In episode 52 of The Kitchen Table, Ken Baden welcomes Daine Patton as they explore the connection between physical health and professional success, and how Daine's expertise in pest control has evolved into a business-based personal and professional development.
Tune in to learn more about this fascinating work and the connection between business and personal development.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:01:57] Physical Health and Professional Success.
[00:08:06] Pest Control Business Model.
[00:09:45] Wildlife Division Expansion.
[00:15:38] Adding Pest Control Services.
[00:19:01] Harmful Products in our Environment.
[00:22:10] Repeat Business and Warranties.
[00:26:03] Weight Loss Journey and Transformation.
[00:31:00] Becoming the Best Version.
[00:34:36] Building Sustainable Habits.
[00:39:34] Diversity in the Blue Collar Ballers Group.
In this episode, Ken Baden and Daine Patton highlight how effective communication in relationships helps to build trust and intimacy. It allows partners or family members to openly discuss their desires, concerns, and boundaries, leading to a deeper understanding and connection.
Additionally, Ken and Daine touch upon the idea of compromise as a strategy for resolving conflicts. They suggest that finding a middle ground or mutually acceptable solution can help in bridging differences and reaching a resolution that satisfies all parties involved.
QUOTES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Ken Baden
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialkenbaden/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheKenBaden
Daine Patton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dainepatton/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Daine-Patton-100008916825624/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daine-patton-0366558b/
WEBSITES:
The Kitchen Table Podcast: https://thekitchentablepodcast.net/
Blue Collar Ballers Union: https://bluecollarballersunion.com/
Bats to Rats Wildlife Control and Prevention: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daine-patton-0366558b/
Welcome to the Kitchen Table, a podcast about where business is done. So pull up a chair and join your host, Ken Baden.
All right, welcome back to the Kitchen Table podcast where business is done. I'm your host, Ken Baden, the host with the most. In all seriousness, we've got a really good episode today. I'm very excited because I've got my man, Dane Padden in the house. I said that right, right? Oh, yeah. I mean, it's not a weird name, but like, I just want to make sure you never know, they might say it differently. Dane, how you doing, brother?
Doing wonderful. Grateful to be here. Thanks, Ken.
I'm grateful that you're here because Dane has a very interesting, so Dane and I are in the same business association, probably a couple of them. Dane's got a really unique business. I didn't even notice until you came on the other day that that's what you did.
I don't know.
I just assumed it was, I figured blue collar industry somewhere, but I did not have that pegged. And I got to say, you know, this is the kitchen table, the kitchen table where business gets done. And it's a play on the whole, I teach guys to get to the kitchen table when they're in the home and doing in-home selling, but it's really evolved into a business-based personal professional development, you know, leveling up podcast. You have all of those boxes checked. I've seen you recently, by the way, looking Jack, dude, you've been on the health kick recently.
Oh yeah, last couple of years, I've really been investing into my health.
you doing, is that you doing the 75 hard thing or is that somebody else?
No, I'm not doing 75 hard. I'm, I'm, uh, I'm going to get on a bodybuilding stage later this year. So I'm doing that right now.
Yeah. Oh yeah, man. All right. Well that's above and beyond man. So I, uh, a lot of the guys that I know that are most successful, it just so happens that they are either could be or are former you know, IFBB pros, I don't know, man, there's definitely a parallel with physical health and professional success. And we can talk more about that, but I wanna talk first and foremost about what you do. So why don't you tell us before I spoil what it is, how you even got into this? You know, I'm gonna spoil it. Dane does, he does pest, I mean, how do I say it the right way? Because when I say pest control, people think like, bugs and stuff like that. You're going out and then like reading places of bats and rats and crazy stuff like that. And that's just like, to me, so cool. And next level, like, tell us the story of even get starting a business doing it. Like, how did you get into this?
Yes, for sure. Yeah. So I live in Lincoln, Nebraska, and I own bats to rats wildlife control and prevention. And, uh, been, this is nine years of owning my own business and, and, but I've been in the pest control industry for 17 years now. Um, and, and kind of out, you know, 17 years ago, how it started is. I used to, the job that I used to have as I used to manage family fund centers. So, you know, like, uh, video game, arcades, go-karts, mini golf, bowling, stuff like that, where you come have birthday parties. and laser tag and stuff like that. And I really enjoyed that. And then when I had my first kid, which I was 19 when when my son was born, I did that for a couple of years. And as he was growing up, that was a nights and weekends kind of job. And I just wasn't being able to spend any time with him and was kind of getting tired of other people's kids because I was a kid and trying to raise my own kids. So I just, I was like, what can I do? That's not construction. Cause my dad has done construction his entire life. And I, I, you know, I'd help them out once in a while. So I have a bit of a construction background, but that wasn't what I wanted to do forever. And I saw that somebody was hiring for, for pest control. And I was like, well, I like to kill bugs. When I was a kid, that sounded fun. So I applied to become a pest control technician and they hired me. They told me that because I was a manager before and they said I was probably overqualified for what they needed. And I'm like, well, I don't care. Let me just, you know, figure out what it is. And so they hired me as a termite technician. So I treated termites. If you're unfamiliar with that, there's a lot of digging trenches around the house, applying hundreds of gallons of chemicals to soil, drilling out you know, foundations and all that kind of stuff to treat for termites. And you do one or two a day, because they're pretty intensive jobs. And, and that that was it. And so I did that for a while really enjoyed it, but it got kind of monotonous. And I was, I became like a master certified termite technician, there was only a few in the state of Nebraska that had that title. And I was one of them. And Turret for whatever reason, the termite sales really started to die. Um, I don't know, probably in like 2009, 10, just here in Nebraska that they weren't selling like they, they used to be. So then I moved over to pest control and I absolutely hated pest control. Uh, you'd have to go to 15 different houses every day and you're spraying chemicals all over people's homes, and it was always the same people. You were just kind of band-aiding their problems, and it really didn't make a whole lot of sense to me as far as what I was doing and all of the exposure to chemicals and poisons and toxicants that I was coming into contact with. I didn't really love bringing that home to my family. So Part of pest control is mouse control, though, and most pest control companies, they'll set traps for mice or they'll put out sticky boards or they'll put out poison for mice. And that's great to kind of reduce the population, but you don't actually solve the problem of how the mice are getting into your home. And most pest control companies offer free services. And when somebody catches a mouse and you're not there, they call you and you've got to go do a free service to remove a mouse from a trap or something like that. And that was really frustrating because I had all these other customers that I had to get to, but then I have to keep going back to these problem customers that had mice on glue boards or whatever. So I started taking some time to myself. at these jobs and I was like well I have some some tools and I have some general construction knowledge why don't I just figure out how they're getting into people's homes and started sealing up these cracks and crevices where the mice were getting in and I had some success with my customers doing that and they didn't have mice anymore but then what happened then they called and canceled their service they didn't need my service anymore and pest control is a reoccurring base model like you pay 70 bucks every other month for somebody to come out and, you know, bandaid your problem until you need them again.
Hey, do you think that that's not by coincidence? It's almost like, you know, not to get too political, but, you know, pharmaceuticals selling not a cure, but this will help you, you know, keep you around. But as long as you take this right, like we're not going to cure you, but we're going to give you this bandaid. You think that's probably it makes sense. We're not going to fix your problem. Then you're not going to call us anymore. I mean, we'll just get some mice in here and we'll come take care of them. But, you know, you'll We will all get together and, uh, as a, as an industry and make sure like, yo, we're not going out here and solving the problem problem. Like we need people having mice. So we have a job.
Exactly, that's how all pest control is. It's like I said, it's just a bandaid on an oil leak pretty much.
So if you're listening to this, he just kind of broke the lid off. I mean, basically anybody you call is more than likely just coming out to like fix the short term and not fix the solution. So it sounds like Dane's your guy, but unfortunately he's only in one place, so. Right now. Right now, that's right. Once he scales, you can give him a call.
Yeah. So, so, you know, I, I, yeah, I, I'd, uh, I'd fix the problem, but then they call in and they cancel their service. And then my, my managers weren't very happy with me and I'm like, well, the customers are happy. They're canceling because I fixed their problem, not because I'm, I'm causing them more issues. And so I had them give me all of their like major problem customers that would, that they'd had struggled with and. I went around and I solved all their problems, made them happy, got five-star reviews from them, and kind of taught them that this was an avenue that we could probably make some money in. And once they realized that we could make some money in it, then they decided that they were going to start a wildlife division. And if I could figure out how mice got into people's homes, I could probably figure out how bats got into people's homes, because we always used to just turn those calls to somebody else. So we took on wildlife and, and I learned everything I could. And, uh, you know, I, I did this kind of work for four years for, for somebody that I just wasn't super happy that I was doing it for and decided I'd go do it for myself. Like every entrepreneur's journey, right? They don't, they're fed up with who they do it for. So they think they can do it better themselves. And I was really good at what I did. But I didn't really have a whole lot of business, uh, acumen or experience. I just knew how to do my job. And for the first couple of years, that's what it was. I just owned my own job. I was, I was able to, to market myself. People would call and I could come and solve their problems and pretty much built a business off of referrals. And then when it got to a certain point where. There was too many calls and I couldn't help as many people as I could. I had to start learning how to scale and hiring and actually building a business. And here we are today, nine years in, and I've got a team of four full-time employees that pretty much do what I did every single day now.
Wow. That's awesome, man. I mean, that's a very cool story, especially how you kind of like It seems like you almost invented a whole new, I don't know, a whole new app. So how do you experience that now? Do you feel now and find yourself now like, Hey man, where it's really hard to get these repeat clients because we're solving their problem. You know, does that something you're still dealing with?
Well, so the cool thing about what I do and no, I didn't invent this by any means, but there wasn't that many people in my local area doing this kind of stuff. So. Um, we, we definitely are, are one of, you know, the handful of first that's ever done it in this area, but there's, there's plenty of wildlife guys all over the place. Um, whether or not they're building very big businesses or anything is a different, you know, story, but, um, The good thing about what, what I do is, you know, we're not, we're not really harming anything where we're practicing exclusion work. So. If a raccoon or a squirrel chews a hole into your home, tears a hole into your house, well, we can, we can install one way kind of trap door. So when that animal leaves, it can get out, but it can't get back in. And then we can repair it and do some light duty construction to the house to make sure it's strong enough that that animal is not going to get back into the home. And same thing with bats. We use one way escape system. So when the bats leave, they, they can go out to feed. They just can't come back in. So we're not harming the animals. They're still able to live their life like they normally would. They just can't live inside your home. And guess what? Most people or most animals are just going to go find the next home that has gaps and cracks that they can get into.
That's really cool, man. And we talked the other day about sort of your scale and what you have going on. And you said you have four full time reps now, right? Yeah. So That is, and I would imagine in the next, there's just so much, I don't know, I start going, my wheels start turning right away, good and bad, because I'm guilty of, oh, this division, that division, this division, that, you know, and it's, there's no wrong answer when it comes to, excuse me, there's no, how do I want to say this? the best thing that we could always do is focusing on being the very, very best at what we first do. And then, you know, Hey, okay, maybe we take a look at this. I mean, would you say you've, you've really got dialed in your niche to like the point where, okay, I think we're, we're as good as it's going to get here. There is no other level. Now we can start to look at possibly what else can we add? Or are you still kind of like, Okay, we got four guys, you know, maybe there's another way we can do this. Maybe there's another product we can add. I don't know. You get what I'm getting at. I mean, they have the trapdoor service. Maybe there's one that prevents them from getting in at all. I mean, that's a pretty good solution, man. Let's amount doesn't let them back. So that might be it. You know?
Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, as as I've grown, own as a, as a business owner and a business leader. Those are the things that, that always come to mind as like, how can we scale? How can we grow? What can we add? What can we do? And. You know, the, the old adage, you know, Jack of all trades, master of none. I, I, I hate that. And a lot of times you find that in like home inspectors and stuff like that, they come out and look at your home and everything's wrong with the home, but they don't really know how to fix anything. They just know how to tell you what's wrong with it. Like I like to, to be a master of what I do. And when I send somebody out there, I know that that person has the utmost knowledge of how to take care of your wildlife problem. Now, at some point, well, I, I add on some bolt on companies or stuff like that, because, you know, we already have the trucks and the ladders and we can help with gutters and, you know, other kinds of, you know, light duty construction or handyman kind of stuff that, uh, that maybe homeowners are already paying somebody else to do. We probably will at some point. Will I ever add pest control? Probably not, just because it kind of could I get a lot of revenue out of adding pest control? Yeah, I probably could. But it kind of goes against kind of what my core thoughts and values are.
Why could you elaborate on that? I think I know, but I'd love to.
Well, just because of the whole model about, you know, most people that have pest control services don't actually need it. They're just sold something by somebody. A lot of pest control is sold more like fear-based. And I want to be more education-based when I try to sell what we sell. And people are scared of spiders and they're scared of roaches. And a lot of what I deal with has a certain fear connotation to it. People are afraid of bats and snakes. and things that go bump in the night that they can't explain, but when I come in and show them why this is happening and how it can be solved without using poisons or toxicants, and I mean that's what pest control is, is I'm going to put this poison barrier down here so when an insect crawls across it, it gets on its exoskeleton and it kills them. Well that's not really what I want to do. I don't want
So I bring that up because I've got a service and it was not, it was, it was a door to door guy. And I told my dad's ring and he happened to have ants and lo and behold, I had just moved into my spot and I had ants. So I'm like, Oh, okay. You guys do house calls. Cool. Yeah. We got ants. So he assures me because my wife is very, very big on like, you know, even stuff, that you use in the garden. And there's just so much that we've learned and that we're continuing to learn, but it doesn't get, you know, a ton of headlines, but like so many of these everyday things that we use are poisonous and harmful and like could cause, I believe lots of cancers and just different, I mean, diseases. And I mean, my grandmother had Parkinson's and there's some stuff about Roundup and, you know, she was always working at the garden and I don't know, you know, I'm, Maybe. So she's really big on that. She really didn't like the idea because she's like, they're going to spray freaking chemicals all over our yard. We got dogs. I don't want it. I don't want them being here. Oh, he could. And this is the gentleman now. So I bring that to him. He's like, no, no, this is all safe. And what we put down is somehow, you know, what we do is safe for dogs and safe for kids. And as long as you wait like 30 minutes, he's like, he'd have to drink like a gallon of this for it to be. And I'm like, okay, but to your point, you're just kind of saying that you're just giving me, you're not telling me why you're not saying, Hey, this is this, that's what they use.
And this is way safer because of this.
You're just kind of placating towards, you know, that I'm concerned about my dog. And you're just telling me, oh yeah, it's not really harmful to them. They could drink a gallon of this and be okay. What do you think about that? I mean, is there anything that they use that you're aware of that would be like, OK, yeah, that's fine.
But.
They're just all using poisons, no matter how they spend it, you know?
Yeah, that's that's pretty much it. I would say, well, will you drink a gallon of it right now?
Well, there you go. Yeah. Yeah.
OK. Yeah. They're probably not going to. I mean, yeah, there's a lot of products out there that say that they're safe for the environment. But at what cost are they safe for the environment? Yeah. And when you talk about like the, the whole roundup and the Monsanto, and I mean, we could get into all kinds of stuff when it comes to that kind of stuff, what they spray on our vegetables and our fruits. And it's, it's a never, never ending, uh, uh, story when it comes to that, that kind of stuff. When you were talking about big pharma and all that kind of stuff earlier, it's just the, the, the way that the world works just doesn't make sense most of the time. So. If I can help people without using harmful products in and around their house, then I will. Even mouse poison, I very rarely use. I have a rule in my company that if it does get used, it can't be used in a house that there's small pets or there's small children. The about the only time it really ever gets used is in like rural settings outside. You know, like around houses that are in cornfields or stuff like that. But even most of those houses, people have dogs, so I never put it out either.
So. You're not interested in the pest control because you know it's not. Is there a way you could come in and solve the problem or there isn't one that exists without using poisons that you're just not willing to use?
Sure, like when you're talking about like ants, well, those ants are getting into your home somehow. Well, let's figure out where they're getting in. That's not just general spray or broad spray chemical. Let's look at where the cracks in the foundation are, where the gaps underneath the siding to the foundation are. Is there a proper siding cap on the bottom of the siding, or is there do you have cracks and mortar joints and stuff like that? That's how those those critters are getting into your home. And if we can find them, then we can get them sealed up so they can't get in anymore.
Hmm. So would that be something you would consider?
I mean, yeah, I mean, that's that's exclusion. That's what we do is exclusion. Now, we mostly do it for for wild animals, but there's been plenty of times where where I've walked around the house and said, hey, you got ants going in right here and we can seal that up and it takes care of the problem for them.
So yeah, I would say even here and I'm not just knowing. It's just my mind's going a mile a minute because that's you could really now to your point, you don't get any repeat business, at least there, but you could always call me to get bats, call me to get this or or perhaps I don't know, the contract really just more revolves around coming in because the other thing is like houses settle, other spots open up, you seal the one, they find another. So it's like, hey, we'll come back, you know, on the month to month and do a checkup, make sure no new spots have popped up. But whatever, that's just my brain going.
But I always, I always tell people, you don't need me until you need me. So, and one thing, you know, when you talk about repeat business or reoccurring business, stuff like that, I mean, we're always building homes. We're always replacing roofs. You know that just as well as anybody. And when I seal up a home for bats, most of your contractors, your general exterior contractors that do roofs or siding, you're not offering anybody a warranty that bats are never going to get in. And what I find is when we replace roofs or siding or some sort of major exterior construction, there's little gaps that are left behind. Now, not gaps that we're allowing water to get in, but there's little kind of builder's gaps here and there that bats will find and they move in or mice will find. So every time storms rolls through, every house that I've ever had to to seal up for bats or rodents before. When those new roofs get installed, then we usually have to come back out and do our seal work again. And it's kind of an ongoing process when you live in, you know, we're in Tornado Valley here in Nebraska, so.
How hard is it to find people, good people? I know it's hard enough as it is, period. Anybody who's in entrepreneurship to find good people, period. How hard is it to find good people that are willing to do what you do? I mean, that'll be hard.
Yeah. So when I first got started, it was, it was pretty difficult because no one saw or heard of what I was doing before and saw it as like a career. They just, you know, treat it as just like the, a job kind of want, you know, a stepping stone job, if you will, or something like that. And, and what I've had to do is really kind of build a culture of growth about you know, we're helping people more than just, we're more than just bats and rats. Um, we're, we're, we're solving problems for people that, that this is a, a delicate situation that most people don't have the knowledge or skillset to, to understand, or, or when you wake up in the middle of the night and a bat's flying around in your house, you like panic. Most, most people don't know what to do because they've never had that situation before. Um, And so I've got to sell the people that come to work for me that we're helping people on a much grander scale than just taking care of mice for people. And until, you know, I really started to share myself and kind of my journey, that was pretty difficult. But now I'm trying to hire and, you know, just yesterday I looked, I had like 51 applicants for my for my two openings. And I was like, holy crap, that back when I was trying to hire before, it was a struggle to get four people to come in and give me an application. But now they're seeing like the person that I am, and have turned into me and what my core values are and what I stand for. And I'm here, here for the community and all that kind of stuff. And now I'm finding that people want to come work for me.
And they're seeing that because, you know, not to speak for you, but, and I want to see what your take is on this, but would you really attribute like social media and branding yourself, uh, as to why and how they see you and now they, they want to come work for you. I mean, I can speak for myself. I can tell you that was a big part of the reason why I started this. It's a reason why I started pushing myself. I wanted to set myself on out there and. Really, hopefully at the time, it was literally just about recruiting, you know? Is that sort of what you're talking about or, I mean?
Oh, yes, exactly. As you know, I went through this personal transformation and I pretty much shared it all on Facebook. You know, I went from 330 pounds down to 214 pounds and completely changed my life. 330 pounds? Yeah, that's what I was at my heaviest. See you now.
So no wonder. Yeah. Were you 330 pounds doing what you're doing now? When was that? How long ago?
Yeah. Yeah. In 2021. So I started my business in 2015 and, and gradually grew. I was probably like two 80, 300. Then I had dropped some weight in 2016, 17, and then I gained it all back and then some and got up to three 30 and two 20 and 2021.
So sharing that, losing all that weight, how big of an impact personally has that had on you and you or just your success, your drive, your ambition? I mean, I want to draw a parallel here and I know that it's just so important, but people need to understand, like the two are, in my opinion, are just synonymous, like success in business and success in your personal health. Like if you don't have health, you have nothing else. So it's not even just looking good, but like doing what you did for yourself. And your family, I mean, that's an investment. There's no better investment. I mean, how big of a deal do you think that is?
Yeah, it, uh, what, what started as a weight loss journey turned into the most incredible personal development journey I didn't see coming. Um, I, I wanted to look better in the mirror and I didn't, I didn't want to be, uh, the lazy dad that I was, was, uh, the example I was setting for my kids. And, and so that's why I started to lose weight is just so I, I had some more respect for myself in a mirror and, and I could be a better father for my kids. And as I started to lose the weight, my, I started to heal my body and started to heal my brain and really started more of a, a positive mindset approach to everything and, and, and practicing gratitude and. and really just completely changed my life. The person in the pictures that I see on our walls from that time ago, I don't even recognize them anymore. We're two totally different people, but besides me loving my family, that's about the only thing I have in common with that guy anymore.
That's awesome, man, that, uh, I get goosebumps even thinking about that. I mean, that's that well, no wonder if you shared that on Facebook, no wonder, but, but it's not just that to your weight loss journey is one thing, but sharing your core values, sharing what you stand for, what you believe in. I mean, I can tell you right now, the whole time you're talking, I'm like, man, do people know what this guy is all about? I mean, that itself is marketable is sellable is. I mean, it's a heck of a story, man. And, uh, you know, I can't help it because of my background, like sales and sales systems. I'm a big fan of like company story and really giving somebody something to sink their teeth into and, you know, believe in who they're doing business with. Dude, I've already got the company story, like written for you. You know what I mean? Like selling that we believe in the solution. However, counterintuitive or counterproductive that might seem, you know, our owner. He believes in only doing what he, anyhow. Well, we'll talk later, but it's like, man, that's just such a cool, I admire you for that, man. I really do. And I think that, I hope people listen to this and we'll share the heck out of it in Nebraska where you're at, because they deserve to do business with someone like that. It's very rare, right? You genuinely, and I'll go a little further in why, right? Like, so I'm reading, thinking, not thinking, which I'm reading, um, how to win friends and influence people and think and grow. It's just kind of like the Bible for all of these books, but I just had never read it, you know? And, uh, it's a whole premise is like, look, you need to see things for the other person, the customer's point of view, the other person's point of view and leading with solving their problems and focusing on what they want, not what you want. And I mean, you have done that to a tee. Everything you've got set up is predicated around like, okay, long-term, that's going to keep making money for us. And we keep coming back, but we're going to offer them a permanent solution. And we refuse to do anything that could even remotely compromise the family of the dogs. That's a selling point, man. And that's somebody that I want to do business with. So kudos to you, brother. I hope that catches fire like it deserves to, um, and to keep pushing and sharing your short story, because that's a business that people, especially where you're at Heartland, you know what I mean? I feel like that plays, you know,
Like I would hope for sure. I mean, there's, there's, I don't believe there's not a coincidence between the last two years of me becoming the best version of myself and the last two years being the best, uh, business years I've ever had. Uh, it, you know, I I've done the work and I continue to do the work on myself. which makes the capacity for what I can do greater in all aspects of my life. So I'm able to invest more time and energy into my business and into my family and into my friends, all because I'm a better version of who I'm supposed to be.
I love what you said about originally was just wanting to look and feel better and looking in the mirror, but also wanting to be a better example for your kids. And I think that's so important. So if you're listening to this and you want to lose weight, you want to take more, you know, better care of yourself. And you do have kids think about that. Think about the example you're setting for them. I mean, like, especially these days, man, you know, I think we might be the last generation where it's like street light, you know, running around outside. I don't know. I mean, we had video games, of course, but like summertime, I'm outside running around snow. I'm out playing. I mean, I don't know if it's outside, we're playing sports, we're playing flashlight tag and all the fun stuff that kids do and a good for things.
And yeah, we had video games are growing up, but our video games are so different than they are now. Like ours were like, we get frustrated because we couldn't beat the level on Mario or Zelda or whatever. And, and then we'd, we'd just be done now. They're so immersive and they want you to stay and keep paying and, and spending more time and building this and all that kind of stuff. Like, So, you know, and I have kids and I, and I see that and it's like, I was a father that was just letting electronics, you know, raise my kids. I wasn't out playing football with them or throwing baseballs or, or in the gym shooting hoops, you know, the kinds of stuff that I did when I was a kid growing up. And my dad necessarily didn't do all that stuff with me too, because he was, he was so busy working, trying to provide food for our table. But I was out playing with my brother or my friends. And then I looked back and just saw I was just sitting in a lawn chair drinking beer while all my kids were playing on video games. Like this is just unacceptable to me. I can't I can't allow this to happen anymore. So that's what I made the change. And I'm never looking back. I love it, man.
What what did and kinda start making those changes. It's easy.
Yeah, that's the first thing I tell people is to not overwhelm yourself. I think too often people will see my story and they'll see how many years it's taken me to get here and they'll wanna be where I'm at. And you can't compare my journey to your journey if we're not on equal playing field. So if you're just getting started, Find something that a small habit or change with your diet or exercising a little bit more or just walking or drinking more water or trying to focus on sleep and do the little boring things consistently over and over again until it just becomes part of your daily habit. You know, you drink more water. Just focus on drinking water every single day until it's easy to drink a gallon of water every single day and you don't even think twice about it. And then once you mastered that, then add something else in there. Go on walks for three times a day for 10 minutes each. And then the next thing you know, you'll be going for hour long walks and it won't be anything new to you because you're just, the habit has formed and this is just who you are now. And so, so don't take huge bites, you know, out of the sandwich, just take little nibbles. Oh, and over time that sandwich will be gone, but it'll be sustainable for you. You'll be able to continue to do it. And, and then my big thing is I say, stay consistent half of every post because consistency is the key to everything. I was consistently making poor choices in my life to put me in into the situation that I was in and now I consistently make good choices and it puts me in this situation.
I love that man. I actually write I used to, I don't write it every day anymore, but I do write my goals out. But I would write down consistency and discipline because to your point, you know, being consistently, you know, consistently working towards doing something healthy, man, it's just, it's so powerful. But consistency is just, I'd say it's 75% of all the things you want to do is being consistent with the good stuff. But man, what you just described, there's a book called Many Habits. And it's basically the whole principle is what you just said, which is like, hey, let's worry about getting down two pushups a day, something just so ridiculous. It's like, well, of course I can do two pushups. Okay, why don't you start doing two? When you're down there, you'll probably do four or five or even 10. But if you commit to doing two or commit to reading two pages or two paragraphs, something super easy or drinking a glass of water or drinking a glass of water after every meal, whatever, right? It leads you into this idea of drinking stick and stay, you know, and that's how you keep it off and you look like you do now and you're starting to work towards a freaking, you know, competing, you know, and that's just amazing, man. I'm big fan of everything you have going on. I didn't even know half that stuff. I just thought it was super I wasn't even aware that you had lost all that weight, done all those cool things, man. It's not a surprise to me that you are where you are, and I'm really excited about where you're going. What's the future, man? I mean, let's wrap it up with what are your plans for 24, 25, I mean, for growth and expansion?
Yeah, for sure. So 2024 is definitely a growth year. I plan on adding technicians. I plan on purchasing a building and then opening up a second location in the next biggest town here. So I'm in Lincoln, which is the second biggest city, but it's the capital here. I'm going to open up a second location in Omaha, which is the biggest city that's in Nebraska. And You know, once that happens, you know, it's gonna start to snowball and I'm gonna start looking at multiple expansions and to other surrounding communities and bigger towns, maybe Kansas City, maybe Des Moines, Iowa, maybe even Denver, and just kind of build this, you know, until, you know, who knows where it's gonna go. We're gonna kind of get on a rocket ship and go from there.
I love it, man. That's awesome. I'm excited. I think what you're doing is very unique. I think you have a very cool story. And like I already said, it's sellable, man. I mean, you could package that thing up. We'll talk, man. I'd love to just give you my thoughts on how I'd spend that and really sell that because that's It sells itself. You know, as long as you say it the right way, like, man, it, it really does. I mean, people should want to invest in you and who you are and what you're about and your core values and your beliefs and what you're looking to do for the customer. I think it's beautiful, man. Um, where can people find you? Facebook, Insta. Yeah.
So, so Facebook's just my name, Dane Patton. Uh, it's D a I N E and then Patton is P A T T O N. And then Instagram is the same thing at Dane Patton. So those will be the two places where I'm active the most. Um, and, uh, you can always shoot me a, you know, a DM or whatever, if you have questions or, or if something I said, uh, you enjoyed, I, I love hearing that and knowing that people are, are listening and they're on the path to become the best version of themselves too. So I'm here to help however I can.
I love it, man. Dane's also, we have the Blue Collar Ballers Facebook group, free group. He's in there often and really active all the time. And again, it's a free group. We help each other out. You see him in there. I'm sure he'd be more than happy, especially too, because I've noticed the diversity in that group's really starting to like We got 200 people try to join last night. When we're clicking through, me or one of the other admins, who it is, it's really cool to see. I think I saw a couple of the pest control, not many, but one or two, and then just these obscure blue collar is so broad. You know what I mean? I would say you are certainly in like a niche, but there's so much value that you bring to the table, but there's also so much that, and that's why we invest in ourselves and the importance of investing ourselves and putting us around the right people. But again, you find Dane there as well, the places that he just mentioned. We also have the Ballers Union, the Blue Collar Ballers Union, which is the private group where we do trainings weekly and so on. And I'm sure we'll have Dane come in there and offer up some of his expertise, might even see him in there. But Dane, thank you so much for coming on. Is there any final thoughts or anything that, any imparting words of wisdom that you can drop for us before you jump off here?
Well, not necessarily words of wisdom, but I just want to tell you, like, I appreciate your story. I appreciate the content that you're constantly pumping out there for everybody. I mean, your story is amazing and what you've accomplished. And in a small amount of time that you've been an accomplishment, I really appreciate watching you and I kind of look up to you there. So thanks for doing this. Thanks for having me on. And I look forward to seeing you in Dallas next time.
I appreciate it, my brother. I look forward to it as well. And we'll we'll get you back on here soon. And again, we'll see you in the group and we'll talk here soon.
All right. Thanks, Ken.
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