22: Why Vulnerability Can Be Your Biggest ROI
Behind Their Success: Ep 22
Landon: [00:00:00] I think losing my brother was just the extra push to get me through there and, and really get more vulnerable, man.
Landon: I think people don't want to be vulnerable. And, I think it really opens up a lot of opportunities and more connections. percent man,
Welcome to Behind Their Success. This podcast is for people who are feeling stuck on their entrepreneur journey or in their careers. It's for people who want to scale and grow their businesses, learn about the power of mindset, or they just know there's more out there and they want to start making changes.
I'm Paden Squires, the host of the podcast. I was never cut out to be an employee, and when I was an employee, I was bored out of my mind. So I made a plan. I studied and passed the CPA exam in eight months while working, all with the end goal in mind of quitting my job and starting my own business. I did that in 2014, and it has been an amazing wild ride since.
So now let's hear from other entrepreneurs, and what mindsets, and probably more important, what actions they have taken that have [00:01:00] created and led to their success.
Paden Squires: Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Behind Their Success podcast. I am Payden Squires, the host, and today we have a special guest on for you, Landon Malavay. He's a good friend of mine that I've gotten to know over the last year and a half or so. He is the owner of three companies. There's LCM Waterfalls and Ponds, Peaks to Plains Landscape, and Athos Rocks.
Paden Squires: These are all located in the greater Colorado Springs area. I'm excited to have him on this morning to talk a little bit about his journey. Like I said, I've gotten to know him quite a bit over the last year and a half or so we're in a mastermind group together. And he is a great entrepreneur and more importantly, even a better human.
Paden Squires: Landon, welcome on the podcast, man.
Landon: Glad to be here, Paden.
Paden Squires: Absolutely, buddy. So happy to have you, man. give us a little background about you, about your businesses and kind of, um,
Landon: All right, man. I grew up on a farm out in the middle of Eastern [00:02:00] Colorado and, love sports, went to play baseball. You can see the Rockies behind me here, but, ultimately, man, I love being outside. I decided that the baseball thing wasn't gonna really work out. So I ended up going to, uh, horticulture.
Landon: in Denver and then started up, working for another landscape contractor doing design work and project management. And then, ultimately I decided to start up my own. And, it's kind of manifested into these three companies now because we did a couple different assets of the businesses.
Landon: We did kind of landscape construction, water features, and then we did the manufacturing of the faux rock. And so they all intertwined, but I decided to separate those three.really hone in on each one of them and try to grow them all as their own entity. And so that's the short story.
Landon: There's a lot of ups and downs in between there and a lot of fun and headache. But, that's like the short, simple, way.
Paden Squires: So yeah, Landon, so you got three different companies there and I've seen some of your, your waterfall stuff you do.
Paden Squires: [00:03:00] It's really amazing. Some really cool waterfall pieces. Tell us about those companies and how they're going or what,what's your focus.
Landon: Yeah. so when I started doing the landscape construction, I actually met my mentor who had been building waterfalls for the last 50 years.
Landon: And that really, Made me want to go into that kind of industry. So I really took the right step there and went more to custom waterfalls and ponds and started building some really cool extravagant stuff, man. And I appreciate you loving our work, but it's been a long journey, but ultimately Rick was able to teach me how to build them very big from the very beginning.
Landon: So we like to build large scale waterfalls and ponds. And we're not like little 10 foot streams. Like we're trying to do, 50 by a hundred ponds with foot waterfalls going into them with streams coming down and lots of interaction like miniature pools pretty much.
Landon: And so that's kind of the direction that it went. And now we're literally, I mean, we cleaned out the broad [00:04:00] more yesterday, which a lot of people know down in Colorado Springs, the old hotel down there. we're getting into some doors that, Getting some awesome opportunities to redo some lakes and some large scale ponds like golf courses.
Landon: And, we have a lead from Hawaii right now for Athos rock works. That's like for their penguin exhibit. So things are really cool right now. It's going a little crazy, but it's a lot of fun, man. We're getting some great opportunities and just trying to build a really good team around it so that we can continue to offer that great customer service.
Landon: You mentioned earlier, but I. I love humans. I love connection, and that's really what's done it for me, and that's allowed me to get where I'm at today, and all those connections are coming into place now, I feel, and so it's really fun to kind of see that foster and actually come to fruition, because that's something that, my mentor did.
Landon: He traveled all over the world to do these waterfalls and ponds. And, ultimately it's been one of my goals as well. [00:05:00] So trying to follow in his footsteps a little bit and it's a hard door to open, man. That's a, it's a pretty tight knit world, especially in the large scale stuff. Because it's very commercial.
Landon: And once those guys find their guy, that's pretty much it. And so to get into that world is a little tough, but we're getting there, man. And it's fun to see those opportunities arising like the Broadmoor and this golf course Lake. So. It's interesting. Yeah.
Paden Squires: Heck yeah, man. So you, you talk about relationships, right?
Paden Squires: And in relation, you're, I, getting to know you, I know you're a relationship guy. tell me a little bit more about that and relationships and how you see that as a key to your success.
Landon: Yeah, man. I mean, it's a great segue because I think without all the connections that I've made, even with my mentor, from the very beginning,he saw something in me.
Landon: I knew how to work very hard, coming from eastern Colorado from a farm. but I made that connection with Rick where, you know, he saw something in me and allowed me to, to teach me and mentor me through that stuff. And [00:06:00] all the way from there, man, I just, I believe in treating everybody the same.
Landon: I always tell people like, you never know who you're going to meet. you want to treat everybody with the exact same respect and utmost care as you can. And so I treat my customers, my people, even relationships like you, man, I truly honor our relationship. I think you're an amazing human.
Landon: And I just try to surround myself with those people. And in doing that, I've made some really amazing connections with customers, with contractors, people over the United States now with our mastermind group. and I think that, I didn't really understand the power of connection. I had a loss of a brother and I think that kind of woke me up a little bit and made me really understand that connection and people are my superpower.
Landon: And I think that, I overlooked that a little bit, but now I'm understanding a little more and I'm seeing that kind of foster and it's really amazing. how many great people there are like that mastermind group of ours, there's a lot of [00:07:00] people in that group. And,there's some amazing, amazing humans in that group that just love each other, have fun together, try to push each other and those connections are super, super important.
Landon: And I,I don't think I probably could have handled it five years ago. But I'm really grateful for all those relationships and understanding and those connections that I've made and where they've brought me now, because it's, uh, things are going a little crazy, man.
Landon: We're going to start traveling out of state. just cause people trust us and they believe in us. And so, you know, building those connections is the first thing. And from there, they can see our work, they trust us. And then it's just like, it's game on. So it's going to get interesting real soon.
Paden Squires: That's awesome. Yeah. and that is something significant that happened in your life since I've known you, since I've known you, that you had a passing of your brother, and which had a significant, you know, impact and a definitely mindset shift, Can you, you know, speak a little bit about that of how, you know, how you've kind of reevaluated, your [00:08:00] life a little bit.
Landon: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, man. It was a really, really tough time. It was an unexpected loss. He was only three years older than me. And so it was, it was a really difficult time in our lives. It was, year and a half ago now at this point. And, from a simple back surgery, But what it made me do is it really made me look at everything in a different way.
Landon: my children, my wife, my, my guys, just people in general, man, people are very important. And, um, like I said, I had a lot of those connections. I'd built a lot of those connections, but those connections were a lot deeper than I thought they were. you know, all the way to my heart, man. I have a huge heart.
Landon: I love people. I have no problem telling guys, I tell you guys all the time. I love you because, I think it's super, super special and super important, to just let people know that because you never know when it's going to be the last time. And, you don't want to regret not being able to say that.
Landon: So, people are, they're just, there's a lot of good people out there, man. And it made me realize that.
Paden Squires: Yeah, man. and, you know, the important thing is [00:09:00] what you do is awful and tragic as that situation is. you used it for as much good as you could, right? And taking that situation and reevaluating your life and using it as a Not a good situation, obviously, it's not good, but using it as a jumping off point to make your life better in the ways you can use it to make your life better.
Landon: Yeah, you know, I, um, it was really, really difficult, but it really woke me up, man, and it really made me understand what life is about, and, I almost feel guilty saying it because I, I have learned and grown so much in a year and a half. And since that loss, it's truly changed who I am as a human.
Landon: And I think that, uh, you know, if everybody could think that way, you know, it sucks. Cause like you said, you don't want to look at a tragic loss as like a win. but ultimately, man, my brother was trying to teach me something and what he's taught me is invaluable. to my life for sure and changed it completely.
Paden Squires: So that's awesome stuff, man. So entrepreneur journey, man, it's just been easy and smooth. I'm sure there are no problems whatsoever. So along your journey, what, what would you say is one of the best decisions you've made that's really led to a lot of your success?
Landon: There's been multiple, you know, I think, just kind of.
Landon: Sucking up my ego a little bit and working under Rick was like the first one probably Because that was really difficult. He's very old school and he's yelling and screaming all the time and that's not for everybody and it was difficult, but I think it was kind of the first one that allowed me to kind of take a step back and learn and know that this man had a lot to teach me.
Landon: And so when I did that, it changed my career. Absolutely. And changed my life. and then from there, man, just taking leaps along the way and not questioning everything, I bought a property. out east of town, a little ways, you know, that was a huge leap for me. leveraged myself pretty hard. And, um, you know, moved my family out of town at a place we've been in for 12 years [00:11:00] and, it was one of the best things I ever did,and then from there, joining like the groups that we're in now and like sales training groups and stuff when, I was very competitive, And I was like, well, they're competition.
Landon: I don't want to have anything to do with them. And it's really not a good way to go through life, man. It's very lonely. And um, you know, that was kind of honestly probably the last thing. And then I think losing my brother was just the extra push to get me through there and, and really get more vulnerable, man.
Landon: I think people don't want to be vulnerable. And, I think it really opens up a lot of opportunities and more connections. percent man, 100%, people need that, people want that vulnerability. They're just too afraid to do it. And with my personality, luckily, like I, I really don't care.
Landon: And then losing my brother, made that even worse and it was really a blessing. So, you know, that was kind of the last leap is just joining some groups of people that think the same as we do, feel the same as we do. Like you said, going through the [00:12:00] entrepreneur struggles of starting businesses and rebranding and, and changing everything and hiring and like it, it's a lot, man, you know.
Landon: So. just taking some of those leaps and chances to get through.
Paden Squires: Yeah. So, you know, just to recap a little bit there with what Landon said, what I'm hearing there is one, he talks about his mentor, Rick there. So having the humility to learn under somebody and to take in information is massive.
Paden Squires: And then two is to, I guess there's three points here, but two is to, Not only have that humility, but also then have that work ethic to follow it up and to be able to take risk and take chances, even when you don't have all the information, cause you're never going to have the information. And then finally, I'm trying to remember what the third point you made was.
Landon: Sorry, man. I keep going.
Paden Squires: Relationships and vulnerability, right? It's the ability to be authentic and open with people because when you're vulnerable and give somebody.some vulnerable piece of you that [00:13:00] they could theoretically hurt you with right by opening himself up. That builds trust between two people, right?
Paden Squires: When you make yourself available to where somebody could hurt you, that is actually going to build trust between two people.
Landon: Yeah, man, that just gave me the chills. it's true though. It really is, man. You know, as an entrepreneur, you, you think that you need to do it alone and it's not true, you know, I, like I said, I was super competitive.
Landon: I didn't want to collaborate with any other landscape contractors. And now we're building waterfalls for, multiple other companies and I'm building a ton of more relationships and meeting new people and going to be traveling the United States to be building water features now. And so. You know, if there's any, any suggestion that I can give to people is just don't be afraid to reach out to other contractors, get in groups, take that leap and be more vulnerable because the return on it is going to be massive
Paden Squires: So on the flip side of all that, what's one big old mistake you've made?
Landon: [00:14:00] that's a good question. there's been, there's plenty of them, but I'm trying to think of them, probably the best one.I think probably, four years into the company. I wanted to grow really fast. Like I was, I'm impatient as part of my personality.
Landon: Like I just, I don't want to wait for anything. And I hired like 14 guys from the oil industry, like the oil industry went down and there were all these guys looking for work and, I had a guy that knew somebody on there and he. On the oil rigs. And he called me one day and was like, Hey man, I've got seven or eight guys.
Landon: I just went all in and hired all those guys. And I thought I was making all this money and, working my tail off and just running ragged and got through the year, got through two years and like realized that I wasn't making anything. Like I was just beating my head against the wall. And so, jumping into something like that without any strategy, without any planning, without people around you, it's just really [00:15:00] not a good idea, man.
Landon: Like it's, I had to take a step back about three years and go back to four or five guys and then slowly start building back. Now we have 12 to 15 guys, but we're doing, Way, way more work and it's way more efficient and we're making more profits. And, so that was a huge learning lesson for me.
Paden Squires: Yeah. And I see that kind of story very often, you know, being an accountant and working with lots of different businesses,I think people outside of entrepreneurship may be shocked to realize how many people jump into business without necessarily even checking any of the numbers to see if like your margins or anything makes sense whatsoever.
Paden Squires: Right. And I mean, like, I, I don't know how many businesses I see that, people take on a bunch of debt to open a store or take on, you know, to jump into entrepreneurship without having any plan to profitability and, these people will work two to three years. Realize, man, I've just worked for three straight years and not made a dollar and quit and closed up [00:16:00] shop.
Paden Squires: it's such a common story. and a huge reason why, you know, the stat of, I don't know, what is it like 80 percent of businesses don't make it more in a couple of years. That's a big reason why.
Landon: Yeah, man. I mean, and it's, and it's not for the faint hearted, like it's, it takes a lot of persistence and grid and, and, uh, well, you're going to
Paden Squires: get punched in the face
Landon: multiple times and multiple times.
Landon: So yeah, man, like it's, it's tough and to do it alone is really hard, you know, and there's plenty of people that are readily available online, you know, there's amazing ways to network now where there's guys that are already doing it. You know, that's the special thing about our group. There's guys that are doing like, one million up to like a hundred million dollars in business.
Landon: And we all have the same problems and we can all have good insight for each other. And so, you know, opening up to that, that idea of Hey, I, it would be better to have some other people around me and make a plan and have other people to hold you accountable to those plans and goals. And, [00:17:00] and even just work through them, man.
Landon: Like there's a lot of stuff going on up here. But if it's not on paper, you don't have some sort of plan,you're going to do like I did for 10 years and just beat your head against the wall until finally you like, go, maybe I should try something different.
Paden Squires: Yeah. And, um, yeah, you're right. I mean, it's a combination of a lot of things. It's a combination of, you know, people jumping in, they don't know what they're doing. Right. Their pride gets in the way. So they don't want to ask people for help, or they're afraid they can't talk to different people or no one wants to help them, but like, for example, like you were talking about your mentor, Rick earlier, Anybody who's successful in business, what have you, can point to people like Rick and their lives that, maybe even took pity on you or what have you, saw something in you that it's like, okay, this kid's not a total waste of space. Let's uh, let's try to invest in him a little bit. And we all get lucky, like, you know, and finding people that are willing to feed into us.
Paden Squires: And then in turn, as you grow and you have a little success, you want to give that back, [00:18:00] right? I'm sure, feeding into your guys on your team and in different relationships around, you know, like in our group and being able to be there as a resource for each other and give back just as you had been given to, um, this huge.
Landon: Yeah, man. And that's something that I haven't had time for. and there's a lot of things in business that you just don't realize, like taking so much time. And so in doing what we're talking about and planning and strategizing and going through that stuff allows you to be able to do some of these things that you're talking about, like giving back.
Landon: Like I want to, I was an FFA growing up future farmers of America out in Eastern Colorado, and it's something that, you know, there's a lot of amazing kids and those hard working kids in those FFA programs that I might possibly be able to get into the workforce and not only that, but show them an opportunity of a career that is a very viable and profitable career if they put their mind to it.
Landon: And it's something that not a lot of. Kids know like I didn't know about it with there wasn't [00:19:00] landscaping and on the farm like there was grass odd and trees and stuff But not near what we're doing I mean we're doing you know half a million dollar backyards with crazy waterfalls and all this fire pits and patios and So it's just a it's amazing way to show those kids that hey, there's some other opportunities to work with your hands and I love it, man.
Landon: I actually built a one of my best experiences of all time was I got with the local school here and we built a waterfall with the kids with the FFA kids out by in between the baseball diamond and the football field, which is actually really cool because my kids are going to be going there for the next You know, how many years?
Landon: And so we get to enjoy it every day. But that experience was just amazing, man. Working with those kids and seeing their faces when we got that thing running. And so giving back is something that I haven't had time for, but absolutely something that is in my future to, look towards and help those people help kids that, like you [00:20:00] said, maybe give them a chance that maybe they never had.
Paden Squires: Yeah, that's awesome stuff, man. So Looking back, let's talk to 21 year old Landon. What are you telling him?
Landon: I'm going to tell him to put his ego aside, man. Put his ego aside. I said this on another podcast, but, put the ego aside. Get vulnerable. Look for other people.
Landon: There's plenty of other people that are willing to, like I said, it's a mutual thing, everybody's going through the same thing in business. So if you can find other business owners to get vulnerable with and understand their struggles and yours, you're going to get some value there.
Landon: And if I would have done that a lot sooner, I think that my career path would have been a little bit different. I don't think I was ready for it to be a hundred percent honest with you. It took some time for me to really get vulnerable and allow myself to kind of go down that road. But man, I just wonder if I could have found a group like this five years ago, what that would have done.
Landon: Yeah.
Paden Squires: and it's true what you're saying there is, five years ago [00:21:00] you wouldn't even have seen the group or, I mean, by that, I mean, like you wouldn't, you weren't ready for it. Right. You wouldn't have seen the value in it. You wouldn't have been near as good a member, you know, all, all those things.
Paden Squires: Right. And, and my journey is very similar to, you know, I look back to 20 some years old Peyton and thinking that, Yeah, I didn't have any of the execution power I do now. I was a whole lot less vulnerable and opened up, it's like you're, I don't know if that's fear or just life had beat you up in different ways over the years and you close in and it's a lot of insecurities.
Paden Squires: But yeah, I would say the last 10 years of my life has been slowly opening up, becoming more self aware, becoming more vulnerable, becoming more comfortable with myself. And that has led to so many different successes and opportunities and fantastic relationships.
Landon: Yeah, man. And I think that's something that's really overlooked.
Landon: We were talking about earlier that it's, you know, you, you're macho man. You want to do it yourself. You don't want anybody's help. [00:22:00] And, you gotta find yourself first, man. We talk about it a lot in our group and I think that's what Kyle did for me. You know, losing him, it made me kind of look, look at myself more.
Landon: And I was at that point where I was looking for something, I was beating my head against the wall for 10 years, as I said, I knew that there needed to be some sort of change. There's gotta be a better way. And so I think just, looking in the mirror, being self aware, like you said, and then being more vulnerable just allows you to, to be better with yourself, but also everybody around you.
Landon: And I think that's when it gets really special.
Paden Squires: Yeah. That's when the relationships get real, get deep. and then, you create a group of people that you know that you always have in your back pocket and everybody's there for each other, in really all the different realms of life.
Landon: Yeah. Yeah. It's truly special, man. I, I would have never imagined, you know, our mastermind group getting as close knit as it did. And especially five years ago, man, I, like you said, I wouldn't have been near as vulnerable. I wouldn't have opened up. I wouldn't have been near as involved in the group.
Landon: I wasn't [00:23:00] ready. but man, it is so special to see some of the relationships that have fostered and where things are going and how close we all really got with each other. it's like brothers, man, I'd do anything for you guys. So
Paden Squires: the future is bright, man.
Landon: Oh yeah, man. And that's the thing is, you know, you don't realize what it's going to do for your business. I think people think that they're two separate things and it's like, well, your personal life, you as a person has everything to do with the business, especially if you're, like us and trying to run it on your own, like, it's amazing what that will open up in the business side of things.
Landon: So that's a great point, man, if it has everything to do with each other, they coincide. And so if you can figure out the one, you're automatically going to achieve the things that you want on the other side.and I think that's a huge misconception. Just like, Oh, my personal life and my business are two completely different things.
Landon: And it's like, no, they're really not.
Paden Squires: Yeah. If you're the leader of that business, man, like your self development, your skills and leadership ability and everything, then you are the business, like you're the bottleneck of [00:24:00] everything. And the more you develop yourself and open yourself up, that allows the business and the people under you to grow that much more without your growth.
Paden Squires: They're not, you know, the people under you are not necessarily going to or ever going to outpace your growth. You're the bottleneck
Landon: and the culture, man, you set the culture. So if you're not happy with yourself, how are you treating your employees? How are you treating your family? I remember going so hard that like I'd come home and I was just, I was so done, man.
Landon: I didn't have anything left in the tank. but your culture is everything and that all feeds through the whole company. And so if you're, if your culture with yourself isn't good, it's tough to build a good team around that.
Paden Squires: And knowing your culture index and knowing you're a high B, right.
Paden Squires: Um, relationships are extremely important to you. And I can't imagine, you running solo, that's. That's certainly not healthy for you.
Landon: No, man. No, it was, you know, the winters were always really tough for me. I hated it. I'm not in
Paden Squires: Colorado. Yeah,
Landon: it's tough. [00:25:00] Yeah, man. our jobs went, got way slower.
Landon: Like you said, the connections I think I was making, that's probably a huge part of it was just the connections that I was doing all summer meeting all these new people and creating relationships and then, going into much less of that. was tough for me and it got super lonely, man.
Landon: Seriously, like 10 years in, I was like, man, I need to figure out something different. And so I'm just stubborn enough that I looked for some different ways and found some amazing people. That's awesome.
Paden Squires: So Landon, what's the best way people can connect with you, get to know more about your company.
Paden Squires: I personally, I know I've seen a lot of your social media and the waterfalls, and the videos of those guys, you should check those out. They're really cool. He's doing some really cool stuff and like just a flat out artist when it comes around with waterfalls and features and stuff like that.
Paden Squires: But Landon, what's the best way? People can connect with you.
Landon: Thank you for that man, but ultimately like YouTube. We're on YouTube LCM waterfalls and ponds all the social links, you can just look up LCM waterfalls and ponds, and that's going to show you all the videos that Peyton's talking about.
Landon: and you're going to [00:26:00] see me there, showing off some waterfalls and talking about them. So anything online, you can find us anywhere. Awesome.
Paden Squires: Landon, buddy. I appreciate you coming on the podcast, man. This great conversation. I can't wait to see where our future goes, man.
Landon: Yeah, man. Thank you so much for having me and, and have a wonderful day, man.
Paden Squires: Thanks
Landon: guys
.Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. If you found it valuable, please rate, review, and share it. That is the best way to help us build this and reach more people as we're trying to accomplish our goal of helping create more healthy, wealthy, and wise entrepreneurs. You can follow us on social media by searching for me, @padensquires or going to www.padensquires.com On the website and social media, we're always sharing tips of personal growth, and there we can actually interact. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks guys.
