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Typically the art of mentoring can take several months, but Speed Mentorship optimizes the time needed to get useful and actionable items from today’s top leaders to make you tomorrow’s top leader.
SMP - Episode 13 - Andrew Liu
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[00:00:00] Matt McAlear: Hello and welcome to another episode of Speed Mentorship. My name is Matt McAleer, your host.
Well, here on Speed Mentorship, we get an opportunity to chat with top notch leaders who are world class at what they do. We ask them tough and challenging questions to peer into what makes them uniquely better.
What makes them truly successful in what they do. Really excited for today's guest, Andrew Liu. Andrew comes from the industry that I'm in, the garage door industry. Andrew has been in this industry for a long time. One of my last questions is actually asking him where the garage door industry is going.
Um, but Andrew comes with a years of experience, not just within the industry, but in a leadership role and has some really unique insights into how he continues to stay at a high performance, um, throughout the day. And he talks a little bit about biohacking. So [00:01:00] really excited for today's episode. So without further ado, let's go ahead and dive in. Andrew. Thanks for joining us on today's podcast episode super stoked to dive in and Um, just learn a little bit more about you and your company and, um, and what you do.
So, you know, first question I have for you is if you could just give us a, um, maybe a one, two minute, uh, intro about your, yourself and your background.
[00:01:25] Andrew Lui: Sure. Uh, so first of all, thank you for having me. I'm, uh, I'm stoked to be here. Uh, so Guardian is, uh, is our family business. Uh, we manufacture access products, uh, mainly for the garage door industry.
Um, garage door components, garage door operators, um, we have manufacturing facilities in, in Shanghai, uh, in Shenzhen. Um, we have an R&D center in Mexico, uh, two new plants, uh, coming online here in Malaysia. And, uh, [00:02:00] Guardian USA is actually our, our sales, uh, and distribution, uh, side of the business, arm of the business.
Um, originally from Taiwan, uh, born, born there, uh, moved to Vancouver when I was about four years old. And, uh, spent most of my childhood there, um, and then Taipei for high school, um, and then went to, uh, University of Wisconsin for college. And uh, that's where I met my wife. Um, and then shortly after that, I, I joined the family business and, um, you know, I was working as our international sales manager for about four years.
Uh, out of our Shanghai office and, you know, I kind of had enough of China. So, uh, I wrote a business plan, uh, got a loan from my dad and, uh, decided to, to move to the States. Um, I mean, I did, um, you know, survey the market, uh, did. A couple [00:03:00] trips, one down the East Coast, another one through the Midwest, and then through the West Coast, just to, you know, gather some market intel and see where we can, uh, where a suitable place to set down roots.
But, uh, end of the day, man, I just wanted to live in L. A., so I decided, I decided on L. A., um, it won out. And that's where, that's where Guardian USA was, uh, was established. And that was in 20, 2012. Um, and so most recently, I mean, um, I got, got married in LA. Both of our kids were born in LA. Um, and then 2021, uh, we're actually, we went back to, went back to Taiwan.
My, my parents are there, um, just go visit them. It was going to be, you know, quite two, three week trip. And then that's when, you know, COVID really started hitting and, you know, LA started shutting down and there was restrictions, all this. [00:04:00] And so we decided to stay a bit longer. And, you know, during that time, uh, we started looking at, Hey, you know, we want the kids to be, to have some exposure to Asia.
And, you know, we started looking at Singapore. Um, there's a lot of tension between China and Taiwan. And, you know, we thought, Hey, Singapore might be a good base. So. You know, shortly after Singapore lifted restrictions, we, we moved the family here and I've been here since September of last year, um, came here to set up our family office and really put down some roots here, here in Singapore.
[00:04:36] Matt McAlear: That's cool. What's your favorite, what's your favorite, uh, parts about living in Singapore?
[00:04:42] Andrew Lui: Dude, it's, uh, the access to other Southeast Asian countries. So, I mean, we are 45 minutes drive to Malaysia, uh, actually to, to, to the factories that we have, uh, currently being built. Um, that's really close hour and a half flight to [00:05:00] Thailand, um, to Indonesia is about an hour and a half.
Um, we just came back from the Maldives. That's about a three and a half hour flight, but you know, it's. Can, can really see a lot, do a lot. And, and, you know, geographically it's, uh, close to Australia, New Zealand, as well as about six, seven hours, um, down to Australia.
[00:05:22] Matt McAlear: That's cool, man. What, what, um, made you ultimately decide to go into the family business?
What was the, some of the main driving forces there?
[00:05:30] Andrew Lui: Dude, honestly, like my dad, since I was the, as, um. You know, as early as I can remember, you know, he's always talking shop with me, you know, so I always knew I was going to be joining the family business. It's not just, you know, the relationship I have with, uh, with my dad, but it's just, you know, it was, I was kind of born into it.
So. You know, when I was in high school, my, my dad sent me to, to the factories of our [00:06:00] customers. And I, that's where I spent my summers, man, like working on the floor and just touring and, you know, seeing how everybody's operation worked. And, um, you know, it's, it's, it's just.
[00:06:13] Matt McAlear: That's so cool. So cool. So, um, with Guardian, what, what would you say are some of the unique value propositions or things that make Guardian uniquely better in the space that it's in?
[00:06:25] Andrew Lui: Yeah. So, um, number one, we're, we're family run business, right? It's just, it's just me, me and my dad. Um, so there, there isn't much bureaucracy. And really, our focus is creating value for our customers. And, you know, if we can't create value for our customers, then we we cease to exist. Right? So we tailor our services.
I mean, just not just on the product side. Um, but also the way that, uh, the product is delivered, it ultimately gets to our customers. Um, you know, different customers [00:07:00] have different needs depending on where they are in the supply chain. So we work closely with them on, you know, removing the, the logistical head, head, uh, headache and also the supply chain headache, uh, from, from the equation.
And, you know, if customers come to us with a unique design, um, we do all of the tooling in, in house. Uh, we have engineers in Mexico and Shanghai in Taiwan. Um, and, you know, a lot of these engineers have 20 years of experience within, within our industry. So, you know, we, we advise our customers on. You know, designs what we've seen, um, and then from the tooling stage to production to to delivery of the product.
I mean, it's it's it's all done in house. Yeah.
[00:07:49] Matt McAlear: And just to clarify, what is your exact role in Guardian right now? What are the things you're responsible for? What's your title?
[00:07:58] Andrew Lui: Title, I am, [00:08:00] I guess the, the CEO or managing director of Guardian USA. Um, I am, uh, I guess the managing director of Guardian Shanghai, uh, of Guardian Malaysia, um, Beam Labs is our retail brand that we, we sell, uh, through retail, so Home Depot, uh, Menards on Amazon, um.
Also the managing director there. And, um, yeah, so it's, we're a lot of hats,
[00:08:30] Matt McAlear: just a few things you're responsible for.
[00:08:32] Andrew Lui: Just a few, just a few. Yeah. I like to keep myself busy now, but really, honestly, we have a, we have a fantastic team in place and, you know, it's, it's really allowed me to, to, uh, to do a lot more.
[00:08:46] Matt McAlear: That's so cool, man. Um, so what would you say are some of the top challenges that Guardian is facing right now? And how are you guys looking to overcome some of those challenges?
[00:08:58] Andrew Lui: Yeah, that's, uh, [00:09:00] that's, that's a great question. I think, I mean, starting from, from COVID, right? It's, uh, really, it's wreaking havoc on the supply chain, not just the supply chain, um, you know, and, and able to get, get our hands on, on material, but also labor shortages and soaring material costs, soaring freight costs and being able, you know, our plant in Shanghai was Was it was on lockdown for almost two months and, you know, we we've had to work with, um, the local government, um, getting an exception.
So we can operate at, you know, 50, 60% capacity as long as I mean, we're, we're fortunate. We have a dormitory on site. So as long as we remained a closed loop, uh, we were still able to produce. So, you know, we, uh, we didn't have too many customers pissed off at us. We were still able to ship product and. And move material, but, you know, it's it's a lot of [00:10:00] communicating with our customers and helping them understand, hey, you know, the fluctuation that costs and, you know, delays and shipments.
It's a lot of it is out of our control, but I mean, we literally had to had to move mountains to make sure that our customers didn't didn't run out of product. Right? So, you know, instead of shipping a 40 foot container via via ocean. I mean, we, we've had to air freight 40 foot containers worth of product that's cheap.
So, you know, yeah. uh, and that was done a few times, right? Not, it wasn't just once. So really at the end of the day, you know, our customers have been, have been loyal to us. They've, they've had our backs. So, you know, it's the right thing to do to, um, to have their back when, when, you know, shit hits the fan.
[00:10:47] Matt McAlear: No doubt. So what is that, uh, for somebody in, uh, your position in your role, what does a typical day look like for you? What, you know, what's the stuff that you're personally doing?
[00:10:57] Andrew Lui: Yeah. So operation wise, I've [00:11:00] really totally removed myself from, from operations. Um, uh, it's the, my direct reports. I check in with.
Um, you know, the stakeholders and internal stakeholders, um, and then on the business development side, I still check in with, you know, the, the key decision makers, uh, I'm talking about within our industry, right? It's maintaining that relationship, checking in and seeing if there's new opportunities that, uh, you know, we can potentially work on and, uh, you know, that's, that's the best way to get a pulse on.
Pulse on our industry. So that's that's about 20% of the time is is doing that. Uh, this is on on the guardian side and another 20% is probably looking at, you know, the broad, uh, macro economy, um, looking at trends, uh, because I'm, I, am an econ major. Um, and with our family office, I'm really responsible.
I'm the steward for our, [00:12:00] uh, for our family's wealth. And so 20% of the time is, you know, looking at our existing investments, uh, any new opportunities that, that support the current You know, trend, uh, and macro view, um, you know, we get a lot of decks, uh, that comes across, across my desk and being in Singapore, you know, there's always somebody trying to pitch you something.
Um, so that's really, I count that part of the networking as well. So that's about another 20% of my time. And, um. You know, I, I, I don't like to work too hard. Um, you know, I'm pretty selfish. Uh, I spend a lot of time, uh, with, with personal development and, you know, be it, um, you know, on my body, on my mind. Uh, it's, it's really self improvement.
Um, I'm actually pretty into, to biohacking. Um, so, you know, depending on what I'm reading and, you know, any inspiration I get, I, I [00:13:00] I'm very, uh, uh, very experimental in, in, in, uh, with, with biohacking.
[00:13:06] Matt McAlear: So what, what's a few interesting cool biohacks that you've learned recently that you've been applying?
[00:13:12] Andrew Lui: Absolutely, man. So, a couple of easy things, right? Okay. So, uh, I've been doing intermittent fasting for about two, three years now. And this is, you know, I, I fast for 16 hours and eight. And during the eight hour period where I'm not fasting, I pretty much eat whatever I want. Uh, that's really become a way of life now because we have two young kids.
So, you know, we have dinner at 5:30 and that's my last meal. Um, and I don't start eating again until about 11, 11:30 the next day. Um, that that's been very easy to do. It's just been a habit now. And that's really leveled out my, my energy throughout the day. I've noticed that it's, you know, very beneficial.
You can feel it, uh, first week, you know, your [00:14:00] brain gets a little muddled, but then after that, it's, you know, the mental clarity is, is, is amazing. Another really good one is. the order in which you eat things, right? So the energy spikes that you have throughout the day, that fluctuates with what the amount of glucose that you have in your body, right?
You have a glucose spike, then you're going to crash if that curve flattens out. So actually, Changing the order in which you eat things, it has a huge impact. So, start with fiber, start with veggies first, and then move to protein and, and fats, and then carbs after that. And you can eat the same amount, the same things, uh, but if you switch up the order, it helps flatten that, that glucose curve.
So sustained energy.
[00:14:46] Matt McAlear: Is that in one particular meal or is that like
[00:14:49] Andrew Lui: just the way of eating just I mean lunch, dinner, like if you're gonna be having a big pool of pasta, you know, have some broccoli before that, you know, or have a salad before you eat that and that's really [00:15:00] easy. I mean, it's just changing the order.
Um, or if you don't have, you know, fiber in front of you, um, take a little shot of vinegar that also flattens out that that glucose spike. So, you know, yeah, yeah. So that's Wow.
[00:15:16] Matt McAlear: Is there any other biohacks that you can, that you could think of that you've implemented recently that have been
[00:15:21] Andrew Lui: cold showers. Cold showers.
Cold showers. That, that's, um, also, uh, you, I don't really feel the benefits, but after a cold shower, you feel good. But the, the principle is the same, right? With, uh, cold showers and also fasting. It's basically you're stimulating your mitochondria so it can regenerate, uh, Uh, it's, it's, you have these things called telomeres, um, and the, the, as your telomeres age is shortened.
So this kind of slows down aging. It stimulates your mitochondria to kind of tell your cells to, to, it kind of kickstarts it again. Um, I'm not going to [00:16:00] talk about the science because I'm going to botch it, but that's kind of the, the concept behind it, um, keeps you young.
[00:16:05] Matt McAlear: I've heard of cold showers before.
How, um, how cold does it have to be to get those benefits? So I, I've tried to do some of this and I, I turn it on and I'm like, I'm like, am I killing myself or can I like, what's the threshold? What's the ratio?
[00:16:20] Andrew Lui: I don't know what the threshold is. And dude, you're, you're in Ohio, I'm in Singapore, right? So like the ambient temperature outside is like 80 degrees, right?
So it doesn't, even when I have my water on cold. It's not that cold. It's maybe like 60, 70 degrees, right? Whereas in Ohio, if it's winter, you turn on the cold shower, it's, it's pretty darn cold. So yeah, I don't think there's, I don't know if there's an exact number, but it's really just to shock your body.
And I think that's, that's, that's good enough.
[00:16:52] Matt McAlear: That's cool. I love that. I love the biohacking. I try and do a lot of stuff like that myself. I think those are kind of [00:17:00] biohacking life hacks. Um, in general, I think that's, um, so, um, and this kind of ties into the next question, which is, uh, successful habits that, that you do, you know, what are, what are some of the, uh, successful habits that you do on a routine basis that, um, that are kind of, you know, ingrained in who you are and help you to be successful?
[00:17:24] Andrew Lui: Yeah, so, um, I mean, so a lot of people, I know they, they wake up super early. They set their alarm clock at, you know, 5 AM, 4 AM, whatever it is, get a real early start. I actually don't do that. I don't set an alarm unless I have. You know something important or a commitment that I have to get to, but generally I don't set an alarm.
Um, but I naturally wake up pretty early, probably seven o'clock and the first hour I'm up, I block everything else. So no devices, no phones. Um, I get about 30 minutes of exercise in, 30 60 minutes of exercise in, [00:18:00] and then I sit down and have breakfast with, uh, with my kids before they go to school. That's that's really non negotiable and getting that workout in first thing in the morning really gets my day going, right?
It sets the tone. I don't have to worry about it. It's not in the back of my mind that, you know, I have to get my workout in. You just get up, get it done. Um, and really having doing little things, you know, biohacking the stuff that we just mentioned, um, yeah. Really having my body and my mind, uh, be operating optimally that that's very important.
And especially, you know, cause I do travel quite a bit, um, to the US to, you know, uh, around Asia as well. Um, so. If my body is operating optimally and I have this, this routine, it doesn't matter what time zone I'm in. Uh, it's the first thing I do, right. It's get a workout and kind of reset, uh, come out of my fast and then, then start my day, it's not, you know, waking up and looking at [00:19:00] emails and, you know, then your mind gets cluttered with, with all these.
These, uh, these things that distract you. Um, so after generally, after I have, uh, I have coffee with my kids. I mean, my kids are eating breakfast. I'm having coffee, but after they go to school, I'll sit down and I'll take a look at, you know, the three to five things that I want to accomplish that day. And this is done.
I mean, I, I write these things out, kind of plan out my day to night before I go to sleep. Um, so number one, that helps me. Um, that helps me sleep, right? So I'm not laying in bed thinking, Oh, did I forget this? Did I forget that I put everything down on paper? Uh, actually, I keep a journal. So I keep keeping my journal.
So next morning, I'll take a look at it. Um, and these are the 3 to 5 most important things, most impactful things I can do, uh, that day that I want to accomplish. And yeah, that's, that's really it. There's. Nothing else.
[00:19:58] Matt McAlear: How, how, how many hours of [00:20:00] sleep do you get? Um, a day on average?
[00:20:03] Andrew Lui: Uh, I would say about seven, seven hours. Six, six to seven hours.
[00:20:10] Matt McAlear: Okay. And then how many meetings a day do you have on average? Roughly?
[00:20:15] Andrew Lui: Uh, boy, I, I would say a busy day. I have, I'm, I'm, I'm on the phone or, you know, in, in person, probably combined four, four to five hours. But I really, I mean, what's worked for me is kind of blocking off time. Right.
So I never have a meeting where there's an indefinite finish. Um, and I, I'm kind of, I recognize that I'm in, you know, a very fortunate position where I can say, okay, you have 30 minutes, let's, let's, let's get it done. Right. Uh, because I, I, I've noticed if you don't set. Kind of a time limit on the meeting.
There's a lot of BS going, going back and forth. So [00:21:00] that's, that's been effective, but obviously, you know, with a customer, with a prospect, um, you, you can't, uh, structure it like that. You're done. Yeah. Shut up now.
So you got any more? I got to go, man. Yeah.
So, but yeah, I mean, all internal stuff, we try to keep it short and, you know, to the point.
[00:21:21] Matt McAlear: Awesome. Yeah. Uh, what, you know, kind of, you know, continuing to move along. What, what do you think, um, drives you to be successful? You know, what, what's, do you have like an innate drive and, and what is that? I mean, what, what do you think?
[00:21:36] Andrew Lui: Yeah, so I'm, I'm just very competitive, uh, by nature. I think I, starting when I was really young, I, I played sports competitively.
Um, I was on the high school volleyball team and the basketball team and I just, There's a strong desire to win, right? I hated the I still hate the feeling of losing. And so I think that drive and not just winning, [00:22:00] but to leave it on the court that still carries over to, you know, on a professional base, right?
And now that, you know, I have two kids, I want to set a good example for, for, for, for my kids. And it's, uh, I want them to see it. It takes, it takes a lot to, to be successful. And it's, you know, it's, it's a full time. You just can't turn it off, right? It's, uh, it's either you got it or you don't. Uh, it's either you want it or you don't.
And there's, there's, you know, there's no, there's no gray area. Um, and. Yeah. You know, more, I guess, a more aspirational perspective is I want to be a productive, good, productive citizen and contribute and making a positive impact to our world. And, you know, the more resources you have, the bigger the influence and the larger the lever you have in making an [00:23:00] impact.
So, you know, I, I strongly believe that, um, and. You know, that kind of that's what gets me out of bed and in the morning. And to be honest, I mean, I'm the most excited about Monday mornings, man, because that's when everybody gets back to work. And yeah, you know, the weekend is kind of when I catch up and plan out my week.
But come Monday morning, I'm ready to rock and roll.
[00:23:24] Matt McAlear: I love it. I'm the exact same way, man. It's yeah, it's. That's so solid. And, and also, you know, you know, you know, as we look at like life principles, what, what about that? You know, what do you, are there certain life principles that you live by, um, that you kind of keep at the center?
[00:23:43] Andrew Lui: Yeah, I think honesty and, and integrity, those are to just, you, you must have any, anybody I associate with or deal with, work with, uh, That's the most basic. And I also really value freedom, right? And I'm talking about all kinds of [00:24:00] freedom. It's freedom to do what I want, freedom to do things I don't want to do, um, freedom from my emotions and, you know, things that might disturb my peace.
Um, for me, freedom is, is, is really. That that's that's everything and it's being able to say no to something you don't want to do not being bothered by, you know, when when somebody says something to you, to me, that's that's freedom and, you know, other principles, like principles, I would say. You know, it's more, they're more mental models.
Um, and it's things that kind of dictate how you view judge and make decisions on on a daily basis. Right? And, um, for me, I have very strong opinions, uh, that are weekly help. So I will feel very strongly about something, but an open mind if, hey, you make a better point, or you bring something up that [00:25:00] that disputes that, uh, or that kind of.
That kind of a challenge is that then I'll pivot and, and, um, you know, change, change my perspective. So that's, I think it's important to have that, that versatility and, you know, as an entrepreneur, as the, as somebody overseeing, uh, you know, multiple businesses and from a leadership standpoint, it's important to, to be able to pivot and, you know, admit you're wrong or, or, or adopt a different perspective.
[00:25:34] Matt McAlear: What is your viewpoint on criticism? And what kind of tips do you have for not just, um, receiving criticism, but also giving criticism? Obviously, that's a really important aspect of leadership. Really important aspect of life. If you're not able to take constructive criticism, you're only going to go so far.
So what's you know, what are some of your thoughts there?
[00:25:56] Andrew Lui: Yeah. So I think everybody takes criticism. [00:26:00] I, I welcome criticism. I don't. My feelings don't get hurt easily, and you know, I don't take things personally. Um, I want to get better, uh, and if you can challenge me and tell me I'm wrong and show me why I'm wrong, then hey man, you're, I'll listen to you.
You have my ear. Um, and I really judge criticism through, through my own lens. And if it makes sense, then I'll take action and, and make a change. Um, So really, that's, I guess, how I take criticism, but, you know, in terms of giving criticism, and this is something I learned, you know, when I, back in, back in, back in college is, uh, what do you call it?
Like, the criticism sandwich? You start off with something positive, start off with something positive, and then you kind of give your feedback, and then you end with something sweet. So, you know, it's all in the presentation, right? And how that information is presented, because it being in our position, [00:27:00] it's.
The point is getting your getting your point across effectively and creating a change right for the better. So you can criticize all you want. But if you're talking to brick wall, it's not going to be effective. So I'm a big believer of, you know, how you deliver that and and ultimately how, you know, how it's, uh, has to be effective.
[00:27:25] Matt McAlear: Yeah, yeah, totally agree. Um, moving on. Next question is about stress and same thing in a leadership role. Any leadership role. You're going to be encountering a high levels of stress a lot higher than I think the average person. So, um. You know, I always think it's fascinating how different people handle and cope with stress.
So, how do you handle and cope with stress? What are some different triggers or mechanisms that you have in place to deal with that appropriately?
[00:27:58] Andrew Lui: Yeah, so I, you know, I, I [00:28:00] never discount, um, the stress that other people feel, right? You know, if somebody loses a job and they can't, they can't put food on the table for their family, I, I can't imagine what kind of stress that, that might be, right?
So I never. downplay or say, Hey, you know, I have more important shit to deal with. So I, I, I get to be more stressed. Uh, but for me, exercise definitely helps, uh, getting a workout in, uh, getting my heart rate up that helps. And another thing that really helps is, is kind of zooming out, uh, and, and taking, uh, a different perspective, right?
Zooming out by mean, Hey, if. Let's say we lose this customer. That's, you know, 10% of our revenue. We're going to be, you know, it's going to, it's going to cause us to have a bad year. But if I look back and kind of zoom out, hey, my kids are happy. They're healthy. My family is healthy. You know, we have all these great things.
That's that's [00:29:00] that's that we take for granted and really just practicing gratitude and and see what we have in, you know, in front of your eyes. And, you know, that that's for me personally, right? Somebody else, you know, it might be their dog, whatever it is. It might be who knows, right? But at the end of the day, if you have your health, if you have your family, you know, that's That's yeah, it's pretty, pretty darn good.
[00:29:27] Matt McAlear: Yeah. And like you, I like what you said about not downplaying other people's stress as well. I think that's uh, I think that's a great point. Um, because yeah, we all are experiencing, um, various levels.
Um, yeah. So would you say you are more of an introvert or an extrovert and whichever one you are, what kind of advice do you have for either introverts or extroverts on leadership?
[00:29:55] Andrew Lui: Oh, boy. Uh, I think I'm an introvert. [00:30:00] Um, I, I've done the, uh, 16 personalities. I can't remember exactly what.
What letters I am, but, uh, I've been told I'm an introvert. I feel like an introvert. Um, but in terms of leadership advice, I would say you just have to know yourself, right? And put yourself in an environment and situations where, where you can be at your best, you can put yourself in a position where you can thrive and, you know, not hinder be a performance, be it.
You know, you have to be operating at a high level and by knowing yourself, you can kind of voice situations where you may be at a disadvantage, or you may be operating sub optimally. Right? And that all starts with with knowing yourself. Um, I know if I'm if I'm tired or if I'm hungry, you know, generally, I.
I'm probably not the best person to hang out with or be around. Um, so it's really just, just knowing yourself. Right. [00:31:00] And, you know, I knew I was going to be on a talk with you tonight on this interview. So, you know, right before the call, I went out for a walk because I knew, you know, get that, get the blood going and get the serotonin going.
So I come back because it's, you know, generally 9 o'clock I'm winding down and getting ready for, um, Yeah, getting ready for bed. So it's really knowing yourself and, you know, the little things you can do to kind of put yourself in a, in a good position.
[00:31:28] Matt McAlear: What about mantras? Is there a specific things that you tell yourself on a daily weekly basis? Um, you know, to get yourself in the right mindset to get yourself in the right perspective. Um, do you have any of those?
[00:31:46] Andrew Lui: Um, one thing that comes to mind, um, uh, things that come up, I, I asked myself, you know, is this something I have control over?
Right. And if I don't have control over this thing, [00:32:00] uh, or if there's nothing I can do about it, then I don't stress about it because, you know, when I started Guardian in, in the Guardian USA, you know, I, every little thing would just get me stressed out and then everything was the end of the world until you realize, If you can't control it, then there's no sense stressing about it.
I mean, you just. Because there's no amount of stress or nothing you can do about it. There's, there's no sense for it to, to, to stress over it. Um, so that's really helped me a lot and also helped with my decision making. Um, and also I wouldn't say a mantra, but you know, certain mental models that come to mind, um, you know, really probabilistic thinking, right.
It's. Taking a more mathematical approach to making assumptions, um, and, you know, the basis for making these assumptions, and I try [00:33:00] to think more often in, in, uh, I, I try to base all, all decision making off of, you know, this mental model, this, this, this model, because, uh, you're looking at the expected value, right?
If you think the probability of this happening is 80% and this is the outcome, You know, plus the probability of failure and which leads to this outcome. And if you keep making EV positive decisions, I think in the longterm, you're, you're gonna, you're gonna end up, you're gonna be, you're gonna be in a good, good position.
[00:33:36] Matt McAlear: Yeah, yeah, I like that. I try and make all decisions as well by, you know, facts and data and not yeah decisions get in the way of you know and and I don't care if it's my thought or you know, I always say like me the best idea win I don't care if it's my idea or somebody else's idea, whichever one has the most logical, you know, fact driven thought process that's who's gonna [00:34:00] win
Um, last two questions I got for you is, um, you know, what kind of advice, uh, like final advice do you have for the next generation?
Maybe you think about your kids, uh, or a younger you, you know, what, what kind of advice do you, do you have for, for them?
[00:34:17] Andrew Lui: Yeah. Um. Finding your passion. I think that that's that's really important. I mean, don't go through because you think this is something you have to do, or you're being steered in this direction.
Um, dream big and fail fast, right? If you're going to do something, do it, do it with conviction. And if you fail, then figure out why you failed and pivot. Um, and I think what's also very important is understanding how money works and how the economy works. Uh, and I think that's something that our education system has not done a great job in, in preparing, you know, at least when we were going to school, there was very little [00:35:00] about, you know, how money works, how, how to manage your money, how to invest your money.
Um, I think that's. Absolutely important, especially at a very young age where, you know, the compounding effect, I mean, you have to be, uh, you have to have that at the back of your mind, right. And, and, and making all, all decisions, um, and then continue upgrading yourself, man, I mean, have a thirst for knowledge.
You want to, you want to keep, uh, upgrading and making sure you're, you're staying current with the times and, and. Continue to make yourself better. Um, and you know, if you're going to be working for the man, you have to make yourself indispensable, right? Find a way to make yourself indispensable. Um, and that's really, you know, I keep, I, that's something I hammer home with, with all of our team members is you got to make yourself indispensable because if you're not, then, you know, shit hits the fan, then you're probably going to [00:36:00] be the first to be let go, right?
It's you have to make yourself indispensable.
[00:36:05] Matt McAlear: And then, you know, I got to ask you this question as the finisher because, uh, we are in the garage door industry. You and I are going to be in the garage door industry for, you know, hopefully a long time. And I'd love to hear your vision and your thought on where you think the garage door industry is going in the next five to 10 years.
[00:36:25] Andrew Lui: Yeah, man. So I guess I'll break this down into kind of two parts. Uh, one is really that the business side of it. Um, I think, you know, I think there's going to be continued consolidation, um, in our industry, right? So from service companies to manufacturers, we've already seen a lot of that, you know, private equity activity going on, uh, on the manufacturer side, as well as, a few on the on the service side.
Um, I think our industry is ripe for consolidation. [00:37:00] And, you know, it might not be a bad thing, but I definitely see that continuing, um, you know, at least for the next 3 to 5 years. Um, and on the, on the, uh, I guess on the actual garage door side, right? I, I kind of see. You know, the garage door garage space being used more as an intermediary between the outside world and your home and less for storing your car, right?
As we get into more of a shared economy where, you know, you have your ubers and lifts and, you know, automated autonomous vehicles, you know, I don't think the garage space is going to go away. Uh, I do see, you know, maybe builders will start putting. HVAC, um, you know, your security system, you know, all this plumbing, [00:38:00] um, put that so the, I guess it can all be serviced, uh, by giving the technician access to your garage instead of.
Allowing them to enter your home, right? So this way, I mean, a lot of it, you can kind of see already. You have delivery on through Amazon, right? Through Amazon key, you know, where the delivery drivers can open your garage and drop off packages. You have Amazon, Amazon, fresh delivering groceries. I think that can probably be delivered through the garage as well.
But what about dry cleaning? What about. You know, somebody here to walk your dog or, you know, taking care of your fixing your maintain your HVAC unit or whatever. Right. But I think if homebuilders start designing homes where, um, these, these units are based in the garage rather and having that kind [00:39:00] of
segregated from the rest of the home. Um, it allows the homeowner flexibility on granting access to kind of, uh, uh, an intermediary hub, uh, rather than to, into the main home.
[00:39:16] Matt McAlear: Ah, it's brilliant. That's a, that's very interesting. Who knows,
[00:39:20] Andrew Lui: or maybe I'm a little biased because I don't want the garage door to go away. But, who knows, man.
[00:39:28] Matt McAlear: Me either, man. That's super interesting, though. I got, you know, we got this recorded, so I'll, uh, you know, we'll play this back five years from now. We'll, you know, we'll see how close we'll get.
[00:39:39] Andrew Lui: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:39:40] Matt McAlear: Well, hey, Andrew, I appreciate your time, uh, your leadership and your wisdom on today's podcast.
So thank you.
[00:39:46] Andrew Lui: Absolutely, man. I appreciate you having me. And, uh, yeah, it was, it was a pleasure.
[00:39:50] Matt McAlear: Well, hopefully you guys found value in today's episode. If you did, hit that like and subscribe button. Probably my top takeaway was his talk about [00:40:00] biohacking and just talking about little ways that you can optimize little things that you do to get a little bit better. In fact, I never really heard about, uh, eating food in different orders for your body to be able to stay at a high energy level throughout the day, to maintain a high glucose level throughout the day.
I just thought that was fascinating and something I'm definitely going to have to try. Um, if you guys found value in this, uh, would love to hear some comments on other things that we can add, other questions that we can add for future guests. And as always guys, really appreciate you being a part of our leadership network and look forward to seeing you on the next episode.