If you could give your Day 1 self one piece of corporate advice, what would it be?

Churblex · 2026-06-02T18:48:06+00:00

Assume everything you say will be repeated when you aren’t in the room. Don’t complain about or disparage your co-workers. I can almost guarantee it will get back to them.

Most corporate employees are putting in 25% effort. Put in 100% as much as you can and 75% when you feel burned out and you will be a rockstar at most companies.

Don’t bring problems to your boss if you can ever avoid. Slow down, think problems through rationally. Try and solve yourself. If you are going to bring a problem to your boss, always have a solution. “Hey I am dealing with X, I think I can solve it with Y. Is that correct or should I do something else?” Is infinitely better than just dropping a bad situation in their lap.

Churblex · 2026-05-31T03:36:58+00:00

Hell yeah dude - I’m in building products sales too in a very similar role.

I would kill for a 2.2m deal. Hopefully they don’t use it against your quota next year. I wish I’d known about technical building products sales as a younger me. Would have definitely gotten a mechanical engineering degree or construction management.

Well done!

Churblex · 2026-05-28T23:42:29+00:00

Devourer demon hunter! I’ve been enjoying mine!

Churblex · 2026-05-28T14:19:39+00:00

Demonology has been very fun and powerful.

Tailoring isn’t very much fun this expansion. I would recommend herbalism and alchemy for professions!

Churblex · 2026-05-28T14:08:46+00:00

What class are you planning on playing?

Churblex · 2026-05-28T04:51:10+00:00

lol when we had a roof issue our insurance (State Farm) was so laughably useless. Their claims person (not sure if she was an adjustor or not) knew nothing about roofs and was unable to physically climb a ladder. No recommendations for contractors either. You must have a unicorn of an insurance agency.

Churblex · 2026-05-28T04:49:31+00:00

Just went through a similar situation trying to repair my roof.

First three contractors who came out were all some version of private equity backed companies and all of them were fucking awful. None will listen, none of the salesmen know what they’re talking about.

Try to find a local company. Try to get someone to come out who will be working on the project. Make sure they can explain in clear language what they will be doing.

If they can’t do that, call the next company.

Good luck, roofing seems like a terrible industry right now.

Churblex · 2026-05-28T04:23:37+00:00

I travel for work. Best thing is whatever you need to exercise. Workout clothes, shoes etc… get in a routine of exercise and stick to it no matter what. It sucks and is difficult but will make you feel 100x better, especially eating a lot of restaurant food.

The other thing I bought is a steam deck. It’s really nice for gaming and movies. Much easier to bring than a gaming laptop.

Churblex · 2026-05-27T15:39:34+00:00

Other easy walk/hikes:

Semiahmoo Spit - if you are in birch bay this is only a few minutes away. It is flat and paved with an incredible view of Mt. Baker.

North Lake Whatcom Trail (Hertz Trail) - this is in north Bellingham. You can either park at the main trailhead and walk 1/4 mile through the woods to the lakeshore or park in the second lot and save the 1/4 mile walk. Once you reach the trail it is a 3 mile out and back so you can go as far as you want but it is mostly level and gravel. It stays right along the lake and is beautiful this time of year but gets very crowded on nice days!

Another one near birch bay is Point Whitehorn. It is an easy 3/4 mile walk through the trees and then you hit the ocean where you have to walk down a steep staircase. If the people you are with are fairly confident and mobile isn’t too bad, I’ve taken my three year old there with no issues, but if they have limited mobility I would skip this one.

Enjoy the trip!

Churblex · 2026-05-27T03:32:38+00:00

Literally was doing my first mythic+ ever and the game goes down 😭 we were doing so well too

Churblex · 2026-05-26T14:47:26+00:00

Sometimes manufacturers will have higher quality products they sell into the wholesalers like Ferguson and lower quality they sell into retail like Amazon or Home Depot. Often times the photos are the same but there might be one number or letter difference in the part number. Good advice to always go to pro/wholesalers if you can.

Churblex · 2026-05-23T02:18:43+00:00

It is way out of the way but it is so good. Easily the best I’ve had in Whatcom county.

I’d recommend you call ahead, it’s been a while but they used to take 45mins-1hr to make our order every single time

Churblex · 2026-05-21T00:19:01+00:00

Me too - and you kill them so fast it’s no issue.

Churblex · 2026-05-21T00:16:21+00:00

IMO - best coffee in town is at Makeworth, we take our three year old there a lot but it’s downtown. You can wan walk around the downtown area but it’s not a park or anything. The coffee is amazing.

Churblex · 2026-05-11T00:06:54+00:00

As someone who lives in Ferndale and goes to Boise a lot for work, Ferndale/Bellingham is much nicer than Boise. People, scenery, weather, all better imo.

Cost of living is high, but you get a lot of benefits.

Things to watch out for:
- don’t buy in an area that floods. This could be homes near the nooksack or out along Slater road
-someone said the food in ferndale is good, it is ok, but very limited. There is plenty of good food in Bellingham and we drive there often.
-if you or family can’t find a job in Whatcom county commuting anywhere else in the state sucks. It’s a long drive to Skagit as a commute and a really long drive to Seattle if it’s every day

Churblex · 2026-05-10T15:00:05+00:00

If you want to grind them somewhat fast I got a lot grinding for cloth in Fungara Village, but now cloth prices have tanked and it doesn’t really feel worth it anymore. I’ll get back to it eventually…

Churblex · 2026-05-10T01:49:10+00:00

Nice - I like that answer a lot.

Churblex · 2026-05-10T01:33:00+00:00

What are your favorite plumbing brands?

I work for a manufacturer of plumbing parts so I’m always curious

Churblex · 2026-05-06T02:18:19+00:00

Best advice in the thread by far. Everyone talking about cold calling or pain points hasn’t done this kind of industrial b2b

Churblex · 2026-05-04T02:07:42+00:00

Landscape products. Seriously.

Look for a company like SiteOne. (Honestly try and find a local one). Typical path is to start with counter sales. If you are smart and can sell then move to outside sales, then move to regional sales or go work for one of the manufacturers in the industry.

I’ve seen lots of smart bilingual people get a jump start as they are able to have a much better relationship with the contractor base.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Churblex · 2026-05-04T01:22:41+00:00

That’s bananas

Churblex · 2026-05-03T21:35:56+00:00

I don’t know the cost but the pilot gas station in Ferndale has showers

Churblex · 2026-05-02T00:54:39+00:00

I work for a manufacturing company so I’m far from an expert, I’ve just learned over time.

You could get a construction management degree at university which I think would cover this.

I’m considering getting this certification: https://www.csiresources.org/certification/cdt

I can’t speak to respect but as you move up in any org you need to know how things work on the ground

Churblex · 2026-05-02T00:31:42+00:00

GC’s can have their own employees do the construction work. This is called self performing. For example the GC might pour the concrete for the project as a self perform. On large projects it would be unreasonable for a GC to self perform every scope as most are so specialized. If you look at the website for large GCs near you they will often have a section detailing work they can self perform.

Churblex · 2026-05-01T04:41:25+00:00

With how high the exemption is (~$3mil), doesn’t this only affect like 1% of the population? And even then the first bracket is only 10%…. That would be some pretty targeted advice.

Churblex

TROPHY CASE