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The biggest shifts in a business often come from decisions no one else sees.
Future Proof is a show for business owners facing the pressure to grow and the weight of legacy, often at the same time.
Hosted by Scott Eckart, each episode features honest conversations with leaders who’ve made bold moves, stepped into succession, or redefined success altogether. You’ll hear what they were up against, what they chose, and what they’d do differently now.
If you're thinking about what's next and want to build a business that lasts, this is the show for you.
[00:00:01] Speaker 3: I'm Scott Eckhart and this is Future Proof, a show for building something that lasts. Let's get into it.
[00:00:08] Scott Eckart: Hello everyone. Joining us on Future Proof today we have Jason Humrichous, owner of Heritage Painting located here in Central Indiana.
[00:00:16] Jason Humrichous: you got to let go in order to grow.
[00:00:20] And, uh, the hardest person to fire is yourself.
[00:00:23] Scott Eckart: In this session, Jason will speak about his time as a vision-driven leader and his passion to build new things. So let's get into it ​
[00:00:35] I had been, uh-
[00:00:36] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm ...
[00:00:37] Scott Eckart: tracking, some could say stalking you online- Right ... at LinkedIn, but I'm fascinated with your story, and so I'm sup- Hmm ... super excited to get to tell it. But we were waiting in line to get our picture taken, um, with, uh,
[00:00:48] Eric McKelvey, I think, who is, uh,
[00:00:51] a speaker that we had at, at Accelerant, uh- Yeah
[00:00:53] Indianapolis.
[00:00:55] and we just struck up a conversation. I had no idea who you were, this very tall person. I was... You know,
[00:00:59] [00:01:00] everyone looks up to you, right? Yeah. Yeah,
[00:01:01] Jason Humrichous: right.
[00:01:01] Scott Eckart: Which is fun. And,
[00:01:02] we had this connection about talking about being visionaries- Yeah
[00:01:06] right?
[00:01:07] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:01:07] Scott Eckart: And I just kind of blurted out that, "
[00:01:09] Oh, I'm, uh, this misunderstood, you know, visionary." And you looked at me- Right ... and you're like, "Well, I am, too." And I said, "Oh, we should talk about that." And so then we sat- Yeah ... I said, "Well, who are you?" You know? Yeah. And you sat down. Yeah. I'm like, "Wait, no."
[00:01:19] I said, "How is this possible that I've been hoping to get introduced to you?" Right. And so, and here you are standing in front of me. And so- Yeah ... that was,
[00:01:27] that was how- Yeah, it was- ... that got going ...
[00:01:28] Jason Humrichous: very surrea- or fun,
[00:01:30] because I think at that point I was carrying a lot of those, emotions maybe as a visionary- Yeah
[00:01:35] on my sh- you know, chip on my shoulder- Sure ... a little bit and just trying to figure, work through, figure things out. Yeah.
[00:01:42] And so it's been, I think I've always been a visionary. I, I don't wanna, I don't wanna say born a visionary, but maybe a little bit. Um-
[00:01:46] Scott Eckart: I th- I
[00:01:47] Jason Humrichous: think you
[00:01:47] Scott Eckart: were.
[00:01:48] Jason Humrichous: yeah, I'm not that deep in the psychology of-
[00:01:50] of it all, but, but yeah. It's, um, my dad and I really are similar in that- Mm-hmm ... space. And so, it's a joy to [00:02:00] still have him around at 80 years old. And so we, you know, we'll just dream together. Yeah. Yeah. So that's fun.
[00:02:06] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:02:06] Jason Humrichous: And, uh, i- in the business side of things with Heritage, we can get into it, but, you know, we've kind of worked through, like, who are you in the business?
[00:02:15] Right. What value do you bring? Right. What is your role? Yeah. And so that's where that very day I was- Yeah ... I don't know why I was, was bringing it up to whoever we were standing with. It's like, "Yeah, I'm kind of struggling with this," and, uh, and so,
[00:02:25] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Off we went. And then I know you were, uh, going to actually, I think, a memorial service of a dear friend, you know, kind of later that day, and then we, we reconnected, which was, uh, very, very special and fortunate for me, so...
[00:02:38] And I think as you know, Future Proof is a show by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Mm-hmm. Um, the people listening in, I know they will be very encouraged by your story, and I'm excited- Hope so ... to tell that. Hope so. so there, there's lots of things, um, I think that are common- Mm-hmm ... for entrepreneurs, and the path is never a straight one.
[00:02:55] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:02:55] Scott Eckart: It's never a- Right ... kind of a, a through line. Often we don't see [00:03:00] exactly where this is going. You just take one step and then the next and the next. So one of the things I like to do, as I say, is get in the time machine and kind of go back. Sure. so if you would- Yeah ... uh, maybe talk a little bit about, you had some very early jobs that were interesting.
[00:03:15] Yeah. in my way of thinking, um, as I have talked to many entrepreneurs and tell their story, um, so let's go back in time, 'cause your dad is a central character here- Yeah ... which I, which I find fascinating, who is very much a big part of the wind in your sails- Mm-hmm ... I guess we could say.
[00:03:31] But let's go back in time a little bit and-
[00:03:33] Jason Humrichous: Yeah
[00:03:33] Scott Eckart: talk about this entrepreneurial journey
[00:03:35] Jason Humrichous: that you started. Yeah. So for me, you know, you don't always know these things until,you're living life, and you're going about it, and you're trying to figure it out. I, I'll always have a high respect for people who can take things that they're thinking and write them down, and I'm not there yet.
[00:03:48] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:03:49] Jason Humrichous: but, um, what I do is I go through life, and then I look back, and I go, "Oh- That was interesting that, because that was true, not only true today, but it was true then. Mm-hmm.
[00:03:59] So let's go back to Jason as a kid.
[00:04:01] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:04:02] Jason Humrichous: Okay? Jason as a kid had multiple tree house forts, literally. Really? Okay. Three, three of them.
[00:04:08] And I would go, and I would go to the woods a- and with my dad's tools, and I would build forts. And, I would just kind of build it, and I would step back and I'd be like, "Cool." And I would never really play in it. And I, part of, part of it was probably 'cause I had three sisters and no brothers- Yeah ... you know, neighborhood friends.
[00:04:27] But so what does that mean today? Today, I look at myself and I go, "Yeah, I'm an entrepreneurial risk, wanting to take risk," loving that piece of that. but really it's about building those forts.
[00:04:40] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:04:41] Jason Humrichous: So I'm a starter, I've discovered as you grow through life, I'm a starter.
[00:04:45] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:04:47] Jason Humrichous: That mean, that leans into me being an entrepreneurial person, being wanting to build these locations.
[00:04:52] But then I'm also, I'm not a great manager. I don't love to manage. Okay. I can.
[00:04:56] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:04:56] Jason Humrichous: if you have the right systems and s- things in place, I can work [00:05:00] through that. But it's, it's, it feels like I go really hard, like you're walking through mud. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Like- Sure ... ugh, don't wanna do that.
[00:05:09] But then, so that's just kind of me.
[00:05:11] you know, my dad, strong leader, Christ follower. At the age of six, I came to know Jesus as my- Mm-hmm ... Lord and Savior. And, uh, a lot of my decisions in life, I can kind of gauge between like, this is what Jason wants to do-
[00:05:26] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm ... and
[00:05:27] Jason Humrichous: this is what Jesus wants me to do.
[00:05:29] Mm.
[00:05:29] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:05:29] Jason Humrichous: and so it's like, okay, I go, "Lord, is this something you want me to take a risk on?" Okay. And so I'm praying through that and thinking through that. And, if it were just Jason on the throne of his life, then I would think, "Just do whatever you wanna do," right? But I run things through the grid of scripture, and I run through things through permission from the Lord, honestly, through prayer.
[00:05:53] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:05:54] Jason Humrichous: And, um, and so as I get excited about building that next fort or [00:06:00] building that next business- Right ... or building that whatever it is, I'm constantly just saying, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"
[00:06:05] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:06:06] so one of the challenges I know that I've seen in working with, you know, business owners is that very conversation, is to say, "You have a unique ability."
[00:06:16] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm. "
[00:06:16] Scott Eckart: But maybe you're doing, too many things." Mm-hmm. "And you're maybe frustrating your people." and I find that having that conversation can be a difficult one- Yeah ... because they may think that, "Well, there's nobody else to do it, so I have to do it myself."
[00:06:29] Jason Humrichous: Yeah,
[00:06:29] Scott Eckart: yeah. And they're not willing to dele- delegate or they're not willing to- Mm-hmm
[00:06:32] to kind of give that over.
[00:06:33] Jason Humrichous: yeah, that, and that's where, like, through the years, my dad would say to me, "Jason, you gotta put people around you that are better than you."
[00:06:39] Mm. And so I always, that's always ringing in my head, right? My grandpa would say to me, "You gotta, i- if you wanna go into business, don't go into business, but grow into it," right? Okay. So these little sayings- Sure ... that would ring in my head. Mm-hmm. "Grow into business." Mm-hmm. "Don't go into it." And then, uh, somewhere along the line, you know, as I was by myself and my [00:07:00] wife, you know, running our finances and we were running this little business, painting business or whatever we were doing, I would always talk in team, like in, uh, my I would use the, um, you know, like us and them.
[00:07:12] Our team is going to do w- And it was just me.
[00:07:15] Scott Eckart: Right, the royal we.
[00:07:17] Jason Humrichous: Right. Yeah,
[00:07:17] Scott Eckart: we.
[00:07:17] Jason Humrichous: Exactly. And so then it's like, as I planned in my visionary self, I said, "This is not where we're gonna be. We're gonna be down here." Right. "We're gonna legit someday have a full team, uh, a color consultant-" Mm-hmm. "... a pr- you know, a project consultant, a project manager."
[00:07:32] That's inside of the space of Heritage today. And so you always wanna build a team, but to manage that team is not always my gift. and I, you know, love investing in our people, but, um, sometimes I do that by bringing in the right people- Mm-hmm ... to help me do that, right? And so, One of the other little pithy sayings that I say all the time is you got to let go in order to grow.
[00:07:54] And, uh, the hardest person to fire is yourself.
[00:07:58] Scott Eckart: Right. Wow. Okay. Have you [00:08:00] ever fired yourself?
[00:08:00] Jason Humrichous: I'm firing myself all the time.
[00:08:02] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:08:02] Jason Humrichous: Like, just got to let go of it.
[00:08:04] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:08:05] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. And, and you can't just let go of it haphazardly and then- Sure.
[00:08:11] Yeah ... you know, you gotta ... But,recently, we just recently did ... We, we, uh, we do the EOS operating system.
[00:08:15] Okay.
[00:08:16] Scott Eckart: Just brought that in in February, and so we were in our, quarterly kickoff just last week, at Heritage. And, for the longest time, I'm like, "Hey, let's build locations. Let's build branches." And I wanted to build a national brand- Okay
[00:08:28] Jason Humrichous: uh, where we're taking the brand all over, and we're building our forts all over the country.
[00:08:33] Scott Eckart: currently today, we have five forts.
[00:08:35] Okay.
[00:08:36] Jason Humrichous: And they're called, in the business world, Google Business Profiles.
[00:08:39] Scott Eckart: Got it.
[00:08:40] Jason Humrichous: Right? So people search for you, Google Business Profile, they- Okay ... "Painter near me." Well, we want to be near the people in Carmel, Fishers, Kokomo, Tipton, Lafayette.
[00:08:50] Mm. I want to be Greenwood, New Pal, Anderson, you know, Central Indiana. So we have these GBPs where people can find us. [00:09:00] And, um, but, recently during that L10 or that quarterly kickoff, I, I'm like- Maybe we need to shrink before we grow.
[00:09:10] Scott Eckart: Okay. And, uh- what did your team say?
[00:09:11] Jason Humrichous: So the team is hearing.
[00:09:14] Uh-huh. And actually just about two weeks prior to that, and I've had this sense, one of our salespeople said, "Maybe we should kill that c- territory." And I'm like, "Oh, we've invested for seven years in that territory." Wow. so that's a little bit of ... But, you know, it's resonating, and, uh, and thought, had those thoughts, but it's
[00:09:31] So we're still wrestling with that, and it's not a done deal, but, but those are some of the concepts. Do we need to pull back so we can really do better? And then we, you know, we'll see, with God's permission. Okay.
[00:09:43] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:09:44] Jason Humrichous: You know, maybe, maybe expansion. Mm-hmm. So.
[00:09:46] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:09:47] Jason Humrichous: That's in time, and, uh, maybe it's different leadership.
[00:09:50] Scott Eckart: Sure.
[00:09:50] Jason Humrichous: You know, maybe it's, um, people that can ... And so I don't, I don't know what my role will be. Today I do know what my role is as the visionary, and I'm sitting in a sales seat today, [00:10:00] so, but God's blessing us with some- Mm-hmm ... really quality salespeople, and we're beefening up our team, so, you know.
[00:10:06] Scott Eckart: So before we go-
[00:10:08] Jason Humrichous: Yeah
[00:10:08] Scott Eckart: back to history, I for so long was too insecure to ask for feedback.
[00:10:13] Because I d- I don't think I wanted to hear the answer. So how did you learn then- ... to ask for feedback
[00:10:19] Yeah. So for me, and it's an, it's an evolving, growing thing, right? Mm-hmm. We, we all have these moments in our life where we kinda stiffen our neck and we get proud.
[00:10:28] Jason Humrichous: Yep. And we think we got it, and then we realize, "Oh, you know, I need to learn." I don't, I don't got it. "I need to learn again."
[00:10:33] Scott Eckart: Yeah. "
[00:10:33] Jason Humrichous: I don't have it." And, uh, a lot of times that happens mostly with my wife. You know, love her. 27 years happily married, but, um, she's an incredible listener, and I need to learn a lot more from her in regard to that, but she's also an incredible question asker.
[00:10:48] Mm. And so that really takes the attention off of her. I find myself talking to people, I'm like, "I need to stop talking." Like, stop talking. Mm. Just, you know, do more listening, do more asking, [00:11:00] engaging. Okay. And, so that's one thing. you know, surrounding ... Again, going back to my dad saying, "Surround yourself with people that are better than you," you need to be the dumbest person in the room.
[00:11:07] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:11:08] Jason Humrichous: Right? And, and, like, have people that are really smart around you. And so I'm blessed to have ... Like, we just hired a salesperson that I'm super excited to have. Like,
[00:11:15] one of our core values is grow. The G in Heritage is grow.
[00:11:19] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:11:19] Jason Humrichous: And so we bring in different people really to help me grow- as much as anything. I'm a little bit selfish in that sense, that I need to grow. And so as a salesperson, you know, having people that are better than you in that sales sp- space, I've always sold from a standpoint of, hey, I've got a little bit of gray hair.
[00:11:37] They can tell I have experience. I talk about, time when I was on the ladder.
[00:11:41] and I know the products, and, and so I sell from that space. So I have a good closure rate and whatever, but I don't sell well as a salesperson, per se.
[00:11:49] And so anyhow, and that, a lot of that's- techniques and skills- Mm-hmm ... and stuff like that I need to grow in.
[00:11:55] But going back to, like, I remember when I was doing my very first stain job. Never stained before in my life. So what do you do, right? You w- well, YouTube was around at that time. Okay. And so I went to YouTube, and I also went to my paint rep, and, you know, he walked me through it, and I wasn't afraid because why?
[00:12:17] 'Cause I'm an entrepreneur, right? Okay.
[00:12:18] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:12:19] Jason Humrichous: And I c- we can figure this out. So we did, and it turned out great. And so next thing you know, you're adding, whole house new construction staining. That's what we did ear- in the early days was a lot of high-end new construction for a lot of real high-end quality- Mm-hmm
[00:12:34] uh, builders. but then, you know, I even remember standing on top of gas tanks where we were painting the gas tanks with oil-based paint. I'm power washing away and, and I'm painting and, you know, the paint sprayer blows up in your face and you got oil. You know, so you're just learning through failure, right?
[00:12:51] Right. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, uh, the best teacher. Yeah,
[00:12:54] Scott Eckart: yeah. so going back then, um, we're not six anymore. We're not building forts. Right. Now you're actually, like, [00:13:00] doing things. Right. Like you're-
[00:13:00] Jason Humrichous: With real people- Yeah ... that have lives and- Yeah ... need money.
[00:13:03] Scott Eckart: Yeah. So I think you had what, a Bullseye or something- Yeah
[00:13:06] you told me,
[00:13:07] Jason Humrichous: right? Yeah, yeah.
[00:13:07] So Bullseye Painters, uh, started with a good friend of mine in high school. Mm-hmm. His parent, grandparents owned, uh, Bullock Garages.
[00:13:15] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:13:16] Jason Humrichous: And they had their forts all over the country. And, uh, and so, uh, my thought was, I told my friend Doug, I said, "Hey, Doug, we should, um, we should start this company called Bullseye, and we'll piggyback on Bullock.
[00:13:30] And when Bullock builds a garage, we'll offer to paint the house for that homeowner to match their garage. It'll be all fresh and everything. It, you know, it's a good thing." And Du- I remember Doug kind of just being like Okay. Like whatever. and then it would never really took off where we did exactly that.
[00:13:48] Mm-hmm. But it took off where I felt like I had a good brand that I could carry, a good name. and, uh, you know, I remember, I bought a bread truck, and I had to, I had to wait to have the money. It was about $3,400 to buy this- So a [00:14:00] bread
[00:14:00] Scott Eckart: truck is just like a
[00:14:00] Jason Humrichous: box. Bread
[00:14:01] Scott Eckart: truck.
[00:14:01] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, big box. Yeah. Right.
[00:14:02] Square box. Okay. Yeah. And, uh, pull it up in the back of the yard. I mean, I... My wife's like, "We're not buying this until you have the money."
[00:14:08] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:14:09] Jason Humrichous: So I'm doing jobs, I'm making money, and- Yeah ... I get this enough money to buy this $3,400 all aluminum bread truck, right? Really solid. And but between now and th- or between the time that I thought that to then, I was thinking, "How am I gonna set this up and then build this," blah, blah.
[00:14:23] So I set it up, and I have it out in the yard, and I'm painting with a projector screen-
[00:14:29] Scott Eckart: Okay ...
[00:14:30] Jason Humrichous: the image of a bullseye. So I'm hand painting that on the side- ... of this bread truck. So those were the early days of Bullseye Painters. Now, now all of our vehicles have, uh, vinyl full wrap- Yeah ... you know- There
[00:14:41] Scott Eckart: you go
[00:14:42] Jason Humrichous: logos, so. Yeah.
[00:14:42] Scott Eckart: But your dad said, "I want you to go to college."
[00:14:46] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:14:47] Scott Eckart: Why did-
[00:14:47] Jason Humrichous: Yeah ...
[00:14:48] Scott Eckart: he didn't- Yeah ... he really wanted you to do that. Why? Yeah.
[00:14:50] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, I told you that, uh, when we met. He is a visionary. Okay. Right? He just understood. He was a farmer and, uh, he himself went to college, and I think one of the things I've heard him say [00:15:00] through the years is that he went to college to in hindsight, he realized college was made for, for him to learn how to learn.
[00:15:09] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:15:09] Jason Humrichous: So he learned how to s- study. He's a pastor. Mm-hmm. Went to seminary as well. So he had, I think, about six years of college or seminary and college. And, uh, so he learned how to study 'cause every week as a pastor, he was doing two, three, four, presentations, teaching the scripture, preparing for that.
[00:15:27] Mm-hmm. Whether it was a, you know, funeral, wedding, or Sunday morning, Sunday- Yeah ... afternoon, evening, whatever service. And so, college, he knew that that would help prepare me. And I, it was good for me and it was quite af- much different than today, quite affordable, and I grew up and learned.
[00:15:42] And, my wife and I have different thoughts about college today. Okay.
[00:15:46] she's very much an educator, which is great and all, uh, by the grace of God, all of our kids will have a college degree.
[00:15:53] our oldest just graduated with her master's, and then she has her undergrad.
[00:15:56] and then our, our boy- And then- ... oldest boy-
[00:15:59] Scott Eckart: Ben ...
[00:15:59] Jason Humrichous: [00:16:00] Ben.
[00:16:00] Scott Eckart: graduated with a master's and an undergrad, and then Joe just graduated his undergrad, and then the, Sam, Noah, and Isaac, the younger, are finishing their college now.
[00:16:09] Jason Humrichous: Okay. but so go to college, Jason, and I want you to also learn a trade. Okay. So when my dad was a pastor, and he was, at one point he was going to seminary during the morning. He would go home and study, then he would go drive a truck, 'cause that's what he learned when he was a farm kid.
[00:16:27] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:16:28] Jason Humrichous: And then he'd come home and sleep for a few hours, and then he would start that cycle over again.
[00:16:31] He had two kids at home. So just very hard work ethic, German kind of- Hmm ... gonna go get it.
[00:16:47] And, uh, and so that was what I grew up with, you know, and, uh, was blessed to have, I had about 15 yards when I was a kid, you know, mowing yards and, washed cars for neighbors. I had different people, "Oh, yeah, wash my car, two bucks."
[00:16:52] You know, wash my car. And then-
[00:16:53] Scott Eckart: But did you hate it, love it, like it?
[00:16:55] loved it ... like, it, it- My dad bought me this zero turning radius mower.
[00:16:58] Jason Humrichous: Wow. So you had the fancy
[00:16:59] Scott Eckart: one.
[00:16:59] Jason Humrichous: I [00:17:00] had the two, it was two grand. Wow. I walk in the back door, walk in the house. My mom says, "Hey, come outside. I want, your dad's got something for you." I walk, I th- I, I'm sitting there, it's a brand new $2,000 Dixon riding mower. Mm-hmm. And I'm like "What's going on?" He's like, "I bought you this."
[00:17:18] And you know, in the min- it could bring tears to my eyes just thinking about it. In the ministry, that's a lot of money
[00:17:23] Scott Eckart: It's a lot of money now.
[00:17:24] Jason Humrichous: Period. I mean, that's a, yeah. You know, and that, that mower would not go for that today. It'd be five grand- Sure ... easily.
[00:17:28] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:17:29] Jason Humrichous: But, um, see, he saw it and invested in me and, and, uh, you know, we bought, we had a little trailer and I pulled that mower up on there, and I had my license, and I'd drive around to different yards and mow them.
[00:17:39] But he saw a willingness to work, and I think, uh, there's a book I wanna write someday, and actually this month we're supposed to, him and I are supposed to get together, and start videoing some things just to kinda rethink through like- Mm-hmm ... where some of this came from. But, I wanna write a book called The Joy of Work.
[00:17:55] Scott Eckart: I really hope you do- ... because that is, I, [00:18:00] I think you're uniquely poised to be able to, to do that.
[00:18:03] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. If God graces me with it- Yeah ... it'd be fun- Yeah ... and, you know, before he goes to heaven. But the joy of work, work is fun for me. And, um, we can really very quickly, teeter-totter into being obsessed with it.
[00:18:17] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:18] Jason Humrichous: And, um- Or- ... pendulum swing ...
[00:18:20] Scott Eckart: as a kid, I hated it.
[00:18:22] I felt like I was being punished.
[00:18:24] Jason Humrichous: Sure.
[00:18:24] Scott Eckart: Right? And it wasn't til much, much, much later- Mm-hmm ... that I realized that the greatest thing that my dad ever did for me-
[00:18:29] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm ...
[00:18:30] Scott Eckart: was give me the gift of learning how to work.
[00:18:34] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:35] Scott Eckart: But I didn't at the time-
[00:18:37] Jason Humrichous: Understand
[00:18:37] Scott Eckart: that
[00:18:37] 'cause he didn't explain it to me.
[00:18:38] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:38] Scott Eckart: I mean, it wa- it was forced upon me.
[00:18:40] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:41] Scott Eckart: There were no instructions, right? Yeah. But it wasn't til much later.
[00:18:44] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:18:45] Scott Eckart: But that's the greatest thing my dad ever did for me- Yeah, yeah ... was taught me how to work.
[00:18:48] Jason Humrichous: I don't fault your dad, and I don't fault you. I think it's real- Yeah
[00:18:52] with dads. Yeah. I have five boys, one girl, and they're all extremely hard-working in their space, [00:19:00] but at, the way I treated the first two were different probably than the way I saw- Yeah ... the, the last four- Yeah ... to be really honest. And those, the three youngest boys are incredible workers, incred- gifted in their space, but,I didn't have the f- the ability to focus like- Mm
[00:19:18] I did with the oldest or, you know, the oldest, oldest two.
[00:19:21] Scott Eckart: Sure,
[00:19:21] Jason Humrichous: sure. And it was just, it was just different. And I, I remem- remember when Jennifer and I were going along having babies or, you know, having, raising kids. We had six in six years.
[00:19:28] Scott Eckart: Oh, my.
[00:19:29] Jason Humrichous: And so we have twins in there.
[00:19:30] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:19:31] Jason Humrichous: And so that helps. Phew.
[00:19:32] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:19:32] Jason Humrichous: But you know, it's like going along and you're doing this thing, it's like I don't have enough of me-
[00:19:38] Scott Eckart: Mm ...
[00:19:39] Jason Humrichous: to go around.
[00:19:40] Scott Eckart: To... Sure. Yeah.
[00:19:41] Jason Humrichous: I'm like, "Lord, you're gonna have to help
[00:19:42] Scott Eckart: me." That's why we didn't have six kids- ... 'cause I, I was like- Right ... I, I can't. There's not enough of me. Right.
[00:19:47] Jason Humrichous: Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, God helped and, you know, those kids are gonna be great.
[00:19:52] Yeah. Um, they'll be just fine.
[00:19:54] Scott Eckart: So, so hindsight is always 20/20, but two things, advice to entrepreneurs [00:20:00] now- Mm ... and, and to other dads, right? So, who are listening-
[00:20:03] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm ...
[00:20:03] Scott Eckart: right now, what would you say to them about w- as you look at, first of all, college, right? Mm-hmm. It's not necessarily for everybody.
[00:20:13] Jason Humrichous: Yep.
[00:20:13] Scott Eckart: So you're i- really, you're kinda winding that up. Yeah. But there's a lot of people listening right now- Mm-hmm ... who, you know, their children are younger, okay? Mm-hmm. College is very, very, very expensive.
[00:20:25] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:20:26] Scott Eckart: we don't necessarily know where, where they're headed. What are your thoughts today?
[00:20:30] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:20:31] Scott Eckart: Like, if you had a six, seven, eight, nine-year-old.
[00:20:34] Mm-hmm. What, what are your th- what are your thoughts to them- Mm ... about how do you view higher ed?
[00:20:40] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. I, I think it's really valuable, and it's, you know, I would lean to be more like, uh, Gary Vaynerchuk,
[00:20:47] Scott Eckart: Gary would say that, you know, you know, just get out and do something. Okay. Just do something, right? And that's the thing is s- so many times we just don't do anything. And so, I just see kids can just be really, not [00:21:00] engaging, not getting out.
[00:21:01] Jason Humrichous: Okay. And so, And w- where do I wanna go with this? I do believe in higher education. I think it's good, but also believe not everybody fits that mold.
[00:21:08] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:21:09] Jason Humrichous: And Gary would say something very similar. and, uh, I don't know that I had to do the route that I did, but I also do believe that it was led of the Lord.
[00:21:18] I don't think it was a mistake. Mm-hmm. And when I look back, the things I really tag to that time was I grew up. You can grow up not going to college, right? You don't have to spend $50,000 a year to grow up in today's market, right? You can grow up. So, you know, just, but don't sit around. Right?
[00:21:36] Mm-hmm.
[00:21:37] a skill takes repetitions and takes time.
[00:21:42] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:21:43] Jason Humrichous: So if you wanna develop a skill, if you go, "I wanna be, I wanna make that," and sometimes until you're hungry, you don't know-
[00:21:51] what it really takes. Right. So a kid needs to become hungry, and so many times we're, like, protecting our kids so much that they never become [00:22:00] hungry.
[00:22:00] And so as soon as j- my wife and I, we say to our boys, "No, we're not gonna buy that." Mm-hmm. "That's gonna have to come out of your pocket."
[00:22:09] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:22:10] Jason Humrichous: Like, what pa- what parent says that?
[00:22:13] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:22:14] Jason Humrichous: Like, "No, you should take care of them forever." Yeah. No. Sorry. You know, "No, you're gonna need to buy your own creatine so you can go lift weights."
[00:22:24] Sure.
[00:22:25] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:22:25] Jason Humrichous: Right? It's $65 a jug, you know, whatever.
[00:22:29] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:22:29] Jason Humrichous: And so then, "Oh, crap, that's expensive. Well, I want this and this and this outfit." Okay, well, you know, here's your budget. Right, right. You know? And so when a kid discovers that, then they're like, "Shoot, I need to work."
[00:22:42] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:43] Jason Humrichous: Okay, now we're thinking a little bit in the space where we need to be, and then it's like they begin to get hungry and hungry.
[00:22:49] Scott Eckart: And then a follow-up to that, which is related to what you just said, is I deal with a lot of business owners of- Mm ... you know, significant means, and they have- Mm-hmm ... maybe started their families a little bit later [00:23:00] because- Mm-hmm ... they're working really hard in business. Sure. So now they have significant means.
[00:23:04] Mm-hmm. And somehow they've looked at work as something that these children don't have to do-
[00:23:09] Jason Humrichous: Right ...
[00:23:09] Scott Eckart: because- Right ... when they did it, they only did it because they didn't have it.
[00:23:13] Jason Humrichous: Right.
[00:23:14] Scott Eckart: And now they're not making them work.
[00:23:17] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:23:17] Scott Eckart: W- what is your thoughts and advice to those that are listening about doesn't have anything to do with means?
[00:23:24] what are we taking away from those children by not teaching them how to work?
[00:23:27] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:23:28] And I-
[00:23:28] Scott Eckart: Especially when they come into the family business, right? Yeah. Yeah. And then they don't know how to work.
[00:23:31] Jason Humrichous: it starts young, right?
[00:23:33] Mm-hmm. I mean, I think from up until age five is when you're creating a lot of discip- key disciplines that are really important, and simple things to just looking a person in the eye, you know, looking at them and talking to them. So I mean, those are very simple things. And so doing those things young, you know, I think for me and Jen- Jennifer and I, we, again, I, I said earlier, we kind of run things through the grid of scripture.
[00:23:56] I think the Book of Proverbs is really critical to, you know, if you can [00:24:00] understand those things. And, and, um, a kid needs to learn authority. I think a kid needs to understand and respect authority. Mm-hmm. when I find that kids don't, they come to us looking for a job and they don't have a driver's license.
[00:24:15] Why? Because they don't respect the laws- Hmm ... on the road.
[00:24:18] Scott Eckart: Interesting.
[00:24:19] Jason Humrichous: When you don't have a driver's license, you don't have freedom, and you can't hardly even get to work. Hmm. We had to let a guy go yesterday because of this.
[00:24:25] Scott Eckart: Really?
[00:24:26] Jason Humrichous: Okay. I could, I can't insure him- Yeah ... on the road. Right.
[00:24:28] Scott Eckart: Wow. Okay.
[00:24:29] Jason Humrichous: and I've had that time over t- time and...
[00:24:31] And so just basic things, but I think a kid needs to understand authority, respect authority. and then, uh, and that, that has to do with, you know, just being humble and- Mm-hmm ... looking at somebody, you know- Mm-hmm ... and respecting what they have. Yeah. And then listening, right? The arrogant person talks before they think.
[00:24:47] and so those are some real basic grassroots things. But I, I mean, practically, I, kids, one of the things I wanted to say a minute ago is kids, um, need to leave the home.
[00:24:58] Scott Eckart: Yes. [00:25:00] Okay.
[00:25:00] Jason Humrichous: And they want to leave the home. They want to become... And so recently, Jennifer and I, my wife and I, we felt a lot of rejection.
[00:25:09] But it's right.
[00:25:10] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:25:10] Jason Humrichous: and when we're feeling that rejection, it's a little bit painful, but it's right because they're like, "I wanna fly." Go fly.
[00:25:17] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:25:18] Jason Humrichous: 'Cause you
[00:25:18] Scott Eckart: raised them- to be strong and independent- Yeah ... and for that, for that moment.
[00:25:22] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:25:22] Scott Eckart: Right? Yeah.
[00:25:23] Jason Humrichous: And so flying means that, you know, you're gonna have to, yeah, sometimes you have to get, I don't know, the whole bird analogy makes me think about, you know, you gotta hunt for your own food.
[00:25:33] Yeah. Yeah. You gotta get up, you gotta take the next step. Be strong.
[00:25:37] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:25:37] one of the things we talk about in Future Proof, Jason, a lot are pivots.
[00:25:41] And different times, left, right, center, you know, things that happen. Yep. so you're going along and this painting thing is kind of catching on- Yep ... doing some things, and, you worked with builders and that.
[00:25:52] Yep. so let's talk about a pivot now to, you know, Heritage didn't appear one day. Right. I mean, there were- Right ... there were some things.
[00:25:59] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:25:59] Scott Eckart: Uh, so [00:26:00] talk us through,the birth of Heritage.
[00:26:02] Jason Humrichous: Sure. Well, let me start with this. I just recently finished a book called, The Vision Driven Leader.
[00:26:08] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:26:09] Jason Humrichous: And it talks a lot about this, right?
[00:26:11] In the entrepreneurial journey, it's just pivot, pivot, pivot. Great book, real little book,so I moved to the, uh, Kokomo area in 1998. I was a children's pastor for three and a half years.
[00:26:22] That's
[00:26:22] Scott Eckart: right. Yep.
[00:26:22] Jason Humrichous: And then I resigned that job and, uh, went into painting, pulled the signs out of the yard, Bullseye Painters. I didn't know what else to do. I said, "Well, I know how to paint, so that's what I'll do." We had two kids at the time. Mm-hmm. So from, did that from '02 to '05. '05 to '09, I left paintings, sold about two-thirds of my equipment and worked for a custom home builder here in Carmel.
[00:26:45] from '09, then there was a Mutual of Omaha layoff. The economy was tanking. It was rough. Yes, it was. It
[00:26:49] Scott Eckart: was
[00:26:50] Jason Humrichous: terrible. And, uh, I, it was a great four years of learning, doing a lot of things,building. I built about 30 custom homes from ground up, and so that was a lot of fun. [00:27:00] And that really afforded me the knowledge and insight to remodel about four of my own personal homes, so that's been fun.
[00:27:07] but in '09... And I think that also helps me when I'm talking to clients.
[00:27:10] Scott Eckart: Sure.
[00:27:11] Jason Humrichous: A lot. Yeah. So.
[00:27:12] Scott Eckart: Mutual of Omaha layoff with that custom home builder, and I ended up, I'm doing a remodel down in Meridian Kessler, and I remember being in the attic working on something, and I was just praying, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"
[00:27:23] Jason Humrichous: Hmm. And I said, "Lord, if you want me to go back into the ministry," which I had done at two different churches, I would. but if you want me to do this remodeling, home building, thing, give me a good name. And so at that time, I remember praying, and, uh, Psalm 127 talks about children are our inheritance from the Lord,
[00:27:42] so I said, "That's it." I mean, it's, there's no branding around the word heritage that says painting or even remodeling, right?
[00:27:50] It's just- Could be a lot
[00:27:51] Scott Eckart: of things.
[00:27:51] Jason Humrichous: okay, it's gonna be Heritage, and it w- the LLC was Heritage Homes and Restorations. And then shortly after that, we pivoted towards Heritage [00:28:00] Custom Painting, 'cause everything in '09, '10, '11 was had to have the word custom in there.
[00:28:04] It was really s- you know, like you're something if you have that-
[00:28:07] Scott Eckart: You're fan- you're
[00:28:07] Jason Humrichous: fancy ... you're fancier. Yeah. Right? And so, Heritage Custom Painting. And then, um, so we did that from '09 to 2019 and grew the company to right about $1.7 million. So, decent, solo kind of person working, doing business development, doing sales, doing project management.
[00:28:27] I had pulled myself off the job site around 2014. Okay. just seeing I needed to... Maybe 2013, but I was 49 at the time, and I just said, "I gotta get off the job site. I don't want us to do this seasonally," because I really cared about our people- Yeah ... having consistent work and consistent as much as you possibly could when you have almost, a third or more of your year is cold enough you can't be outside.
[00:28:54] So, so I pulled myself off the job site, was able to kind of lean in and, and build, [00:29:00] work on the business,and also work, in the business at a different space than just painting. One of my good friends who's, owns a painting company, he's like, "Jason, there are guys that can paint circles around us."
[00:29:10] And I'm like, "I gotta find those guys." So I worked hard, found those guys, and, uh, that's true today. So we have a l- great group of guys. But did that from '09 to '19 by myself, and my wife, sitting in the finance just being observant of that. And then in 2000 and... Well, I would back up from '19.
[00:29:26] In 2017, I met my business partner- Okay
[00:29:28] Jason Finney.
[00:29:29] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:29:30] Jason Humrichous: And, uh, we met at a Sherwin-Williams paint store or parking lot, and we were just- Perfect. Right ... talking and like, "Hey." And I envisioned this guy that was a smaller, m- smaller business, and, maybe he would get people that would come to him that wouldn't come to me, and, "Hey, let me help you perform the job," because he was a f- he's a, was a full-time firefighter at Grissom Air Force Base.
[00:29:54] Okay. And so we, we became friends. We'd have lunch together competing, but yet not [00:30:00] really, and so we were working together. And so we each shared kind of services back and forth. And then in, uh, 2019, at the beginning of 2019, I'd had some health procedures, and when I came out of that, is like God gave me just a renewed grace and strength to kind of focus and think.
[00:30:15] And, uh, at that point, I remember April 10th of 2019, we sat down at Pizza King in Tipton. I have it m- me- commemorated on the wall- Okay ... in our office. Yeah. I wrote it on there, "Every good business decision happens at Pizza King." Pizza King. Props to Pizza King. Tipton's the best. Uh, but, um, so, anyhow, we met there, and at that day we decided we would join ser- or work and under the umbrella of Heritage Custom Painting.
[00:30:41] May 1st was our first kickoff day. So we did that from 2019, May 1st, to, honestly, it was, 2026, February 1st, and so, right at about seven years. and, uh- We were able to scale the company to about four, 4.5. Mm-hmm. And so that's, you know, fun and [00:31:00] everything. We had our bumps and bruises, and you kind of...
[00:31:02] And as I've talked to people that are bigger than us, bigger is not always better- Right ... first of all.
[00:31:07] Scott Eckart: Sure.
[00:31:08] Jason Humrichous: But, you know, you talk to them, you're like, these are the natural plateaus that painting contractors land at, right? my desire is not necessarily to be a $25 million painting company in Central Indiana, but that's kind of in the back of my head.
[00:31:23] Yeah. Right? So we're not there today, anywhere close to that, but... And that's not even the point. the point is,just having these repetitions of what I'll get into is really living our core values. A
[00:31:39] nd I would say it was around 2020 maybe 2021. It was post-COVID a little bit. I was sitting down doing a video and I'm like, "What am I even saying?
[00:31:48] I don't even know what we're doing. What are we doing?" You know? And I'm just, like, struggling. Hmm. And at that point, I remembered back... So here we are, 2020. I remember back to my children's ministry days in the early 2000s, [00:32:00] and going to a leadership conference and the guy's saying, "Hey, you need to write your core values down.
[00:32:05] You need to write your mission statement down. You need to write your vision statement down." And I'm like, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."
[00:32:10] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Why?
[00:32:11] Jason Humrichous: And why? Yeah, yeah. You know, I don't- Yeah ... that's, that's the hard work- Mm-hmm ... for an entrepreneurial- Yeah ... visionary starter. Like, I didn't wanna sit down and do that.
[00:32:20] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:32:20] Jason Humrichous: And, uh, then it clicked in my head. And if there's any value, if anybody's listening, hopefully there's a lot of value you're listening to here, but one thing that it, I really kicked in my head at that time is it, your core values don't have to be... There are people that say you need to write three or four, That's fine. That's a good thought. Uh, I'm not saying it's wrong. We have a lot more. We have w- h- it spells out Heritage. Yeah.
[00:32:44] Scott Eckart: So let's do them.
[00:32:45] Jason Humrichous: So the r- but what I did, I started with, the key thought I want people to hear is I started with, what is my core values?
[00:32:53] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:32:53] Jason Humrichous: What are my core values? Because whoever I am as a leader is really what your company's gonna kinda be.[00:33:00]
[00:33:00] They're gonna reflect that, right? You want them to reflect who you are as a leader.
[00:33:05] Scott Eckart: Which is one of the reasons, I think, that people choose this particular path, right? Mm-hmm. Because they don't wanna work for IBM, Procter & Gamble. I mean, you know, you're, you're, you're... And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that.
[00:33:20] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:20] Scott Eckart: But in terms of the impact, right? Sure. Even if it's small, and you get to be-
[00:33:25] Jason Humrichous: Yep ...
[00:33:26] Scott Eckart: the leader. That is- Yep ... a big part of what you get to do.
[00:33:29] Jason Humrichous: Right.
[00:33:30] Scott Eckart: Right?
[00:33:30] You do get to have the say.
[00:33:32] Jason Humrichous: The call. Yeah, you
[00:33:34] Scott Eckart: get to make the call. And, and, and it, and it's a, it's a, it's a beautiful thing-
[00:33:37] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, yeah ...
[00:33:37] Scott Eckart: you know,
[00:33:37] Jason Humrichous: to get to do that.
[00:33:38] It's a lot of fun.
[00:33:38] Scott Eckart: Right?
[00:33:39] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, so you get to, and impact lives.
[00:33:40] so Heritage, I just began to work through it and I said, okay... And I d- I didn't start with it being in a, uh, an acrost- An acrostic, right ... an acrostic, but I, I said, "I w- I wanna walk in humility."
[00:33:51] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm. "
[00:33:51] Jason Humrichous: I wanna do things with excellence." And th- and then I'm saying them as I spell them.
[00:33:55] Yeah. So I don't know, I don't completely remember how they all rolled out in my mind, but I [00:34:00] Want to walk in humility. I want to walk in excellence. Excellent service, excellent products, excellent communication
[00:34:06] Scott Eckart: Material
[00:34:06] Jason Humrichous: Like, people say to us all the time, "Man, you guys really do a great job communicating."
[00:34:11] Like, yeah. Like I want to, I want you to be, feel like you were communicating. We've, we had a real pinch point a couple years ago where we weren't communicating at a stage in a project, and I'm like, "Hold the phone."
[00:34:23] Scott Eckart: Mm. "
[00:34:23] Jason Humrichous: We're changing everything."
[00:34:24] Scott Eckart: Mm.
[00:34:25] Jason Humrichous: And Friday became this communication, key communication day where every client got a communication too.
[00:34:31] You know, clients that were waiting. You're like, "Hey, you were really good at the sales side and communicating up here," because you want the job, but then when you get back here, like, "We don't hear from you.
[00:34:37] Scott Eckart: We don't know what's going on." Overpromise and underlo- underdeliver. So. It's a danger. Yeah.
[00:34:41] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, so and then the R is relationships matter- Mm
[00:34:45] because they truly do.
[00:34:45] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:34:47] Jason Humrichous: The I is integrity in business. just giving a short example of that, recently I Have to eat crow on this and stay humble.
[00:34:55] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:34:55] Jason Humrichous: I recently s- put the wrong address on a job. Our [00:35:00] guys went to that address and power washed it. Lady walks out and says, "What, what's happening?"
[00:35:05] Scott Eckart: What are you doing?
[00:35:06] Jason Humrichous: And paint starts flying off of this job. Like it needed to be painted bad. And - Except she didn't, she didn't ask for it or pay for it, yeah ... and it was a nice house. She didn't ask for it, and she had just gotten done putting mulch in her house, all of her sweat equity. and it, and she's like, "Now you have paint chips all over my mul..."
[00:35:24] She was not happy. And I'm like, "What am I gonna do?"
[00:35:27] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:35:28] Jason Humrichous: We gifted her her entire house to be painted.
[00:35:31] Scott Eckart: Hmm. I
[00:35:31] Jason Humrichous: mean, I didn't know what else to do. Yeah. Like, what, what are you gonna pacify here? Yeah. Right. They're like, "We're gonna spot paint this?" Yeah. It's gon- You know, so, we've made mistakes. We're human, but integrity in business.
[00:35:41] Scott Eckart: Now you probably have a customer for life though out of that one.
[00:35:44] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think so.
[00:35:46] Scott Eckart: the T is team and teachable. And recently, and I can... If we have time, I'll talk about transparency, that, that's kind of all in that, along with the A is then accountability and attitude, right?
[00:35:59] Jason Humrichous: Attitude [00:36:00] impacts how teachable you're willing to be.
[00:36:01] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:36:02] Jason Humrichous: And then the G is grow. I just wanna have a leaning forward mentality, like let's just keep going. And if I can't help you grow, if you're at our company, I've said this numerous times to people, if you're at our company and you can't grow, y- I want you to go somewhere else.
[00:36:16] Right ... so you can grow. Right. If I can't help you grow- Yeah ... you need to go somewhere else. Right. Yeah. And I'm not gonna be... I'm, it might hurt at first, but I want that for you.
[00:36:24] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:36:25] Jason Humrichous: the E is... The last E is str- I struggle with. I'm like, "Okay, what... I got this, you know, acronym going, acrostic, whatever.
[00:36:31] And what, what's the last E?" And then I begin it, and then it came to me. EQ, emotional intelligence. And I'm like, "Nah, that's cheesy." But then I'm like, "No, that's it." That matters so much. Mm-hmm. In all of home services, you've got to have high emotional intelligence to understand what is this person really feeling- Right
[00:36:52] saying- Right ... thinking. What do they want?
[00:36:53] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:36:54] Jason Humrichous: And so that's a value.
[00:36:56] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:56] Jason Humrichous: And, uh, so those are our core values-
[00:36:58] Scott Eckart: Yeah,
[00:36:58] Jason Humrichous: yeah ... and why we do what we [00:37:00] do today.
[00:37:00] Scott Eckart: So if I stopped... So tough question, if I stopped anybody in your org-
[00:37:04] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm ...
[00:37:04] Scott Eckart: and I said, "Here's $100." Rip off Heritage? Yeah. Yeah. Would they be able to do it?
[00:37:10] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. I love that question, and I'm challenged by that question. Okay. So I have actually a ... To answer the question, not everybody would be- Okay ... to be honest. but to tell you what we do is I put a Google Doc together. Yeah. And I have a quiz. Yeah.
[00:37:24] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:37:25] Jason Humrichous: And I just lay it out on tickets. At, at our meetings- Yeah
[00:37:27] I lay it out as a quiz. Yeah. And go, "Just fill it out."
[00:37:29] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:37:30] Jason Humrichous: And then, one of the things, so in 2024 we did a brand refresh,
[00:37:34] in all of that rebranding, we have been doing some work in our office, and so I've always wanted to have it on the walls. but we just haven't done that yet. But I do do the quiz and the test. Yeah. '
[00:37:44] Scott Eckart: Have you read the book, Unreasonable Hospitality?
[00:37:46] Jason Humrichous: I've heard of it. I've not read it.
[00:37:47] Scott Eckart: Okay. Put it on your list, or listen to it- Yeah ... 'cause I know you're- Yeah
[00:37:50] on Audible. the cool kids in school are the ones that don't excel.
[00:37:55] Jason Humrichous: Mm. '
[00:37:55] Scott Eckart: Cause it's not cool to do that.
[00:37:56] Jason Humrichous: Right.
[00:37:56] Scott Eckart: Right? So we're, uh, we're the- Yeah ... we're the cool ones. Make it cool to [00:38:00] excel.
[00:38:00] Yeah. That's kind of their point, right? Yep. And as an organization then-
[00:38:05] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm ...
[00:38:05] Scott Eckart: it's cool to excel.
[00:38:06] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:38:06] Scott Eckart: And that pulls people in.
[00:38:08] So now the person who gets acknowledged-
[00:38:10] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm ...
[00:38:10] Scott Eckart: isn't the teacher's pet.
[00:38:13] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:38:13] Scott Eckart: It's the one who actually embodies who you really are.
[00:38:18] Right.
[00:38:18] Right? One of the things I try to do, and, and, uh, and I, I'm coaching as I have opportunity, but I'll... as we're having meetings, I'll, I'll highlight, "Okay, this person did this, or this person did this, or this Google Review said this, and that represents this core value," right?
[00:38:33] Jason Humrichous: And so that's kind of what you're saying is just talk about it, right? Yeah. Yeah. And make it part... Sprinkle it into your conversation and into your meetings, and then, you know, that's where then people catch it. And I've had it used against me, like, "Oh, you're not a team player because you don't let, you know, let..."
[00:38:47] I'm like-
[00:38:47] Scott Eckart: Well, there's... that's a real thing. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And you're like, "Okay, well, call me out. Great." Yeah. "I'll, I'll own it." "I'm the- Right ... I'm the top dog, so okay." Yeah. Great.
[00:38:55] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:38:55] Scott Eckart: So you made a comment that I thought was, uh, you know, as we kind of round the corner here.
[00:38:59] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.[00:39:00]
[00:39:00] Scott Eckart: Dream it, build it, exit.
[00:39:01] Jason Humrichous: Oh, yeah.
[00:39:01] Scott Eckart: Tell me about that.
[00:39:02] Jason Humrichous: during that, speech with Eric-
[00:39:05] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm ...
[00:39:05] Jason Humrichous: that came to me. I'm like, "This is what I want. This is what I want to do." So 17 years now, Heritage Painting. That's not a dream it, build it, exit. And painting, I mean, it's painting, right? Yeah. And so, and I'm not gonna dream of the next maybe, software or some techy idea, even though in 2008, I think I had the idea for ClickList, Kroger ClickList.
[00:39:28] Pro- prom- promise you that.
[00:39:29] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:39:30] Jason Humrichous: I remember- Sure ... 2008 thinking this. I actually remember in '94 with my friend who went to the University of Illinois, full-ride scholarship on, uh, computer science. I said, "Eric, we should create this thing." 'Cause I'm at the church where my dad worked.
[00:39:47] Scott Eckart: Uh-huh.
[00:39:47] Jason Humrichous: This guy comes in with a delivery package, right?
[00:39:50] UPS. And we just sign on a piece of paper.
[00:39:53] Scott Eckart: Ooh.
[00:39:54] Jason Humrichous: And I'm like, like, "We should create this pad- Where people sign [00:40:00] digitally.
[00:40:00] Scott Eckart: It'll never catch on.
[00:40:01] Jason Humrichous: Eric already-
[00:40:01] Scott Eckart: No. No. That's a dumb idea. Eric- No one will ever do
[00:40:04] Jason Humrichous: that. Eric's like, "It's in process." I'm like, "Ah, of course it is." Of course
[00:40:06] Scott Eckart: it is.
[00:40:07] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. So yeah, I want to dream a lot.
[00:40:10] Th- this is where, you know, as you if you're fortunate enough to be able to be in this space, build a team-
[00:40:14] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm ...
[00:40:15] Jason Humrichous: that can kind of do the work, and then, but then when you, as an entrepreneur, be able to get to a spot where you can dream it, and then build it, and then let go of it. And that's where I think then it really wins, right?
[00:40:27] So kind of going back full circle to the, the forts. dream about what the fort looks like, and you know, put this li- limb here, and put this board here, and we're gonna climb here and do that. And then You know, let go of it. And that's kind of the space that I like to live in, uh, as a visionary. And if I'm graced enough to be able to make enough money- Yeah
[00:40:46] to pay for groceries and do that, then I'm- Very good ... I'll be have fun.
[00:40:49] Scott Eckart: Now, before we go, let's talk about The Color Coach.
[00:40:52] Jason Humrichous: Oh, yeah.
[00:40:52] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Very cool. Tell us about that.
[00:40:54] Jason Humrichous: Well, it's funny, Scott, that that's actually not... I wouldn't say it's taken a back [00:41:00] burner. But there's been two other ideas since then. Okay.
[00:41:02] And one of them's taken off. and I'll... Let me go to the one that's taking off. Sure. We're doing an elite expo. Okay. It's a home show business that I'm doing, and we've got one in h- in Kokomo that we're doing, uh, in October, and it's not anything new, but we're building that. And then we're, we're hoping to find out that we have an opportunity to have a home show in Greenwood.
[00:41:20] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's happening. The other one is a company that I'm initially or starting to call My House, and it is a... It's a company that would be in retail spaces, uh, waiting for people to walk in and giving them the opportunity to hire specific vendors for any of the home services. And so you would, in essence, be a booking company.
[00:41:45] Okay. so Color Coach and My House has the opportunity to scale and be in lots of different locations. so when people ask me all the time, they ask me all the time, "What would you do if it were your house?" And then I say to them, "Well, if it were my house- Yeah ... I would da, da, da, da, da." Yeah. [00:42:00] "Or I would use such and such a contractor."
[00:42:02] Yeah. And so there's that. That's kind of the concept of that. that hasn't taken off. And then, but Color Coach is... I mean, I love color, love talking color when clients call me, and, it's a name that's been out there, and I've had a couple meetings with different people. Mm-hmm. But I would love to create, in essence, Uber Eats for color- Got it
[00:42:19] or for color consulting- Wow ... in essence. And so very simple where it's, you know, open up territories as you have color consultants that want to be part of that, and then provide a, a color consulting, service to them. '
[00:42:31] Scott Eckart: Cause if you think about it, a house is a ginormous canvas, and if you get it wrong- Oh, yeah
[00:42:35] it's really wrong. It's
[00:42:36] Jason Humrichous: really wrong.
[00:42:37] Scott Eckart: Right? 'Cause e- everybody loves to drive by a house and say- Yeah ... "That is the ugliest thing I've ever seen." Yeah. So you didn't hire The Color Coach, clearly. Yeah.
[00:42:44] Jason Humrichous: Right.
[00:42:44] Scott Eckart: You should have.
[00:42:45] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:42:45] so there's that, and we'll see if that takes off. Okay. But it's, you know, one day at a time and focusing on what-
[00:42:50] Scott Eckart: And you're, you're still dreaming dreams.
[00:42:51] That's great, so. Yeah, that's
[00:42:52] Jason Humrichous: right.
[00:42:53] Scott Eckart: so what are you seeing in the business world as you're coaching people?
[00:42:56] Jason Humrichous: What, what really matters, or what are they looking for?
[00:42:58] Scott Eckart: Well, one of the things [00:43:00] that I've been reflecting on as we've been talking in terms of the visionary that is so valuable what you do, is to continue to keep people thinking about the future, right? Mm-hmm. And, name of the show, Future Proof.
[00:43:13] One of the things that I have been encouraging, if not a- annoying- Mm-hmm ... you know, business owners that I work with and those that I don't, is to at least take one time a year, whether it's a half a day or a full day.
[00:43:27] Jason Humrichous: Yep.
[00:43:27] Scott Eckart: Take your leaders and go away, non-negotiable, at least one day a year where you can talk about the future.
[00:43:35] And many people spend more time planning their next vacation than they do- Mm-hmm ... talking about the future. They're so embroiled in the day-to-day. And I get it. Making payroll. You know, there's a lot of things that come up and so-and-so quit or, you know, there, there's all the things, tyranny of the urgent, that keep people from doing that.
[00:43:51] Mm-hmm. So the project that we're doing right now is to have created a curriculum to say, "Okay, but we don't know what to do, Scott. How, how is that?" I'm like, "You don't have [00:44:00] to worry about it. Just book the time."
[00:44:02] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:02] Scott Eckart: Make sure all of your key people are there, whether they're by influence or title. They need to be there.
[00:44:08] Jason Humrichous: Sure.
[00:44:08] Scott Eckart: And here's what you do.
[00:44:10] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:44:10] Scott Eckart: And just commit to me that you will do this. Sure. And nothing will get in the way. And so that you know that at least once a year you will think about what comes next. Yeah. And that includes three major things, continuity.
[00:44:26] Jason Humrichous: Mm.
[00:44:27] Scott Eckart: So if something un- very untimely happens, we know- Mm-hmm
[00:44:30] what comes next. Succession.
[00:44:33] .
[00:44:33] Scott Eckart: Potentially exit. But also things like what if we're in a environment where, AI's nipping at our heels-
[00:44:41] or there's a new competitor that we didn't know about last year. Mm. You know, we may lose our, you know, best people, you know, those kinds of things. Mm-hmm. So I've got the curriculum all set, ready to go.
[00:44:51] All you need to do is promise me that you will go away.
[00:44:54] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:54] Scott Eckart: And you don't have to have me to facilitate, I'm here to do it, but it's in s- it's, it is [00:45:00] designed so that you guys can do it yourself.
[00:45:02] But all you need to do is promise me that you will set in stone that you will do this and nothing will interrupt it.
[00:45:11] Everybody else, do your vacations, do all your things- Mm-hmm ... but this is our day to go away- Yeah ... and it has to happen.
[00:45:17] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. Love
[00:45:17] Scott Eckart: that. Because if it doesn't, it's not gonna.
[00:45:19] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, no, 100% agree with that. Yeah. And, uh I love that. What, do you recommend that as a, as an individual as well as in a company?
[00:45:28] Scott Eckart: It can, but the main facilitator- Yeah
[00:45:30] needs to be prepared and ready to go-
[00:45:32] Jason Humrichous: Yeah ...
[00:45:32] Scott Eckart: to have that. The day has to be great. It can't lag. You can't be like, "Okay, everybody's here, now what do we want to talk about?" It has to be ready to go. Mm-hmm. There's probably some read-ahead stuff- Mm ... like Unreasonable Hospitality- Mm-hmm ... Radical Candor. There's some other great books.
[00:45:48] You know, either, you know, even chapters of that will get people primed and ready. Mm-hmm. Get them excited. Don't do it at the office.
[00:45:54] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:45:54] Scott Eckart: Do it somewhere fun.
[00:45:55] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, yeah.
[00:45:55] Scott Eckart: Right? Where- Yeah ... people can let down and breathe. [00:46:00] Um, the first time is a little uncomfortable, 'cause you're like, "Am I in trouble? What's gonna happen?"
[00:46:03] Right. "Am I gonna lose my job?" But then after that, it becomes part of your culture.
[00:46:07] Jason Humrichous: Do you call it a retreat? Do
[00:46:08] Scott Eckart: you call it- No, I call it an advance.
[00:46:09] Jason Humrichous: An advance.
[00:46:10] Scott Eckart: This is an annual advance. Retreat is about going away.
[00:46:13] Jason Humrichous: Sure.
[00:46:13] Scott Eckart: But this is an advance.
[00:46:15] Jason Humrichous: Yeah.
[00:46:15] Scott Eckart: It's about how to future-proof-
[00:46:16] Jason Humrichous: Yeah ...
[00:46:16] Scott Eckart: your business.
[00:46:17] Jason Humrichous: Love that.
[00:46:18] Yeah. I think that for us, Heritage, as a visionary, I've only done snippets of that.
[00:46:23] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:46:24] Jason Humrichous: Uh, and t- and then in the last three years have done much more of that, and had, and been forced to have those conversations, not begrudgingly, just- Right ... oh.
[00:46:33] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:46:34] Jason Humrichous: Yeah, I need to think about that.
[00:46:35] Scott Eckart: Yeah, yeah.
[00:46:36] Jason Humrichous: And so...
[00:46:36] Scott Eckart: And the value of having a facilitator, whether it's me or someone else, is that you don't have to be the crazy guy.
[00:46:41] Jason Humrichous: Mm-hmm.
[00:46:42] Scott Eckart: You just get to participate.
[00:46:43] Jason Humrichous: Love it.
[00:46:43] Scott Eckart: Right? Yeah. And you can, throw me under the bus or somebody else- Sure ... but not you. Yeah. Or, right, you get to be just a, a participant. It's kind of- Which is nice, right?
[00:46:51] Yeah, yeah,
[00:46:51] Jason Humrichous: yeah. Having that third party, yeah, we, yeah.
[00:46:54] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:46:54] Jason Humrichous: I love
[00:46:54] Scott Eckart: that. Yeah. So great.
[00:47:03] So as we finish up- Yeah ... any thoughts you have for entrepreneurs who are listening in all these different, businesses, environments. What are, what are a couple parting thoughts that you have for folks who are looking to the future?
[00:47:09] Yeah, we don't know what the next breath has for us, right? Right. And, um, I start my morning, praying- Mm-hmm ... and listening to the Lord. Mm-hmm. I, I really wanna have before my feet hit the ground every morning just, this, a simple prayer that says, "Lord, this day is yours."
[00:47:24] Jason Humrichous: Mm. "Help me to serve you with it." Okay. Uh, then I, before I leave the house, About a year ago I started just saying, "I need to commit to praying with my wife."
[00:47:32] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:47:33] Jason Humrichous: so I do that. and, uh, as I'm... This morning, even this morning as I'm pulling away, I'm like, "Lord, you know that if I'm gonna pull back into this driveway again tonight," right?
[00:47:41] Yeah, sure. Yeah. Just recently we had, a death in our company, and-
[00:47:44] Scott Eckart: Hm.
[00:47:44] Jason Humrichous: I'm sorry ... it's hard.
[00:47:45] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:47:46] Jason Humrichous: It's very hard. And, we just don't know.
[00:47:49] so I would say get after it, right?
[00:47:50] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:47:51] Jason Humrichous: Go get it.
[00:47:52] Scott Eckart: And be grateful.
[00:47:52] Jason Humrichous: And be grateful.
[00:47:53] Scott Eckart: No matter your worldview, right?
[00:47:55] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. And just, um, go at it and work at it and, uh, put your pants on [00:48:00] everyday and, you know, turn it to the Lord if- Yeah ... if that's where you're at. Yeah. Just walk in humility and- Yeah, yeah ... keep learning everyday.
[00:48:05] Scott Eckart: Very good. Well, this has been really enjoyable, and I appreciate you.
[00:48:09] Thanks. I appreciate the work you're doing.
[00:48:11] Jason Humrichous: Thank you.
[00:48:11] Scott Eckart: And, um, the mark literally that you're making, you know, on houses- Yeah ... all across central Indiana. Yeah. Thank you. And it's been a privilege to spend time with you, and look forward to having you back on the show when you get some of your other new great things going.
[00:48:24] Jason Humrichous: Yeah. Thanks, Tim.
[00:48:25] Scott Eckart: During the episode today, there were three things that really came to mind. Number one, as a leader, know your unique ability and where you can best add value. But remember, the hardest thing to do is to fire yourself
[00:48:39] Number two, get clear on your core values and let them drive every decision that you make as a company
[00:48:47] Number three, practice gratefulness and seize the day.
[00:48:51] Head to the show notes of this episode to find links to connect with Jason and Heritage Painting. And remember, the future is bright. We'll see you next [00:49:00] time Thank you for listening today. If you like what you've heard, please join us in the Velocity Network and sign up@www.velocoaches.com, which is a gathering of entrepreneurs, business owners, and people who desire to learn more about running and owning a business.