Steve Grohn of AJ Alberts: A Winding Career and a Culture of Care

Before AJ Alberts, Steve Grohn went from dairy-farm roots to UPS, Gateway Computers, and a string of dot-coms. In our first episode he shares the winding path to owning one of Woodbury's most trusted plumbing companies, the culture of care he built, and why he is obsessed with getting one percent better.

Show Notes

For the very first episode of East Side Enterprise, I sit down with Steve Grohn, owner of AJ Alberts Plumbing and Water Conditioning in Woodbury, for a wide-ranging, honest conversation that turned out to be far more about the man than the pipes.

Steve's path was anything but straight. He grew up with dairy-farm roots and a father whose relentless work ethic, a D-minus high school student who later graduated college with a 4.0 in three years, shaped how Steve approaches everything. From there it was a winding career: managing at UPS, selling at Gateway Computers, a run through the dot-com era, sales and marketing leadership at a heating and air company, a decade at a plumbing outfit, and a stint in commercial mechanical. Eventually he bought his way into ownership, first a waterproofing and radon company, then AJ Alberts, after Jim Alberts called him out of the blue.

We talk about the culture he protects at AJ Alberts (why he cuts anyone who is not a fit, and why repeat and referral business is the only path he trusts), his very natural take on consultative, educational selling, and the problem-solving obsession that really drives him. He riffs on Simon Sinek's "start with why," the British cycling team's one-percent marginal-gains philosophy, and hunting the small efficiencies that compound like a treasure hunt.

It gets personal, too. Steve reflects on recently losing his mother, on watching a friend face ALS with grace, and on the advice he would give any new business owner: there is no substitute for hard work, but you have to be working on the right things, and you have to surround yourself with people who add energy rather than drain it. We close on an unexpected note, a recent hot air balloon ride with a local pilot, and the surprisingly charming reason every balloonist still carries champagne.

In this episode:

• Dairy farms, UPS, Gateway, and the dot-coms: the winding road to owning AJ Alberts
• Buying the business, and the culture of care Steve refuses to compromise
• Selling by educating, not pushing (the restaurant-server approach)
• Getting one percent better: Simon Sinek, marginal gains, and problem-solving as a treasure hunt
• Grief, perspective, and the best advice for a new entrepreneur
• Water quality in Woodbury, free water testing, and PFAS

Learn more or get free water testing at ajalberts.com.

East Side Enterprise is hosted by Sam McKinney and produced locally by McKinney Creative Ventures. Know a business owner whose story should be told? Reach out and tell me who I should talk to next.

What is East Side Enterprise?

The people and stories behind the East Metro and St. Croix Valley business community.