I'm very excited and honored for today's guest to be here with us because she is one of my closest friends and fun fact, we actually met on a missions trip. Well, we officially became friends on a missions trip to Uganda three years ago, and we have just been pals ever since. But not only has she been an amazing friend, she's actually been an awesome business mentor, for me, as well. And at the ripe age of 29 years old, this girl became the chief operating officer for Molyneaux flooring company. And if you've lived in Pittsburgh for any amount of time, then you know the name Molyneux is a household name because they are consistently ranked the number one flooring company in Pittsburgh. Now, her name is Melissa Molyneux McFarland. So yes, this is her family's business. But though she knew she always wanted to be part of the family business, she shares in this conversation, why she didn't jump right into it coming out of college. And it's a pretty brilliant reasoning. If you ask me, I can't wait for you to hear it. Have you ever met someone who just seems to spot people's potential before they can even see it in themselves, or is able to find their strengths and help build them into something even better? Mel is this person for so many people not only as an employer, but also as a friend, and she's also a StrengthsFinder? Coach. And yes, this is a thing. It's so cool. If you've taken the StrengthsFinder test, there are actual coaches out there that can help you unpack what your strengths are to help make the most out of them. And this is just a riveting conversation in so many ways for me, because I asked her some sincere questions. You get to see her mind how caring she is, and how much she actually just wants to love the people around her, whether it's her friends, the people that work for her in church, wherever she is there to do the best that she can and help other people find what their gifts are, as well. So hey, without further ado, here's my conversation with my good friend, Melissa Molyneux McFarland. Do you want bloopers? No, but we'll see what happens. That's the intro. I'm making that intro right there. Okay, so today, I'm joined by one of my greatest friends, Mel Molyneux McFarland, your name's Melissa, but I call you Mel. Everybody does. It's just short and sweet. And the first thing I want to talk about today, and I should probably say right here, now that Mel is a badass businesswoman. I'm just gonna say, I'm just gonna say it. And you're one of my go to people when it comes to anything related to business. And I'm so grateful for the wisdom and insight you have, and I can't wait for you to share it with everyone else. So the first thing I want to talk about is how you became the CEO, the Chief Operating Officer at Molyneux, tile and carpet, because you right now are only a fresh 31 years old. And I think it would probably be fair to say that because your last name is the same as the company, a lot of people may assume that this was just handed to you. So let's first talk about how you came into the role of CEO. Well, first off, though, that's my name. That's your name. Don't wear it out, girl. Thank you for having me on here. I, since she already said that, we are great friends, I would just like to give a quick shout out to how proud I am of her for doing this podcast. And for doing it consistently. Something I've struggled with infertility right? Here we are. So I just think that's important to coordinate, say, but so I joined the family business in 2015. Okay. Prior to that, so I graduated college in 2011. So there was a little a little bit of luck, I guess. While I was in college, from 2009, until I think I left in 2013, I worked at federated investors. And I was very intentional that I did not want to go into the family business after right after college. And I was also intention about wanting to go to college and not just go into the family business, because of the assumption that whenever you have a family business, it is the greatest thing in the world. Number one, it's super easy. And you get to do whatever you want because of your last name. And I didn't think that a way to be respected was to just show up and say, Hey, I'm Melissa Molyneux, listen to what I say. So I really wanted to experience other types of careers, companies jobs to number one, learn skills, learn skills to bring to the failing business because I knew I always wanted to be there. I was just I knew that. But I also wanted to, I think one of the best things that I learned is not all companies, no companies are perfect. So I think a lot of a lot of our ignorance coming from college can be that you're going to start a job, it's going to be amazing. The company has it all together, and things just work. And if I would have went into my failing business with that attitude, and saw that some things did not work. I could have been pretty negative. Right? Yeah. So I am very thankful that I had these experiences. So I worked with federated investors in it got a little bit bored. So they persuaded me to do mutual fund sales. Which sounds exciting. Yeah, which I hate it. So I quit that job and got a job in IT consulting, which I loved. Okay. And probably if it wasn't for the business, I would be in IT consulting. Interesting if it you know, if I didn't switch over? Yeah. Because there's something about consulting that, you know, these people hire you and they just think you're the most amazing person in the world. But in reality, I had no idea what I was doing. I was hired as a SharePoint app. consultant. I had never used SharePoint before. I don't even know what that is. It's a Microsoft program. Okay, I had never used it. I had no idea about applications. I was more on the desktop side of things. And my first day on the job, my manager told me call Microsoft because there's an issue with the server farm. And I actually grew up on a farm. So we had a real server, right, a real farm. So chickens, cows, horses, the whole thing. And I just looked at this guy and said, okay, and I thought to myself, What the heck is a server farm? Right? Yeah. And I was very confused. And I and he told me he was like, this is what you'll figure out is if you either sink or swim, I'm very competitive. I'm like, Well, I'm not gonna sink. So one of my things that I do, no matter what it is, I'm a big Googler. Or I look things up on Yes. Right. Yes. So of course, my first instinct was let's figure out what the heck a server farm is, and how I'm going to call Microsoft to troubleshoot an issue. Right, have no context about right, yeah. So long story short, I did that for a couple years, learned a ton, and actually learned a ton of applicable things that I brought to the family business. Yeah. And so in 2015, I joined the family business, and started in sales. Because I wanted to make sure that I, I learned many did many different aspects. And I went through a training program with new hires, just like I would be any new hire. And I did sales, like I went into people's homes and sold flooring, I hated it. And I have a great appreciation for all of our salespeople, because it is a job that I would never want to do. Because you have to talk to people. And they have to like you. So everyone loves you about what he's talking about. But I'm not trying to get them to buy something. That's true. So started there. And while I was there, I just naturally went to the why don't we do it like this? Why don't we do it like this? I think we could improve this. And thankfully, my aunt and uncle who are owners of the business, recognize that my gifting was more towards operations. My mind was more operational than in sales. And that's when I transferred over and started working in our main office. And then in was probably about two years ago. We one of the things that I said to my uncle at the time, that was actually birthed out of a meeting that I was very frustrated with, was we have no no core values. We have no vision, and we have no structure. Why was that so important to you? I felt that people were not treating each other with integrity. I felt like there was a lack of direction. And it was kind of like they were running the company with no pointed direction of what was happening. So you wanted some alignment, right? Okay. So I left a meeting and was very frustrated, I went and drew a diagram because that's what I like to do. You know, if I'm frustrated, I like some people doodle, some people make diagrams, right. And I kind of birth our core values. And from this, we started to build a or we shifted a culture, a company always has a culture, whether it's good or bad, right, right, whether it's intentional or not. And so we started opening a store about having an intentional culture. And that led to we also have no structure. So there was not specific positions or roles. There was just, you know, what we think is happening. And that happens a lot in small businesses, because you kind of just grow with it. But one of my hopes was that we could grow and grow systematically as well. So about two years ago, when we put the structure into place, that's when they decided I should be coo. And step into that role, which, I mean, what did I know? Which let me pause right there. Because I think that's very interesting. Did they anticipate you growing into that role? Or was it more of you saw a need and proved that you had some elements of it? And it kind of opened the door for that? Yeah, I definitely think it's the latter. Okay. The two. I think when I started there, they had no intention of what I could. I mean, it was really, I'm very appreciative. But they didn't really know me. Yes, they're my aunt, uncle, but they didn't know me, especially from a business work ethic standpoint. And I really had to come to the table and show them, this is what I can produce, right. And part of that was seeing holes that maybe were not seen before, and creating things from those holes, right? Every single day, I'm learning something new, especially around around leadership. And that's going to be true, you know, until I retire, hopefully, yeah. There were so many important things you said, let's go back to you talking about realizing from the very beginning that no job was going to be a perfect job. Because, honestly, I think that is a problem that we as millennials specifically have. And that's why we're bouncing jobs every two, three years, if not more frequently than that. So what was it that made you realize and stick to that mindset of, hey, no job is going to be perfect. And that's going to be okay. Yeah. Well, so first off, I don't think it's necessarily bad to jump jobs every two or three years, if you're doing it for career growth, you know, if you see new opportunity, because you're gonna make more money, have a better position, go for it. Sure. Right. But if you're doing it, because the company is doing exactly what you want, or your boss isn't doing, you know, I think what's important is you have to realize that you can control your attitude and the environment that you are consistently in. And every single company is, as a company full of humans, and humans are all messed up. Right? Yeah, whether you're a CEO, or you're in the mailroom, and people can have the best of intentions, but still do it wrong. And that is actually one of the benefits, especially with someone in my role of operations, is that your job is to continuously improve. So whether you have a specific impact on leading a company, or you're not leaving anyone, technically, you're still leading your peers with peer to peer accountability, how you're affecting the culture and those types of things. So, you know, they're not, they're there to pay you, but they're not there to please you. That's so good. So yeah, you know, if you're looking for perfection from an employer, you're never going to have it even if you start your own business. That's a microphone right there. Because you're not going to do it perfect, either. Hey, come on. Now. I want to go back to where you talked about figuring out the server farm thing, because this is what I think is very interesting about you. And you know this firsthand from the questions I've asked you, where you get asked something by an employer, for instance, or maybe you just come across a situation and you're like, I literally have no idea how to do this. What made you so confident in learning how to walk into every day still today at Molineux with everything's figured out double and even if I confront something that I have no idea how to do, I'm going to figure it out, because I need more of that. So talk to me now. Um, I think, number one, an important factor of that is that you're not putting pressure on yourself to be perfect. And to know all of the answers, and if you kind of give yourself that grace of I might not know all the answers, but I'm going to do my very best to figure them out, then, you know, that's, that's the beginning of having that, that thought process. But we are all very fortunate that we live in an age full of information, you know, it's not like I have to run it and look at it and take a pedia. And I kind of look at it, as you know, there's process and system questions are problems, and a lot of that can be, you know, looked up and figured out from a what has happened before? Or what are some things that people say. And then there's relational problems, which you can't really look that up, right. But you can go to a coach or a leader or someone to kind of talk through it. But ultimately, if someone can't figure out an issue, or they feel like they're completely at a dead end, or there is no answer, it's probably because they've convinced herself that I'm never going to figure this out. And if you don't allow yourself to say, Well, I'm never going to figure this out, then you always have hope. Whether it happens right then or you figure it out eventually. Yeah. And I think it just is a matter of, like, controlling what you're thinking. That's very insightful. You know, you said that your aunt and uncle in the company, realized that it wasn't your gifting in sales specifically. And that's what I'm talking about next, because you are really good at spotting potential in people. So here first, they spotted potential new. And now that's almost been like an inherited thing that you can call out something in somebody before they can even see it in themselves. Me. I can say that firsthand. You've done that in my life. So let's talk about how can you find potential in people when they do not see it? At that moment? I think something that is definitely something that I have learned over the years by having direct report, direct reports for employees. Because the biggest thing that I had to overcome was my pride and wanting to take control of everything. Because something that is very easy to do is when someone is not doing something the way that you want them to do or not functioning, you just want to take it and do it for them. Because you can do it better for sure. Right? Yeah. And that is a recipe for you're going to not grow and die, right? Yeah. So I think about people every single day, me included, the number one person who is telling them, they cannot do something is themselves. Right. So internally, you are telling yourself, I'm not good enough to do this. I'm not, I can't do that I can't be this leader of a company, I'm gonna screw it up. So who am I to pile on to that, right. And one of my goals now, there was not always it took me a while to figure it out, is that people at the core, they probably want to do the best that they can, right? People don't inherently want to be lazy. They don't want to show up and just do the minimum. They want to have purpose, they want to have purpose. And either number one, someone hasn't created the culture for that to happen. Or they just they have no belief in themselves whatsoever. And as a manager, as a leader, you really have the power to do that to someone. And I have seen that happen. And I have had people tell me in my life that I expect too much. And I walked away from that conversation thinking I will never in my life tell that someone that you are expecting too much. Because it is not for me to put a limit or to say no for anyone. Right. You know, I think about something that just happened a couple of weeks ago, so I had an entire story. Okay, okay. Girl, take it. So, I am a very analytical person. Yes. You know, the opposite of me. Yes, we're nothing alike. And I love numbers. But I have a situation where so we're really intentional about growing our salespeople from a Do you have all the information In for the order, right? And there's a lot of information to be had. And it is my belief that you cannot give someone generic or general feedback and expect them to improve. One way that you can give them specific feedback is to see an issue and like send an email, right? That's the very transactional, non relational way to do it. Yeah. And I went down that path I did that it blew up because people get offended. Can you? Can you pause and give an example of general or generic feedback versus specific? Yeah. So if, from a work standpoint, if I said, you always mess up measuring the floor. Okay, what does that do for you? There's no actionable step. Right? Got it. I just know that I always mess up. So I'm gonna go home and think, man, I did this wrong every day. No, you did it wrong on one time. And here's what you did. Let's not do it again. Right? How can you learn from all are an absolute statement? You can. So we basically tasked this one person to check all the orders. And he's a very relational guy, not overly organized. And we gave him a hard date of the beginning of October and said, We would like to know, a ranking of the salespeople three, four or five star, okay. Okay, based off of how many issues or mistakes they have, and so that we can work on them. So that was a specific task. That was a specific task. And so I checked in, you know, I tried not to hover, but I wanted to make sure he was doing it. Yeah. And he's like, Yeah, I have a pile of paper over here, that tells me each issue, and he's gonna do something with this pile of paper. And my brain was like, this is going to be horrible. This, this is he is going to come into this meeting and look like a fool. And we're going to get nothing from this. And probably two years ago, I would have said, you know, what, I don't want your palette paper. Give me the information that you have. And I'm going to create something so that we can actually have a rancor. Yeah. You know, because we need it to be professional. We need it to be you know, these things, and I don't want your pile of paper. And I didn't say anything I just said, Okay, great. And I walked away, don't you know, that he showed up to that meeting with a now wasn't what I probably would have produced? Absolutely not. But this guy showed up with something that told us what we needed to know, ranked every single salesperson gave specific definitions to what those rankings were, and gave specific examples. Wow. And, but the most important part is that he owned it. So if I would have taken it from him, he would not have owned the process, we would not have been any closer to fixing the problem, because I cannot own that problem and expect there to be like, it has to be like the people in the day to day. And, you know, I looked at that situation and thought I could have robbed him from being able to present and be proud of that and really own that. If I would have let my, you know, pride or my Oh, I can do this better that you get in the way and not let this employee flourish. Yeah. Now, if he would have showed up, it would have been a pile of paper. I mean, you know, had to deal with it. Yeah. But it was a, it was a learning moment for me as a leader that he actually did it because I didn't stifle him from doing it. Yeah. Right. And he is someone. I mean, he's had four different roles in our company, you know, and I was just so proud of him, because he, he came to bat and he did great. Yeah. And I think sometimes whenever you're looking for people's potential, if you give them direction, and you give them guide rails, and you let them bring their gifts to the table, they can produce something that is equally or better than what you could produce. But more importantly, they're owning a process that was never owned before. And they're going to make sure that it improves that's so good. And it sounds like there's this huge element of trust, and it to block blind trust and blind faith that, Hey, I gotta, I gotta see you go after it. Now, it's your moment to show us what you can actually do. That's awesome. You said at one point that you helped create a culture for people to find their purpose. And along with what you said, Is there anything else you want to add to how people can create that type of culture in their work environment so that other people can find actual value and purpose in the work that they're doing? Yeah, so I think a lot of our culture change wasn't just focused on the work that we were doing, it was focused on the people. So something that we did company wide is we implemented something called Strength Finders, which focuses on everyone's individual strengths. Yeah. What they are, you know, basically birthed with, and some of the things that they aren't, you know, for example, you know, I, in, like I said, analytical, have competition, but yet at the bottom, I have no empathy, right? And I have not a lot of relational shrinks. And by identifying something like that, and doing it as a team, you can see how you cannot run the ship by yourself. Right? Yeah, you need everybody, you need the whole body to come together. And make it all work. So I partner with people who are very relational. Thankfully, I think it also gives you a little bit more patience with people. That's a good point. And, and we also, we pay for a coach to come in, we do not mandate it. But we offer it to all of our employees that if they want to be coached by her name is Jen, great lady. Oh, Jen, go, Jen. She's wonderful. She's the most uppity person, very relational. You mean Pepe, Pepe, yes. So they can have the option to get coached. And some of them some of our employees have said that it has helped them in their marriage. And it has helped them in their personal lives. And it's not like we just have half a person, right? Like, we have whole people. And we have to be able to give to the whole person. Because when they go home, if they're cranky, or they're coming back from their house, and they're great, and that's another thing, buddy, now pause, flush that out. Why? Why is that important for you to realize it's a whole person? And what does that mean to people? So I think it's very easy to just say, you know, like, say, Tom, you know, Tom comes into work every day. And then he leaves. And we think that the only part that we have to, you know, take care of or know about or be conscious of is Tom at work? Yeah. But maybe Tom isn't performing as well at work, because something's going on at home or something like that, then you can't be like Nebby, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. But you can be aware. And if you are, if you are allowing people to see their gifts, those gifts also don't go away when they go home. And most of the time, they're going to go home and tell their spouse, I took this assessment, and it's telling me I'm this, and I think you agree, and then they have their spouse ticket. And then gents go to their spouse, right? You know, so it's, it's a way for them to bond also of where they're spending 4050 hours a week, you know, and connect, connect the two. Yeah. Now, I think a very interesting piece about this is that you're one of the youngest people working for the company, right? So explain this demographic to which you are managing? Yeah, so the average age of our company is about 55 years old, okay. And they are mostly men. So, see, that's what's so interesting is because you have what appears to be this inherent confidence, where I feel like a lot of women listen to what you just said, and you're like, that literally sounds terrifying. Because I don't know what it is about women, but having confidence to move forward in something. It just seems to be like a hurdle for us when it comes to interviewing for jobs, applying for jobs. Like if one bullet point is something we don't know how to do. My inclination is like, oh, my gosh, I can't do it. Whereas you're like, No, it'd be fine. I have to learn by doing it. So how did you get this confidence to manage people twice your age? Well, thank you for thinking I am confident you are. I would not say that. That is always the case. I think that's a that's a battle as well. But you have to think about, you know, what's the end game? And that is I want to move forward with these people. And I can't do it if they don't respect me, number one, so you have to gain their respect how? And I think you gain their respect by respecting their experience. Not walking in the door. Like you know it all. Yeah. I don't know anything about flooring. I don't I don't come out of the womb knowing about flooring because my family has been in flooring for 50 years. Right? Right. But these people have been in our company for this one man that I manage started At Molyneaux before I was born, wow. And that's the heart. Yes. Because he knew me when my dad was changing my diaper on his desk. Wow. And he knows a lot, right? So my job is to implement change. And when you are changing something that people have done for 30 years the same way, it can be a real question of, do they trust you? Do you trust them? And how are you going to figure it out? And there's been some very difficult, difficult moments? I would probably say that's been probably the hardest part. And, you know, and it's something that you continuously work on, I don't think there's an equation to having a perfect answer, sure. But it really comes down to having a relationship in figuring out what's not working for them, what is working for them, and how you can help them, you know, how can I serve you? What can I do to make your job better, you can't come off as someone who, if they don't get it right away, or they fail, that you're going to blast them, they have to know that they're allowed to make a mistake, and that you're there to support them. Yeah. But it takes time. I mean, I think the last two years in this role, but even before that, I mean, it's been five years of, I'm going to continually work to make sure I have these people's respect and trust. Yeah. That's amazing. And I want to I want to dig a little bit deeper into your mind, because we talked about potential and how to create a system for people's potential to thrive. But if I if I just press a little bit harder, how do you get this mindset? Because you've done this at our church, as well, where you get volunteers who would never normally volunteer at church, but you already see in your mind, here's what they would be good at? How are you able to do that? Because they haven't done it yet. So what is it that you're focusing on? That you're able to pull that out of people? I think one of the things that has helped me with that, like I said before, is actually Strength Finders, okay, and being aware of what are the possibilities of our possible makeup, right? Someone who is very good at communication with a very, you know, charismatic personality, you know, probably is someone that can do really well leading a small group or talking to first time guests or those types of people, because they naturally do that when no one's really watching, right? Sure. And I think it's just a matter of paying attention to people, and knowing if your goal is to make a lot of acquaintances, then you probably won't learn a lot about people Oh, come on. But if your goal is to develop and bring up other leaders, you have to be intentional about paying attention to what do they naturally do, because everyone naturally does something. But most of the time, people don't realize what they naturally do is a gift. Flesh that out some more. You know, I think sometimes people can make an assumption that, because they're really comfortable speaking, or they're really comfortable, or they love drawing, or they love being creative, or they they assume everyone's like that. And everyone is not like that. You know, I used to think everyone wanted to grow up and be the boss or be the leader. Yeah. And then I would meet people that had no interest in doing that. And I was like, why? What do you mean? What do you mean? And because that was just in me, right? That was in me to want to lead a team. But not everyone wants to do that. It's a way that you learn how are people motivated? Yes. And you just have to pay attention because the way that they are motivated or the way that they are gifted, yeah. can help your team in a way that you can't, because you're different than them. Sure. And what motivates you winning? What is What does winning look like? As a CEO? Oh, yeah, what does winning look like? So, of course, at the end of the day, we want to be a profitable successful company, sure. But ultimately, we have around 100 Good people, that are our employees, just making sure that the people that are working for us are taken care of. So basically winning at providing for the people that you employ. Yeah. And also providing them with a positive, positive environment to work in. Yeah. You know, part of my job is making a lot of improvements, you know, part one of our core values is continuous improvement, right? Yeah. And you do not want to just do change, just because to change something, you want to do change, so that the employees can have a better experience than they did before. Even if they don't think that at the end of the day, it's going to be better. That's kind of the what is really the win is whenever they say, You know what, I really didn't want to do this. But now we're doing it. And I want to go back to the old way. So how do you deal with resistance when you have a new idea, since you are literally the idea and execution machine for your company? So resistance is every day? I think it's human nature to resist. Because change is so uncomfortable. Change is so uncomfortable. Everyone hates change. I love change. Unless it's in your pocket. And number one, you have to listen. You have to make sure people are heard. And you have to be able to pay attention to what am I pressing too much like, okay, they can't. This is not the right time. And sometimes that happens, sometimes I'm pressing on something that I think is really great. But the why is not catching, right? And if they can't catch the why, or what why we're doing this, they're not going to do it. If you know someone told you to clean up your room every single day and you didn't want to do it, you're not going to do it. But if you knew that there was a benefit, I don't know if that was stupid. No. I understand the why so important. Keep going. And so you're going to have you're going to have resistance. But you just have to keep going and hope that what you're doing is the right thing. And if it's not the right thing, and you're already six months in, you have to be brave enough to pivot and humble enough to say, You know what, this wasn't the right thing. Can you repeat that sentence right there? That was so good. Yeah. Because that sucks when that happens. So whenever you are going down a path and bring bringing people with you, and you're six months in and you realize that it's not the right path. You have to be humble enough to pivot and say, You know what, this isn't right. And we're going to revisit it. Well, that takes a lot of self awareness and strength, and humility to do yes, it doesn't feel good. But it feels better whenever you pivot, and you make the right choice. And then people forget that, right? Because we also whether we like it or not, we're focused on how we feel right now. And even though that right now, when you're pivoting, feels horrible. Six months later, whenever you've reached the goal that you wanted to reach that you wanted to reach if you didn't pivot feels way better. Yeah, right. Yeah. So that's awesome. Because you're very driven, and you're all about winning, I want to know, what are some of your big dreams for Molyneaux company. So some of my dreams for our company, are to be more than a flooring store. So our vision is to bring beauty and joy to all we touch. And when you think about creating beauty and joy to all you touch first off this little fluffy, right sounds very Disney esque I'm here for Yeah, and it's not good during COVID Because you're not going to touch anything. So we do it safely. But, you know, one of the our recent projects is we've branched out into kitchens, and we're doing counters and and cabinets and things like that. And someone one of our salespeople who's been there for 15 years, great guy. But he said we're, we're a flooring company. And I said, No, we're not a foreign company. We we are a service company. And I don't care what we are installing in your home or or what service we are providing in your home. But my hope is is that as a service company, we're going to provide the best customer experience that anyone possibly could. And I do not want to limit us. We have been very successful over the past 50 Some years of being a flooring company. But I do not want to limit us in the future to just being a flooring company. I think when people think of construction, they get afraid. They think this is going to take forever. It's going to not be on time. And it's going to take up a lot of my, my time. Yeah. And we live in a world now that people want to be convenient. Yes. They want to know what's happening. Yes. And they want it to be efficient. Yeah. And bring everything together like Amazon, come on, like, do it all, I can get it all on amazon.com. I don't need to go to seven different stores. That's right. Yeah. And so now, and we're talking about, you know, how do we rebrand that? Is it Molyneaux home? Or is it something else, you know? And so that my goal for whenever it happens, I don't know, is to be basically a company that you would want to have us come in your house, because you want us to beautify anything. I love that. And you're going to know that we're going to do it with the best service possible. And the reality is, is we are in the remodeling business. And it can never go 100% Right, 100% of the time. But the difference between us and anyone else is that we if we mess up, or sometimes we do, we're gonna come back and make it make it right. Unbelievable. There's a humanity to accompany. We are human. Yes. Amazing. So some of our some humans don't want to receive that. But we, yeah, humans, not robots. Yeah. And you know, what I think is so cool about that Mel, is that you're a friend that beautifies people's lives, too. And that sounds corny, but it's actually super true. Because you, you are someone who I already talked about how you pull out potential of other people. But you always find what can make someone better and you aren't afraid to share that, like you are a very direct person. And I love that about you, you're the person in my life who I know, you're just gonna call it like it is. And that's how people grow. And I think that's, that's a gift that you have, because you build people, you grow people doesn't matter the age doesn't matter their gender, you are focused on the whole person, and growing them in house while they're working. And as a as a human being in general. So I just love that about you. And I respect you, and everything that you do for Molyneux and I can't wait to see you guys take off because you really are building an empire. I'm just gonna say it. You're building an empire. And yeah, I'm excited for the future of the company, and your future as well. Great. Thank you so much. So hey, I love you, girl. Who I hope you love that conversation as much as I did. And we didn't talk about it at the beginning or even in the conversation itself. But Mel also loves to bring people together. In fact, we always joke that if Melton were to get a tattoo, it would say the word team because she always says together, everyone achieves more. So I just love getting to see this side of Mel and how she thinks and how she really cares for others. And she dropped so many nuggets of wisdom in this conversation. And one of them that I really appreciated was when she said people don't come out of the womb knowing anything. And it's a misconception we all seem to have sometimes Right? Like, oh, they were born into this. So that or oh, this and then that. But really anything that anyone is good at or known for came from a lot of experience, time, effort, practice, and the work. So don't feel discouraged if you have not yet found that just keep going after whatever it is that sets your heart on fire. I also loved when she said people at their core truly want to do the best that they can. And it's not our job to put a limit on someone's potential or say no for them. Whoa, that hit me because how often do I do that with other people? They're like, Oh, they're probably not interested. Oh, gosh, that's the worst thing we can do. Why not give the people the opportunity to soar. I also really loved when she said people's gifts don't go away when they go home because that really showed just how much that company cares for the entire person as she said, not half a person, the whole person. And then finally I loved when she said Be humble enough to pivot if something isn't going well because there's this stigma of course of all I can't quit now I've come so far and you know, everyone knows what their threshold and limit is, and risk and she talked about their pivot because a lot of other people's livelihood was at stake if they did it and so I I think that just shows how empowering and how empowered she is, as a leader to be able to steer the ship and, and take ownership when something didn't go the best way that it could to help redirect to make it even better than before. So hey, I of course want to know what your takeaways or if you liked this episode, then you're probably going to like this one too because it's with another employer, the co founder of nine University Taylor Hyatt, so be sure to click right here to listen into that conversation as well. Guys, I love you can't wait to see you back here in two weeks for another episode of The accidentally intentional video version of the podcast.