In this episode of the Construction Disruption Podcast, host Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries welcomes Matt Vetter, President of Schafer Construction. Based in Brighton, Michigan, Matt discusses his unique experiences and the diverse projects undertaken by his firm. From industrial to religious buildings, he shares insights on overcoming industry challenges and promoting innovation. Matt also introduces the Build Better Foundation, aimed at making the trades cool again by providing scholarships and raising awareness. Tune in for a deep dive into the construction world, leadership values, and the impact of community engagement on industry progress.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to Construction Disruption
00:42 Meet Matt Vetter of Schafer Construction
02:22 Matt Vetter's Journey in Construction
05:48 Core Values at Schafer Construction
10:00 The Construction Corner Podcast
12:30 The Build Better Foundation
18:51 Balancing Entrepreneurship and Personal Life
25:10 Rapid Fire Questions with Matt Vetter
30:22 Conclusion and Contact Information
Connect with Matt Online
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattvetter/
Website: https://www.schaferconstruction.net/
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Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn
This episode was produced by Isaiah Industries, Inc.
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Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
00:00:00
Intro: Welcome to the Construction Disruption Podcast, where we
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uncover the future of design, building, and remodeling.
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Todd Miller: I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer
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of specialty metal roofing and other building materials, and
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welcome to Construction Disruption.
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Um, we're real excited about today's episode.
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As always, we have a great guest, so, uh, let's go ahead and get things going.
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So, of course, here on the show, we cover a wide variety of topics, topics
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and we have a wide variety of guests and this episode is no different.
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Today we're talking with Matt Vetter, president of Schafer Construction
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based in Brighton, Michigan.
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As head of a construction company that does a wide variety of work from
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industrial and commercial buildings to multi family religious buildings and
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everything in between, Matt sees some of the unique and varied challenges
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that are faced by our industry.
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And aside from his work at Schafer, he is facing these challenges head
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on in a number of ways, trying to solve them for our industry and
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to take us all to a higher level.
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Um, well, we're going to dig into all that here in just a little bit, but first
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Matt, Welcome to Construction Disruption.
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Pleasure to have you here today.
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Matt Vetter: Thank you for having me, Todd.
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I've been excited to come on.
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I know we, we scheduled this quite a while ago, so I'm glad it's finally here.
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Todd Miller: Well, I am as well.
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So a lot of times we start the show with a really lame dad joke,
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and sometimes we have a co host, so we do those in between us.
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Well, you're going to be the victim of my dad joke today, if that's okay.
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Matt Vetter: Hey fire away
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Todd Miller: Okay, so I I read the other day, um that the
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average dog barks 267 times a day.
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It seems to like a lot I have one that barks probably a lot more
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than that and one a lot less Um, of course keep in mind that 267 is
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only a rough estimate Rough, rough.
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Got it.
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Yeah, it's as good as it gets.
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Anyway.
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Matt Vetter: It's a good estimator joke.
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Todd Miller: Well, we want to focus on things that you're doing today
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to help our industry because I think you're really doing some unique and
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special things to benefit our industry.
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But, um, first of all start out by telling us a little bit about your own history.
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Um, how you got involved with Schafer Construction and, uh, became head of it,
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and, um, tell us, give us an overview of the types of work that Schafer
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Construction, uh, gets involved with.
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Matt Vetter: Sure.
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So, um, I started in the construction world when I was 17 years old.
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I worked for a residential, uh, framing and remodeling crew.
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We did custom homes and additions, remodels.
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Decks, garages, you name it.
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Um, I did residential work, uh, via that company and another company that I
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formed, uh, way back then for a number of years, um, 2008 came around and, and the
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residential markets, as everybody knows, kind of took a tailspin to put it lightly,
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Todd Miller: remember it all too well.
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Yes.
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Yeah,
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Matt Vetter: yeah, I do too.
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Um, Luckily, you know, by, by the grace of God, I had an opportunity
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to kind of follow my lap to, to jump ships and move from the residential
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world into the commercial world.
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Uh, and I spent the next decade building quick serve pizza
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restaurants across the country.
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Um, you could probably guess which one, but when the economy had
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tanked, cheap pizza was a pretty hot.
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Item, uh, so we were, we were busy.
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We were building hundreds and hundreds of these things a year.
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Um, and it was, it was fun.
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It was, you know, I made great money, but I traveled a ton and that that kind
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of took its toll on me after a while.
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So I put roots back down here and in southeastern Michigan, um, headed
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up a pre construction department for a large local general contractor
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here for a number of years.
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And then, uh, as luck would have it, had another opportunity, um,
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to come out to Brighton, Michigan and purchase Schafer construction.
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So that's what I did.
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I kind of jumped on it.
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Um, when, when opportunity knocks you, you should open the door every single time.
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Love that.
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A little quick background on Schafer.
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We've been, uh, in operation since 1997.
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Um, we build today.
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We build literally everything other than single family homes.
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So, as you mentioned, a lot of light industrial, uh, office product,
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although not as much office today as we, we used to, um, religious
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institutions, recreational facilities, um, municipal projects, you name it.
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We, we, uh, we'll tackle it.
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So it's been, uh, it's been a great last, uh, seven years.
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Um, and we're, we're looking forward to the future.
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Todd Miller: How is the construction industry in Southeast Michigan right now?
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Is it, I mean, there's a lot of work going on and a lot still on the books
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or what are you seeing out there?
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Matt Vetter: You know, to be honest, Todd, we have not seen any slowdown whatsoever.
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We're still feeding off of the pent up demand from the, from the COVID mess.
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And that continues to kind of feed our, our, uh, Revenue goals and we'll take it.
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Todd Miller: Well, that's great.
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And you know, what I find so often is the companies that are doing things.
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Well, um, they tend to, to weather some of those ups and downs a
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whole lot better than the others.
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So good for you.
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So Brighton, Michigan, there's a ski slope there.
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Isn't there?
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Am I mistaken on that?
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Well,
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Matt Vetter: you're right.
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Mount Brighton.
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I spent the majority of my childhood and teenage years, uh, snowboarding out here.
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Todd Miller: Oh, awesome.
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Yeah, my business partner is actually from Northwest Ohio, Napoleon, Ohio, and
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I believe Brighton is one of the areas his family used to go skiing years ago, so.
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So one of the things is I picked around on Schafer Construction's website,
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and it was really thought provoking.
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through your foundation that you've started that I first came to know you.
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But as I picked around on Schafer's website, um, your core values really hit
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me a lot of times core values are just one word and you kind of see the same thing on
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everyone's site, but, um, yours are really specific and a little bit more defined.
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So, um, your core values are put the project first.
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Be the problem solver.
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Love that.
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Always embody honesty and integrity.
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Be respectful and have a 100 and 0 mindset.
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Um, tell us a little bit about what those core values mean to your company and even
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how they impact your daily activities.
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Matt Vetter: Um, great question.
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Uh, and I love answering it because they mean literally everything to the company.
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Um, we made a conscious effort.
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About six years ago to really shift our focus from just, uh, you know,
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your standard construction company to, to affirm really doing great things.
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And we recognize that the way to do that is to build a culture.
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And the way to build a culture is to base your company on, on a very
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strict and rigid set of core values.
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So, uh, we came up with this list and it's changed a bit over
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the years, um, but not much.
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We, we hire.
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By these values, we fire by these values when necessary.
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We we vet potential clients and partners by these these core values.
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Um, you know, it's it's far more than a pretty picture on the
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wall in our conference room.
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It really is a a It's our North star, you know, it guides us in everything we do.
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Todd Miller: That's cool.
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Well, your, your last core value, the have a hundred and no mindset, um, give
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me a little bit of background or, you know, what that, what that means to you.
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Matt Vetter: Yeah.
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So that's the one that everyone asks about and it's actually my favorite.
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And, um, so a hundred to zero mindset is, is the mentality that when we commit to
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going and doing anything, whether that's going after a prospect, whether it's
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a project we've signed, whether it's.
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Starting a foundation doesn't doesn't matter if we're going to commit resources
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and commit our our brainpower to going after something we're going to fight so
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fiercely to win that we want to run the score up on our our opponent 100 to 0.
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There are there are no opportunities for for anything less.
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It is.
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It is.
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We are going to crush anyone in our way.
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Respectfully, uh, and, and, and win.
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And that's, that's how we continue to operate to this day.
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Todd Miller: Oh, I love it.
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And that, what a great rallying cry that becomes for your entire organization
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to have that kind of mindset.
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Um, love it.
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That's great.
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You know, one of the things I I've been talking some about lately is,
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um, I'm seeing a lot in some of the leadership books out there about how
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core values are really What a lot of companies are focusing on now more
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than mission, because I think in our fast changing world, sometimes that
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mission has to stay a little bit fluid, but it's going to be fluid within
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the boundaries of your core values.
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Is that kind of what you find?
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Also?
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Matt Vetter: Yes, because.
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The precision it takes to, to set up a mission statement that it can, whether
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the time, right, whether your entire existence as a company, it's, it's almost
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immeasurable and it's almost impossible to do because the economy is always changing.
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The environment's always changing your clientele changes.
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There's so many things changing.
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And so I think that having that core values really as a structural
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piece to stand on, it allows you to Almost manipulate your, your mission
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statement as you continue to progress and grow through the industry.
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Todd Miller: Absolutely.
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I love it.
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And it's just been interesting how I've seen that.
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I really first started taking note of it from a lot of leadership
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things, probably 6, 8 months ago, but just makes a whole lot of sense.
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And if you can get your entire organization driving
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behind the same core values.
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Um, that's going to carry you a long way.
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So, so back in January of 2021, I believe, which was kind of the height
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of COVID for a lot of folks, um, like many folks, including those of us
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here at construction disruption, you decided to start a podcast, uh, that
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you named the construction corner.
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Uh, can you tell us a little bit about what you do on the show and
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what your goal is through the podcast?
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Matt Vetter: Yeah, so just to clarify a bit, I joined an existing show.
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Um, one of my very best friends, Dylan Mitchell started it a couple of years
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prior to that, I joined as co host in 21.
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And, um, you know, our goal in that show is really to, To bring awareness
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to the industry that that we both know and love that we all know and love.
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Um, we, we had, you know, have a very wide variety of guests on that can speak to
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different different areas of construction.
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We, we never really focused too heavily on on the commercial versus residential side.
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Dylan, my, my co host is an electrical engineer.
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I'm obviously a former carpenter, so I'm, you know, one step above a pirate, but,
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but I do like to talk from time to time.
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So the two of us kind of had that opposite side of the, uh, of the
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prospect table mentality to, to go about these conversations.
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So it's been, uh, it's been a lot of fun and had a lot of
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good conversations through that.
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Todd Miller: Man, that's great.
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And I find that you can learn so much also, um,
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Matt Vetter: just seconding that you can, you learn a ton by having conversations.
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Todd Miller: So just to tell our audience, um, we are doing
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challenge words again this episode.
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No pirate was not Matt's challenge word Um, but kind of keep the ear out
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for any words that we might use that might be a little bit different That we
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have both been challenged to work into the conversation Later on the show.
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I'll tell you whether we were successful or not.
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So, um, yeah, no, I I I love it.
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So you've got quite a few episodes under your belt now also with podcast
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Matt Vetter: Oh, yeah, we're, we're, uh, I don't remember a few hundred by now.
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Todd Miller: They build up quick, that's for sure.
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Matt Vetter: Yes.
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Todd Miller: Well, that's cool.
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We'll keep up the good work.
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I've been listening to it a little bit here and there, and I want to
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make it part of my regular listening.
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My problem is I only have about a 10 minute commute to and from work every day.
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That would be my podcast time, but it's a pretty short drive.
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So after that, then, um, just earlier in 2024, and this was kind of where I,
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uh, first became aware of you, Matt.
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I saw a press release or something that you had out there.
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Um, you started something called the Build Better Foundation.
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And your tagline for the foundation is make the trades cool again, which I love.
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Um, I assume you started the Build Better Foundation because you saw a
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concern in the construction industry that you wanted to try to address.
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Um, in particular, maybe in Michigan.
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Can you tell us a little bit about what you saw that became
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the impetus for you to say, hey, I want to do something about this?
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Matt Vetter: It's a systemic problem that frankly, all of us
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in the industry are to blame for.
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And it's, it's been going on for the past 20 plus years in that we allowed
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the public school systems in particular to, to really beat college as the
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only option into our, our heads and into now the heads of our children and
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their children, um, you know, when I was growing up and when I was in high
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school, we had, it wasn't trade school.
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Then it was called voc tech and.
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It was looked at as it was the option for the burnouts for
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the kids who couldn't graduate.
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You know, it was, it was, it was low tier option mentality.
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And it was, there was never a, a push or even the conversation that there's
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alternatives out there to a 4 year degree and construction is obviously, uh, uh,
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an industry that while 4 year degrees are, are valuable to some aspect and
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what we do, uh, it's not a requirement.
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And it, again, it's been going on for forever and it's just something that
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kind of has been boiling and boiling inside me for a very long time.
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You know, we, we don't have.
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Young people flooding into the industry.
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Like we need, you know, you asked me earlier how the, how the market is here.
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And it's great.
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The problem is we have all the projects that we need.
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What we don't have is the people to build them.
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And, you know, we share for constructions, a paper GC, we
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don't self perform anything.
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We manage the deals and the projects.
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So the labor market for us is not as critical, but But all of
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our specialty contractors, our trade partners, they rely on that.
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And so what build better foundation is, is aiming to do.
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And in our first initiative now is we're actually having a launch
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party in a couple of weeks.
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We're going to start providing scholarships to, to kids or to anyone
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looking to get into either a trade school or even a, you know, a four year CM
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program or, or an apprenticeship, um, something that's Just to kind of help
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them get a little seed money, whether it's, you know, paying for books,
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paying for tools, paying for boots.
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I don't, I don't really care.
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Um, the goal is just to, to do our little bit that we can to try and help raise
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awareness and, and try and get more interest and involvement in the industry
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that frankly, we all, we all love.
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Todd Miller: No, I, I hear you and I love and applaud what you're doing.
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Um, it's funny, you know, a few years ago, um, When unemployment rates,
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you know, just were running so low and they were telling us, gosh,
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they're lower than even the number of people who don't want to work.
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Um, you know, and I think that brought a lot of attention and people
00:15:42
started focusing on the construction trades and the shortages, but, uh,
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you, you hit the nail on the head.
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We started experiencing this 20, 25 years ago, um, just with a
00:15:53
lower influx of new folks into our, uh, Into our great industry here.
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So, um, yeah, so, so, uh, you know, I, I know that you're raising funds and
00:16:04
you're going to start the scholarship program, um, any other, you know,
00:16:09
insight as far as what you're doing or, you know, how, how are you managing
00:16:13
to gain traction with the foundation and get some interest out there?
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Uh, I can imagine we've got some listeners are saying, wow, I
00:16:21
ought to start that in my area.
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Um, tell us a little bit about, you know, how you get off the this
00:16:26
off the ground and make it happen.
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Matt Vetter: Um, it's not been easy.
00:16:30
Um, contrary to popular belief or to my mistaken belief, setting up an actual 501
00:16:36
C3 is a tremendously difficult process and go figure the IRS doesn't, doesn't
00:16:41
make it easy for you to not pay taxes.
00:16:43
So, um, it's been kind of a labor of love that took frankly, almost a
00:16:47
year before we were able to launch.
00:16:50
Um, you know, social medias.
00:16:53
Great.
00:16:54
Um, as much as I, I love to hate it, it, it helps us get our word out.
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It's, it's how I met you, Todd.
00:16:59
And, um, you know, that, that's, that's been huge for us.
00:17:03
Podcasting is, is another, uh, media choice where, you know, it's,
00:17:08
it's low cost, but it's high reach.
00:17:10
And it's, it's just a matter of, of.
00:17:13
You know, a pyramid stack.
00:17:15
And if we can have one conversation today, but you've got 50 or a hundred or however
00:17:20
many listeners, you know, the hope is each one of those listeners might take a piece
00:17:24
of this and then go talk to somebody else.
00:17:26
And it just keeps kind of spider webbing from there.
00:17:28
So we don't do a lot of, you know, typical marketing yet.
00:17:32
Um, obviously as a startup, we're, we're pretty strapped for, for budgeting.
00:17:37
We want to put most of the money that we have into actually, you know, Helping
00:17:40
those folks who are trying to get into the industry versus, you know, spending it
00:17:43
on, on ad spend or, or things like that.
00:17:46
Todd Miller: Well, and it's interesting.
00:17:48
So I'm involved with a national trade organization that started
00:17:52
a scholarship program recently.
00:17:54
And, um, interestingly, as, as we looked at it.
00:17:58
Um, our initial scholarships are not even requiring you to be in the trades.
00:18:02
I think we want to get there eventually, but we were initial like, we're not
00:18:06
sure we can even give away these scholarships if we restricted to that.
00:18:10
Um, and we were restricting it to children or grandchildren
00:18:13
of, Members of the organization.
00:18:16
Um, but so I, I, I agree with you.
00:18:19
These things take a little bit of time, but on the other hand, um, that's kind
00:18:23
of what makes you a change maker out there and what drives some changes.
00:18:27
So I'm kind of curious.
00:18:29
I mean, what is it in you?
00:18:32
I mean, you, you could.
00:18:33
Live just fine.
00:18:34
You could, you could still be building, building pizza stores, but you know,
00:18:38
you could live just fine, uh, heading up Schafer construction and not have to have
00:18:43
all these other things on your plate.
00:18:44
What is it that kind of drives you personally saying, Hey, I want to, I want
00:18:49
to be a bigger part of change than this.
00:18:51
Matt Vetter: Um, that's pretty deep question, Todd.
00:18:54
I wasn't it's a good question.
00:18:57
You know, I, I candidly, I've done really well in my career and, and I've, I've
00:19:03
proven to myself, I've proven to my, my family and my, my friends that this
00:19:07
is a, not just a viable career choice, but it's a potentially very lucrative
00:19:12
and very successful career choice.
00:19:14
And you're right, I could, I could do nothing else and I could do less
00:19:19
than I do and still be perfectly fine.
00:19:21
But, you know, it seems sounds a little cheesy, but I want to make my mark, right?
00:19:27
We built great buildings and that's, that's fine and good.
00:19:29
We.
00:19:30
We build a lot of cool stuff at the construction company, but if I can
00:19:34
do a very small part, if we through the organization can do a small part
00:19:38
to then boost the industry, that's allowed us to find this success.
00:19:42
It's like a, it's like a triple win for me.
00:19:44
So that's kind of, it's that a hundred to zero mindset, right?
00:19:47
I, I don't want to stop.
00:19:49
So I like stacking up the chips.
00:19:51
I like seeing the wins and if I can promote and provide an
00:19:56
opportunity for somebody else to also then see those wins and that's.
00:20:01
That's all I can ask for.
00:20:02
That's great for me.
00:20:03
Todd Miller: Yeah, I love it.
00:20:05
And you're right.
00:20:06
It's so easy.
00:20:07
And, you know, I'll even have people come into my life or saying, Todd, slow down.
00:20:11
You got to do less right now.
00:20:13
I'm doing what I'm driven to do and why I feel like I'm called to do.
00:20:16
Um, well, I'm kind of curious, you know, speaking of that,
00:20:19
how do you balance it all?
00:20:21
Um, where do you find the space and the place to kind of recharge
00:20:25
yourself and be able to keep all this, all these plates spinning?
00:20:29
Matt Vetter: So I get asked that all the time and people say the same thing, you
00:20:32
know, you need to slow down, you need to find more balance and, um, I'm not going
00:20:38
to swear on your podcast, but I find that the term work life balance is BS.
00:20:43
There, there is, when you're an entrepreneur, there is no such thing.
00:20:47
There is no such thing at all.
00:20:48
What, what there is though, is finding.
00:20:52
A way that you can satisfy all of your needs and the needs of those
00:20:55
around you who, who rely on you while still keeping the ship afloat.
00:21:00
And, and I think that's different than balance in my mind anyways.
00:21:04
So, um, you know, I've got three, three boys and a wife and some dogs.
00:21:10
And, you know, there's, there's a lot of, of needs out there.
00:21:13
There are a lot of buckets that I need to fill, but, um, in my mind, I can't do.
00:21:18
Any one of those without all of the others.
00:21:20
Also.
00:21:22
Todd Miller: Yeah, I think that's interesting.
00:21:24
You know, I, especially in the summer, I tend to be a pretty big baseball fan.
00:21:28
And of course, my team is the Reds.
00:21:31
You you might be more of a Tigers fan up there, but, um, yeah, Yeah, it's
00:21:36
interesting as I watch those players, I love seeing, you know, the stories
00:21:41
about them personally because of what it takes to them to be, you know,
00:21:45
an elite level athlete like that.
00:21:48
And, you know, make no mistake about it.
00:21:49
They are.
00:21:51
I mean, they're doing things every day that the rest of us could never
00:21:53
dream of doing, even though we may look at it and think we could.
00:21:57
Um, and yet, you know, You know, you talk about them and how do they achieve
00:22:03
work life balance, and I agree with you.
00:22:05
It's kind of baloney.
00:22:07
Um, and I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but, but I guess, you know, you talk
00:22:11
about, okay, well, they're an athlete and they're doing what they're called to do.
00:22:15
Well, those of us in business are doing what we're called to do also.
00:22:19
Um, and it takes commitment and it takes a lot of drive and
00:22:22
perseverance and a lot of hard work.
00:22:24
So, um, kudos to you.
00:22:27
Matt Vetter: All right.
00:22:27
Thank you.
00:22:28
And you're right.
00:22:28
I mean, I'm more of a basketball guy myself.
00:22:31
I'll relate things to Michael Jordan or to Kobe Bryant.
00:22:34
You know, those two, they were in the gym at three o'clock in the morning and they
00:22:39
were in the gym immediately after games.
00:22:41
And, you know, there's a different mentality.
00:22:44
You have to have to be successful as an owner and not everyone needs that.
00:22:49
We don't, we don't want everyone to be an entrepreneur or a leader of a company.
00:22:53
We need people that just want to work and there's nothing wrong with that, but
00:22:58
Todd Miller: absolutely.
00:22:59
Matt Vetter: You know, and I just think that's, that's part
00:23:01
of the burden that we bear.
00:23:03
As entrepreneurs is, is the lack of that, that, you know, admitted
00:23:08
work life balance concept.
00:23:10
Todd Miller: Yeah.
00:23:10
Interesting.
00:23:11
Well, I'm kind of curious who have been some of the strong mentors or positive
00:23:15
influencers in your life, uh, along the way, anyone in particular come to mind.
00:23:20
Matt Vetter: Uh, my father is a huge one.
00:23:23
Todd Miller: He
00:23:23
Matt Vetter: suffered a massive setback professionally when I was in high school.
00:23:28
Uh, and rather than, you know, tucking tail and admitting defeat and, and.
00:23:32
You know, laying down for the rest of his life.
00:23:34
He turned it around and and Started his own company.
00:23:39
Um, that, which was kind of my first real taste of, of entrepreneurship.
00:23:43
And I saw that and I thought, wow, my, you know, dad's his own boss.
00:23:47
How, how the heck do you do that?
00:23:48
Mm-Hmm, . Um, so, you know, that that was a, a pivotal moment in my life.
00:23:52
And, you know, I've, I've learned a lot through those experiences.
00:23:55
Certainly.
00:23:55
Um, I have other mentors along the way too, but, you know, I, I would say is a,
00:24:00
a, a kind of life altering, uh, moment.
00:24:04
That, that was it.
00:24:05
Todd Miller: Yeah, very interesting.
00:24:07
Well, you and I, you're a lot younger than me, but you and I have very
00:24:10
similar stories because I've got similar experience with my father also.
00:24:14
So, uh, very interesting.
00:24:16
Well, Matt, it's been a great time talking to you.
00:24:19
We're kind of close to wrapping up, but we kind of call the business
00:24:22
end of things and here in a little bit, we'll give you a chance to
00:24:25
share all your contact information.
00:24:28
Um, but is there anything we haven't covered today that you wanted to be
00:24:32
sure and share with our audience?
00:24:34
Matt Vetter: No, I think we've touched on it.
00:24:35
You know, obviously my my big focus right now outside of the construction
00:24:38
company is is the build better foundation.
00:24:40
So any, any, any way anyone can help either financially or or just helping to
00:24:45
get the word out is is always appreciated.
00:24:48
Todd Miller: Cool.
00:24:49
And I'm sure you'd love to talk with folks who may want to start something
00:24:52
similar in their regions to and share with them what you've learned.
00:24:56
That's cool.
00:24:57
Well, and I will tell you if you're someplace in Southeast Michigan
00:25:01
and looking to have a building built, uh, Schafer construct should
00:25:04
be a great option to talk to you.
00:25:06
So that's cool too.
00:25:07
Matt Vetter: We do that too.
00:25:10
Todd Miller: Well, before we close out, I am going to invite
00:25:12
you to take part in something we call our rapid fire questions.
00:25:16
They're not really that rapid, but we'll do them as quick as we can.
00:25:20
Um, so these are seven questions kind of out of the blue that you have no idea.
00:25:24
We're going to ask, um, are you up to the challenge of rapid fire fire away?
00:25:29
Cool.
00:25:29
And I think I said, we're going to ask, I guess it's going to be me.
00:25:32
Um, but anyway.
00:25:35
Number one, what is a product or service that you've purchased in recent years
00:25:40
that has been a real game changer for you?
00:25:42
Sort of a, where have you been all my life
00:25:44
Matt Vetter: moment?
00:25:46
Uh, I joined a entrepreneurial mastermind called the Arate Syndicate
00:25:51
about four years ago, and it has been an absolute game changer.
00:25:55
I wish I had started.
00:25:56
Much sooner.
00:25:58
Todd Miller: So for our audience that doesn't know, tell us a little bit
00:26:01
about how that mastermind group works.
00:26:03
Does it meet once a week, once a month virtual, I assume?
00:26:07
Matt Vetter: Yeah, it's virtual meetings.
00:26:09
Primarily.
00:26:09
There's a, there's a call 3 times a week on on zoom.
00:26:13
There's a, I'm sorry, 3 times a month on zoom.
00:26:17
Uh, a Facebook group.
00:26:18
And then a few times a year, there are opportunities for in person meetups.
00:26:22
Um, all of which I've done all the above.
00:26:25
And it's from a, from a business ownership perspective, it is, it is
00:26:30
1000 percent changed the trajectory of,
00:26:33
of where Schafer construction
00:26:35
Matt Vetter: is going and, and where we were.
00:26:36
And it's, you know, It's been a very beneficial thing.
00:26:39
Todd Miller: Uh, cool.
00:26:40
Good for you.
00:26:40
That's great.
00:26:41
Question number two, if you could have any superpower, what superpower
00:26:46
would you choose to have and why?
00:26:48
Matt Vetter: I've always thought flying would be cool.
00:26:51
Um, I don't really know why maybe, maybe to cut down on my commute, maybe.
00:26:54
So I don't have to fly commercial.
00:26:56
Uh, so I guess until I get my, my first jet.
00:26:59
Um, being able to just to fly like Superman would be, would be kind of fun.
00:27:03
Todd Miller: There you go.
00:27:03
Sounds good to me.
00:27:05
Okay.
00:27:06
Question number three.
00:27:07
Do you have a bucket list vacation?
00:27:09
Matt Vetter: Um, I have a lot of bucket list vacations.
00:27:12
Um, my wife and I are, she's a very similar mindset to me and we're,
00:27:17
we're always working on something.
00:27:19
So we, we've become very good at kind of coupling our travel options with,
00:27:24
um, Our entrepreneurial ventures.
00:27:26
So everywhere we go to where we always are going kind of with the
00:27:30
look in the eye of, you know, how can we turn this into something new?
00:27:35
How can we turn this into either another business or an opportunity?
00:27:38
And so really any, anywhere we go that we haven't been yet, our
00:27:42
bucket list adventures to us.
00:27:44
Good deal.
00:27:46
Todd Miller: Well, this next one is a would you rather question.
00:27:49
Would you, would you rather have spaghetti for your hair
00:27:53
or maple syrup for your sweat?
00:27:57
Matt Vetter: Um, boy, that's equally, equally disgusting.
00:28:01
I think I would go with, uh, with maple syrup, I guess.
00:28:05
And I don't have a good answer.
00:28:07
I like maple syrup more than I like spaghetti.
00:28:11
We'll leave it at that.
00:28:13
Todd Miller: See, I would take the spaghetti because I haven't
00:28:15
had hair in about 30 years, so I'd have to go with that.
00:28:19
Okay, another would you rather question.
00:28:22
Would you rather have a permanent clown face or would you rather always
00:28:28
have to wear giant clown shoes?
00:28:31
Matt Vetter: I'm a shoe guy.
00:28:34
I'd go with the shoes.
00:28:35
I like my my Jordans and my my cowboy boots, but I I'd add
00:28:39
some clown shoes into the mix.
00:28:41
Todd Miller: There you go.
00:28:41
Love it.
00:28:43
Okay.
00:28:43
Next to last question.
00:28:44
If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would
00:28:48
you choose to have dinner with
00:28:50
Matt Vetter: historical figure?
00:28:53
I would probably go with, uh, you know, a John Adams or a Paul Revere type.
00:28:58
Type figure just to kind of pick their brain on, you know, what, what their,
00:29:03
what their mindset was, what their, uh, what their core values were when
00:29:06
they were, you know, working on, on the revolution and the constitution
00:29:09
and that phase of our country's existence, that'd be pretty neat to me
00:29:13
to understand more on a deeper level, especially given where we are today.
00:29:18
Todd Miller: Yeah, I agree.
00:29:19
Cool.
00:29:20
And I love the flag.
00:29:21
You said, uh, they're behind you.
00:29:22
You said a friend made that for
00:29:24
Matt Vetter: you.
00:29:24
He did.
00:29:25
I have a good friend.
00:29:26
He, uh, he owns a company unrelated to woodworking.
00:29:29
Um, but he's also a pretty accomplished woodworker.
00:29:32
So he made this and shipped it up from, uh, shipped it over from New Jersey.
00:29:36
Uh, and it's, it's hung on my wall ever since.
00:29:38
Wow, that's beautiful.
00:29:39
Thank
00:29:39
Todd Miller: you.
00:29:40
Last question.
00:29:41
What would you like to be for remembered for at the end of your days?
00:29:45
Matt Vetter: I think that's easy.
00:29:46
Everybody wants to be remembered for making a difference making a positive
00:29:49
change You know and that's that kind of goes along with the question you asked
00:29:52
me earlier and why I do all that I do um You know, it'd be pretty boring to
00:29:57
me to just live a mediocre existence.
00:30:00
That's never interested me.
00:30:02
Um, never been a guy that wanted to punch a clock and, and go sit down and, and, you
00:30:07
know, watch TV every night so I can turn my time into, into valuable production
00:30:13
and make, make a positive impact.
00:30:16
Todd Miller: Good for you.
00:30:17
Well, you are well on the path to making that difference and
00:30:20
you are making that difference.
00:30:21
So it's been great.
00:30:22
So Matt, thank you again, um for folks who want to get in touch with you or learn
00:30:28
more about Schafer construction
00:30:30
Todd Miller: or the construction corner podcast or The build better
00:30:33
foundation, uh, what are the best ways for them to do that?
00:30:36
And we'll put this information in the show notes as well, by the way.
00:30:40
Matt Vetter: I appreciate that todd Um easiest way to get a hold
00:30:43
of me is my my personal linkedin.
00:30:45
It's Matt Vetter Pretty easy to find.
00:30:48
Uh, the website company website is Schafer Construction.
00:30:51
net.
00:30:52
Um, through that site, you can get to the build better foundation also.
00:30:55
So it's all a pretty easy one stop shop.
00:30:58
Todd Miller: Cool.
00:30:59
Well, we encourage everyone to check that out and, and especially
00:31:03
check out what Matt's doing through the build better foundation.
00:31:06
And, uh, it's an important part of, uh, continuing our industry and
00:31:11
hopefully improving it on our industry.
00:31:13
And, uh, so check that out for sure.
00:31:16
So Matt, I have to ask you, did you get your challenge word in?
00:31:21
Matt Vetter: I sure did.
00:31:21
I used precision when I talked about the precision of making
00:31:25
crafting a mission statement that can withstand the test of time
00:31:29
Todd Miller: and you did it.
00:31:30
Well, you're right.
00:31:30
I remember it now, but went right over my head at the time I worked mine in,
00:31:35
which was traction didn't use it that way.
00:31:39
But for all you business owners out there, Matt and I were
00:31:42
talking about the book traction.
00:31:44
Great business leadership book, business management book.
00:31:48
So we highly recommend that if you're looking for something.
00:31:51
Matt, this has been great.
00:31:52
Thank you so much.
00:31:53
It's been really good to get to know you and to learn more about what you're doing.
00:31:56
Keep up the great work.
00:31:57
I
00:31:58
Matt Vetter: appreciate it, Todd.
00:31:59
It's been fun.
00:32:01
Todd Miller: Well, thank you to our audience for tuning into
00:32:03
this very special episode of Construction Disruption with Matt
00:32:07
Vetter of Schafer Construction
00:32:09
Todd Miller: based in Brighton, Michigan.
00:32:11
Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.
00:32:14
Don't forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts or YouTube.
00:32:18
Um, we always have great guests just like today, and we appreciate that.
00:32:21
Um, but until the next time we're together, keep on disrupting and
00:32:24
challenging, looking for better ways of doing things, and don't forget to
00:32:28
have a positive impact on everyone you encounter, make them smile, give them
00:32:32
encouragement, so God bless and take care.
00:32:36
This is Isaiah Industries signing off until the next episode
00:32:39
of Construction Disruption.
00:32:43
Intro: This podcast is produced by Isaiah Industries, manufacturer of specialty
00:32:48
metal roofing and other building products.
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