So I did an interview with Justin head drain cleaner/estimator at Northeast Sewer & Drain Service who happens to be my husband. I thought we could get a little bonding time together. Anyone who knows Justin knows he can’t sit for very long, so as I followed him around the house I finally cornered him in of all places the bathroom, I sat outside the door and fired away….
So what made you go into drain cleaning?
You already know the answer to this!…..(He was not liking this, but I persisted) There were lots of construction contractors and everyone had a backhoe…It was getting very hard to compete. When your bidding against contractors that are 20x your size and “Joe Smith” with his 1960’s backhoe under cutting you…It became ridiculous. I had been putting in sewer lines and maintaining them for a long time, drain cleaning was kind of a progression…And I liked the technology of it all, the cameras and line locators, trenchless technologies it’s always a surprise.
By this time he was out of the bathroom and I made him sit in the office until he answered all my questions.
Do you like drain cleaning?
*Shrug* yeah I guess…Sure.
What is the most exciting part of your job?
Meeting new customers, and new people. And being able to figure out complex problems..
“Your really good at that” I said
Yeah I guess I am…and he smiled.
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever found in a sewer line?
*long pause…..* A dead rat, and lots of kids toys, toothbrushes……*another long pause* Oh wait, a coat hanger in the toilet….That was a weird one….
“Why is that weird?” I asked
Why would a coat hanger be in the toilet?
He looked at me like I had 5 heads, so I let it go….
Coat hanger in toilet trap=weird, got it..
What is the hardest part of your job?
*Uhmmmmm* I don’t know?…(he repeted this several times)……You (Meaning Me)
“Try again” I say….He has no idea how good he’s got it.
I guess it would have to be to tell a homeowner that their sewer line needs to be replaced and you know they don’t have the money to do it, that’s really hard.
What is the next piece of drain cleaning equipment you’d like to purchase?
A larger hydro jetter 40 gpm (gallons per minute), and larger pipe bursting equipment to do larger industrial jobs, camera to do up to 120″ pipe….A new van…..
I stopped him at the van, I only had so much time.
Where would you like the company to be in 5 years?
I would still like to be a small business, maybe 2 more guys but be very efficient at what we do. And the best in the industry…Have the equipment to do huge industrial work.
I agreed
Who’s the best secretary in the drain cleaning field?
Who? He said
Me? I smiled
He laughed….really, really hard.
I didn’t think it was all that funny a question. Thank goodness I am aware of my awesomeness as a secretary…
He’s still laughing:(
And that concluded our interview.