Lessons Learned at Work: From the Oilfield to a Good Name

Show Notes

Every job I ever had taught me something — and I'm gonna share some of the real lessons learned at work that shaped how I run things today. I'm Jordan Brush with Prime Cleaning and Restoration right here in Tyler, Texas, and in this episode I'm pulling up a chair to talk about the stuff you don't learn in a classroom. You learn it hauling square hay bales onto a trailer at eleven years old. You learn it watching your dad work the railroad for forty years. You learn it spending about ten years offshore for a Fortune 500 drilling company, then getting laid off and having to figure out what's next. Here's what I've come to believe: all you've really got is your word and your name. That's the biggest lesson of all. In this episode I talk about showing up when it's hard, standing behind your work, and why there's no option for failure — I won't quit, that's just not how it works. I'll get into what real quality looks like, why I got into air duct cleaning to set a standard nobody else around here was setting, and how leading with humanity toward your crew matters more than anything. This is God's business, and I'm just doing my best to run it right. If you're building something — a business, a family, a good name — I think you'll take something home from this one. And if we can ever help you out with carpet, air ducts, or restoration, give us a call at [phone] or find us at primecleaningandrestorationoftyler.com. We'd be proud to work for you. God bless.

What is Prime Cleaning and Restoration Podcast with Jordan Brush?

Prime Cleaning and Restoration Podcast with Jordan Brush is straight talk on air quality, water damage, and what restoration really costs — from the guy who built Prime Cleaning and Restoration of Tyler from the ground up. No sales pitch, just the truth from someone who's done the work.

Hey y'all, I'm Jordan Brush with Prime Cleaning and Restoration right here in Tyler, Texas. This isn't really my business, it's God's business, and I'm just doing my best to run it right, treat folks the way they deserve, and set a standard for what quality's supposed to look like. Pull up a chair and let's visit.

So somebody asked me the other day to give some examples of lessons I've learned at work, and man, I've learned a whole bunch of them the hard way. But the biggest one, the one that runs through everything, is that all you've really got is your word and your name. Once you understand that down deep, it changes how you do every single job.

Let me tell you where that started for me. I was eleven years old, hauling square hay bales onto trailers and into barns, and that'll shape a man 100 percent. You learn real quick that work don't care about your excuses, it just cares whether the job got done and got done right.

Then I spent about ten years working offshore in the oilfield for a big deepwater drilling company. That world teaches you that when you say you're gonna do something, folks are counting on it, sometimes with their lives. That lesson stuck with me long after I came home.

And then I got laid off, and I'll be honest, I didn't know what was next. I came home and I prayed on it hard, and a guy mentioned carpet cleaning to me, and I flat out said no, there's no money in that. But I took that idea, worked it, grew it, and it turned into this.

Here's a lesson that surprised me though, and it's probably the one I'm most proud of. I figured this business would be all about the cleaning, but the real work turned out to be listening to people. There's more folks out there hurting and lonely than you'd ever guess.

I remember driving across Dallas one time, talking with an elderly woman for over two hours. She was a widow, and her late husband had built the Reunion Plaza Tower and skyscrapers all over Dallas, and she just needed somebody to listen. That day taught me the job isn't really about the ducts, it's about the person standing in front of you.

Another time an old coach called me and we talked for forty minutes, and it turned out he hadn't spoken to a soul in a week. Now, none of that shows up on an invoice. But it taught me that if you'll slow down and give somebody a little hope, you've done the most important part of the work already.

Now here's a practical lesson, and this one's about standing behind what you do. Early on I learned that you're gonna miss sometimes, everybody does, and what matters is what you do next. If a customer comes back to us the right way with a problem, we fix it, no worries, because that's just part of it.

I've also had to learn to push back gently on the idea that we're overpriced. Labor costs have gone up, that's just the truth, and I refuse to cut corners just to be the cheapest guy in town. We want to work for you, not take advantage of you, and there's a real difference between those two things.

Maybe the deepest lesson though, is about being a boss to real people. I've learned to take account of my guys, where they're at, how they're doing on any given day, because they're human beings, not machines. I even tell them when they come on, this isn't my business, it's God's business, and we're gonna do our best we can for it.

And that's really the heart of it, all these lessons roll back into faith for me. I believe the good Lord had a plan for me to come home, be with my family, and build this thing with blood, sweat, and tears. There's no option for failure, I won't quit, that's just not how it works.

So if you're out there building something, whether it's a business or a family or a life, remember there's no shortcut around your word and your name. Do the work, stand behind it, and listen to the people God puts in front of you. That's about the best advice I've got.

Listen, all you've really got in this life is your word and your name, and we aim to stand behind ours. If we can help you out, carpet, air ducts, restoration, all of it, give us a call at nine zero three, five nine four, eight zero zero seven, or find us over at prime cleaning and restoration of tyler dot com. We'd be proud to work for you. God bless, and we'll catch you next time.