BE A BALLER -"Building a lifelong legacy"

Randall Gaddis - Gaddis and Son - Building a Life Long Legacy in Business

• Coach Tim Brown, Uncommon Life • Season 1 • Episode 9

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Randal L. Gaddis, I. became the president, CEO and owner of Gaddis & Son, Inc. in the late 90’s when his parents Willie and Vivian Gaddis, the founders, retired.  The vision of the company was borne in the mind and heart of a young Willie Gaddis as he and his family worked as sharecroppers in Mississippi. The dream of owning his own things and being in control of his destiny came to fruition in March 1971. As the company embarks on 52 years in the construction industry, Randal carries the burden of legacy into the 6th decade of business operation.  Sometimes the burden seems more than he can bare, but a strong faith in God Almighty, sense of purpose and support of family has enabled him to carry the torch for the next generation 

Faith in God; Family; Education; and Entrepreneurship are the foundations of that propel Randal Gaddis to be co-founder of a unique concrete delivery service with his son Matthew Gaddis, who represents the 3rd generation of Gaddis in the business.
 
Randal is also a co-founder of the Willie & Vivian Gaddis Foundation 4 KIDS (WVGF4K), a non-profit 5013c. Along with his sister Alethea Gaddis, the foundation exists to encourage African Americans to further their education by going to college, especially the HBCU and UNCF institutions. The foundation sponsors college tours to these institutions for high-school age students to raise their awareness of the rich heritage of these institutions and the opportunities available to them for continuation of their education. 

 Randal is married to Elizabeth (Booker) Gaddis. Their 41 years of marriage have yielded 4 sons who have all worked for the company in some capacity. Randal grew up in the First Church of God, City of Refugee. He currently serves as the Vice Chairman on the Board of Deacons under the pastorate of Bishop Timothy J. Clarke.

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SPEAKER_05:

Welcome to be a baller podcast where we discuss how to build a lifelong legacy. I'm your host coach Tim Brown. On today's show, we'll be discussing about building a legacy in business with our special guest, Randall L. Gaddis, current president of Gaddis& Sons

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Incorporated. Before we get started, let's hear a word from our sponsor.

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The City of Refuge Good Life Foundation is a 501c3 organization that is an affiliate of the First Church of God, led by Bishop Timothy Joseph Clark. Our vision is that everyone will have a better life through the establishment of a stable and sustainable home environment. We serve all residents of Central Ohio with a focus on residents in Southeast Columbus who are TANF eligible and or who fall at or below the federal poverty guidelines. We accomplish our mission in four targeted areas. They are workforce development, mother's initiatives and infant mortality, youth training, mentoring and development, and college preparedness for youth from impoverished backgrounds. To learn more, please visit our website at www.com Let's get started.

SPEAKER_05:

Today on the show, we're excited to have Randall Gaddis here. Randall is a successful businessman in Columbus whose parents started Gaddis and Sons business back in 1976, and he has continued to lead successful work they began. Gaddis and Sons has completed and is involved in projects throughout Central Ohio. Randall's family are actively involved in ministry at the First Church of God in Columbus, Ohio. Today, Randall is going to share how the business Gaddis and Sons has allowed him to build a legacy in business, and train up the next generation of skilled laborers. Randall, welcome to Be A Baller podcast. Tim, thanks for inviting me. Looking forward to it.

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Yeah,

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I know that faith is important, a part of your life. Can you talk about growing up in a Christian home? Well, I grew

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up in an old-fashioned Christian home in that the Bible was believed, the Bible was taught, and put on display. And so we were expected in his children. My sisters and I were expected to fall in line with what our parents believed and taught and had impacted our lives even to the day.

SPEAKER_05:

Speaking of that old-fashioned Christian home, can you talk about some life values that were instilled in you that you use today?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, you know, one thing that I know we always had to be obedient, obey the rules Be considerate to others. Don't wear out your welcome to people. We were always taught to be respectful to our elders, honor the Lord with our substance. And I mean, the list goes on and on of things that we learn as children and have put them in practice today. It makes a big difference. I

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always ask the guests, what is that one thing that you remember your dad and mom always telling you? What's one of those sayings that you passed on to the next generation? My

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mother and father... Every shut eye is in sleep and every goodbye isn't gone, meaning that there's always somebody watching you. So don't ever think that you're out there and no one's watching you because they would always tell us that when we were getting ready to leave from around their presence and they didn't want us to act up. So they would always tell us, don't think no one's watching because there's always somebody watching you.

SPEAKER_05:

Wow, that's powerful there. That's good stuff there. We know your family is close. Can you talk about the village you were brought up in? Well, I

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was fortunate. I had both my parents with us for a very long time. My mother was 89 when she passed away a few years ago, and my dad was 93. So we grew up with knowing our parents. And I had three sisters, my sister Alethea, I had a sister named Sylvia, which is younger than me, and then I had a baby sister named Deborah. We grew up on the near east side of Columbus until my father built a house out in what we called the boondocks at that particular time. Now, that boondocks is now Easton Shopping Center, by the way. But we were around our parents. We were around our grandparents quite a bit because both of our parents were involved in church. So on Sunday, we were in some church, whether it was Trinity Baptist or First Church of God, we were at a church. And I had aunts and uncles, and they were very much influential in our lives. So every time we get together quite a bit as a family, and still do as a family, As a rule, we get together and have a great time together and learn about each other and things that we should do to be a better family.

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How was

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that

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being

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the only boy? Brutal. It was brutal. In fact, my grandfather... My dad's father was the only boy. My father was the only boy. And I was the only boy. And my grandfather had like three or four sisters. My dad had two sisters and I had three sisters. So I was just... always being picked on. Of course, my sisters say I got away with everything, but I didn't think so. Right,

SPEAKER_05:

right. I think as we go full circle, you and your bride were blessed with four boys. Right. And a set of triplets. Now, how was that dynamics in the Gaddis house growing up, raising those children, raising those boys? It was

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quite a different experience. We didn't know anybody else anyone else who had triplets and so we had our first son and when he was 14 months old the triplets were born they were born premature so within a short period of time we had four kids in diapers it was almost like having quads and it was our new normal we had to adjust and fortunately we had a family we had a My sisters, my mother, both of my wife and I's mother were available. We had family on both sides of the ledger to help us out, watch over our kids. People often ask, hey, did you get a lot of stuff from the media when you have multiple births? And the answer is no, we didn't. They said you have to have five or more. So we were one short. But I wouldn't have wanted to have that fifth one just to be able to get a few extra diapers. But yeah, that was quite a challenge to keep all four boys on track, get them through high school. All of them went to college. All of them graduated. All of them got married and had children. And that's been our dream and our push. So you think about the Gattas name,

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what does that

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mean? Tim, that's a deep question. I sent a text to my sons earlier today, and I asked them a question. Who are you, and where did you come from? Because I know who my kids are, and I know they came from our loins, my wife and I's loins.

UNKNOWN:

Right.

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But who are you? What is it? What does it mean to be a Gattis is the question that I was opposing to them. And to be a Gattis means to be. a hard worker and a person who serves and sacrifices, looks out for other people, makes other people feel welcome. That was something that until my father was ill, too ill to do it, he was an encourager for people at church. He was always out in the lobby and it wasn't until he passed away that I actually understood the impact that he had on other people. People would walk up to me and say, man, I miss your dad. He would call me and he would encourage me. And I didn't know, not that it was a secret, but I was just encouraged to do that. And so I've learned I have to begin to do the same thing. Okay. Following his footsteps.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, that's powerful. Your parents, Willie and Vivian Gaddis, started Gaddis and Sons Incorporated in 1971. Yes. Can you talk about the beginning days for your family and business, especially in the 70s?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, the 70s was a very transitional time in the country. There's a lot going on. And the Didn't know very many African Americans in business. Didn't know very many. I knew people who had small businesses, but when my father told me he was going to start a business, I was thinking it was going to be a little one truck business. And for a while it was, but it wasn't long before he was competing on projects with the company that he had worked for for 15 to 20 years. And as I step back now and look at that, I say, here's a young man, a young man. My father was 44 years old when he started. Here's a person who did not have a college education, didn't even have a high school education, And he went out and started a business and grew it, excuse me, to be one of the most well-known concrete construction companies in Central Ohio. And this is our 51st year. And It was something that just, I'm still in awe of what he was able to do. And I say he and my mother did it because they were in agreement. That's very important. You have to be in agreement with one another. He did not do this on his own. He did it with my mother's blessings, and they together started Gaddis& Son.

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As you think about that, what business skills did you learn from them that you use today to maintain successful business?

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Well, One of the things is being diligent and not being easily defeated. My father and my mother both, they didn't have quit in

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them.

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They were rough and they were tough, and yet they were gentle and loving, okay? And they worked together. We learned, my father taught me that we have to learn how to get along with people. Oftentimes, we're coming up against people who either they don't like you or they are not comfortable working with you, and you have to prove that you're a good risk to take over. people take a risk on you. And so we would... Those are things we learned. We learned how to be thorough on the job, complete the work, be willing to go the extra mile, to be different. You just can't be like everybody else. You have to be different. And so those are the kind of things that we learned then and still have to do it now.

SPEAKER_05:

As you said, I was listening for the secret sauce, being around for over 50 years. is the secret sauce. Yeah, it sounds like that sacrifice is the secret sauce. Then you said something great there about being different. What is it different about goddess and sons? I'm a customer. What's different about you?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, number one, we don't twist people's arms to make them do business with us. We feel that we have a good product, a good service. We're going to treat people the way we want to be treated. And so if I was to come out to your house and give you an estimate, I'd give you an estimate, a written estimate, neatly, completely thorough estimate, and then it's on you. It's your decision. I'm not going to try to trick you into doing business with me. I don't want that. I'm not going to make you do business with me. You're going to do it because I want to do the job for you and you want me to do it. And so that's the kind of... that we do with our customers. I'm not saying that other contractors don't do it, but we try to go the extra mile to make sure the customer understands what they're getting and then treat them right. Because you can always get a referral from a customer, a satisfied customer. And whether the job is a$200,000 project or whether it's a$2,000 project, we want the customer to be satisfied and know because those small jobs can turn into bigger jobs.

SPEAKER_03:

City of Refuge Good Life Foundation is a 501c3 organization that is an affiliate of the First Church of God led by Bishop Timothy Joseph Clark. Our vision is that everyone will have a better life through the establishment of a stable and sustainable home environment. We serve all residents of central Ohio with a focus on residents in southeast Columbus who are TANF eligible and or who fall at or below the federal poverty guidelines. We accomplish our mission in four target They are workforce development, mother's initiatives in infant mortality, youth training, mentoring and development, and college preparedness for youth from impoverished backgrounds. To learn more, please visit our website at www.corgoodlifefoundation.org. That's www.corgoodlifefoundation.org.

SPEAKER_05:

How was that transition in leadership as your dad passed the torch on to you? How was that transition?

SPEAKER_04:

You know, when we were little, my father, I say little, I was, again, I was 13, 14 years old growing up, spending my summers working. He would say to me, you know, this could be your business one of these days. And he'd say that many times. And Tim, he would show me the kind of money that could be me. So for a long time, I was kind of convinced that this is what I wanted to do. As I got older and began to take on more responsibility, and my dad, if my dad were here, he would tell you when I fell in love with my wife, he noticed a difference. When I started having children, he noticed a difference. That makes you be more diligent. As I grew older and matured, I began to take on more of an interest in the business. And he was willing for me, he wanted me to do it. He wanted me to take

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over.

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He had, at one time, all three, all four of my sisters have worked for the company in some capacity, but he wanted us to do it. And as I grew older and more wiser and he gained confidence in me, eventually I went from being a vice president to a president and then actual being owner of the company. That's been about 25 years ago. It's a great feeling to be able to inherit what your father and mother started while they were living.

SPEAKER_05:

Take me back to that first day when you walked in office as president now, as owner.

SPEAKER_04:

I probably had concrete kicked on my boots and i was probably uh smelling pretty foul from working out working out in the field um you can have a title okay you can have a title but you still gotta do the work and so um you know my father made a big deal about it but um But it was a hard work day, just like any other day. It was just another day, just

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another work day. You know, speaking of that, are any of your sons involved in the company?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, in fact, one of my sons, one of the four, Matthew, I believe you coached him a few times at Feddersen Recreational Center back in the day. Matthew went to Ohio State and took up construction systems management at Ohio State. He came to work for me at a very, very difficult time in the life of the company. It was very, the company was in financial, struggling, struggling financially. And I had gotten to the point where I actually said, you know what, I'm going to, as much as I hate to do it, and my father was still living, I was ready to close the business down because it was, we couldn't get any help. We couldn't get any help. The banks wouldn't loan us any money. And Matthew had an opportunity to go to work for a couple other larger, I mean, general contractors he had done internships with. And he was close to graduation, and I asked him, what do you want to do? Where are you going to go? He said, Dad, I want to come to work for Gaddis and Son. And I said, well, Son, here's the situation. I said, I can't pay you what Messer or one of these other companies will pay you. He said, I prayed about it, and I believe this is where the Lord is sending me. And believe me, and I've told him this to his face, if he hadn't come to work for me, I don't know if I'd be in business today. And so my why for staying in business when things were tight was, was so, because Matthew wanted to be a part, he wanted to make it happen. And he has had an impact, a very positive impact in the company to the point where we've started another business on the side, not side business, but another business that actually he's the president of and I work for him.

SPEAKER_05:

Wow. Yeah. Sounds like, you know, this broadcast is about legacy and building a legacy. So when you hear that word legacy, what does that mean to you as a Successful business on Tim

SPEAKER_04:

Everybody is leaving some type of legacy It could be a good legacy or it could be bad Or something that you're not proud of Legacy is a foundation on which things are built and in order to build for the future you have to have a strong foundation to build on. And when I hear the word legacy, my mind goes to the concrete and the steel that's put in a footer But even though the concrete and steel, which are two of the most widely used building products in building anything, the ground that you pour the concrete on has to be solid ground too. And so if you're going to build a legacy, and we all are building some type of legacy, if you start out right, the chances of it reaching its goal, doing what you intend for it to do, are a whole lot greater than if you do it in a haphazard, shoddy way. It

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sounds like your parents back in the day, they started it on that, the way you just described it. That's why it's still going on today. Still on that solid foundation and just building and building. It's going higher and higher.

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Parenting is very critical to Parenting is why I'm here today talking to you. And I try to pass that on to my sons to keep their, to be a good parent in spite of the challenges that they may face.

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You know, I know right now you're doing some work with that next generation. I know you're modeling some programs that are kind of training that. Can you talk about that work that you're doing now?

SPEAKER_04:

Sure, Tim. I am involved in a nonprofit called the National Skill Trades Network. It was founded by a gentleman named Howard Williams and Michael Watkins. Both of them are business owners. One's an electrician, the other one's a home remodeler. And they invited me to be a part of that project. nonprofit, and we train people for the skilled trades. There's a lot of building going on in Central Ohio, and all those buildings are going to need tradesmen. And one of the things that's evident in the construction industry is there is a lack of up-and-coming people, especially men and women of color. The National Skilled Trades Network focuses on getting people prepared in order to go into apprenticeship programs, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, concrete, HVAC. Those are going to be important. We want them to learn the trades, become journeymen, and then at some point become an entrepreneur and start their own business and breathe that cycle. the way my father did it. He came to Columbus. He worked as a laborer, came up as a foreman, worked for this company for 15 to 20 years, and then started his own business. Okay? And that's how Gadison Sun. And through that, again, my son and I have started another business. That's the whole idea. And the National Skilled Trades Network, that's how we do it. We teach the... NCCER curriculum, which is nationally recognized business curriculum. And it's very good and it's very well recognized in the industry.

SPEAKER_05:

Great. You know, as we kind of wrap up, I've really been educated today. This has been really good for me, and I pray the audience has gotten a lot out of this. But I know besides just the business that you guys, your family has started a foundation, because I know that education and ministry is important to your family with the Gaddis Foundation. Could you talk about the reason for that, and what are some of the goals and activities of that foundation?

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Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

The Gattis Foundation, the Willie and Vivian Gattis Foundation was founded by my sister Alethea and I in honor of our parents. My parents really stressed education, get an education. My father stressed learning skill. And so they did not have the opportunities that we did. And so my sisters and I started this foundation. encourage people to go to college, young men and young women to go to college, especially the HBCU colleges. Some of the greatest minds in the African-American community have been educated, got their start at the HBCUs. And so we want to encourage them to do that. One of the things that we do, the main two things that we do, we have scholarships that we award every year for graduating seniors in high school, as well as some that are already in college through your first year. We award scholarships and we also do college tours. And actually this coming year, 2023, we're going to be doing two college tours through HBCUs. Again, getting our young African-American men and women the opportunity to go and see our campus OK, and learn, meet professors, meet students on campus and maybe help push them to. achieving their goal, their dream in life. Whether they go to an HBCU or not, it really doesn't matter. But again, you have to consider college as an option. And so between the two, we either say learn a trade

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or

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go get educated through the college system. Right. We have to make sure that our young men and women are going to that and that's just something that we you know we feel it's part of our our legacy because we were given the opportunity all four of us were given the opportunity to go to college to learn a skill and we know that's made a difference in our lives and we're trying to do that get other people to experience what

SPEAKER_05:

we've experienced I want to thank you for your time today on this episode it's been a pleasure just learning more about to get his family and all the great things that you guys are doing in the community and building that legacy and being intentional about it, you know, not just talking about it, but doing it. So as we come to close of this episode, I want to thank you for joining us during this engaging discussion on building a lifelong legacy in business. We hope today's podcast was beneficial to the audience as they begin to build their legacy. And once again, as always, thanks for listening to Be A Baller Podcast. Thank you for inviting

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me. If you enjoy our show, please share this podcast with your family and friends. Be a Baller podcast is available on all major podcast stations. Be sure to come back next week as we continue to discuss on how to build a lifelong legacy. Until then, don't forget to be a baller. This podcast was created by Coach Tim Brown. It was edited by Teron Howell and produced and recorded by the video production class of Worthington Christian High School.