What's your reason for running your business or working in whatever position you're in? Business is hard and having a personal why that's deeply and truly meaningful to you is a must if you're going to make it. In today's interview with Kenny Nguyen, he shares the challenges he went through building a career after being incarcerated when he was 18 years old. And the most inspiring thing he read from a book that changed his entire mindset about how he thinks of winning and going for it in business. Plus his personal why, why he does this and how that helps him power through and persevere through the most challenging aspects of growing his landscape company.
Hey everyone, Jack Jostes here and welcome to The Landscaper's Guide. Hey, if you're new to this show, it's all about sharing inspiring stories about sales, marketing, leadership, mindset to help you grow your landscape company. And if you haven't already, you've got to subscribe at landscapersguide.com. I'll send you my top three podcast interviews and some notes about how I could send you beef jerky. Yes, an actual bag of beef jerky. So check that out at landscapersguide.com/podcast.
And right now I'm excited to share that I am recording my first in-person interview at the Ramblin Jackson Video Podcast Studio in Colorado. This is where I work every day. I bought this place a year ago and it took a good year to really get everything dialed in. It's a 500 square foot garage that was a filthy dump when we bought it but when I came in here, I envisioned this. I envisioned an in-person podcast studio with lights, and a lot of work went into it. We hired Colorado Concrete Repair. Our client came and they stained and sealed the concrete with acrylic. it's this beautiful floor. Kevin, our local SEO strategist, flew up from New York and taught me how to do some woodworking and we built these wood walls and we painted in here. We've got cool lights.
Anyways, I'm super excited to do this interview because I love doing things remotely, but meeting in person with people, you just got to check out today's episode. So if you're normally listening to this show, that's cool. Check out the show notes for a link where you can at least pop onto YouTube and get a glimpse of the new studio. I hope you enjoy it. And without further ado, let's hear Kenny Nguyen's story.
All right, everyone, super excited to have Kenny Nguyen here. He's the owner of Peakview Outdoor Living in Colorado. And Kenny is the first live guest. You're the first live studio guest here at the Ramblin Jackson Studio to do the interview. This is where I do our podcast. Normally, I'm interviewing people on Zoom. We have clients come here to do video work, and I'm excited to have you as our first in-person podcast guest. So, Kenny, thanks for coming to Lyons, Colorado,
Kenny Nguyen:
Jack, thank you for having me. Excited to be here. Honored to be your first one at your studio.
Jack Jostes:
Well, you now run Peakview Outdoor Living. Tell us just a little bit about Peakview Outdoor Living, how long have you been running the company and what all do you guys do.
Kenny Nguyen:
So at Peakview Outdoor Living, we specialize in, like the name said, outdoor living. We build anything from patio, outdoor kitchens, fire pit, seat wall, pavilions, outdoor amenities such as bocce ball court. That's what we specialize in.
Jack Jostes:
That's cool. Have you built many bocce ball courts for people?
Kenny Nguyen:
Once. In fact, we just wrapped up a project in Lafayette and they loved it. They enjoyed the bocce ball court with their family.
Jack Jostes:
So when you're building a bocce ball court, what did you look up to get ideas for that?
Kenny Nguyen:
I look up to my mentor because, to be honest, I don't know what bocce ball court is when they brought that up. I even told them, "I don't know what a bocce ball court is, but I will look it up." So I asked my mentor and he put the designs together and he said, "This is the bocce ball court, this is the regulations, these are the rules and how long it should be." So I really have my mentor to thank for that.
Mindset Change Through A Book
Kenny Nguyen:
Again, it goes back to the family value. Like I said, family's everything to me. So I said to myself there has to be a way. This is not business. Business exist to help better your life, better your family and so this is actually not business. I'm not actually running a business, but the business is actually running me and my family.
So like anything, I started out with reaching out to people for help and also reading books and what really shifted is the change in the mindsets. One of the book that really helps me shift the mindsets and not be afraid, it's Think and Grow Rich, definitely by Napoleon Hills and reference to the parts in there that he use the example, it's a general leading his men to war. And this is going up one to 10. And as he sail across the river, he ordered his men to demolish all the boat and he told his man that you saw what happened. There's no return. Either you win or you demolished. And so they end up winning the war and that's against one to 10.
So once you set your mind to something and you get rid of that fear, you don't look back. If you set your mind to something, give it all you got, you will figure it out. So once I get rid of that fear, it's just really easy to move forward.
How To Manage Fear
Jack Jostes:
And you still wrestle with the fear, though, right? So what else ... I mean we've talked about maintenance. You have more recurring revenue. It's maybe a little more predictable in some ways whereas design build can be up and down and there are projects. There are big projects. Sometimes there's a gap in between. How else do you manage the fear? You shared with me that you had some fear about going for it and really going for a design build.
Kenny Nguyen:
Absolutely. Fear, it's unavoidable. It happens in everyday life. It's just how you manage it. And funny story for us, I completely get rid of maintenance and I said design build either I success or I'm going to get rid of it completely and do something else. So once I settle what I really want to do, I focus on it and I find ways to do it. It sounds really easy, but at first I have no idea what I was doing. I am the type of guy that has a lot of experience so I throw a lot of stuff and want to see what sticks. And one of the most fear that when people go full maintenance is they don't have enough leads. Where are the clients coming from? We are new to the area. We don't have a lot of experience. Our name, nobody knows us.
So that's a big change. And if you don't have jobs coming in, how do you keep the lights on your company? How do you make payroll and how do you pay yourself? But like I said, laser focus and yeah.
Sales Process To Qualify Leads
Jack Jostes:
Well, and one of the things that ... We're right about to launch the new Peakview Outdoor Living website. I'm super stoked. It's going to come out in June. Right now it's the end of May. This will probably come out in June. So check out their new website, see the show notes for a link. I'm really excited about that.
You also had a lot of really good things already implemented in your sales process around qualifying leads and saying no to the wrong fits. Tell me a little bit about how did you learn how to do some of that and what is some of the process that over the years you've figured out has really helped you get the right clients and then keep that family time that you treasure so much?
Kenny Nguyen:
That's a great questions. And definitely one of the things that really changed my mindset as well, it's I somehow found this group online. It's a coaching program and I sign up for that coaching program. They really changed my mindset. For example, before, I would say not too long ago, probably less than two years ago, I went with the mindset that, for example, if I was doing a proposal for, say, an outdoor kitchen and, say, the outdoor kitchen cost $40,000.
And in my mind, I was like, "Oh, this is way too much for the client." And I tried to talk myself to lower that down. And what that coaching program did it's they changed the mindset like, "Why are you doing that? Why are you talking out of your client?" They encourage us to charge what we were worth, charge more. So that way I can really give the attention to the client, really give them what they deserve.
Jack Jostes:
So you're reading all these books, you're implementing these big ideas, you're working with a mentor. Would you be okay sharing with us how did you start doing landscaping? What's the story?
Challenges He Went Through Building A career After Being Incarcerated
Kenny Nguyen:
Yes. So I got into the green industry when I first moved to Colorado in 2003-2004. Initially, I'm from Washington State and I did not make a lot of smart choices. So I was previously incarcerated at 18 and I went to prison for three years. When I got out, I went to college for a finance degree and I am on my last quarter for my Associate's and I knew this manager at a US Bank branch. So we talk and he's like, "Why don't you apply here for a job? I put a recommendation in for you."
So I did apply for that bank and he looked at it and with the background, he's like, "This is not a smart choice for you to pursue this degree or any degree at all really, because you have a background and it's really serious." So I stopped going to school. If I can't pursue, if I can't do office work, I have to do outside work. So I move to Colorado with a car and a hundred bucks in my bank accounts and so I have to take any jobs really to just pay rent, to eat. So that's how I got into the green industry
Jack Jostes:
Wow. Well, thanks so much for sharing that on the podcast. That's an incredible story and really great advice from that person to maybe tell you to stop pursuing what you were pursuing. But what I like about this story is that you didn't stop learning, so you may have paused your education or what you were doing in finance, but you packed up, moved here, started cutting grass but then continued reading books and reading Profit First so the education never really stopped.
Kenny Nguyen:
It's never stops. Throughout life, people ... We all learn every day. And so even though I can't pursue degrees in what I want to do, but education just help you throughout everyday life.
Jack Jostes:
Yeah. So you moved here with a hundred bucks and a car. Did you even know anyone here?
Kenny Nguyen:
I did. My buddy, John. I knew him since sixth grade from Washington as well. He moved here and at first he helped me with obviously rent. He was able to pay rent for me six month. Pretty much take care of everything for the first six months for me. He buy food. He pay for rent. Pretty much everything.
Jack Jostes:
Wow. Does he still live here?
Kenny Nguyen:
He is still in Denver, yes.
Jack Jostes:
Wow. That's an incredible friend.
Kenny Nguyen:
I'm really grateful for what he did for me.
Jack Jostes:
And you're originally from Vietnam.
Kenny Nguyen:
Yes.
Jack Jostes:
So you grew up there. And when did you move to the States?
Kenny Nguyen:
My family and I moved to the States in 1995.
Jack Jostes:
Wow. So English is your second language.
Kenny Nguyen:
Yes.
Jack Jostes:
And you moved here, you were incarcerated, you moved to Colorado and-
Kenny Nguyen:
Quite a story, yeah.
Jack Jostes:
... and so you started working for somebody doing lawn mowing, right? And then what?
Kenny Nguyen:
So I worked there for three years cutting grass mainly, trimming shrubs for three years and I'm like, "Hey, I could do this. I think I can start something for my own." So I did let the boss know that next year I'm going to open my own stuff, do my own thing. And he just shrug off and laugh because he didn't think I could be able to do it but I did.
And so pretty much I put in a year of notice for him just because I'm grateful because he trained me. He gave me a job when I need it from no experience. So as a respect, I gave him a year of notice. But yeah, I start my own, bought a used truck, used mower and then just knocked on doors.
Jack Jostes:
Is that how you got your first accounts?
Kenny Nguyen:
Yes.
Jack Jostes:
That's great. I love hearing that. Oh, we just had a guy named John on the show and he was working for someone doing snow removal in Wisconsin and he got a week notice that the company was going out of business. And he got a loan, he got a truck and started knocking on doors, doing sales to survive. And that was actually the first thing I did here in Colorado. I did door-to-door sales as a milkman at a dairy farm and it was hard work. It was a great learning experience and in some ways it was really fun and then in a lot of days it just was not fun.
Kenny Nguyen:
I hear that.
Jack Jostes:
So what was it like? How did it go? Did you get some accounts going door to door?
Kenny Nguyen:
I did. Also getting a loan from my family, a small loan, just get it going. Putting some flyers out, send it out. So I got it going. Definitely not a fun experience. As in business, everything start out rough, but we all have to start somewhere. And the hardest thing, it's the first steps. When you took the first steps, the second, the third step become easier.
Jack Jostes:
Yeah.
Kenny Nguyen:
So get things started to get rolling, that was hard. But after that, it just kept going.
Jack Jostes:
Getting started was awful and I had no idea how much to charge anyone for anything. When you were going door to door, did you know how much to charge?
Kenny Nguyen:
I'm looking at myself right now. I have no idea what I was doing. I would just pull a number from thin air and just trust people and that's a terrible way of doing business.
Jack Jostes:
Yeah. So I don't know. I guess there's a different way of doing it. Like you could hire the coach first or get a mentor first and then go and do it, I guess, right? But I did it ... It sounds like we did it the same way where you just kind of go and do it and then figure it out and then ask for help. But now you're doing pretty well.
Kenny Nguyen:
I mean we doing okay.
Jack Jostes:
Yeah. Well, you're two and a half years in, but I think you're really far along.
Kenny Nguyen:
I think all those years doing lawn mowing, making bad decisions, really helps. Pull numbers from thin air, that teach me a valuable lesson that never to do that again.
Jack Jostes:
And deciding to go for it, deciding you wanted it was the main thing. You were saying that story of the general who was leading his troops into battle and is like we're either going to win or we're going to die. And you've decided to go for it and you're committed to doing it.
Kenny Nguyen:
Yes.
Kenny’s Why
Jack Jostes:
Why? What is it about ... Why not do something else? It's hard, right? It's hard doing this and figuring out pricing and what to charge and doing marketing. What is it, I guess, along the way that you saw in businesses? What inspired you to keep going for it?
Kenny Nguyen:
I mean every business is hard. I think the principle it's the same for every business. Whatever you do, you have to figure out what your numbers are, why you're in business, what inspire you to get going every day.
For me, it's my family. It's my daughter, my wife. I have to figure it out. I have to be successful. I cannot look back and fail so that allows me to do creative thinking. I have to figure a way. If there's a problem, I will figure out a way. One way or the other, there's always a way. And like I said, again, family is everything to me and this is hard work. Outdoor living, it's hot, it's really hard work but I love doing it. And really at Peakview, I truly believe that we build projects to connect people, help families connect with their families.
And also nature as well. Colorado is a beautiful state. We have beautiful weather. A project we just did recently in Lafayette, this couple built like a full blown outdoor living space. And that got me thinking why are they doing this? Why are they spending a bunch of money for this? And the reason why they did it is to bring their kids and their grandkids over to hang out, to get the deeper connections with their kids and family. And that really inspires me, give me the satisfaction that I make a difference in family. I give them a place to make the connections.
Jack Jostes:
Well, that's incredible. Well, again, thanks so much for coming on the show. Super inspired by you and your story and everything you're doing, and the work you're doing is really incredible. So I'll put a link to your new website in the show notes. Everyone check it out. And Kenny, thanks so much for coming on the show.
Kenny Nguyen:
Jack, thank you so much for having me. It's been a blast.
Jack Jostes:
All right, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning into today's episode of The Landscaper's Guide. Hopefully, you are inspired by Kenny. I know I am.
And, hey, if you're new to this show, subscribe at landscapersguide.com/podcast. And if you're already an active listener to this show, help me spread the word about this. Send this episode or take a screenshot of one of your favorite episodes or send the link, just text it, landscapersguide.com/podcast, to a landscaper in the industry who would be inspired by this show.
That's my goal is to really serve the industry with these stories and I appreciate you listening and sharing with people you know in the industry. All right, everyone, Jack Jostes here. Thanks so much for checking out The Landscaper's Guide. I look forward to talking to you next week.