IAM545- Engineer Provides Various Construction Services

Anthony Winston III, P.E. is originally from the Southside of Chicago and earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with Emphasis in Power Transmission and Distribution at the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University. Right after graduating, Anthony worked in government defense design test systems for missile, radar systems and arrestment/launch systems for aircraft on Navy ships. After getting his Professional Engineering license, Anthony decided to go out on his own and start Winston Engineering LLC to allow him to work in construction and spend more time with his family. The company has just over 300 clients in 4.5 years and provides HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing Engineering for residential and commercial buildings.

• CEO Hack: Being mobile and using tools such as Monday.com
• CEO Nugget: Take more chances
• CEO Defined: Working for the employees

Website: http://www.winstoneng.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winston_engineering_inc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Winston_Eng_Inc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonywinstoniii/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/WinstonEngineeringInc/?_rdc=1&_rdr

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello. Hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. F Anthony Winston, the third of Winston Engineering. Anthony, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Anthony Winston III 0:40

Great to be here I appreciate you inviting me.

Gresham Harkless 0:43

Yeah, no problem. The pleasure is definitely all mine. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Anthony so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

Anthony PE is originally from the south side of Chicago and earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with emphasis and power transmission and distribution at the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University. Right after graduating, Anthony worked in government defense designs, test systems for missile radar systems, and arrest launch systems for aircraft on Navy ships.

After getting his professional engineering license, Anthony decided to go out on his own and start Winston Engineering to allow him to work in construction and spend more time with his family.

The company has just over 300 clients in four and a half years and provides HVAC, electrical, and plumbing engineering for residential and commercial buildings. Anthony, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Anthony Winston III 1:36

Yes, I am.

Gresham Harkless 1:37

Awesome. Let's do it. So I wanted to kick everything off and hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Anthony Winston III 1:47

You know, when I graduated from college, I originally wanted to go into the power industry, I thought I'd be working for a utility. And when it came down to just relocating to the East Coast, the economics didn't line up, the company I interviewed for, you know, they weren't offering any kind of relocation.

And you know, I don't come from a wealthy background. So coming up with money to relocate whether or not and so I started working for Raytheon. And in missile and government, you know, missile radar systems. And I remember getting a business perspective, the company had made, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars.

And I kind of stood up and looked around in my big cubicle farm and realized that even though I play a small part, I was helping to make this happen. And from that moment on, it was 2017. From that moment on, I'm like, I need to do this for myself.

And so that kind of just got the process started in my head. I didn't know how I was going to start a business. I just knew I wanted to and I wanted that freedom. So, you know, years go on, and I eventually relocated to San Diego working for General Atomics doing some stuff on ag and E malls, you know, electric that launches aircraft and also catches aircraft on Navy ships.

And so that goes on, and I'm working on, you know, high-tech, hybrid electric drive systems. But I'm always in the back of my mind keeping that entrepreneurship going. And I remember getting a review, and I wasn't too pleased with, you know, they do the exceeds, meets, or high exceeds and all that stuff.

And I wasn't pleased with it. And they paid me based on because I got something last year, right? So that kicked it off because I'm like, I don't want anybody to tell me what my worth is any longer. So, you know, I struggled, got my PE license, and realized like, I can only really use it in construction.

I couldn't use it in government defense. So I left took a pay cut and worked for Helix Electric down in San Diego. So I was doing that commute and learning about the construction industry. I was president not really anything other than what I learned from studying for my PE exam.

And then they put me in the federal courthouse in downtown LA. So I was commuting from Marietta to Corona taking a train an hour and a half. So it was on that train ride when I took both work and my laptop that I Googled how to start a business.

And from that point, I knew I could, you know, make my mark in construction. And it just got to the point where I couldn't do both work for Helix and also do my business. Because I just kept getting calls you know, started promoting online and the calls just kept coming in.

So you know, my wife was pregnant at the time and I pretty much showed her like Hey, I got a big enough project here where I can sustain us for three months. That doesn't work out. I'll go and get a job so she trusted in me and into 2014 I believe it was, I walked away from, you know, a steady paying job.

And I haven't looked back since.

Gresham Harkless 5:08

Awesome, I, you know, appreciate you for, you know, taking that leap. But I think that so many times people, you know, hear and think about starting a business and they forget kind of how it starts and how it kind of evolves from there, as you said, you had that idea.

And that seed was planted, and then it started to sprout and grow and grow. It sounds like different moments in your life.

Anthony Winston III 5:26

Yeah, absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 5:27

Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper, I know I touched on it. When I read your bio, and I know you touched on it, as well, but I want to hear a little bit more about once. And engineering can take us through exactly what you do and how you work with your clients.

Anthony Winston III 5:39

So originally, we started just doing electrical engineering, because I'm a licensed electrical engineer. And eventually, folks kept asking, Hey, do you do a check and plumbing? And I kept saying, no, no, no.

And then eventually I, you know, I said, Yes, I have read a book by Grant Cardone. And in one of the chapters, he was just like, say yes to everything and figure it out. And that's exactly what I did. And I found the right resources, you know, something worked out.

And then eventually I started hiring the right folks. And now we have three full-time employees. But what we do is, let's say a client wants to open up, let's say, Starbucks, we've done quite a few of those, the architect will come to us, give us their proof, they give us their floor plan.

We will overlay the HVAC, electrical, and plumbing. So with HVAC, you have to make sure that you know the space is conditioned. So you have heating and heating and air conditioning.

And then with the electrical, you want to make sure that you know for one that they have enough power, that everything is safe. And then with the plumbing, you have to make sure that your water supply and your drainage are adequate.

So it's a lot of calculations within each of those disciplines. We will then spit out a set of stamped drawings, the architect or client will then take it into the city or county, and then the contractor can pull permits. Once we've worked through all the corrections with the city and/or county, it gets built.

Gresham Harkless 7:14

Awesome. I definitely you know, appreciate that. And again, just kind of, you know, talking about the overall process like, you know, paying to call Uncle Grant Cardone says, you know if you get an opportunity to just say yes, and then figure out how to do it.

And I think that again, you talked about how you started by, you know, working with and subbing things out. And then you started to hire people in that process that goes about doing that.

And so projects, Project wise, is there any like, I guess limit to where you can go as far as locations for doing projects? Or do you focus on a certain area?

Anthony Winston III 7:46

Not really. So it really with engineering or licensing, it comes down to what states license them. So I'm licensed in California, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, and Arizona, and I literally just mailed off my application for Illinois and rolled it off for Oklahoma as well.

Gresham Harkless 8:06

Okay, awesome. Yeah, that's great to hear. Because you know, as we all know, like Starbucks, and all those different types, big organizations are everywhere. So just want to get an idea of where you worked so that people can that we're listening to know as well.

Anthony Winston III 8:20

Right.

Gresham Harkless 8:21

And so, I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. And it can be for you personally or for your business. But what kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Anthony Winston III 8:32

I think we're very young. So we are not bogged down by years of that, oh, that's how we've done things, right? So I've worked for very large companies. And sometimes you get bogged down with oh, that's how we do things.

And I think that slows you down. We're able to service a client very fast, and in most instances cheaper, and you still get better quality. So you know, sometimes they show you that triangle where it says you can only get two of the three it's either gonna be you know, you can choose from it being right on time and cheap.

So we do our right so being right is number one, right because of being a licensed engineer, it's about public safety first and foremost, but being on time and I like to use the word cheap but low lower cost. We work to work with our clients as much as possible because our bread and butter is the small mom and pops, what I really enjoy is servicing folks.

One time I got a call from this owner he owned a small strip mall, I believe it was in Riverside and someone was behind the building doing something, and the electrical service caught fire. So you have you know, five or six different small mom-and-pop businesses that cannot operate, and they're losing money every day.

So you know, I come from a working family. And I understand that if money's not coming in, you know, then maybe you will be able to make rent or mortgage or be able to feed your family. Right. So get those calls, like, you know, I'm on it.

And in the future, we, you know, once we get a little bit bigger, I would love to be able to offer some services for free. For instance, if there's a major flood in Texas, right, and there are some low-income areas.

People have homes, and for whatever reason, they can't get engineering services the way they need to, or, you know, here in California with the, with the wildfires, that's the ultimate goal is to be able to utilize this company too, to better serve the community.

Gresham Harkless 10:45

Definitely appreciate that, that exam for a secret sauce. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Anthony Winston III 11:00

Honestly, being able to be mobile, so we don't have a physical office. So we all work remotely, you know, I provide my employees with all the equipment that they need, so that they're able to work efficiently in their home space, or even if they want to get out of the office and go to the beach, or whatever.

But I think what makes us most effective are the tools we use, right? So we use project management tools like Monday and monday.com. I guess they were very effective because I saw YouTube and I checked it out.

You know, utilizing tools like that, that allows us to work effectively whether we have our computer or our phones, right?

Gresham Harkless 11:37

And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine. What would you tell your younger business self?

Anthony Winston III 11:47

Take more chances.

Gresham Harkless 11:49

Awesome, awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on this show.

So Anthony, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Anthony Winston III 12:00

It's funny, when I started my company, I thought, Oh, I'll never have any more bosses. And now that you're, the owner of the company, I have a lot of bonuses.

To service. But I think when you're when you're CEO, your employees don't work for them, you work for them, I'm sorry that your employees don't work for you, you work for them, right?

So the goal is to keep them productive, keep them happy, anytime that she leaves him and anything that he does, you know, I have to be on it, because that's what's going to ultimately make them productive.

The last thing you want to do is not give your employees all the tools, sometimes the worst thing you want to do is not give your employees all the tools to make sure that they can do their jobs adequately.

Because, you know, they won't be happy, they may leave or whatever the case may be. And you know, I don't make decisions out of fear, like, I hope they don't leave,

I just want to make sure that, you know, I give them everything that they need, within reason, because you want your employees to be able to shine and show what they can do.

And if you give them all the answers, then you might as well just do it yourself. Right?

Gresham Harkless 13:14

Right.

Anthony Winston III 13:15

So you hire capable intelligence folks because you know that they can figure things out on their own?

Gresham Harkless 13:24

Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate that definition in that perspective because I think so many times that, you know, a lot of you know, leadership, being a CEO, or whatever, you know, the title we might have is, you know, putting people in there, I like to call it a zone of genius and the pace that they can develop the best.

And a lot of times, that's making sure that we have those tools and those things in place so that they can, you know, be their best selves and shine when they're in their zone of genius. And I think that that is a definitely incredible perspective, you know, as far as being a leader and being a CEO, so I appreciate that.

And I appreciate that definition, and appreciate your time, even more. So what I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and listeners know, then of course, how best they can get a hold of you find out about all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

Anthony Winston III 14:10

So I'll leave this with anybody who, you know, everybody's not meant to be a business owner, and that's okay. But if you're interested in being a business owner, Google is an amazing resource. The fees involved with starting and opening a business can be relatively cheap.

I mean, I went to Best Buy and bought a $3,000 laptop, which you can get something a lot cheaper, but I needed all the tools for CAD and all that stuff, but that's what I spent, to create this company and just figure out how, you know, try to align your interests with you know, possibly making making money.

That's the goal, right? And in terms of us right now, we are, we're working on quite a bit. There are a lot of warehouses out here. In the Inland Empire, so we're doing a lot of servicing for that. We're working on quite a few coffee shops for whatever reason, we're doing quite a few custom homes doing some cool, radiant floor, you know, radiant floor heating and cooling systems.

And in terms of, you know, reaching out to us, all you have to do is search Winston Engineering, LLC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, you can follow us on LinkedIn, you can also search by name Anthony Winston a third. But yeah, we're pretty much out there and I try to heavily promote us as much as I can.

Gresham Harkless 15:37

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Again, Anthony. I truly appreciate that. And we will also have those links and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you.

But definitely, you know, appreciate the reminder that a lot of times we just have to get started by getting you know that laptop and getting started because we have so much accessible to us at our fingertips. And I appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest today.

Outro 15:58

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 media tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE And leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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