The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
I take on the role of an authoritative voice that fearlessly communicates truths drawn directly from my lived experiences. With a genuine sense of ownership, my insights are free from any hidden agendas – they truly belong to the audience. My stories and journey add remarkable value, the key now lies in harnessing its power effectively to help others.
My purpose is to create a new residential building industry. My mission is to inspire unshakable self-confidence in my colleagues in the industry, empowering them to orchestrate prosperous, enduring, and lucrative businesses that bring exceptional projects to fruition for our clients.
My goal is to foster a deeper comprehension among clients about the identity and functions of builders, redefining their perceptions.
The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
Building the Best Touring Trucks in Australia, the Story Behind Offroad Creative.
GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE LEVEL UP EXPERIENCE HERE - https://duaynepearce.com/events/
#135 Brad Cullen shares his journey from plumbing apprentice to founder of Offroad Creative, a rapidly growing business that designs and manufactures premium vehicle canopies and accessories.
Check out Offroad Creative here...
https://offroadcreative.com.au/
Check out Duayne's other projects here...
Live Life Build
livelifebuild.com
D Pearce Constructions
dpearceconstructions.com.au
QuoteEaze
quoteeaze.com/Free-Offer.html
GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE LEVEL UP EXPERIENCE HERE - https://duaynepearce.com/events/
What's your advice, mate, for people out there that are sitting on the fence, maybe hesitating to start their own business or give it a crack themselves?
Speaker 2:Be prepared for a lot of hard work. You need discipline. You need a lot of discipline. It doesn't matter what's happening. You've still got to get your foot out of that bed, get up and keep going. And then, when you turn up, you've got to be the leader. You've got to be happy. Happy doesn't matter what's going on your life it's, it's about everybody else okay, guys, welcome back to another episode of level up.
Speaker 1:We are ready for another cracking episode this afternoon. Look, if you haven't heard, we are putting on the greatest event that construction industry has ever seen in Australia. It's on the 30th of May this year. We have got international guests coming, such as Paula Baker-Lepore and Matt Risinger the two biggest names in the building industry when it comes to building science and building healthy homes as well as a whole other list of top quality, world-class speakers. But we also have over 60 of Australia's biggest and best brands coming to have part of a trade show, and something I really wanted to do was get things at this event that just set it apart from all the other events that you see our industry having, and so I wanted to bring things that tradies and builders need, and that includes things like the vehicles we drive. So one of our major sponsors that has come on board is, uh, the guys from off-road creative, and we're lucky enough to have brad the man behind off-road creative here with us today. How are you, mate?
Speaker 2:yeah, good thanks how you doing excellent.
Speaker 1:Really appreciate you getting behind the event and, uh, becoming one of our major sponsors and I I think, for people that come to the event to see your vehicles because, like I know, you guys are just always innovating and coming up with solutions and I know that tradies will get a lot out of seeing your vehicles and the canopies and the systems you have. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you're going to bring, mate.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, we all know tradies, love a good rig.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I want to go back a little bit before we get into Off-Road Creative and all that sort of thing, because you actually are a tradie Yep. So can you tell us a little bit about your backstory? I guess, right back from schooling Were you one of those guys that didn't really fit in at school and just wanted to get out and get your hands dirty.
Speaker 2:No, I was probably one of those guys that the teachers didn't really like a lot of unfocused potential I suppose. So you know a lot of board sports, skating, surfing and stuff that during school. So I just sort of cruised through school. I was really interested in the back then. It was technical drafting, I suppose, graphics on the old T-squares and with the pens and stuff like that Right back then. So I was really interested in that when I was going through school. And then when I finished school I started working on AutoCAD. I'd done some AutoCAD in school for a house building company and then after a few months they caught me sleeping in the office a few too many times. So an opportunity came up.
Speaker 1:You got up too early.
Speaker 2:you're going for a surf mate, yeah yeah, just, I guess, yeah, a little bit of boredom setting in there. So an opportunity came up for a plumbing apprenticeship with those guys. So, yeah, I jumped at that and started doing that with cottage work, things like that. And then, after you know a period of six months, they've sort of folded I've, you know, got a job at the plumbing supply shop down the road and then one of the bigger companies that was coming through there sort of grabbed me and jumped on board with those guys for a couple of years. And then, yeah, after that sort of, as I was living at a home, living with the boys, you know, I'd have to go in and do laboring for a little while to, you know, bank up a bit more coin and then jump on with another company, knock off a bit more of my apprenticeship, and you know life and circumstances and everything else happened.
Speaker 1:So, um, yeah, I ended up 10 years kept chipping away at it and, uh, yeah, eventually got my, got my trade done so, from when you started your apprenticeship to when you finished, you just like you yeah, did you do it with different companies, or you went back and just worked wherever you could yeah, different companies.
Speaker 2:So I might, you know, pick up a job laboring on a high rise with the Jeep Rockers or something like that. So you know, I'd do that for six months and that was a lot better money than you know the $12 an hour I think I was getting you know as a second or third year apprentice way back then. So, yeah, I'd do that for a while, bank up a bit of money and then, you know, hit up the plumbers on site at one of the jobs and say, hey, you know, let's knock off a bit of time and I'll dig some holes for you. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I guess over that 10 years it was took a while and I was definitely committed to becoming a tradesman. That was the big thing. I definitely wanted my trade certificate but I guess doing it that way probably worked out pretty well because I got a big range of skills and you know environments. It wasn't just you know all new house, cottage work for my whole apprenticeship, it was shopping centers, it was high rises, drainage, gas, fitting, the whole works. So it it was actually a really good way to do it. Wouldn't recommend it.
Speaker 1:But in the end? Yeah Well, you committed mate. Yeah, like doing an apprenticeship. Over that time obviously meant a lot to you to actually finish it, complete it and get the trade ticket behind you. Once you got it, did you use it? Did you go and work as a plumber?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did a little bit um, and then you know a lot younger and stuff like that I'd, um, when I was sort of kicking off, I'd uh just be hanging out the local reese, uh, plumbing supplies, and you know someone would come in and want a hot water system done, and you know when I think done, and then you know other trades had come in and so I actually picked up a lot of work just kicking out there. But yeah, I didn't know a lot about business back then and so it's a common story in the well, not just in the building industry.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it's the same in the industry you're in now. Like it like we all have a passion for something, but the business sort of thing is generally what slows us down or takes the passion away.
Speaker 2:Yep absolutely so. You know, while you're quoting the work, you're not doing the work. And then when you're doing the work, you're always looking for the next job, because what are you going to do after that? And then there's, you know, invoices, tax, all that other sort of stuff that when you're you know mid-20s and haven't really thought about that type of thing, it all you know mid-twenties and haven't really thought about that type of thing. It all comes on pretty quickly. So yeah, I worked contracting for a couple other plumbing companies as well. While I was doing that, too, yeah, unreal.
Speaker 1:So where did the change take place? What got you into the industry you're in now?
Speaker 2:Actually I'd hurt my wrist too many times, you know doing board sports and stuff like that, so I'd put off getting an operation on my wrist for a long time. Financially it just didn't make sense to sit at home for six months because you couldn't use your hands. So while I was off I actually went to TAFE, started doing some engineering and then I did that for full-time for about maybe eight months and then started getting some part-time work with a mates work that was at a aluminium tipper manufacturing facility.
Speaker 1:So like tippers for body trucks and tip trucks, yeah yeah, yeah, big aluminium tippers and things like that.
Speaker 2:And they knew I was sort of, you know, had a couple of brain cells between my ears and, yeah, I had a little bit of experience on the design side of things. I was definitely keen to get into it. So they sort of put me through the different areas of the factory over a period of time and then moved me into the office and that's where I started getting my first getting my hands into proper design on 3D programs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's awesome, man. And like when did you take the punt to like go out on your own or try your own thing?
Speaker 2:it was, I think. I was working for a few different companies for a couple years at a time and then, um, I started working for a global mining company in the city. At the time when I started, there was 32 designers there and I worked my way up to top level designer running teams so what was designing Like bodies for mine trucks and stuff?
Speaker 2:We'd do some of our coal export facilities that we have up the coast. We'd be doing studies on expanding stockyards, things like that. I was designing big bucket wheel reclaimers, big ship loaders. When the 2011 floods came through, we got contracted to redesign the ferry terminals because they all got washed away, so I was part of a big team in there and we won a design award for those ones.
Speaker 1:Jeez, mate, you've got some experience. Yeah, yeah, I've been around a little bit. Well, that look it definitely shows in the products that you're developing now. So yeah, but what was the point when you got to that? You took the punt to go and have a crack, or were you designing? I assume someone like yourself would have been tinkering behind the scenes.
Speaker 2:After the you know, coal prices went up, um, I think they had like over 30 designers and I think I was one of the very few left that got made redundant. Um, design work was a little bit few and far between. And then I went to work for a? Um camper trailer manufacturer a? Um camper trailer manufacturer and started designing for those guys.
Speaker 2:Uh, and because, you know, I was always camping my whole life and always full driving and uh, doing that sort of thing, so it was right up my alley uh certainly didn't pay as well as the mining industry, but yeah, um, you know, you do what you do for your passion, so, uh, yeah, so I worked with those guys for five years and by the time we left there, I had a two-year-old boy and I was sort of sitting there with the wife one night and said, well, you know, I feel like I can do more. I feel like I'm just cruising at the moment and I can push myself more. And if we take a punt and if we knuckle down for, you know, four years, five years, we can really set those guys up the kids. So that's what we did. So over the next couple of months we basically sold the camper, trailer and what we had and, yeah, rented a shed, opened the door and said what are we going to build?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've actually followed you for a long time, mate, and I think like I saw a heap of the stuff when you very first started, I think you were mucking around with some bars and stuff. And then I think, and the one that I think got me over to following what you were doing and I could see you just started out was, um, the guys at ransom ransom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, michael ransom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, some constructions, yeah, yeah, yeah, so is it like that was one of the first full-on builds that you did, wasn't it yeah?
Speaker 2:yep, um, very lucky that he knocked on our door. Uh, I'd known him through the uh, through the hylux community. We've been on a few sort of camping trips you know big group camping trips and I knew him through there and um, he'd gotten a ram and he was planning touring with his family and um, so I was very lucky that he knocked on our door and and said, hey, I want something custom. Um what I want, no one's gonna do it for me. Can you do it?
Speaker 1:I said yeah yeah, I for it so so I guess, I guess, if you haven't worked it out yet, the, the guys that created off-road creative, basically build the best canopies and you do trays. Yeah, we do trays, we do basically anything that comes through the doors but like the best canopies, I think, on the market, not just in Australia but probably globally. But they are insane, yeah, and you're always innovating, like from what I've seen in the like. So how long's off-road creative actually been going?
Speaker 1:we're just coming on four and a half years now, yeah, and so in four and a half years, you've gone from renting a reasonably small shed and that was a couple hundred meters and doing everything on your own. Yep, so what are you? What are you in now? 10, how many square meters, this shed?
Speaker 2:uh we have 3 000 square meters of factory space and over 45 employees yeah, candidate last night actually um, yeah, I think there's about 47 look, it's unbelievable, mate.
Speaker 1:I just think it's fantastic. You guys are just getting into it and then you've hit the American truck market pretty hard. That's definitely ramping up in Australia. Yep, you don't just do American truck gear, do you?
Speaker 2:We are specialising in that at the moment. We found with the work and everything that we put into our builds it was about a year and a half ago we were getting a lot of enquiries but we're a little bit sort of too high priced for the Australian domestic ute market. So we don't do it the easy way, we do it the hard way and there's a lot of components, a lot of work and, you know, a lot of quality and care that goes into our builds. So we found we're a little bit sort of over-capitalizing on those utes. So we did do a few. We've done probably half a dozen 79s, a few 200s, a couple of Rangers.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't say you do it the hard way. I'd say you do it the proper way, oh yeah yeah, like everything I've seen is just all quality, like I've got a couple of mates that have got your gear and it's next level, like there's no two ways about it. It is the best in the industry. And the thought that's gone into the layouts and the setups and just the ease of use is yeah it blows my mind.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:It's um, I guess when I'm sitting there designing them, one thing I didn't like about what was currently on the market was when you look at the truck it's, it just looks like this big box that's been plonked on the back of the truck.
Speaker 2:And then at the time when I started designing them, um, and then you know they're thrown a fridge here, a set of drawers there, there was a pantry there. So even as you see it driving down the road, you could see, you know welds coming through the exterior, you know rear wall doors, you could see where it was welded, you could see it. Just, it just wasn't suited to the vehicle at all. And then when you open the door, you could just see everybody's stuff. And when you wanted to make a coffee, you'd be pulling the coffee machine out, sticking it here, plugging it in, and when you want to make a toaster, you'd be pulling that out, plugging it in as well. So I guess I wanted something that when you're spending the money on these trucks, you want it to look as good as it possibly can.
Speaker 1:So it's like it come from the factory yeah, yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 2:So you know, I wanted to follow the body lines of the truck. Really nice, I want to. You know, approach angles, all of the important stuff, a lot of, um, you know, a lot of storage space, uh, functionality etc. But then at the same time when you open the door, that you just couldn't see all your stuff. It just looked messy. For you know back then what was on the market. So, um, I was just sort of designing. I'm like, well, you know, I want a coffee machine, I want a toaster on a soda stream, I want a microwave or this is in the back of a four-wheel drive.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah. I've done some, some crazy stuff in cars you recently, don't mind, with buddy, a set of kegs in it, haven't you?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah to to beer kegs and a twin tap pour on the front of the front of the pantry. We've done another one.
Speaker 1:Um marla designer locky, he designed up a mini bar so it has your spirit bottles with hoses coming out and then you just go to the side, push the button and it pours you, pours your spirits out into your drinks, and it's insane, mate so I want to go back a little bit on that because, like, a lot of people listen to this podcast, um, and what you've done applies a little bit on that because, like, a lot of people listen to this podcast and what you've done applies, like it's a lot of.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of people out there that are not quite happy with the job they have at the moment or know they can do better, similar to your situation, but so many people don't take that step to trust themselves, believe in themselves and, I guess, put it on the line. Like it takes a lot to sell up what you've got and put it all on the line and take that step to start a business. Like you mentioned briefly, a big driver was your family. Yep, what else was driving you? Was it that you wanted to do your own thing? You wanted to put your stamp on the on the industry uh, what's the saying?
Speaker 2:you, um, you give up a job that's paying a wage, working nine to five, so that you can start your own business, and and nothing, work 24, 7. Uh, that's, that's pretty true for the first couple of years. I don't know, I guess it's hard, hard to say. I just felt like I could just do more. I felt like I was just cruising through and you know, at the end of it we could have been reasonably comfortable. But you know, we weren't really. You know the same old story. I didn't come from much and I wanted more for my kids when I was finished. So I knew I had the skills to do it and, yeah, didn't really have much of a business idea or anything like that. But yeah, I spoke to a few people and I guess when you've got some good designs in your head and you're laid out there, then you know the right people are gonna notice and start from there.
Speaker 1:So so you're obviously a very creative person, mmm. I guess also like a lot of those posts. I saw you doing the early days mucking around with bars and things and did you do something with a? Was there something that folded out of a mudguard or a guard or something?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was actually a design taken from Brad DeBerti in the US where they did an F truck where the sides of the tub swing up like gullwing doors and then you've got a service body in behind that. So we were contracted by another company to do a couple of those. Yeah, so we did them.
Speaker 1:That's it. Well, I'm no expert, but that looked to me like a shitload of work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, in that one there was a lot of like old school fabrication. So you get a bit of plate and how are we going to make this work? Drill a hole here, weld a bit on there, you know, get it working. Oh, that's not quite right. Change it again. A lot of the stuff that I do, we design it on the CAD and it's 95% by the time it goes onto the truck. A little bit of tweaking and stuff like that, that, and it's good to go where that one there, that that job there was actually extremely difficult to get that working and, um, yeah, not very practical for australia and yeah, all that sort of stuff. But yeah, it was, it was a thing.
Speaker 1:So well, you've obviously got like you tried and tested. Now, like I don't personally know um um the ransom guys, but like I follow them, I love their content, like I think they're one of the probably one of the most real ones out there. Yeah, like they're just doing it because they want to do it. Like not to uh not to try and live up to anyone else's expectations but, they've definitely put that setup that you built through its paces over the last three or four years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that one was really cool. So we did an electric rooftop tent which was fabricated onto the top of the canopy. It was three meters long so it overhang the cab so that him, his wife and his kids could sleep in there when they're away from the van. Him, his wife and his kids could sleep in there when they're away from the van. And we had electric actuators running down to the floor of the canopy um and then canvas around the outside, so you just push a button in the canopy and then the roof of the rooftop tent would just lift up, like that, yeah, and then inside we had, you know, custom c deck in the roof and it was all custom canvas, custom mattresses, custom custom everything on that.
Speaker 2:We did a few of those rooftop tents but um, yeah, they were.
Speaker 2:There's a very intensive labor, intensive wise yeah um, so we ended up stopping those because, again to later on down the track, if you want to go to sell the vehicle or anything like that, someone might not want a rooftop tent on there and want to use it for something else. So, yeah, um, but yeah, that was one of the first things. The first one on ransoms um, yeah, he had a lot of great ideas and a lot of things that he wanted and you know we did a lot of work together to try and fit it in. So, you know, two pull out pantries uh, the original idea was to get his kids peewee motorbikes on the driver's side as well, and he also wanted his tools so he could work on the road. He was planning a year-long trip. Four years later he still hasn't come back so is that how you work?
Speaker 1:like my main business is we build high-end custom homes and renovations, but um is, is that how you sort of do it with your canopies? Does everyone get the opportunity to come in and like they're custom designed, or does it start with a basic sort of model and you build on it, like how does it actually work?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we won't really change the outside of the canopy so much. We have a bunch of different options for, you know, chainsaw holders, jack holders, jerry cans on the back and things like that, obviously, rooftop tents and all that sort of thing. But we like our style that we have with the outside of the canopies, the structure. We know they're strong, we know they're light and they work. So we don't want to mess around too much with the outside. But interior wise, we do spend a lot of time with the customers. They have a lot of, and a lot of times great, ideas about what they want to see in their canopy.
Speaker 2:So a lot of the time everything that we were doing was new. I must have 50 different pantry configurations. Someone wanted an air fryer, a coffee machine this particular size coffee machine, you know sandwich press on a drawer. All this so that you know when you open it up, you pull this out, you cook your toaster, you close it again, you know it's all there, you just turn the inverter button on. Everything has a home when you're packing up. It's really quick, it's really neat.
Speaker 2:Everything is functional and it just works works. So, over the years with the, you know what, learning what really works and what doesn't. Our current design now for the, the passenger side, it just really works. So, uh, you know, previously with two drawers on top of the, on top of each other, you know, with the height of these, difficult to see in that second drawer, and then you're left with a small width table and then you've got this big, heavy pull-out pantry right at the rear of the truck. So I developed a new layout for the passenger side where it gives you a massive table and we put induction cookers and sinks in that table, um two drawers that are easily accessible and then, you know, move to mini pantries. So we put three-in-one microwaves or um food pantries, full-size breville espresso machines it's insane.
Speaker 1:This is like that's not really camping anymore. Is it like people are taking the the kitchen with them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what we did find is, you know a lot of people, a lot of a lot of the, they go I'm just not going to use all that kitchen stuff, you know, cause we're going to be with the van most of the time. You know my kids a time away from the van. So really, in that kitchen stuff. But we do a lot of downselling. So you know people come in with these grand ideas and it's like, well, yeah, we can do that, but how much are you going to use it? Is the juice worth the squeeze? Yeah, but one thing we did find was you know, especially tradies and stuff like that, they're so used to getting up at four or five o'clock in the morning that you know we say this is one consideration.
Speaker 2:When you are looking at that kitchen side of your canopy, do you get up earlier than everybody else, the kids and the missus. You can come outside, you can start breakfast, you can make your coffee, you can watch the sunset, you can potter around campsite and they can still be sleeping inside and you're not waking them up because caravans, everyone's on top of each other. So you turn on the coffee machine, everybody's awake. So you're like, oh, I've never actually thought of that. So it's about just talking with the customers and you know how do you want to use it. What do you see yourself doing? And have you thought of this and you know you want this. We have this which does what you're asking, but it's actually a bit more functional than your idea. Is that something you want to go with? And we found that this layout that we've got now nails about 80% of the builds that we do now, yeah, and you're doing other stuff as well, don't you?
Speaker 1:You're doing front bars for most vehicles now, aren't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we do front bars for all of the American trucks, front bars for all of the American trucks, and then we've just started getting into front bars for the domestic market as well.
Speaker 1:So that's what your Prados Cruzes Rangers yeah, it's Hiluxes at the moment.
Speaker 2:We sort of bought the IP of a company that was a little bit burned out and wasn't able to keep up with what they're doing. Um so, uh, he's in as a as a consultant in that side of things. Um so it's high luxes at the moment and then we're going to expand the range throughout the rest of the domestic market as well yeah, yeah, because you even your bars like they're.
Speaker 1:They're one of the best looking bars on the market. Like they. Everything else is so, I don't know, old-fashioned agricultural, I don't know what you want to call it, but you're again.
Speaker 2:You even your bars seem to just they look like they've been there from factory yeah, the bars were a good one to design because over in the states they're their bars are quite. You know they're really small. Um, you know a lot of angles, a lot going on and a lot of you know they're really small. You know a lot of angles, a lot going on and a lot of that, you know, four years ago was a little bit too much for the Australian market. But then what we had a lot of over here was a lot of old school big triple hoop things. You know that didn't look very good. So when I came in on our front bars I wanted to try and tone down that american thing for this market, but also not make grandpa spec bars as well. So, yeah, we came up with a pretty good uh, I suppose hybrid of the two ideas there and yeah they've been going.
Speaker 1:They've been going really good and do you do like I'm? I know you do the bars, the canopies and things, but is there any um in the future you're going to like build trucks or is you're just going to leave that for for other companies, or are you going to have a crack at doing the whole thing?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, yeah. So we're looking at you know, doing turnkey builds, uh that sort of thing as well. We, we know our demographic quite well. We do get a lot of tradies come through, but we also get a lot of developers and, above, company owners. So a lot of guys that have run a company for years. They've either sold or stepped right back from it and just selling, know, selling houses, whatever to buy the ultimate van, build the ultimate truck and and just take off. So they want it to look good, be functional and just work. So, yeah, that's what we can do. So now we're just going to try and make that a little bit easier for those guys.
Speaker 2:So the time it takes to build a truck with multiple different companies, we both know taking time out of the business at a certain day, at a certain time to just get up and then drop your truck off, on the other side of the city, for example, and then Uber back, is very rare to be able to just get up and walk out like that.
Speaker 1:So um, yeah, it makes sense, mate, like I just again, it comes back and it's so different to me. Building a luxury home for someone like you, you leave it to the experts. So if you can, uh, get a company that just takes care of everything for you, you you can trust them and know that when you come back there that you're going to have a vehicle that just exceeds your expectations. Yeah. Like why wouldn't you do?
Speaker 2:that we're getting a lot more requests for that, more and more so. They're, like you know, in four months or in six months time we're selling up. We want to leave at this date and we want it just all done, ready to go, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you know the whole vehicle. I'd imagine doing a canopy like you. You're touching 50, 60 of the vehicle anyway, yeah, major transformation.
Speaker 2:And if you're putting a bar on, like like all that's left is wheels, tires, suspension and maybe a roof rack, like yeah, so we're not tackling that area ourselves, we're leaving it to the experts in that field. Yeah, um, and just yeah, teamed up with a couple of different companies to, um, yeah, to facilitate that whole process. Yeah, write down the vehicle wraps and and things like that yeah, awesome man, I can't wait to see that like.
Speaker 1:It just seems to me like every time I see an instagram post where you finished a new truck, like they're just getting better and better and some cool colors, and just yeah, I think it's freaking awesome. But I've also enjoyed seeing I'm not sure if it's something you do regularly, but, um, I've seen you put out some pretty cool options for tradies. Um, yep, like I think there was one, I don't know it was, maybe it was more economical setup. I think it might have even just been a bed cover, but when you open the bed cover, like it had a slide on one side with a fridge and a and a space with I don't know like a pantry type thing, but it still gave you half the the tray to throw timber or tools or I actually designed that one for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah so we had.
Speaker 2:Uh, we had a f-150 coming and I don't get time to go touring and so I didn't want to drive around with a canopy on all the time. But I did want to take off for, you know, long weekends or weekends, that sort of thing, you know, take the boy out up to the beach, you know fishing, whatever. We'd take the family out for a weekend as well. So what I wanted there was a design that you know I had enough water for the weekend, enough power for the weekend, fridge space, cooking, rooftop tent, lights, so we made sure all of that was in there. But then every other weekend I could go to bunnings and still throw stuff in the back. I could throw his pushy in the back, we could throw sandy stuff in the back and just hose it all out.
Speaker 2:It was all waterproof, it was all specked up. So we do boat loaders on those as well. It's a good weight compromise. For those with big bands who don't want full-size canopy as well, the weight on that is significantly lower than a full-size canopy too. So that works out with people's GVMs and what they want to use it for and how long. So you know, a lot of guys just want to go caravanning for the six-week school holidays but then they've still got to drive around in the truck for the rest of the year.
Speaker 1:Um, and the tub look does look good I reckon that was a cracking setup, like it was the best thought out like solution that I've ever seen, like just to be able to have that on one side still have the whole other half of the tub, but, yeah, to have your fridge. You had a pantry in that yeah, it had a storage space.
Speaker 2:I put all my plates and, yeah, everything I needed in there as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like you combine that with the, with the rooftop tent or a rooftop rack and that, and like, literally like yeah, there's not a lot, you can't do with that. But you mentioned weight a few times because, um, like, when we um spoke yesterday or the day before, I said to you like I actually spoke to you on the phone I think it was three or four years ago when I was yeah wanting to get a canopy on my.
Speaker 1:I think it was around the same time ransom was getting you to do his. And then, uh, literally in the time I was talking to you, I there was another guy in melbourne that was selling a full setup f250 ready for touring. He'd done his two years touring and was selling it, so I jumped on that and bought that. But the um, like the truck that I've got now, which I'm I'm due to uh upgrade it it's so heavy like the canopy on it, mate, is I don't know, it'd have to weigh six or seven hundred kilos, like it's a jack off one and it's a mission. The canopy on it, mate, is I don't know, it'd have to weigh 600 or 700 kilos. It's a jack-off one and it's a mission to get it on and off. But you guys seem to only put in what you need to put in. It's still really structurally sound and really well built, but you're not putting in unnecessary weight. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's cheaper and more efficient to make, you know, all of the aluminium in that canopy out of the same thickness, but what you end up with is, you know, these structural parts underneath need to be thicker, and then you continue that through the rest.
Speaker 2:You end up with a heavy canopy. So you know, through the design it's, you know, a bit lighter on the roof sheets and then our structure inside of it is, you know, heavy. So we have that structure, the floor structure and everything's quite heavy. So and then even the way that we do our, our structure and how that's attached to the rear wall has evolved over time so that the guys don't have to jig it or measure it at all in fabrication. It all kind of clip blocks together and then where they're putting the welds it's it's putting the least amount of deformation on the rear wall of it. So we sand that off completely flat. So now, less sanding, yeah, even our doors. So I did about probably three different versions of the canopy door over time and I was able to take about I think it was eight kilos and about six parts out of the door.
Speaker 1:But make it stronger they're definitely the best looking canopies from the outside. The way you integrate your locking systems and your handles and stuff. Like it's um, it dead set, just looks like it is part of the car, like it's something that you've said. It ticked a box at the factory that you you want a canopy and it's, it's put on there and it looks like it's meant to be there, yeah, which you don't see, like you said before, like you don't actually see that a lot with most um canopies. But I think another big difference with your stuff is like you open most canopies, including the one I've got at the moment, and it's. It looks like it's all modular, like it's like we just click a drawer in here and we click a fridge in here and it's, and so by doing that, there's like a lot of wasted space.
Speaker 2:Yeah whereas extra holes and a lot of yeah yeah, yeah, like your stuff.
Speaker 1:From what I've seen, I've got a couple of mates that have got yours and they're just, they're next level, like everything's just so well integrated and neat and there's no wasted space, everything's thought out, even the your drawers. Like just your one bloody touch, yeah.
Speaker 2:Drawers. Yeah, that was really good. It's, yeah, just through experience and all that sort of stuff, every time you want to stick something in the drawer, you've got something in your hand, you know. So the locking slides, there are two-handed action, so we did that straight away. And then also doubles as a you know, a T-tail holder as well, and you know, yeah, just function and usability and all that sort of stuff is key.
Speaker 1:So, mate, you must be pretty proud of where it's come to like what's a short period of time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've got to allow yourself to step back every now and then and, yeah, sort of take it in for what it is so you can have another breath and get back into it.
Speaker 1:Do you take the time out to sit back and reflect on it and just appreciate everything you've done?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can't be there for a lot of the handovers anymore with customers, but I do like taking the time to come out and meet them and getting their initial feedback and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:There's been a few times where we've got the biggest, burliest block layer and he's come to pick up his and we rolled up the the roller door and you can see his eyes well enough yeah uh, that those moments is is what gets me um, and then recently we had our open day, um, craig organized all that one um, and with that one, yeah, mayor tom tade and mark hamill, the the local councillor, and that sort of stuff came out and uh, yeah, so you know, promoting industry in the area and and um, you know, growth as well, um, that was a really cool moment. Yeah, couldn't get that sort of recognition as well. So, but realistically, now it's the whole team and it always has been. You can't get where you're going without the people around you. Um, so that's, that's where our focus is. It's it's on the team and growing the team personally.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, and when you grow somebody personally and build, you know, ethic and build character in them as best you can, then you can't lose as a boss yeah, and culture like yeah create a culture and I'd imagine, with your um, like with your business, like, I would assume, a lot of people that work there would have an interest in four-wheel driving camping outdoors like mixed bag yeah, yeah, mixed bag.
Speaker 2:So we do get a lot of people who do that. Um, you know, half our street is full of drives. But then too, you know, we've got, you know, people who are mechanics but don't like actually mechanicing, but on the weekend they'll go and fix their own car. You know, yeah, it's just a real mixed bag. But we look for somebody who, yeah, who just wants to get in and achieve something and and that's the people that we really help grow. And, yeah, stick with. It's been hard as we grow to try and keep in touch of, you know, every single person there and how they're going in their lives and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But I still, you know, cruise around and high five everybody and have a bit of a yarn and what's your advice, mate, for people out there that are sitting on the fence, maybe hesitating to start their own business or give it a crack themselves? Be?
Speaker 2:prepared for a lot of hard work. You need discipline, you need a lot of discipline. It doesn't matter what's happening. You've still got to get your foot out of that bed, get up and keep going. And then, when you turn up, you've got to be the leader. You've got to be happy. Doesn't matter what's going on your life, it's, it's about everybody else. Yeah, there's a lot of sacrifice, but at the end there's a lot of reward too. You know you have that sense of achievement, you know you're doing something great. But yeah, it's be prepared for sacrifice. But if you're comfortable being uncomfortable, then you can do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah but it's risk equals reward, like you've got to take every anyone that takes risks generally, like if they put in the effort, they're consistent, they're, as you said, discipline's a massive thing. Like they, then generally you can push through and do well, like so, like you're past all that now. Like what's the plans for the future?
Speaker 2:we're still looking to go bigger. Um, yeah, we moved in october. We've already done one expansion already. Uh, our previous factory we started running um the other bull bar company that we acquired in there, and then we were looking at putting laser impressors in our fabrication shed. And then we worked out pretty quickly that once we do that, we can't grow fabrication anymore and we can't grow the laser impressor sort of thing. So we swapped that around, built another whole row of fabrication booths, um, and then we actually just landed our presses and laser in our previous shed this week yeah yep.
Speaker 2:So we did a little switch around there, expanded our fabrication and and um. Now we have room to expand our our laser and press factory as well. Now too.
Speaker 1:Because there's a massive opportunity for growth Because really the American trucks they're only just taken off the last couple of years. You're definitely seeing more of them, but if they keep expanding at the rate they are, the market's huge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's more and more big manufacturers seeing how big australia is and how much we like driving all over it and traveling around. There's a lot of amazing sites in the country to see. So, uh, you know, they see that and they see what's been happening over the last, you know, four, five, six years with the the need for these trucks. It's when you're towing a big van. There is nothing safer on the road to tow it with. You could have a 200 series, it could be very well built, but when you go up a big hill with four and a half ton on the back, the motor is at its limit, your fuel economy is down. You know, there's just a lot of wear and tear on that. And then, even if you have like three and a half ten ton van towing it with an everest, the van's heavier than the car that's what I don't, that's what I've never got like.
Speaker 1:If you're gonna tell a big van you, your car should weigh more than what you've been.
Speaker 2:Yep so now, these things, they're, they're cruising around with massive vans on them pulling, you know, 17, 19 liters per hundred, 110 kilometers for those or 100 kilometers for those, is idling you've got the power there to get yourself out of trouble when you need to, and it feels like you're doing it all in a lounge chair. So you know, big days of driving, six, seven, eight hours of driving doesn't feel like a mission anymore, because it's just easy and a lot of people have always said the the cost is a restriction.
Speaker 1:But like, look how many people have dual cab 79s. And like, if you take the cost of a dual cab cruiser or a 200 series and then you do your gvm upgrades, you do all your suspension upgrades, you do your your side mirrors, like you do everything that actually comes standard in an american truck, yeah, like you you're spending more money.
Speaker 2:Uh, what's the saying? You buy a 79, you're just putting a deposit down on the truck you actually want, yeah, yeah. And then, oh, you get in one of those now, compared to the trucks that we're so used to getting into, and it it generally feels like a jimny. Yeah, um, you put the seat back so that you can drive it as a driver and and I'm not a big dude and then you look in the back seat and you've got this much room. Yeah, so you know, when your kids start getting older, doing those six-hour drives all day, it's going to be very fatiguing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know these trucks here. You put your seat back, you're comfortable, you're cruising along, along, you're not getting that fatigue. And then in the back seat, the kids have all the room in the world you can put, you know, ipads, books, bags, whatever across the front, keep them up, you know, on the floor in front of them and keep them occupied the whole time. And, yeah, it's, it is really chalk and cheese when you're talking these trucks against what, um, this country's been used to for a while.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially when you get out in the outback. We've done a few trips now, or a lot of trips now. I've only ever had F trucks. I'm a bit of an F truck guy. Craig's been chewing my ear off that I should get a 550. I was asking him about the 550s. Who knows what will happen with the next truck. But you get them out on the rough roads and the corrugations and they just don't feel it Like they do it with ease.
Speaker 2:Yeah a good suspension set up and all that sort of stuff, it really goes a long way. The factory suspension is really just set up for long highway sort of touring. It's not meant for constant load all the time. It's not meant for corrugationsations. Our roads, a lot of the roads that we have, is you might as well be driving on a dirt track anyway.
Speaker 1:So, um yeah, the factory suspension is not really set up for that and you don't want to be caught somewhere in the middle of nowhere with a failure so you set it up to do a little bit more than what you think you're going to do, and then you're going to be fine, yeah yeah, well, mate, uh, look, I really appreciate your your time today, but I definitely appreciate you getting behind um the level up experience and and becoming a major sponsor of the event. Um, how can people find you guys like you?
Speaker 2:uh, predominantly instagram and our website. Um so we have a contact form on our website. Um so the boys get in there, you know, if it's over the weekend or after hours, every morning they're in there replying to emails and stuff. We're very responsive we. You know customer service has always been high on our priority list.
Speaker 1:So, yes, the contact your Instagram's offroad underscore. Is it Offroad underscore creative? Yeah, offroad underscore creative.
Speaker 2:Yep and then our website as well, so you can have a look on there and and choose contact and someone will be giving you a call in 24 hours yep, awesome mate.
Speaker 1:Well, like I said, appreciate your time. Look, guys, if you're out there and you are considering an american truck or a touring setup or you want to talk to the guys about what sort of setup they can do for your tools or for your trade, or whatever the case may be, the guys are gonna have a few trucks on display at the level up experience. So make sure you come along, check them out, go and say good day to Brad and the rest of the team. I'm really looking forward to what you bring to the show Same.
Speaker 1:What are you gonna have there? Three, four vehicles or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we're working on four, I think we have the space for four. So we're trying to get a bit of a mix of jobs that we've done. So we're currently, you know, teaming up a few customers that we've done and getting a bit of a mix. So a bit of a tradie one, a bit of a touring one, a bit of more of a weekend warrior type one as well.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Well, make sure you come along to the show guys and check it out because, seriously, they they are leading the game when it comes to kennebys in australia and, who knows, probably around the world. But um, really appreciate your time, mate, appreciate getting behind the event. Um, and guys, look, go to the website, duanepeircecom. Make sure you get your tickets they're selling fast for the level up experience. We look forward to seeing you there. It will be an unmissable day If you're interested in business development, personal development, healthy homes, building, science. Australia has never seen an event like this, so you've got to be there and you need a ticket to be there. So go get your tickets.
Speaker 1:We look forward to seeing you on the next one and, as usual, like share, subscribe, all those types of things. Go and check out the guys at off-road creative and we'll see you on the next podcast. Are you ready to build smarter, live better and enjoy life? Then head over to live like buildcom forward, slash, elevate to get started. Everything discussed during the level up podcast with me, duane pierce, is based solely on my own personal experiences and those experiences of my guests. The information, opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. We recommend that you obtain your own professional advice in respect to the topics discussed during this podcast.