Montgomery County Home and Garden Show 2025

This is The Homeowner Show. We are live here at the Montgomery County Home and Garden Show. We got a lot of booths up and going right now, and we got a lot of fun guests lined up for you. We're gonna have a good time here at the True Texas Solar booth. We are so glad that you guys can join us live here on YouTube and Facebook. We're always happy to have you guys. join us here on the show. Uh, whether you're DIY or looking to hire, we're here to bring you the best information and options for you and your home. Uh, my name is Craig Williams, and we are here at the True Texas Solar booth. I want to give a shout

out to our sponsors for the show real quick. Thank you to Lone Star Appliance Repair. Uh, whether you have a new appliance, old appliance, matching set, you want to get it repaired, they are the team to call. Give them a call, 936-647-2364. And obviously, thank you to our sponsor, True Texas Solar and Roofing. Uh, you can give them a call at 936-286-8325. We're not going to spend too much time on them because we're going to be talking to them live here at their booth here in just a little bit. But right now, I got a guest sitting down with me. Why don't you let everybody know who you are and who you're with?

Uh, my name is Deanna, and I, uh, am with Operation Pets Alive. We are the largest no-kill animal, uh, rescue in Montgomery County, and we've been in Doing this now since 2011. So we've got some time under our belts and trying to do what we can to make Montgomery County a no-kill county by pulling— we are all volunteers and we are all foster-based. So all our animals are in foster homes learning how to be proper pets.

Mm-hmm.

And we, you know, we We pull from the shelters mainly.

You talking about like other shelters?

Yeah, we pull from Montgomery County and Conroe Animal Shelter. And, you know, to try to alleviate the pressure that they are under because so many dogs are being turned in. And, you know, they're just great pets. And we have 4 major programs. We do the adoptions. I'm head of what they call TNR, trap, neuter, and release of feral cats. If we can get the cats to stop reproducing, there's so much less in the county shelters and the city shelters.

Yeah.

As of right now, it's been a really long time, years, since either shelter has had to euthanize for space for cats because we are on the ground working very hard. We've done about 2,000 cats so far this year.

Oh, wow.

And how do you guys get your funding?

Well, donations.

Donations. Strictly donations.

We're— the public has to finance us.

Okay.

Because, you know, that's how we operate is just donations.

And you guys haven't like done any grant programs or anything like that?

Sometimes.

Sometimes?

But grants are hard to get.

Oh, yeah.

And, you know, somebody says, oh, you got a $7,000 grant. Well, we spend that in a week.

Yeah.

And, uh, but we're grateful. Um, don't get me wrong, we're very grateful for the $7,000. But, uh, it, it takes, uh— we do in the TNR program, we do about 50 cats a week at $80 a cat.

Oh my gosh, so that adds up.

Yeah, yeah, but it makes a difference that, you know, we're impacting. And it's all volunteers doing this. No one in Operation Pets Alive gets paid. We also have a transport program that we're fortunate to have a few receiving shelters in Colorado, Minnesota, the Northeast, and sometimes in the Pacific Northwest.

And what's a receiving shelter?

The shelters that will receive our dogs here that we can't get adopted.

Okay.

And if I may, I can tell a real short story about—

Oh yeah, please do.

I had Gloria. I pulled Gloria from the Conroe Animal Shelter. in January of 2024. She had 12 puppies. She was a black shepherd.

Mm.

Um, it was a job taking care of those 12 puppies, but, uh, uh, it was my pleasure to do so. She was heartworm positive, so we had to put her through heartworm treatment, which is about $1,000. And, uh, you know, then after that, I had her for a year and 8 months with no applications for this precious baby. And we were able to get her transported to a very small town in Minnesota called Blue Earth.

The town's called Blue Earth?

A town called Blue Earth. I'd never heard of it either. I'm grateful for them. And she was adopted there by a lady that drove 2.5 hours from Iowa to meet her with their pit bull. And they— Gloria and the pit bull got along great. So she got to go home. The lady had severe sleep apnea and she sleeps with a monitor.

Yeah.

And the power went off of her monitor and it did not go off when she quit breathing.

Oh.

And Gloria woke her up.

Oh my gosh. So she knew.

I know she knew. And so, you know, that's— it just had to be.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So Gloria's got a great home in Iowa.

That's awesome.

She's out of the Texas heat and she's got someone that loves her very, very much. So that's a good story for us. You know, we're always looking for good stories.

Yeah.

So many sad ones.

Are you still fostering the 12 puppies?

Oh, no, no, no. 8 of them went to Washington State.

Okay.

And that was very expensive to ship them there. But, you know, thank goodness we had the donations to do it. And 4 were adopted locally.

Oh, that's awesome. I mean, like, that's— I mean, like, you bring it up, like, how do you get a dog from here to, like, Washington, Minnesota? I mean, like, are there, like, specific animal transportation services or?

There are, and then we also have a gracious person in our organization that has a large van, and we use it a lot to go to Colorado.

Okay.

One of the other volunteers and myself took 67 kittens to Golden, Colorado last month, and they all got adopted in a week and a half.

That's incredible.

And they had no homes here. So last Saturday we took 3 puppies and 20 cats to Golden, and there's only 2 cats left that have not been adopted. That was last Saturday.

Are you guys more focused on dogs or cats? I mean, I know it seems—

Oh, both.

Both.

They're both very, very, very important.

I mean, I ask because you seem to emphasize the neutering of the cats, if we can get them to stop reproducing, because I know that's always seems to be a much bigger problem than the dogs.

Right. Well, it is, but the dogs is a serious problem too. But we don't— dogs cost a lot more because they weigh more.

Okay.

To get them altered. But we do— that's one of our main programs that we're really focusing on is trying to help the public with their dogs. Yeah, we do have a low-cost spay and neuter program depending on your income. It could be as low as $60 and we pay the rest.

Okay.

And so You know, you can— everybody can see our programs and everything about us at, uh, our website is www.operationpetsalive.org.

Okay.

And so if you would like help getting your dog, uh, spayed or neutered, uh, go under programs, fill out the form. We have volunteers that will contact you, make the vet appointment. You know, we let you make the vet appointment because we don't know when you're available.

Right.

And get your dog taken care of, get it spayed and neutered. And if it needs vaccines, they're really low cost.

Yeah.

Through our program too. So we just want to reach out and help and, you know, focus on the animals because, you know, a dog can have 10 or 12 puppies, sometimes more.

Oh yeah.

And nobody wants them. So let's not have them be born.

Sure. Yeah.

Yeah.

No, I mean, like, one, it's just irresponsible if you're going to be a pet owner to not, you know, maintain the health of the pet and do what you should do to be a responsible pet owner. Um, but do you guys work with the county?

Yes.

Do you have a good relationship with them?

Yes.

Okay.

So, I mean, like, I've seen, I've seen Mark Keough out, uh, lately doing a lot of promo work for the shelter. Like, hey, we got, we got pets in here. We're overrun with them. We need you guys to foster. We need you guys to adopt. Um, which is a great message to get out there.

I mean, like, you know, it's a crisis situation.

Yeah.

And we're just trying to fill in the gaps, you know. You know, well, you know, like I said, we're always looking for people that are willing to foster. But that's not the only way you can volunteer for us. We need data people. We need people to do events.

Like this. Yeah.

Yeah, we're a lot of fun, you know, and, you know, come hang out with us.

Yeah, for sure.

And, you know, and we work together with other rescue groups because, you know, we're all Shooting for the same goal. We don't compete with rescue groups. We're all in the same boat.

Yeah, we want to get them, get them into safe homes, get them healthy. Yeah.

So each group has their specialty of what they focus on.

Yeah. I've got, I've got another guest sitting in the wings. But real quick, let everybody know again, the website. Is there a phone number or anything?

We don't have phone numbers since we're all in individual homes. But the website is the best. And we have a Facebook page too. Okay. But the website is www.operationpetsalive.org.

And they can find you the same way on Facebook, Operation Pets Alive?

Yes.

Fantastic. So I'll do my best to link it up in the show notes when we get done. Really, really good to meet you though.

Yeah, thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Enjoyed visiting with you.

Oh, thank you. Thank you, guys. If you, uh, if you're interested in adopting a pet, definitely reach out to them, uh, especially here in Montgomery County. But you know, they can get you one in Colorado apparently if you need it. Um, but you have a good day.

You too, thank you.

Yes, ma'am. All right, guys, that's one we hadn't covered before, so excited to get to hear all about that. Um, come on down.

How's it going?

Very good, how are you? You need a hand with anything?

There you go.

Oh, thank you. Ooh, I get the sense we're going to be Talking about CBD. Yeah, I was gonna make a joke about the devil's lettuce.

You can make all the jokes you want, my friend. I know those guys at Hometown Heroes and they're wonderful and they're— it's a wonderful company.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I called Tim and asked if they were gonna sue and if they need this GoFundMe and I'd help them.

Okay.

They said, oh no, we have another option. Oh, and that's when they started—

grab those real quick.

That's when they started to put those commercials together.

Oh my gosh.

Well, so you're— brilliant marketing. Genius marketing.

So you're gonna, you're gonna have to help me because I know a little bit about this, but I don't have TV. And so you're talking to me about the commercials and all that kind of stuff. So I know a little bit about the stuff that Greg Abbott's been doing, but like, educate me, please.

It's— they just ended the session. They ended the session. The THC ban did not pass. Greg Abbott said yesterday, I heard from Austin yesterday, that possibly he may call a 3rd session. Oh, wow. For this THC bill.

Okay.

Because there's so much money involved.

Yeah.

It's— yeah, there's a lot of money. The thing is that we're hoping for, this is— and praying for, is that if If Trump decriminalizes cannabis from a federal level, then if Abbott bans it, he's going to look like an idiot.

Hmm.

Because it's going to be— it's going to override federal.

And so if he passes this bill, it may come back on Abbott. I gotcha. That's kind of— we're hoping as of last Thursday, we thought This was killed and done, and we thought we were good for another two years until Abbott came on on yesterday and did a press conference and said, "Don't be surprised if he calls a third session." Yeah, I mean, I even saw some people on social media this morning talk like taking Abbott to task, saying like, "Well, we know that it causes mental disorders, and we know that it does this," and ba ba ba ba ba.

And I'm like, "Do we?

Do we know we don't? Do we know that?" And the the falsehoods that Patrick was spewing and I could tell you as an example, I have a 420 milligram edible. Okay. It tests out exactly the way it should test at point under 3% in Texas. That's our maximum.

Sure.

But we advise people, don't eat the whole thing all at once.

Sure.

You know, I mean, so We had a customer whose dog ate the whole thing. Oh geez. We do not advise giving your dogs THC. Don't do it, okay? But she called and she said, Catherine, is my dog gonna die? And she said, you know, according to Patrick, my dog's gonna die.

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I said, no, your dog's not gonna die. He's gonna be a little groggy and a little messed up for a couple of days, but he's not gonna die, I promise you. And but that's what's happening out there. There, there, this fear of the unknown.

Yeah.

People that have never tried cannabis, there's, there's millions of people that depend upon it too for a daily basis, right, to get through their pain, their anxiety, their everything, right?

So wasn't it like— okay, so like there was the famous film Reefer Madness. Reefer Madness.

That is exactly what we thought about what Patrick was doing.

Yeah.

And like, wasn't it like, okay, we're all gonna die if we take this? Look, I, I'll just put this out there. I have never smoked anything ever in my life. I am— I'm not a drug user, but I have zero problem with this because, like, it just seems like such an obvious thing to be like, okay, yeah, some people are allergic to peaches and it will cause problems for you, right? I mean, some people—

Peanuts even.

Peanuts, right? Like, are we going to ban peanuts? I mean, like, peanuts seems to be a really bad one.

Very common allergic reaction.

That can kill people. Actually kill people, you know? But like, but this one, like, I read up some of the history, like the Reefer Madness one, and that was like backed by like a guy that owned a newspaper business and he was concerned concerned about hemp being used as a paper replacement. And it's like, it's just like the rabbit hole is just so deep on like villainizing this thing.

And it goes back so far.

Right.

That's— if you want a good laugh, watch Reefer Madness. Watch Reefer Madness.

I even like the, uh, the spoof on it from That '70s Show that they did, which was hilarious.

Yes.

So funny.

Yes.

So, but like, I mean, just, I mean, just case in point, like my, my grandmother before she passed away was, was using cannabis for her joints.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

I mean, she wasn't smoking it or anything.

She had cream. I have a lot of customers that are older than 65 and 60.

Yeah, 80.

And I have one lady that says, you mean I can lick this lollipop and get high? And I said, yes ma'am, you can. And she said, during the day? And I said, yes sweetie, you're retired, you can lick it.

Do what you want.

Lick yourself to happiness, sweetheart.

Yeah.

Yeah, to me it seems like we ought to be treating it a lot like alcohol.

Well, and, and I have been— I've had my company for about 9, almost 10 years now. October will be 10 years. I found CBD for my sciatic nerve. Somebody handed me a gummy and I said, yeah, right, this is gonna do nothing for me, whatever.

Right.

30 minutes later, I had no pain. And I'm like, I've been eating ibuprofen for for 20 years for this sciatic nerve pain.

Yeah, which is wonderful for your liver.

Yeah, exactly. So I found that, and it worked for me, and so I set out to find an all-natural product. My daughter said, Mom, that gummy had a bunch of crap in it, you know, right, artificial crap. So I've set out to find an all-natural gummy. Well, I found a company out of Colorado Springs. I went out there, spent 3 or 4 days. It was kind of like Katherine went to college. They educated me. They took me down to their grow farms, which were in La Junta, which were Like, I walked in and it was as big as this facility. It was an old Walmart. I'm like, dang, this is the best Walmart I've ever been in, full of

plants and everything. But, and then they took me down to the farms and they were practicing all-natural farming. And I, I left there and I was driving back to the Denver airport and I said, if I don't do this, I'm gonna be kicking myself. I took money out of my 401 and Life's Balance was born and I have never looked back.

That's awesome.

I quit my corporate job a year, a year into my company. And never looked back.

What were you doing before?

I was corporate America. I sat on boards of directors.

Oh, really?

I was on the Women in Cable Telecommunications Board of Directors.

Oh, wow.

I used to run cable all across this country. And now, now Life's Balance was born. But we have dog treats.

Okay, and those are fabulous for joints and things like that?

Joints. And that's my dog.

Oh, that's your dog?

Okay. That's my dog Smokey. I have a CBD company and my dog's name is Smokey.

Oh, that's a—

So we have chill pills for dogs. We have wonderful pain cream for people.

Okay.

We have a whole set of CBD only, no THC products.

Okay.

When I started the company, it was CBD only. I mean, we didn't have the hemp law.

Okay.

The hemp law came into effect a few years into legislation, said, uh-oh, we didn't make this illegal, right? And we thought we should. Well, you can't change legislation in the middle of a legislative year. So it was their screw-up. The loophole was their screw-up. So they decided to come back and fix it. Well, they came back to fix it with a ban.

Okay.

And then they're gonna wipe out a complete industry, 8,000 people in this industry.

That's crazy.

With a, with a stroke of a pen. So regulation, I am for regulation, all for regulation. Regulate, regulate, regulate. That will get the crap off the streets because there's a lot of crap out there.

Right.

Don't buy your CBD from a convenience store in a gas station.

Yeah, no, that's—

Um, not all hemp is created equal. There's, there's good, there's bad. You got to know where your products come from, know what you're putting into your body, and buy from a reputable company. You know, um, like I said, regulation is good, banning is insanity. You can't ban a complete industry. You know, alcohol doesn't— isn't good for everybody, but are you going to ban it?

No, they're not. No, they're not.

No, there's too much money in it.

Yeah. So, I mean, like, I want to— I want to go back because you were talking about Trump doing something. Is he talking about moving it off Schedule 1?

Yes.

Really?

Yes.

What's he— has he made any sort of indication of, like, where he wants to put it?

Schedule 3.

Schedule 3. Okay.

That makes more sense.

He wants to move it from 1 to 3 because 3 makes it medical use.

Yeah.

But you know what else that opens up? Let me open up this can of worms. Opens up for pharmaceuticals to come right on in.

Yeah, big money.

Here comes the big pharmaceuticals if it's a Schedule 3.

Yep.

But that's what he wants.

I mean, that is the compromise though. I mean, like, I think, I think people are gonna have to— it's right now, it's like the devil you know.

Yes.

You know, but like, do you want the devil you don't?

I don't know.

Anybody out there that doesn't know somebody that's using some sort of cannabis in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Their mother, their brother, their sister, their grandpa, their grandma. You know, somebody— their dogs. Somebody's using some form of it. You know, because it's good for your body.

Well, because like there's— you can get like a medical release for it right now, right?

Yes.

Somebody was telling me there's a problem with doing that though. It puts you on like a list. I want to say— don't quote me on this or anything, but I think I remember it being like it'll put you on a list where it makes it more difficult to like buy a firearm.

Or— I'm sure that would not surprise me.

Because you're using a— you're using a medical substance that, in their opinion, debilitates you on a—

Yes, I could. I could see that.

Also, like, put you on a list.

I don't agree with it, but I could see it.

I don't agree with it either. But I think it puts you on like lists like that where it makes it more difficult to get like a commercial driver's license for like a semi or something.

I'm glad I just got my, my, my carry license.

Oh, did you?

I just applied for my carry license.

Yes.

So, but I think that only applies to people with like the medical card. Right. But I—

well, and I understand that the passage, the legislation passage this session where they expanded the Compassionate Use Act.

Right.

Which opened it up to different other ailments and diseases and that kind of thing.

Yeah.

So it opened it up a bit. It eliminated vapes completely. There's no more vapes. illegal. I had to take them off my website.

I had to— oh really?

Yeah. If you see a smoke shop selling vapes, they're illegally doing it. Yeah, breaking the law. And that is the point of that a lot is—

Are you talking about vapes specifically for like THC?

Okay, CBD vapes.

But like regular, like—

I think nicotine vapes are in that too.

Oh, they got wrapped up in that as well?

Regulated by the TABC. But they're wanting hemp to be regulated by the TABC too. That's part of what Patrick wants, is if there's gonna be regulation, they want it to be regulated through TABC.

I think that's where most people are gonna feel comfortable with it anyway.

Well, alcohol is regulated that way.

Yeah, and like nobody has any trouble getting that.

Right.

I mean, except for on Sundays, which I still don't understand that one.

There's so many things. I agree with regulation. I don't agree with banning. I know so many people in the industry that just have had trouble staying alive because of COVID Yeah. Luckily, I've been around a long time and I sell really good products and I have a good client base.

Yeah.

Come see us at the Home and Garden Show. Montgomery Home and Garden Show.

Where's your booth? Is it—

We're in the very corner.

On the— okay, opposite corner of where we're at.

So when you're— exact opposite corner from where we are.

Awesome.

Come on by, get some samples.

What are you guys giving out as samples?

We have doggy treat samples for your puppy dog.

Okay.

We have pain cream samples for your joints.

Okay.

For people. And then we have some regular CBD gummies.

Oh, awesome.

For people.

Not like this giant one you have right here. That is not the proper dosage.

This is our friend Carlos. Carlos and Charlie. No, lifesbalancecbd.com. Come see us. We'll get you great show prices today. And thanks for having me.

Of course. Yeah. And you guys are on social media and all that kind of stuff? We are.

Awesome. lifesbalancecbd.com.

Thank you so much for sitting down. Really, really good to meet you.

Thanks, man.

Oh, thank you.

No, I'm—

oh, no, no.

You told me you don't do that, but I would have left you a lollipop.

I can give it away if you want me to. I'll even give you credit.

Give me creds.

Oh yeah, somebody will want it. All right, you have a good one.

You bet. All right guys, that was good.

What you, what you needed to know about all the CBD stuff happening right now. There you go, you're up to date with what's happening in Texas, and you know about the legislative stuff, and you know about the products that are gonna be available coming up real quick. So, oh, there you go, winner. I see what happened. I did. I did. Oh, come on in.

You're already ready?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

I'm always ready.

All right. You want to have to walk me through this?

It just just grab that and so you can hear me.

All right.

And hear yourself. Kind of the rule is if you can hear you, they can hear you.

All right.

So what we've never met before, so let me know. Who you are and what you do.

My name is Tamela Jennings Flynn.

Okay.

And I am the past commander for Tomball American Legion Post 127.

Okay.

And we're here today to raise awareness about the American Legion and also a little bit of fundraising.

Okay.

Just hang out out here in Conroe.

I'm immediately curious because I know zero about the American Legion. Please educate me. Like, I want to know all about it. And Tamela?

Yes. Okay.

I'm Craig, by the way.

Nice to meet you.

Good to meet you, too.

So the American Legion is a veteran service organization.

Okay.

That was chartered by Congress in 1919. So we've been around for over 100 years. We are the largest veteran service organization, and the point of the American Legion is to basically bring the issues and awareness of what veterans face back to Congress so that we can bring our issues forward in our government.

basically.

But our biggest purpose is also to serve the needs of our veterans.

Okay.

So we have 4 pillars of service. Our first pillar of service is always our veterans and our active duty military for rehabilitation and service. And our second pillar of service is our children and youth. So we have different things that we do for children and youth that include like American Legion Baseball, which I'm sure you may have heard of. Um, we also do— we support Scouting, things like that.

So are these— is this for like children who are the children of veterans?

No, for all children.

For all children. Okay, I got you.

Okay. So our 3rd pillar of service is national security, which in Tomball and probably in Conroe too is basically more about flood relief efforts, supporting our local firefighters and our police officers and EMTs and that kind of thing. Yeah. And then our 4th pillar of service is Americanism. And so we have scholarship programs for kids to talk about our Constitution.

Okay.

We also march in parades, we do flag retirement ceremonies, we do funerals, unfortunately. So we do a lot of things to be actively involved in our community.

Yeah.

And because it's a nonprofit, then we also can get active in our community. And if there's a program or something that we want to develop in our community that's unique to our community, we can do that too.

Right. Is there something like unique that you guys are doing here? You're in Tomball, or—

We're in Tomball.

Okay.

There is a Conroe post as well, but we just happen to be out here today.

Sure. Yeah, why not?

So in Tomball, we do a lot of things. So we're lucky enough in Tomball to have a veterans clinic in Tomball through the VA system.

Okay.

And so we may support them in that way. We may do like lunches or we may do coffee service there or something like that. We also raise funds and support Tunnels to Towers, which is for homeless veterans.

Okay.

We donate to homeless shelters in Houston. A lot of our outreach is for the Tomball area.

Sure.

But we can support all over the—

Yeah, okay, I got you.

So recently we actually raised money for the flood victims of Kerrville?

Yeah.

So we in Tomball, we're lucky enough that we have all 4 of the branches. I want to call them branches, but I mean part of the family, so to speak. So we have the American Legion, we have the American Legion Auxiliary, which is for the spouses of our veterans and for daughters and granddaughters as well. We have the Sons of the American Legion, which is for the sons, obviously, of our veterans. And then we also have an American Legion Riders program out in Tompall. So if you're a motorcycle enthusiast and you happen to be a part of our family, then you can join that too.

Interesting. So I'll tell you, we just— we actually just went to the Kerrville area because we helped raise some money here on the show and the church that my wife works for. We ended up sending like somewhere in the neighborhood like $70,000 over there for that. And then we just went over and visited with the organization that we were making sure the money got to the right places. And one of the interesting things that they told us is like, look, stop sending money, stop sending water, stop sending Gatorade. And we're like, what's going on? They're like, look, this isn't like Katrina or any of these other ones in Houston or Louisiana where lots of people lost their homes. They're like, it's tragic,

it's awful, but like the people that lost their homes, they're fine.

They're fine.

They're funded. Like, and, you know, and we've got all the money we need. And like, all these organizations are now having to like rent warehouses to store all the water and Gatorade that people have done. Like, we went over and above to help these people. And it's not to say that we don't need to help them. The thing that they're struggling with right now is they're still doing search and rescue, you know, still searching for people buried underneath the debris. And so that's, that's the people that need the support. They don't need water. They don't need Gatorade, all that kind of stuff. They just need the people They need those people who are working for those organizations to be supported to get out there. And like, and so, you know, I'm still seeing

organizations like send money to Kerrville. I'm like, just slow your roll. It's just that's not what they need right now. Like the people that lost their homes, that's a small set of people. And like right now we just, we just got to find bodies, which is, which is so sad.

Yes.

That's, that's the part. And I think that's the part that really like revved everybody up is it was kids. that we were having to deal with with that. So, I mean, like, which I know is probably, you know, close to y'all's heart and your organization because you guys are trying to serve kids. And like, anytime something like that happens where it's tragic with kids, it's the worst.

It is. So, so one of the reasons we, we did a charity ride just recently, the riders did, and they were raising money to pay for funerals and things like that. Yeah, but you're right, the organizations have reached out and said don't send money. Yeah, you know, support the the Red Cross and support those things that you should support. But the amazing thing about living in Texas is the just amazing support that we get.

Yep.

As veterans, Texas is amazing to support veterans. And anytime there's any kind of disaster relief efforts, like, people step up. Yeah, it's one of the great things about living here, I think.

Well, as much as you guys are involved with veteran issues, where do you see us, like, as a state kind of falling short or behind, or maybe not, you know, where we can, where we can actually improve? Like, where are we, you know, like, I love Texas. I think we do a lot of stuff really, really great. Obviously, there's always room for improvement.

Always.

So, like, what can we do to improve?

I think this is true for all states, not just Texas, but specifically rural areas struggle to meet the needs of veterans a lot of times.

Okay.

People in rural areas do support veterans, don't get me wrong. It's just the infrastructure is not there. Like I said, in Tomball, we're lucky we have a VA clinic, but the further out you go, the less likely that becomes true. Also, one of the things is that Texas happens to be— I'm going to touch on a subject here— Texas happens to be one of the top states for women veterans.

Oh, okay.

So that awareness This is something that we are building and that we're working on. And I think that infrastructure also needs to be built up more out in rural areas and in other states too.

Why is Texas so good for veteran women?

Part of it is just we're a big state. Part of it, you know, we're just a big state. California and Texas— thank you. California and Texas are the 2 biggest states, I think, for this. It's just, we draw a lot of veterans. We have a good infrastructure. We have VA clinics, we have VA hospitals, and we have the bigger VA hospitals here. So the DeBakey in Houston is one of the bigger ones. And so, and they actually have a women veterans segment there.

Oh wow.

They have a whole part for that. But the further out you get, the less likely that becomes true.

So is that, is VA funding done state by state based off the number of veterans in the state? Is that how that works?

Kind of, yes.

Kind of? Because I'm wondering if, like, you know, because Texas has so many and because California has so many, if it's like, okay, well, now they have more funding, kind of like the way you have, like, more representatives in Congress.

Well, you're serving more veterans in that area, so that makes sense. And it's true in rural areas. Like, if you only have a handful of veterans, say, in one county, most of your funding is not going to go to that county. And that's just facts of the matter.

I mean, is it— with rural stuff, to me it would make sense to open funding to private doctors rather than, you know, having these veterans have to go like, you know, 2 hours into Dallas or whatever to go see a VA specialist or something like that. Is that something that's not like currently available, like where private physicians can actually accept VA money, I guess is the way I'm asking it? Or do you even know?

I don't know 100%. I know that TRICARE does allow some of that. And I'm pretty sure that the VA also has some kind of relationship or relationships like that too as well.

But it makes sense to me. I mean, like, rather than having to like go build a hospital in a rural town—

Here's the problem. Here's the problem when you go into private physicians clinics and things like that, is that a lot of the issues that veterans face, not just women but all veterans, are unique to veterans. So when you have—

You mean like the kinds of injuries that they have, the kind of mental Care that they need, those kinds of things?

Yes, and also the effect cumulatively over time. So someone who spent 20 years in is gonna have some wear and tear, we'll call it that, that somebody on the outside may not have had just because of the type of jobs that they held. And so you have situations where doctors that maybe are in the public sphere don't always understand how cumulative those effects can be. So we kind of make jokes in the Legion a little bit about how every veteran has knee problems and back problems.

Yeah?

Because of just the work that you do, you know, marching around in boots, whatever. And so a regular physician, of course, knows to look for those kinds of things, but they may not understand the cumulative effect it may have on the joints over time. And it's just something that when you're in the VA system that they are just more aware of and more able to work with.

Hmm, this is all interesting.

I love this.

It's cool. I'm happy to learn about it because I've never just had somebody to talk to and tell me about it. I mean, how do you— is there any requirement to be involved with you guys? I mean—

So in order to be a member of the American Legion, you have to be a veteran.

Okay.

You have to have served in one of the branches of service.

Where'd you serve?

I was a US Navy mine man.

Okay.

And so I, I actually didn't ever go anywhere except the United States. So I was here stateside in Virginia and in South Carolina.

Okay.

So, um, but anyway, in order to be in the American Legion, you have to be a veteran in one of the services, and you have to have had, um, something besides a dishonorable discharge. So you had to have honorably served. Yep.

Okay.

We don't have specific timelines, so if for example, you joined and you were in boot camp and you were trying to serve and for whatever reason got a medical discharge.

Yeah.

You could still join the American Legion.

Okay.

Because we recognize that the, the heart was there, the want to serve the United States was there, and maybe just for whatever reason weren't able to complete that length of service.

God didn't bless you with the knees you needed. Exactly.

But I mean, we have guys that have served for 20 years served in battle overseas, who served on board ship during wartime. And then we have guys or women like me who, you know, served at a period of time when things were a little bit more calm, a little bit more quiet. Right. Your value of your service is still there.

That's awesome. Well, thank you for your service. Really good to meet you. And is there a way or a website or Facebook group or anything like that where people can—

Legion.org.

Legion.org.

There you go. No matter where you are in the world, if you go to Legion You can find a post, you can find out more information, and you can join.

Awesome. Tamela, thank you so much for sitting down.

Thank you. So it's nice to meet you.

Really good to meet you too. All right guys, there you go. We are getting it. We're getting the, the exotic guests this time, guys. This is, this is awesome. Learning about American Legion, learning about CBD. Um, we got it going on. Let me thank our, uh, our sponsors again. Lone Star Appliance Repair, Get your appliances fixed, get them back up running just like new. 936-647-2364. Also, big thank you to True Texas Solar and Roofing. You can give them a call at 936-286-8325. All right, you want to grab these? Helps you hear.

Okay.

And if, if you can hear you, they can hear you.

Okay. Yeah, absolutely.

Awesome. Who are you?

Hey, my name is Sergio Martinez. I'm the owner of Sergio Landscaping and Design.

Oh, awesome.

Yes, sir.

What kind of landscaping do you guys do?

Well, we do all commercial, residential.

Scoot up just a little bit.

We do commercial, residential landscaping.

Okay. Is it like installations, maintenance?

We do all of both. We're a complete landscaping company. We do land maintenance, landscaping design, irrigation system repair and design. We're a licensed irrigator, licensed designer, and licensed horticulturist.

Man, getting the irrigation side right is tough.

It is, especially during the summer months, especially whenever, like in the city of Conroe, we have a lot of water conservation that comes along, so you only have certain days that you can water your lawn.

Yeah, well, not only that, I mean, just like the installation and design of those systems is so crucial. I'm in the pest control business, and I have to tell people all the time, like, look, your Your sprinkler was installed wrong, it's spraying water into your house and making— causing problems, bringing bugs in, causing termites, all this kind of stuff. And people just don't know because they don't want to pay attention to it. It's a sprinkler system.

Well, not necessarily. A lot of people, they're not aware of it because irrigation system normally comes during the early time in the morning, 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, you're dead asleep, so you're not paying attention. Not unless your lawn care guy comes along and say to the homeowner, hey, by the way, you have a broken head for the last 3 months.

Yeah, it's been dumping water over here. Exactly.

So it's a great idea for us to come over at least quarterly just to run around, check it out, do the adjustments that we got to do.

Yeah, well, and there's so many like new advancements in the technology with that now. I mean, all the different zones that you can put in, all the controls. I mean, most people can kind of look at their water usage through their phone on their sprinkler system.

Yes.

It's incredible what you can do.

Yeah, I mean, nowadays technology has come a long, you know, long ways. We do— we actually have water flow sensors, and we got moisture sensors that we can put on the ground and the certain areas that you can detect what areas are dry on your lawn or what areas are too wet. Yeah, so we got rain sensors that will cut off your irrigation system during the storm, and it will take between 24 to 48 hours before the contacts dried out and reset itself.

Yeah, I mean, that kind of stuff's important for guys like me too, because like a lot of times we're putting out like ant bait and we have to tell the customer, like, look, we need you to turn the sprinklers off for 48 hours. And like, if it's like some dial or something, like, they don't know what they're doing.

Exactly.

They'll just tell us yes and ignore us. But if they can do it on their phone, like, hey, turn it off for 48 hours, that's so convenient.

Absolutely. Well, I'm I got about 15 years experience on the irrigation industry. In fact, I sit on the board with the TECQ Advisory Council.

Okay.

So I was awarded and I'm gonna be part of it for 6 years.

Okay.

So I know a little bit of water.

A little bit.

A little bit of water. I was the president of the Gulf Coast Houston Irrigation Association also.

Okay.

For a few years. So I got my hands Sweat here and there. Yes, sir.

Do we— I mean, like, I know one of the things that people are starting to talk more about is the efficiency of the use of the water, you know, and making sure that, like, not overspraying, not, you know, wasting the water. Because, I mean, like, water usage is going to become a more and more expensive proposition for homeowners. I mean, like, what are some of the things that you guys are looking at to minimize that for homeowners so they can still maintain their lawns, maintain their gardens, but not use maybe as much water?

Well, believe it or not, whenever we decide the irrigation system, you know, there are all different brands out there, but whenever we design them, we make sure we have the proper water coverage, the proper water precipitation rate for the certain areas. We install the irrigation system, we put them on the ground, give it to the homeowner. Well, a couple years down the road, he has an issue. Well, my lawn care guy knows how to do irrigation systems. So he goes up there, you know, replace the head or the nozzle, whatever it is, but he puts whatever's in the truck, not what's in— it's supposed to be designed with.

Right.

So that's where you start losing your precipitation rate. That's where the areas where you have drier or wetter areas.

Yeah.

Each nozzle is set up for a certain distance and for certain precipitation rate. Different brands They had different systems and different precipitation rates. So it's very important to stay with the design that it was built to keep it consistent.

I mean, how much, how much work do you guys have to do on the back end before you put a system in?

Well, I do most of the designs, right? So I'm pretty experienced. I work with different brands. Some of the homeowners say, hey, you know what, I may have a Hunter all my life. I want a Hunter system. Some say, you know, I want a Rain Bird. You know, there's all different brands.

Right.

So when I come along my computer, you know, I know what areas that I need to water more and what's less. One thing we're really trying to encourage is not to water the grass and the plants at the same time, because during the summer months, one or the other ones are going to require more water than the other.

Yeah.

So we try to separate the systems. You know, the grass is going to water just the grass, and the landscaping is It's going to be just doing the flower cutting zone.

Yeah, so like those, and those are going to be like your different zones that you have.

Exactly, we do different zones.

So, but like, are you having to do like soil tests, look at grass type? I mean, what are the different—

We actually do a little bit of background information. We do look at the soil, make sure if it's clay, sandy, loam, right? So we know how much water to put in there. We also look at the fact of if it's a lot of shade on that section.

Yeah.

Or it's full sun. So if you got a lot of shade, so there is different nozzles that we can put in there that actually help with the water conservation.

Okay.

So we tailor or custom design each irrigation system according to you.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Unfortunately, the homeowner looks at the bottom line.

The price. Yep, that's what— that's why I was asking.

Not how it was designed.

And that was, that was going to be my next thing is like, I imagine the way that you guys are doing it is not the cheapest.

Absolutely.

And so like, what are the questions that homeowners should be asking of irrigation people to make sure that they're getting the right kind of design and the right system for their home that's not overwatering or doing all the things that we don't want it to do?

Well, the first question you gotta ask, are you a licensed irrigator?

Sure.

That's the first question because I know there's a lot of people that are like, yeah, I'm I'm an irrigator. I've worked so many years for an irrigation system. Yeah, one thing is they give you the design, you put it on the ground versus sitting down and actually designing it. So first thing you could ask, are you a licensed irrigator? How long you been in business? What kind of warranty I'm going to have with my new irrigation system installed? According to the state of Texas, you require at least 2 years warranty.

Oh really?

Yes, sir.

Oh, that's awesome.

Also, the third question is, do you have insurance?

Yeah, that's a good one.

Are you insured? Something that a lot of people don't know, but unfortunately a lot of small companies run the business out of their cell phones. So 2 years later, whenever you want to call in and say, hey, I had a problem, guess what? They changed the name of the company, they changed the phone number, and so on. So, you know, just do a little background on the company you're going to be hiring. We've been in business for 22 years. I've been in the same location for the last 18 years.

That's awesome.

So we do have an office, 40 employees, engineers. I got 2 engineers in my office that actually work full-time. And so we're a one-stop shop.

Awesome. Well, if people want to get a hold of you, how do they do it?

Well, actually you can go through our website, Sergio'sLandscaping.com, or you can call our office number, 936-788-1211.

Fantastic. Can people find you on Facebook or anything like that?

They can find us on Facebook, Instagram, you know, the website. And we're part of the Conroe Chamber, the Huntsville Chamber, The Woodlands Chamber, the Katy Chamber, the Fulshear Chamber. So yeah, so we cover a pretty broad area on the North Houston.

Very cool. Well, dude, it's really good to meet you.

Hey, man.

Enjoy the education.

Oh, thank you. All right.

Have fun at this, this event. Do you have a booth nearby?

Yeah, it's right, right out there.

Okay.

Yeah, come over and see me.

Oh, absolutely.

Thank you, sir.

No, thank you. All right, guys, we are carrying on with the show. Hopefully you learned something about irrigation, the right questions that you need to be asking when you're interviewing these guys to install your systems. Come on. Yeah, come on.

Hi, how are you?

Good. How are you doing?

Good. I'm Jennifer Hayward.

Jennifer. Good to meet you, Jennifer.

Nice to meet you.

So you want to grab those?

Aggie?

Is that Aggie ring?

It is.

What class are you?

'03.

'96.

'96.

Just a little bit older.

Not— listen, compared to the— I'm watching some of the cadets come in right now and it's like class of '29 and I'm like, oh yeah, this is—

I'm old.

I'm old.

Hey, I just told you I was '96.

I'm old. No, no, no, no, no. It's— so we're trying to think, were any of my guys '96? I think, I think my seniors were '97. I think that's right. Yeah, because my first, my first year there was '99.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

So, so, I mean, College Station has just changed so much. It's crazy.

Oh yeah. So my whole family's from there. Um, like, we have our family reunions in Welborn, if you know.

Oh, okay.

Yeah. Yep.

So like most of West Campus is like my ancestors went dove hunting out there with, you know.

So it's completely unrecognizable at this point.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, like we're firmly established in that community. We love it out there. Why'd you go there?

I, you know, it's funny. I was dating a guy my senior year in high school who was all about the Corps. Like, okay, do or die. That's what he was doing. And I was supposed to go to Baylor. I had a roommate. I had— he's like, just visit. Just go visit one time. I was not there 15 minutes and I was like, this is where I'm going.

I'm going here. My daughter felt the same way. Like, she's, she's 16 right now. And she went to her first, like, without me, went to her first football game last year with a, with a young adult from our church. And she came back home and she's like, that's where I want to go.

That's—

it just feels like home. And I was like, I know, I don't know what it is about it.

Sadly, I don't have any Aggies in my family. My kids, they both ended up deciding they wanted to go the athletics route in college and not big enough to play at A&M. So they're actually both at Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Oh, wow.

Cool.

Yeah.

Look, I never pressure any of my kids about going to school at A&M. I mean, like, it's like, look, I don't even pressure them about going to school, honestly. It's like, right, right.

Yeah.

You got to figure that out for yourself.

Yeah, it's like, well, because I tell them like, look what I do, like in our businesses, like that's not what I went to school for.

I think most people—

Yeah, I got a history degree from A&M. It's like, no, I'm running businesses.

Like, this is—

none of that prepared me for this, right? You know? And then I did graduate work, which I'm not doing any of that either. So it's like, I, I, I kind of tell them like, look, why don't you spend like 2 years going on like an adventure? Like, honestly, like, go, go do something that you're going to learn a skill, that you're going to have a story to tell, that you like, because you're stupid.

You're 18. Something that you can do now that'll be much more difficult to do it later on in life.

Yeah, I actually was telling my wife that, uh, a couple months ago. I was like, man, I wish I had not gone to college when I was 18. And she's like, why? And I was like, because me now knows to tell Craig, you should go cowboy on a ranch in Montana for a couple years. And she's like, why? And I was like, because there's zero chance I can do that now. Yeah, like I would fall and I would die. I was just like, I'd be broken for the rest of my life. I'd go do it if I had the chance, but like I would die. Yeah, just, just because I'd be having too much fun.

Right.

But I was like, I can't do that now. I could do it then and I could, I could recover from a broken leg or like whatever, like, you know, but like there's no So anyway, um, what do you do?

I own a company called The Glass Guru of Conroe.

Okay.

And we do window and door glass replacements, showers, mirrors, okay, in-glass pet doors, basically any type of glass services you might need.

Okay.

We do commercial as well, but the majority of our business comes from the residential side.

Oh, awesome. So are you guys actually doing like whole window replacements?

We can, but our actual specialty is in reglazing, which means you just take out the old window pane that's foggy, the seal's broken, you know, whatever may be broken.

Or maybe somebody shot like a BB gun through it or something like that. Exactly, a baseball, we get a lot of golf balls, we get a lot of those.

And then we— you can cut that actual part out and just replace it without having to replace the whole entire window.

How does that work with like— aren't there like double-pane glass that have like argon filled with them or something like that?

Yeah, we take the entire double-pane unit. It's called an insulated glass unit. Take that out. There's some— they're called glazing beads, and they're like the plastic stops that are what helps hold it inside the frame. And we just take those off, we cut it out, and we have the exact same thing rebuilt. The same kind of glass, the same— unless you want to upgrade to a different low-E.

Sure.

For, you know, efficiency purposes. And then we have it rebuilt, we put it back in. silicone it back in the frame and put the stops back, and you'll never even know we were there.

Really?

Is this like a more affordable option than replacing the window? Much more affordable.

Really?

Yes.

So like, if it— like, I imagine it depends on the size or something like that, but if I just needed to replace like one pane out of like a 4-pane window, what's that gonna run me?

Around $300.

$300? Okay, that's not bad.

Yeah.

I mean, compared to like replacing all the windows in my house, that's crazy.

Like we tell people all the time, if you're happy with your frames, if they're still in good condition, Don't spend that money right now.

Sure.

Because it's a lot of money.

Yeah, I may actually need you guys to come out. I had the BB gun situation. Well, it was like it hit it and it didn't go through the second pane, but like, and so like now you can't see through the window because it's full of spider webs.

Yes, so it's a tempered, it's a tempered piece of glass then.

Yeah, and it's like, like, do I want to replace the whole window? That seems like that, that's the struggle in my brain is like, that's my only option now.

A lot of people don't realize that you don't have to do that. Yeah, no, and that's kind of what attracted us to this model first. This— The Glass Guru has been around for 20 years.

Okay, um, is it a franchise or—

Yes, it is. Okay, it is a franchise. Um, we've only been in business for about 4 months, but we have hired some installers that have been in the glass business 30-plus years. Okay, we have a shower guy, that's all he does is showers. He's been in the business for 15 years. So my husband and I run the business. Okay, you know, that side of things, but then we hired the experts to do the work for us.

Oh, for sure, yeah. That's cool though. So how did you guys find out about it?

We actually hired a franchise business coach.

Oh.

If you even— I didn't know there was such a thing.

Oh yeah, no, I know about that, yeah.

And we decided pretty quickly—

They kind of help you find the right kind of franchise, the best kind of business?

Yeah, they kind of talk to you, see what you're looking for, and they kind of match you with, you know, these are some options that kind of fit what you're looking for.

Right.

We decided to go the franchise route because the built-in technology marketing, that, that's not our specialty.

Sure.

So we wanted to pay somebody else to do that. And it's a great, it's a great business. They, um, they give you a business coach that I meet with weekly and kind of help you with your— what's going on, what do you need help with. And it's been a great business. You know, we wanted something kind of recession-proof. They did really well during COVID when people are sitting in their houses staring at their walls going, what What do I need to do?

Yeah.

So I need a project.

Yeah.

So that's how we ended up with this business.

And so 4 months, how's it going?

It's going great. It's going really, really well.

So I know, I know franchises are typically territorial.

Yes.

Are you guys like just Montgomery County or?

We are primarily kind of north of like actual Lake Creek. So kind of north of 1488.

Right.

We've got Conroe, Willis, Montgomery, all the way up to the south side of Huntsville.

Okay, nice. Okay. And do they have— I mean, do they have opportunities for you guys to expand that?

Or—

Yes, there are actually on the east side of 45 especially.

Oh, all the way over like Kingwood and stuff?

Okay.

There's a guy that owns Spring, so he's got The Woodlands and south of there. He's a great guy. So that territory is covered, but there's plenty of room for expansion.

Look, I don't— I think the The franchise market doesn't get enough love. I mean, because if you have— if you've only ever worked for somebody else but you're interested in going into business for yourself, it's a good stepping stone to like get your feet underneath you for the exact reasons that you're talking about. Like, you may not know how to market, you may— I mean, there's— but like franchises can give you a lot of tools to get you up and running super quick.

For sure.

You know, and give you access to the experience that otherwise you just have to like pain through, right? You know, for sure.

Yeah, I mean, they're pretty much step by step. Okay, this month you need to focus on this. Like, right, we signed our contract in February and our doors were open mid-June, so we spent all those months prior doing all the things you need to do to establish yourself, get your permits, get your name out there.

So yeah, and I imagine they just, they have it down to a science.

They do.

Yeah, so I mean, like, I was I came at it from— I'm a second-generation business guy, like, and so I still have the advantage of going back to my folks, being like, this happened, what the hell do I do with this? Like, I've never seen this before. And they're like, oh yeah, we've done that like 5 or 6 times, you know. And like, you have that person to kind of go back to and be like, okay, how did, how did you manage this? How did you deal with this difficult situation? Hey, this paperwork came across my desk, I've never seen this paperwork before, what is this thing? And they're like, oh yeah, I've got that in the file folder.

You know, because back then people kept files. And, you know, like, so, but like, I feel like franchises are kind of like that, where like, it's, you have access to those people that want you to succeed. You know, they have a, they literally have an interest in you succeeding, right? You know, they've invested in you and you've invested in them. That's why I think it's such a great relationship.

I agree. And, you know, the Glass Guru, man, what you see is what you get. You know, the experience, we wrote that check and we've talked about plenty of people that are like, oh, we write the check and then you're kind of on your own. And yeah, man, the Glass Gurus, they've been everything that we thought they would be. So it's been a great decision.

What were you guys doing before, if you don't mind me asking?

My son— my husband is in medical device sales.

Okay.

And I was a teacher. I was fortunate and blessed enough to stay home with my kids.

Awesome.

And I started subbing again the past few years, like, do I want to get back in? We're newly empty nesters.

Ah, okay. So that's an interesting transition.

Yes. And we decided, you know what, we want to do something together. And I'm running most of it. He's still kind of on the fence between both jobs, you know, but he's loving this. He's like, man, I got to get an exit strategy for my day job because this is a lot of fun. So that's how we ended up here.

Awesome. Well, okay, so let me ask you this because I think this is— I mean, like, it's the homeowner show and like we talked a little bit about glass, but like with empty nesters, I'm kind of curious Like, are you guys— I imagine— how many kids do you guys have?

We have 2.

2 kids. Did you have a pretty good-sized house?

Yeah, yeah, 3,500 square feet.

Okay, that's a good-sized house. I mean, are you looking at it now going like, this is too much, this is too much house?

Like, I never go upstairs. I haven't been upstairs since they left. But you know, it's funny because my kids are like, we've, we've talked about it and y'all aren't allowed to move till after we're, you know, out of college. We got to come home here. And I'm like, well, you're not paying the mortgage.

But that's, yeah, that's the struggle, right? It's like they want to come home, they want to visit. It's like, especially if it's like the house they grew up in, that's You can't get rid of that. And I'm like, I'm looking at my wife going like, once the kids are gone, like, do we need all this? Like, yeah, no, we're— because we have 3, and it's like, and we're not in a huge house anyway. Um, but I'm like, we just don't need that much. And I'd rather not pay the energy, right? I'd rather not pay the, like, like all the things. I don't want you—

Yeah, you're like, why am I running a second AC to keep the upstairs cool? Nobody's there.

Yeah.

I literally just put in a separate air conditioning system in my son's room because he's on the 3rd floor, and it's like he— his room just got hotter than every place else in the house. We don't have an attic. Our house is weird. Our house is weird. And so like he kind of lives in the attic.

Oh, he probably loves that. He probably thinks it's really cool.

Oh, it is. Like, he— it's his own— it's his own little space all to himself. But like I would go up there at night and I'm like, man, it's still not cool. I wouldn't like sleeping up in here. So I put it— I put an air conditioning system in. I was like, I gave him a remote control. I went in the other day, he had it turned down to 60. What is wrong with you? Like, the whole front of the system was just like dripping wet. And I'm like, what are you doing, man? Gotta put some guardrails on. He's ruining the glass.

That's what he was doing.

So, well, anything else you want people to know about what you guys do?

Man, you know, I— aside from the re-window glazing and replacing the foggy glass. We do a lot of custom, like, glass showers.

Okay.

So if you're looking to upgrade your bathroom, yeah, and you want to get rid of the, you know, the frame shower, and, or you just want to refresh, we do a lot of those.

Is there any kind of treatment you guys can do on those, on those pieces of glass to keep them from getting all scummy?

You know what I mean?

Because people have, like, hard water, it gets like that, right? I don't, I don't know if there's—

We, we don't have a specific product that we use, but I know the water down here is So hard.

Yes.

You know, so I found, you know what I use? I use double-zero steel-grade wool, and it doesn't scratch your glass. But like, I make a paste with Bar Keepers Friend.

Uh-huh.

Really nice. Okay, that's a good trick.

One other thing we do that a lot of people also don't know is possible, we can make an in-glass pet door. Like, you have a glass patio door, we can replace the glass panel and have a notch cut out of it, and there's a— there is a pet door that we can attach to that, and it looks really nice.

Really?

It's a really nice door.

Okay.

Is it still like a plastic flap that—

It is.

Like a rubber?

It is, but it also has this little door that you can shut when you want it closed.

Yeah, so you don't get raccoons in your house later on.

Yeah, yeah, right.

Yeah, no, those Yeah, that's, that's actually kind of cool. I mean, have you guys dealt with any of these? Um, because one of the things I'm wanting— I'm thinking about putting on my house are these glass walls that are the either the doors that like independently hinge, you know what I'm talking about?

We've done a couple, we've done a couple of, of estimates and jobs like that where you have an office right when you walk in your house, there's an office right there, and they want some type of privacy and, you know, build that kind of glass panels with some metal bars that kind of separate it off just for an— it serves an aesthetically— it's really nice aesthetically. Yeah, but then it also gives a little bit of that buffer between the rest of the house and the office.

I really want one from like my living room to my porch. I just want like, okay, you know what I mean? And I don't know if you've seen them, but like they're like independent, like big glass doors, but like each one can like Oh, so they're like on a track and you can slide them? Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you can like, you can open one or you can like push them all to one side and open the whole thing up. And then it's almost like an accordion. I don't even know, I'm probably not describing it very well.

There's a really great—

we use a—

one of our glass vendors that we use is right here in Conroe. They're called Precision Glass Industries. Yeah, and they're amazing. They, they do all— they do all of our showers and they do a lot of that specialty glass.

Okay, cool. So but like, if it gets broken, you guys can replace this. Okay, I see. Yes, I see. I see the game we're playing now.

Yeah.

Well, okay, so did you— I don't know who's, who's next coming up. But so I'm interested, did you watch the game yesterday? A&M?

Well, we're here. And so we're trying to watch a little bit on our phone. And my son's football team was playing, we're trying to watch that. So we watched a little. I'm going to watch them play Notre Dame next weekend.

Oh, you're going to?

Oh, excited. I've never been there. I've always wanted to go.

Oh, that's gonna be fantastic. Okay, did your— say your son played yesterday? Who were they playing there?

That's a small D2 private college. They played— who did they play yesterday?

Tiffin.

Tiffin University.

Okay, what position does he play?

He—

well, funny story, he's always been a linebacker. He was— well, he was a safety in high school, was a linebacker in college. They just moved him to running back, so it's a whole new Oh wow, it's been—

yeah, that is different.

He's trying to fight for his time on the field now. They're like, we need some more grittiness over there, so we're gonna move you over there. He's like, okay coach, wherever you want me.

Geez, is he enjoying it?

He is. I mean, he's like, I've never been on this side of the ball before. It's kind of fun carrying the football, you know, so delivering hits.

Yeah, the running back. Golly, did they win yesterday?

They did.

Awesome.

They did win.

What was the score?

Yep, 21 to 14.

Did he score any?

No, he didn't.

No, no.

So has he— I mean, was this their first game of the season?

Yes, it was.

Has he scored one at all this year?

No.

Is he thinking he might? I mean, is he feeling—

He's hoping. Is he getting a lot of playing time? No, they've got— there's an upperclassman above him, and then there's another kid that's, you know, when you've been playing running back for 4 weeks and then—

Sure, yeah.

He's got his work cut out for him, so we'll see how it goes.

Well, they must see something in him.

Yeah, he doesn't—

I mean, he doesn't— he's not afraid to hit somebody, so he's, you know, if anything, I think he'd be a really good pass blocker.

Okay, that's probably— yeah, that's probably not a bad— is he pretty big? I'd imagine he—

You know, he's only about 5'11, just under 5'6, but he's about 215, 220. Yeah, he's strong.

Yeah, he's got some meat on him. Did your, did your husband play football at all?

Nope, he played baseball in college for a couple of years.

There you go, got some athleticism. Did you play sports at all?

I played growing up, but I didn't play in college.

Okay, did it shock you that he was like, that he went to go play college ball? I mean, like—

A little bit, because he was always gonna go to A&M. And then getting into high school football and they were pretty successful, they had some good seasons, he's like, you know what, I think I want to go do that.

Okay, that's awesome.

Again, it's one of those things, you want your kids to do what they want to do because you can only do it— this is— it's now or never.

This is the time. Yeah, that's so cool. Well, remind everybody the name of your company and how to get a hold of, of you and like where to find you guys.

Yeah, um, we're called the Glass Guru of Conroe, but we actually have an office just south of downtown Montgomery by the railroad tracks.

Okay.

And we are open Monday through Friday, 8 to 4:30. You can find me at The glass— if you look up our website, it's just the Glass Guru of Conroe, and you can get in touch with me that way. My name is Jennifer Hayward.

Jennifer. And can they find you on Facebook?

And yes, we are on Facebook and Instagram.

Okay.

Not doing any weird TikTok dances out there or anything?

Not yet.

I haven't gotten to that yet.

No.

Couldn't be either.

My kids might be like, Mom, don't do that. Please do not.

The time will come. The time will come. So really, really good to meet you.

It's so nice to meet you. Thanks for having me on here.

Of course.

Yeah. Bye. All right, guys, awesome. We are carrying—

good luck with everything.

Oh, thank you so much. We were carrying on. Oh, you got some? Oh, you are killing it today, you know that? Oh, awesome.

She said you're gonna pay me $100.

Oh, is that what it was? Is that all? So here, grab grab these so you can make sure you able to hear me. Oh, can you hear me okay?

I can.

Can you hear yourself?

I can.

There we go.

All right.

We're firing on all cylinders. What who are you and what you do?

My name is Mickey Wells, and I am a building consultant with Built Green Custom Homes.

Built Green.

Okay, I've seen y'all's office. Ah, where did I see it?

We're on Magnolia in Magnolia.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, awesome.

Right there by Shipley Donuts. You're probably stopping.

I think I— no, I probably passed you guys going to Deacon Baldi's. We have, we have a lot of business lunches there. Okay, cool. So you're a building consultant. Okay, so are you a building consultant just for that company, or are you like— explain to me what you do.

Okay, I am with— I work with Built Green Custom Homes.

Okay.

Now, what we do, what makes us different than another custom builder, is that we allow you to be the general contractor.

Okay.

You are going to build the home.

All right.

We are going to support you in that endeavor.

Okay.

We have trades, we have building schedules, we have a pre-construction binder when you're in that phase, if you're not an online guy.

Yeah.

We also have a construction binder that helps and has everything in it. We do— when we first meet someone, say, you know, you want to know more about this.

Sure, yeah.

I say, come on in. We're going to sit down and talk about our process, how it works, and I'm going to do a budget estimate with you.

Okay.

This is nuts to bolts what it's going to cost to build that home.

Right.

We're going to ask about the property. Are you going to need septic? Are you on, you know, public water? Are you wanting to build a well?

Right.

Propane, things like that. We're going to build that into your budget if that's something that that house needs, those supporting actors.

100%, it probably does.

We're not just going to say, oh, the house is going to be, you know, X amount of dollars, but you don't have a driveway there.

Right.

We want to give you a very realistic picture of what that's going to cost. And so we go through that. And if somebody has decided, yes, I want to look further into this— oh, I also tell them, oh, we have free build classes. Those are really cool.

Okay.

They are on Saturdays, and they're at our office for the most part. Sometimes we'll have it at a showroom somewhere, and there are 8 classes, and like The next one coming up is number 1 in the series. There's 8 classes. We do them in order of a build. And the first one is covering lot selection, design. I'm sorry, I don't even remember what all else, but it's—

Oh, you're good.

The first thing in that. And that class is going to be Saturday, September 13th.

Okay.

That's next weekend.

Okay. I mean, is that something you have to sign up for?

Yeah, we just— on the line, you can RSVP online. Yeah, obviously with fire code you have to know how many people you're expecting.

Sure.

Yeah, but we have anywhere from, you know, it could be 60 to 100 people. Oh wow. Come to the classes. Very informative. Yeah, start at 9:00 a.m.

So is it— I mean, does it cost anything to go? Free building class. Free building class.

Okay.

I didn't know if you like had to be a client or like—

We've had— we have a lot of people come and learn about our process. I mean, they want to dip their toe in the water, and this is, you know, an easy way to do it. Learn more about the system, hear more about our program, and just kind of like, is this something I think I might want to do? And an opportunity to talk to other people.