From Marine Corps to $100K: How Jorel Solis Built Confidence Pest Control Through Service and Authenticity

00:00Dan Leibrandt

Hey there, my name is Dan Leibrandt and welcome back to Pest Control Success Stories, where we interview the people crushing it in our Pest Control Millionaires program. Today, I'm thrilled to be joined by Jorel Solis, owner of Confidence Pest Control, and Jorel is a Marine Corps veteran, a husband, a father, and an entrepreneur who's built a thriving locally owned pest control business, serving the Temple and Belton, Texas area. In this episode, we'll dive into his journey, how he went from a veteran to business owner. The challenges he's overcome, the strategies he's used to scale and what's next for Confidence Pest Control. So without further ado, Jorel, welcome to the show.

00:38Jorel Solis

Hey, thank you so much Dan. I can't tell you how awesome it is to even have the opportunity to be here and speak with you. So from the bottom of my heart, man, thank you so much.

00:48Dan Leibrandt

Absolutely, man, no, it's really good to have you. And like I was saying before the show, dude, I see you all the time on social media. You're always posting, you're so good about that stuff. I feel like a lot of pest control owners, for whatever reason, maybe they don't believe in social media, or maybe it feels kind of awkward to get their faces out there. But I really respect what you're doing of documenting what's working, posting a lot of YouTube videos,...

01:03Jorel Solis

That I'm I don't...

01:09Dan Leibrandt

All that stuff. I really respect it.

01:11Jorel Solis

Yeah, man, I appreciate it. I just the same thing, you know, and shout out to Jonas Olson, you know, but he's that guy who was like, hey, man, somebody needs to do it. If no one else is doing it, might as well be me. And so that mindset is I'm right there with them. I'm like, hey, let's just post. And there's really not a whole lot of people that I found that were doing it. So said, you know, somebody's got to do it. I might as well might as well be the one.

01:37Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, well, think it's gonna be so cool as you continue to grow because you're just gonna hit these crazy benchmarks and people are gonna look back and be like, dang, mean, everything he was saying was right. And he, you know, from almost the very beginning, he's telling us what to do. So, yeah, so cool. So awesome. Love that. I wanted to dive a little bit back into your background to start. And I know, like I,...

01:41Jorel Solis

Thank you.

01:58Dan Leibrandt

Like I mentioned in the intro that you're, we're actually a Marine. And like I also told you, thank you for your service. I really appreciate it. I'm sure everyone else really appreciates it. Can you tell us, I mean, first off, how did you become a Marine and what was that like?

02:14Jorel Solis

Well, thank you. You know, first of all, thank you. I appreciate that. Man, honestly, that was something that I can legitimately say that I always wanted to do. Yeah, I also never I never planned on making it a career, but I really did always want to become a Marine. And funny enough, you know, it was just telling the story. My best friend and slash cousin, he and seventh grade was our. Very first football game and we were at school and that was actually September 11th, 2001, you know, and I remember just that day, obviously, you know, anybody who's of age and remembers that I definitely remember and they canceled all of our games and we were walking home that day and I just, you know, to be completely honest, I couldn't believe that that had just happened and I remember telling my cousin, Josh, I said, hey man, when I'm 18, I'm going to be in the Marines and I'm going to be fighting the guys who did that to us.

03:19Jorel Solis

And, you know, I come from a very small Texas town where, you know, know, patriotism, we're, we're, all big on it, but yeah, man. And that's what kind of planted that seed back then. And from there, I just always knew that I was going to do it. I knew that I wasn't meant for college. That was never my thing. But you know, I always enjoyed a challenge and If you're going to join something, you know, if you're going to do something, be the best at it. And the Marines, you know, that's there's a tip of the, there's a tip of the spear, you know. So I, you know, literally I turned 18. Oh, I actually enlisted my junior year of high school. So I was already ready to go. And so that entire year of my senior year, I was just kind of waiting. I knew that I was going to be shipping off to bootcamp, you know, pretty quick after graduation. And that's exactly what happened. So. I did that again. Knew that I wasn't going to make a career out of it, but it's something that I always wanted to do. And so I'm proud to say that I served my country for sure.

04:19Dan Leibrandt

Absolutely, man. No, I'm a total patriot myself. So I just, you I have so much respect for doing that. Wow, that's okay. So you were inspired by 9-11. And also what I wanted to mention was, so usually I join these podcasts about 15 minutes before just so can get my script in, so I can, you know, make sure everything's set up. And you were, you joined the podcast like 15 minutes early too. And I was like, Jorel, why are you so early? And you said, because, you learned as a Marine that- you know, five minutes early is 10 minutes late. And I just kind of wanted to touch on that and like overall, what would you say are some of the biggest lessons you learned as a Marine?

04:59Jorel Solis

Accountability is probably one of the biggest ones, you know, and that's something that I hold very, very dear to me. Just, you know, that's a principle and just a life skill that, know, the sooner you learn it, the better, you know, accountability and leadership. You know, they I don't know if you've ever read the book Extreme Ownership by Leif Babin and Jocko Willink and there's some Navy SEALs, but they talk about the military and how they really instill leadership, I mean, from the bottom to the top, know, so, know, E2 is in charge of the E1, the E3 is in charge of the E2, the E1 and so on. And so that's something that, you know, I kind of just, really, I was around some of the best leaders that this country has to offer. And so I took a lot away from them. I had some bad ones too, but, you know, I throw away the bad, keep the good. And so leadership and one thing that was pretty consistent with them was accountability. If you mess up, be accountable for it. Just take pride in what you do. So leadership and accountability are two of the things that I've taken away and that I carry with me and I try to instill in my children as well.

06:16Dan Leibrandt

Of that man. And then what happened after you were a Marine? What was the pivot to pest control?

06:22Jorel Solis

Man, you know, it's a, that was a long road as well. You know, just like any, know, just like 99 % of the people that are in the pest control industry, it really just kind of fell into my lap. You know, I mean, nobody really ever says, Hey, you know, when they're eight years old, I can't wait to grow up and, know, be a, you know, an exterminator, a bug guy. That's just, it's not a sexy industry, but I tell you, I love it, but it's just not super sexy. And so yeah, man, after the Marine Corps, you know, just like anybody, I was a little lost. You go from a brotherhood and the camaraderie of all those Marines. So now you're, you know, back, you know, just back home typically, and you're just on your own. Luckily for me, I'd met my now wife right before I got out of the Marine Corps. And so, you know, we were together and I was just trying to find, you know, really what I was going to do next. So I did a few different things. You mentioned my posting videos. I just posted a video of my first day in the West Texas oil field man and you know, I did that right after the Marine Corps is like, hey, you the oil field was booming in Texas. I have a lot of family out there so went out there. I was a truck driver at one point. I worked for the city at different points. So I mean, I've done quite a bit of it all but one day, you know that the. One job, it wasn't working out and I left there and my father-in-law, funny enough, who was with a company, he said, you know, we actually just had to fire a guy, you know, I'll give my boss your number and he was a military, he was a Navy guy and we talked for five minutes, says, dude, you're hired and he said, you know, come on, show up on Monday and you know.

08:17Jorel Solis

We did some training. I was in a truck learning what they did. I said, hey man, this isn't too bad. And I really just thought it was going to be something, you know, an in-between until I found something that I could get more sexy, something that I could, know, it just get, you know, it was just something that I could have while I was looking for something else. But, you know, we fast forward all this time later and I really fell in love with the industry and really the, relationship part of meeting customers and like I like to be very customer friendly and I love to meet new people. That's something that's really I love doing and with Pest Control, that's exactly what it is solving problems and meeting new people building relationships. So I pretty quickly fell in love with with that part of the business and the kill and bug man. That's easy. Know that anybody can do that. But building the relationships that I've built, you know, it's been really special. So that's how I got into it and that's why I stayed in it. And ultimately why I decided to start my own pest control company. Wanted to, you know, I knew that being an employee, I would really never get to where I wanted in life. I just like most people I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and so I said, yep, entrepreneurship is the way for me. And they kind of, I'm reading, you know, the E-Myth and all these business books and I'm like, why I was never really a good employee. I'm not made to be an employee. This is the harder path and I'm one that takes that harder path. I like challenging and I like to push myself. I knew pretty quickly once I got that seed of entrepreneurship that this is the only way to go. Fast forward two and a half years. Well, fast forward a little bit. Now I'm two and a half years in, man. I love every bit of it too.

10:06Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, so cool, man. So yeah, you're two and a half years in. First, I want to ask you, what was that first year like? Was it tough or what did you learn there?

10:16Jorel Solis

It was scary just, you know, I mean, you ask any entrepreneur, especially those that are bootstrapping, it's very scary. You know, but one of the things, you know, you asked me about the Marine Corps earlier and another thing, you know, that's why it's Confidence is, you know, confidence comes from accomplishing hard things, you know, and I'd always been an athlete, always played football, always did stuff that was harder. The Marines, you know, that's hard. You'll get into bootcamp, doing the things that I've done. Those are all confidence builders. And so that first year I knew that I could do it because I've been proven not anybody wrong, but I've been proving myself right time and time and time again. So I knew that I could do it. It was just a matter of getting it done, man. And it was scary. It was very scary. You know, you're you go from a steady paycheck to, you know, now it's all on you know? So, I mean, I'm willing to drive two hours away to make a hundred dollars, you know, doing whatever it takes. And so it's scary, but it was rewarding. I learned a lot about myself. I learned again, I learned that I could make it happen. I just continue to reaffirm that, that, hey, you know, I've got my wife, I've got my kids and, I've got myself and, you know, honestly, I don't think you need much more than that. And so, yeah, I just learned really how hard it is to start a business and, you know, you really find out, you know, your support system, all that, you find out a lot about all that, you know, especially in that first year for sure.

11:43Dan Leibrandt

Mmm.

11:53Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, yeah, love that man. So you just passed six figures, which congratulations, and you also just passed 200 reviews, which is awesome. I think we'll cover the reviews thing first. Why are reviews so important and how have you gotten so many?

12:02Jorel Solis

Thank you.

12:11Jorel Solis

Well, they're important. Mean, you talk about it as well as really anybody who does marketing, they talk and they really hammer it down. Google reviews it, you know, back then, they weren't as important. You know, you could pay to be, you know, top of Google. You know, you could do a lot more and you could still do well. But nowadays and in today's world, and I see it as well. And I'm somebody who does that when I'm looking for something. Whether it's Amazon or Google restaurants, you the first thing you do is you look at the reviews to make sure that they're trustworthy. And so that, you know, I'm like, okay, well, clearly that has relevance, you know, that that's a lot of relevance. And, you know, I listened to podcasts from shout out to the Bug Bux guys, they talk about, you know, reviews and how important they are. Jonas is the all his guests, they talk about reviews and you talk about reviews and I, and so listen, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. Like I mentioned to you earlier, Hey, you guys are already there, you know, or y'all are talking to the guys who are already there and they talk about how important the reviews are. I said, Hey, you know, there there's clearly something here with that. So I just made it a point to get reviews. And you know, you just gotta ask for them. You know, so many people are scared to ask.

13:37Jorel Solis

I, you know, that's never been me. I, you know, I build a relationship with the customer and if you do a five star service and if you have a really good relationship, you should have no question asking for a five star review. And so that's exactly what I would do. You know, you get people to like you. One, you're going to get a review too. You're going to get a lifetime customer as long as you continue to hold up your end of the deal to take care of their home. So, it was just a no brainer. Hey, Dan says get reviews, so I get reviews.

14:08Dan Leibrandt

Haha.

14:09Jorel Solis

And so that's what I've been doing. Yeah, I'm proud to say that. I just hit that 200 mark. I'm at like 206. And in my area, the only people that have more than that are multi-billion dollar companies, the Orkins and the Terminix's of the world. Other than that, it's me. And that has helped me because Google rewards that, you know, they see that I'm consistently getting people to Google and that I'm consistently getting reviews and that I'm responding to the reviews. And so I've seen from, you know, the day one when I first got Google verified, you know, when I was at the very bottom of page five to where now I'm on page one and I'm getting, you know, 50 % of the calls that I'm getting are from Google. So I can, and that's that I hadn't invested in SEO. I hadn't paid for anything. Everything that I've been doing was just, completely on me, know, my own website and my own reviews taking the time to get that. So it paid off again. Yeah. And that's not, that's not me telling everybody that, you guys told me that. And so I'm straight up a benefactor of someone who can tell you that, listen to what they're saying, because it's a, I'm reaping the rewards from doing exactly what you guys told me to do.

15:28Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, definitely. No, I'm the same way. I don't like to say like I'm the biggest expert or whatever, but I like to listen to all the other experts. And I love that you do this too. You listen to all the podcasts and read all the books. It's like, well, if everyone says to get reviews, if everyone says to start posting content, I should probably do it, right? So it seems like, and I really like that, that you've taken that initiative to learn as much as possible. So like, I guess I'll ask you this. What is one of the biggest things you've learned recently with your business?

15:41Jorel Solis

Hehehehe...

16:03Jorel Solis

Um, one of the biggest things that I've learned recently, man. Um, well, you know, honestly, I will tell you that I recently did start doing some SEO. I found somebody local and I'm, and I'm already starting to see the benefits of that. You know, obviously I know how important websites are in today's day and age and that, you know, that you're a good website is a 24 seven salesman for you know, um, you know, so SEO is the one, but another one is really content, man. Content, content, content. You know, I took me a second to realize, but yeah, content is king. Everybody says that. Mean, anybody who does marketing, they just, hey, get content out there. Just get content, get in front of people. And, you know, Jonas, he says it in almost every podcast. He says it's not the it's not the best product that wins. It's the best known product.

16:57Dan Leibrandt

Haha...

17:02Jorel Solis

And so, I'm like, hey, he's absolutely right. And so I've really learned it. And that's what I've been posting, you know, pretty regularly from the day that I started. Over the past few weeks, excuse me, over the past few weeks and few months, I've really hammered down posting regularly and just being in front of people and really being authentic and letting people see who I am, you know, because you know, people want to buy from people that they know, like and trust. And if they think that, you know, you're just that you're fake or that, you know, that's not really who it is and that they're not going to really give you that time of day. But by posting and being in front of so many people and being authentic and as authentic as I can be, you know, that that really does help me. Again, I'm getting phone calls every single day and I'm getting messages every single day from from Google, from my reviews. And then from Facebook, because people just, you know, they see me and they ask, they'll ask their neighborhood page. And it's really cool because you'll have, you know, 20 to 25 people comment on that post. And it says, hey, you know, Jorel and Confidence. And it's just the same thing down. And I've really become an authority in all these small, in all these small local groups, which is which is really something I'm proud of. I love it, you know, because all these other. Customers and even people that aren't customers, but just see me posting content. They're the first ones to recommend me. So that's something special and that's something that I love post content.

18:37Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, no, no, definitely. Yeah, no, Jonas mentions it all the time. I see you mention it all the time now. Like I just watched your recent video on digital marketing and you mentioned all those things. Content is king, you need to be posting consistently. And I think especially as a small business owner, maybe if you're under a million dollars a year or so, because that's, I would say how you like separate yourself from the big guys. All the big guys are all corporate companies and that their staff can't really relate or they can't. Have like a face of the company, but you as a smaller business owner, you can connect with your audience and it might be you servicing or it might be someone that you've directly trained and it's much more personal and relational and that's attractive to a lot of people. They don't want just, or a lot of people don't just want a random company. They want someone like you who's locally owned that is doing a good job.

19:31Jorel Solis

Good job.

19:31Dan Leibrandt

And that's, mean, they can watch tons of videos of you online and be like, you know, I feel like I know this guy. He seems like just a good person. I like his business.

19:41Jorel Solis

Yeah, absolutely, man. You hit the nail on the head. I get so many people that reach out and it blows my mind because I mean just so many people, you know that are that I'm just in front of and yeah, just post content man. It's awesome. I love it. I really do it. Just again following your footsteps following all your guys footsteps.

20:02Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, then what content have you seen work best? Because you've been posting for a while now and I know you post super consistently. Like what have you learned and what is the content that you like to put out?

20:15Jorel Solis

I do like to do informative stuff because you that's something you know, and you really have to know and you guys talk about it. You have to know the platform that you're using. You know, people aren't on Facebook to buy pest control and I understand that people are on Facebook during their lunch break or whenever they're just killing time or in line for their kids, whatever the case is. So, you know, if you come in there and you're just selling them, telling them how great you are, all that, you know, they're going to scroll right past it. But whenever you do something that's funny, or something that's helpful, know, really posted, you know, the time of year and the season and whatever pests there might have, you know, wasps are really bad right now. So if you post a video or pictures of wasps that immediately, hey, you know what, I have that on my garage door or my front door or something. So again, it automatically, you know, kind of pauses them, maybe not stops them in their track, but now they kind of take note. So that's really that's been helpful. And then some of the funnier stuff, man. I have a video of me using my web pole and it's so hot. Even in the caption, it says like, you know, this heat in Texas has me thinking about a career change. And, you know, the pole standing straight up and I go over there and I kind of do a little stripper type move to it. You know, it is just the funniest thing, but that one. Blew up man that way and that when I say blew up, I don't mean, know, know, trendy. It's not TikTok famous, nothing like that. But in the area I've had and I can honestly gotta say this that I've had multiple women, you know, show up, you know, when I show up and they're like, hey, did you bring your pole? And you know, it's just the funniest thing. And so, you know, again, knowing your platform, you know, so Facebook and that's typically what I use for the most part.

22:07Jorel Solis

Funny humor stuff will get their attention. They're gonna laugh at that. They're gonna like that. And they'll typically go view your profile because I was funny and they'll see the other stuff. And so the informative stuff I'm all about, listen, I don't necessarily need to be your pest control company. I wanna be your pest control resource. And that's a great way to earn people's trust when they know that they can reach out to you and you're not just gonna tell them, I'll come out and fix the problem. When you tell them exactly what they can do, at a fraction of the cause, you've earned their trust. And then they're like, you know what, actually you just come do it. So, you know, just informative information and then humor have really done well for me.

22:51Dan Leibrandt

Absolutely, man. Yeah, that reminds me of a really good quote from Alex Hormozi, which is, give away all the secrets for free and then sell the implementation. And it's the same thing that you're saying there. You can teach everyone about every single aspect of pest control, every single thing you know, which you know a lot. But at the end of the day, do people really wanna do pest control? Mean, I'd rather just have you come to my house and do it for me. But you still show that you know what you're talking about, that there's some trust there. And also, mean, another component there is, you know, if you're giving away genuinely valuable stuff for free of, know, hey, the whilst we're coming, put out this kind of thing, or maybe, you know, you can buy these traps for super cheap, just go and buy this and you don't even need to hire me. Then that makes people trust you much more. Really the point I was making was if they get so much value from your free stuff, then they're like, well, the paid stuff is gonna be so good, right?

23:47Jorel Solis

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, 100%. And you're absolutely right.

23:53Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, yeah, 100%. Okay, cool. Let's, yeah, let's let's jump more into the. Actually, I'd like to talk about the group a little bit because I think you joined the group, it might have been a year ago or so maybe maybe a little bit less. But talk to me about your experience joining the Pest Control Millionaires program. And kind of the background you gave me which is like you met Jonas, you joined like what was that progression?

24:19Jorel Solis

Yeah, you bet, man. You know, it's a great program, too. I mean, that's literally helped me get to the six figures. I will say that. Absolutely. And that's that I'm a fraction into the program. And I really, you know, I mentioned Facebook and partnerships and then, you know, the Google reviews. So like I'm at the very beginning of the program and I'm just I found a honey hole. So I'm just getting everything that I can out of that. But. Yeah, I started in January. Had actually, you know, I've been listening to Jonas's before I started my company and you know, I like his stuff. I've reached out to him in the past just to let him know that, you know, he's doing a great job. And so, you know, being on Facebook and the Pest Control community, it's, it feels a lot bigger whenever you're a part of it, but it is a very small, you know, community. And so it's easy for some of these other, you know, anybody doing something Jake Sheldon was actually, you know, he found me pretty easily, especially because he was out of the Austin area. So he reached out to me and told me a little bit about it. And, know, I was super interested. Obviously, you know, we're all wanting to grow. And I took the leap and I bought the program. And I mean, it helped me scale from, you know, the hundred customers that I was that, you know, to which took me, you know, 18 months to get to, you know, I've been able to get an additional hundred customers, a little over a hundred customers. And I know to most people that's not a lot, but for if you're just solo entrepreneur, it's a big deal. And so, yeah, it definitely helped me get there in a much shorter time than it you know, it definitely moved the needle and helped me, helped me grow much quicker. The group's been great, man. Jonas is.

26:09Jorel Solis

He, him, Jake, yourself, you guys, you know what you're talking about, you know, and even when it's something you might not be specifically, you know, knowledgeable about it, you have the people on, whether it's your podcast or just the training that you guys are doing with that, you're just teaching and y'all have learned so much and you've been able to help us with that. So yeah, I the group is great. It's really cool because anybody who's anybody in the pest control world knows who Jonas Olson is and yourself as well. I remember listening to your very first podcast and to see how far you've come is really awesome. Jonas is, dude, he's here to help, man. I mean, all you guys are. But for me, I'm always starstruck.

26:45Dan Leibrandt

Heh.

27:03Jorel Solis

Anytime we hop on a Zoom and there's Jonas talking, I'm like, hey dude, this is that guy that's all over, know, Facebook and everything and just it's really, really neat. But it's been great, man. I got nothing but great things to say about it. It's been really, really awesome.

27:07Dan Leibrandt

Heh.

27:21Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, no, I appreciate you saying that. And, well, I didn't realize you've doubled your customers. And like you said, it might not feel too big to some other people, I mean, doubling, you've been in business for less than three years. So if you extrapolate that and, you know, five, 10 years in business, dude, I mean, you are going to be knocking it out of the park. So that's so cool. And yeah, no, it's been really cool to see the progression of the group and... You know, I joined the partnership, I don't know, kind of earlier this year, maybe January, kind of like when you got involved. And like you said, I just, there's not enough good things to say, or there's too many good things to say about Jake and Jonas. They're just absolute killers. And yeah, like you said about Jonas, it's so funny, I was hanging out with him in Escanaba at his house, I think it was like two weeks ago or so, and it's so funny, he, is even famous at his daughter's high school. She was almost complaining, we're all just hanging out in the TV room. And she was like, all the kids at my school know you, it's so weird. But that's how much of a local celebrity he is. And I kind of jokingly said, but I think it's true, when these kids grow up, they'll probably, when they get a house, they'll probably use his company because they've known his company for their whole lives. And they know Jonas specifically. Like the point we were mentioning earlier of, how you post content and people trust you, it's much easier to trust and connect with a person versus a company, right? So people actually know Jonas of Pest Badger and Jorel of Confidence Pest Control, not just the company name, right? So I think that's important to note too. And yeah, no, I just think that's super important and you guys are doing that well. So also you mentioned a little bit about strategic partnerships. Have you done anything there yet?

29:20Jorel Solis

Just a little bit. You know, it's and it's a It's been a great one. I partnered with and we're actually we've become really really good friends on top of that We even coach our sons on on in flag football. We coach them together We said hey man, you know, have as a lawn care company and you know, I got a pest control company we got to talk and yeah, man, we said, hey, you know, this is this is something that we can do. You know, I'm not trying to take your customers. I'm trying to help them and vice versa. So we've been you know, we hit it off and we've become great friends. But yeah, that's again has been another honey hole for me. You know, any time that he any any of his customers need anything, you know, he just he says, yeah, I'm going to send my guy out here. Not, know. And that's the thing, you we don't really give them that option. People ask me for lawn care and I say, yeah, you know, I'll send them out here. Don't worry about that. Don't I don't even give them another option. Not, hey, I know these guys that say, I know. Shout out to Adamson Lawn Care here in Belton and Temple. But yeah, I tell them, hey, you know, he's the best in the area. So, you know, you're in good hands. And the great thing about that with referrals and partnerships is once you're in. Your partners are in as well, you know, because these customers trust you and they trust that you're not just going to meet anybody off the street and say, okay, yeah, you know, you can go to my customer's home because these customers are important to me. It's just like his customers are important to him. So what, you know, we met, we knew that we did the same thing, but you know, we were still feeling it because we used to coach against each other. Um, and it's like, all right, Hey, we're actually pretty cool. And once we realized that we were both, you know, good guys and we knew that we were somebody we could trust that that one just blew up and I've gotten quite a few customers of his to not only sign up for pest control, but drop who they were using and switch to us and vice versa. I've gotten plenty of new people that moved the area where there's a lot of military areas. So I make sure I said, know, when you decide you want some lawn care, you don't have to worry about it. Know, Adamson Lawn Care is going to get you taken care of.

31:37Jorel Solis

So yeah, it has been really cool.

31:38Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, Yeah, no, like, Jonas has said it, that's like, probably the most natural pairing for a pest control company is finding a lawn care company or vice versa, because assuming you don't have any overlap, I mean, the services naturally go hand in hand. And you can also obviously you can partner up with other businesses and such. But that's so cool that you guys are both coaches. And you know, you guys met each other there. And it seems like you have a great relationship.

32:06Jorel Solis

Yeah, absolutely, man. It's been, again, it's been a game changer. And that's that I've got a list, you I've reached out to other companies and you know, one of the things about that and one of the criteria for me, whenever the program talked about getting those strategic partners, you know, I have, I wish I had my journal with me because I had, you know, HVAC and I had, you know, 10 companies and then lawn care and plumbers and. Electricians, I had a list of all these people. Again, I wasn't just going to say, hey, do you want to partner up? I wanted to call and make sure that they at least shared some of the same values and some of the core principles that I did. And it really is for me, it blew my mind to see how many people just wouldn't even answer their phone or when they did answer the phone, not very customer friendly and just. It really shook me. So that's why I've been very, very, that's why I've only got the one guy that I partner with just because I want to have somebody that again has some of the same values and has the principles and I can trust to send my customers that way because again, these customers are the lifeblood to making sure that my kids eat. So I want to make sure that they're taken care of.

33:28Dan Leibrandt

Yeah. That's actually a really good point because if you let's say you stack up a ton of strategic partners, but then a lot of them are doing bad business. They have bad employees. They do bad work. They have bad reviews. Then that's directly a bad look for you. If you're referring all your customers to, you know, this HVAC guy or this moving company, and then they do a bad job, that's a really bad look for you and your customers. And that could even mean that I don't maybe you break the relationship with your customers and maybe even lose them. So I think that's smart of you to kind of hold off there. So something I have been recommending to clients recently and just kind of pest control guys in general is how you can get in the door with them and how I get in the door with a lot of other people, like even how I met Jonas and Jake is you could interview these local guys. I think that would be a good strategy of instead of, you know, directly pitching them on a partnership, you could. Just interview all the people in your area and you know, maybe something comes out of that, maybe it doesn't, maybe they take you out to lunch or something, but I really like that strategy in rec.

34:35Jorel Solis

Yeah, I know you talked about it with I think Dennis Yu in one of your podcasts about the importance and how having a podcast would really benefit you especially hyper locally and so that's absolutely I've got the mic at home. I've got a you know, I'm working on that because that I do again, you know, this is this is home for me and I want to highlight them to help them out. You know, I love helping people. But then, you know, it's just, you know, the law of reciprocity, you know, and I don't do it for the recipe or, know, for the reciprocating effect. You know, that's genuinely not why I do it. I want to help, but the universe has a funny way of, know, you're going to help somebody and just buy just by the way, you know, just the way that it works is you're going to end up benefiting. And I, again, I don't It's never a you scratch my back. I'll scratch yours. It's never that it's hey, man There's just so much room for all of us to eat at the table. Well, you know in the same industry or different industry So that's something that I know, you mentioned my YouTube channel and that's something that I'm gonna be doing especially as we start slowing down in the pest control season is and I and I want to focus a lot more on content is bringing some of these other local business owners so that You know one I can get their their name out there the word and you know, hopefully it helps both of us, you know...

36:00Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, yeah, definitely. No, I think that's a no brainer when, you know, getting some of these strategic partnerships. Awesome. Well, that was, that was great. And also I wanted to ask you, what is the future look like for Confidence Pest Control? Where are you headed? What are your goals? Where would you like to be?

36:21Jorel Solis

You know, it's funny you say that and I think about that a lot, you know, because people always, you know, a lot of books and a lot of people will tell you to start with the end in mind. You know, they say start with the end in mind. And I think that's, great. You know, maybe you do want to sell it. I've got three kids. My son, he's in here with me all the time. He's always working. He talks about wanting to take it over. But, you know, I mean, you know, long term goals, really don't know. You know, I don't ever want to say that I want to get to a $10 million company and just stop right there because as I grow, I really want to invest in people. I want to get a great team aboard Confidence. That's going to be my goal and to develop people to really truly develop them and bring the best out of them because you know, one thing that I say is I can't change the world. You know, on a major scale, but where it starts at is with home and your family, your wife and your kids deserve the best version of yourself. And I want to be able to help others get their best version of themselves so that they can, you know, you know, so their family can see that. And, you know, there's just so people have so much potential. So I don't ever want to get to a point and say, OK, you know, I have three offices and I'm just going to stop right there because. I'm good with that. Feel like that would be a very, very selfish thing. Whenever I have people in the team who are still wanting to grow and they say, Hey, you know, I can actually manage these three offices. Let's get another three offices. So I don't know, man, you know, the, you know, long-term goals. Don't know. I just want to grow and just let, you know, get a good team on board and then just let them take this and really grow and see what kind of potential that they can reach. But short-term man.

38:13Jorel Solis

You know, my goal is just to get a technician on board. You know, that way I can, you know, work on the business, do a lot more content and then just have him, you know, running the route and grow that and, know, just growth that that's the key thing for me is just trying to get to, a point where I can get some to so I can get a team and that's really what my goal is to get a team and to get people bought into the vision that I have for the company and just let them take it and run, you know?

38:46Dan Leibrandt

Awesome, man. No, no, I think really the sky is the limit for you. I know you're super ambitious and you're an avid learner, which I think is super important. And yeah, no, man, I think you're gonna crush it and we'll definitely have to make sure to stay in touch. Maybe I'll interview you here and I don't know, maybe a year from now and we can see where you're at.

39:05Jorel Solis

Absolutely brother. Yeah, it hit me up in a year and again, I'm sticking to the program and I stick to the script, you know, if I could tell anything to the listeners, they don't try to reinvent the wheel man. Just find somebody who's where you want to be at and follow their path. And yeah, come back to me in a year and hopefully we've doubled or tripled in size by then man.

39:27Dan Leibrandt

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And you actually, you already answered the last question I was gonna ask, but maybe anything else you wanted to mention, what is your message for other pest control owners out there? What do you wanna tell the community? What's on your heart and you wanna let people know?

39:46Jorel Solis

Again, right back at that, find somebody that where you want to be at. And the great thing about this industry we talked about, it is the smallest, tight-knit. And I guarantee you know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody. And we're all connected somehow. It really is a small industry. It's a very, very giving industry. That's what I love about, know, people are very open, especially in today's day and age. I know we've come a long way from, you know, back that 70s, 80s, 90s, where everything was very close to the vest or to the chest. Know, now it now the information is out there. And the thing that I want to tell them, you know, whatever market you're in, do not be afraid to be the one to stand out, you know, because just like Jonas says, It's the best known product that wins. Take advantage of social media, post content, and just be willing to be out there. Put yourself out there because people are gonna love it. They do love it, and you're gonna earn their business, you're gonna earn their trust, and lifelong customers as long as you continue to do those types of things.

41:00Dan Leibrandt

Amen. Well said, man. Cool. Well, that wraps up the podcast here. Where can people find you online, Jorel? Where can they connect with you?

41:08Jorel Solis

You can have a face. Yeah, we've been talking about Facebook. That's one of the easiest. Yeah, I'm there There's not a whole lot of Jorel Solis is out there and just like as far as I'm aware There's only one Confidence Pest Control So if you want to find me I'm very very easy to get a hold of and I'd love to connect with anybody and everybody that I can...

41:27Dan Leibrandt

Awesome. So that is Jorel Solis. He's on Facebook. I know you're on YouTube too. I believe TikTok as well. So I'll link all those in the description and anything else you'd like to plug or promote.

41:33Jorel Solis

Yes, Yes, sir. No, man. Yeah, I just want to say thank you. I really want to give a shout out to again to Jonas. I know I talk about he's one of those, you know, mentors of mine, even if he doesn't really know it, you know, we talk about that and you know, I love what he's doing. I love what you're doing. Shout out to Jake. All you guys, I just to everyone who's out there making podcasts and videos and you know, you guys are helping all of us. So you just keep it up, man. I can't thank you all enough for everything you do.

42:10Dan Leibrandt

Definitely, no, we really appreciate it. That's my whole thing and our whole thing too is like, I wanna give as much as possible. It's not about, like you said, scratch my back and I'll scratch yours or whatever. Like, no, no, I genuinely wanna be a good person and I find fulfillment by helping people. So cool, man, I think it's been a great show. It was great connecting with you. I know we've had some phone calls before, but it was great learning more about your story and we'll definitely stay in touch,...

42:39Jorel Solis

Absolutely, man. Thank you so much for having me again and just from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Dan. I appreciate this.

42:46Dan Leibrandt

Course man.