Greg Owens 28:04
Facebook just buying a doll that, you know, or leasing all that down there for their new meta, right? Like it’s Yeah, massive.
Jack Lau 28:13
It’s so it’s like, it’s not gonna go away. Because, you know, I understand these companies need to build products and you can’t build a product at your home, you need to do it in a lab, somewhere secure, it’s like Apple, you can’t build your next iPhone in my my bedroom, it’s not gonna happen, you got to go to the office to do that and do those things. So, you know, these companies are still investing like hundreds of millions of dollars. So it’s the office will never go away. In fact, you know, I think like, like some of your podcast guests said they’re, you know, they’re, they’re ramping up their hiring managers, they seen the job postings out there, they’re looking for people, but not just for the old school set of just magic building. They want facilities managers that can take care of the pandemic, you know, just pay attention to OSHA, take care of the people and branch out, like not just take care of a building. Like, it’s not just the building is there, but it’s really all comes down to the people at the end of the day.
Greg Owens 29:03
And Jack you’re doing that’s, that’s a wonderful thing that you’re doing as far as facilities manager going, right, like actually putting yourself out there more to be in front of the employees and say, Hey, I’m here for you guys by posting to Slack and TikTok in sort of different channels. And even if it’s like fun and light, or it’s like maybe it even is like hey, this is my day today. Look at the water main just blew right. And there’s exactly there’s a fountain in our parking lot. Look what Yeah, and then they find that like, Whoa, this is what Jack’s day is like, right? And then they connect with you through the heart more because they have a better understanding what you’re up to and you have a better understanding what they’re up to and what their needs are. And that’s that’s, that’s really that’s, that’s an awesome way to sort of view your role as a facilities manager. And
Jack Lau 29:54
people exactly. It’s, it’s also you know how we could get more people into this industry. And, you know, it’s, it’s one of the things that we addressed in our chapter was, you know, a lot of people retiring, but they’re not finding the next generation of people coming into the industry as much. And you got to make a fun you got to make you got to put it that this exists. A lot of people know this, it exists. Usually the things that facility managers do falls under a few different people, right? And then they just own it. And then when a company gets big enough, then they consider Okay, let’s just have someone do it. But you know, along the way, you hold yourself to that career, you know, in fact, when I first started, I was not even I had no idea Facilities Management The thing to
Greg Owens 30:36
this. This is a common story, right? Yeah, this is great. Go go.
Jack Lau 30:41
Exactly. So I did food and beverage, you know, I I hospitality is how I started, I went, I went, my real big start was kind of when I was working under Bon Appetit at LinkedIn here Mountain View, under the food and beverage program, which falls on their facilities. And that’s how it started opening my mind. I’m like, Whoa, there’s this like whole team of people at Google at Microsoft, LinkedIn, that apple that just takes care of people. And I was just like, blown away. So I was just under food and beverage, and I love doing it. Because it’s, you know, I got to take care of people at the end the day and then eventually, I was like, I want to do more. I want to branch out do more. So I ended up taking an office manager role with it’s very, you know, office managers or catch all’s you do everything right? Yeah. So I was like, Alright, going from there, broadening out, expanded the skill set, and then had dedicate, I’m like, Okay, I’m going to take my facilities side a bit more seriously. Because I want to brush up on those skills. And that’s when I learned to pick up all these things. We actually during the pandemic, we we downsize we sublease, our office found a new place to move to orchestrated that whole deal during the pandemic. And I was I couldn’t believe we did it. But I was learning and taking my credentials at the same Congress tificate and kind of like putting those skills right, like to action right away. So yeah, it was like I was this is like a dream. I was like, these are things I’m reading about it. Oftentimes you read about things, but you don’t get to put them in practice right away, right. So I was able to do that right away, facilitate a whole real estate deal and make that happen. In the same time, we renovated spend roughly under a million dollars to renovate our new office. And we made all during like this pandemic, all of like 2020 spent about six months renovating. Wow. And that’s what I saw, you know, as much as people working at home, like people still need to go and get work done. Like, you can’t paint over a, you know, a Zoom call, you got to go to a place, right, you got to paint. So, you know, I was there watching people kind of finished doing touch up work, you know, we’re taking down walls, were installing things, I mean, work was still happening. Because, you know, this pandemic is not across affairs, not forever, it shouldn’t be in my imagination, like you understand history, these things take a while, but eventually we get over it. You know, and eventually, things will go back to where you have safe spaces to kind of party to work to hang out, honestly. And it’s not like you’re so much in fear. Well, I hope we don’t live in fear for that many more years. You know, I’m still optimistic, you know, I got my booster shot. So I’m hopeful, you know, we just had our holiday party too. And I’m still hopeful that we can always, you know, even if I don’t see everybody every day because of remote working and whatnot, that we do have the chance we really value it more than we did be pandemic. So a right, you know, make make the most out of it. You know, it’s, you know, I had kind of like my two best years during this this past two years, honestly.
Greg Owens 33:36
Yeah, man, it sounds like you learned a lot in this timeframe. This is that that’s, that’s a mountain of stuff going on all at the same time.
Jack Lau 33:44
Yeah. You know, it’s just, I think I hit my stride in my 30s. Like, I love my 20s They’re like, Yeah, I do love that I was more active in my 20s. Like, my body is able to keep up like my 30s at my mind is like going 100 miles an hour, but my body’s like, Ah, it’s kind of getting tired. You’re the back is starting to, like, feel a little pain every so often. But you know, it’s it’s right. I’m hitting my stride. I feel pretty good.
Greg Owens 34:10
Right, right. Oh, it. So what are you seeing here? Like, in the next few months for your company? is are people want you thinking like some of the 100 employees more and more coming back into the office? Is that something you see? Or is it or is it just sort of wait and see, like a lot of these companies are doing now?
Jack Lau 34:32
So yeah, and the next few months? So the masked mandate, they really put a damper out, like the fact that you have to wear a mask in the office because we’re in San Mateo County, and there’s no like you’re you’re lucky and Marin and San Francisco. For those folks out there. They can actually like take off their mask while they’re in the office. A lot of people have told me if we didn’t have to wear masks, at least at our desks, we would be more willing to come in but having to wear a mask like all day long and I do it. It is like your smell your own breath. It’s just not fun. I have to chew gum every day every so often just like, it’s annoying. So if we are able to get to that point in the county, more people will be coming back. Even if it’s not full time, they want to at least drop in, hang out for a while, check up what’s going on in the office, what’s happening around the company. So I feel like in the next q1, q2 of 2022, we’ll see a slight uptick, people just weren’t willing to come in, and then down the line, maybe we’ll hit capacity again, or be close to that sometime, maybe summer, winter of next year, when Hey, we kind of got COVID behind us, like, you know, right now, it’s the regulation, that’s the safety, you know, if I should just drop the liability or drop all those things, and people like the companies don’t have to worry about it so much, then companies will probably be like, it’s just come in whenever you want. But we have to hear the OSHA, so you know, then I got to make sure that we’re not liable for people if they catch COVID. Because you know, we’re not liable for people wanting to catch the flu, right? Eventually, it might get to that point where if you get the COVID It’s just like the flu and you just recover, stay at home. But we’re not at that point. Yeah, that’s when, you know, it becomes it’s just a seasonal thing. But I don’t know if it will be maybe it’ll be like that, you know, that’s one model that could happen, you know, the other model, the worst side of it as a, we’re still will let people come in every so often. But the trends is there like people, right now, at least I know, people value the in person a lot more than they did before being able to catch up, like, Hey, you just had a new, you bought a house, you just had a new newborn, or you moved, like you don’t get those on Zoom very often, you don’t get those on Slack. Because most of the time, and I’ll say I don’t know, the statistics, or even if there’s a study, but I would say like 95% or 90 percentile or more just like, I need something from you. Okay. And that’s kind of the end of conversation. Rarely do you get, like, Let’s just hang out and chill because it’s not as fun to do it on Zoom. It’s kind of like kind of awkward, and it doesn’t work.
Greg Owens 37:04
And I’ve done I do some nonprofit stuff where I where I where I lead some seminars, topics and things like that. And I was doing them on, you know, switched and did them on Zoom. And it was, it’s good because I can reach a bigger audience. You can just people can just roll in and but then I did a couple of in person ones again, like recently in the last few months, and I was like, Oh my God, there’s so much better. Oh, yes. You can really do people, right? It’s like, you know, there’s always somewhat for me, there’s always somewhat of a distraction using this platform, right? What have you have you ventured into the VR at all. And as as a gaming guest, I must be looking at that closely. But also like the experiential part of it, where we can like, be like Star Wars and sit in a room together with our avatars, right?
Jack Lau 37:54
Yeah. So, you know, Facebook’s trying to build that meta on you know, this whole Meta World, people are trying to have these betters and no gaming is usually on the forefront of these things. Or Fortnight is, it’s better already. Like, you know, if you have children, or anybody, you know, have children that playing Fortnight, that’s where they hang out, you know, that’s their world, they hang out, they talk to you, it’s a game, but really, like, a lot of don’t even play that game anymore. So taking it to the VR level. So the there are barriers, and I know Facebook’s trying to dress it these other companies try and dress it, you know, VR side, it makes it hard because I I still have maybe because I’m old, you know, I it took me five seconds, and I got motion sickness. I talked to the company that like just just teleport everywhere, don’t walk, like don’t move your character like you’re walking because you’re because you’re physically walking your head, but your bike is not walking. That’s where the disconnect happens. So they told me just teleport. I’m like, That’s so so awkward. Controls are like you have to master that whole environment. So unless they could get to the level of the matrix, where you could just like lie down there. Alright, looks like we got a little internet little little glitch there. Okay, ladies storms coming. Yeah, yeah. So like if we can get to the level of the matrix, yes, dead dead, I see it working. But then after won’t be like a fat blob just laying there like all day, cuz, you know, it’s life is about kind of going out there living. You know, there’s the big world around this. So I get the whole meta trying to do because there’s money to be made if it takes off. But you know, for me, maybe I’m old school where, you know, I do appreciate walking in my shoes out there stepping on dirt and all that and breathing in like air that’s outdoors. I mean, if anything, you know, this whole pandemic has shown like a lot of people would love to do that, you know, when the outdoors was all they had, and they couldn’t really gather indoors. And I feel like that’s just that’s just part of being human
Greg Owens 39:52
right? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it’s hard to imagine that they the state of California closed our beaches, you know, during the pandemic right like the outdoors, like no, you can’t even go outside stay home. Like Wait a minute. Like I don’t think anybody any rational mind looked at that rule and was like, how does that make sense?
Jack Lau 40:13
Like you go outdoors it was it was pretty safe. I don’t we didn’t know too much about COVID and how it worked but it’s just like it just made sense you go outdoors reconnect with nature and when you put
Greg Owens 40:22
put all sorts like if you just thought about human behavior for like two seconds yeah, right. When you when they made my employees that are painters right have to stay home brand is it like a lot of Latinos right now we’ve got like, six, eight, a lot of families coming together at their homes, right? Because they’re still going to be family because that’s their culture. They’re not gonna like not see grandma and not see that right or, and so now they’re just like, forcing them and then you say like, No, you can’t go to the park. You can’t go in you have to you know, they Yeah, it is still nice. Still went and did all that. Right. Yeah.
Jack Lau 40:57
Yeah. Yeah, that’s one of those things that was definitely a learning early on, like couldn’t go to playgrounds, I remember seems like a weird like the yellow tape all over the playgrounds. It’s like,
Greg Owens 41:07
it’s really Mill Valley filled there. They have a skate ramps not far from where I live here. And, you know, it’s like skating, right? Yeah. Skateboarding and near ramps. They filled it with sand. Oh, what? Wow, truckloads of sand and my god it kid from like, skating.
Jack Lau 41:26
That’s, yeah, that’s just one of those things.
Greg Owens 41:30
That seems like, oh, like, Whoa, yeah. Like, we’re past that now. Which is great, right?
Jack Lau 41:38
You could totally go out and run, you know, take a walk by yourself. That’s totally safe. Like, I remember where I couldn’t like, not supposed to go outside and run just all by yourself. I remember there was a time that I was like, that does not make sense.
Greg Owens 41:51
Well, and luckily, we live here in America, because I know, there’s other countries. And I have friends in China, where they, they could not go outside. Yeah. Like not, you can’t even walk your dog, you’re in an apartment, and you’re having to like deal with your dog’s business inside your apartment. stuff, right? I have two dogs, that would really suck. They really, really shut things down a hard way. What is it? What is it that you’re learning? Now? Where do you where do you find your interests going? At this point in time? You learned so much during the last two years?
Jack Lau 42:23
Yeah. So you know, right now, while supporting the business, and what it’s doing, like we have our volunteer or charity efforts, connecting with the community is where I hope to take the next level of my not, that’s my career, but like it’s personally very fulfilling to, to really give back to the community. So that’s kind of my focus for 2022.
Greg Owens 42:45
We said, What’s that charity that you guys are supporting.
Jack Lau 42:48
So we started our own initiative, it’s the Perfect World Level Up. And we and our whole goal is to kind of level up the community that we’re in, we’re here in Redwood City. So we partnered up our first year, we just completed it in 2021, we launched in middle pandemic, right. And we partnered with the Boys and Girls Club, specifically, the club that’s here in Redwood City, and just really sponsored a tech fellowship program there. And in fact, you know, that’s what I’m gift wrapping for is just to give all the fellows they’re a little kind of Christmas delay, and here’s here’s a gift for all their kind of hard work over the past, you know, few months for being part of the tech program there and just supporting that. But yeah, that’s, that’s kind of my focus right now is kind of reaching our community because it’s, you know, want to give back. And yeah, we did well, during the pandemic, you know, companies did well, but we’re kind of looking for, you know, the next five years next, what’s the next chapter and being able to get back to our company is a big part of what we want to do. And we want to extend beyond the Boys and Girls Club, we want to see what other local charities organizations we can help out too, and then connect them with our games, maybe they’ll come in, and they’ll have exclusive access, you know, excites people to be in technology in this area. So that’s, that’s something I want to get better at. Because it’s, you know, you don’t usually hear facilities managers doing No, we don’t participate in like their company program, but not being able to kind of lead it since I’m like boots on the ground here. Since most people work at home, I’m able to kind of like, drive our people towards those opportunities when I can and try and get better at that. But you know, in terms of learning, I want to get better at you know, everything that I possibly can you know, if I if I had all the time in the world, right, but I’m trying to focus, I think next year is providing that safe environment and navigating our people through what that looks like. Because I found that even though our group small a lot of people also haven’t paid attention to the news. A lot of people weren’t aware of the bass mandate that went to back like a lot of people also travel outside of our bear and they realize hey, you have to wear bask in these other areas like it was shocking, right? If you go to San Diego you go to like So, you know, some other county, you know, Central California like there is no mask mandate, mandate? Yeah,
Greg Owens 45:06
like, it’s just like that drive five minutes from here there’s no, nothing. Yeah, exactly. So
Jack Lau 45:11
trying to make sure people stay safe and stay on top of education, that’s one of the most challenging things is, I don’t see people as often the emails, the Slack the company is like, you gotta like bombard people with this, because a lot of times, they just don’t read it. So I have, you know, picking up TikToks, or making videos is just another way of getting the message across and keeping our people together and safe during this time. And hopefully, you know, by the end of all this some time, or whatever it looks like, when we ease out of all this is, you know, we’re still together, we’re still connected. And we feel like we’re not just here to collect a paycheck that people still feel like they’re connected to, to a greater kind of, it’s not just a company, but the mission. And then they’re still part of it. Right?
Greg Owens 45:53
Yeah, so true. That’s great, man. That’s a lot. That’s a lot of things on your plate and a lot of things to really get you excited to show up for work in the day and get and get things
Jack Lau 46:03
Oh, yeah, totally. I, you know, I’m glad you had this kind of stream of consciousness format. Because, you know, I’m sure there’s a lot more and more experienced facilities managers out there, you’re talking about the technicalities of the job, things like that. But for me, it’s more about it’s always down to people, and being able to connect with our people and take care of them is like it’s my passion.
Greg Owens 46:22
Right? Right. Yeah, yeah, though. And I think at the end of the day, that’s what all facilities managers, like, your role is such an interesting role to me. Because, you know, when it’s when it’s done really, right, people can do their best work, right, and not have to be concerned about the environment whatsoever. It’s safer, it feels good. It inspires creativity, depending on what the what the office sort of layout is, and the culture is right. And so that’s, you know, and that’s a word, it’s always fun for us to get involved in, in, like, help transform a space that feel people feel good to do their best work in, or they mentioned, we were watching AstraZeneca, you know, and, you know, and hopefully, you know, we paint their offices a new color or something like that. And that makes a huge difference. And that helps them like think, new vaccines or new ways to save people, right. So in a small way we’re contributing, you know, I mean, there’s no that right, like, away, we’re contributing to the greater good.
Jack Lau 47:21
Like, we had white walls before we renovate this floor, but we finally got some terracotta, dark blue, some cues in it, and it just feels warmer, like you belong to a place not just, this is the building, and I just come to do my work. And I’m done. Like you belong here. You’re part of it. And it all of it, like the painters, subcontractors, all that is is part of the whole experience. You know, I haven’t worked at your company, but I definitely put you on the radar. We do our next project.
Greg Owens 47:50
Yeah, any anytime be great. We’re doing what are we doing these days? A lot of while we’re we’re still painting a lot of buildings that are that are there, they’re ending their leases, right? So yeah, we having to restore it back. So that ah,
Jack Lau 48:04
that’s a hot tip. And all you have to fix oh my gosh, yeah.
Greg Owens 48:08
things up, take. They take their signs down, paint things off and see their signage, the logos, all of that.
Jack Lau 48:14
It’s, those are the things people think about, like the sign outside of the building. How many years of sun damage you got? Oh, man,
Greg Owens 48:23
I just looked at one and it’s bad. And it’s all pie. It’s like 80 feet high. So we’re gonna have to get a lift in, you know, to to sign down right. Now you can see the ghosting. Yes, exactly. Perfect there. But the Sun is like,
Jack Lau 48:37
yeah. Does those are some fun times? Right?
Greg Owens 48:41
I just let them know is like, yeah, we can fix that. But we’re gonna need to get an 80 foot. Yeah, I don’t
Jack Lau 48:46
know how you fix this. honestly like, when you get, like, not just your company, but like all that able to do. I’m like, wow, that’s that’s blows my mind.
Greg Owens 48:54
Right. Right. Yeah, it’s it’s, it’s, it’s it’s an interesting challenge, because they also want it to look like the faded paint that’s there. Yes, exactly. Which is like, what, we’re gonna match the paint and paint and do a bad paint job. That doesn’t look like a sore thumb up there. Right? Oh, my gosh, Hey, Jack in so like, as we come to an end here. One of the things I love to sort of chat about is like, what are the two questions really, it’s like, the things that you’re finding the most interesting and fun about being a facilities manager, and then how people can learn more and get into this industry? Because like you said, I think there’s so many young people or people in transition that don’t know that this this field, this this even exists, right. And it’s changed so much. There’s still there’s still the old time building engineers that really need to know like, how to fix an HVAC that’s, it’s interesting to see that right that they actually have to have the hands on. But there’s so many other pieces to this puzzle, like you said, and you’ve you’ve been a few of them, again, like speak to that and like the things that people can do it into it.
Jack Lau 50:00
Yeah. So first on the fun part, you know, connect with your, your people, your call clients, you could call your, your co workers, your customers, whatever name you want. If you know who you’re doing this for, and the people you’re doing it for, you’ll enjoy it. Because what happens, you’ll make their day, you’ll make them smile. And if you’re getting energy from that, that makes your day. So that is how I find my find everyday like it. It could be some random requests, like, where do I throw all these recycled boxes? Where do I put them? It could be very small things, there could be very big things like leadership might come to you. Because they don’t know anything about buildings. They’re just like, When’s our lease up? What do we got to do next, you know, when you can connect with your people that you’re serving, that’s where you’re going to find joy. So it’s not just like ticket ticket ticket ticket, and you don’t really know these people, you know, names. And but if you don’t connect with the people on individual level, you’re never going to get the most fun out of it. You know, so know who you’re serving, know, your population group, know your people. And eventually, if you’re just you just enjoy making people happy, you’ll love you’ll love doing this. And being in a support role like this. And then, in terms of finding more about this, if that was something I had to discover on my own. If my international Facility Management Association is a good start, it’s a you got to put yourself out there to network. So I did that I joined a volunteer network, when those opportunities came up, especially when it was on Zoom, I hope to get there in person again. And you just talk to people, and then on LinkedIn, like you did, Greg is a great way, you know, you could Google or mean, you could search for facility managers, as a way, I think one of the, one of the people I can Dave, who works at Zendesk, I believe he’s a big networker, and he’s able to connect people with other people is able to introduce opportunities. And once you find, like, there is a group out there in your region, wherever you are, bear is pretty strong. But you know, wherever you are, you know, find your if my chapter if possible, that’s a good start. And then from there, just reach out on LinkedIn is another way. And then, you know, the very greedy way is just kind of work through your own company, if you’re not in facilities already, like, know who those people are, because they’re genuinely very nice people. You know, I mean, honestly, every facilities person that I’ve worked with, or been in contact with, they’re like, chill, they’re not high stressful, like high strung people, they’re, they’re just want to do their job at the end of the day, and then, you know, joke around with them. And the other side of it, you have subcontractors and contractors, and it’s so much fun to talk to people like you, all the contractors I keep my relationships are real, like, I’m not like, I’m your boss, I see it as a partnership. So find those partnerships and value it as a partnership, but not like a transaction, then you’ll be able to connect with people in this industry and get your starting facilities and I went with the food and beverage route ended up in facilities and but there’s, there’s so many different ways. And that’s what’s great about it, like, maybe you only specialize at one aspect of facilities right now, but branch out, learn the business side of it, because you’re gonna have to talk to your CEOs, your chiefs, and explain to them what the value of facilities is. And you might need to brush up on that because maybe all your life, you just been taking care of H fac and running that branch out. And there’s just so much resources out there on the job training is one one other aspect, I’d say you learned so much, just from doing the job. And and you might not know everything, but have that thirst to learn how to do it. And then you’ll find yourself being very successful. And especially like if you have multiple disciplines, like that example of connecting Slack with your HVAC controls, like if you can make that connection your head, things like that, just that that’s gonna be golden. Like that’s those are the people that are gonna really drive the next chapter of Facilities Management.
Greg Owens 53:46
Yeah, yeah, no kidding that there’s so much out there that in that, in that regard, there’s such a big need for more information and more information about what’s going on. And so the technology piece is going to come in, in a big way. Yeah. Right. Especially on a lot of these older buildings and that kind of thing, right? You want to know if floors are getting utilized, right? Like the new cafeteria is getting, like good traction, or enjoying the experience
Jack Lau 54:11
heat maps are so many different ways people do that now. Yeah,
Greg Owens 54:14
yeah, it’s mind boggling, right? There’s a gaming aspect to it all too. They you know how they work in gamifying
Jack Lau 54:23
Yeah, I try to be very careful about gamifying your entire life then you’re just like I’m on the hamster wheel just tried to get the next edge Yeah, be careful about that.
Greg Owens 54:34
Right right. Right. You can end up going down a rabbit hole of cryptocurrencies you buy an NFT and hanging on the wall inside you’re like Mindcraft
Jack Lau 54:49
that’s that’s great. I might advising people do that though.
Greg Owens 54:53
Yeah. Well, you know, I think there’s something to like Facebook, you know, buying you know, or coming up with meta. This Metaverse it makes sense in so many ways for them to do that. Right. Like it’s a good I think it’s gonna be an interesting play for them. And yeah, and one of the reasons is like Facebook sounds so old now right and medicine so much newer and they’ll keep up with like TikTok and things like that. Possibly.
Jack Lau 55:18
Yeah, they kind of that’s how the market is moving. We’ll see if it’s successful. You know, I will not tell someone to pay $2 million by NFT and hanging on the wall. That might be a little too much.
Greg Owens 55:32
It’s an interesting world right now. all time highs. We’ve had all time highs in real estate sales, right? Yeah, even California here in the Marine county areas something sold for like 25 million right a house. Yeah. And then Facebook buying like that’s one of the all time biggest purchases, you know them buying up a bunch of land down there. Real Estate. Oh my gosh, real estate real estate. But then. So crypto currencies, all time highs, and then NFTs are just totally new on the market all time how Tesla and all these different stocks all time highs, right? Like, whoa, this
Jack Lau 56:08
is you gotta be careful. I’m not the financial person by remember, I’ll share how I got burned. When I first bought a Bitcoin when they first crashed. Oh, yeah. It went up to like 30,000 or 25,000. And then like, right after Christmas that year, it went back to like, 5000. So I’m not saying that will happen again this Christmas. Wow. Like, like these things you just never know. Like, yeah. At your own risk.
Greg Owens 56:32
Yeah. Now look at it. It’s suffering What 47,000 or something like yeah, I
Jack Lau 56:37
so once I got burnt out, like, I’ll let the people who have the cash do do gamble that away if they want. I’m, I’m happy. I can
Greg Owens 56:45
serve. Stay conservative. Yeah.
Jack Lau 56:49
I stick to my 401 K’s I’m okay with that. Because, you know, I had friends that were like, Oh my gosh, the Gamestop thing. They’re like, I wish we got in on that. Like, you don’t know that. You know, that’s like, that’s not the typical investor story. You know, that’s, that’s not like, what happens to everybody. But those are like, I mean, that’s why it’s so exciting time that we live in right now. You just don’t know what will happen?
Greg Owens 57:11
Totally. We don’t know what will happen. I agree. It’s like it’s a mystery, right? Like, it’s we really don’t know.
Jack Lau 57:19
It’s exciting. It’s exciting. Honestly, you know, some people are able to make a quick buck, fine, you know, good for them. But, you know, I, you know, that goes back down to I’m just happy doing what I’m doing every day, like money is one thing. You know, one day I will die. That money’s gonna be worthless. You know, it’s right now I’m happy everyday just taking care of people. That’s, that’s my calling.
Greg Owens 57:37
That’s a very Zen philosophy right there. But like, it’s Yeah, yeah, I think about that same thing about like, my own death. And the, you know, none of this will matter. Right?
Jack Lau 57:48
Yeah, you just gotta figure out you know, what you like to do. And hopefully people are able to just follow their passions early on, or find that continue that journey to find their passions if they’re not there yet.
Greg Owens 58:00
Jack, so it’s just been absolutely wonderful. Talking with you, I love your energy and your optimism and enthusiasm for what you’re doing. And like it’s such a gift to you, the company and like people that you’re touching there, what would be the best way for people to get a hold of you? Like what’s your what’s your TikTok and LinkedIn and
Jack Lau 58:21
oh, yeah, totally. So you know, they can they can definitely find me on LinkedIn, you know, Jack Lau, or if they want to email me, feel free to email my work, Jack.Lau@perfectworld.com You know, feel free to reach out and you know, if you’re, I usually respond to people, like I’m open to connecting with people like that. I’m not. I used to be shy and close up when I was younger, but you know what, life’s too short. You know, you never know you reach out you put yourself out there something might happen. Something good might come of it. If it doesn’t, you’ll learn you know, you’ll shut those people off. But, you know, I’m out there if you want to connect Feel free.
Greg Owens 58:57
Yeah, no, that sounds good. And you’re TikTok. Do you want to share that? Oh, yeah,
Jack Lau 59:01
it’s a type of here to check.
Greg Owens 59:05
Yeah, and I’ll put it in the show notes. People can get to it. Yeah. If they’re if they’re on TikTok? I don’t know you’re the first facilities manager I’ve met that’s on TikTok or admits they’re on TikTok. Let’s say that.
Jack Lau 59:17
I think that’s my head. I don’t remember I tried. It’s hard to make a candle but I jackistiktokkin. It’s spelled a little bit funny. I’ll send you off to look at it again.
Greg Owens 59:26
Yeah, no worries. That’s great. I love that. Like I love how you’re using that as a tool to to help your slack and help connect yourself to the employees at your company. That’s how you
Jack Lau 59:37
just got to keep up. I got to keep up with our population.
Greg Owens 59:42
And then next time on down I’m heading down that way. I will I’ll reach out to you. Yeah, sure off your see your facility there or something.
Jack Lau 59:49
Yeah, come check it out. Show you kind of the work we did. And you can tell me if we got a good paint deal.
Greg Owens 59:56
I’m sure I’m sure it looks great.
Jack Lau 59:59
All right. Thank you so much, Greg.
Greg Owens 1:00:01
Thank you. Thank you so much
Intro 1:00:14
thanks for listening to the Watching Paint Dry podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click Subscribe to get future episodes.