: All right.

John Daniels: And we have a clay shooting.

Joshua Kornitsky: That was the next one I was going to ask you about.

John Daniels: Yeah. We have a clay shooting on May the 9th. And, uh, one of our good friends, um, Steven Powell, passed away in a plane crash last month, so we’re going to recognize him there.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, goodness. I’m sorry for that loss. Um. Well, great. So you’ve got a couple of different events coming up to honor some incredible folks. And let me ask you this, because I try to always come to a close with a question that makes people think a little bit. Um, you know, what’s one mistake you made that helped shape who you are that got you to got you to where you are today?

John Daniels: I would say being disobedient to my mom and father.

Joshua Kornitsky: That was the mistake you made?

John Daniels: Yes.

Joshua Kornitsky: And what did you learn?

John Daniels: I learned how to go back and apologize because they still around. Um, because I look at a lot of people, like, I deal with a lot of seniors. A lot of people don’t have their children, and a lot of kids, as I mentor, make a lot of mistakes, and then they regret them. They get older. So I’m glad I still have my mom. I’m glad I’m out here helping young men and young ladies to be better people in the community.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s incredible. John, thank you for sharing your story. Now, if somebody wants to get a hold of you, we’ll have all that information on our website. But what’s the best way to reach you?

John Daniels: You can reach me at my cell phone number, which is (470) 309-3106. Um, or you can reach me on my email address is Wesley Daniels 74 at gmail.com.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wonderful. Well, thank you again, John Daniels George. Liaison for Medicare and life insurance. We’ll have all John’s information posted. Uh, as soon as the podcast goes live, you’ll have it there to grab. Thank you again, John. And from there, let’s switch over to Craig Reidy. Craig, thank you for being here. Craig Reidy is the owner, along with his brother of Tom Kris and Sons Plumbing. Welcome. Good morning.

Craig Reidy : Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you for being here. So what can you tell us about Tom Kris and Sons Plumbing?

Craig Reidy : Uh, we are a family owned and operated plumbing company that operates out of Acworth, Georgia. We’ve been in business for 25 years now. We are residential service and remodel plumbing company, and we do a little bit of commercial service and remodel as well.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I have one burning question that I came here with today. All right. Who’s Tom cruise?

Craig Reidy : Uh, so yeah, it’s not one person. Uh, Tom is our father. Tom Reedy. Okay. And Chris is Christy. Christy Reedy, our mother. So, uh, it started out as TC plumbing. Uh, many years ago when my dad went to file for an LLC, there was already a TC plumbing in existence, and he came up with Tom. Chris thought it rolled off better than Tom Christie. Okay. And people have wondered who who that person is ever since.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s a wonderful story and and establishes you firmly as a family business. And I imagine it’s probably the question you get asked the most pretty often.

Craig Reidy : How. Yeah. How does a reedy come to own Tom Chris plumbing. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well just let them know. That’s a great story. It makes people feel real warm to know. Um, so when you and I had the opportunity to kind of talk ahead of time, we talked about something that sort of surprised me, right? Because you think of of a plumber and the plumbing industry is as the trades being a pretty hard working, pretty down in the dirt every day kind of job. And while that may be true, that’s not what really sets you guys apart. You said what sets you apart is your culture. So can you tell me a little bit about that? Because that’s really an incredible thing for a plumber to say.

Craig Reidy : Uh, yeah. Actually, uh, a lot of alignment with what John’s mentality is. Um, and it’s great to hear all the things you’re doing for the, you know, full spectrum of making folks better. Um, we’ve developed a passion for developing our guys into to being great men in the community. Um, and just have learned that if we want to impact the world in a positive way, then our plumbing company is the vehicle that we’re going to be able to do that. Um, and if we’re building and developing good men and women, then they’re going to provide great customer service. And the plumbing reputation and name is going to grow. Uh, so start with taking care of them and, and they’ll take care of our customers.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s a great outlook and a fantastic mindset. So you had said that it was your dad that that started the business. Your dad and mom started the business. Um, were you in it right from the start? When did. When did you become part of the equation?

Craig Reidy : Um, so you have to go back. The business started in 2000, but my dad’s plumbing career started in, uh, in the 80s. And, uh, once he turned out he was a union plumber for 18 years. Wow. Um, and through that time, he was developing a side business and kind of growing that and working extremely hard to better themselves and and move ahead in life. And, uh, if you wanted to spend time with dad. You went to work with them on the weekends. Uh, or in high school. We would work in the summertimes with them. And so I’ve been around it since I was a little kid. Um, I say, you know, started on jobs when I was six. Uh, I was a gofer and a parks runner and just, uh, trying to stay awake. Um, back in those days and officially joined the business as a, you know, contributing plumber in 2012. Uh, and got my journeyman license in 2013.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wow. Okay. So you actually have been in it for quite a while now?

Craig Reidy : Uh.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yes, sir. And and the perspective that you bring to that is, is the, the outlook of experience. Does does does that factor in very much in in what your what the what the group is doing on a daily basis. How much how much of your plumbing skill comes in versus your leadership skills?

Craig Reidy : Um, I would say it’s, uh, we’ve moved to more leadership skills than anything. I still have to offer quite a bit of support for challenges on jobs. I do all the estimating. Um, not in the van quite as much as I used to be. And so yeah, it’s it’s leading the, the business and the strategic, uh, goals and things like that. Um, but the experience of being an employee working for my dad is what’s, uh, been so valuable to help create our company culture and, uh, kind of the employee experience that we’re offering to our guys now because I’ve been in their shoes.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. Yeah. You got to walk a mile in them before you can tell them where they should step and how they should step. So that’s a that’s a fantastic foundation. Now, going back to the business itself, you had said that that you do a fair amount of remodeling work as well.

Craig Reidy : Yes, sir. Um, so if you’ve got, uh, your master bathroom, you’re looking to move the fixtures around, do a simple, uh, reface, which we just do the plumbing component. Uh, we do work with homeowners? Primarily. The remodel stuff is with contractors. Okay. Um, and then kitchens will finish basement bathrooms and things of that nature. Um, but we also do, you know, full service. So anything from the curb to the faucet, we can service or replace or relocate whatever it is that you have in your imagination.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And you help the customer sort of understand what they need versus, uh, it’s been said occasionally customers may have unrealistic expectations. And it’s not about expectations. It’s about the way they want something to be versus the way it technically can be. Do you help them bridge that gap?

Craig Reidy : We do. And, uh, we have as far as the remodeling goes, we’ve kind of set ourselves apart in saying that you can’t always or saying no is not really an option. Um, you know, you can you can find a solution. It’s just, uh, how much do you want to pay? Um, but as far as our service goes, we take the same approach as as John had mentioned earlier, and it’s just to educate the customer of what the situation is, what their options are to move forward, and letting them make a decision of what’s going to suit their financial needs and and what their capabilities are.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. So it’s really a holistic approach where you’re kind of trying to take in all the information before you make a recommendation, but helping them stay on track.

Craig Reidy : Yep.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, that’s pretty impressive. So where do most of your customers come from?

Craig Reidy : Um, it really tends to be word of mouth. And, uh, we get quite a bit of traction through Google. Um, it’s shifted in the last 5 or 6 years as we’ve made a push to, to grow our presence on Google, thankfully. Uh, we do good work. And, um, we’re sitting just over 755 star reviews. Wow. And so we see a lot of customers coming in that way, but it’s primarily word of mouth referrals. Um, we we do very, very little advertising or traditional advertising.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, and obviously with 755 star reviews, you’re the words getting out there. So how big of an area does do you do you cover. Do you service with your with your technicians?

Craig Reidy : Yeah. So, uh, right now we’ve got a 20 mile service radius, and that’s a little unique in the plumbing industry. Uh, most of the time you go where the jobs are.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. So why only 20 miles?

Craig Reidy : Um, it just ends up, uh, leading to more efficient scheduling. Uh, it’s a better quality of life for our employees. Uh, if you’re not having to sit in an hour of traffic every morning and every afternoon, you’re going to be a happier person. Uh, and if there are issues that arise, they’re right down the road. We can go and get those things resolved quickly. Uh, but it’s the work is around us, and and so we’re trying to concentrate our efforts there, and, uh, it holds you accountable if, if you’re going to, you know, saturate an area, you’ve got to provide great service and you can’t afford to burn bridges, so.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, sure. And 20 miles is a relatively small footprint in in someplace the size of even metro Atlanta. So yeah, I imagine if you burn a bridge there, uh, it’ll haunt you. So I guess you must be delivering good service.

Craig Reidy : We’re doing our best, for sure.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s. Well. And the other piece of that deserves being called out. Not not, uh, unlike John, you’re kind of living your core values and and the fact that you’re devoted to the quality of life of your employees. Um, in, in an industry that’s built on providing service and still providing excellent service is really admirable, right? Because that’s something that that people can see firsthand that you’re living. You’re you’re putting your money where your mouth is.

Craig Reidy : Yes, sir. And it’s, uh, it’s starting to set us apart in the marketplace for our customers, but it’s also setting us apart for our opportunities of employment. Um, people realize that we, uh, we prioritize balance and our our life. Enjoyment. We. You spend more time working than you do anything else except for sleeping, maybe. And so that’s, uh, we really put that at the forefront is to enjoy where you work. And also, you know, you have to be good at what you do. But, um, we’ve got a really great group of guys that it’s fun to work.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that’s awesome. And, and had you shared with me. So where are you finding your new employees when you need them?

Craig Reidy : Uh, it has been, uh, I think God’s just dropping them in front of us right now. Um, it’s. Yeah, word of mouth, uh, same, same kind of scenario as our customers. It’s just people start to learn that we have this opportunity available. Um, in the last couple of years, we’ve made more of a push to have a structured apprenticeship program. Um, and actually just rolled that out the last couple of months and are still fine tuning it and trying to make it work. But we realized the hurdle for us to grow is going to be developing great plumbers. And so we’re putting an emphasis on starting from scratch, kind of like our dad did with us. That’s great. And, uh, yeah, having a good process to develop them and bring them along so that they can have a good, lasting career in plumbing.

Joshua Kornitsky: If you establish the benchmark, then they know what’s expected. So that that makes it much easier than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. When when you created the the peg and the hole.

Craig Reidy : Yes, sir.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that’s fantastic. Well, that’s good to know. I’m happy to hear that. And it sounds like to me, an apprenticeship program is sort of the roots of where all the trades came from. So you’re kind of going back to basics.

Craig Reidy : Yes, sir. And, uh, and really making an effort to bring the next generation into the trades, uh, and there’s a lot of folks that are graduating high school and college. There’s nothing that appeals to them. Or they’ll they’ll go for a semester or two and just can’t find their footing and don’t know why they’re there. And so when you have a good, solid, uh, career path that’s lined up for you in the trades. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel and know where you’ll be in 5 to 10 years. And so that’s what we’re really focusing on developing.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s a fantastic outlook. Thank you for giving back to the community in that way. And on the subject of giving back to the community, tell me, what did you have going on with the city of Acworth?

Craig Reidy : Yeah. So, uh, my my brother and I have, over the last five years, have, uh, really found a passion for physical fitness and mental, uh, I guess mental health. And, um, we’ve through along that journey have wanted to find different ways to give back and and create more accessibility for fitness. And so we’ve partnered with the city of Acworth to put in a fitness pad at Logan Farm.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wow.

Craig Reidy : And, uh, yeah. So anybody that’s there in the community can go and access that and, and get themselves into better shape. And, uh, while they’re out there enjoying our nice parks in the city of Acworth.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. Thank you for giving back to the community. Well, like with John, I do want to ask sort of a closing question that gets you thinking a little bit. And and in your case, I think I’d, I’d ask, you know, what’s a great piece of advice that you’ve picked up along the way that that has helped change your perception in the way you both lead, but also live?

Craig Reidy : Um, yeah, it’s, uh, one of our core values and a a book that’s required reading for anybody that works in our company. It’s called Extreme Ownership. Uh, and it’s a mindset to have to own all of the things that you are or that you contribute to a situation. And if things go right, or if things go wrong, uh, knowing how you set that situation up. And as a business owner, if problems happen on my my guys day or the route, uh, looking at how did I contribute to set them up for success and did I actually set them up for success? Uh, sorry.

Joshua Kornitsky: No worries.

Craig Reidy : Did I actually set them up for success, or, uh, did I slack and and send them in blind? And so just, uh, having accountability and extreme ownership and all aspects of your life.

Joshua Kornitsky: Resonates very highly with me. So that’s fantastic information. Again, we’ll have all of the information to connect with Tom Christensen’s Plumbing on our website. But what’s the best way for folks to reach the company if they need help?

Craig Reidy : Uh, really just call the the phone number (770) 529-0799 and, uh, yeah, you’ll get a hold of Maggie, so.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, thank you again. Craig Reidy, owner, along with his brother Tom Kris and Sons Plumbing. I appreciate you sharing your outlook and your perspective. And that brings us to our final guest of the day, Ms. Charlie Darrien, CEO of Charlie’s Angels Movers and Charlie’s Angels Movers charity truck. Charlie, welcome to Cherokee Business Radio.

Charlie Darrien: Thank you. Josh, thank you so much.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you for being here today. You are involved with a great many things. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Charlie Darrien: Where should I start? Yeah, I have a few things going on so.

Joshua Kornitsky: Give us the list.

Charlie Darrien: Okay. The list starting with the moving company. So a long, long time ago, back in 2013, I started a moving company. Um, the short of it is, I got passed up on a couple promotions in corporate America six months apart. That was kind of the kickoff to me going home and saying, hmm, I need something else. I need to figure something else out. This is obviously not going well, so God put it in my head. The idea was born. I started searching, moving companies, realized that they were it was a broken industry in a lot of ways, and I thought I could fix that and have impact there. Um, and so it was born.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that was 2013.

Charlie Darrien: 2013.

Joshua Kornitsky: 2013. Well, you certainly seem to have made an impact.

Charlie Darrien: I think that I, we pride ourselves on, um, changing the standard in the industry. So just leveling up the industry as a whole, at least in the community that we all work, play and live in, which is Ackworth.

Joshua Kornitsky: So what’s the the Charlie’s Angels uh, movers charity truck then?

Charlie Darrien: So that was, um, just started from a lot of clients. When they’re moving there, there’s at least a handful of things that they never want to take with them. Upright pianos is a good one.

Joshua Kornitsky: You must have a lot of those.

Charlie Darrien: A lot of a lot of gym equipment is another one that clients are, like.

Joshua Kornitsky: Perfect for hanging clothes on.

Charlie Darrien: Yeah. That part. Um, so they don’t want to take those things. But now word’s caught on, so they’ll donate anything that they just think is a usable piece of furniture. We’ll gladly take that. I sell it for a small profit on various, you know, platforms and sites, and then 100% of that profit goes to my charity. Charlie’s Angels Movers charity truck, which is just helping people in Ackworth in various capacities.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. Wow. That’s also giving back to the community. We we lucked out today and have three incredible guests that are all giving back. Thank you, thank you. We appreciate it. So when you and I were talking, though, taking a little bit of a serious turn, you shared with me something that also recently made a really big impact on you, uh, with the Acworth Police Department. You attended an event.

Charlie Darrien: Yeah. So and I would say bigger impact. I have been supporting in some capacity sex trafficking, human trafficking for at least 12, 13 years as I go back in my memory. And but I attended a three day seminar that was taught by Dan Nash. It was actually out by Hartsfield Airport, and so it wasn’t Acworth Police Department, but I immediately came back, set up a meeting with the chief, which I think we talked about. We did and said like, what are we? How are we managing and handling all this? And just like, let me in a little bit. But through the seminar, that was a three day seminar, I just really learned a couple of things. So I thought I understood and I thought I knew how glaring and just how massive of an issue this was, and I just didn’t know. So even though I had been supporting it and been advocating for this cause for a long time. My eyes were just really opened very wide by learning through that seminar in a very random way that that one of the massage parlors that I’ve personally been dealing with for the last three years is in this human sex trafficking industry. And it’s not Atlanta that we’re pointing the finger at anymore. Right?

Joshua Kornitsky: Like closer to home.

Charlie Darrien: It’s in Kennesaw off of Barrett Parkway. So just I was so rattled by that and just so disturbed by that, that I felt like immediately just drawn to what am I doing about it? On, on the, on the whatever small platform that I have. Like where can I start? So I just kind of started and been talking with Acworth PD now, and Dan Nash, who was the presenter of the seminar, about just bringing a couple things together as far as educating people. I think that that’s the big piece that’s missing.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure don’t know. And please keep us tuned in because we definitely want to help fight against sex trafficking and human trafficking in any regard. Thank you. Happy to put a spotlight on that. I will, um, not not to go from the the darkness into the light, but just to keep the conversation moving along. You also shared with me that you are now in the car business as well. So how did this happen?

Charlie Darrien: I would hire employees, like 1 in 3 of my employees that I would hire wouldn’t have vehicles. So I thought, what? But don’t you have a family? You have kids. You have a wife. Like, how are you even navigating a I mean, how are you just making this work? And it seemed like just a struggle that could I, could I fix this? So I thought, how hard is it to just get my dealer license? And it turns out it was really hard. It was just like starting any other business. I don’t know what I was thinking that it was going to be like, oh, less or I don’t know what I had a thought about, but.

Joshua Kornitsky: But you got it done.

Charlie Darrien: But I got it done. And then I started selling cars to my employees. And then turned out a lot of people wanted to buy cars for me. So Charlie’s Angels Chariots was kind of something that I was working on as an additional stream of revenue.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. And does it have a physical location or do they just reach out to you?

Charlie Darrien: So I have I have 26 office spaces actually in my office building that’s right across from Acworth PD in Acworth. So it has an official office space in my building.

Joshua Kornitsky: Fair enough. Yeah. So the easiest way to find out about that is just to reach out to you.

Charlie Darrien: Yeah. You could Charlie’s angels, chariots, used car sales or Charlie’s Angels movers. You could contact me a few different ways.

Joshua Kornitsky: All right. Um, so we’ll definitely revisit that before we say goodbye, but we have more questions to go. I understand that your family is in the music business.

Charlie Darrien: We are very musically inclined people. My son Dane. Um. That’s his. That’s his name. But that’s also the stage name that he’s choosing. So he’s been stepping in. We’ve been stepping in pretty big rooms since he was 14, actually. So American Idol when he was 14.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wow.

Charlie Darrien: Flown us out. A Warner Records has flown us out to LA for a listening party. Last couple of weeks he’s been in the studio with Jermaine Dupri, which has been pretty exciting and pretty cool since I grew up listening.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s really cool.

Charlie Darrien: And loving Jermaine Dupri. So yeah, so we’re fingers crossed in thinking that he’s probably going to launch into the music industry in a pretty big way, and hopefully be one of the biggest stars to come out of Acworth, Georgia.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s a fantastic. We wish him nothing but success and luck there. Thank you. So turning back to Charlie’s Angels Movers where where it all began, right? What? As silly as it sounds, how does it work? How do you. How do people engage with you in order to understand what needs to happen? Because you said you wanted to kind of fix a broken industry. What are you doing to help?

Charlie Darrien: Yeah. So it starts at the intake or the phone call. Right. We’re very. We’re consultants. So we’re you’re moving guide were you’re moving consultant were your friend and your partner in this move. It’s a very people don’t always have an understanding that at the level of stress that moving is, it’s one of the top five stressful events in like people’s lives up there with divorce, um, death of a loved one. Like, people are literally categorizing, uh, planning a move with just high, high stress levels. So, so the idea is going back to our tagline. We’re here to make your move a heavenly experience, right? Like, we want to take all of that stress off of you, eliminate all of that stress. Talk you through everything, kid gloves. Hold your hand. Be everything that you need from a consultant every step of the way. Packing, loading, unloading, unpacking. Local, national. Take you anywhere you want to go. What I’ve been marketing a lot more towards is we’ll come and pick you up. If you’re if you live away from Georgia and move you here.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wow.

Charlie Darrien: Because doesn’t it make a lot more sense that if there’s any issues that arise that you’re dealing with a company that’s now local to help you manage through anything that comes next?

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. And that’s above and beyond what anybody else is offering. I have to believe. And that really is changing the industry.

Charlie Darrien: And that’s picked up a lot, actually. We’re flying out to go grab and pick people up and move them back to Georgia alive.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s awesome. What’s the farthest you’ve done so far?

Charlie Darrien: California.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. So Jackson Hole about the extreme limit? Yeah, yeah. At least as far as the moving vans going to go to until we get to Charlie’s Angels Airlines. Um, so the other thing I remember you telling me about was, um, also giving back to Acworth, uh, a cultural arts venue.

Charlie Darrien: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Am I getting that right?

Charlie Darrien: Yeah. So, Acworth Cultural Arts, I jumped on the board. It was invited to a meeting, uh, the top of 2020 for Acworth Cultural Arts and jumped on the board a couple of months later because I understood the mission. And the plan was to bring the performing arts in a theater, essentially, to Acworth, which I love that mission. I’m a little bit jealous that Kennesaw has this great, big, fabulous amphitheater, right? Our beautiful sister city over there, and we don’t have one. So I thought, hmm, let me how can I get involved in this? Um, so just jumped on the board, started learning and educating myself, you know, just what the process is going to be. And then I became the 2025 chair, um, for Aquacultural Arts. You know.

Joshua Kornitsky: You don’t really go in halfway, do.

Charlie Darrien: You? I usually do things at 100. Yeah, yeah. Uh, and so it’s been really good just working with the city. We already have a small theater at the Roberts School, um, which was the first black school in Ackworth. So it’s a historic building. The city of Ackworth has partnered with us and said, hey, we’ll give you one room in that building. So we have our small little 75 seat theater that we’re really proud of. So now the objective is just to put on, you know, different arts. We have a improv comedy show coming up on April the 28th that’s actually going to be at Rico’s Mexican Restaurant, if you know that now.

Joshua Kornitsky: I love it.

Charlie Darrien: So, uh, they’re closed on Mondays, but SLA was good enough to open it up for me and say, hey, I love this idea. Like, let’s get it going.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it’s the only real mole in town.

Charlie Darrien: Yeah, yeah. That’s right. We we love her too. Um, but yeah. So we just want to bring, you know, back live, live theater and performing arts to, to the city.

Joshua Kornitsky: So is that in, well in motion? Is there more we can do to help?

Charlie Darrien: Oh well in motion. So this this city has really done a phenomenal job with, first of all, giving us the building. And they’re going to be responsible for a huge part of the things that have to happen from coding and sprinkler system and different things. So they’re really they just jumped right on. And and you know, we’re packaging it up. And as long as we execute at the level that we committed to, I think the city’s going to be really pleased. And we’re all working really hard.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. And again, whatever we can do to help on that, we’d be thrilled to bring that to to Acworth. Uh, I lived in Acworth. I live in Kennesaw, so I get to bounce between both.

Charlie Darrien: Good.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s fantastic.

Charlie Darrien: I’ll be taking you up on that.

Joshua Kornitsky: You got.

Charlie Darrien: It. Promo.

Joshua Kornitsky: There you go. For our theme. We’ll be happy to do it. Thank you. So the the the last thing that I do want to ask about because it’s kind of been our, our, our underlying subject of the day is, is to talk a little bit about culture and about people and your spread. I don’t want to say thinly, I’ll just say you’re spread across multiple domains. Yeah. And in doing so, that’s that’s got to really test your people skills. So and so when when you’re engaging with folks, whether it’s customers or you’re engaging with employees in, in one of the businesses, you know, how do you deal with how do you set the expectations, how do you help them be the best they can be?

Charlie Darrien: Um, so probably training has been the biggest, most impactful thing, I think that I stepped into an industry where there wasn’t just a whole lot of training overall, like owners in this industry. They don’t really train employees. They just say, get out there and go move sort of thing. So I’ve been really big on training since inception. Um, my team of 25 men will meet at least once a month in my office to just get on one accord or, you know, tell me why. What I’ve done to make you mad recently or whatever we want to talk about. Let’s just talk about it now and openly and candidly so we can move past it and get back to work sort of thing. But I think, you know, from a culture standpoint, um, the expectation is great and the level is high. And anyone that’s ever worked on my team understands that it’s not your average moving company in that capacity. The expectations and the responsibilities are all taken very seriously by everybody across the board. So there’s nothing less than that. Essentially.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. And speaking of high expectations with regards to the moving company, you’ve actually done something pretty incredible. You were talking to me about the employees taking ownership.

Charlie Darrien: Yes. So in the interest of I do have a few other things going on now. Right? I’m going moving in a few different directions from a scaling and elevating standpoint. But heaven on Earth event venues is my next passion project that’s about to launch this summer. So just a venue and an event space for local people, but in in order to work on these other objectives, had to pull away from the moving company somewhat. So yes, I have a phenomenal team that’s doing the majority of running the day to day. But also, how can I give back to my field team, which are the actual movers that have been on my team for eight years? Seven years?

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow. That’s incredible tenure for for a role.

Charlie Darrien: It really is. It’s just not tenure that you see in this industry. So I’m I’m really proud of that. We’re all really proud of that. Um, you know, it was said here that it really is about making keeping your people happy. And when you do that, they tend to show up and want to work for you. But I’m giving them ownership. So I’ve decided it’s probably time for me to sell in some capacity so I can sell. I’ve had a couple buyers come along, um, and then decided it would if I can get my team trained and get them really in the mentality of being owners, I’m going to give them ownership. So partnering and selling to my team first is the objective. So we’re going to see how that all pans out at the end of 2025.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s pretty incredible and pretty rare. I deal with entrepreneurs every day and I just don’t come across that too terribly often. Yeah. So that’s really that’s really something. Thank you. So what are you working on? What’s coming up as far as events or projects you had mentioned? Um, smoke on the Lake.

Charlie Darrien: Yeah. So I’m a Rotary Club member. So, uh, philanthropic work and kind of giving back to my community is really where my heart’s at in all things. But I’m working on at the Ackworth Community Garden. If you don’t know that we have a garden, then come out and volunteer there. Um, rotary Smoke on the Lake is coming up May 8th, um, weekend. So come to Ackworth and taste all the best barbecue locally by everybody that’s making it there. So I’ll be, uh, hanging out and doing some volunteer positions there. Um, my venue, Heaven on Earth event venues, launches this June, so you’ll be probably seeing some bits of marketing around the local circuit with that.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s great. And what’s what’s the focus for Heaven on Earth venue?

Charlie Darrien: So photographers so so far we’ve done a soft launch. Photographers want to come and shoot there, but really just a full event space. So it could be a dance. A dance recital could happen out on the on the green, but just really, really anything small, small capacity weddings, different things.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. And we’ll obviously have that information on our website. But if people want to find out more, as we’re probably in the in the thick of the wedding planning season, where where would people find out about that?

Charlie Darrien: Heaven on Earth event venues.com.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s pretty direct. All right. So I always do like to close with something a little different. And you and I had talked about sort of, uh, mental spaces. Right. So what was a good piece of advice around mindset and mental spaces that you’ve received in your life?

Charlie Darrien: Um, so many some of my favorites. I used to have a little post-it hanging on my door and my, my, in my 20s and my early 20s, and I carried that same post-it into my 30s when I would move. Um, you become like the five people you hang around the most.

Joshua Kornitsky: I love that.

Charlie Darrien: That was important because I, I hung around a lot of people. I, I run the gamut with the company. I think that I would or the acquaintances that I would have. So I just had to remind myself sometimes that some people are arm’s length and you keep them over here. You love them the same, but you don’t. You’re not sharing your day to day with them, so you become like the five people you hang around the most.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic piece of guidance. I wrote it down myself and I’ll be sharing that with my daughters, so thank you, I appreciate it.

Charlie Darrien: You’re welcome.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, Charlie Darrien, CEO of Charlie’s Angels Movers, Charlie’s Angels mover charity trucks, excuse me, charity truck, Charlie’s angels, chariots, used car sales. And the heaven on earth. Heaven. I was looking for it on my notes to make sure I didn’t get it. Heaven on Earth events venue.

Charlie Darrien: That’s right.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you for being here with us today. We’ll have all of your contact information, but just on on our site. But just what’s the fastest, easiest way for people to get Ahold of you directly if they want to move.

Charlie Darrien: If they want to move. Charlie’s Angels movers or (678) 523-5353 is our primary number that you’ll see kind of everywhere.

Joshua Kornitsky: Fantastic. Well, thank you again for coming in, all of you. Uh, John Daniels, Georgia liaison for, uh, Medicare and life insurance. Craig Reidy, owner, along with his brother of Tom Kris and Sons Plumbing. And Charlie Darrien, CEO of the Charlie’s Angels Movers enterprise. Thank you. And, um, this has been Joshua Kornitsky. I’m a professional iOS implementer. I’m also the host of Cherokee Business Radio. I so appreciate everybody’s time. We look forward to seeing you all again as your projects continue. Thank you.

Charlie Darrien: Thanks, Josh.

John Daniels: Thank you.

Craig Reidy : Thank you.