Connect With Today's Guest
🌳 IndusCo Facility Solutions: https://induscofs.com/
👤 Connect with Sterling Lowe and Madelyn Lowe:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sterling-lowe-a859475a/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelyn-lowe-871387254/
🏢 Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndusCoEnterprises/
Get Started With The Landscaper’s Guide:
Watch the full episode + read the transcript: https://landscapersguide.com/podcast/
Tell us where to send your beef jerky: https://landscapersguide.com/toolbox
See upcoming live and virtual events:
https://landscapersguide.com/events
Schedule a 15-Minute Marketing Brainstorm with the Ramblin Jackson strategy team https://landscapersguide.com/brainstorm/
Women In The Snow Industry
00:00
Madelyn Lowe:
Really hard when I walk into a job site or a meeting and I'm the only woman there.
Sterling Lowe:
What they don't realize is that the majority of the folks we deal with on our snow contracts are women.
Madelyn Lowe:
Usually the thing we're most scared of is the thing we should tackle first.
Meet Sterling And Madelyn Lowe Of IndusCo Facility Solutions
00:13
Jack Jostes:
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Landscaper's Guide podcast. Today I'm excited to interview Sterling and Mattie from Endesco Facility Solutions.
Sterling Lowe:
Correct?
Jack Jostes:
Yes. It was a tongue twister to get your name right, but we nailed it. And Sterling, tell us a little bit, what is Indusco Solutions?
Sterling Lowe:
So we're a family run business. We do primarily commercial coatings. We've been a coatings contractor back in 2007 when we started.
Jack Jostes:
What and what does that mean? What is it for folks listening who may not know what are coatings?
Sterling Lowe:
So we do, maybe we're one day we're painting a commercial office space, one day we're sandblasting and painting industrial tanks at a food facility. We do epoxy floor coatings. Anything really as far as long as it lands in the painting. You know, commercial coating space industrial painting, we do parking lot striping, those kinds of things.
01:08
Jack Jostes:
What else, what are like, what are the full list of services that you guys provide?
Sterling Lowe:
So we primarily chase customers we already work with and for those customers we have a general contracting side where we kind of get, we build a relationship with a customer and ultimately that customer says hey, do you know anybody that does concrete repair? Do you know anybody that does, you know? We have a project going on right now where we're pouring concrete walls to do a washroom, installing new drains and then we handle all the coatings on top of that. So epoxy floors. We do an epoxy coating on the walls for a wash down room in a food facility.
01:50
How IndusCo Built A Snow Removal Business
01:50
Jack Jostes:
Cool. And so we're at this, the SIMA symposium, the Snow and Ice Management Association. Why are we at the snow. Where does snow removal fit into the picture?
01:58
Sterling Lowe:
So, so where we got started when I was in my 20s, I went to work for my wife's father which was, you know we are in dusko. That company was proco and painting contractor and I lured them into our first snow removal project back in 2006 doing. We were doing a lot of hospital work and they showed a need for someone to do snow. I was interested. We, we started our first Snow season in 2006 at GBMC Hospital in Towson and were there for about five years. The year later I went out on my own and kept the snow because of something that we really enjoy doing.
02:37
Jack Jostes:
What do you like about it?
02:39
Sterling Lowe:
So it fills a gap in the wintertime. It started as filling a gap in the wintertime and it's something that not a lot of people do at the time. It was something that we thought could be done better constantly. That facility specifically, they had their electricians and plumbers out shoveling sidewalks and things like that. And we thought, well, maybe your electricians and plumbers should be doing electrical and plumbing work and you should hire somebody that focuses on snow to come, you know, do things efficiently with the right equipment and, you know, those kinds of things.
03:13
Jack Jostes:
And then in. In the whole pie of the business. What percentage of snow do you think?
03:18
Sterling Lowe:
So we're a Baltimore based company, so as long as it snows, you know, when we have a busy snow season, as far as time goes, our snow season is about six weeks. We always say January 15th to March 1st is go. We set aside December to April, but as far as dollars go, we can do two to three times what we do in a year in the coding side, in six weeks of snow when it's busy. We have years when it doesn't snow at all.
03:49
Jack Jostes:
Yeah, that's.
03:50
Sterling Lowe:
And that's a challenge.
Jack Jostes:
But yeah, that is rough. That is. And so. So Maddie, tell me about what do you do in the business and how are you all related?
03:58
Growing Up In A Family Business
03:58
Madelyn Lowe:
So that's my father. I'm his oldest daughter, one of four. And I also work in the office with my sister who is a me. We are both office coordinators and snow removal operators. We ran our own site this year in like Towson, Baltimore area. And we ran brine trucks and we also shoveled snow on the sidewalks and we ran our own sidewalk crew as well. And besides that, we go into the office and we help with invoicing, pricing jobs, really anything. We do it all in the office alongside my aunt as well, who is there.
04:36
Jack Jostes:
And, and so how long have you been working in the business, like your whole life or is this new or. Tell us a little bit about your story.
04:42
Madelyn Lowe:
So I started working probably when I was 14, doing snow, just straight sidewalks. I think I might have ran a skid loader a little bit here and there during high school. And then when I turned like maybe 18, I didn't want anything to do with it, so I quit. I didn't do snow anymore. I got a minimum wage job and I went to college. And once I finished college, I realized I was ready For a new challenge. So the summer after I finished college, I started working with my dad. He would take me on tour and show me different customers and different job sites, and I don't know, it looked like a challenge I was ready. Ready for. And I started working with him probably the September after I finished college. So that was 2023.
05:22
Madelyn Lowe:
So I've been there, so I would like to say my whole life, but I've been doing snow since I was 14, off and on, and I've been in the office on payroll since 2023.
Marketing, Social Media And Building The Brand
05:32
Jack Jostes:
So you grew up in the business, and then you thought, you know, I want to go to college. I want to do something else. What did you study?
05:39
Madelyn Lowe:
I studied business. I got an associate's in business, and I also did a lot of, like, marketing classes. I thought marketing was what I wanted to do. And I do get to bring a lot of my marketing background into the office as well, which I love. We run his LinkedIn, his Facebook, and Desco. All of it. It's me and my sister running it.
05:56
Jack Jostes:
You guys do a great job with that.
05:58
Sterling Lowe:
Oh, thank you.
05:59
Jack Jostes:
And you worked with us mainly on your website, and so we've worked mainly with you on.
06:04
Madelyn Lowe:
Yeah. And you guys do such. Such a better job than us, but we. We did what we could with the background we had.
06:10
Jack Jostes:
Well, we don't need to go shovel snow and run the office and all the things that you need to do.
06:14
Madelyn Lowe:
That's very true. There's plenty of times where we're out all night, and then we go home, squeeze a nap in, and then we're back in the office sending out invoices for the last 24 hours.
06:22
Jack Jostes:
Right. And that's where I think marketing can fall by the wayside. And then that. That's. That leads to. Then you're not growing. Cause we always want to retain customers, but we also need new customers, too.
06:35
Madelyn Lowe:
Yes, I agree with that.
06:36
Jack Jostes:
And then I also think, you know, marketing, like Sterling was saying to your existing customer base to let them know about all the different services that you offer is that's where email and social media and calling people and visiting them too, but all that comes into play.
06:52
Madelyn Lowe:
Yeah, Darla and I, we love to take videos of people running equipment during the snow season. It's hard because we're also in charge of making sure all the sidewalks and the. And the asphalt is clear. So it's hard for us to take a minute back and take videos. Videos. But we try the best that we can.
07:05
Jack Jostes:
Well, yeah, I think you're ahead of the curve. A lot of people don't take anything and you have to do the work safely first.
07:13
Madelyn Lowe:
Yeah.
07:14
Jack Jostes:
Is always the priority.
07:15
Madelyn Lowe:
That's right.
07:17
Jack Jostes:
So when you went to college, were you thinking that you wanted and you studied business, were you thinking that you wanted to come back and work in Dusko or were you thinking you'd go a different path?
07:30
Madelyn Lowe:
So I did business mainly because I always knew that there was a place for me at Indusco, but it wasn't necessarily what I wanted to do at the time. I was working at a bakery and I was a manager there and I did a lot of their marketing and I loved taking pictures and making videos and posting on Instagram. I love, you know, like the meta, where you make the calendars of all the different things you have to post. And I thought I was going to do something with that, but I kind of outgrew that space and I kind of reached the top of the ladder and I wanted something new. And I had been traveling with my dad all summer and I was like, this is what I want to do now. I was excited.
08:06
Bringing The Next Generation Into Leadership
08:07
Sterling Lowe:
So I guess it was a few years ago when Maddie and Darla both decided to come into the office and you know, for me, I always say, like, I'm a little bit of a slow learner. We've been in business for 20 years and, you know, slowly, back in 2010, I brought my sister in to try to help with. We had a huge snow season that year. We had like 350 guys working massive paperwork push. She was a godsend. Matty and Darla came into the office and created a situation where I could offload things like, hey, we need a better website. Hey, we're doing this in the snow industry. But there's a better way for us to track time with the guys. How can we do that?
08:48
Sterling Lowe:
And you know, with them having the young mind, they're tech, you know, they're very tech, you know, technology savvy. So apps and programs and spreadsheets are right up their alley. And Maddie is really, you know, her and Darla together, they put together, you know, lots of great videos and they can throw a clip together for Instagram like no other.
09:10
Why A Better Website Builds Better Relationships
09:10
Jack Jostes:
That's cool. Tell me. So we just launched your website. So we worked together at Ramblin Jackson. It's only end of June. We just launched end of March. Why was the website important? And you're like, they got, they. You were able to do it with their help. Why was that important to you?
09:26
Sterling Lowe:
Well, you know, like when they came on board, we said we wanted to build our own website. And while the website was really good, there are so many things that we just don't know about building a website. You know, the marketing pieces of it, how it all works, and, you know, how it brings customers back to you. When we met you guys two years ago in Grand Rapid at the, were looking for somebody that knew all the details. You know, they can say, okay, well, this is pretty good. But here's what you really need to bring customers in to showcase the work that you do to showcase your, you know, the group of folks you work with on a daily basis. And really, that's what, you know, our entire business is built totally on relationships.
10:09
Sterling Lowe:
And when you're trying to sell to a new customer, you don't have a relationship, you're trying to create one. And the website really helps do that.
10:17
Jack Jostes:
What are, yeah, what are some of the results that you've noticed? I mean, it's only been a few months, but have you seen a response to it? Are you using it in a way that you didn't think you would?
10:27
Sterling Lowe:
So we're still in the building phase. So, like, it's up and running. We're still in the process of adding content to get it kind of exactly where we want it. And that's one of the things that you don't realize when you say, okay, well, somebody else is going to build a website for you. Well, they might be able to put all the pieces together, but you have to supply the pieces. So it really helps you sit back and go through and say, all right, well, do we have good photos? Do we have good videos? Hey, we have a really nice project. Let's showcase that project, get some videos so we can get it on the website. We're getting a lot of feedback from customers because we get a chance to see who's looking at it.
11:03
Sterling Lowe:
You know, like, because of the type of business that we do see, we have some large customers that really don't go to looking to a website for a, you know, for a contractor. You know, a lot of it's word of mouth and repeat business, but we do see that they're. They're there looking. So we have a customer that we deal with, you know, constantly. And they brought in a new manager and they put a phone call into us this week and they went onto our website and filled out a form and said, hey, I'm looking to get some pricing for stuff. So that was existing customer.
11:35
Jack Jostes:
Wait, so your existing customer went to the website.
11:38
Sterling Lowe:
So as far as we have an existing customer, you know, they're a, you know, a global company. So you know, they have a new sales guy, they have a new person in charge of a different product line or something like that, and they wanted to get some work done. So instead of contacting us directly, they did a phone call. But they went right to our website and filled out a form and said, hey, we're looking to get some warehouse striping done. Is this something you guys can help us with? You know, we get an email with the contact and we're on it right away.
12:04
Jack Jostes:
So. So it was just a new point of contact at an existing client, correct? Yeah, yeah. And that changes a lot. I think that's especially relevant in commercial work. Right? You might have the same company as a client, but their office manager or who's actually typically the person that would contact you within one of your clients. So like a facilities manager or who is it?
12:27
Sterling Lowe:
Yeah, often there's a, you know, property manager who may handle five or six properties. Sometimes it's a person that handles a specific division inside the company. So like, you know, one of the large corporations we work for is McCormick Spice. They're, they're global. So there's, there are facilities all over our area and they might have, we might have 10 contacts in one facility that call us for different areas in the facility. So that's kind of what this is. A new guy, he's running a warehouse and he says, hey, we need to get all these old stripes ground off. I got your name, left a voicemail, went on your website, filled out a contact form, let us know.
13:06
Influential Encounters And Supporting Women In Snow
13:06
Jack Jostes:
That's cool. So, Maddie, tell me, who are some of the influential people that you've met at events like this?
13:13
Madelyn Lowe:
I've gotten to meet a lot of women in the snow industry. That's definitely one of my favorite things. You know, it can be really hard when I walk into a job site or a meeting and I'm the only woman there. But through SIMA, I've met so many women in the snow industry that are amazing and so inspiring. And it's really encouraging to see that there are other women doing this, and they're doing it successfully.
13:41
Jack Jostes:
Yeah. Any shout outs to any of them?
13:44
Madelyn Lowe:
Oh, my goodness. There's so many. I don't even know where to begin. I mean, everybody that I've met through SIMA has been so welcoming. They all are willing to answer questions. They're all willing to give advice. I think that's one of my favorite things about this industry is everyone wants to see everyone succeed.
14:03
Jack Jostes:
Yeah. I think that's true. I feel that way about landscaping too. And I think it's one of the reasons why I enjoy coming to these events. People are willing to share.
14:13
Sterling Lowe:
Yeah. You know, I think the biggest thing for us is, you know, when Maddie and Darla first started coming to these events, there weren't a lot of women. But every year there are more and more. And it's really encouraging to see because what they don't realize is that the majority of the folks we deal with on our snow contracts are women. They're property managers, facility managers, office managers. So having women in leadership roles inside our company is a huge benefit because they can relate to our customers.
14:43
Jack Jostes:
That's a really interesting point.
14:45
Sterling Lowe:
Yeah. And I think sometimes people overlook that. They think snow is just guys driving trucks. But there's so much communication and relationship building that goes into it.
14:57
Jack Jostes:
Absolutely.
15:00
Madelyn Lowe:
And I think it also helps younger girls see that there's a place for them here. When they see women doing this job, they realize that they can do it too.
15:12
Jack Jostes:
That's awesome.
15:14
Sterling Lowe:
You know, confidence is a huge thing. The more opportunities you give people, the more confidence they build.
15:23
Jack Jostes:
I love that.
15:25
Madelyn Lowe:
Yeah. Confidence definitely comes from experience. You have to be willing to try things before you know whether or not you can do them.
15:37
Jack Jostes:
That's great advice.
15:39
Sterling Lowe:
And sometimes you just have to get out of the way and let people learn.
15:46
Jack Jostes:
That's hard as a parent sometimes.
15:49
Sterling Lowe:
It definitely is.
15:51
Jack Jostes:
But it's necessary.
15:53
Sterling Lowe:
Absolutely.
16:00
Jack Jostes:
So what advice would you give to another family business that's trying to bring the next generation into leadership?
16:10
Sterling Lowe:
Give them real responsibility. Don't just tell them they're the future of the company. Give them projects. Let them own things. Let them make mistakes. That's how they grow.
16:28
Madelyn Lowe:
And let them bring new ideas. Just because something has always been done one way doesn't mean it's the best way anymore.
16:42
Jack Jostes:
That's really good.
16:44
Sterling Lowe:
The younger generation has different experiences, different technology, different ways of looking at problems. That's valuable.
17:09
How To Bring More Women Into The Trades
17:09
Jack Jostes:
Well, so what are some of the ways that you can get more women in the industry?
17:13
Madelyn Lowe:
I feel personally, it's a lot of visibility. It's really hard when I walk into a job site or a meeting and I'm the only woman there, Especially when I first started, it was really discouraging. So I would start there, I would bring more women in. It's hard because you want to bring them in and have more people there, but you got to get them there to begin with. So. Also taking the women you already have and giving them real opportunities to move up in the company and mentorship as well. We have my aunt who has been a wonderful mentor for us, and it's so nice to have another woman in the office with us working as well. And the women at Influential Encounters, they're all my mentors. I love them all so much.
17:53
Madelyn Lowe:
It's so nice to come here at an event like this where there used to not be so many women around to where now there's so many. And we all know each other and we all, you know, just take each other under our wings and it's really amazing.
18:04
Jack Jostes:
Cool. I like that. So. So giving people a shot is one of them. What about women who might be like, they're like, oh, there's only one or two women who work at this company. I don't know if I want to work there. What would you say to them? Maybe they're interested, but they're holding back?
18:20
Madelyn Lowe:
I would say take a risk. Something Darla and I have always learned is usually the thing we're most scared of, is the thing we should tackle first. And that's in anything we did, like storm equipment, had a storm day and went to it with all the women from Influential Encounters and were terrified of driving the wheel loaders. We've never driven wheel loaders. And Darla was like, you know what? That's the first thing we should do. And I'm so glad we did it. I'm so glad we didn't chicken out. And that's everything. Every risk I've ever taken, I've, you know, I've grown from it. Even if it didn't go how I wanted it to go, I'm so glad that I did it. So I would encourage them to take a risk. And, you know, confidence doesn't come first, experience does.
18:57
Madelyn Lowe:
And I think it's good to push women to do things that maybe they're not ready yet.
19:02
Jack Jostes:
I like that. So. So just go for it. And the confidence comes later.
19:06
Madelyn Lowe:
Yes, I 1000% agree with that.
19:08
Jack Jostes:
But you kind of have to have the confidence to just go for it too.
19:10
Madelyn Lowe:
That is true. Yep. So you have to be, you know, you have to have the confidence in yourself, not necessarily what you're going to do, and the experience will come and then you'll have the confidence.
19:19
Jack Jostes:
I like it. I like it. It kind of feels like a chicken or the egg kind of situation, though. I think, I think the point is that you have to go for it. And I was actually talking to somebody about that. My, my start in this industry was from a really a part time, hourly job. I worked at a garden center and plant nursery in high school, and then I worked there in the summers and springs in college. And I loved it, but it was just a job. Yeah, I started out with, but I, I kept going, I kept learning. I got invited back each season and I realized I loved it.
19:51
Jack Jostes:
And then like 10 years after that, when I was starting my marketing company, I started getting pulled in to speak at green industry events and I realized I kind of know the green industry more than I thought I did. So I think the point is though, I think had I not taken that opportunity, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.
20:10
Madelyn Lowe:
Yeah, I agree. My dad has always been super encouraging to us. I, you know, I'm always fearful that I don't have the knowledge and I'm, you know, what is it? Imposter syndrome? And my dad, I was really nervous about going on the panel for Influential Encounters and he's like, you know, you don't realize how much you actually know and how much you can actually bring to the industry. You know, just go for it, Take the risk, and it'll all come after. You'll realize. And I have, I realized it now, and I'm glad I did it. And it's, you know, I'm glad I was able to help everyone as well who's trying to bring in more women into the industry. Hopefully I gave them some good tips.
20:47
Jack Jostes:
I, I, I love it. What else, what else should we talk about on the show? Do you guys want to ask anything or share anything else before we wrap up?
20:54
Empowering The Next Generation Of Leaders
20:54
Sterling Lowe:
So for myself, you know, I'm a father of four daughters. So, like, empowering women is, you know, one of those things I've tried to do, you know, whether it was from, you know, being a soccer coach. Maddie wasn't a sports girl. So I spent four or five years coaching a LEGO robotics competition that her and her friends did. We set booths up in our barn and, you know, they were building Lego robots and all that kind of stuff, you know, so they've got a chance to see that, you know, whatever you're doing, you know, it's good to be involved, to go all in. We carted our younger sister around all over the country playing outdoor soccer and, you know, all those kinds of things.
21:38
Sterling Lowe:
But it's really been good for me to bring them into this business because while they talk about being women in snow, what they don't realize is that the majority of the folks we deal with on our snow contracts are women, the buyers of the product that we sell, of the snow service, a lot of the property managers are women. They're buyers of this product. And Matty and Darla helped us put together a lunch and learn for a couple of our customers. We had a big video thing that we put together to teach the customers what they don't know. You know, in this business, you don't know what you don't know.
22:14
Sterling Lowe:
And they're buyers and, you know, we bring a whole presentation that says, you know, hey, you may have been putting salt down, you know, like crazy on your property, but maybe you should consider liquid brine, and here's why. And having the girls help put that together. We sit for those presentations and it's, you know, there may be a couple of guys in the room, but it's enough. It's usually a room full of women that are there to learn because they want to understand what they're buying, you know, storks the girls went to Storks. I think two years ago there was maybe five women in the whole place. And that's changed over the last couple of years. There's people are bringing more women into the industry. You know, they're a great help to me. They're amazing.
22:58
Connect With IndusCo Facility Solutions
22:58
Jack Jostes:
Great. Well, for folks who want to network with you too. Where, where can we do that?
23:05
Madelyn Lowe:
You can find me on LinkedIn. I believe it's Madeline Lowe. Should I check?
23:09
Jack Jostes:
I'll put a link to it. Anyone listening? Like it's impossible to like just type somebody's name and find the right one. So if you could email me a link, I'll put that in the description and are you on LinkedIn too, Sterling?
23:21
Sterling Lowe:
Low on LinkedIn or. We have in Dusko Facility Solutions. We were formerly just in Dusko Enterprises and you know, with your guys help we've made that transition to something that kind of explains more what we do within Dusko Facility Solutions. And so we have a LinkedIn there. We're on Instagram, we're on Facebook and.
23:42
Jack Jostes:
Then what's your website?
23:43
Sterling Lowe:
Our website is Indusco Facilities or we're really industo fs.com that's how you find us.
23:49
Jack Jostes:
Induscofs.com well I'll put a link to all of that. And everybody thanks so much for listening to the Landscaper's Guide. If you enjoyed this conversation and you want to see some of our work together, see what they do, check out their website, see our show notes and we love working with multi generational family owned businesses and we'd love to talk to you. So schedule a 15 minute marketing brainstorm. Call with us at landscapersguide.com brainstorm I'll put a link to that in the show notes as well. My name is Jack justice and I look forward to talking with you next week on the Landscaper's Guide.