Decking Dreams: The Hen-House Decks Story with Andy Henley

April Edwards (0:46) All right, we are live streaming, so welcome back to the We Love Deck Builders Podcast. Your go to podcast for mastering the business side of decking I’m April Edwards, CEO and growth strategist at deck builder marketers dedicated to helping you craft the business you deserve. Today, we have a very special guest with us, Andy Henley, the visionary behind Hen-House Decks and one of Ohio’s Premier award winning deck building companies. Andy has not only built a thriving business but also a brand synonymous with high quality craftsmanship and innovative designs. He is a sought after speaker at events like Deck Expo, and has a regular column called tools and technology in the deck specialist magazine. Beyond his professional achievements, Andy is dedicated. He’s a dedicated community member, actively supporting local youth sports and running Alexis pantry, a charitable organization named in memory of his late sister. So let’s get to learn about some of Andy’s success secrets. Andy, thanks so much for being here.

Andy Henley (1:53) Hey, I appreciate you inviting me. I have my little friend. She’s not going to sit the whole time, but this is my newest family member. This is Daisy. She is a French Bulldog. She’s awesome. She’s also a pain in the ass because she’s a puppy, but we’re working through that so, but I’m going to go ahead and put her down.

April Edwards (2:10) We’ve got a problem with the live stream, and I really want people to join in so they can ask.

Andy Henley (2:15) Sorry about that.

April Edwards (2:16) Yeah, one sec to pull this up. I hope we get some good questions almost there guys, I know it’s so exciting to watch me.

Andy Henley (2:24) Easy, easy questions.

April Edwards (2:28) Yeah, okay, Trial and Error, we still have Andy, and we’ve got a lot to go over, so we’re going to get to it. You guys can always see for anybody that is seeing the live stream on Facebook, ask some questions and we’ll get back to you soon as we can otherwise, definitely check out and listen to the podcast later, and we will always get back to you with any questions that you have. But Andy, let’s start at the beginning. Can you share with us how Hen-House Decks got its start?

Andy Henley (2:51) Yeah, so you know, I started my… it’s kind of a long story. We’ll make it somewhat short. I started my career framing houses, and kind of liked it, but also was more of that guy that would just be a chatty, Cathy during the whole process. And I want to know why they put a door there. Why is this window there? What, you know, just kind of more asking questions than just doing work. So, you know, I’m sure most guys that have a business and they have employees, they don’t want that employee to keep asking them a million questions. They pay them to get the job done. So I wasn’t my cup of tea, and I don’t think I was their cup of tea. But silver lining in how I got out of that, which is a weird silver lining, is actually have had two brain surgeries, and I’ve had a stroke during one, and that was during that process of framing houses. And when that happened, I could no longer frame houses. So the silver lining was I didn’t have to do it anymore, and I think it was mutual for both of us. But I’ve always had the gift of the gab, and after I did recovery and rehab, and I actually lot of people don’t know it, half my face is numb. This whole part of my face is numb. I can’t feel anything. And I know that question everybody’s like, Oh, if we hit you in the face, can you feel it? No, I can’t, but don’t do it. So it was, it was a pretty long recovery. It’s probably three or four years. Some of it, I don’t even remember. It was really weird. But I needed a job, so I took a job, and looking in a newspaper, it said decking material salesman. I was like, Well, I like to talk. And I was in the construction field, so let’s do that. So that ended up being a job selling pro sell deck. And those of you that don’t know what pro sell decking is, it is actually ASAC deck now. So before ASAC was a product called Prosell, and that product was kind of a new product that came out on the market when all the composites were failing miserably. So it was kind of a tough job, because here I am a guy showing a product and selling everybody its products and sliced bread. But you know, that conversation with those contractors that I was meeting when I was selling that product had already been told that kind of sold a bill of goods on best things and sliced bread. So it was a tough sale, but I ended up finding a passion in it. I ended up finding my love for the industry. And then after ASAC consumed up that prosell, I took a job as a working at with a deck builder that I met through my connections with the process. And then from there, I’ve worked with a couple other deck builders in my market.

April Edwards (5:10) Hold on. How old were you when you made that transition?

Andy Henley (5:13) 24 maybe? 23, 24 maybe 24, 25 somewhere around there, enough to think I knew it all. You know what I mean. So you know that, what’s that blink 182 song, nobody likes you when you’re 23 that was about right around that time frame. Yeah. But there I, you know, I did project managing business growth, you know, sales, things like that. And I just found that there was a lack of creativity. And I always had a vision, going back to when I was framing houses. Hey, why are we doing this? Why I kept, you know, and ultimately, in about 2006-17, I ended up being parting ways with my former company that I worked with and I created Hen-House Decks with the vision of, you know, wanting to just be me, selling and designing decks. I’m not really even selling them. I’m giving people an experience with the project of making the deck more than just the deck, which is my slogan, right? It’s not just the deck, it’s a Hen-House Decks. And I’ve always went in there. I could have taken the easy approach and just gave them what they wanted, cookie cutter, in and out. It’s probably the smartest thing I probably could have did, to be honest with you. But instead, you know, I sat there in the kitchen table I would design with the computer program. And I mean, I’d be there for two hours redesigning a deck, showing them samples, going out, measuring it, come back in. I mean, there were some times where the people would order pizza, and we’d sit there and eat pizza and design a deck when I was really young. Now, I just take the stuff home and work at home back then. I mean, it was struggle. Was real. I mean, I wouldn’t leave until we were satisfied with what we were getting, and then sometimes I’d price them low, sometimes I’d price them high. I didn’t know, and I just had to learn as I went. So that’s how Hen-House Deck got started, and here I am so.

April Edwards (6:50) Well, a true visionary wouldn’t just go for the easiest thing. So yeah, I think that’s a good segue into talking about the types of projects that you like to get and what really makes you, know, your approach unique?

Andy Henley (7:03) Yeah, I mean, I take the approach of the artistry. I believe that this decking industry, there’s an art to it, you know, there’s craftsmanship. I mean, there’s an art to building, there’s an art to designing. There’s an art to being a product specialist and knowing the products, knowing how they work, knowing the warranties and how to be very quick on your feet when you’re at the sales appointment, of telling the customers. And with all that, I think, you know, most of my customers, they’ll hire me because I think hey look at me and they go, This guy wants the deck more than we want the deck. And that’s the way we want to hire because it’s, you know, I’m so passionate when I’m out there that I mean, they can see that I’m not just a salesman to them. I am a deck guru who they have brought out, and they trust what I’m telling them, which is how I’ve been able to get some of my creative projects. I probably tell more people I’ve never done that before, but I’m not afraid to do it. And just because we haven’t done something doesn’t necessarily mean that we can’t. And those people trust me, you know, and we will spend a little bit of extra time on that project, and going back to before, and even sometimes now, you know, I’d like to say I get top dollar for everything. I don’t right? There’s some things that I do we don’t know how long it’s going to take. We do it to our full potential. And I think I’ve gave a reasonable, good price. Sometimes I walk away thinking that was great. Sometimes I walk away and I think, Man, I need to charge more for that next time. But I’ve learned something through the process. And really, the marketing I get from it is ridiculous, you know, like the marketing experience and the dollars that I get back from that, I think outweigh actually, what the cost of what I charge them before anyways, so…

April Edwards (8:42) Awesome! That’s really great to, I don’t know, I just want to dissect that for a minute. I mean, obviously you’re doing your own sales, right? You’re going to meeting with the clients.

Andy Henley (8:51) Myself, and actually my brother, a fun fact about Hen-House Deck. So let’s clear the air with, I mean, I might have a chicken. I don’t think you’d see it from my thing here, but I got a chicken tattooed on me. I’m not, I don’t have an obsession with chickens, all right, but where the Hen-House comes from is my family names Henley and great house. So I’ve taken, you know, the Henley and I took Greyhouse, and there you go. There’s Hen-House Deck, and I really take pride in that, because a lot of my family works for me. I have two dads, but, you know, step dad and I have a biological dad. They both work for dad. Yeah, I got a bonus dad. You know, one’s Henley, one’s Greyhouse, right? And kind of stem from that, and they both will work for me. And my brother does sales for me. My brother in laws are my carpenters. Their uncle is a supplier. I’ve had cousins work for us. I have a brother that lives in Australia. He’s actually came here and worked for us a couple times. So, you know, this isn’t just a name. This is my family. This is my business. I’m not going to, you know, I want that name to stand for integrity. I don’t want to be a, oh, those guys are rip offs, you know, because that’s my family names, both of them, you know, I could have just went Henley decks, and then said, Screw it, I’ll be great house decks, but I put both of them up there, you know so…

April Edwards (10:06) Yeah, you’re quite the family man, and I think that your personality really shines in your brand, and then, you know, just your your overall approach and bringing that to the table. I have to imagine the experience that people have when they meet you is very impressionable, because when you’re passionate about something that inspires other people. So I would love to sit in on a sales call with you, you know, or in home consultation. It sounds pretty exciting.

Andy Henley (10:30) It’s, oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. It’s, you know, I think I was with somebody. I forget who it was. I think it was Jerry Tracy. I don’t know if people might know Jerry. He’s a super OG in the industry. He might just retired, but he worked for NILCO at one point, and then I think that’s US Lumber now. But anyways, you know, I was riding with Jerry one time way back when I first started. And I did, and somebody called me on a sales call, and I said, Do you mind? And I did the whole sales pitch, and not necessarily, it was more of like a lead qualifying phone call, not a sales pitch. And, you know, he listened to that, and he told me he was very impressed with. He said it was about the best sales approach lead setup that he’s ever said, you know, that he’s ever heard. And that made me feel good, because this is a guy that knows a lot of people, and since then, I think, just with experience in doing it, I would say our lead process of talking with people is very clutch right now, and I think for anybody listening, that’s an important first impressions, even if they don’t see you. It’s just that phone call. You know, anybody can have an ad in the paper or even a cool website. I have a great website. I think I know somebody that I’m talking to that helps me run it too. So but my website is so killer, and it shows a lot of personality. That’s as far as it could go. I could just be a stick in the mud when you call me, and all the value of the character that my company offers just goes out the window. So I think that first phone call and you’re talking to somebody, I think right then and there, they know, when they get off that phone that they’re hiring, I truly believe that or they want to hire you?

April Edwards (12:01) Yeah, I mean, it’s about the entire experience, and I just love that you bring that up because it’s easy to think about how amazing you build a deck, or what your customer service is like, but to really look at it from that very first touch point that they have with you, and then to carry it forward to the next one, when they have a conversation with you, you’re truly caring about the entire experience, and that is amazing. And I think that’s something to you know, really value. And something that stands out with you in general, is that you’re not just building a deck, you’re creating an entire experience now, and, you know, for people to enjoy in the future. And it’s just amazing that your passion sticks out like that.

Andy Henley (12:39) I appreciate it.

April Edwards (12:40) Yeah, let’s talk about some other things. Everybody knows you for the guitar deck, apart from that, or even if you want to talk about that, and if you guys don’t know about it, we’ll have to share a photo. But what do you think have been some of the most interesting or challenging projects that your team has worked on?

Andy Henley (12:54) Yeah, so I would definitely say the guitar deck was certainly a challenging project, and it wasn’t a challenging project. Because, I mean, first off, if you haven’t seen the guitar deck, it is pretty cool. Just type in Guitar deck on Google, it’ll come it was my Mona Lisa, of my career, pretty much, we were young, ambitious. I was starting in, I think I built that deck in 2019 you know, I had just kind of started my new vision in 2017 so it, you know, we there was a little bit of growing and stuff. It was a big risk. I underbid it. If I’m being honest, I probably should have sold it for more, but I was so excited to see that come across the table. You know, I can’t take credit for the vision behind that. There was an architect. He designed it. They planned it out. The homeowner was like, I want this guitar. We just need to find the right guys. Now, where they say we need to find the right guys. That’s where I can take credit for because I hounded this guy. When I saw this plan, I put a bid so good together they couldn’t turn it down. And I came out with a game plan. I researched. We looked up pictures of Stratocasters, and we noticed, hey, and this design that you have laid out, you know, we need to take one of those frets and we need to turn it a little bit if we’re going to make this authentic, let’s roll with and, hey, let’s use this product, because these colors are fantastic. And, you know, I’m blessed that I have such a great carpenter that works for me. I have three main carpenters, and I’m to be honest with you, I’m blessed I have all three of them. I mean, anybody be lucky to have just one of them? I got three. That’s, you know, I don’t know what I did upstairs, but I’m grateful. But my one guy, Kenny, he’s a wizard, you know, I think the framing was probably the most challenging on that because there was a lot of pieces and parts and colors and and you gotta frame it, and you have to have that vision while you’re doing it. And Kenny made it look easy. I know deep down, he was struggling for him, but, man, I was stressing me out. And he made it look so easy. So, you know, I would say that was a challenging job for me as a business owner, but, you know, setting myself up with the right people around me really made that job go pretty smooth. And I mean, there’s been other jobs that have been challenging as well, but I think we just grow on every one of them. You know, something on a job is a pain in the butt. And I don’t want to, like, it’s something that we’re like, oh, why’d we get into this? But you know what? Next time we run into that situation, we understand and know how to adjust and fix that. So, you know, I would say that guitar deck was probably the most challenging because of our experience. But I don’t mean that in like, we weren’t experienced. It was just more of that was a big boy project. That was, like, my first big boy project so, yeah…

April Edwards (15:23) Yeah, the framing is really amazing. And when you talk about, like, how you wish you didn’t have to cover it, because the framing looks so great.

Andy Henley (15:30) Yeah, the framing alone was gorgeous. So, yeah…

April Edwards (15:33) Awesome! I guess there are challenges with having issues, but learning from them is very valuable, whether or not it’s in your control or out of your control. I think as business owners, there’s we learn how to proactively solve issues before they come up, and to help mitigate them. And so there’s definitely a lot of value to be had by pushing yourself and learning from it, and you know, and growing from all of those situations. So when it comes to learning, what do you think your biggest learning opportunity as a business owner?

Andy Henley (16:05) Yeah, so, you know, I think there’s a lot of different answers to that, and I, you know, when, when you ask me that question, there’s one thing it can’t jumps out of my mind. And you know, it’s not like learning to find a good marketing company, learning to find good relationships with manufacturers, or what’s the best product. For me, the biggest learning thing that I’ve learned is how to balance my work life and my personal life. I struggle with that still to this day, I’ve taken life classes, I’ve done done a lot of things that have tried to put me in the direction of how to help with that balance and and it’s definitely been improving. It’s definitely getting to where I’m finding that piece, where I can finally disconnect from what it is that I’m doing. But as a business owner, people always say it must be nice having your own business. And you know, there are perks of having your own business. When it’s good, it’s good. But what people don’t realize is that, you know, blood pressure medicine, I have anxiety. You know, I got these are things that happen as you’re running a business. I mean, everybody else can move on with their lives. I am Hen-House Decks , and I mean that candidly, because I’ll contradict myself probably I say, I’m Hen-House Decks, It’s my company and by name and everything on there, but my guys are what makes Hen-House Decks too, so I’m not just Hen-House Decks, my whole crew and team is Hen-House Decks. But that being said, you know, it’s my responsibility to make sure that my guys have paychecks, they have food on their tables. You know, they’re they want to live their lives. They want to get loans. They want to enjoy the perks of living too. And a lot of that pressure falls on top of me and on top of my own life situations. Of I’ve got two little kids, you know, I got seven and a 10 year old. And there’s challenges in being a parent like everybody has, you know, you throw the stress of the day, and then you get home, and I would find myself being cranky or irritable because I have stressful day at work, and I would take it out on them. That’s not fair to my children. They didn’t do anything. They just want to see dad, right? So that was where I kind of feel the learning thing for me as a business. I think it’s something that’s swept under the rug a lot. And a lot of guys, you know, they’ll say, Oh, the learning how to, you know, measure twice and cut once is, is was, I found was the best thing to do for my learning experience. But I think if you’re a business owner, young, old, anywhere in your career, that balance between work and professional or, I mean, your personal life. I mean is, I think, one of the most important things, because it’s the end of the day. That’s why we work, is for our family and our life. So…

April Edwards (18:31) I think it’s really easy to get stuck in a pattern of, like, you’re so used to working so hard, right? I think that a lot of us start off and work a million hours a week, you know, until we are able to get to a place where we can start to delegate things and really focus on our brilliance. But I think the name of the game is like being intentional with your life, with yourself, with the decisions that you make, how you use your time. And it’s not easy, and it seems like it would be, because we’re our own boss, right? Which I always say, I’m my own like I have the worst boss ever, but…

Andy Henley (19:06) Me too!

April Edwards (19:07) It’s not easy to do, and I think so much of it as you grow, is a mind shift, and you have to be aware of that and make sure that you’re doing the things that you need to do to take care of you, so that you can take care of everyone else.

Andy Henley (19:21) You know? Yeah, 100% Yeah, accountability. It’s a huge word, right? And as a business owner, and really anything in life. But I mean, my experience is being a business owner and as a business owner, you know, it’s, you know, somebody’s gotta hold you, myself accountable, and nobody, my guys and my workers, you know, they do what they’re told to do to a certain degree, right? But nobody holds me under the fire, because it’s not their gig. It’s my gig at the end of the day, yeah. So that’s, you know, that’s always a struggle, because you hope that the decisions that you’re making and the vision that you have is the best decision for your business and for your Employees and for your customers and for your family. Sometimes you get that overwhelmingness feeling in you. And you know, I’m not afraid to take a risk. I think I’m at I’m where I’m at in my life, because I’ve taken that risk, and I’ll continue to take risks. But with those risks, you know, there is worry. You know, I’m sure, April, you’re a business owner, you know, you’ve had a vision for, probably for a long time. And I bet it didn’t come easy, right? And I bet people told you, you were crazy, right? Or, you know, if I had a nickel when I was trying to start this up, just my mom would say you should just go work in a lumber yard, you know, like, and, you know, they could offer 401K, and you’d have a steady paycheck every week. You know, that was never my vision, and I stayed true to myself, and I’m grateful that I did that, you know, but it did come with a price, but in the end, I am proud of what I’ve built, you know, so…

April Edwards (20:50) Yeah, and I just love that you keep saying vision, because it’s so easy for us to just kind of go into a business with these ideas of we’re going to do it better, or, you know, I want to have more freedom, but it’s hard work.

Andy Henley (21:04) It is hardwork.

April Edwards (21:05) So if you don’t have a vision, you’re going to get lost, you know? And probably…

Andy Henley (21:08) It is, and the hard work comes from getting people to trust your vision too, you know, like, sometimes it, you know, I’ve, I’ve had this vision and been told I’m crazy, or they just don’t understand it. Or when you say, from mine, it’s when they say hard work. The hard work has been Burling down and focusing and staying, keeping the vision strong, right? It wasn’t like going out and moving lumber from one side to the other. You know, the hard work came with a mindset of, don’t, you know, don’t fall, you know, fight. You know what I mean, like you want to keep your vision, don’t let it fade away. So, and that’s some people don’t understand that unless they have that, you know, so…

April Edwards (21:43) Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot to dissect on that one. Yeah, good. Carry yourself so that you can be I feel like I’m a cheerleader for, you know, my husband, my kids, my team, my clients, you know. And it’s like, I gotta protect my energy so that I can give back to everybody else. And it’s not always easy. What are some strategies or practices that have attributed to your success and how you’ve been able to maintain your growth?

Andy Henley (22:13) You know, I’ve… Going back to saying I focus on the artistry of a project. You know, I’ve set myself by being different. I’m not a cookie cutter company. You know, my strategy has always been, try to be different. Try to offer something a little bit more than the other guy offers. It could be, you know, back in the day, it was, let’s put a border on a deck. It was weird, like there was a time where nobody put borders on we just had exposed edges, and then you’d paint it and call it a day. And then, you know, I did it, but we started doing borders on decks. And, you know, I priced off from somebody else. So then next thing, you know, it’s standard. Everybody’s doing a border on there. And then we thought, hey, let’s picture frame our steps. Because what you do is you do a border on us on a deck, and then you’d still do cut your treads and they exposed. I like to overhang everything. I don’t like to trap my treads in there with the official so that was what I did. So I would use that as a sales thing. Oh well, you know, we picture frame our steps. And then after that, it turns into, you know, hey, I put a drink rail on top, and blah, blah, blah, and it just and then it just got ridiculous. And then we ought to draw a line, I guess. But from doing that and that experience, in doing that, I have found that being unique and offering something different really gives me a leg up when I’m meeting with people, you know, I might not be somebody, you know, some people, they just want basic, and that’s cool, but, you know, they also respect, or like if, even if they went basic, and they want that basic, and they went with the cheapest bid, because to them, it was just the deck. When I left there. I didn’t make it easy for them to decide that, and they didn’t know that, you know. And that just shows my passion and my craft and what it is that I’m doing, and I think that’s what separates me from the other guys, you know so…

April Edwards (23:52) So what I’m hearing is passion, like really caring too, and pushing the boundaries too, you know, pushing yourself in your creativity and not being afraid to, you know, maybe make the project more complicated than it needs to be, because it’s going to fulfill a creative need and create a better experience and help your clients project stand out. And, of course, your work stand out.

Andy Henley (24:18) For sure.

Andy Henley (24:19) So you’ve been involved in some community projects. I want to talk a little bit more about that, especially since you have such a strong differentiator with having a family run business, you also really help with the community. How has Hen-House Decks influenced, you know, just your personal life in general, and then your role in the community?

Andy Henley (24:40) Yeah, you know, I would say overall, you know, I do a lot of sponsorships. In a sense, I sponsor my son’s baseball, I sponsor my daughter’s basketball. I’ve sponsored holes for in golf, you know, I’ve done, right now I’m getting ready to run at this thing called Little Mr. And Mrs. Uniontown, which is, you just take two children and they get crowned king and queen. And and then they get to sit in the back of an old truck that we have, and they throw candy out of the parade, and it is sponsored by me, and, you know, as a marketing company. And you know this because you’re a marketer as well. I used to do this stuff because I wanted people to call Hen-House Decks, yeah. And now I do this because I want to give back to the community. I live in the house that I grew up, I’ve never left home, and I’m proud of where I come from, and I want to share whatever I can back with the community that provided me the opportunities to get where I’m at today. So when I when I’m doing this stuff now, you know, I’ll still put my name and stuff on it, but I don’t want it to be like, oh, we need to get a deck from Hen-House. I want people to see the name of Hen-House and not think of we need to call him. We need a deck. I want them to see the name Hen-House, and I want them to say that, you know, that’s a good company that supports the community. And I think in a world that we live in, it’s good to stand for something, and I stand for that. So to me, that’s where my and that’s that goes back to my balance. That’s really how I can make a balance. It’s like, yeah, what’s the point of having a good name and doing some cool stuff? It’s all cool, and you get to be recognized for cool projects and blah, blah, blah, but, but being able to give back and not want anything out of it in return, other than just the sure enjoyment of knowing that you’re a part of something, to me, is the greatest. That’s the best thing I could do. You know, so sponsorships and stuff go for henhouse. That’s kind of my thought process on that.

April Edwards (26:28) for anyone watching, I am sick, but you know, rock stars don’t not show up.

Andy Henley (26:33) Don’t let her. Don’t let her, don’t let her trick you. She’s crying because that was touching what I said, so…

April Edwards (26:41) So when do you, I mean, have you always sponsored things with the business, or did you get to point where people ask.

Andy Henley (26:47) You know, people ask you, Hey, can you sign up for this? Sign up for that. And then you don’t think anything of it, you just do it. And some of it is like, hey, it’s cool. I’m going to put my name in the back of my kids church. You know, stuff’s cool. But, I mean, I probably started doing it once I had kids and was able to have the opportunity to do so I’ve gave back to my you know, I used to wrestle. I My, that was my, that was my jam when I was growing up, and then it was still my gym until I had that spring surgeries, right? So it was a big part of my life that I think helped molded me, and I’m forever grateful for that. So I give, I’ve always gave back to that sport and one way or another of supporting a golf outing or whatever I can do at the time of whatever my financial allowed me to do, you know. But I think it mostly started when I had kids and started being more involved with my community, to be honest with you, because this is where they grow up, you know, this is their life.

April Edwards (27:40) Do you? You want to talk a little bit more about Alexis pantry and what’s going on there, especially if there’s anybody in our local area.

Andy Henley (27:49) Yeah. 100% Yeah. So Alexis is pantry. It is. How that got started is, I had a sister 2020, my sister had passed away. She actually suffered from anorexia. It was, that’s a difficult disease, you know, it’s a disease we don’t understand. It’s something where it took me a long time to understand, because you see this person, they’re killing themselves, literally. And, you know, you look at that and say, Why are you doing this to yourself? Like, you know, like it’s almost hard to feel bad for the person, because it’s like, well, they did it to themselves, you know. So that took a long time to come to grasp at that, and I did a lot of research on it, and finally understood that it’s a mental illness. And a mental illness is certainly something that you wouldn’t recommend to anybody you know. But when she passed, we wanted to do something important and kind of like a tribute, almost in a sense, to her, and something that kind of keeps her name alive. So actually, there’s a couple things I do with her that I’ll bring up, and the one is called Alexis pantry. And Alexis pantry is not necessarily partnership, but she’s actually the one that started it, and I just helped kind of promote it a little bit. But my actually my insurance agent. Her name is Mindy Covington. She does a great job. She has it up front of her store, which, by the way, I live four doors down. So I see it every day I drive by, and she’s got it up there. She’s got a little tribute to my sister up there. And the way the pantry works is non perishable goods go into the pantry if you have cleaning out your kitchen and you have non perishables, or if there’s a sale at the store, or if you just want to give back or want to have something to to put in there for people that maybe, maybe there’s people that are struggling, and people don’t necessarily want to say they don’t have money for food. You know, this is a place where you can go in there, take as you want, leave what you want. You know, it’s just a place that kind of gives back to those in need. And I think it was a good fit for my sisters, kind of a tribute. You know, my sister is a very caring person. I bet you she this is something that she loves. So, you know, that’s, that’s kind of Alexis pantry. I have a vision to maybe grow that a little bit. You know, there’s other, you know, that’s not a an original idea, but I would like to get more Alexis pantries, at least around the community where we at least call it the Alexis pantry. Know, so I can, can keep her name alive. Another thing that we do is we have an Alexis Henley Memorial Scholarship. And my dad runs that. And every year I donate money to that, a good chunk of money to that, by the way, and that is, that is to a graduate of the local high school we’re at. You know, they, that’s a scholarship that they get for that year. I mean, it, it might be a $3,000 scholarship, or 2000 something like that, but it’s, you know, it’s good enough for books and anybody that needs it. So that’s something that we take pride in. And I also have a vision of building that up a little bit more so well…

April Edwards (30:39) Hopefully spread the word you guys and see if, you know, see if you’re interested, you can hit Andy up on social media, ping him. And I’m sure there’s a lot of people that would like to support that.

Andy Henley (30:48) Yeah, 100% there’s a fun fact too, is it’s, you know, I, I’m a visionary. We’ve, we’ve, we’ve, you’ve even brought that up that I have used the word vision a lot, right? And I’m creative thinking and putting that talent that I have in terms of being a visionary, in a sense, I’ve, you know, I have actually written a children’s book for my sister. I’ve never got it published. I’d like to see if I can get it published. This is just, I have a prototype children’s book, and it’s called bad luck Lex, because my sister, when she was on Facebook, when she was kind of going through things she would always write, went to the park today, but it was raining, bad luck. Hashtag, bad luck Lex Something like that as an example, right? And, you know, one evening, I was just thinking, man, that’d be a cute little children’s book of a little girl with her dog, and it’s called bad luck, Lex. And the whole premises of it is like the book that I wrote was bad luck Lex goes to a party, and it’s all about how she’s prepping everything for the party. She gets to the party, and the ice cream melted, the balloons popped, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but, and she was she thought the whole day was ruined, but the end of the day, everybody at the party helped her reset it back up, and they ended up making cupcakes, and ended up being a great day. You know what I mean? Like something children’s book, right? But so I actually had that made, and I gave it to my mom for Christmas.

April Edwards (32:09) Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! I wouldn’t even be able to handle that.

Andy Henley (32:11) Yeah, it was, it was really cool. And I’d like to take it somewhere. I don’t know. I’ve got a lot going on in my world, but just, you know, kind of put that in perspective. I’m trying to open up Andy’s Pandora box here and let you guys in on kind of what I do. So, you know…

April Edwards (32:28) He’s got a lot more ideas too. I’ve heard them.

Andy Henley (32:32) I have tons. Yeah, yeah. Well, even that book, even the children’s book I could make, like, 12 of those things with different scenarios. So it’s pretty cool.

April Edwards (32:43) Yeah, awesome. I’m writing my first book, so I’ll let you know how it goes, and maybe I can give you some tips.

Andy Henley (32:47) Or give you a publication or something. Yeah, I just think it’d be cool. So…

April Edwards (32:52) Cool! So running a successful business you’ve mentioned is so much about your team. So how do you recognize and develop top talent for Hen-House Decks so that, you know you’re getting the high quality work you need, and making sure everyone’s happy.

Andy Henley (33:08) Gotcha, you know, and I hate to take this cop out of saying the vision, but you know, I’ve had a strong vision, and I try to bring that to these guys, and, you know, I’ll send them little video snippet of a lot of my peers, and a lot of ideas that I’ve seen from other people, some ideas I’ve thought of myself. I asked them for their opinion, and I think, you know, as I started doing more unique stuff, the guys realized that my vision is good, and they trust that, and they know that, that I’m looking for that little more detail than the average person in it’s it’s cool to see them now starting to have that passion that I have of actually, instead of it just being a deck to them, now it is a Hen-House Decks. They want to put that little bit of UMP in it. You know, some of my guys, they’ll go off and build decks for people they know, or they’ll, you know, little side projects from here to here. I actually embrace it. I mean, I can’t stop it, so I might as well embrace it. They can use the company, trucks, things like that. I mean, it is what it is. But even they’ll say when they’re doing their own projects, you know, they’re, they’re just decks, you know. But when they come to Hen-House, it’s a Hen-House Decks, and they know that because we, all of us together, make a henhouse deck. And it’s, it’s kind of hard to explain, but, I mean, you know, if you go on to my website, you go to Instagram, you go to anything that has pictures of our work, you can understand what that means. I mean, it’s just something different. It could be colors that you never even thought would make sense, and then they made sense, you know, or they don’t still make sense, but somehow they look good so, and that’s kind of where we are, and that’s in that vision, in that passion that I’ve had, has rubbed off on the guys that are building it, and that then from them, has rubbed off on their helpers. Who’s rubbed off all the way. I just hired a new kid, a lake rustler. By the way, I hired I got a young rustlers, but he started working for us. And, you know, he even told me yesterday, I asked him, said, How’s it going? So this first week. He said, This is awesome. That’s, it’s like, having, it’s like, that brotherhood you have in anything that you do, because everybody’s nice. I just feel like I’m part of a team. I feel like this is all, you know, I want the guy that’s cleaning out the trucks at the end of the day to stop at the job site, to clean up the trash and, you know, and get all that debris out of there, to look at that deck and be like, Wow, I’m part of this, you know. And that’s, and that’s cool, you know, it doesn’t make it make a difference, if it’s the number that my top contractor or that guy that’s picking up the trash, either they all have now they’re sending me videos of other decks that people are doing. So check this out, you know. And that’s cool. I love that, so…

April Edwards (35:36) awesome. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s very powerful, and having clear core values and making sure that each person resonates with those I think makes a pretty big difference. I’ve also heard you talk about bringing people to some of your team members to the award, the deck awards down in Clearwater. I would love for you just to share that with the audience, because I think it’s important.

Andy Henley (36:01) It’s a 100% important. You know, you’re you could go there, and I’ve said it before, you know, I could just say, Hey, I’m Hen-House Decks, and I could take the glory of doing a really cool project and going up on stage and getting that plaque and showing the world look what I did, right? But I didn’t do that. I mean, I did in a certain sense, but in the end of the day, my team did that. My company did that, and I do, I’ve invited a few different guys, and I have a plan to invite a couple more of this upcoming year. And I just it was really powerful to bring them there and they see and they feel the magic, in a sense, in the air that NADRA has to offer of all of the people that are like minded. I mean, you know, decks are cool, and I have a cool and funky way of doing my decks. So to the general public, they’re probably cool to look at and they’re cool to see, and some are pretty this one that’s behind me, this was a gorgeous project, right? But at the end of the day, people don’t want to have a sit down, have a beer and talk about decks. I mean, who wants to do that, you know, but not our industry. I’d go to these events, we could talk about a camo edge clip for an hour and a half, you know, and have to stop talking about it to do something else, you know. And I think it was cool for those guys to go there and see like minded people and see that what they’re doing is working and and the notoriety that they’re getting as a whole, and they don’t even know it until they went there. There was a lot of times the one guy took there, he had no idea that Hen-House was even a household name, in a sense, you know, I’m not trying to like pop. I’m just saying like we were a popular builder there, in a sense, and he’d have no idea. And it was cool, you know. And that was, I think that’s spun his passion into it as well, now, too, so…

April Edwards (37:43) Yeah, really inspiring your team and and lifting them up too, right? Because they’re the reason that you know you won the award.

Andy Henley (37:52) My team’s the reason I’m sitting here today talking to you, right? Like, if just like they, they need me. I need them, right? They could be the best carpenters in the world, but they don’t have a vision, and they don’t have a way of telling the world what they do. They’re just a good carpenter, and I could be a guy that just has a good vision but can’t deliver, right? So we need each other, and we know that, and I think that’s that there’s a lot of value in understanding where people are and what their talents are, and just trusting the process of what it is that that each individual has to offer. You know what? I mean, I don’t question them. They don’t question me. I mean, they question me, but overall, they don’t, you know, I do get my balls busted a lot. I’m gonna be honest. They do bless my balls pretty good, but, I mean, it comes it’s part of the game.

April Edwards (38:43) I’ve had to learn that as a visionary like you know, all of your ideas aren’t amazing, and sometimes it could be difficult to actually bring them to life. But there’s always one really, really good idea that people will.

Andy Henley (38:59) Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if it was who was, I don’t know if it was Thomas Edison, but let’s just say I could be making this up, what I’m about to say, or it could be true. I don’t know, but I feel like I someone told me that Thomas Edison, you know, they asked him how many or I forget how story goes. But anyways, it’s like he took 2000 times to make the light bulb. They said he failed 2000 times making the light bulb. And he said, No, I just found 2000 ways on how not to make a light bulb, you know. And I think those are like two different ways of thinking, you know. And I’m kind of the guy of saying, I’ve had this vision. I’ve had all these things. I think it’s great, you know, it might not be, but one of them’s gonna stick, I promise you, you know. But I gotta keep going and trying and trying and trying until I until one happens, you know, and then hopefully you get lucky and you get more so in that’s kind of, that’s actually probably how Hen-House so…

April Edwards (39:51) I love it. Well, can you give us a little sneak peek into, you know, what the next year and beyond looks like for Hen-House Decks?

Andy Henley (39:59) Yeah, kind of, um, I’ve got, so, you know, I’ve got some pretty cool projects coming down the woodworks right now. They’re, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve had some pretty cool ones throughout the year. But like, my real cool ones, they’re, like, we’re on them right now, weird. Like, normally, I have them consistent throughout the year. It’s fantastic here. But like, the cool, like, I think maybe NADRA winners. They’re all going on right now and then after that. So it’s going to be a crazy August for sure. I have teamed up with a an individual. I’ll keep it I’ll keep it private right now, but I have teamed up with an individual who has designed me something that is fantastic, and I got a green light on that. I just got to put the logistics and everything together, but it is a jaw dropper and and it’s been that person and mine’s goal to go up on NADRA Stage someday together and hold up an award. So we’ll cross our fingers and hope that that, you know, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, and I’d be disappointed, but just seeing what it is and knowing how my guy is going, my guy, Ken, is going to construct this thing. It’s going to be killer. It’ll be, it’ll certainly, I would put it in Guitar deck category to a certain degree, but I would put it in that category, so it’s pretty cool. So, yeah, I would say, stay tuned on that. But this individual, we might just kind of keep it in our back pocket until the award.

April Edwards (41:20) Yeah! Oh, you’re planting a seed. I love it. No, I’m really excited. Yeah, very cool. Well, I mean, if I guess where, where will people see you next? Are you going to be speaking at deck awards?

Andy Henley (41:31) So I will be at deck Expo? Yeah, I didn’t know what you meant. Well, I mean, I kind of did, but then I thought, Wait, am I missing something? I know everything right, but no deck Expo. I should be on the floor speaking with the power panel again. And you know, this year is going to be exciting because there’s a couple new people, new phases, lot of new things to talk about. We’ll start re promoting that pretty soon. Here, you know, I’ve built a really good bond with Mike Mitchell and Brendan Casey. I just vacationed with Mike Mitchell not too long ago, you know, so and that’s what this industry brought. And his daughter, My daughter, good buddies. It’s just crazy how this is my deck family. You know? It’s like, uh, when you go to deck expo or NADRA or wherever, it’s like a family reunion. So cool, like, I these are the people. It’s like, you know, this is like, this is your world that you’re in, you know. But, you know, I’m excited to do that power panel. Those two guys are in it with them. Anytime you can be in those guys’ presence. It’s a good day. I write with deck specialist magazine, tools, technology. The issue just dropped. Actually, we just reviewed the demo deck tool. It’s a pretty cool tool, if anybody’s looking to a fast, more efficient way of demoing their deck, I would certainly go and look at that article and read about Mike Mitchell and Maya’s experience and how we used it, and, you know, it was, overall, a very good product. And then that column that we write, you know, these, those are real columns, and those are real we’re hands on these people don’t pay us to write these, and they’ll send us the tool, which is cool. But we also tell them, Look, we’re going to be we’re going to give an honest review on this. If we don’t like it, we’re going to tell the viewers we don’t like the product, but overall, we’d probably, if we really didn’t like it, we’d message them back and say, Listen, not the product for us, you know what I mean. But so I just anybody reading that, I just want them to know that is authentic, that is not something that is, you know, just something to that we’re getting paid to do, and we have to make it sound good. No, that is an authentic review. It’s got field experience with multiple people touching the tools. My guys get annoyed because I ask them so much, how do they like something, and what’s their what do they like about it? What they don’t I’ve been out there trying it, and I’m not a guy that swings the hammer as much anymore. So I, you know, I’ve physically played with the the tools and stuff too. So yeah, check us out on deck specialist magazine as well. April, I think you gotta call him in there too, so…

April Edwards (43:57) Awesome, awesome! And then, of course, if anybody wants to reach out to you, can they ping you on social? Or what would be the best way?

Andy Henley (44:05) Yeah, so my Instagram, I had to write it down, because I always forget. It’s henhouse_decks, and Facebook is I think it’s just @Ohiodecking. I think that’s how it is. I’m pretty sure you can find me that way, or just type in henhouse decks in the search box, either way. And ohiodecking.com is my website. Check that website out. A website is sweet. I have. I get more compliments on this website than pretty much anything. I mean, it probably overshadows the guitar deck in my website. So, I mean, more people are like, wow, this website is I mean, if I my exit strategy someday, could be selling this website. So, so it’s pretty cool, so…

April Edwards (44:44) Sweet! Well, do you have any final words of wisdom for any of our listeners, whether they’re just starting out or been in the industry for a while? We’d love to hear straight from you. You know, if you’ve got any nuggets.

Andy Henley (44:59) Yeah, In mind. I mean, I’ve touched base on a bunch of times. I mean, you know, Trust yourself, trust trust who you are. Have a vision, stick with that vision, trust your own process. You know, find a good team and build your business around that team. And the biggest thing I’d say is, is chase the dream, not the money, because the money will come. You know, it’s cool to make money, but you know what’s even cooler making money, living your dream. You know what I mean? Like, that’s cool. So, and in order to do that, you gotta, you know, you gotta chase the dream first. You know, you gotta barrel down and have that vision and stick with it, and it will pay off someday. I’m living proof that it pays off in a sense, you know, I mean it, it worked good for me. I’ve got a lot to learn and a lot to grow from still. But, you know, I definitely got myself to the level of Hen-House that I’ve always wanted, and I now I can create a whole new vision of how I go farther the, you know, from where I’m at now. So it’s cool.

April Edwards (45:53) Yeah, Love it. Well, keep up the good work. And for all of our listeners, you know, tune in to the next episode, and there’s always, keep moving forward. Bye!

Andy Henley (46:02) Thanks guys, see ya!