IAM1331 – CEO Helps Clients Design and Build their Houses

Gregg Cantor began working for Murray Lampert Design, Build, Remodel in 1977 learning all aspects of the home from the ground up and around. From 1983 until 1989, Gregg worked for the company as a project manager and eventually grew into the role of head of production. In 1990, when Gregg’s grandfather Murray Lampert retired, he bought the business and took over as President/CEO running all day-to-day operations. Over the years, Gregg has been responsible for managing the design-build of over 2,000 home remodeling and construction projects including landscaping, pools, outdoor living, etc. He also has made many appearances on local news in San Diego, co-hosted shows on ABC TV and IHeart Radio, as well as been quoted in national publications, educating consumers on architecture, interior design, home improvement & construction.

• CEO Story: Gregg was always mechanically inclined. He worked part-time in his grandfather’s construction business. He worked his way up, until handling projects on his own. In 1990, he bought the business and took over as the President/CEO.
• Business Service: Architecture-interior design firm that does remodeling.
• Secret Sauce: The culture – the people. Build the team with more diversity.
• CEO Hack: Book mentions: Traction – implementing the strategies. Another Book: Good to Great – figuring out who’s on the right seed and who’s not.
• CEO Nugget: In marketing and website, have a personality. Writing and commentary that doesn’t sound ‘salesly’ – builds trust. Keep your humility. Always learning.
• CEO Defined: A rewarding experience. Being in the community. Gives employment even during COVID-19.

Website: www.murraylampert.com, murraylampert.com

Twitter: @murraylampert

Facebook: @murraylampertdbr

Youtube: UCln47QFvKDFEZuJxSl68ibg

Instagram: @murraylampert

LinkedIn: Murray-Lampert-construction

LinkedIn: @greggcantor

murraylampert-my.sharepoint.com/:i:/p/gcantor

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE

Transcription

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today! 

Please Note: Our team is using the AI CEO Hacks: Exemplary AI and Otter.ai to support our podcast transcription. While we know it's improving there may be some inaccuracies, we are updating and improving them. Please contact us if you notice any issues, you can also test out Exemplary AI here.

00:16 – Intro

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 Harkness values your time and is ready to share precisely the information you're searching for. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:43 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Gregg Cantor of Murray Lampert Design Build Remodel. Gregg, super excited to have you on the show.

00:55 – Gregg Cantor

Well, thanks for having me on. Nice to meet you face to face.

00:59 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, absolutely. Face to face in today's world and excited to hear about all the awesome things that you've been working on. So of course, before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Gregg so you can hear about some of those awesome things. Gregg began working for Murray Lampert Design Build Remodel in 1977, learning all aspects of the home from the ground up and around. From 1983 until 1980, 1989, Gregg worked for the company as a project manager and eventually grew into the role of head of production. In 1990, when Gregg's grandfather, Murray Lampert, retired, he bought the business and took over as president and CEO running all day-to-day operations.

Over the years, Gregg has been responsible for managing the design, building of over 2000 home remodeling and construction projects including landscape pools, outdoor living, and many, many more. He also has made many appearances on local news in San Diego, co-hosted shows on ABC TV, and iHard Radio, as well as being quoted in national publications, educating consumers on architecture, Interior design, home improvement, and construction. And of course, he's been featured as well on CO Blog Nation. So Gregg I appreciate you taking time out. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

02:11 – Gregg Cantor

I am ready and thanks for that great introduction.

02:14 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, reading the introduction is easy work. The hard work is doing all that stuff that you've been doing. So appreciate you for doing it as well, too. I wanted to kind of kick everything off by we're winding the clock. I know we touched on a little bit when I read your bio, but I want to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. We'll let you get started.

02:30 – Gregg Cantor

Okay. So you want me to just hit it?

02:33 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that's it. Let's go into it.

02:35 – Gregg Cantor

So to start out, I was always very mechanically inclined. And I used to take things apart when I was a kid and fix things. And everybody kind of turned to me to fix their appliances and things like that. So I liked that part of it. I also liked architecture but decided that I didn't really want to go on the track of getting an architecture degree. So, you know, I was actually in the automotive side of things in a family business, and I was going to college and working part-time.

And then one day I decided to go to my grandfather and see if I could work part-time for him and kind of earn my way up in the organization. He was very reluctant at first, but he finally said yes. And I said, you know, I'll work for free until you decide that I have value. One thing led to another, and within a couple of months, I was handling projects on my own. And that's kind of the start of my career in design and construction.

03:35 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. And I love kind of hearing the, I guess the seeds that were planted very early on and as being somebody who always was looking to kind of, you know, take those things apart and then fix them. Because I think part of being a CEO, entrepreneur, business owner, all these kind of higher level type positions, a lot of times things come broken and you have to do that in many different ways, I imagine.

03:56 – Gregg Cantor

Well, and even as a CEO, I'm still not afraid to go out on a job site, push a broom, do whatever it takes to finish a job, or help our team out. So I'm not, it's not beneath me to do anything.

04:08 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And especially as you're, you're starting to tell, you know, you mentioned in your story and your journey, I think that's one of the kinds of beautiful things about hearing that is because we don't often hear that journey. We don't hear how you guys started, how you started working in and kind of for lack of a better term, volunteering your time and how you learned. I imagine all the aspects of the business to help you do things but also be able to understand what needs to be done.

04:32 – Gregg Cantor

Exactly. And I mean, I started from the nuts and bolts side. And then eventually, I just had to learn the business and marketing side kind of on the fly.

04:42 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like, you know when you're making and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I guess, do you feel like when you are trying to make certain strategic decisions, whether it be around a specific project or marketing or finance or all those different aspects by having that experience, do you feel like that has given you somewhat of a leg up?

05:01 – Gregg Cantor

It does. And I mean, it keeps me grounded. And, you know, I'm just really all about the team. And even though, you know, I'm running the company, I don't shut myself inside an office behind my desk. I mean, I'm out. I'm walking in walking the floor, going to job sites, and still very actively involved with customers.

05:20 – Gresham Harkless

And I think that accessibility is absolutely huge when you're able to have that vision and have that mission but still be able to be accessible to see how things are going to be there. You kind of feel like you're not just doing a job, I guess, somebody, somebody working on the team, but you feel like you're dialed in with the person.

05:36 – Gregg Cantor

With my team and with my customers, I don't micromanage, but you know, I want to be accessible. And there are certain connections that I have that, you know, I'm the go-to person that, you know, that makes it happen.

05:48 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely love that. And again, loving to hear that progression. So I want to drill down a little bit more here, a little bit more on how you're serving your clients. Can you take us through some of the services and ways that you're, you're making that impact for your clients?

06:00 – Gregg Cantor

Yes. I like to describe us as an architecture and interior design firm that specializes in remodeling and construction. So we're full service. We have an architect on staff and architectural designers as well as interior designers, and project managers. So someone comes to us and typically it's couples or mostly couples and families. We handle everything and we take the stress out of the whole thing so, people don't have to worry about going to a separate architect, going to a structural engineer, getting an interior designer, then going out to bid. We handle everything all under one roof.

06:41 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. That's absolutely huge. And I think we were joking a little bit about the weather before you're in the San Diego, you know, California area. Is that the area that you serve or how far out do you go?

06:51 – Gregg Cantor

We're San Diego County only, and we've actually shrunk our geographics a little bit because it's a very busy time and we want to serve our customers and be able to get to job sites quickly, there is traffic. And so even in our geography, sometimes we have to contend with that. But that was a decision we made for now is that, I mean, we don't take every job. We want just like a consumer comes to us. They're looking for the right builder. We're also looking for the right customer.

07:21 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. It's not about being in that ivory tower. It's about integrating connecting and talking with people so you can see at the end of the day how you can provide that better solution. So would you consider that to be what I like to call the secret sauce? The thing you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique. Is it that ability to kind of, I guess, integrate all of those aspects and be so, you know, connected with your clients, trade partners, customers, and everything in between?

07:46 – Gregg Cantor

I think that's part of the secret sauce. But also the culture is our secret sauce that is hard. You know, you can't duplicate the culture really, the people, and the people here are friends with each other. I mean, they have bowling night. Last night was bowling night actually. And so, you know, it's just a great feeling. And I have to also give a lot of credit to my daughter, who's the fourth generation. She's helped us, you know, build our team to another level with more diversity, some youth, some new ideas. And it's really, really like it's just blossoming right now.

08:30 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And I almost wonder, you know, especially in being able to kind of, you know, have that familiar atmosphere, it sounds like you have, and being able to kind of go bowling and do, you know, exciting things. Also diversity as far as age and in many different ways, I imagine that it provides unique ways to kind of solve problems as well, which I think a lot of people kind of gloss over.

08:53 – Gregg Cantor

It does, I mean because we have a very wide range of ages. We're probably about, I just counted the other day, were about half female and half male. And like I said, the age spread is wide. So there's things, there's experiences that I have that I can bring to the table, but then there's new ideas that, you know, the millennials bring to the table.

09:18 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want 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?

09:31 – Gregg Cantor

So I've been doing a lot of reading, and I would say one of the biggest game changers in the last year is we read our leadership team read Traction, the book Traction, and we are implementing all those strategies right now. Until about a year ago, we didn't even have a leadership team. So that has just made a huge positive impact on our company. The other book that I read actually twice is good to great. And it just makes you kind of like looking through your optics are different and you look at people and you figure out who's in the right seat and who's not.

10:15 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. So absolutely love each of those hacks. And so I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this is a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice, but it's something I like to say, if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

10:31 – Gregg Cantor

On the marketing side, not to pitch, to educate and inform and not, I mean, too many businesses make the mistake of either they don't have marketing experience, but they try or somebody, an agency gives them a pitch that it doesn't really work. It takes the personality. And that's another thing, the website. Make a website personal. I always look at sites that have no personality. You don't know who the principal is. Often there's no staff or anything on it. And I look at it from the other side of a consumer that's shopping for a service or good or whatever. They want to have that feeling that they know who they're working with.

And so I think the personalization and that's something that it took me time to get, but I do a lot of writing and commentary, and I do it in a way where it's not salesy, factual. And I think that really resonates with people and it builds that trust for up-and-coming businesses. Another thing I would say is to keep your humility.

I mean, that is to me a mistake that so many people and companies make is they get too arrogant and too, you know, like I said, too big for their riches. You always have to remain humble. Never think that you have it figured out 100%. Always be digging and learning and trying to figure out even if a customer says you did great, find out what you could do better.

12:08 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. There's always, you know, another level and always more that we can do. But a lot of times by have those questions and am open to listening to those things as well. That's where truly great growth innovation and progression happen. So absolutely appreciate that.

12:25 – Gregg Cantor

So- The good, the bad and the ugly I say.

12:26 – Gresham Harkless 

Exactly. Be open to it. That's the best way to approve that feedback. So I want to ask you now 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 Gregg, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:41 – Gregg Cantor

It's just a very rewarding experience, Leading a team, and being side by side with my daughter in a legacy business. And my wife also works in the business. Just, what the feeling that I get being in the community and being able to keep our staff employed during COVID and grow double the size we were before COVID, that's super rewarding. And just having repeat customers and people say, tell us that someone, we did a job for somebody and they recommended us, those kinds of things. That's what it's all about.

Well, and I have to add that, I mean, you probably know this but family businesses have a high failure rate, very high failure rate. The advantage that I have that I greatly appreciate is I went through trying to stake my claim earn my keep and eventually buy the company from my grandfather, but it wasn't easy And that relationship was not the greatest. And he was very, he put up a lot of barriers.

And I can understand because he was getting older and he was trying to keep his place, you know? But I learned a lot from that. And so I will not do that with my daughter. I've given her a lot of freedom to help us grow. And, and she sometimes steers me down another street. And I know that I'm not going to get my butt hurt over it. And I know I know my place and I'm not I don't feel excluded or slided or like I'm getting pushed out.

14:22 – Gresham Harkless

Great. Truly appreciate that. I appreciate you for taking time out today. What I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get a hold of you, and find out about all the awesome things you, your family, and your team are working on.

14:43 – Gregg Cantor

What I didn't do that everyone should do is read or listen to books on tape and continue to build their knowledge. I'm working really hard to keep it going and learn something every day. The way we can be reached is through our website murrylampard.com. We are all over with commentary. So if you Google Murray Lampert or Google Gregg Cantor, you'll find all kinds of information about remodeling tips and from design to construction. So yeah, that's it.

15:20 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Gregg, truly appreciate you again, my friend. We will have the links and information that show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you and all the awesome things. I love that last nugget. I'm going to call it a mountain because you provided so much valuable information.

We can learn and improve by continuously sharpening our skills and making sure that we are listening to podcasts. We are listening, reading books, doing all those things, but also having people around us that we're willing to listen to allows us to reach that ultimate level. So thank you so much and taking the lead. Of course, your time today, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

15:56 – Gregg Cantor

Thank you. Have a great weekend.

15:58 – Outro

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.

[/restrict]