Skilled Trades Revolution: Insights from Andrew Brown, CEO of Tool Fetch

Ask Brien Episode 179 - Andrew Brown, CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch

Narrator: [: 00:00:00

Welcome,

Peter Bronstein: welcome, welcome. You're listening to the Ask Brian radio show on CHS 12. 1 and 98. 1 FM. Well, you know, Jen, we've been doing this now. We're completing the seventh year coming up

Jenn: on a eight and

Peter Bronstein: January, right? Eight January. Well, our Our show on January 2nd is not going to be here, but on January 9th, we will actually have to celebrate eight years.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Radio is a little, you know, [: 00:01:00

And then, oh,

Peter Bronstein: God.

Jenn: Well, congrats. That's a, it's a great milestone.

Peter Bronstein: Thanks. So our show is Ask Brian. It's ASK. B R I E N. Everybody asks us why we spell it that way, but before we get in I just want everybody to understand Our show is to try to help business owners either a a founder or creator who's actually Started something from scratch and created his own business or her own business Or, or sometimes we'll have somebody that's an expert in a specific category.

Brian is spelled with an E. [: 00:02:00

Traci DeForge: I think we should just go ahead and give the spoiler alert that it's because you couldn't get the domain with a spell with an I

Peter Bronstein: or a Y. But that doesn't mean why it couldn't be B R Y A N or B R I A N.

Traci DeForge: No, because, you know, we're all about building brands around here and, you know, Blackberry was always known as a fruit until it became a phone.

So, Brian was always spelled with a Y before it was known to be spelled with an E. So I just

Peter Bronstein: think

Traci DeForge: we're, well, that's true too, but that's O'Brien. So, and, and you just try to work in a pub whenever you can. I know you, I know you that way.

Jenn: [: 00:03:00

Traci DeForge: I bet it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I was just gonna, I was gonna keep that on.

I was gonna keep that on the down low Jen, but now that you've let the cat out.

Peter Bronstein: And I have some ping pong balls and I also have some quarters, so we're ready to go. I

Traci DeForge: mean. It's the holiday season, so I was gonna let it slide, but anyway, I digress. We have so many amazing reasons that our, our Brian is spelled with an E, and that starts always every episode, every Every show with our engineer, Jen.

Yay, Jen! Hey, thank you. Because you are extraordinary, and Peter would never stay in line in any way, shape, or form if it wasn't for you. I'm not in

Jenn: line. It takes a certain personality to put up with this, so. Well, that and a mute

Peter Bronstein: button. And I'm an expert in sarcasm, too, you know.

Traci DeForge: Yes, you [: 00:04:00

So don't make us use it. Mute has an E in it too, you know. Yes, yes it does. And it should actually start with an E if it, if you could fit it in that way. It's probably a new app. An outside engineer, who by the way, like I said, is extraordinary, I'm just going to throw that in there. It's all about our experts on the Ask Brian radio show today, and boy do we have a good one.

I so, I just can't wait for, for us to meet our expert today. And we really take the education. around here very seriously. And that's why we bring in our experts. And, you know, if you do any kind of research anywhere around building your expertise, it's based on around 10, 000 hours in your industry specific niche or your business.

erts, I mean, I think really [: 00:05:00

Always focus on expertise. We also get pretty enthusiastic around here. Especially this time of year. Right, Peter?

Peter Bronstein: And don't forget EXCITEMENT!

Traci DeForge: Okay, that's [: 00:06:00

Peter Bronstein: muscle next time. I'm gonna call the Sam Kin Kinsonian. No. No.

Traci DeForge: Okay. You can call it whatever you want. I call it obnoxious.

Peter Bronstein: There's no E in obnoxious, so it's, you'll have to go to another word.

Traci DeForge: There's not. And if I could have thought of it.

How about

Peter Bronstein: egregious?

Traci DeForge: Yeah, maybe. Okay. So, Okay. And you know, right now, I'm just not feeling that you have any empathy. Do you even really understand what empathy means?

Peter Bronstein: No, but I do know what ego is.

Traci DeForge: Yes, I bet you do. Yours must have fit through the studio door, but I saw some construction people around there last week, and I think they might have been widening the door for you.

Peter Bronstein: Yes, and they need an elevator, too.

ing way too much fun, and we [: 00:07:00

Peter Bronstein: Well, let's, well, first of all, we are an education show, correct?

Education? Yeah,

Traci DeForge: I've only mentioned that like three times, so, okay. Yeah, we're ready, yes, I counted.

Peter Bronstein: Experienced, okay. Experienced, yes. And you have a lot of experience in the E's. But because we do have a great guest. And we do want to get going here. We're going to use Tracy's last one, which is what, what do they say about grease lightning on that movie?

Grease lightning is what? Oh

Traci DeForge: my god, you're not going to believe this, but I forgot!

ELECTRIFYING! I

forgot my favorite E! ELECTRIFYING! And so are we!

Peter Bronstein: No worries, the neurologist is around the corner.

did not hit the fruit punch [: 00:08:00

Peter Bronstein: Next time come to the pub with me. Alright, so, without any further ado, A. D. I. E. You, and it only has one consonant, our guest is going, What did I get into?

How did they drag me in here? And had I known, I wouldn't be here. But, if he's still here, Andrew, are you there?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: I am here. Good to be here.

Peter Bronstein: All right. You can tell we kind of like to You know, even though it's a business serious show, we kind of like to have a little fun and there is no E in fun, but we, we are very grateful to have you here.

And we want to go a little bit first. I want you to explain to the audience a little bit about your background. Then we're going to get right into your company, but a little bit of your background so people know who you are just a couple of minutes and then we can go on from there.

: 2001

M. S. Firefighters and working back to back with trades people. And you talk about life changing events, you know, being an I. T. Guy and working back to back and trying to find survivors on site on ground zero was just it. You know, an amazing situation just sort of to be in, and it changed everything for me because I quit my job in I.

hat they're recognized, make [: 00:10:00

And it's just been a journey over the last 23 and a half, 24.

Peter Bronstein: So what is your definition of trades? Because, you know, I'm an attorney and an accountant, are those trades? I mean, what exactly are you classifying as a trade?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: So your trades are your electricians, your welders, your carpenters, anybody in the blue collar skilled trades.

Peter Bronstein: Okay. And don't these trades generally have unions?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: They do. Some people are union. Some, some are in non union or open shops. So depending which route that you take or your journey in the trade, some people are business owners, some individuals work for companies. Some of them are union.

Peter Bronstein: So the reason why I brought that up is because you're kind of advocating for these, for the blue collar trades group.

ersus what the unions do for [: 00:11:00

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: each association or union are doing their their own things I am out there on social media every single day whether it's linkedin tiktok youtube My own podcast called the lost art of the skilled trades where I bring on trades and associations I bring educators on to the podcast and I speak about Issues in the trades how to get the next generation into the trades.

So it's all about being visible And especially on social media. So I just try to show up every single day, uh, and any single platform just to get the message out there and advocate. And I also speak on stage as well across the country.

Peter Bronstein: How close to: 2001

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: It was in 2001. So it was literally right after. But the World Trade Center incident really just, you know, a handful of months where I said, you know, I'm going down the wrong path and I want to, you know, [00:12:00] see if I can help the people in the skilled trades. And that's my way to, that was my way back then to help the men and women in the skilled trades, providing them sort of the tools and equipment they need to fix and build.

Peter Bronstein: Did you start this company on your own or did you have other people?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: So it was my brother and I. The two crazy entrepreneurs, I was about 23 at the time and I was like, I don't want to do, I don't, you know, I think for me, I was always entrepreneurial. My brother was always entrepreneurial. My father had his own business.

Like it was just in our blood and our DNA. And I just, I went headfirst right into it. It was super exciting, but also a little bit scary as well.

Peter Bronstein: So you were working at the time when you started this company. So you just quit your job and said, I'm going to start. Or did you try to start the company while you're working to try to make sure you're, you know, you could pay your food bills, et cetera.

made a commitment after nine [: 00:13:00

Peter Bronstein: And what is the name of your company? And did you, well, I mean, back then that they didn't even have the, the iPhone back then. So when you started the company, all right, how did you get your first customers?

website. So that was back in: 2001

Like you can buy a 3, 000 cement mixer online. I'm like, yeah, you can. And it took a little bit of time to people get [00:14:00] used to shopping online because back then it wasn't obviously the first thing you did like you do today, but it was all about we were doing some advertising, doing some basic stuff like email blasts, that type of stuff, word of mouth, making phone calls, cold calling, whatever we can do to sort of get our Name out there.

So we, we've kind of hit the ground running.

Peter Bronstein: And, and so what do you do for trades people? I mean, is it a membership organization that people pay dues or, or the, you know, or is it any open to anybody?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: Anybody. So we carry about 2 million, 2 million different products from 650 different vendors. So anything from a material lift to a cement mixer to a storage box, it's a one stop shop.

where you can get most of your products. So for any type of applications, whether it's plumbing, whether it's electrical, whether it's welding, we are that one stop shop for people in the treads.

ople to those companies, for [: 00:15:00

In other words, do you have company?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: Yes. Yeah. So we're a distributor of many different products. So we have manufacturers that we have accounts with for over the course of 24 years. And we ship the products right to the customers throughout the country.

Peter Bronstein: And is there any restriction? I mean, do you have to be in the trades?

Like I'm a lawyer, I'm building, I'm remodeling my bathroom, you know, I can order my Moen faucet or whatever. I don't necessarily need to be a tradesman or do I need to be a trades person?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: Nope. It could be a business owner. It could be a consumer. It could be somebody in the trades. Anybody can order directly through us on our website, toolfetch.

com.

Peter Bronstein: And do you currently have an app?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: We have a mobile site, but we do not have a true app that you can download.

en offering products at that [: 00:16:00

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: So we started offering power tools. Your Milwaukee tools, your Bosch tools, the BASIC, DeWALT tools, that's where we started. So we had to, we had to acquire accounts and have them understand what e commerce was. Now just picture back in 2001, trying to do that. It was an uphill battle to be honest with you.

plus [: 00:17:00

Peter Bronstein: No, that's a pretty interesting story. Now, how did you, how did you get the word out? Did you have to, you, I mean, you tell me in the beginning, that's easy, but you know, at some point in time, you have to do something about advertising or branding brand awareness. What kind of brand awareness did you do back then?

Not, not, not today.

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: Yeah. Back then it was emails. We did some catalogs. I mean, that's what people expected sort of back then as well. And then making phone calls. I mean, the phone works back then. You called and someone picked up. Today's a little bit different, but back then it was just pound the phones, email.

th, and then it just kind of [: 00:18:00

Peter Bronstein: Do you, do you, so I know you're in tradesmen, tradesmen, do you focus mainly on construction contractors or just pretty much, you know, beyond that category?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: Well, it could be your, it could be your residential plumber or commercial plumber. It's your electrician, again, commercial, residential, welders, could be your contractor or your construction company.

So it is a wide range. We don't just narrowly focus on one area. So we touch upon a lot of different trades that we, that come into us daily. And as well, I'm, I'm always speaking to an electrician, a welder, whether online and doing my application stuff, but also just daily when they're calling in and asking for products.

Peter Bronstein: My co host Tracy has a couple of questions. She said, Peter, you know, when am I going to ask questions? So I said, all right, I'll take a step back. You know, I don't want to, it's holidays.

Traci DeForge: Let me have a moment.

Peter Bronstein: In the sun.

i DeForge: Listening to you, [: 00:19:00

But, but I also really want to, Get an in depth, if you will, scope or perspective of what it was like for you because you said, you know, you believed in this business so much that you took a leap of faith and that's just sometimes easier said than done. So what were some of the biggest challenges that you faced in terms of going from your, you know, essentially your day job to jumping off the entrepreneurship cliff and what are even some of the mindset challenges or some of the literal challenges that Based in making that transition,

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: so my, my first year, we talk about a challenge.

oing. Because you believe in [: 00:20:00

That really wasn't good information that I got because you need to reach out for help. You need mentors. You need people who can sort of guide you in your path, whatever journey you're on. And it only took, it took me probably about 15, 20 years before I had a mentor. But so I had to do my own. Research myself, but I think it was just, I'm one of those people.

ave something that's pulling [: 00:21:00

You know what? We didn't make money. Of course we need to live, but we're going to figure it out. And we did figure it out. So that was one of the biggest challenges right up front. Which we both of us had to deal with as entrepreneurs.

Traci DeForge: Yeah, and none of that's really easy, but what I'm also hearing you say is that, you know, having a mentor is a key piece of advice for people who are starting out like not even just asking for help, but a lot of people like they work with coaches or they work with mentors or they how are you Accessing even today as your business is now So successful.

Are you still searching and seeking mentorship? Do you work with business coaches? How do you work, um, and balance that need for help?

of hitting a ceiling and he [: 00:22:00

He said, Vistage. And I said, what is a Vistage? He said, it's a group of CEOs that you can join and they help each other try to get better from a knowledge standpoint. And try to grow their business. I'm like, okay. And then I, I reached out and that I ended up joining Vistage, which again, it's a nationwide group of executives and CEOs.

And I am in this group in New York where I meet with other, about 15 of us every single month, and we have a speaker. We also have a chair and we listen to the speaker about any topic, something about growing your business, something about mindset. And then we talk as a group and we always do check ins.

person, because my, it's an [: 00:23:00

Well, I have 15 other people to speak to plus my chair, who's a very successful, was a successful entrepreneur himself, always a believer. And I say this all the time. I say it to my son as well. I'm like, you got it. You got to get around the right people. You got to get a good mindset and find a mentor, someone who's been there and done that.

Don't try to reinvent the wheel. So I do that today. I have a handful of different mentors in different. Areas and it's not about how it's who who's going to bring you to that next level.

Traci DeForge: I think that's such great advice and I'm really hoping everyone who's listening today is really hearing that not only just how important it is that you ask for help that but then the who and getting help in the right area.

ng a conversation with a CEO [: 00:24:00

And that's all such a and you say that all in such a positive way So I think it's you know, it's a huge takeaway to really embrace that and seek out the right structure for that You know, you mentioned your son and i'm so glad you brought that up as a dad in In raising children and being around other parents raising kids, what is the messaging to children in middle school, high school, around the skilled trades?

career choices and pathways [: 00:25:00

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: You know, to share some statistics with both you and the audience, for people who don't know about the skilled trade shortages and how this sort of ties in.

welders by: 2028

Only two are coming in. We need 550, 000 plumbers by 2030. I don't think anybody wants to wait four weeks for a plumber or an electrician. And that's a part of what I do in my advocation when I speak to schools or I'm speaking to educators or I'm speaking. To parents, because kids need to make a decision today and they need to decide whether they go the college [00:26:00] route or they go an alternative route like the trades.

And it's funny when I look back in my own career, I went to college for four years and I came out more confused coming out of school than I was in school. And I'm not against college. I think college is right for the right person. I think it's about deciding which direction you want to take, but when you'd start to take a look at debt in college versus a trades path, where if you argue with your hands and you have that technical spark, you have that mechanical ability.

If a college is not right for you, you can start working right away, get an apprenticeship. You can start earning and learning at the same time. You can go to trade school and somebody might have a better path and make more money going that route. So it's about sharing with kids what's possible in a blue collar skill trades.

be, they say sometimes it's [: 00:27:00

To the blue collar world and are just killing it and it's just exciting to see that

Traci DeForge: Andrew you're kind of alluding to this and this was going to be my next question is what are some of the Mythbusters around the skilled trades and it sounds like you have some really interesting success stories that you could share that could be impressionable to those Uh, people out there who may have a different opinion.

do well in school and that's [: 00:28:00

Who want to do interesting things and you can talk about success stories because like I'm thinking about like a hundred different kids right now But I actually had somebody on the podcast and his name is kal Mauser if i'm pronouncing his last name, right? and he is a diesel mechanic and he Went to Skilled USA, which is like a competition.

to go overseas and represent [: 00:29:00

He's only 23 years old! I mean, it's unbelievable the things that he's done in a very short period of time of being at a young age, but he knew he wanted to get into this side of the business of working with his hands, and he's passionate, and I was like, wow, it's unbelievable about some of these kids of what they can do.

Especially when they have the drive and they're good at what they do when they're working with their hands. That's just one example of someone who's really taken it to the max and you get to represent the U S overseas. It's just unbelievable.

Traci DeForge: That's amazing. So tell me a little bit about the skilled trades advisory council.

eman named Rob Allman and he [: 00:30:00

And they're all doing their own individual programs, but the mission of stack is to recruit, retain and advocate for the trades. So we work with industry leaders. We work with educators to come up with programs to give back to schools and give resources where resources are needed for programs in schools for kids to get into the trades.

the skilled trades advisory [: 00:31:00

Traci DeForge: So can you give us one exciting example of how this movement has really impacted the women in the industry?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: So there are only about three to four percent of women in the trades, and we're working hard to get more women in the trades because that will obviously help with the shortage. There are, oh my god, there are so many women out there doing Amazing things in the trades and I think of people and I think of a woman by the name of barbie the welder who's a sculptor and if you've never seen her, her works of art in metal, you have to look her up barbie the welder and she's a sculptor and she just takes these sticks metal and just forms them into these amazing works of art and women like her women like Jamie McMillan who is an iron worker up in Canada.

They are [: 00:32:00

Traci DeForge: I love that. And that's, that's a whole nother episode I'd love for us to do together.

And this has just been so fantastic. We were talking off the mic and I was like, I really appreciate this thoughtful conversation because I just love hearing all this data and all these statistics and all these opportunities that are ahead for the skilled trades for sure. So I know if I've loved it this much that everyone else has and would love to explore more opportunities and connect with you.

What is the best way for people to continue this conversation with you, Andrew?

e channel called Tool Fetch. [: 00:33:00

out there. Also, Toolpatch. com if you're looking for products and different brands. We're here to help.

Traci DeForge: Yeah, we love to support our entrepreneurs and our experts on the Ask Brian radio show, that's for sure. And those were a lot of really great ways to get in touch. So all of those links to everything that Andrew mentioned.

ian, of course, that's A S K [: 00:34:00

And we still have time for maybe at least one more question.

Peter Bronstein: Thank you, Trace. So the question is, you mentioned, you know, that you, you feel you missed out on mentorships in the beginning, and that now you have these great mentorships, and that's why that can help you out and help out any business. My question is, you know, It's all based on the quality of that mentor, right?

You know, if I pick Bozo the Clown as my mentor, I'm probably not going to go too far. So how do you determine who's a good mentor? And how do you, how do you find a good mentor?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: That's a great question. Because if you are with somebody who has not Giving you the right advice, which I have in the past and I honestly, I've, I've had that in the past, but it's all about doing your, your research right?

ividual in the, in the past, [: 00:35:00

So it's all about doing your due diligence. It's all about speaking to people they've worked with in the past, seeing the results that they can bring. And sometimes look, it may not work out and that's fine. You might need to part ways. But you'll find that special person that's going to change your life.

So don't ever give up on mentorship.

Peter Bronstein: Now, on these mentorships, are they typically paid mentorships or just like, Hey, I want to help you out.

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: It's a combination of both. Some will charge for it. Some are just willing to give their time. And you know, it's hard because you're like feeling like you're asking for help and you want to give back to something, but some people are just there.

ive of those people who have [: 00:36:00

Peter Bronstein: We have one minute left. And so the question is, what was the biggest challenge your business faced?

Andrew Brown-CEO and co-founder of Tool Fetch: COVID. It was, luckily our business is essential during COVID, but it was a challenge with a supply chain.

When things started to become, when the whole supply chain backed up. It was very difficult to get products. It was a challenge in our business. Obviously we've sort of moved through that, but just to get products and tell people, well, it's going to be about two months before you see your product is not something someone wants to hear when they need something on the job site, but we were all dealing with it at that time.

And we were able to get through that, that challenging time.

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