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Ladies Kickin' Ass
Welcome to "Ladies Kickin' Ass," the podcast where kickass women in the service and trades industries spill the real tea on making it big. Twice a week, host Tanya Wilson brings you the gritty, the pretty, and everything in between.
Catch us every week for a deep dive with a powerhouse entrepreneur. Hear her raw, unfiltered story—from breaking ground in her field to celebrating the ups and downs while scaling her business. These aren’t just chats but your battle plans for crushing it in your business and life!
Then, swing by later in the week for some fierce coaching. Whether from Tanya or a top-notch industry expert, you get the insider tips you need. We’re talking nitty-gritty business & life tactics—from whipping your systems into shape to mastering the art of a kickass workplace vibe and all the marketing savvy you’re skeptical about but seriously need. But let's not forget, it all starts with our mindset, so we'll pepper in some amazing support from women specializing in health, wellness, parenting, and personal development.
"Ladies Kickin' Ass" isn’t just a podcast; it’s your new squad. Here, you’ll link up with fellow badass women, share war stories, swap wisdom, and find tools to amp up your business and life! For every service-based entrepreneurial woman hustlin' to make her mark—welcome home. Let’s rise up and kick ass together!
Ladies Kickin' Ass
#119 - Harnessing Grit and Innovation in Male-Dominated Trades with Megan Throckmorton
What happens when an agriculture teacher decides to plunge into the world of septic systems? Meet Megan Throckmorton, the unstoppable force behind Harris & Sons Septic, as she recounts her remarkable transition from the classroom to managing a burgeoning septic business across North Carolina and Virginia. Hear firsthand about the uphill battles she faced during COVID-19, from juggling childcare to securing financing for crucial equipment like a pumper truck. Megan’s journey is a riveting tale of grit, innovation, and balancing the demands of work and family life, all while raising three energetic boys.
Discover the secrets to strategically growing a septic service business, narrated by a passionate mini excavator enthusiast who emphasizes the power of community connections and strong dealership relationships. We discuss the art of multitasking and how hiring the right help can free up time for business expansion. Future goals such as acquiring bathroom trailers and enhancing inspection services underline the forward-thinking mindset needed to thrive in this industry. This segment is brimming with actionable insights on diversifying income streams and leveraging technology to elevate customer offerings.
Finally, we tackle the challenges and triumphs of women in male-dominated trades. Megan and other female professionals share their experiences of overcoming skepticism and earning respect through sheer expertise and confidence. The episode highlights how women bring a unique perspective to the industry, often making other women feel more at ease and breaking down complex information in relatable terms. With personal anecdotes, humor, and practical advice, this episode is a celebration of women’s strength and camaraderie in the service industry and a clarion call for more women to explore these rewarding career paths.
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Welcome to the Ladies Kickin' Ass podcast, where we help you ignite your inner badass and create the service business of your dreams. I'm your host, tanya Wilson, and together we'll dive into inspiring stories and expert coaching to set your journey on fire. Hi ladies, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited for this conversation today. We've already been talking a whole bunch before we hit record and I was like we should probably stop and actually record a podcast instead of just having this conversation all by ourselves. So I have a fellow subject sister with me on the podcast today and I am so excited to introduce you to Megan.
Speaker 1:If you are watching this on YouTube, that's this babe on front of the pumper magazine, which this was so cool. Like as soon as this came in my mailbox, I was like I, I gotta get her on the podcast, I have to. And then I talked to kim and she's like oh, I know her. And I was like well then, it's meant to be. So.
Speaker 1:Megan is, uh, the owner of harrison sun septic and she services um, north carolina and virginia and she is one of those badass babes that's out on the pump truck, just like Kim is, and out there just building a name for herself and building an amazing business for her and for her three boys. So she is a wild and crazy working mama. I'm sure some days you just throw those boys in the truck and say, giddy up, let's go, let's figure out how to get all of this to work. We've all done that before. I've raised babies under my desk too, in a construction yard. So sometimes you got to do what you got to do. So, megan, why don't you go ahead and give us a little bit of your backstory about how you got into the septic industry in the first place and why you love what you do with your company Of course I'd love to.
Speaker 2:So the way we got into the septic business is I was actually at the time an agriculture teacher. I graduated from Virginia Tech and then I graduated from Western Governors University and I had planned to teach like kindergarten and then they wanted me to teach in my local high school, ag. So I had been teaching for a few years not like three years if COVID happened. So I was pregnant with the third baby and, um, I think they took us out from COVID before I had him like in I don't know. I had him in September, so before. So while I was at home with him, you know, there was no daycare and we didn't have to go into work. We were all working from home. I was like, man, we gotta do something else. Because my insurance was I was paying so much for insurance, like I was supposed to be making like $45,000 a year, but after $1,100 a month in insurance came out, I was making like maybe 25, and then everything else went to daycare and I was like we got to do something. Well, my former husband was a general contractor and he, you know, built barns and houses and whatnot and I helped him with his company and it was super hard to find somebody that could like breathe and hold a hammer and stay off, crack all at the same time and have a driver's license. So, um, he, it was stressful for him and I said, well, you know, we need to do something else. Well, he happened to do a barn in my hometown of Scottsburg, virginia. He happened to build a barn and, um, the guy that he was building the barn for was from Durham, north Carolina, and had ran a septic business for 40 years. And he like, I guess they got to talking about it one day and Joe came home with the idea and he was like, hey, so I talked to Scotty today and you know, maybe we ought to buy a pumper truck. And I was like what? And he was like, yeah, listen, we should, you know, we should look into buying a pumper truck. Like, this is what he makes, this is what he does, which Durham is way more populated than around here. And you know, I was like Jo, I don't know, let me, let me do some research, and you know, whatever. Well, of course, because the teacher in me, I do all this research and I was like 10-4, I'm gonna buy a second truck. So I went online. I've got everything I needed to do in Carolina that's the state I started in Be all I needed to do.
Speaker 2:We took the class. They were going to send me back to work. They called us back into work in February and I had already filed the LLC and everything was basically kind of just truck hunting and I was just kind of going along kind of slow because I was still working. I was working two jobs. I was working at the downtown South Boston Farmers Market, managing as a high school ag teacher, and in February I had a six-month-old and they called us back into work and I said, nope, like there is no way. There was no babysitting, nobody to keep him. I was already paying two other babysitters because my oldest was only six at the time and I was like there's no way, I'm not paying all this daycare and trying to work and whatever I said, I'll keep my job at the farmer's market, but I'm going to resign from the school system.
Speaker 2:So I resigned and I was like all right, I got to buckle down, we got to find a freaking truck, you know, and um, I like looked at Joe in the face and I said listen, if I buy a pumper truck, are you going to help me run it? Because I mean, I knew I had all the kids. I was like, if I buy a pumper truck, are you gonna help me run it? And he was like, yeah, I guess so, but you'll never be able to finance a pumper truck. Like you're not gonna be able to do it because you're just a teacher. That was his favorite phrase, anyway. So I said, okay, hold my beer, I got you. And I looked, I was like I mean, yeah, I was like hold my beer Cool.
Speaker 2:And so I called around and I was looking at Ashley Pumper magazine. I was looking all over online and trying to figure out what kind of buy I wanted to stay under CDL, I wanted to be small, but not too small, and just kind of did a lot of research and I found one in Pumper. It was actually two of them and I called the guy and he was the most preciousest old man I have ever talked to. He was so, so sweet. I told him my idea. I said, listen, I'm a new company, this is what I made. I already got my LLC.
Speaker 2:I said, and you know, this is, I'm just looking for a truck so I can get started. I said and all I do is get the truck, letter it, you know, sign up the dump permits and I'm good to go, like I'm like literally just trying to find a truck. And he actually lives close to the International Dealership in Denver, colorado, on the other side of the United States, and he would get to use chassis and put brand new tanks and pumps on them. So I said okay, and you know, he told me the prices and whatever. I said, all right, well, I've got to go. You know, let me go talk to my bank or whatever. And he said let me tell you something. I've talked to you for 30 minutes and I've fallen in love with you. He said this truck will not move until you can finance it. So he said I'll have an invitation a month or two. You do what you can. She said as much drive as you have, I know you'll be able to finance it. And he said I'm not going to let anybody else look at it. And I was like, oh my God, thank you Anyway, and it was precious, anyway.
Speaker 2:So I go around and, like he had sent me a few different people, I went around. I finally went to, you know, my local bank and I had written up a whole business plan and I just called, you know, called them and the lady told me I'll get Susan to call you back later. So later on that day I'm going into, like the Italian, like a little local restaurant, and to get food, and my phone rings and she's like hey, this is Susan McLam from American National. Like you know, tell me about your business idea, what you want to do. I had to. I didn't know who it was that called. I didn't know, I didn't recognize the phone number.
Speaker 2:I had to spit out my business plan and I had it down to a pat, to exactly how many tanks I had to do a month to pay the truck payment, to pay all the bills, everything. I knew exactly the number I needed, knew exactly what I was going to charge, everything, how I was going to get more business. I had worked this thing out to a T. I spit it all out to her in like three minutes and she said Megan, come in tomorrow. She was like we're going to figure it out and she did and like, even though I was a teacher, I got a co-signer. I got my brother-in-law to co-sign for me and we got it going and July 4th weekend. They had to, you know, go get all the tags right and get all the. They had to do all these transfers and crazy shit.
Speaker 2:And July 4th weekend I think it was a Monday we lived on a. We used to live when I used to live in Roxborough on a driveway with a bunch of different houses. Well, my pumper truck came in on a Dodge flatbed. A guy had pulled it from Denver, colorado to here and it was coming in the driveway and Joe was like what in the world did Sammy buy? I said Sammy didn't buy anything. I bought a pumper truck. And he was like what? I was like. I was like yep, I bought that truck, that's fine. And I said now to be able to get. I said no, you bought us a letter next week and we're gonna, we're set on go. And he was just like, oh my god, you know so it was cool and so it was a very nice surprise anyway.
Speaker 2:And uh, so that's kind of how we got started. I started in Carolina, we did, you know, we started after we got the truck in July. By the time we got lettered and got everything inspected, whatever. We started like kind of last week in July, first week of August, and you know it was very slow. I didn't have our name out there yet. I had made all the social media pages where I was posting and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:And I fell on this thing about it being an inspector because after I went on the job like two or three times with Joe, I was like I got to do something else, like I need something that I can bring to it, you know, because I knew he could run it but I needed something I could bring to it. So I got my inspection license by the December or whatever. I had to take the exam, I think in November. So by November, december, I got my inspection license and that really opened me up and I started advertising inspections. Well, I'm from Virginia and it's right Rockstall, percy County, haliburton, virginia, it's like the state line, like we're right on it. So I started getting calls from realtors in Virginia. They said look, nobody else does subject inspection, but one company Like can you please get licensed in Virginia Because we need he needs competition, like we need more options to use. And I was like I don't know, I'm still little, like I'm worried, I'm scared. And anyway I went ahead over and got my license and I took the exam and I've got a master alternative on the side. I'm probably the only woman that has that in Virginia, or not only it's very few of us. I bet it's like probably 10 or less, I would say, because not many women have that. And anyway I got that and started running in Virginia. And that's when I joined the MLS, the local realtor MLS, with like 100 and some realtors.
Speaker 2:That's where what topped off, I mean it went from us doing like maybe freaking 12, 15 tanks a month, if that maybe less to it topped off, to where we were doing like 10 jobs a week, 15 jobs a week, up to now 20 jobs a week, like that topped off. And I mean it was amazing, I loved it. I loved, you know, I still still. It's so weird to me now that I run the truck myself full time how much I'm just freaking love it like and it's so.
Speaker 2:People look at me like you really like doing this. I'm like hell, yeah, I like doing it. I mean it makes. Do you know how good it feels when you're out there slinging hoses and somebody looks at you and said, man, that's a bad bitch. And you're like you're damn right and I like it. I like it. I've got a mini, I bought a mini excavator and so I like going out there and doing little repairs on a mini excavator and people looking at like man, you do pretty good and I'm like I know I like it, it's fun mississa, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:What kind of mini did you get.
Speaker 2:I got the best. So the big stall stalling equipment. There's a dealership right down the road from my hometown where I live that and I've known them my whole life. They're huge Kubota International, whatever it is, and they are the sweetest people. I just the owner. I just pumped his safety kit. Last week I went all the way to Teasville to pump his because they're just so sweet. So I've been going there with my dad on Saturdays looking at equipment since I was like five and actually when I graduated from high school, robert Tucker, the old man that used to own it, I went to Virginia Tech and they're big pokey fans and Robert Tucker sent me like money, like good money, to go to Tech, like just because, and he would always give, give me a hug like I just love them.
Speaker 2:They're like I. Actually I have a loudon's phone number like we. We snapped like so they hooked me right up. It was so funny because I went up there and I told Lonnie what kind I wanted or whatever, and he was like all right, but you know, just stick, you know it's gonna take me a minute because these are a little bit hard to find Bullshit. Next Tuesday I had my damn excavator. I went up there on a Thursday. He called me Friday. They went and picked it up. They swapped like a tractor or something else with another dealership and they had my shit ready on Tuesday. I left there and did an inspection of the road like 10 miles up the road and dug it. I was like please be deep, please be deep, because I wanted to use my estimator. So bad that's so awesome.
Speaker 1:That's so awesome. How do people react when you go to their houses and you get out of the pump truck and start hooking up hoses or get this excavator up? Do you pull the?
Speaker 2:excavator behind your pump truck? No, I don't. I don't use the excavator because it's so big and I try to stay light. I don't usually take those. If I do, I either get um, um, I usually get my dance truck or something and take it if I need to. But now since August, before you know, we would do a little bit more, a few more repairs, and now since August I've been running the pump truck myself. I kind of leave all my repairs to like 360 escalating that way. You know, it's just, it's just a little stressful.
Speaker 1:Well, you know honestly, man, that's one of the smartest things you can do too. You know we can. We do it all, sure, but can we hire other people to be doing those repairs and install jobs that come in and keep my guys on the pump trucks rolling? And now you've got four streams of income coming in instead of pulling guys off pump trucks or taking you off to go do those things? So for sure, definitely. You know, even subbing stuff out like that once you, you know, are able to get out off of the pump truck and you hire somebody Like my install team. I don't have an internal install team. It's a great friend of ours that owns his own excavating business. It all runs through me and then I just sub it out to him. I don't have equipment and I don't have the overhead of all that stuff, but we make damn good money off of those. I mean margins for septic installs in the Phoenix area is like 50 to 65 percent depending upon where you're at.
Speaker 1:So that's really good money coming in just for filing a permit, so there's lots of ways you can diversify and get a lot of streams of income coming in in this industry. So with that, like what are some of your plans as you grow? Like what do you want to see your business look like next year or five years from now?
Speaker 2:so right now, my main goal I just toggle my hands like reggie bobby jesus that's okay, I do too yeah, but so right now what I'm working on doing?
Speaker 2:because, like right now, I'm like basically the marketing team, the secretary, the bookkeeper, advertising, doing the service, keeping the truck straight, mechanic and whatever. I'm kind of doing all that. So my main thing right now is hiring help so that I can step as much as I hate even saying that, oh, it hurts my feelings so I can step out of the pumper truck even though I don't even like to think about anybody else driving my truck, but so I can step out. They can be pumping all day. If it's an inspection, I could pop in on my suburban or you know a work truck for two inspections and, um, then I can kind of expand in other directions because, like right now, with me doing so much, it's really hard for me to be able to expand because you just don't have time to hardly even think about it, you know, but I would like one.
Speaker 2:One thing I really want I won't badger in trailers. I think I heard you talk about that a lot of podcasts. Yeah, I want bathroom trailers really bad. I do not like fortipotty's, I don't like fortijohns I will be in the woods but I do want some bougie bathroom trailers. So that's one way that I want to expand. Um, I would like to be able to really perfect and I'm actually working on that right now.
Speaker 2:Since I got this new computer, I'm really working on perfecting my inspections and trying to offer more to the customer. I'm working on getting up with tape track. Kim, tell me about that, kim Turner Well, she's already Kim Turner, kim Hatch, she's almost Turner. Anyway, kim Hatch with Tank Tracker. That way I can kind of utilize that and then I can keep up with all my customers. So I can have some reoccurring customers, you know, and something that can call them, you know, back Something more efficient. Because right now I'm just using like a spreadsheet and I know, know, I know damn well, I could see my ass looking at that spreadsheet in about five years like really, I really had high hopes for my ass. And then I'm like, did you really think you were gonna do that? It's just better to pay for the app. Man just pay for the app oh, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I don't use tank track, I use house call pro. But it's so simple and there's so many automations that you can put into stuff. Like it's incredible. I've actually been talking to Service Titan about switching over to that. Even now we're big enough to be able to get into them. There's so much cool stuff that they're putting in with AI and that stuff and being able to respond to customers and like the automations behind that stuff. And being able to respond to customers and like the automations behind that stuff, even you know, really customizing and niching down like chat windows on your website to where it's pretty much having a conversation with them. You can you teach the ai and then it knows everything that you told it. So it's like putting your brain into something that can talk for you, because how many times when you get phone calls do you find yourself saying the same shit over and over and over again?
Speaker 1:you know, can I get a price for a pump out? And you're like sure, what's your address? Okay, do you know what size your tank is? Okay, let me look it up. You know like you can actually set this up, with ai coming up, it does all that shit for you. I mean, it's going to be so incredible and being an aid for the office and customer service. I'm not saying like, put everything automated because I'm a big fan of customer touch and you answering the phone and talking to people, because most people are calling because it's a real shitty situation at their house. Let's be honest, most people aren't calling because it's a routine maintenance situation. They usually have shit in their back.
Speaker 1:But there's just so many cool things that you can do to really build that retention rate as you're building up. It's tough in the septic too, because people will say, well, you got to get them to buy more, you got to have them do it more often. Well, septic tank pumping, for the most part, is not something that's coming back, usually any less than every three years at a minimum that people are calling you back. So you're consistently looking for new clients. So that's really cool to be able to retain the ones that you do get, since you do pay a pretty penny to get the ones that you do get. So really cool. There's so many cool things that are coming out with that you haven't seen.
Speaker 2:You know we are, we've been in business. I'm trying to think it'll be almost three years this year, right, yeah, 2041, yeah, I've mad hey math and sorry it's an even I've been working, so, um, mad has never been my subject anyway, unless it's counting money. I'm just playing yeah, but um.
Speaker 2:So like I'm, I'm on that three-year mark and I'm already like super busy and I said you know when we started getting ripped and I have people that are like, oh, I'm calling you, they've written the date down like they they're gonna call and I've had some actually already call a little earlier than the three years. So I'm like, dude, I can only do so many a day. Like it's not going to be very long. Like by the end of the year I'm going to have a bigger truck and I'm going to have two truck front, um, and the next truck I get I would like to get like a 3,500 gallon or something like that, um, bigger, you know, with a CDL driver and something. I can put a little excavator on a tiny one own or whatever, and get two guys in there and, you know, have my little stuff running. Still, you know, even if I want to run the little truck, I can run the little truck like three days a week with a farm town guy or something until we get busy enough to need both trucks. But I don't think we're going to, don't think I think we'll be busy every time.
Speaker 2:Like this is, this should be our slower everybody's. Like you know, when we got started in it, everybody was like, oh yeah, january and february always a slower season. I'm like where? What do you mean? It's not, this is not slow. But I mean, I'm big, I'm, I'm thankful, I love it. But just like right now, I feel like there's so many avenues to grow on and I'm just like having to calm myself down and say, okay, this is the the best solution. Work on little things at a time, don't try to look at the big you know that's how my brain works.
Speaker 2:So right now it's basically like um, I'm hiring a new guy next week and I'm hoping that it'll grow into a situation where he would want to drive and maybe clump some and then, you know, on his own and I can put like a helper in there with him when he wants it or whatever, and you know that'll be checked off the list. Then I'm out of the truck and I can focus on expanding in other ways and I feel like it'd be great because that people don't really understand. Like in septic. There's so many ways you can expand. You can, like you know you can go the installer route, or you can go the, you know, port of john route or some bathroom trailers or you know stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Like I love my, my favorite part of everything is my inspections, because I love using my camera. It's just my, my favorite, I love it. I like talking to the people, I like educating the people. That's like my favorite part of the entire business. So if I can get out of the truck from doing some physical labor so that I can work on, like you know, any kind of education, like I can send my service contract people or, you know, new clients. I really need to work on my website because my website is if you've tried to go to it, it's non-existent because I messed it up and I have not fixed it yet. After my divorce is final, I'm going to change the name of my company, but I'm waiting until that's final, just in case. I'm working on all the graphics, all of my letterhead stuff. I've made you know I'm a big fan of canva. I love it because you can make all your forms on there.
Speaker 2:It's so fancy, you can make all your markets well like, and it's so easy because I've got my new logo and stuff drawn up and everything. It's like great, um, and I can just pop them and switch them with my other stuff and I'm using the same color scheme. So it's gonna be great. I'm tickled to death. I can't wait, but I'm like I just can't Since I'm in the midst of the mud here. I can't. I wanted to announce it on here. I swear. I thought it was all we got to say. You got to say it. I thought it was all we got to say, you got to say it. No, you better not Be smart.
Speaker 1:Make them sign a prenup ladies yeah, we'll do that.
Speaker 2:I told so. Michael's like so when are you going to get married again? And I was like first of all, no, no, unless I make them sign a prenup. My other husband or my other husband the only husband I've ever had was I'm 30 and he's 59. And that's just as effed up as it sounds. Then we have three boys together and he's you know this whole thing. And I'm like damn. So. Somebody asked me the other day. They said so you're going to marry another old man or you're going to go young. And I was like damn so. Somebody asked me the other day. They said so you're going to marry another old man or you're going to go young. And I was like I got three boys, leave me alone. He's marrying nobody, I will run away.
Speaker 1:I told my husband that too. I'm like if anything ever happens to you again, I will die the old spinster because no one needs to do this again. I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, yeah, that's a lot, that is a lot, just a little extra sauce man Wow.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah. So I love having women that are in the trade especially somebody that's in my same line of trades industry here because I have been that woman for years too that you walk in the room and they're like, oh, whose secretary is she, you know? And then you walk in and you actually yes it is my favorite thing to do like.
Speaker 1:That to me is like standing in your full power of like fucking test me because I will school you on everything. I know I love being able to do that and I know a lot of times people will look at us and they're going to be like you guys don't look like women that would be in this kind of industry. Why do you choose to stay in this industry like like? Do you ever get that? It being in a smaller town of like? Who the hell do you think you are as a woman being in this industry?
Speaker 1:We know this industry has traditionally been extremely male dominated, extremely on the darker side of blue collar workers, everybody's, you know, hired some. So it's like it's one of those industries where it's like. You know like when I first met my husband, he actually came into the business and started working a couple years after I had met him. So he was kind of like you can't hang out at your, you know, at the office after dark or you can't. You know like there's very much like the safety situation around that. How do you get treated where you live at, like when you go to the dumping facilities, or how people react to you when you're educating them on septic. Is it really receptive or do you still run into that like I need to talk to the men in charge, because those are my favorite phone calls to get?
Speaker 2:Oh heck, yeah, Like I used to love when I got a phone call and they'd be like I need to talk, I need to talk to about I've got a problem. You know it's backing up in my whatever. And I was like, ok, let me know what's going on. Well, I need to talk to the owner. And I was like I am the owner, what's going on? Yeah, but yeah, you first, like at first when I started and stuff, like you know, I would get weird looks and stuff like that. But when I start talking and I can talk to a tree and they find out real quick, oh, okay, cool, because I'm really outgoing and you know I'm out with it, you know, and I think that they find out really quick. Well, she definitely knows her shit, like you know, cool. And then they get. It goes from like a really like you asked me a little while ago how do they feel when I get out of the truck. It goes for like a super surprise, like to like a little bit of confusion, like how is she gonna do this? So when I'm doing it, they're like, damn, she's a badass, like stuff like that. It's like three different reactions. You know what I mean and they'll.
Speaker 2:I've had people tell me like I've pulled up and they're like man, I thought you just answered the phone, but you came. I was like yeah, I run the truck too. I said I probably was in the truck when you call and like I, you know one. One guy actually told me the other week. They said, well, just get before your truck. You know, before y'all come, get your truck driver to call me, I'll tell him how to get here. So you better talk to me, because I'm the one driving the truck as we speak, you know. And he was like what, especially if you have to back down like a weird way, if you have to back like into there, oh my god, people think it's the coolest thing in the world. And then you get out and my truck's not even that big. I drive a 4300 like international, like it's twice, it's under cdl, it's not huge, it's. You know it's big but it's not huge. And people like I get out and they're just like where did you learn to back like that? I'm like, well, my dad is a truck driver and I went to kevin truck morning driving school back in the 90s because I've been driving vehicles since I was seven years old and so, yeah, it's just a trip like I. It really takes people back, you know. They're like, oh my goodness. But I get really good vibes from everybody and, you know, get a lot afterwards I'll get a ton of compliments.
Speaker 2:I think the women really like it because I can make them feel more comfortable, um, and I can explain things in a way and break it down so that they can understand it and they don't feel so like you know, like when a man's telling them, you know. So I think that helps. Um, I've had a few that like would look at me very I mean really very few because I think where I start talking, they're immediately like well, she should talk, we gotta watch out because she might like throw us in there or something you know. So I've had very few to kind of act like I didn't know what I was talking about or something like that. I can't even remember it. Actually, I can give you an example of it, you know. So I like usually when, just like with the guys that call and they're like why do you talk to your husband and I was like there's no need because he's going to tell you to call me, like he, like he's not, he doesn't talk like we're opposites. He doesn't know you know he doesn't he's not gonna talk. So you know, um, it doesn't take long like, and I I get really good, you know. You know reviews from people and people are, I feel, like at the end when I leave they're very happy and you know, and uh, I I do have some women, especially 45 to 50 and up maybe the age range that sometimes look like they get a little offended at me and I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2:I feel like they look like they get so offended by me doing shit, work and stuff like that and talking about it. They're just like she shouldn't really be doing that or know that or something you know, like just a big few that I'll get that weird vibe from. But it's like one of my best friends said. My best friend was like probably because they see you like roll up in there and you, you know you take care of yourself and like you're rolling and you can lift heavy things and you know, do a guy's job, and they might be a little jealous or they might be worried about that, either one, I don't know but, I don't know well, the important thing isn't what the people care about, that, it's all the younger girls that watch you do that.
Speaker 1:That can say maybe that's possible for me, because that's exactly what we need to be concerned about. I mean whether it's girls going into the trades which I'm a huge advocate of and also even just like you, you try to hire good friggin luck. You know, we've really got this generation of kids that are coming into the workforce, into the workforce and even, like up to 30, that, like their parents, never talked to them about the trades as a opportunity to work.
Speaker 1:you know, it was that era where it was like gotta go to college, gotta go to college, gotta go to college, gotta go to college and then they go and they get strapped with a quarter of a million dollars worth of fucking debt in a job that they don't end up working in in the first place and they can't buy a fucking house because now they're paying for all the student loan debt. I'm like my pump truck drivers. I had a pump truck driver last year and the one this year, him being here a whole full year. He'll definitely cross the six-figure mark hopping septic tanks. And I'm like you're good at sales and you come into this business. I will help you achieve every one of your personal goals that you have, because that's how I run my company Like. I want to be so invested in them that they're part of growing this business just as much as I am.
Speaker 1:The biggest compliment in the world is when my guys go out and they miss. They say oh, you really know your shit, you must be the owner. No, they're not, but they, you really know your shit, you must be the owner. No, they're not, but you spend so much time with them and they're so invested in caring about the people because we as employers care about them, and I think that's where it's such a beautiful thing for if you want to be out on the pump truck fucking badass.
Speaker 1:I would love to find some awesome, awesome babes to go out on the pump trucks here. I would love it. However, if you want to work in the office and you want to be marketing in this, or if you want to actually start this company and run this thing, I don't go out on the pump trucks and do all of that. I've been in this for 15 years. I go out I've been out with them, but I do all the internal stuff. If, like you're good at marketing and you're good at selling these home service businesses, people need that just as much and there's so much opportunity to make really good money with sales or marketing or even internal admin support and management in these businesses and they desperately need a female touch in them. They've been overlooked for a long time.
Speaker 1:It's been that kind of boss mentality of do this and I point the finger and hand you a shovel and watch you from top down, rather than saying come with me and let me show you. So that's one of my biggest things is like how do we continue to keep encouraging women to enter the trades and talk to our kids about how this is a really awesome career path, whether you work for a really awesome company or you start your own, Just like we were talking about before we got on camera. You've had a sick little boy, you've had to be out and you have the opportunity to be out with him. Albeit, you're like should I need to be in the truck making money? But at least you don't have to worry about the fact that you can't stay home with your little boy when he's sick, so you can really create the life, that you want to being in the trades, and it's such a huge opportunity.
Speaker 1:We're not running out of houses or people yeah, and so I used to teach.
Speaker 2:When I was teaching I taught landscaping, which was in CTE, the trades part of the high school, and you know they would do um, you know, like career days and things like that, and I always with I had about like 20 boys at a time, free block, so I had 60 different boys a semester and a big thing that I would do with them is they had like a career project and it had to be a trades career. They had, like you know, points where they have to research different things you know, like about the salary, what they have to do to do it like college wise or trade school wise. You know how long it takes to get there, and I used to think that was the best little opportunity for them because I wouldn't let them pick the trade. I had a bowl and I had them written and I would shake it and they would have to get one out and then you know they would have to present it to the whole class. So they all had a different one. It was a cool one. A lot of kids are like dang, I didn't know you could do that, you can do that that fast, and then I would always correlate it with career day and that was great because you know we would go down there to career day and then all of our local industries in lawn care and people that make transformers I mean it's tons of industry around here would be there, so they would see some trades in industries and stuff like that and they always kind of thought that was cool. And now that I don't teach there anymore, I'm really good friends with the CTE director, so she keeps me with a heads up on when career day is and things like that. So I always try to bring my company to career day.
Speaker 2:But not only do I advertise like hey, I'm the owner of Harrison Sunseptic, this is what we do I also like try to make either a powerpoint or you know something that's kind of gradually rolling, some kind of little visual. Uh, like women in the industry, this is things women can do in this industry. You know this is other jobs in the service industry, or you know what I mean, things like that just so that you know. You might not want to work for me. You might not want to work and shit all day. It's not that bad, but you might not want to work in shit all day. It's not that bad, but you might not want to. But here's some other. You know other. I try to keep it with the wastewater industry. So I'm like you know you're a girl, you may not want to work in the pumper truck, but you can. Also, you can always work at a wastewater plant. You can work for the health department and do septic inspections to the health department. You can be an evaluator and take soil tests and then draw up systems like there are lots of.
Speaker 2:There's lots of work in the shit industry that really you don't have to really touch the shit sometimes you just have to look at it or see where it goes. You know what I mean. You don't have to be directly and you don't have to be like me. You don't have to be just nose to nose with it every day. I mean it doesn't bother me. But you know, some people I get it. Yeah, people don't realize. They're like, how do you do it? I said, listen, I used to artificially inseminate cows at virginia tech and I've raised three little boys that are all boy and they talk about buffs and shit and everything all the time. I'm a bit of a shit and stuff like that. And then they make things like Zermex, and I wear gloves. It's cool.
Speaker 1:Yep, we're all good in the hood. Do you guys pump commercial wastewater too, like grease, straps and things like that?
Speaker 2:We don't have a place to dump grease. We've done really bad tapes that have grease in them and stuff like that. We'll have a place to dump grease. I have, you know, like we've done really bad tapes that have grease in them and stuff like that, but I think I've only unclogged like one grease trap. I've done some commercial jobs, like you know, for campgrounds and stuff like that, where you do campers or where the campers dump and stuff at. But yeah, there's not really anywhere around here super close to take securities and, um, none of our gums is so funny if you take grease at all like you can dump there, so you have to be secretive. Wow, see the grease trap.
Speaker 1:I think we we pump a lot of commercial waste too, lots of restaurant grease traps and stuff. Grease traps stink way worse than septic tanks too oh, god, yeah, when they walk in my trailer. I'm like I love you but you can't come in here because it like permeates on them all day the subject I don't even notice. Like as soon as you pull that lid off and it just, you know, vents its gases. You're good, but grease traps just fucking stink the entire time you're there.
Speaker 2:They're disgusting, they smell like a dead body decomposing. I hate a grease hat that I have like. So I don't like quarter dimes, even when they're clean, because I still don't like what they smell. I don't like, um, we pump campers. Oh man, it's too fresh. It's too fresh, I like. I like the ones in the mountain sperm and it's um like after it's been on the ground a little while everything marries together, it's not so bad. But when you do a fresh rust camper it's like, if it's like cat pee or something, I don't like it and um, and then you know grease traps, it's like. It's like you said. It turns my stomach because it really is like a decaying animal and I'm like it really is pretty nasty, pretty nasty.
Speaker 2:I mean I'll pump them to make money, but uh, oh, uh, oh, are you there? My thing reconnected again. Yeah, can you hear me now? Sorry, it said like this big thing came up on the screen and it was like reconnecting and I was like I was 7, whatever it's fine, we got that part out, sorry, guys sorry guys, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:So, with your business, do you plan on bringing your sons into this someday?
Speaker 2:oh, 125 000 like. That's why I want to expand like I want to, because I said, okay, we got. We got three boys, we got the pumper side pumping resident josephine's commercial, whatever. I want to get the bathroom trailers and you know, I would love for one of them to just really hone in on inspections. That'd be great. Or my little three-year-old he loves an excavator and loves repairs and stuff like that. Like he will. If he sees an excavator going down the road on a trailer, he's, he'll fight you in. So I feel like he might be my little installer. So I was like it would be really cool to for them all to have like a certain piece of the business. That way, you know, they could break it off and they can expand like they want to, like this, you know things like that.
Speaker 2:And I kind of my oldest, my nine-year-old. He lives to drag hoses. He's nine years old and he is like a string bean and he can drag a hose better than a freaking grown man man. It's a trip and so. And he loves to work hard and he hates school and doesn't like to read and I just want him to graduate and not go to jail at this point just before. He hates school. It's so bad. He's not mean he doesn't do anything bad, he just hates it. He's like. He's like me, though. When I was in school, I remember looking out the window and watching people cut grass and be like man. I was cutting grass. It sucks, yes. So yeah, I think that's just like that.
Speaker 1:He's like yeah, I have a 10 year old son and he's the same way. He could give grab less.
Speaker 2:He can't wait to get out and he's come to work with mom, so and I'm looking forward to that, yeah yeah, me too well and I think with ryan and stuff, like, and he's, he's, he works hard, like, like you know, he got that from his dad and got that from me too, but he's kind of personable like me, like his dad's pretty quiet, so he got a little bit more of personality, like for me.
Speaker 2:So on the job and stuff, where he's came with me on the job so many times, he can go out there and he'll say, well, you got water coming back to me, drain filled. So that means your drain field's failing and I'm like see, wait a minute, let's you know. Like, hold on a minute. But he knows things. Like he's like you know you're supposed to have an outlet tea here and it'll be like an old concrete baffled one and he was like that's really degraded or something, or he'll come up. He'll come up with these big words and he was like you really need this and he'll say your tank's not supposed to have any more than 30% of silence. Like he can spit facts, because he's heard me spit them.
Speaker 2:So he's pretty cool, like he does. Good, I think he'd be a good one out on the job working just to have somebody you know, to have somebody out there that could, you know, really explain some things. And he's personable enough to where I would probably have to call him and say, okay, you've been there for 45 minutes or an hour. Have to call him and say, okay, you've been there for 45 minutes or an hour, you got to go to the next time, leave the old man alone. Nice, he he'll talk about lonesome dad all day. He's just like me, he likes to talk, but I'm just like that's. That's something I always problem with him. It's not gonna be the work and it's gonna be the talking for the customer too much. All right that's awesome.
Speaker 1:That is so awesome.
Speaker 2:I was like I can either I can either pay for them a pumper truck or I can just like pay for that college. I'll let them pay, unless you want to go to college. But if you want a pumper truck, I'll buy you a pumper truck, yep.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, that is so awesome. Well, thank you so much for agreeing to come on. Ladies Kickin' Ass, megan. This has been such a fun conversation. It's so great to meet you. I just knew when I got a popper magazine I was like I gotta get her on here.
Speaker 1:I just told my crew when I left work. I'm like I'm going to interview her on my podcast, so everybody's very excited for this to come out so they can get to know you too, because everyone in my office religiously reads this magazine, so it'll be super cool.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited about this, but at the end of every podcast I always ask all the women because I find it very fascinating how people resonate with the phrase. So if I were to ask you, megan, what the phrase when you hear it? The phrase ladies kicking ass. What does that mean to you in your life? Like when do you know that you're a lady out there kicking ass?
Speaker 2:I feel like, um, ladies kicking ass.
Speaker 2:So I mean, when I I'll tell you exactly when exactly when during the day do I feel like this is on that last pump out, when you're on the way to the dump or you're leaving the dump and you're pulling in the driveway to home and you've spent the entire day like basically kicking ass and blow, you know, freaking, taking phone calls and doing jobs and throwing, slinging hoes and whatever. And um, just, I feel like that when I'm driving home and you know there's a little bit of quiet before I pick the boys up, so when I'm in that quiet and I'm about to park my truck and I hit the air brakes and turn my truck off back right there, cause I'm like like reliving my day, and that's when I feel like, okay, you know what, you're seeing a mom and you got three kids, but you're fucking killing it Like you're doing a great job. You, you're seeing a lot and you got three kids, but you're fucking killing it like you're doing a great job, you know, and that's that's what it means to me.
Speaker 2:I feel that's where it resonates the most with me, because, especially after a long successful day like it's like you know what you it might have been hard and you know, but hey, you're killing it, so keep on going. It's just, you know, it gives you motivation to keep going. I like it yes, oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:There's nothing better than a good day's work, to feel like you're kicking some serious ass out there, and then you come home and you get to be mom to three little crazy boys. I also have three crazy little boys, so I understand that's a whole nother job when you get home big time.
Speaker 2:They are lawnmowers. They are from 6, 30 or 7 in the morning when I pick them. When I know I wake them up in the morning, they are john deere lawnmowers on rabbit until nine at night. So you know you get up in the morning and you get everybody ready, get everybody fed, get all the bagpacks in the car, crank the car, load all these little children in the car, then take them to school, drop everybody off, go to the pumper truck, work all day and then get home, park the truck, pick everybody up from where they need to be, bring them home, feed them. Do you have homework? You're lying? Yes, you do Play Xbox with them for five seconds because you want to feel like a good mom after you feed them, give everybody baths them in bed and then you got to go die in a corner somewhere because you're tired. So you take your shower and then you can like sit.
Speaker 2:Sometimes when I'm laying in here, um, I'll like after everybody's asleep and I've taken my shower and I'll just sit and it'll be quiet and I'm like did I really just do all that all day? Like is this real life? But yeah, it does. It's fun, but I wouldn't want it any other way? Yeah, I wouldn't.
Speaker 2:I'm so busy, busy Like I've always like basically had ADHD and always worked with my hands, and like I've got to stay busy so it doesn't bother me. But when other people look at me they're like are you crazy? I'm like not, well, maybe, but I mean I just like to stay busy. So I think that's probably like when it comes to working in this industry or working or being an entrepreneur, I guess in general, I think that's one of my the best things that kind of helps me out in the business is just liking to stay busy. Like when I'm on, like my downtime, I'm in here chilling. I'm like making ads on Canva or making another slogan or you know, fixing website stuff or coming up with a whole nother business plan on something else to expand on, like I just I mean I think that's, I love it. I just love it so much. I love the entire industry and I love I never thought I'd be doing this. So I I'm just I take it to death. It's wild, it's a wild life, I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1:Well, you're kicking ass and you're doing a great job at that. So thank you for continuing to represent women in this industry. And just good customer service, good business, good everything. It's just such a pleasure to meet people in this industry that are just good hearted people that are out there making it better. So thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Now. Thank you so much for inviting me on here. It's such a pleasure. It's a pleasure, and thank you for reading Pumper. That's so weird how that happened to me too. That was insane, like insane. And it happened to drop when I went to the web show. So people were picking it up and they were like looking at it and then looking at me and I'm like what are they looking at? And I was like, oh my god, that's the physical copy. I've never had one. And then I was like that is that's how Kim Hatch found me. She was like I knew you were here. This is weird to me.
Speaker 2:Me and Kim have so much in common, like the time we've been in business, like oh my gosh, like this is us, I mean we. It's like I went and found my sister at the web show and I talked to her. All the time we text all the time and she got me to make a tiktok. So now I have a tikt. So, but mine is not as mine's, not as cool as hers. Your hashtag TikTok. Promise I'll follow it because she, she kills it every time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she does. I'm not getting brave enough yet I love it. Oh my God.
Speaker 2:She's so funny. The newest one, that's hilarious. She's so cool.
Speaker 1:She's so cool. She is so cool, so cool. Well, thank you so much, megan. It's really been a pleasure. And to all the ladies out there, just keep kicking ass. Thanks for being part of the Ladies Kickin' Ass community. Cheers to all you badass women out there. Keep rocking your power, igniting your fire and making waves in the service industry. If you loved today's episode, please do me a quick favor. Take a screenshot, post it and tag us at ladies kicking ass. Be sure to include the link to your favorite episode. Your support in spreading the word means the world to us as we aim to empower even more women. Hit that subscribe button to stay tuned for more kick ass episodes. And don't forget a five-star review is the ultimate high-five. Connect with us on social media. All the links are in the show notes. Thank you for being part of our tribe. Now go kick some serious ass, lady.
