What Keeps Me Going After All This Time

The Question That Changed Everything

Years ago, when I was working in HVAC, my mentor asked us a question I still think about.

What keeps you going when the work gets hard? When you're in a 140-degree attic in July, or crawling through a freezing crawl space in January, or it's 10 PM and you're still not done—what's your why?

At the time, I didn't have a good answer. I was just trying to make a living, figure things out, find my way after losing everything in my previous business.

But that question stuck with me. And eventually, I found my answer.

It's the reason Chris and I started My Guys. It's why we work the way we do. And it's what I want to share with you today—because the "why" behind your contractor actually matters more than you might think.

The Answer I Found 

So back to that question: what keeps you going when things get hard?

Here's my answer: I want to be the type of man my wife Joanna wants our daughters to marry. And I want to be the type of man she wants our son to become.

That's it. That's what drives me.

I'm not gonna lie—it gets emotional even thinking about it. Because for a lot of my life, I wasn't that man. I made mistakes. I took shortcuts. I chased money instead of character. I let people down, including myself.

But that standard—being someone my kids can look up to—it changes everything.

When I don't want to get out of bed on a cold morning, I ask myself: am I being the man Joanna wants Josie, Olivia, and Kaitlyn to marry? If the answer's no, I give myself a kick in the ass and get moving.

When a job gets harder than expected and I'm tempted to cut a corner nobody would see, I ask the same question.

When I'm tired and just want to wrap up and go home, but the cleanup isn't quite finished—same question.

It works every single time. Because it's not about being perfect. It's about trying to be someone my family can be proud of. And that means showing up, doing the right thing, and treating people the way they deserve to be treated.

What This Means for How We Work

You might be wondering what any of this has to do with crawl space encapsulation.

Here's the connection: the standard I hold for myself as a man directly affects the standard we hold for our work.

If I want to be someone my kids look up to, I can't be the kind of contractor who leaves trash in your crawl space. I can't rush through cleanup because I'm already thinking about the next job. I can't treat your home like it doesn't matter just because you're not standing there watching me work.

Every job we do is a reflection of who we are. And I want that reflection to be something I'm proud of.

That's why Chris and I stay hands-on. We could hire more crews, expand faster, chase bigger revenue. But then we'd lose control of the quality. We'd become managers instead of craftsmen. And the work would stop reflecting our personal standards.

When you hire My Guys, you're getting Chris or me on your job. Not some crew we hired last month. Not a subcontractor we barely know. Us. The owners. Two guys who have everything on the line—our names, our reputations, our ability to look our families in the eye at the end of the day.

That accountability changes everything. It's why we don't cut corners. It's why we clean up completely. It's why we treat your home the way we'd want someone to treat ours.

The Difference Between a Job and a Life's Work

Here's something I've learned: there's a huge difference between someone who's just doing a job and someone who's building a life's work.

A job is something you do to get paid. You show up, do the minimum required, collect your check, and go home. When things get hard, you cut corners. When nobody's watching, you take shortcuts. It's transactional.

A life's work is something you're building that will outlast you. It's your reputation. Your legacy. Something you want to be proud of in ten years when you run into customers around town.

When you hire a contractor, you need to ask yourself: which one am I getting?

Are they just trying to get through the day? Hit their numbers? Move on to the next job? Or are they building something that matters—a business they can stand behind, a reputation worth protecting?

That difference shows up in everything. How they communicate. How they clean up. Whether they return your calls. How they handle problems. Whether they're still around when you need them five years from now.

We're building a life's work. And that changes how we show up for you.

What This Means for You

When you hire My Guys, you're not just getting a crawl space encapsulation service.

You're getting two guys who are trying to be men their families can be proud of. Who are building a business they can stand behind. Who treat your home like it matters because that's a reflection of who they are.

You're getting owners on the job, not a rotating crew. You're getting people who live in this community and have to stand behind their work every single day.

You're getting contractors who don't cut corners when nobody's watching—because we're always watching ourselves. Because the standard we're trying to meet isn't just "good enough to get paid." It's "good enough to be proud of."

That's the difference. And that's what you deserve when you invest in your home.

Why Owner-Operated Actually Matters

When you call one of the big crawl space companies, you're getting whoever they send. A crew that might be new. A manager in another state. Corporate policies written by people who've never been in a crawl space.

There's no personal accountability. If the work isn't great, those guys just move on to the next job in the next town. They're not going to see you at the grocery store. They're not sending their kids to school with your kids. Their reputation isn't tied to this community.

Chris and I live in Mahomet. Always have. We've known each other since fourth grade. When we work on your home, we're not disappearing to some corporate office. We're right here.

That means when we do your crawl space, we're thinking about running into you at the coffee shop next week. We're thinking about our reputation in this town. We're thinking about whether this is work we'd be proud to put our names on.

That's what owner-operated actually means. It's not just a marketing phrase. It's personal accountability. And it changes everything about how we treat your home.

Work With People Who Care

If you're looking for contractors who treat your home like it actually matters, who show up with the same standard every single day, who are building something they can be proud of—we'd love to talk to you.

Give us a call for a free inspection. Chris or I will be there personally to walk through your crawl space, show you exactly what's going on, and explain what we'd recommend.

No pressure. No corporate sales pitch. Just two guys from Mahomet who care about doing right by our neighbors.