Empowering Deck Builders: A Conversation with Mike Beaudry from NADRA

April Edwards (0:45) So welcome back to the We Love Deck Builders Podcast, the go to podcast for mastering the business side of Deck building. I’m your host, April Edwards, and today we have a truly remarkable guest with us, Mike Beaudry. Mike is one of the founders and the executive director of NADRA, the North American Deck & Railing Association. He’s been instrumental in shaping the decking industry, connecting professionals and always looking towards the future with a passion to truly help. His enthusiasm for outdoor living is contagious, and his dedication to supporting deck builders is unmatched. Welcome, Mike. We’re so glad to have you here, aka pops, for everybody that knows him.

Mike Beaudry (1:30) Yes, I’ve distinguished that with my gray hair and age. Yes, that’s me. Pops, I don’t know how they named me that, but it kind of stuck. So now I’m pops.

April Edwards (1:37) Well, I have to say you’re looking rather dapper today.

Mike Beaudry 1:39 Oh, I actually have a collared shirt, you know, with my NADRA logo, I’m all good now. It’s great to be here. It’s awesome. I love what you’re doing here. I love the podcast. I love everything you do for the industry. So I’m happy to be here, and I’m looking forward to answering any questions I can.

April Edwards (1:54) Yeah, and my goal is really just to really connect you and NADRA to, you know, some of our deck builders out there that aren’t members to really understand how they could better leverage the community and everything that you guys are doing there. So I always like to kick things off with a little bit of personal background. So, you know, I’m really, for all of our listeners, I’m really interested to know a little bit more about your background and what led you to, you know, start NADRA.

Mike Beaudry (2:19) Well, I gotta tell you, it’s not the normal story, right? I didn’t come from the industry. I wasn’t in big building and materials. I wasn’t a deck builder. I actually come from the skiing snowboard industry. I grew up in it my whole life. We had ski shops and ski areas in the family business. I have been skiing since I was like, two years old. Just love the outdoors. Love everything about it. Love motorcycles and going fast and having fun and anyway, around 1998 it became three years in a row with Adley Snow and I had opened up four new ski shops, and I’m third generation, so I fit the wonderful mold of running my family business into the ground. So I gotta tell you, I learned an awful lot on the way down. I learned more on the way down than I did on the way up. And I think that God had a plan for me, and it was part of my learning curve, right? And it hurt. It was tough. I got through with the family. Got five kids, eight grandkids, but we made it through. And my buddy, Mike Ebner, from Back to Nature decks, gave me a call. He used to work in a ski shop. He says, Mike, could you come help me with my business? I knew nothing about deck building whatsoever, but I said, Yeah, sounds great. Let’s go well, I’ll come over well at the end of the week, after smelling fresh cut cedar and digging holes and working in the dirt and putting on a ledger, and by the time we were done, we had this amazing deck. And the family was absolutely thrilled. And I realized it wasn’t really much different than selling skis or snowboarding. You’re selling a a family experience that gives people the opportunity to get together. You’re not selling something somebody needs. You’re kind of giving them something somebody wants. You want a nice outdoor living space. So believe it or not, I just fell in love the end of that week, and I looked at this thing we built, and I was like, that immediate gratification that you get as a deck designer or builder is awesome. I really don’t know how you replace that in any other job. To me, that feeling you get, and then when the family comes out and the kids come out, and you know that you’ve changed their lives, because they’re going to get together, they’re going to put their thumb phones down, and they’re going to not watch TV, and they’re going to have some s’mores at the fire pit. And I just, I really fell in love with it, and then I realized that this industry, although at the time, 20 years ago, it was still kind of growing, right? It was still decks, was just coming into the marketplace, right? There wasn’t anything new, and it was, it was wide open, and there was no association. And coming from my industry, where I was led a buying group, and I was the chair of the Association for the ski retailers and the ski so I said, What the heck, there’s got to be a show. So he went to deck Expo. It was the second deck Expo. This is 19 years ago, and I brought Mike, and he didn’t know there was a show, right? And we. Just fell in love with it. And I told my wife, before I left that I was going to start an association, and after she scolded me and said, Don’t you dare do that, because we know what nonprofits are. They’re non profitable. By the time I left that show, I looked for something that was a hot issue. That hot issue at the time was they switched over lumber from CCA to ACQ, and there was a problem. No one knew what was going on, right? So if you want to start something, start it around a problem. When I left the deck Expo, I had 19 guys put 100 bucks in a hat, and I began and that’s how it started. That’s way back when, right? And many, many times I turned in my hat and said, Okay, you’re ready to go. Association set up, and the board would look at me and go, Mike, there’s no idiots out there. They’re going to work like this and do this for no money. So you got to keep going. Bottom line, we kept going. And now, through the help of the members, I give all the credit to the members. Okay, my wife and I may be instrumental in, you know, whatever, doing the work that we do, but it’s the the Brotherhood and the community that we’ve created with NADRA through the membership that has built the association that we have today. And that’s pretty much my background. That’s the story of how it happened, and Perry AM, 20 years later, just absolutely loving what we’re doing and growing and having fun and meeting people like yourself.

April Edwards (6:08) Oh, that’s, well, listen, I gotta say you are a true visionary, because you can’t do this stuff unless you can really see past the today and what the potential is in the future to really stick with it. And it’s so impressive that didn’t even have the background, you know, to begin with, and you’ve made it what it is today. And it really is a hell of a community. I mean, I can speak for my own experience, you know, entering the community, and everybody at NADRA just having open arms and making it very comfortable. And so I just, you know that essence comes from you. I know it does. So really appreciate that.

Mike Beaudry (6:43) Thanks very much. We love it. We love what we do. It’s a lot of fun. And we’re just getting started. I feel like we’re I feel like we’re a 20 year overnight success, because we actually can pay the bills now and not worrying about the mortgage, and we can go to more events. So it’s nice that we’ve grown to this point, but I feel like we’re just getting started, like what we’re going to do in the next 10 years is going to be, if you know, all things come together, and God keeps me going, we’re going to have a great organization.

April Edwards (7:10) Yeah, awesome. Well, for those who don’t know much about NADRA, what role do you think it plays in the community? And you know, what’s your mission?

Mike Beaudry (7:18) So really it was, there was no voice, right? When the builders were scrambling trying to figure out what to do with the switchover and connector guys were pointing to the wood guys, and the wood guys were pointing to Chemical Guys, and everyone was doing their best, and no one really knew what was going on. But the bottom line is we created the opportunity to have a voice for the deck builder, because we’re the guys in the trenches. We’re the ones dealing with Mrs. and Mrs. Jones, when the problems come in, the questions come in, we’re on the front line right and through the support of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, architects, engineers, it’s a big industry like you don’t realize it’s not just made up of us, deck builders. It takes a huge community to make this industry what it is. So no one had pulled it together, and through the help of the members, we just kept pulling it together and getting bigger and bigger. And so the mission’s really simple. You know, we want to have a common sense approach to code. We don’t want it to be too technical. We don’t want it to be over overly restrictive. But at the same time, we have to have codes to keep people safe. So that was a big part of what we do. And then there was bringing people together through shows, through local events, regional events, right? And then really, through the website. I mean, technologies gave us the opportunity to reach out more than we ever could before in the past. And so the mission is just to bring the people together and make sure that we’re building safe decks and we’re helping each other in our lives and our businesses. And that’s that’s really what it comes down to, man, we just want to raise the bar for the industry that we’re all involved.

April Edwards (8:44) Yeah, and I love that. It’s like community led, in that sense too, you know, it’s like, not just you and board, like, putting things together. It’s, you know, really the community stepping up. And I have met several members that have, you know, and have brought some new ideas to the table and stuff. And it’s really cool to see everyone working together. So that’s…

Mike Beaudry (9:02) Seriously the biggest thing is the networking. You know, people always say, what’s the biggest benefit? What’s the biggest thing? It’s the networking. It’s not a program we created or saving money on this or that, or education. We love all that, and it’s all very important in the code work too. But it’s putting people together with their peers that don’t have the worry of competition, so they’re sharing information that they wouldn’t normally share. And I’ll tell you, even in local communities where people are literally seeing the same customers for the same job, everyone is getting along and doing fantastic. So yeah, it’s the network.

April Edwards (9:37) Yeah, and I gotta say, I mean, like, everybody has their secret sauce, and it’s been pretty interesting just exclusively working with deck builders. And you think it would be so rinse, wash and repeat. But everyone has their own approach to things, maybe their signature style. You know, everyone’s got a different team and all of these things. And for me, that’s the secret sauce. And you. Know it’s okay to connect with, you know, your competitor and share ideas, because you guys are maybe targeting the different, you know, different type of customers, or you’ve got something to share.

Mike Beaudry (10:13) Margie must be in a meeting too, because we do it all here, right? Including answers. I think we took 22,000 consumer calls so far so this year. Yeah, sorry about that.

April Edwards (10:26) Wow! Did you guys hear that 22,000 consumer calls?

Mike Beaudry (10:31) I’m working on a meme. Seriously, I’m working on a pops meme that’ll go on the website and it’ll start answering these common questions that we get all the time. Thank you, Al, who knows, maybe we’ll have it ready by deck Expo, but yeah, we answer so many of the same questions. Technology is great, and even though I’m old and have gray hair, I gotta tell you, I love it, I love what’s happening, and I think it’s a great time. And yeah, you need to have these technologies. And now somebody’s going to say, How come you don’t have your auto answer on? Oh, well…

April Edwards (11:01) Oh no, I know you and I nerded out on Al a little bit last time at the deck awards. But yeah, I’m constantly finding new ways to leverage it and creating custom chat gpts In order to just, you know, like, I’ll do a handoff if we get a new client. And I need my fulfillment team to make sure that, like, they don’t miss anything that I talked about with the client, and it’ll just spit out a nice handoff for them. It makes it so easy. It’s pretty cool. Well, how do you think the industry’s evolved over the last decade?

Mike Beaudry (11:35) You know, I’ll go a little bit further back, just because so much changed 20 years ago that five years in that period, it went from your grandfather’s deck, which was your 16 by 12 in the backyard, right, to this massive outdoor living spaces. And it really began to kick off, I think, due to a lot of new materials and innovative designs. When we started going into composites and PVCs, and we started doing railings and cable railings and lighting. It really just took on much more of an outdoor living opportunity for us deck builders than building the deck so much before that was okay, standard deck. Here it is, there’s your box, there’s a rectangle. See you next. And it turned into this incredible opportunity for visionaries like these guys that are building, I mean, look at the deck comp. We have to create these categories that are now upwards of a half a million dollar project, right? But it’s the outdoor kitchen and it’s full and spa, and it’s the hearth and patio, all of that’s coming together now. So to me, the biggest thing for me is simply the innovation of doing more outdoors and building a better space that we can use longer into the fall and later, right? And earlier in the summer. So yeah, I just think it’s basically materials innovation and design has improved our industry dramatic.

April Edwards (12:47) Yeah, so not just a simple deck to have some lemonade on, but an entire outdoor living space where people are investing the same amount of money that they would on their home, on expanding it to have double the space, but outdoors.

Mike Beaudry (13:01) Well, it’s funny, you know, I learned a lot about real estate and building materials over the years. And you know, a 15 to 20% amount of your money going into your outdoor on a home is pretty much what it’s going to be. So if it’s $100,000 house, which doesn’t exist anymore, it’d be 20 grand, right? A million dollar house now, you’re spending 200,000 by the time you do your outdoor and your fences and your water and I mean, it’s not hard to get to that kind of money. And with the new materials, they’re not cheaper, you know, they last better, but they’re not less expensive. And so, yeah, again, I think due to manufacturing and design of products and innovation, it’s helped us as deck builders to be able to think more outside the box, offer more create more opportunities for our our families, friends and homeowners.

April Edwards (13:47) Yeah, and I love that aspect of it, I mean, it’s kind of cool to be a marketing agency, and like, our job is to help our deck builders get more customers. And then in the end, it’s like, about our their customers fit, you know, and them being able to spend more time with family and friends and stuff like that, it’s pretty cool. So, same kind of passion, but like on the, you know, on the other side of it.

Mike Beaudry (14:08) Yeah, no, it’s important. If they don’t, if they’re not getting their marketing right, they’re not getting their leads, they’re they’re not going to stick around very long.

April Edwards (14:15) Yeah, well, a lot has changed in the last decade with, you know, it transitioning from the simple swear deck to an entire outdoor living space. But I do feel like technology has changed so much in the last couple of years. How do you feel like, What trends are you seeing? I guess in the industry right now?

Mike Beaudry (14:33) You know, it blows me away every year that we have this really it’s become an international debt competition, but the North American market and what they’re doing is, I don’t know how they beat it each year. I look at these projects that I’m like, oh my god, this is, this is unbelievable. Look at the way they did this under deck system. And look at this lightning thing they did, and wow. Look how they coordinated it on you have this literally multiple stages, like you do in a house for your living room, dining room, kitchen, right? All outdoors. How are they going to beat that next year? And then next year comes around, and our judges are blown away, and it’s just, I would just say it’s the it’s the deck builders, man, what they’re coming up with and how they’re using these new products, and how they’re bringing them together. There’s no limit to where this thing’s going to go. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I will tell you that I think pulling it all together is the next step, because the deck builder, we’re lucky. We’re kind of the first one out of the gate, right? If you think about anything in the country with topography, you have to get to your patio, you have to get to your pool, you have to get to your backyard, your porch, you’re going to come through the house on a deck, okay, a deck or a porch. So we’re kind of like the first step in the journey. So if we do this job right, and we build relationships with the fence companies, the pool companies, the patio, unless we’re so crazy as business people, we’re going to take it all on ourselves, which we have guys doing that now, creating the entire outdoor living environment for customers and Mrs. Jones don’t have to worry about nothing. I like this person. I’m doing well with them. I’m going to stick with them. And all of a sudden, you’re, you’re looking at a three year project in three separate phases to finish the whole deal. Right? I don’t really know where I was going with that, but that’s what’s happening. It’s just this is what’s going on right now, bringing, bringing all of that together, because we get to be the lead. So that’s my next lighting journey. Is trying to bring all the outdoor living associations together.

April Edwards (16:25) Yeah,it’s good, uh, lots of really cool things with lighting. And the louvered pergolas and, you know, the motorized and all of that stuff like, that’s, you know, you’re able to use your phone and or, like, automate, like, it opening or closing based off of the weather. It’s so crazy.

Mike Beaudry (16:41) Everything’s on your phone now. The lights are tight, are set into the tunes. The tunes are outside. The speakers all work together. I thought I was really advanced a few years ago when I did my ring and my Lutron lighting right? And it’s like you’re just getting started. So yes, technology is is a big, big part, which was the original question that I didn’t answer. Yes, technology. It came back to me, technology is a big part of what we’re doing. And again, this is at the super high end. You know, 70% of the decks in the United States are still your average deck. They’re just happy to have a structure outside their back door, right? NADRA, because we’ve kind of built ourselves up as what we want to be is to raise the bar. So we have many of the top people in the industry, but the norm needs us more than anything, because as we need to build more and more of these decks, and we need to replace more of these decks that are now well beyond their age, right? We need more deck builders. So we need to help guys with the average stuff. How do you build a basic deck? How do you do construction? Right? How do you design it, simple and safe and you know? So. So I will say that we really do as an organization, need to continue to concentrate on bringing in that beginning builder, you guys, in a way that they run their business as well, and us in a way that they know how to construct them and design them.

April Edwards (18:00) Yeah,that’s good. I have some questions here, so let’s, I mean, this is cool. Let’s see what some people are saying on Instagram. So we haven’t talked about the deck awards at all. So for people that don’t know about it, you want to give us a little overview.

Mike Beaudry (18:15) Sure, so what do we do to get a pat on the back? Well, nothing, you know, if you’re a deck but you really don’t get a lot of accolades. You know, you’re you work 90 hours a week, you work every night. You’re up till four in the morning. It’s an insane industry in business, right? For most of us that aren’t that organized, myself included. So I will tell you that to give this industry an opportunity to be appreciated by their peers and have a little something to hang your hat on. We started the awards 14 years ago, and I’ll just say this, the pandemic helped the outdoor living industry. Well, it helped NADRA too, right? We felt like we wanted to have this contest, and we’re going to do it no matter what, even if we have to just have our board of directors and 20 people in in an environment so that we can give the awards out for those that entered, right? And so we did it virtually, and we were going to do it, and we said, well, let’s go to Florida. It was the only place to open. Well, to our surprise, 180 members flew in and said, Oh, hell, we’re in. And all of a sudden, NADRA had its big boy pants on, and we could run an event by ourselves. So now, in the fourth year of it, had to go to another hotel to be bigger, and it’s growing. So I would just, I would sum this up as this, if you’re in the industry and you’ve been building some decks and you’re proud of them, you should enter them into the contest, right? It’s, isn’t a matter of winning, it’s a matter of being part of the process and learning and marketing wise. Hey, you’re entered a national contest. If you market that right, it’s going to help you in your local community. So, so the contest is turned into an unbelievable opportunity for everyone. You could partner with your manufacturers now. So if you’re building a tracks or ASAC, whatever. So all of a sudden you’re getting your award, and there’s the guy that helps you, you know, Nick at decorators, standing right next to you, and you’re up there getting your award. So pulling that together so that the industry can come together and appreciate one another, because we’re only as good as the weakest link, right? We’re all in this together. It’s turned into this amazing event that it wasn’t our brilliance, it wasn’t any great ideas, it just happened because of the members. And now it’s to a point where it’s like, Holy macaroni, where’s this thing going to go? It’s just, it’s a wonderful event, and if you’re not entering, you should at least come, because when you sit in that environment, this is not anything you’re used to. It’s not let’s go to the booth. Let’s go get some education. Let’s go to this tabletop. It is just all of us having fun, appreciating one another and networking. And it’s, it’s turned into family. We have families coming down because it’s the first week in January, right? So wait a minute, so I can extend my Christmas vacation. Yup, and so we just got lucky. Everybody looked and said, the first week of January, that’s going to fail miserably. Well, whatever it did it, and now. So, yes, I would suggest that again, all that’s on the website. You’re going to hear me say that a lot. It’s on the website. Yeah, on the website. You know, we don’t have a huge sales team. No sales people ever. So we need the website to get everything out so you will find it. Just click on it. You can see years of pictures of the winners, and I guarantee you will get ideas. It will it will get you excited about your own decks that you’re doing. And I think at that competition, whoever brought it up, thank you, because it’s an important part of the industry now.

April Edwards (21:36) And it is so much fun. I gotta say, the first year I went, I brought my family, and they are upset with me that I haven’t invited them back. But it is a lot of fun, and I have to say, Man, oh my god, the food is so good, but it’s pretty sweet.

Mike Beaudry (21:53) That whole fun thing is our mantra, right? It’s doing things right for the right reason, and having fun doing it. Literally is in everything that we do, and that comes from probably my ski background, and snowboard, it’s like, Yo, man, we’re just having fun. And this isn’t rocket science, don’t get me wrong. There’s engineering, and you can kill people if you don’t build them, right? So I’m not taking anything away from that, but damn it, we’re in a fun industry. We’re selling stuff that’s fun. We’re building and designing stuff that’s fun. So we as the industry should have fun, and that I will tell you, is a big part of what we try to bring to everything we do.

April Edwards (22:27) But it’s so inspirational. I mean, I’m not a deck builder, but I sit there and I’m just like, oohing and awing the whole time seeing the work. And so, I mean, work can get, you know, work can get work is work sometimes, right? And I think it’s gotta be really nice for builders to go there and just get really inspired to see what other people are doing. And it is awesome in that aspect. It’s very much like networking for fun, but not like networking to like find new partners and things like this. It’s more that camaraderie and kind of supporting and encouraging one another. And I know, personally for me, I’m actually going to be in Miami this coming week. I belong to a coaching group, and I will continue to always have some sort of a group like that, because I need to surround myself with people that I can look up to, you know, to really keep me like moving forward. And so I really find that’s what people see in the group. And a lot of the people like at the deck Expo, the panels have been awesome, which I’m going to be on the panel this year, by the way. So the panels are really great, and people really look up to the people that are on those and just giving their time and sharing advice and stuff. And that’s exactly what I see when I go to all of these events. So I very much agree with you, and just want to tell the audience, I recommend going even if you don’t want to enter, although I’m sure it will help you push your projects to enter. And I think manufacturers sometimes will support a little bit like you can partner with your manufacturers and, you know, and do some pretty cool work too. But it’s, it’s very it’s very inspiring. You guys used to have the beach Olympics, and I was so bummed that you weren’t going to have it this year. However, I will say the round table. So they replaced it with round tables, and it was invaluable. And I hope that everybody else felt the same way. But basically, the way that they set it up is they would, they mix manufacturers and deck builders and, you know, just various types of people and tables and, you know, you couldn’t be with really somebody you tried to do it. So it wasn’t somebody you knew.

Mike Beaudry (24:33) Well it was the most fun, right? Everybody was going to sit down with their clicks. And they all sat down. We’re like, oh, no, don’t be, none of that. And we had this whole plan where it’s like, okay, manufacturers, dealer, distributors, contractors, altogether. So if you came in with four people, you weren’t sitting with those four people, and that’s why they were so good. We had 11,120 written ideas that came out of that, right? Round tables. April Edwards (25:00) Mm hmm. Mike Beaudry (25:01) 1100 of them. And Barry John Davis, our international ambassador, was there busy on his computer knocking it all out. That’s actually going to get released in another month. All of that finding is going to get released to entice everyone to say, Oh my God, look at all this valuable information. And really, you gotta be a non member to get it all. Okay, you’ll get teased with it. But if you want to see it all, you gotta be a NADRA member, right? But we’re going to do it again next year, and that’s going to become something that will become consistent even at the regional level, because the way you build a deck in Colorado might not be the same way you build in Arizona. There’s differences in topography and what we have to do in soil. So we’re going to start doing more on a regional basis as well, with with some of this round table type stuff. So yeah, it worked out pretty well. But don’t be surprised if there’s some type of opportunity for that team building that we did before. We’ll just put that little teaser out there.

April Edwards (25:52) Okay, okay, cool. Well, I think some of the topic, it was basically just to kind of sum it up. They were round tables where there would be a different topic, and so everybody would kind of share their thought on the particular topic. And it was so cool to see everybody’s perspective from where they are in the industry, where they are in the country. And certain topics were like, what are some innovations that you’re seeing? Obviously, like, how are you marketing your business? Give me a couple more that came up. I can’t remember.

Mike Beaudry (26:21) What were the problems? Like, what are your pain points? And of course, people would say, labor. How do we attract new talent? Permitting become an absolute nightmare. I got guys call me Mike. I got 15 projects in the books. None of my permits have been approved, right? So not just going to work on that. We’re, going to end up doing more in that area to try to help our guys not have to wait so long. It’s and it’s going to take years to make this change, but it’s, it’s an area of problem. So it wasn’t just about what’s good. It was about what are the pain points, and same for dealers, what are their pain points? You know, how does that distribute? How does that go upstream to the distributor, to the manufacturer, to the raw material supplier, all of that is part of the food chain, and not just involved in the entire value chain. Because we’ve just learned you got to put it all together.

April Edwards (27:05) So what I’m hearing, for anybody that’s listening, is that, if you want to have a voice in the industry, join NADRA. I mean, how cool is that, that all these people were there and got to submit their ideas, and you’re just immediately taking action on it, even knowing that the action is going to take years to be able to produce. But you’re, you know, how are you going to move things forward if you’re not present in the industry and trying to make a difference?

Mike Beaudry (27:28) You know, we don’t sell. We never sold since we started this organization. That’s probably why we don’t have like, 5000 members, right? But I’ll just tell you this, in any industry, if you give back, it’s going to come back to you tenfold. And you and I both know we can name 100 guys, gals, people in this industry that have become part of this and have learned from other people and have grown from it. Right? So, our dues are 350 bucks. They’ve been 350 bucks for 20 years. We never raised them, never changed them. If I have anything to do with it, they won’t change. You know? Maybe we’ll create different tiers, so you have higher levels, right? But for now, that’s the thing. So if you give 350 bucks to your association, and it helps us do more of the work we do in code, I’d say that’s a pretty inexpensive way to support the industry and make a living out of.

April Edwards (28:21) I’m really glad that you said that, because I know that also, one of the questions during the roundtables were, you know, like, what value do you see in NADRA, something like that? And, you know, there were kind of mixed things, like a lot of people said community, which I find extremely valuable. But guys, I mean, what you just said is really the heart of it. It’s like, maybe it’s not what’s in it for you directly, but it’s what’s in it for the entirety as a whole. Being able to support, you know, moving the industry forward with a small, nominal fee of $350 plus, you get a ton of other benefits, which I want to talk about. But I know we have our questions here, and I told you I was going to go off topic, but I am interested in the audience learning about some of the other things that you do, like a deck for a soldier, and some, you know, some of the other things you guys have going on. So do you want to talk about that a little bit?

Mike Beaudry (29:14) I will. I want you to think about this, right? If you spent 20 years building your incredible marketing company, right? And I asked you to tell me what it is you do, you’d be like, Yo, Mike, man, I do a lot. I’ve been doing these programs, right? How can I say this? I will just try to tell you that probably over 100 benefits over the years we brought to the industry. Some of them get used. Some of them don’t. Oh, we have to have an insurance program. Nope, doesn’t work different in every state. Let’s get her to rent a car. Okay, I’m not your typical Association. I’m not too concerned about that. Use your credit card, right? Yeah, but I’ll just say this. I’m just going to whip off some bullet points. And again, when you go to the website, there’s different benefits for the different areas of the value chain. Is what a manufacturer needs in code and what he does in ASTM and ICC, that’s different, right? What they do in testing and the amount of money they got to spend. So we try to work in those areas, but when you get down to what it is, it’s the networking, it’s marketing and promotion, support, access to industry reports that people don’t even know where to get them, professional development, education. Our industry has zero credentialing. If you get an electrician or you get a plumber, what do you say? Oh, he’s certified. You get a deck builder, he has a truck and a toolbox, and he’s as good as the other guy. No, he’s not. And, matter of fact, you’re going to die if we don’t build this right, because you’re two stories up. So to me, an industry not having credentialing is a major part of our goal. So programs like tech evaluation, inspection, decks done, right? You know, these are five and 10 hour courses. No, you’re not going to learn how to build a deck of 10 hours, but you’re going to get a book with a lot of bases. You’re going to know a lot more than you do when you started. So education is increasing. Look at the work that we’re doing with Legacy Academy and really helping them in their businesses. You with the marketing. One thing I will say this about, in my opinion, the smartest of the deck builders is they like building deck and they like designing decks. They’re not necessarily business people. They don’t want to be business people. But yet, for some reason, the deck builder takes this badge of honor that I do it all. I do everything myself. I don’t need anybody. And if I could say one thing on this podcast, I would say this, with technology today, use the tools that you have and do what you love in your business, and get somebody else who loves marketing or loves lead generation or loves the accounting end of it, or the project, you know, let them do that. And I’m not saying that some people want to do it all, and that’s great. There’s a wonderful amount of successful business people that don’t know how to build a deck, but they’re great at running a business, right? But I would say that the large majority of NADRA members are passionate designer and deck builders that, in my opinion, let go of some of that other stuff. Man, understand it, know it. Make sure you trust your people, but give yourself a chance to do what you love, man, because I will tell you, me sitting at a computer is not what I love. So I have Margie, my wife, and great people helping us, so I don’t have to do that. Alright. Influence and advocacy. We do a lot of that. Business Growth, recognition and awards, community collaboration. Collaboration is key. Like when you have an issue on a local or a national basis, and you come to us and tell us about it, we’re going to work hard to put people together right and facilitate that problem or pain or a good opportunity to grow. So use the Association for collaboration, right? And then I’ll say, from a cost saving basis. I’ll only say this 20 years ago, most deck builders didn’t ever see a rep. Had no idea what a rep was. They went through a local lumber yard, they bought what they had, and they built their deck. Now we have these relationships right down to where people are working with marketing companies in these in these big manufacturers, they’re working with pro programs, where they’re all coming up with programs to try to help you, as a builder, do more. You need to work with these people and and get involved in your industry, because you’ll just meet everyone so all of these benefits. And I could go on and on, there’s a huge list.

April Edwards (33:13) There’s a discount on this product.

Mike Beaudry (33:17) It’s funny because I go to the website and I’m like, yeah, I forgot about that program. We do do that. We work with ICC, yup, forgot about that. Oh yeah, purchase the deck construction book. I’m going to do a plug here. Wait a second. This is my this is my plug.

April Edwards (33:30) Okay!

Mike Beaudry (33:33) This book is getting a rewritten as we speak. This is the the deck construction based on the 2009 then we did one in 2021 and now we’re doing another one in 2024 and this book takes all of the codes, okay, that are, that are, that are around decks, which is about, where’s my hands about this thick, right? And you have to go through them and make sure that you’re building the code. Well, Glenn Matheson, God bless him. He loves code. He is a code maniac, and he wrote this entire book. And this book will go over anything that’s a decking code, and it will list the code in the book, which we only have because it’s permission with ICC, so we’re allowed to write the code. And then Glenn breaks it down to my language. Okay, street language. What does all that technical stuff mean? Here’s what it means, pictures, design, what? How does it affect me? So ICC, this book is so successful that ICC said, Look, we don’t want to wait. We want to do another one in 2024 so we just formalized that there’s going to be a new book. And I will just tell you, if you don’t have this book from 2021 some people are on 18 codes. Some some states are on 15 codes. But you, as a deck builder, ought to know what the best codes are, and you should be building to those or better. So get that book. You can go to ICC. Can get it through there, or hit the notch website, and we’ll get you the right link. Because I tell you, we give these to all of our local inspectors, and those guys, from then on, they’re like, you guys are great, I wish more people knew about this and built like you. And pretty soon, you have a great relationship, and your approvals go through much quicker because they know you’re building it right. So if you don’t have that book, go to the ICC website and get that book. It’s like, 50 bucks. It’s about, I buy 10 of them and give them to all of my local inspectors because it makes my life a lot easier. We don’t make a time off that book, by the way. We just want you to have it. It’s a good book that everyone should have. So, yeah, go to the website. Look at the benefits. There’s a bunch. But again, I’m always going to go back to this April. It’s who you’re going to meet, and the people are going to elevate your life, your family and your business, because of the community that we have. We just have wonderful people that will teach you a hell of a lot more than I ever will.

April Edwards (35:45) Actually, I want to say something to the audience. I did tell Margie that I wanted to write an article about NADRA. So if anybody is listening, ping me on social media. If there’s anything that you think would be really valuable for other people to hear about your experience in NADRA. That would be really helpful to support NADRA, to help the article be more valuable and to hopefully reach more people. So please ping me on all the socials, and I just love hearing real feedback.

Mike Beaudry (36:14) Just real quick, I want to say I really did try to drag Margie in here, because this is team right? And anybody who knows me and knows what goes on here knows Margie is the real one that makes all the stuff happen. But she thought she’s a little camera shy, right? But I promise you, we’re going to do an interview where Margie sitting next to me, because when it comes to how it all comes together and what gets done, and how people can really utilize the benefits, no one knows them better than Margie. So next time I’m going to glue her to my seat and you’ll have the tool.

April Edwards (36:45) Okay, cool. Well, I definitely hope to have you on more than once for sure. So we had one person here that said, how would you recommend advertising winning a NADRA award when most homeowners don’t know what it is? So I can say something, but what would you like to say?

Mike Beaudry (37:00) Well, I just tell you that we literally created documents that everyone gets right so you as a entry, not a winner, just an entry, enter the contest, and you now get access to prepaid marketing and advertising. It’s already done. All you need to do is insert your logo, insert your name, let it rip, right? I will tell you that I could probably name a dozen members that will say their business grew solely because of entering the award. That’s how they got their recognition. Full page ads in their local newspaper. The local people want to hear that there’s a winner in their community, right? You don’t have to be a winner. You just have to enter the damn thing you know, Pete’s deck company won a national award or entered a national competition, and all of a sudden there’s a story, and that’s somebody else talking about you. You’re not doing it for yourself. You’re letting NADRA talk about it, or you’re letting your peers talk about it. And I gotta tell you, when you talk about the contest, you know when people are clapping and freaking out, it’s not so much that they won, their buddy won, or they wanted that person to win, because that was so creative and and they utilize it through your local marketing. Do radio shows, do podcasts, do local print your local people will run that for free. You can call it an advertorial if you want, but I will tell you that these marketing companies love the local, regional stories of a national competition.

April Edwards (38:24) I want to piggyback off of that because, I mean, the awards, yes, that’s amazing, but just letting your audience know that you’re active in the community, it’s a small little thing that will separate you from the pack, and so you know, being a member and promoting that and letting you know people know on social media that you’re going to the awards or you’re going to deck Expo. I might not seem like much, but it’s what I like to call the difference between having, like, a pepper mill at a restaurant versus a shaker. Like it’s the little details that make a big difference and help you stand out. And so those little things, I think they go really far, and people have a hard time. Everybody wants silver bullet, you know, everybody wants things to happen now, and I think there are many intangible benefits with what you guys are doing that people need to understand. But again, I think my big takeaway from today is, forget what’s in it for you. Think about how you’re supporting the community by, you know, just paying your dues. I wanted to say one other thing about the awards, and kind of going back to the family aspect of it, and, you know, bringing your kids, and Andy Henley brought his mom, and I think it was his mom or his grandma. I can’t remember who. Oh, it was his grandma, because my grandma just passed it. I’m like, I just want to hang out with your grandma. And he brought his kids and his wife. You know, it’s gotta be something to win one of those awards and go up there and have your kids see that. You know what I’m saying…

Mike Beaudry (39:49) Heck yeah! We have the kids come up, right? I mean, this is not the Emmys, although sometimes I feel the work, the work involved in the Emmys and the politics of like, how did this one win and that won? How come I won? And when there’s all of that, right? But I will tell you this, when your family is there for your proudest moment, because when else do you have that? What else the awards? I love the awards. They’re one part of it, but there’s so many things that you can do locally. Deck Safety Month, check your deck. Deck safety ambassadors, deck for a soldier, deck for a hero. These are all things that you’ll learn from other folks that got involved in these programs. And next thing you know, you’re doing what NADRA really about. You’re giving back to community, and you’re you’re going to bed at night knowing, Hey, man, look what I did, or look what we did. It’s not just about it’s really not just about our business. It’s about improving yourself. And I don’t want to come off like a preacher or a coach, I’m not okay. I’m just telling you that this is what’s happening. And the people that are working with one another and forming these talking on the phone and calling each other on Saturday mornings and asking to solve problems from other people that have been doing it for 20 years, this is what it’s all about. And it’s not just NADRA. Think about sites like Deck 101, you know what Clinton and Jackie have created over there? Or deck voters elite, or you guys, there’s so many areas where you can go to ask questions and get support that just get involved in your industry. It’s just so important. Benefits will come back tenfold.

April Edwards (41:17) I want to talk about doing what you love a little bit more, because I just feel like this topic can’t come up enough. And so you had talked a little bit about, I say, delegating, but the things that you don’t like to do give to somebody else. And I mean, I guess I’m interested in your take on it, but I want to just reinforce that. I mean, I can say this from my own experience and building my team and using third party vendors and all kinds of different things, it’s allowed me as a business owner, to be in a better spot where I can shine and what I enjoy, and to be the true visionary that I am. And when you are stuck doing mundane things, that you can hire somebody else that might take three times the amount of time to do it than you do. But if you can hire somebody else to do that so that you can focus on the things that only you can do that bring you joy, you’re going to get so much more out of your business, and you’re going to be more successful because you’re happier and you have more time to devote the things that are going to move your business forward.

Mike Beaudry (42:18) I share this as one comment, right? And again, deck builders are a special breed, man. They’ll take on everything, and they’ll do 90 hours a week, right? Work smart, not hard. I did that for a lot of years in my life, the 90 hour weeks, and I thought I was the hardest worker. Well, I wasn’t the smartest worker. My dad made a point, making sure he told me that one day he said, well, that guy’s getting a bigger bonus because he brought in more so what if you did 90 hours? Maybe you should have done differently. I would just say this, when you bring people in to replace you, you’re working yourself out of a job. And every day, when you’re a business owner, that’s your job, work yourself out of a job. And I would not work myself out of a job with someone that takes so much longer to do it. I’m going to find somebody that’s so much smarter than me and so much better than me in that and I’m not going to mind paying them that money that I work so hard for, that extra, you know, nickel I made on every dollar, because that person is going to bring me back that ROI. They’re smarter, they’re better. They know it, and they, you nailed it. They’re doing what they love. You know, Margie loves making things work, and she loves the detail. I hate the detail, but it’s in the detail, right? So, surrounding yourself with a team and growing, it’s a you know, I say that, and like you, we use a lot of third party, right? There’s three of us that run NADRA, myself, Margie, Heather, the kids go in and out, right? We’ve had Dan and Heather and Michael, and we’ve had them all in and out, right. But I will tell you that it doesn’t take a ton of people if you have good third party services. So when you can get them, get them, and if you’re growing at a pace where you need to scale, you’re going to have to bring people in. And you should be bringing people in to take the work off of you?

April Edwards (44:02) Yep, for sure. Yeah. I mean, in Eos, we call it letting go of the vine, and it’s hard to do because you’re so used to feeling proud from the stuff that you do. But for me, I had to realize that I’m not going to be able to help as many people if I’m trying to do everything on my own. So then I got to the point where I realized, wow, I actually have a really good opportunity to build a career for somebody else, you know, by taking that off of my plate and giving it to them. And so now it’s so cool to be like a coach, you know, for my team, as opposed to trying to own everything on my own, you know. And now I take pride in that, and I want to be the best leader and coach that I can, you know, and so it’s mindset is everything, in my opinion, when it comes to running a business. So you gotta shift it a little bit, but you also have to have a vision for what you want. And if you’re not getting there, then, you know, you gotta step outside of the box and try some new, stuff, right?

Mike Beaudry (44:57) If you don’t like what you do, get the hell out and do something else, right? I mean, there’s. A big world out there, you could do a lot of things. If anybody would have ever told me I’d be doing this decking thing, I would have said, Oh, hell no. But I really feel that most of my life was kind of building me towards this opportunity, right? We’re all lucky to do what we do. I can tell you, I love what I do, and I think it’ll be a long time before I’m ready to hang it up, just because I’m getting into those years, you know, like, I just feel like we’re getting started.

April Edwards (45:22) Yeah, well, kind of a good segue. I always like to ask, what advice would you give somebody just starting out in the in the business?

Mike Beaudry (45:31) Surround yourself with successful people? You know, a lot of times we have a calling to help everyone, and I’ve done a lot of that in my life. And sometimes I’ve tried to bring people up, bring people up, bring people up. You know something, sometimes you gotta bring yourself up, and that means putting yourself in uncomfortable situations that you’re working with people that are smarter, better, more successful, trust me, they’ll help you just the way you help those other ones
sometimes give yourself a chance to be uncomfortable, to fail, to not be the brightest guy in a room, right? Because that’s when you’re learning, and if you’re not learning, you’re not growing, you’re not gonna be happy in your business. So I guess what I would say is surround yourself with the right people, whether that’s with knowledge or that’s whether with any organization out there or group of people, when you do that, you’re just gonna love it, man, because people truly want to help others, and it’s hard to ask right? Deck Builders are proud, man, they’re proud. I can do it all. Well, ask for help, and you’ll be amazed how many people will support you and genuinely care.

April Edwards (46:31) You know? I’l say, as a mom, there are a lot of things about social media that you don’t like, right? And there’s a lot of scary things and stuff like that, but there are some really positive things. And I think that having these online communities where you can share ideas and collaborate and connect with other people is a positive when it comes to social media, which leads me to NADRA Connect, which is also something that you have initiated in the last year, I believe. And so it’s NADRA’s own online community, and it’s been really great to see everybody participating in that more. They have a daily digest that goes to your email if you’re not checking into the the platform, and it’s only available for members, so…

Mike Beaudry (47:13) NADRA Connect is like the social media where you’re not going to get bashed, right? If you put something out there say, hey, what do you think of my project? You’re an idiot. That one pass code anywhere? No, there’s none of that. Right? We get to police that. So it doesn’t happen. That doesn’t mean there’s some really good ones out there that do the same thing. But that was our biggest goal. If we’re going to create something, and I don’t know whether it’ll stay NADRA Connect maybe it’ll be a new program, maybe there’ll be Al, I’ll come up with something better, but it’s just the idea that within the community, you have a place to go and talk. The other thing it does is it allows you to reach out to all the manufacturers. You can reach out to any manufacturer. You won’t say, Hey, I’m more interested in that new cable rail. Can you tell me about it? That, trust me, that manufacturer wants to talk to you. And we kind of let that happen again. That’s just one of those things that we set it up because we felt we needed it with technology. I hope, more people utilize it. It’s just one of those things. It’s starting out. I look at it’s probably going to take another couple years before it builds to a point where it’s really working.

April Edwards (48:12) Yep. Okay, cool. So I want to know, are there any future initiatives or projects that you guys are excited about?

Mike Beaudry (48:20) Come on man, you know, I’m doing that. That’s just Yes. There’s two big things. Okay, I would say this, that if I reach this next level of what I’d like to see accomplished, we as a board, we as an organization. I don’t mean, I mean we, we’re going to make deck Expo the largest outdoor living show on the planet. Because they have a great group. They’re listening. They’re understanding. They’re not in every single industry. And if they listen to the experts within that industry, our members, you guys, they will grow their show, right? They’re good at doing a show. They’re not good at understanding our industry. So now that they’re finally, after all these years, we’re really working together. I gotta tell you, man, our goal, my personal goal, is, there’s so many great associations out there. Most of them are way bigger than we are, right? We’ve kept it small, and we’ve taken 20 years. You said something earlier. You said, I’ll shake it up. Nothing good that last happens fast, and people want that golden carrot they want to get right away. There’s no such thing. It won’t work. Trust me, I’ve spent so much time thinking, Oh, we’ll get this done in a couple months. And three years later, it’s finally getting some traction, right? I will just tell you that if you look at what we’re hoping for, the next growth is going to be bringing AFA, bringing all these organizations pulled spa, hearth and patio under one roof. Because now we as an industry, we’re going to grow to all of outdoors, because that’s what people want. They want the whole thing in one deal. And we as designers and builders and contractors, architects, engineers, specifiers, we all have to realize that people want the whole outdoor the deck is the first step. So we’re the lucky guys. We’re like, A on the list, right? And if we do our job right, we have a tremendous opportunity to help the whole rest of the industry. That’s my next that’s the next mission, is bringing that all together, making deck Expo the biggest outdoor living show. And then lastly, I got a feeling the competition’s going to grow. I think you’re going to start seeing more opportunities for other areas of the backyard and front porch coming in, because we’re more than just the deck. And that’s what’s happening, these projects that are coming in are bringing in so much more. So I think you’re going to see that grow as well.

April Edwards (50:33) And we’re going to go to a remote island one day, right?

Mike Beaudry (50:37) You got it? Man, I’m in. I’m so in. You know? We just got to get the manufacturers to realize that. Look, we don’t. I’m going to stop there. We need more funding so we can do that. But, yeah, that would be awesome. And I think people will come.

April Edwards (50:53) Right? Okay, Everybody vote for that!

Mike Beaudry (50:56) We have Stephanie left that. That’s the last one to probably be married. And I’m like, Can we do one of those weddings on an island? Come on, man, we don’t need a whole bunch of people. That’s just like 20 of us go to some cool Island. She said, No, she wants a big wedding. But anyway…

April Edwards (51:10) I had a destination wedding. I loved it. It was amazing. We got married on the same yacht. Snoop Dogg Got married on.

Mike Beaudry (51:18) Oh, I love it. Well, you know, she’s very open mind, if she she might go that direction yet. That’ll be our test for when we can do the NADRA event.

April Edwards (51:26) Well, tell her to wear her vans under her wedding dress. She’ll know what I’m talking about.

Mike Beaudry (51:34) Okeay, Yeah, I’ll tell ’em.

April Edwards (51:35) Why don’t you give a plug for deck Expo this year?

Mike Beaudry (51:38) Man, it’s November. Don’t miss it. It’s a big deal. Now I give it a leaving even a bigger plug, right? You’re going to see a lot of exciting things happening. NADRA is going to do an event. We’re going to actually be able to bring people in the day before and tour the Simpson factory. It’s pretty cool. It’s in McKinney, Texas, which is only about 25 minutes away. So we’re going to do that the day before. We haven’t even put any of this out there yet, right? So you won’t find it anywhere. But we’re excited about that, because if you ever get to see a plant tour and see the way composites are made, or see the way fasteners are made, it’s pretty damn exciting, right? And yeah, there’ll be, there’ll be food and drinks involved, of course, and then everything will be done by 6:30 so the manufacturers can still take everyone out and have a good night, right? And then, just what’s going on. You talk about the sessions. The outdoor living stage will have eight sessions. There was two last year. So it’s going to be constant, looking at your peers, hearing them talk, bringing things to the table, plus what we’re doing with legacy Academy, with the classes that were, we had three of the top 10 last year. This year, we’re going to get five. I’m telling you, we’re going to get them. Because people really want this. They want to know how to do their business better, right? And get help. And there’s some great people out there doing it yourself, being one of them. I know, I you told me, Don’t say anything about my company, but you guys are doing a great job, and you’re one of those companies that are people smart. They’ll let some of that stuff go and let somebody else do it for them.

April Edwards (53:00) I’m pretty proud of where we are right now. So we had, oh my goodness, we this our newest client. The poor guy was spending 20% of his revenue on marketing for the past year and a half and getting nothing from it. And so I’m just like, team, like, I always have, like, the client’s goals, the vision, and then my goals for the client. And I’m like, Guys, our goal is to show him that what a marketing company really can do. And so that’s like so much passion there to really be able to help somebody, and show what you know, show how it could really be done. So we’re really excited to turn him into a case study as soon as we can.

Mike Beaudry (53:35) I love it! I love it!

April Edwards (53:37) Well, is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience that we haven’t covered.

Mike Beaudry (53:41) I’ll end this. Become active. Just become active, if you whether it’s joining NADRA, whether it’s involved in a local community, whether it’s NEHP, I don’t care what it is. I’m just telling you that if you get active in the industry you love. Your passion, and the passionate people will come and support you, and you’ll grow. And that’s it. That’s simple. And this isn’t difficult. It’s what’s difficult, I think, is most people are just afraid to ask for help. Man, I’m not. My day every day is, I don’t want to do that. I don’t work myself out of that job, you know. So I think that attitude is why we’re able to be as successful as we are. Because this community came together, and I pick up the phone any day, and there’s 10 people that want to help, you know, so become active, get involved, and, yeah, just, just be active.

April Edwards (54:26) I love it. Well, the next in person event will be deck Expo, correct?

Mike Beaudry (54:31) Actually, we got something happening in Jersey. It’s going to be, we just had an event in Atlanta, was called the shotgun showdown. Crazy, successful, right? Because whenever you combine Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms at me, what could go wrong?

April Edwards (54:44) Right?

Mike Beaudry (54:45) Great event! So good that we’re doing it again in September in Atlanta. We’re also doing a Sporting clays event here in Lehigh Valley for Jersey. This is up on the website. You can see these events, right? Those two are going to happen prior and possibly an event in Canada. So our Canadian brothers up there, man, they want us to come up they have a different set of problems. You gotta say County, gotta say providence. There’s so many things up there that we want to do. So there’s a very good chance, in September, maybe October, we’re going to pull off a regional event in Canada as well. Those things are all happening before deck Expo, and then after deck expos, the summit, and hopefully nothing else. Because launching the deck competition, it’s a lot of work. Man, there’s just a lot to it, you know, a lot of moving parts. So we’ll be very busy between now and January.

April Edwards (55:28) And get your entries in early, Guys! Don’t wait until the five minutes before the deadline.

Mike Beaudry (55:34) We have to laugh, man, every year. I think there was. I mean, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of entries, right? And I look at the percentage, and when you look at the last 10 days, let me tell you, it’s the large majority. So we tend to be a country to procrastinate. That’s just who we are, you know, yeah, sorry, we can handle it.

April Edwards (55:55) All right. Cool. Well, um, I was going to say, you know, it deck Expo, Mike’s always there, so you could come and connect with him and the rest of the crew from NADRA. They always have a nice space there that’s usually centrally located. Go and talk to them. They want you know, and even Vinnie the president, like they want you to come and ask questions and talk and introduce yourself. They want to know all of you. So go shake their hand, you know, sit down and you know, you’ll get to meet some other folks there too. I’ll be there. I’ll be on the panel, I’ll be speaking, and of course, we always have a booth, but I love the event. I can’t wait to see you then. And thank you so much for sharing with us today. It was really an honor to have you on the show, and I think that a lot of people are really gonna get a lot of juicy nuggets from this. From your words. Everybody that’s listening, raise the bar. Raise the bar. NADRA is here to raise the bar. And make sure to tune into the next episode and as always, keep moving forward.