00:00:00:22 - 00:00:01:28
Andy Richardson
Hey, Madeline.

00:00:02:00 - 00:00:02:21
Madeline Richardson
Hey. How's it going?

00:00:02:27 - 00:00:15:09
Andy Richardson
Pretty good. So, another episode of enhanced podcast and this one is with Chris Epps. Yeah, he's an architect in the area. So I guess you had a chance to go back and listen to it.

00:00:15:16 - 00:00:18:13
Madeline Richardson
I listened to about three fourths of it, so it got pretty interesting there.

00:00:18:19 - 00:00:39:01
Andy Richardson
Okay. Awesome. Yeah. You weren't in in studio for that one. And we're actually not in studio right now. We're off, in a remote location or in the upstate of South Carolina. So, seeing some friends and we wanted to go ahead and get preview showed us that we could get the editing done right. But what were some things about this episode that you found interesting?

00:00:39:04 - 00:00:57:27
Madeline Richardson
At the beginning, I think it was part of the curveball you threw him where he said something like, just don't stress about it. It's not worth it. Like there was. He went, he talked about, a teacher he had where apparently that teacher said, if my teacher if my students aren't getting a full night's sleep, I'm not doing my job right.

00:00:58:00 - 00:01:04:00
Madeline Richardson
And I thought, that is that is wild. I need to think about that. So I thought I found it pretty interesting.

00:01:04:02 - 00:01:26:24
Andy Richardson
Yeah. And that's architecture school. I know, like, engineering school was very much like that as well. But that, that attitude probably wasn't the best in my opinion, as far as the architecture teacher that he had. There was a few things that I enjoyed about the show and just discussing with Chris. Obviously he brought the meta eye glasses, so we got to get into that, but that was fun.

00:01:26:26 - 00:01:51:07
Andy Richardson
So check. And you can check that out toward the end. But he also had a really good why just, you know, buildings and people and bringing them together through architecture. That was a big theme of his why and what we talk about. And then also just like the nonprofit work that he does, and the meaningful aspect of that I felt was, was inspiring, which is one of the one of the goals of the show, is to inspire and educate and entertain.

00:01:51:07 - 00:01:53:20
Andy Richardson
So I think we had a little bit of all those today.

00:01:53:23 - 00:01:55:02
Madeline Richardson
Yeah, I think so.

00:01:55:04 - 00:02:11:29
Andy Richardson
All right. Well let's go ahead and let them get to the episode in. Hey everybody. My name is Andy Richardson and this is my producer, Madeline. I've been in this industry for 26 years and I'm still learning more. Come along with me on our journey. All right, let's jump to the intro.

00:02:16:18 - 00:02:23:27
Madeline Richardson
Welcome to enhance, an AEC podcast, where we learn the why behind AEC professionals so that you can learn your why.

00:02:24:13 - 00:02:54:12
Andy Richardson
All right. Hey, Chris. Thanks for coming in today. So, hey, I just want to, go ahead and start off with just a quick question, and then we'll get into some of your background. Okay? But, you've got you've had a quite an interesting journey in your life, from, from going in, from construction and architecture. But I wanted you to take a time machine of sorts back, say, to when you were 15 or 16 years old and, to your younger self.

00:02:54:12 - 00:03:05:18
Andy Richardson
And what's a piece of advice you would give to yourself as a 15 year old with, as it relates to life, design, architecture, career? So, so some of those aspects.

00:03:05:20 - 00:03:06:18
Chris Epps
That's a good question.

00:03:06:20 - 00:03:07:22
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:03:07:24 - 00:03:09:25
Chris Epps
Why not to take things so seriously?

00:03:09:27 - 00:03:11:00
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:03:11:02 - 00:03:17:15
Chris Epps
That's it. Or make sure you get sleep.

00:03:17:17 - 00:03:18:11
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:03:18:13 - 00:03:19:04
Chris Epps
That's basically.

00:03:19:04 - 00:03:23:14
Andy Richardson
It. Yeah. It sounds like maybe you had a good lesson on both of those, like.

00:03:23:15 - 00:03:24:11
Chris Epps
Yeah.

00:03:24:13 - 00:03:27:08
Andy Richardson
Anything, come to mind as it relates to to.

00:03:27:12 - 00:03:34:09
Chris Epps
Well, in school, when school was keen, I always had a difficulty because I always became too detailed.

00:03:34:11 - 00:03:35:03
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:03:35:06 - 00:03:46:13
Chris Epps
Even in things that wasn't, you know, you had school projects where it would be a good question. And I always had a rabbit model that was really detailed and no one would ever see those details.

00:03:46:16 - 00:03:47:10
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:03:47:12 - 00:03:49:01
Chris Epps
So time management.

00:03:49:21 - 00:04:16:15
Chris Epps
Work smarter, not harder. That's basically. And and really personally I would say forgive yourself for the mistakes that you make. It's forgive yourself like you. Oh, I should call that person or anything like that or you that didn't work out right. I screwed up, you know, human right. You know, forgive yourself for it.

00:04:16:15 - 00:04:17:12
Andy Richardson
Yeah, that's it's a.

00:04:17:12 - 00:04:25:12
Chris Epps
Holding on to that baggage. And when you're that age, you have a lot of baggage you don't know.

00:04:25:14 - 00:04:43:23
Andy Richardson
And those. It's interesting because those tips all sort of roll together. Because if you're able to forgive yourself, if you're able to say, you know what, it's it's not that big a deal, then you can go home earlier, you know, or go to bed. Like a lot of us, we work late at night as, in.

00:04:43:23 - 00:04:45:22
Chris Epps
The, in, in our history.

00:04:45:24 - 00:04:53:03
Andy Richardson
So you can go to bed and say, you know what? It'll be okay tomorrow, and and you can then have fun and enjoy yourself.

00:04:53:03 - 00:05:00:20
Chris Epps
A little bit more. I mean, we do live in a life or death industry, but it's not a time frame life and death industry, right?

00:05:00:22 - 00:05:01:04
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:05:01:05 - 00:05:20:18
Chris Epps
We have life safety we have to deal with. But that's not I mean, in school, remember how much it was the I had a teacher once say, if I, my students look like they're getting sleep and I'm not doing my job, it's it's like, what industry are we working it. We have to work all night and work with no sleep, right?

00:05:20:21 - 00:05:24:02
Andy Richardson
Right. Yeah. That should have been a clue, right? Yeah. When they told you that.

00:05:24:02 - 00:05:29:12
Chris Epps
But then again, you know, your body has a rhythm. So I often times working in the middle of night.

00:05:29:15 - 00:05:30:24
Andy Richardson
Yeah. I mean.

00:05:30:26 - 00:05:31:19
Chris Epps
No one's calling.

00:05:31:25 - 00:05:34:10
Andy Richardson
Their times when. Yeah, that's what it takes. Right.

00:05:34:16 - 00:05:36:24
Chris Epps
And it's quiet. No one's up.

00:05:36:26 - 00:05:41:00
Andy Richardson
Yeah. And don't get me wrong, we are dealing like you mentioned. We were dealing with life safety things.

00:05:41:00 - 00:05:41:08
Chris Epps
Yeah.

00:05:41:14 - 00:05:49:02
Andy Richardson
Structural engineers. That's what we do. We we protect the public through, ensuring safety with our designs. You're protecting the public as well with.

00:05:49:02 - 00:05:50:20
Chris Epps
Your life safety, fire.

00:05:50:23 - 00:05:52:06
Andy Richardson
Fire, ingress.

00:05:52:06 - 00:06:09:10
Chris Epps
Egress and all those things. Water damage. It's very much. Yeah. If you get in the medical, how fast that doctor can get to point A to point B, but, yeah, we have deadlines, but something other than, like, governmental deadlines.

00:06:09:12 - 00:06:10:11
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:06:10:13 - 00:06:14:27
Chris Epps
This be. You can miss it. You can't miss it. You should never miss it, you know.

00:06:15:00 - 00:06:19:03
Andy Richardson
Right. Right. Well, I guess it's the reason they call them deadlines, right? Yeah. They kill you.

00:06:19:05 - 00:06:22:29
Chris Epps
I luckily I live in the South and things are in this area.

00:06:23:05 - 00:06:24:00
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:06:24:03 - 00:06:31:09
Chris Epps
If you miss a deadline, if it's just one of those things most people understand, it's like, hey, I kind of had my kidney get picked up or something. Sorry.

00:06:31:11 - 00:06:31:27
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:06:32:00 - 00:06:33:25
Chris Epps
Most part people were kind of cool with it.

00:06:33:28 - 00:06:36:26
Andy Richardson
Yeah. As long as you communicate. Right?

00:06:36:29 - 00:06:38:09
Chris Epps
You're humble about it.

00:06:38:12 - 00:06:43:06
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks for that. That's just starter question.

00:06:43:06 - 00:06:44:08
Chris Epps
I like them. Answer.

00:06:44:15 - 00:06:54:17
Andy Richardson
Yeah. We have kind of a curveball starter question. So thanks for taking us to that time machine. Yeah, I guess you're probably like an 80s kid or 90s. Yeah. So.

00:06:54:19 - 00:06:57:13
Chris Epps
I don't even know how old. I think I'm 42. Soon.

00:06:57:13 - 00:06:57:28
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:06:57:28 - 00:06:59:12
Chris Epps
So 90s, back.

00:06:59:12 - 00:07:18:06
Andy Richardson
To the future. You know that was like something that we grew up on. And it sounds like you were in the same era that I was, but, anyway, so let me give you a background of Chris, Christopher Epps and, so he's a founder and principal at Encircle Architecture. We're both here in the low country of South Carolina.

00:07:18:06 - 00:07:47:29
Andy Richardson
Bluffton is where you are. So, Chris is renown as a fixer in the AEC industry, adept at solving complex design and construction challenges. Focuses on sustainability, community driven design solutions, deep ties to the low Country. With a legacy spanning five generations. Active educator and mentor Shaping Future Architects advocates for historic preservation while meeting modern design demands.

00:07:48:02 - 00:08:01:03
Andy Richardson
So I want to get into a little bit of, you know, the background of you and a personally and specifically with your family. So it's it's stated there. You know, you have some deep roots in the Lowcountry. Can you talk a little bit about that?

00:08:01:10 - 00:08:03:09
Chris Epps
Well, technically, I was born in Ohio.

00:08:03:13 - 00:08:04:27
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:08:04:29 - 00:08:08:29
Chris Epps
Lived there until six, but my mom and her side of the family from Bluffton.

00:08:09:02 - 00:08:09:23
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:08:09:26 - 00:08:16:05
Chris Epps
So my dad met my mom when, he was stationed at, the naval hospital. He was a flight surgeon.

00:08:16:09 - 00:08:16:29
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:08:17:01 - 00:08:36:08
Chris Epps
And my grandmother was his patient. Classic. You need to meet my daughter type. You know, that type of situation. So my grandfather, my mom's dad was a naval. I mean, was in the Marine Corps, and my dad was a naval officer. So they met and they were in Ohio and said, we can't take this. Winters anymore.

00:08:36:08 - 00:08:36:18
Chris Epps
So we.

00:08:36:18 - 00:08:38:04
Andy Richardson
Moved out.

00:08:38:06 - 00:08:39:21
Chris Epps
To often where my my mom's.

00:08:39:21 - 00:08:40:23
Andy Richardson
From. Yeah. Yeah.

00:08:40:23 - 00:08:57:03
Chris Epps
And so my mom actually went to high school in here in Beaufort. So that's why I know a lot of people over here in Beaufort. And you can break in, but in Bluffton. Yeah, we bought five generations Savannah to, you know, in Georgia, but mainly in Bluffton. We've been there. My daughter and son would be five generations.

00:08:57:07 - 00:08:59:24
Andy Richardson
Okay. So your dad was a naval officer?

00:08:59:24 - 00:09:01:20
Chris Epps
Yeah, he was a flight surgeon.

00:09:01:22 - 00:09:02:05
Andy Richardson
A flight.

00:09:02:05 - 00:09:06:19
Chris Epps
Surgeon. So what he did was he moved to Hilton Head, to start the cardiac program.

00:09:06:21 - 00:09:07:13
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:09:07:16 - 00:09:11:21
Chris Epps
In the area there. And that was 89 a week before Hugo.

00:09:11:23 - 00:09:12:13
Andy Richardson
Oh, yeah.

00:09:12:15 - 00:09:23:24
Chris Epps
And so we moved in. It's funny. My daughters gives me. I said, I'm from Bluffton, and I'm like, no, you're from Ohio. That's 34 years ago. I don't remember a year.

00:09:23:24 - 00:09:25:02
Andy Richardson
Six. Yeah.

00:09:25:04 - 00:09:26:08
Chris Epps
Oh six.

00:09:26:10 - 00:09:32:18
Andy Richardson
Well, yeah, a lot of you don't even know what Hugo means. I know what that means. But what what is Hugo?

00:09:32:21 - 00:09:57:29
Chris Epps
Hugo is a hurricane that, basically was heading straight to Beaufort, but thankfully, continental Shelf and the Gulf Stream moved north to Charleston. This absolutely destroyed. Yeah, that's before we had our current Miami-Dade structural. When load all that stuff, you know more than I do. Right? It was just a pretty devastating hurricane. There was supposed to hit Hilton Head, right?

00:09:57:29 - 00:10:02:05
Andy Richardson
It was coming straight for us. I was I lived in Columbia, South Carolina. They hit.

00:10:02:05 - 00:10:02:22
Chris Epps
You worst?

00:10:02:23 - 00:10:15:22
Andy Richardson
Probably it did. We saw some sign damage and and building that a little bit of building damage too. But but, yeah, it definitely destroyed that Northern Charleston area. Anything north of Charleston? Yeah.

00:10:15:24 - 00:10:18:06
Chris Epps
I remember driving to Charleston and seeing all the trees cut off.

00:10:18:06 - 00:10:18:28
Andy Richardson
So, yeah.

00:10:18:28 - 00:10:24:20
Chris Epps
A certain height, because the wind was a pretty devastating thing. I just remember briefly.

00:10:24:22 - 00:10:27:25
Andy Richardson
Yeah, I mean, it was a cat four or cat five, I believe. I can't remember.

00:10:27:25 - 00:10:38:02
Chris Epps
We stayed because, my dad had to. Yeah. So the hospital. So if we had to, we just got to the hospital and every major hurricane, we always just went to the hospital if we needed to.

00:10:38:03 - 00:10:38:22
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:10:38:24 - 00:10:42:14
Chris Epps
Because those are built. For what force?

00:10:42:17 - 00:10:54:15
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Category four. Yeah. 100 and I think 54 miles an hour around here roughly. Yeah. The ultimate is what they call it. We went in we went into that in a technical bonus episode with,

00:10:54:18 - 00:10:55:16
Chris Epps
The ultimate wind load.

00:10:55:20 - 00:11:11:09
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Well, we went over some of the loadings and things, in the last episode. So, so, yeah, that tells us a little bit about how you came to what we call the Lowcountry here, which is the Beaufort, Bluffton, Charleston, anything low on the the coast.

00:11:11:10 - 00:11:13:12
Chris Epps
Anything below 15ft and sea level.

00:11:13:15 - 00:11:26:16
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Well, that that name goes all the way back. A lot of people don't realize this, so there's a little history, but that name goes all the way back to the the 1700s. They called anything coastal what's called low country. And anything.

00:11:26:16 - 00:11:27:16
Chris Epps
In high country.

00:11:27:16 - 00:11:36:02
Andy Richardson
Was called back country. So that's all where all the hillbillies lived, you know, like Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox and, so forth.

00:11:36:02 - 00:11:38:12
Chris Epps
But anyway, anything that's still with some of the.

00:11:39:01 - 00:11:50:28
Chris Epps
Not as bad as Georgia. Anyway. I'm sorry for anybody from Georgia. Yeah, that's Georgia boys. I'm in the shrine with a bunch of Georgia. And they're different. They'll tell you they're different. Yeah, they're different in South Carolina.

00:11:51:01 - 00:11:54:20
Andy Richardson
Well, we're international show. We're not home to much grudges, but, but.

00:11:54:25 - 00:12:04:18
Chris Epps
It's kind of like how Germany has the low country, too. So low country of Germany is the north. And then you have the hike as it's like almost to I understand it's like two different languages.

00:12:04:20 - 00:12:20:21
Andy Richardson
Yeah. So there's that. Being in the low country, does that influence your architecture at all or is that being having the roots and and living here? Does that impact your design approach?

00:12:20:24 - 00:12:43:10
Chris Epps
Yes, in a very weird way. Not the style. So much. Other than being near Hilton Head. Yeah. And being near Savannah. Savannah is landscape architects dream. And how they built that. So. And Hilton Head with Charles Frazier and how you eventually did with the almost inorganic architecture.

00:12:44:29 - 00:13:10:09
Chris Epps
So it has influences areas and trying to protect the land in the building being secondary to the land, being in a transitional area, a lot of people coming and going, it's taught me how to talk to everybody, being able to communicate from you know, anywhere in the world that has affected me, being low in this, being a little bit more laid back.

00:13:10:12 - 00:13:11:14
Andy Richardson
Right, right.

00:13:11:16 - 00:13:13:09
Chris Epps
And being open to people.

00:13:13:11 - 00:13:15:20
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:13:15:22 - 00:13:19:10
Chris Epps
It's just comes with it. Okay. Being a little bit easygoing.

00:13:19:13 - 00:13:25:05
Andy Richardson
So that you're, you're talking a little bit more about, like, the design process, like how you, how.

00:13:25:05 - 00:13:49:12
Chris Epps
You interact with the client and interact with people. Because a lot of my job, you mentioned the fixer. Yeah. So a lot of my job is I get called in for stalled or troubleshooting projects, okay. They're having problems or permitting they having problems. Like today, I want to see somebody. Who? The contractor said, oh, you doing an outside porch screening?

00:13:49:15 - 00:14:11:10
Chris Epps
Told them they didn't need HOA, help them and vented HOA and didn't need the help plants. Didn't need a permit. So I get called in because I'm the guy who comes in afterwards. And so being from a low country and being from the area, I know how to go in and talk to people, and be relative and they know who I am.

00:14:11:10 - 00:14:32:13
Chris Epps
And being from here is very much, your reputation precedes you a lot of times. So they know that you're so design wise just being in nature, because that's the only thing. But my school in particular didn't teach design a certain style.

00:14:32:15 - 00:14:36:11
Andy Richardson
Okay? They did not know. Okay. And what we were taught.

00:14:36:13 - 00:14:38:08
Chris Epps
So in college you took part in design.

00:14:38:10 - 00:14:38:21
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:14:38:21 - 00:14:53:03
Chris Epps
Scad. Yes. Right. Incident. We were taught to take whatever style that the, client wants, research that style and do the style they want. So we don't have a style.

00:14:53:05 - 00:14:53:18
Andy Richardson
Okay?

00:14:53:19 - 00:14:54:26
Chris Epps
We had to style the client.

00:14:54:26 - 00:14:55:15
Andy Richardson
Interesting.

00:14:55:22 - 00:15:08:24
Chris Epps
So we weren't taught a particular in or at the time. Our projects were all over the country, like the example project. So we were taught had it look at everything. And mainly we were talking about how to look at the site first and the architecture second.

00:15:09:01 - 00:15:23:04
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Now how does that play out in the real world, if you will? Because and and the thing that I'm getting to is obviously you have these HOA fees, as you call it, which is what the acronym homeowners.

00:15:23:10 - 00:15:25:14
Chris Epps
Association, architectural Review boards.

00:15:25:14 - 00:15:29:02
Andy Richardson
There's all these acronyms, but you have to get through these acronyms. Yeah, right.

00:15:29:04 - 00:15:35:10
Chris Epps
The RV, HVC, Historic Preservation Derby Development Review Board. Yeah.

00:15:35:12 - 00:15:45:19
Andy Richardson
So so does that impact your design as well, especially with regard to what you were saying earlier about, you know, you don't have a style, but really these HOA, they.

00:15:45:19 - 00:15:45:27
Chris Epps
Have a.

00:15:45:27 - 00:15:47:11
Andy Richardson
Style, they have a cell in mind.

00:15:47:14 - 00:15:58:21
Chris Epps
They have bylaws and architectural views that really drive the southern style in this area. Ironically, Charles Frazier hated the southern style.

00:15:58:27 - 00:15:59:16
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:15:59:19 - 00:16:06:27
Chris Epps
And so Hilton Head's trying to make a southern style in a place that wasn't built for southern. Right. That's my little tidbit of them. Ronnie.

00:16:06:29 - 00:16:14:07
Andy Richardson
Well, and actually, so Jay Fraser was on here a few episodes ago, and, we talk a lot about Capone.

00:16:14:09 - 00:16:21:03
Chris Epps
Yeah, it's a great book. Profits and Politics and Paradise. I think it's something like that.

00:16:21:06 - 00:16:21:26
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:16:21:28 - 00:16:39:28
Chris Epps
Great. It breaks down all that. Fred Hax, Charles Frazier and how all the Hilton. It's a it's an incredible book if you ever want to know about it. But yeah, it's interesting you have professional, committees versus non volunteer communities.

00:16:40:00 - 00:16:40:17
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:16:40:19 - 00:16:56:28
Chris Epps
And particularly a volunteer for just homeowners. And we usually get 1 or 2 on there. They took one class of architecture from. And so they think they know everything. And God bless them. You know, they know enough to be, dangerous. That's a little.

00:16:56:28 - 00:16:57:20
Andy Richardson
Difficult. Yeah.

00:16:57:25 - 00:16:59:09
Chris Epps
You just design by committee.

00:16:59:09 - 00:17:01:16
Andy Richardson
They might be listening right now. Yeah.

00:17:01:18 - 00:17:06:04
Chris Epps
And I've been on HBC, and so I'm sure people said the same thing about me.

00:17:06:07 - 00:17:07:03
Andy Richardson
Sure.

00:17:07:05 - 00:17:22:24
Chris Epps
Historic Preservation Commission. So you you go with the design and you. But the thing is that people don't realize it's not in your bylaws. It's not in the Architectural review. You know, the guidelines. They can't force it.

00:17:22:26 - 00:17:23:06
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:17:23:11 - 00:17:36:04
Chris Epps
And that's why I come in, is because all that pent up anger you get for driving around or anything like that, I, I hold it together. Right. And when my client allows me to go after any, it's when I go after them.

00:17:36:04 - 00:17:36:18
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:17:36:23 - 00:17:49:28
Chris Epps
But the thing is, is when you get in a professional, something like that, everybody has a job in the process of making that building. So every individual, you have to respect everybody.

00:17:50:01 - 00:17:51:08
Andy Richardson
Yeah, yeah.

00:17:51:14 - 00:18:20:28
Chris Epps
Architects are sometimes they have the bad, reputation of really pushing around the ego like the joke I like to say is you never see two of us in the same building because our egos won't fit. And so, and that's where I try to differ from everybody else. And you kind of pinpointing something that's kind of cool is how we look at the, the site versus in, in a building I lose.

00:18:20:28 - 00:18:43:17
Chris Epps
You work with, the Enscape architect and I tell which is a weird relationship between architect and landscape architect. I use them to tell me what to do and where to put the building. I work with them, and how to adjust the building when my views are. And then on the back side, they I tell them kind of landscaping stuff.

00:18:43:20 - 00:18:55:23
Chris Epps
Okay, I don't know about landscaping. I'm an architect, know I know how to cut stuff, but and then they work under us for that. So I work under them and they work under us. Yeah. It's it's really but synergy almost.

00:18:55:23 - 00:18:56:19
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:18:56:21 - 00:19:01:01
Chris Epps
In as an architect my job is to communicate with everybody.

00:19:01:04 - 00:19:01:13
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:19:01:13 - 00:19:03:13
Chris Epps
It's like when I have we work together.

00:19:03:13 - 00:19:03:25
Andy Richardson
Sure.

00:19:04:02 - 00:19:09:10
Chris Epps
I have always told you, hey, if I need to move a wall or something to make this work better, tell me.

00:19:09:13 - 00:19:25:29
Andy Richardson
Yeah, I mean, that's really helpful for us. Normally we don't do that. I mean, normally we just say, look, you develop what I call the envelope of the building, the the design of the building. And then we, we like to say we enhance it. Right. So that's part of the name of the field.

00:19:26:00 - 00:19:30:00
Chris Epps
Oh no. You think you got to say what you put on your website? I went with you in the.

00:19:30:00 - 00:19:35:01
Andy Richardson
First place okay. Yeah. We help the architects look good with with streamlined structural engineering.

00:19:35:01 - 00:19:39:11
Chris Epps
So I remember when I was looking for a new, engineer, and I saw that I wanted to call you.

00:19:39:11 - 00:19:43:21
Andy Richardson
Well, yeah, I was like, okay, I guess it's working, but yeah. Yeah, I was glad that that.

00:19:43:27 - 00:19:47:08
Chris Epps
Well, I thought that was an inside joke. That was a good little inside.

00:19:47:08 - 00:19:47:28
Andy Richardson
Joke.

00:19:48:00 - 00:19:48:28
Chris Epps
About architects.

00:19:49:00 - 00:19:53:08
Andy Richardson
I mean, if you don't stand out, then, well, you're not going to stand.

00:19:53:09 - 00:19:54:04
Chris Epps
Up really nice.

00:19:54:08 - 00:20:00:01
Andy Richardson
So. Yeah, you got to try to, you know, when you're talking about marketing and things, you got to want to stand yourself.

00:20:00:01 - 00:20:04:25
Chris Epps
Yeah you do. And go, look, you got to find the people who think differently.

00:20:04:27 - 00:20:05:16
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:20:05:19 - 00:20:11:15
Chris Epps
Than everybody else. And when you find those people, things tend to go very well.

00:20:11:21 - 00:20:29:24
Andy Richardson
Yeah. And I mean, I could definitely relate to the fixer mentality. I mean, a lot of times when it comes to just the standard, like, we need a, we need a design a lot of times we don't those aren't good jobs for us. I mean, we'll do those and we I mean, we want is we want all the jobs.

00:20:29:27 - 00:20:39:11
Andy Richardson
It's what I say. But usually our, our one of our things that we tend to work better at or people like us for is when we're solving a problem.

00:20:39:11 - 00:20:45:28
Chris Epps
It's so much fun. Yeah, it's when we actually start thinking there's only so many times you can make like a little country house.

00:20:46:00 - 00:20:46:16
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:20:46:18 - 00:20:52:29
Chris Epps
But when I get called up. Hey, we were already on construction. Can you figure this out? I'm actually the problem solving.

00:20:52:29 - 00:20:53:23
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:20:53:26 - 00:20:56:09
Chris Epps
It makes you think it's fun.

00:20:56:09 - 00:21:04:08
Andy Richardson
I mean, if it's, you know, I like the. What? What? One of my mentors, he calls it a money job. I like money jobs to not only be wrong.

00:21:04:08 - 00:21:05:24
Chris Epps
Bread and butter. I call, but.

00:21:05:27 - 00:21:13:26
Andy Richardson
Yeah, bread and butter and those are those are helpful. And you get to have those to run a business. But it's it's nice to have those solving those problem solvers too.

00:21:14:01 - 00:21:15:23
Chris Epps
Like the gas station.

00:21:15:25 - 00:21:20:07
Andy Richardson
Yeah. The gas station job. That's more a problem solver. Like yeah.

00:21:20:09 - 00:21:26:07
Chris Epps
Yeah, the gas station. We'll talk about that a little bit. I think you got a question on there about the gas station.

00:21:26:09 - 00:21:35:05
Andy Richardson
Yeah. We can we can jump into that, I mean, if you want. So that's, that's in Bluffton. I mean, I don't know how it's going to get, but.

00:21:35:05 - 00:21:43:06
Chris Epps
I can finally talk about it because it's public. It's going to go through public. So, yeah, I typically don't talk about my commercial clients.

00:21:43:08 - 00:21:50:29
Andy Richardson
Sure. Well, we can talk generically, but I mean, basically this is a project we're working on and it's an existing gas station. Yeah.

00:21:51:01 - 00:22:09:00
Chris Epps
It's in the heart of the historic district. It's an existing gas station. It's not conforming site buildings the same. You block plain old CMU block building and and there's a site next to it. So they want to add a second floor. And by doing so we have to make the building look historic.

00:22:09:02 - 00:22:09:28
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:22:10:01 - 00:22:35:08
Chris Epps
And, which isn't the first time a building, a cinder block building is made, I have to give it to Kodak. And they did a really good job with the old Piggly Wiggly, the Dollar Tree. Yeah. And, they did a great job. And we give them credit. You know, architects don't give other architects credit. It, so we're having to figure out in.

00:22:35:08 - 00:22:42:03
Chris Epps
And because the gas station can't close for one minute because they lose. So a lot of money.

00:22:42:03 - 00:22:42:23
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:22:42:25 - 00:22:48:19
Chris Epps
And we're not talking about a big corporate gas station that can close down one shop and.

00:22:48:22 - 00:22:49:15
Andy Richardson
Still have 20.

00:22:49:21 - 00:23:18:07
Chris Epps
Or 20 million left. And so what we're trying to figure out to do is put a second floor. In addition, while it's still open, while it's open and coordinate. Well, one, we got to coordinate crews to go in and work around schedules. We have two businesses. One needs to move to somewhere else. So we need to do something that and put a second floor on a building that we can't guarantee the structural stability.

00:23:18:09 - 00:23:27:12
Chris Epps
And so that's where you came in and you know asking you hey let's build a, I don't know how the easy way to describe a.

00:23:27:15 - 00:23:29:27
Andy Richardson
I mean really we call it an exoskeleton.

00:23:29:27 - 00:23:42:11
Chris Epps
Yeah. We're building next go skeleton around it. I used to do it a lot with people wanting to put a second floor on garages. Is I building a second floor, you know, on stilts around an existing building?

00:23:42:14 - 00:23:43:08
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:23:43:11 - 00:24:13:24
Chris Epps
And so with that, there's a lot of cool little code tricks we're using. For example, one of my questions is since they're separate, this would make it two separate buildings. Does that mean that if we mean living space up there, do we have to put some new system on there? Because there are two separate buildings with the. Yeah, one, our fire rating in between which in the code it says you can have a one hour, which that takes a huge amount of thought.

00:24:13:27 - 00:24:34:12
Chris Epps
I think the planning people in Bluffton, like, we don't think you can. Do you need to talk to the head building official? It's like, no, I've already figure out how to do it. Like we've already figured out how to do it. Yeah, I don't need to talk to them. I'll bring in the new conversation. We'll get a little bit further down, because a lot of times you need people who can think three dimensionally.

00:24:34:14 - 00:24:35:11
Andy Richardson
Right?

00:24:35:13 - 00:24:39:00
Chris Epps
You think how that works? Because that's not a straightforward concept to.

00:24:39:03 - 00:24:43:09
Andy Richardson
Yeah. So that was definitely an interesting job. And then obviously we did the structural.

00:24:43:09 - 00:24:47:08
Chris Epps
So where we'll be doing were we haven't started yet.

00:24:47:10 - 00:24:49:29
Andy Richardson
Yeah I mean yeah we're working on it or.

00:24:49:29 - 00:24:56:07
Chris Epps
Working on it. And then we did the, the one on a private island.

00:24:56:09 - 00:25:01:29
Andy Richardson
Oh yeah. That was an interesting project because they didn't want to have concrete. Yeah. Well there was a lot of things about that.

00:25:01:29 - 00:25:03:26
Chris Epps
But yeah, there was interesting.

00:25:03:29 - 00:25:23:12
Andy Richardson
But yeah that was a local island. And there's a number of things about that one. It was, it was an island that you had to get to by boat. It was a little controversial in this area. So we'll leave it at that. But they obviously one of the things was they wanted modular because.

00:25:23:12 - 00:25:25:05
Chris Epps
They could ship it over on a boat.

00:25:25:07 - 00:25:40:19
Andy Richardson
And have most of the construction done. Yeah. And then they didn't want concrete trucks. So nothing was going to require or minimal to no concrete. Which how do you do that with foundations. Well we ended up using do you, do you want to talk about that at all here.

00:25:40:19 - 00:25:45:10
Chris Epps
Cool. Power of pilings. Yeah. Incredible. I use those for my master thesis.

00:25:45:13 - 00:25:46:10
Andy Richardson
Oh really? Okay.

00:25:46:17 - 00:25:51:28
Chris Epps
So had similar modular thing from my master. And then.

00:25:52:01 - 00:25:52:22
Andy Richardson
Well, that played out.

00:25:52:23 - 00:25:59:26
Chris Epps
That was difficult because we're were working with the, German, Russian architectural firm in Europe.

00:25:59:26 - 00:26:00:17
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:26:00:19 - 00:26:02:27
Chris Epps
That like to really over engineer.

00:26:02:29 - 00:26:03:17
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:26:03:20 - 00:26:07:28
Chris Epps
So the more you engineer on our little island, the more things would go wrong.

00:26:08:03 - 00:26:27:20
Andy Richardson
So that goes back into our problem solving. Yeah. It was a lot of problems. We had people problems with dealing with the project management and then all these different people involved. You had the the modular and the concrete and the design too, because you had to try to figure out the design and take their concept and then be the architect of record.

00:26:27:23 - 00:26:43:20
Chris Epps
And not put my design into it. Yeah, you can take myself out of it. But I think what worked is everybody kind of on our side the eight AEC team, architectural team or we trusted each other.

00:26:43:22 - 00:26:44:09
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:26:44:11 - 00:27:00:08
Chris Epps
And that I think worked the best because we knew each other. We know how to do it and we could and it worked the best. Yeah. And generally that's what I like to do is when I have consultancies, I know how you operate. I can go, hey, take this. I don't want to think about it.

00:27:00:11 - 00:27:00:25
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:27:00:26 - 00:27:17:00
Chris Epps
I don't have time to think about it. You know, I don't have a huge group of people I'm dealing with. Yeah. And then you come back. Here it is. Well, that I can trust you. Yeah, you know that. You rely on it because we work together so long. And you know what I'm looking at? And I know what you're looking at, so I don't have to work.

00:27:17:02 - 00:27:18:09
Andy Richardson
Yeah, well, that's what it, you.

00:27:18:09 - 00:27:21:10
Chris Epps
Know, review it. Yeah. I don't like to micromanage people.

00:27:21:14 - 00:27:21:25
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:27:22:01 - 00:27:23:10
Chris Epps
I don't have time.

00:27:23:12 - 00:27:38:06
Andy Richardson
Exactly. Yeah. All right, well, let's go. Another aspect of your career. I want to go kind of in your career a little bit, again, because you have an interesting background. As far as you didn't kill a traditional route straight in the.

00:27:38:08 - 00:27:38:25
Chris Epps
Oh, no.

00:27:38:25 - 00:27:42:01
Andy Richardson
Architecture. Can you talk about that a little bit?

00:27:42:04 - 00:27:49:18
Chris Epps
So I started off as scared as I was a problem. I was lost, child. I guess I went to four different, three different high schools.

00:27:49:20 - 00:27:50:10
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:27:50:12 - 00:28:16:20
Chris Epps
And then I went to Scad for sculpture and, ceramics, which they didn't offer. Anyhow, I was just taking classes, and I left, with the UCB to take, some social, social psych classes. And then after that, I taught ceramics, you know, I left, I try to work at a couple different. And my joke with construction.

00:28:16:22 - 00:28:20:23
Chris Epps
On the island is you do construction when you've been fired from anything else.

00:28:20:26 - 00:28:22:07
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:28:22:10 - 00:28:47:21
Chris Epps
So I got laid off, I like to say, through everything. So I started doing construction, and I went to TCL Technical College. You Lowcountry? It's a two year school and took three construction management courses and got to a point where I just was like, I've taken all the classes, things. I've taken microcomputers, microelectronics, electrical, plumbing, CAD, all those things.

00:28:47:24 - 00:29:07:01
Chris Epps
And I said, okay, I want to go back. You know, I was looking at doing architectural engineering, which I never figured out what that was, but, Yeah, it's it's not regular. It's just architectural engineering. What do you do with that? So I went back, snuck into the architecture department, found a teacher, and asked him what, you know.

00:29:07:03 - 00:29:28:18
Chris Epps
And of course, Doctor Payne was this name is a great teacher. I had him, actually, for a professor. And he said, would you rather be doing secondary to being the chief on the job? And, chief doesn't sound so bad. And, so I went back for architecture those two weeks before school started, went back, said, hey, what do I need to do?

00:29:28:24 - 00:29:41:02
Chris Epps
I went back and, started pulled a GPA from like 1.4 to a 3.49 here. And while doing that, I was also a boat captain.

00:29:41:05 - 00:29:41:25
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:29:41:27 - 00:30:09:15
Chris Epps
And so dolphin nature guy. Yeah. So I learned how to speak to people when and not get client relationships that through that. And that's just how I did it. But I started doing construction as a punch finish carpenter for a couple old union guys that came from Pittsburgh. And they're great. They taught me everything. And as a trim carpenter and a finish carpenter you have a different outlook on the building.

00:30:09:17 - 00:30:11:06
Chris Epps
It's more like detailed oriented.

00:30:11:11 - 00:30:12:15
Andy Richardson
Sure.

00:30:12:18 - 00:30:20:05
Chris Epps
And so I got enough exposure that a lot of architects don't get I on how to build a building.

00:30:20:07 - 00:30:20:27
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:30:20:29 - 00:30:49:03
Chris Epps
And then that way when I come back I oftentimes I use what I've learned from that in my architecture. You know always be like if you're doing wood frame build in a 16th inch, you know, fix all the four by eight foot board gets divided equally in 16. It's, all these things, building materials. If you do say A, you got 12ft but doesn't work, go to 13 4 or 11 four.

00:30:49:05 - 00:30:49:14
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:30:49:21 - 00:30:55:29
Chris Epps
Because all fall within the stud. And then you cut down got a 10-15% waste.

00:30:56:01 - 00:30:56:14
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:30:56:16 - 00:31:02:19
Chris Epps
Just by following a simple rule, don't go like 11 two inches that scrap work.

00:31:02:19 - 00:31:05:05
Andy Richardson
Right, right. But if you just did 11 four.

00:31:05:06 - 00:31:06:29
Chris Epps
Yeah you just work within that. 16.

00:31:07:05 - 00:31:07:21
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:31:07:24 - 00:31:26:03
Chris Epps
You keep to the modular systems which I've known that through construction or my details. What I'm learning how to, you know, do trim details. How does that work. And so, I don't have a magic, magic hook that holds everything up. And I actually kind of can dive in and figure out how to do all these things.

00:31:26:03 - 00:31:28:13
Andy Richardson
Yeah. You think about it as if you were in the field.

00:31:28:17 - 00:32:04:17
Chris Epps
Yeah. So in in when since we're doing a lot of remodels or a lot of coming back, you know, how. So you see something say in 2008. So in 2007, you know, everybody was running real fast. And you know how they were building things and how Carpenter would do something different that's outside the plans. But you know, how they operate or they would have done this because it's easier, like sometimes now, you know, seeing, you know, instead of a header right above a window like this window, it's right below the top plate.

00:32:04:19 - 00:32:14:24
Chris Epps
Right. So you would only know that if you were following that kind of stuff, the reasons why they're doing that or my doubt.

00:32:14:26 - 00:32:15:24
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:32:15:27 - 00:32:26:06
Chris Epps
I go after the fact and drill okay. Instead of putting hooks during construction because you know, what's it. Yeah. You know, somebody's going to knock one out of the.

00:32:26:06 - 00:32:26:16
Andy Richardson
Place.

00:32:26:20 - 00:32:34:15
Chris Epps
Right? And then when they come down, they have to mark it and put down, put down the bottom plate market drill holes one that this put the bottom plate down and then come back afterwards.

00:32:34:18 - 00:32:38:08
Andy Richardson
Yeah I mean there's pros and cons. Yeah. Right. But I guess it.

00:32:38:08 - 00:32:40:23
Chris Epps
Depends you know because I was the, the guy tripping over the.

00:32:40:23 - 00:32:46:25
Andy Richardson
Jayhawks. Yeah. And then the finisher. He doesn't have to go around those. Yeah. Bolts every time.

00:32:46:27 - 00:32:51:29
Chris Epps
And you would only know that if you have the bottom person on the pole, like on the job like I was.

00:32:51:29 - 00:33:06:07
Andy Richardson
Or if you're out. Yeah. I mean if you're out there seeing it, you're like, wait a minute. Okay. The finisher has to go around these bolts and you really can't finish that concrete slab. Very good. And then you do the two by four on top of that or two by six on top of that. And it's like it's not real flat because.

00:33:06:10 - 00:33:07:04
Andy Richardson
Because the way they have the.

00:33:07:04 - 00:33:08:20
Chris Epps
Finisher couldn't get in there. Yeah.

00:33:08:20 - 00:33:09:18
Andy Richardson
There's no way to do it.

00:33:09:18 - 00:33:17:00
Chris Epps
All right. You have sympathy for the guy that has the he and nailer versions of precision nailing nailing them. You know all the Simpson ties.

00:33:17:03 - 00:33:19:11
Andy Richardson
Yeah yeah for sure.

00:33:19:14 - 00:33:24:05
Chris Epps
Yeah. You know how it's being done or how long it takes or so

00:33:24:07 - 00:33:42:10
Andy Richardson
With regard to your education and the real world. I mean, especially with your construction knowledge and do you see any gaps there. In the, in terms of education and construction.

00:33:42:16 - 00:33:46:05
Chris Epps
Well typical education I can only talk about I went to a design school.

00:33:46:11 - 00:33:46:28
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:33:47:00 - 00:33:50:23
Chris Epps
You know, I could only talk about.

00:33:50:25 - 00:33:55:24
Chris Epps
Design school doesn't teach you practical how things are built. We teach you design.

00:33:55:29 - 00:33:56:08
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:33:56:09 - 00:34:00:24
Chris Epps
Granted, I had a an incredibly excellent structural engineer teacher.

00:34:00:29 - 00:34:02:00
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:34:02:03 - 00:34:27:25
Chris Epps
Her name was Melanie Parker, and she taught us a lot of things that most, in, you know, those classes. One teacher, she actually taught practical. But the construction classes, some of them I had one. The teacher, remember working the field because in, in, working as a carpenter, he came out and he didn't know the difference between a four inch key and a six inch ten.

00:34:27:25 - 00:34:29:17
Chris Epps
And he was teaching the class.

00:34:29:20 - 00:34:30:00
Andy Richardson
Well.

00:34:30:01 - 00:34:40:26
Chris Epps
And so you have a separate of practical and all those things. So that's why I went to a design school, because I knew the practical side. I needed to push myself for design.

00:34:40:28 - 00:34:42:20
Andy Richardson
Okay. I mean, that makes sense. Yeah.

00:34:42:21 - 00:34:48:03
Chris Epps
In my education was pretty complete when it comes to design.

00:34:48:05 - 00:34:48:23
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:34:48:26 - 00:35:17:09
Chris Epps
And comes into just how to work business, how to do all those things. A student, a true Scad student, knows how to do everything. Okay, because we're taught how to. It's what's called a bazaar. Beaux Arts type of school or a farmhouse. Not really because of that term. So your first and second year, you're teaching how to draw, how to do 2D, how to do websites, how to do all those things.

00:35:17:12 - 00:35:38:15
Chris Epps
And then you go into your major, okay. Just like a wow, a really liberal arts. We teach you the basics before you go. So Scad student will be able to if you hired one, if they came through the whole program, do you websites to your portfolio do your all those things because we had to teach that interesting and push that.

00:35:38:15 - 00:35:43:05
Chris Epps
And we also know how to make money from the because it's a business school for art.

00:35:43:07 - 00:35:55:24
Andy Richardson
I didn't know that. I mean, I see so much on I follow a lot on LinkedIn lately. Yeah. And I see a lot of post. It's almost like we're making an advertisement for Scad right now. We should, we should that.

00:35:56:01 - 00:35:57:10
Chris Epps
I also fellowship and Scad.

00:35:57:10 - 00:35:59:25
Andy Richardson
Yeah. They need to like, support the show or something.

00:35:59:27 - 00:36:01:20
Chris Epps
I have a fellowship from them.

00:36:01:23 - 00:36:17:26
Andy Richardson
Okay. So but I guess what I was going to say is, there's so much talk on what I'm seeing online about architects that they're not getting the support they need and the education they need for business. But it sounds like you.

00:36:17:29 - 00:36:19:17
Chris Epps
Scott, has gone that direction.

00:36:19:19 - 00:36:20:25
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:36:20:27 - 00:36:28:19
Chris Epps
They actually my fellowship was they they have a section where they actually give you $10,000 to start a business.

00:36:28:21 - 00:36:29:17
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:36:29:20 - 00:36:34:18
Chris Epps
Well, I'll teach you that. So. Yeah. Scott's guy. You used to be in art school. Now it's an art business school.

00:36:34:18 - 00:36:35:07
Andy Richardson
Okay?

00:36:35:09 - 00:36:47:04
Chris Epps
They teach. It's really kind of. But. And same thing. Since I had a, I had used. We can actually call them junior architects now. You used to not be able to. Yeah. From Clemson.

00:36:47:06 - 00:36:47:27
Andy Richardson
Okay. Yeah.

00:36:47:27 - 00:37:07:19
Chris Epps
And she's incredible. She was she goes I at all like insanely good. Like better than some of the masters students I've gotten from all the we've talked about. And she I mean, the first week I had to talk a client like she knew everything. And my landscape architect, he comes Josh, he comes from Clemson.

00:37:07:25 - 00:37:09:01
Andy Richardson
Okay. So I wouldn't.

00:37:09:03 - 00:37:18:11
Chris Epps
Clemson has him and they have a great program where which is the program that I research for Scad of using students to do real work.

00:37:18:13 - 00:37:18:25
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:37:19:00 - 00:37:29:16
Chris Epps
As part of their because we have a new, licensing. You can start you can go for your test during school and get hours underneath your licensing.

00:37:29:18 - 00:37:31:10
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Oh okay. Yeah.

00:37:31:13 - 00:37:41:03
Chris Epps
So we have intern hours to that. We have to do in very using real, you know, students for real world activities in Charleston which I was impressed.

00:37:41:05 - 00:37:52:16
Andy Richardson
Well that sounds really helpful because, I mean, hiring right now is very difficult, as you know, or I guess, I don't know if you do you have anybody on your team right now? You're just solo right now.

00:37:52:16 - 00:37:59:05
Chris Epps
I'm solo right now. I might in the future, but we're just comes.

00:37:59:07 - 00:38:09:29
Andy Richardson
Yeah, but yeah, I mean, it's I can tell you it's hard to hire right now. Yeah. I'm engineer, so I imagine it's hard to hire architects. So it sounds like that solution that. I guess I.

00:38:09:29 - 00:38:22:24
Chris Epps
Can believe it because I keep getting phone calls from friends. Come work for us, and then I can't work for any I. I can work as a partner with a partner, but as a collaboration with somebody. But I can work with somebody.

00:38:22:26 - 00:38:37:12
Andy Richardson
Well, I want to talk about your entrepreneur. And, this is a couple more questions, but I want to get into that a bit. And going from employee to entrepreneur, you had some experience from Scad in terms of.

00:38:37:12 - 00:38:37:25
Chris Epps
In in.

00:38:37:25 - 00:38:45:07
Andy Richardson
Doing that, but the can you talk about your lessons learned from transitioning from employee to entrepreneur?

00:38:45:09 - 00:38:48:07
Chris Epps
Yeah, there there's a little step. I owned a toy store.

00:38:48:09 - 00:38:49:06
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:38:49:08 - 00:38:59:12
Chris Epps
If to that another twist. Twist. I worked under great, New Mexico, and I really learned a lot from them.

00:38:59:14 - 00:39:00:05
Andy Richardson
Okay, you.

00:39:00:05 - 00:39:19:13
Chris Epps
Might not realize how much I did learn from them. In. And that at one point, I got my license. I took all I to one. It was seven exams. So I had one of my belt and then I just went on my own because, this is more, comfortable for me.

00:39:19:15 - 00:39:20:02
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:39:20:04 - 00:39:29:24
Chris Epps
And those are other reasons why I went on my own and I took, good six my exams in seven weeks.

00:39:29:27 - 00:39:30:23
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:39:30:26 - 00:39:33:19
Chris Epps
This while working a full time job as a boat captain.

00:39:33:21 - 00:39:36:06
Andy Richardson
Okay, so back to the boat captain. Yeah.

00:39:36:09 - 00:39:51:25
Chris Epps
I had to go back to boat captain. Make ends meet after I left my firm. Yeah, and I was just. At the time, I was just running permits. Meaning I was just filling out paperwork for people to go to, like HBC, the historic board and all this thing. But it's good money being a boat, being a dolphin guide.

00:39:51:25 - 00:40:09:25
Chris Epps
So I went back to being Dot when I was doing that. And so I would work that for 30 hours and then study for three days, okay. And then take the test at the end, I felt like I was in The Shining all work and no play. Okay, luckily my wife was in check from us this week.

00:40:10:00 - 00:40:10:23
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:40:10:25 - 00:40:34:05
Chris Epps
Was out of the country with my kid. We had one at a time. So at that, and when I started being an entrepreneur, I just wanted to do things a little different. My own allows me to, like yourself, were allowed to take delay. We don't take off, delay, work to go and hang out with our kids or do some.

00:40:34:05 - 00:40:41:23
Chris Epps
They had something in school, we can go do something, or they have a game and we can go see a game. Anybody know our millennial? We all do now.

00:40:41:26 - 00:40:42:08
Andy Richardson
Right?

00:40:42:15 - 00:41:00:29
Chris Epps
And it just allowed me to be my own, you know, a compass where I went. Right, right. I've had people over the years, but, it just. It's kind of weird. Always worrying about putting food on the table was always bad for me.

00:41:01:01 - 00:41:14:04
Andy Richardson
Right. As an entrepreneur. Yeah, but, what what what do you do to get around that or overcome to come because you're a fixer. Yeah. So how do you get over that challenge?

00:41:14:06 - 00:41:15:29
Chris Epps
You never do.

00:41:16:17 - 00:41:22:13
Chris Epps
I always had this joke the day that you stop worrying about being fired, the day you get fired.

00:41:22:20 - 00:41:24:02
Andy Richardson
Okay. Yeah.

00:41:24:05 - 00:41:30:08
Chris Epps
And so the day you worried about. I do my best when there's a deadline.

00:41:30:10 - 00:41:30:24
Andy Richardson
Okay?

00:41:30:27 - 00:41:34:07
Chris Epps
I do my best when there's, like, a sink or swim.

00:41:34:09 - 00:41:52:24
Andy Richardson
Right. And so you like pressure? I. Yeah, it's only where I work. Yeah. I mean, it's I don't know, maybe it's just part of this industry. I think that that's just how we work. Like, that's how I work. That's how you work. And, I think when you take that pressure off, we don't even know what to do, you know?

00:41:52:24 - 00:41:55:23
Chris Epps
So it's. Yeah. I'm supposed to be off this week.

00:41:55:23 - 00:41:56:25
Andy Richardson
Yeah. You know, I.

00:41:56:25 - 00:42:02:14
Chris Epps
I sat down and it's like it was New Year's Day and Eve was answering people because I just didn't know what to do.

00:42:02:17 - 00:42:06:17
Andy Richardson
Yeah, well, happy New Year, by the way. Yeah, yeah, it's January 2nd.

00:42:06:17 - 00:42:14:15
Chris Epps
If they were. Yeah, I supposed to at first in. But I truly do enjoy what we do.

00:42:14:18 - 00:42:15:17
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:42:15:19 - 00:42:22:00
Chris Epps
We're in an industry that in our head we created this object that we can drive and say we we did.

00:42:22:03 - 00:42:22:13
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:42:22:15 - 00:42:27:26
Chris Epps
It's tangible. We do a tangible industry which is that's my drive most of the time.

00:42:27:28 - 00:42:51:07
Andy Richardson
Yeah. I mean, it's really one of the things that started really that enhance is when you drive around and you see something you did, there's a there's a sense of pride about it, like, hey, we did that. And you can't. You've helped draw that out of basically a white sheet of paper and nothing. So that's really cool. And we're a part of that process, which is awesome as well.

00:42:51:09 - 00:43:11:29
Chris Epps
Which is a great segue, why architects really get, you know, kind of out of get weirded out during like, value engineering or any kind of design because we weren't putting design together. You're literally putting your heart like an artist. You're putting yourself out there.

00:43:12:05 - 00:43:12:28
Andy Richardson
Right?

00:43:13:00 - 00:43:26:24
Chris Epps
And now you being told we got to value engineer. So he's like, oh God, you're killing my child. You know, like you're killing my art, or you get a design board saying, oh, that's that's safe. Who are you to tell me it's ugly?

00:43:27:01 - 00:43:27:13
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:43:27:13 - 00:43:46:22
Chris Epps
So that's where we get kind of. You ever see us get really upset? Oh, yeah. It's because you literally telling me that my a part of me because we've worked on that for so long and put so much of ourselves into it. Yeah. And now you're telling us, you know, when we mess up or when our designs, that it's all to see?

00:43:46:22 - 00:43:53:01
Chris Epps
I, I still try by 1 or 2 of the sites. I was like, the kill that looked so much better before they did that.

00:43:53:06 - 00:43:54:00
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:43:54:03 - 00:43:57:05
Chris Epps
And you just have to suck it up.

00:43:57:07 - 00:44:14:22
Andy Richardson
Well, that's that's an interesting point. I want to take that and go into the next question, which is really I really like to build up to this idea of the why behind Chris Epps and you and what drives you. I think we're kind of there in terms of.

00:44:14:23 - 00:44:17:11
Chris Epps
It's counterintuitive, why do things?

00:44:17:11 - 00:44:22:20
Andy Richardson
Yeah, but what what is it that that drives you when it comes to architecture, when it comes to your career? I mean.

00:44:22:22 - 00:44:32:11
Chris Epps
Career wise and all that? I would say I'm an architect, but I'm not. That's not who I am. Architect. Some mean is my bread and butter means allow me to do other things that I enjoy doing.

00:44:32:17 - 00:44:34:01
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:44:34:04 - 00:45:05:09
Chris Epps
As an architect, I've always come back to and why I do things is every I can't remember off the top of my head. It used to be a great quote. Some design firm said, “every part of the building process should be a betterment of the community”. And so that's what I really hold to is like, as an architect, I have, well, (1) to train other people (2) to give back to the community and use what I've learned.

00:45:05:11 - 00:45:21:09
Chris Epps
I've learned how to problem solve. It's all of architecture. You give us a problem, set of problems, we'll find engine a way to fix, you know, like, do it. And then if you get down to it, it's like, I need four bedrooms, I need two this, I need it. It's a problem. So that we research that problem. Here's what how we think we can do it.

00:45:21:09 - 00:45:24:08
Chris Epps
And then we're trained to into that.

00:45:24:10 - 00:45:24:28
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:45:25:01 - 00:45:26:28
Chris Epps
And the answer so we.

00:45:26:28 - 00:45:28:18
Andy Richardson
Can and it has to look good.

00:45:28:21 - 00:45:29:21
Chris Epps
It could be.

00:45:29:21 - 00:45:30:07
Andy Richardson
Pretty.

00:45:30:07 - 00:46:08:25
Chris Epps
And and that architecture it it because that tell that I made a joke this morning about something. It's like I'm like the the carpenter was trying to make this really elaborate design and said, wait, I'm the architect. I'm supposed to over architect this. Yeah, that's you right? It's so. But that's what really drives me is the do believe that everything I do because we it goes in this really philosophy philosophy about the thing that I study a lot the built environment really has an effect of how we interact with things.

00:46:08:27 - 00:46:22:24
Chris Epps
Go to McCracken Middle School, Bluffton. It's built in a way that it a lot of blind corners. The students there will feel that building and it changes their behavior.

00:46:23:00 - 00:46:24:27
Andy Richardson
In a good way or.

00:46:25:00 - 00:46:25:26
Chris Epps
Parking's kind of a bad.

00:46:25:26 - 00:46:26:20
Andy Richardson
Way. Okay.

00:46:26:20 - 00:46:31:16
Chris Epps
But it was when it was built and it was designed as a pre mine.

00:46:31:19 - 00:46:32:13
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:46:32:16 - 00:46:46:15
Chris Epps
And so I don't want to go into a whole history of how sure what how we were thinking education will be. There's more of this open feeling and it's great when that didn't Columbine happen. And then we'll making them into jails okay. Making them so.

00:46:46:21 - 00:46:48:10
Andy Richardson
Columbine or after Columbine.

00:46:48:13 - 00:46:50:00
Chris Epps
Then inviting the middle.

00:46:50:02 - 00:46:50:21
Andy Richardson
So I mean.

00:46:50:21 - 00:46:57:19
Chris Epps
It was designed pre built after. So they had a change from the design to work with it. But it just didn't.

00:46:57:22 - 00:47:00:12
Andy Richardson
They created these blind corners to create protection. And you.

00:47:00:15 - 00:47:03:21
Chris Epps
Know it's just because there's these pods.

00:47:03:24 - 00:47:04:06
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:47:04:12 - 00:47:12:06
Chris Epps
In a crate has pods. But they've had to retrofit these part. Like you could tell the architect had a really awesome idea.

00:47:12:10 - 00:47:13:01
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:47:13:03 - 00:47:15:17
Chris Epps
But they had to change it based on this tragic event.

00:47:15:17 - 00:47:16:16
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:47:16:19 - 00:47:28:03
Chris Epps
But I just use that as an example. Say, if I was in, retail architecture where you place everything is in order for you to buy this.

00:47:28:05 - 00:47:28:12
Andy Richardson
Right?

00:47:28:12 - 00:47:40:27
Chris Epps
So architectural effect. So and that's why really what we do as architects really as designers, landscape designers, everything has an effect on the community.

00:47:41:00 - 00:47:41:29
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:47:42:01 - 00:48:02:18
Chris Epps
Church help put out. So when they were building back the parliament, Churchill made this great quote. They said, do you want it like the style of America or do you want to build back to that same? He said, well, let's build back the same because in America it's built platform. The sewing communicates and we listen. You don't interrupt them.

00:48:02:20 - 00:48:08:09
Chris Epps
The parliament, they're an old church. So the cross from each other, so they argue.

00:48:08:17 - 00:48:09:01
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:48:09:01 - 00:48:11:10
Chris Epps
So that was their style of government.

00:48:11:12 - 00:48:12:10
Andy Richardson
Interesting.

00:48:12:13 - 00:48:21:12
Chris Epps
So that they wanted that because it wouldn't be the same our style government. If somebody speaks we listen and we communicate.

00:48:21:15 - 00:48:24:10
Andy Richardson
Otherwise. I mean that's a that's a really interesting.

00:48:24:15 - 00:48:24:27
Chris Epps
Yeah.

00:48:24:27 - 00:48:27:24
Andy Richardson
So analogy or example of.

00:48:28:00 - 00:48:28:18
Chris Epps
Yeah, yeah.

00:48:28:23 - 00:48:34:12
Andy Richardson
A texture can actually impact something significant like in this case politics. I mean that's yeah.

00:48:34:14 - 00:48:38:19
Chris Epps
I'm getting into something called prescription based architecture.

00:48:38:21 - 00:48:39:19
Andy Richardson
Prescriptive or.

00:48:39:22 - 00:48:40:09
Chris Epps
Prescription.

00:48:40:09 - 00:48:41:12
Andy Richardson
Based. Okay.

00:48:41:15 - 00:48:46:18
Chris Epps
It's a weird feel. Is, architecture for neurodivergent.

00:48:46:20 - 00:48:47:14
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:48:47:17 - 00:48:49:18
Chris Epps
You hear, I.

00:48:49:19 - 00:48:51:00
Andy Richardson
Like feng shui.

00:48:51:03 - 00:48:56:02
Chris Epps
It's kind of. Yeah, actually, it kind of looks, Alzheimer's centers. Have you heard of those?

00:48:56:03 - 00:48:57:00
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:48:57:03 - 00:49:08:09
Chris Epps
You build an interior for that. So, see, if I had Add. Yeah. And or, you know, the other terms, I'm at my desk and I'm, I'm always getting kind of distracted.

00:49:08:14 - 00:49:08:26
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:49:09:02 - 00:49:18:00
Chris Epps
Well, I want a printer at my desk, okay. Because that five minutes it takes me to go, a couple minutes to go get a printer, another room. I might get distracted on the way.

00:49:18:04 - 00:49:19:05
Andy Richardson
Right.

00:49:19:08 - 00:49:31:09
Chris Epps
In. So if I know I'm you being prescribed to put a printer and all your tools and arm length, because if you have are cooking in the kitchen, you do the same thing because you might be distracted.

00:49:31:11 - 00:49:31:23
Andy Richardson
Right?

00:49:31:23 - 00:49:35:28
Chris Epps
You're building your built environment for your condition.

00:49:36:00 - 00:49:36:12
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:49:36:14 - 00:49:58:08
Chris Epps
Alzheimer. This weird thing about them crossing it looks like, mats, because it looks like the. Oh, interesting. Say autism, the spectrum. Autism spectrum. You need to have a room that is quiet based on certain some people.

00:49:58:11 - 00:50:19:00
Chris Epps
You need to have a quiet room with. No. You might get overloaded, overwhelmed by noise coming from outside. Or you need close knit right. And so if you are in a spectrum and have an office where you're always constantly getting, you need an area to go.

00:50:19:02 - 00:50:40:12
Andy Richardson
Right. And we talked we were talking about that beforehand. Like how you you mentioned that because I like closed ins. Yeah I mean, we're in an office now, actually, this is my office hour, but it's also my studio, so we've made it in the studio, but we overlook the Beaufort River here, and it's a cool place. But in some ways, I like the old office housing.

00:50:40:12 - 00:50:40:29
Andy Richardson
What I did because.

00:50:40:29 - 00:50:44:23
Chris Epps
You felt more comfort. I call it hugging, in fact. Yeah.

00:50:44:26 - 00:50:45:05
Andy Richardson
Exactly.

00:50:45:05 - 00:50:46:12
Chris Epps
It's. It feels like a hug.

00:50:46:14 - 00:50:47:02
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:50:47:05 - 00:50:52:22
Chris Epps
And it goes back to mother's hug. Pants hug. It feels comfortable.

00:50:52:24 - 00:50:56:25
Andy Richardson
But now I'm here, and I do like the light, and it's a lot.

00:50:56:25 - 00:50:58:03
Chris Epps
Better than for lighting.

00:50:58:03 - 00:50:59:18
Andy Richardson
Yeah, it's better for you, probably.

00:50:59:18 - 00:51:10:26
Chris Epps
Yeah. And there's a whole thing. But I could go on for hours about fluorescent lighting in the the house. Our 60Hz electrical system really screws with our eyes. And that's what we don't need for us at lighting.

00:51:11:02 - 00:51:13:07
Andy Richardson
Yeah, well, these are technically LEDs.

00:51:13:07 - 00:51:15:01
Chris Epps
And so you can actually work on our LED a.

00:51:15:01 - 00:51:15:16
Andy Richardson
Little better.

00:51:15:16 - 00:51:20:20
Chris Epps
For you. I know a lot of people who, will get headaches, including myself, if I work on your first night. Yeah.

00:51:20:20 - 00:51:36:22
Andy Richardson
No, I hate a fluorescent light, but, let me jump over to, another question a bit, on technology because, I mean, I think if we didn't talk about technology, we would. I think we would be missing a big.

00:51:36:28 - 00:51:38:14
Chris Epps
Yeah, a part of my whole.

00:51:38:16 - 00:51:44:24
Andy Richardson
Because that's that's a big part of who you are, right? Revit 3D printing technology in general, I think you have a lot.

00:51:44:26 - 00:51:50:08
Chris Epps
So I mentioned that I'm an architect but that's not who I am. So I do a lot of.

00:51:50:10 - 00:51:51:22
Andy Richardson
You got to show us the glasses though.

00:51:51:22 - 00:52:14:12
Chris Epps
Oh yeah the meta glasses. So I built my own 3D printers. Okay. I have a really great resin. It allows my nerd side to come out. Okay, so I do a lot of, electrical, you know, microcontrollers. Right now. I have, Ghostbusters has brought me these really cool Ghostbusters display stuff, so I thought it was really cool.

00:52:14:12 - 00:52:34:14
Chris Epps
So I'm taking a fogging pin and converting it to a mini fogger. So the ghost trap will fog, And just so that's what I'm doing. My wife hates me sometimes. She works my office now for her job. She's like, are you actually doing work or are you just playing with microcontrollers all day? I'm like, I'm working. I promise.

00:52:34:15 - 00:52:35:10
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:52:35:12 - 00:52:40:23
Chris Epps
So. But yeah, the glasses. So a part, I got the meta glasses.

00:52:40:23 - 00:52:45:14
Andy Richardson
Yeah. So I've, I've not seen these in real person, so I gotta check this out.

00:52:45:22 - 00:52:47:21
Chris Epps
So they just look like regular glasses.

00:52:47:24 - 00:52:48:08
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:52:48:08 - 00:53:06:09
Chris Epps
And so but I do have the eye in the back of it and cameras. So I noticed a really, part that I, something that you need to be improvement was documentation to document things a little bit better. Right. And like, right now it's talking to me.

00:53:06:12 - 00:53:06:25
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:53:06:25 - 00:53:07:28
Chris Epps
And so. Yeah.

00:53:08:03 - 00:53:08:23
Andy Richardson
What's it say?

00:53:08:26 - 00:53:14:21
Chris Epps
Oh, it's just telling me how old the battery is. But I have also met Meta Eye in there so I can ask for it like, hey, what I'm looking at.

00:53:14:21 - 00:53:15:07
Andy Richardson
Oh wow.

00:53:15:10 - 00:53:20:29
Chris Epps
You would take that in. So for me, definitely with the.

00:53:23:02 - 00:53:28:12
Chris Epps
The head trauma I got from the wreck a year ago, I have to document things a little bit better.

00:53:28:15 - 00:53:29:03
Andy Richardson
Okay?

00:53:29:06 - 00:53:38:20
Chris Epps
And I have to ask questions, record things. So with this, I can just instantly take, you know, take a photo like this of what I'm looking at.

00:53:38:25 - 00:53:39:14
Andy Richardson
Wow.

00:53:39:16 - 00:53:48:18
Chris Epps
So me not having to get in my pocket to sit around, I can instantly do this. Or if I need to take a video, I can instantly take a video.

00:53:48:21 - 00:53:51:00
Andy Richardson
Now there's turn turning. The sunglasses are just it's just.

00:53:51:06 - 00:54:02:00
Chris Epps
These are transitional lenses. Okay, so I can put my prescription. I will have one soon. I'm. I'm 41, I need glasses. Finally. And so do 3D glasses too.

00:54:02:02 - 00:54:02:13
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:54:02:16 - 00:54:08:14
Chris Epps
And so when I'm outside, like this morning when I was documenting, I can just take a photo. Okay? It's that thing.

00:54:08:14 - 00:54:11:03
Andy Richardson
The site visit or. Yeah. Okay.

00:54:11:06 - 00:54:13:07
Chris Epps
Initial, site visit.

00:54:13:12 - 00:54:14:03
Andy Richardson
Okay. Just a.

00:54:14:03 - 00:54:16:21
Chris Epps
Bit the job I was able to click.

00:54:16:21 - 00:54:19:05
Andy Richardson
Wheel fast. Okay. So this existing building.

00:54:19:05 - 00:54:21:01
Chris Epps
Yeah, it's just some I wanted to garage.

00:54:21:03 - 00:54:21:27
Andy Richardson
Okay. Garage.

00:54:21:27 - 00:54:43:27
Chris Epps
Okay. Yeah. It was that and so I instead I have my phone my phone, my admin car. Because I'm using it for right the CarPlay I can just instantly click click click click okay. And what's nice is that it's my point of view what I'm looking at. Right. Meaning okay, that's interesting to me. And I'm already looking at it so I can guarantee that I'm picking it up.

00:54:43:29 - 00:54:45:10
Andy Richardson
Yeah okay.

00:54:45:12 - 00:54:54:09
Chris Epps
In a three minute video it's kind of cool. What's going to be really nice is the ones there are ones that will print out what people say.

00:54:54:12 - 00:54:55:18
Andy Richardson
On on your I. Yeah.

00:54:55:18 - 00:55:02:21
Chris Epps
You can see. Yeah. So to translate or for people who can't understand when people talking.

00:55:02:24 - 00:55:03:09
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:55:03:12 - 00:55:04:18
Chris Epps
So they will print out like that.

00:55:04:18 - 00:55:07:09
Andy Richardson
So mean I okay. And this is really the early.

00:55:07:14 - 00:55:10:10
Chris Epps
Yeah. You can get ones for chat Djibouti.

00:55:10:12 - 00:55:11:09
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:55:11:12 - 00:55:14:26
Chris Epps
And got I has this been wonders for us.

00:55:14:28 - 00:55:21:01
Andy Richardson
Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, is that one of the big areas you're using right now from a technology standpoint, or is it.

00:55:21:02 - 00:55:25:28
Chris Epps
It allows me to be by myself. Okay, instead of hiring an admin person. Okay.

00:55:26:00 - 00:55:32:12
Andy Richardson
What's the biggest thing you've done that's like, well, that's a game changer for me. Maybe, like, where do you start? Give too much away.

00:55:32:12 - 00:55:35:01
Chris Epps
But how to talk to people?

00:55:35:04 - 00:55:36:21
Andy Richardson
Okay. Like emails.

00:55:36:21 - 00:55:50:00
Chris Epps
Or. Yeah. So you had a client that you identified as because I'll get client this as a fixer. I also get the clients that no one else wants because there might be neurodivergent themselves.

00:55:50:27 - 00:56:18:22
Chris Epps
And I can tailor my emails, my communications to the style of their neurodivergent. You can identify them as somebody who has Bannerman issues you know, or something like that. It's like I just, I think this person kind of has been because it really if I don't answer within a short amount of time, they think I you start. That's where my training from psychology come in.

00:56:18:22 - 00:56:40:07
Chris Epps
You know, when I took a bunch of classes on that. Right. And it tailors to that also I can write emails, which is a huge thing for me. Sure, I hate writing emails, grammar and all that stuff helps me with that. It also helps me look through information because I can upload it with my documents, say span tables.

00:56:40:09 - 00:57:04:07
Chris Epps
Bylaws, architectural review. And I can say, hey, look through this stuff and identify and get what I do, like code stuff. I'd say, look up an ERC 2021 stare code, give me references. So it'll give me all those code references. Then I can go back and make sure it reference because I. Yeah, you need to double check everything.

00:57:04:10 - 00:57:05:08
Andy Richardson
Sure, sure.

00:57:05:08 - 00:57:09:00
Chris Epps
But it allows you to go through all that information.

00:57:09:02 - 00:57:10:07
Andy Richardson
Yeah. I mean with.

00:57:10:07 - 00:57:17:12
Chris Epps
That together for you pulls it together for you. Yeah. That's where it really strives. You trying to get it to come up with information. It doesn't work.

00:57:17:12 - 00:57:19:15
Andy Richardson
Yeah. And are you on the free plan. Or if you go to pay.

00:57:19:15 - 00:57:19:28
Chris Epps
You pay for.

00:57:19:28 - 00:57:22:03
Andy Richardson
It. Yeah. Yeah I think it pays a little better.

00:57:22:06 - 00:57:26:26
Chris Epps
It's a lot better because now we can chat it. We can actually do project folders.

00:57:26:29 - 00:57:27:28
Andy Richardson
Oh, really? Okay.

00:57:28:01 - 00:57:32:03
Chris Epps
And then you can upload your own documents to that project folder.

00:57:32:05 - 00:57:34:02
Andy Richardson
Oh, you mean like, on your hard drive or.

00:57:34:07 - 00:57:35:12
Chris Epps
Or on the online.

00:57:35:15 - 00:57:36:07
Andy Richardson
Oh, on there.

00:57:36:09 - 00:57:40:08
Chris Epps
And then you have a business account now that allows you to not allow them the data mining stuff.

00:57:40:10 - 00:57:43:17
Andy Richardson
So okay. Yeah. They're just constantly improving.

00:57:43:19 - 00:58:02:29
Chris Epps
Oh it's great. So one of my big things is I can get it to start coming up with new ideas or here am I looking at this right. What's really I have difficulty in reading what the person means. So I say, hey, what do we actually.

00:58:03:02 - 00:58:03:13
Andy Richardson
Write.

00:58:03:18 - 00:58:10:24
Chris Epps
Mean here? Or. God, there's, the letters we have to write when we go for, like, submit something.

00:58:11:00 - 00:58:11:20
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

00:58:11:23 - 00:58:17:10
Chris Epps
Write a letter or telling you what you're doing. I used to take forever, so I know I'll just tell I did it.

00:58:17:13 - 00:58:18:11
Andy Richardson
Yeah. It's amazing.

00:58:18:13 - 00:58:21:10
Chris Epps
So write me a letter about this job. Make it look fluffy.

00:58:21:12 - 00:58:23:06
Andy Richardson
Right. Get it some. Give us some fluff.

00:58:23:12 - 00:58:25:26
Chris Epps
Yeah, give it some fluff. I mean, what do you use it for?

00:58:25:26 - 00:58:43:09
Andy Richardson
It? So, I do some writing with it. I use it to help me, like, I do a lot of LinkedIn posting. So, I mean, I like to do my own posting, but it does help add some color or clean up the grammar. Or maybe you just want it to ads.

00:58:43:17 - 00:58:45:04
Chris Epps
And that's where it's really great, right?

00:58:45:04 - 00:58:56:26
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Or you know, maybe there's a message I want to write to one to somebody either either on my team or otherwise. And I get it to help me maybe re Re focus the message I guess.

00:58:56:26 - 00:59:10:04
Chris Epps
Yeah is great for that or hey, clean this message up. I've even like discussed it out going like I can't really like me. I don't want to say client email or like a contractor. I can't believe you did this blah blah blah. No clean that.

00:59:10:04 - 00:59:16:20
Andy Richardson
Up. Yeah. Like, yeah, you you you may want to consider you know, it's funny how ChatGPT evaluates things.

00:59:16:20 - 00:59:18:19
Chris Epps
And may want to consider that differently.

00:59:18:20 - 00:59:28:14
Andy Richardson
Yeah. But yeah, I get other I mean, I've, I've messed around and talked about perplexity on one of our episodes and, and even others. I've been experimenting with others.

00:59:28:14 - 00:59:35:03
Chris Epps
I've had had one, the, petting zoo.

00:59:35:05 - 00:59:35:23
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:59:35:25 - 00:59:54:15
Chris Epps
So when it first came out, this petting zoo project, we had, we had different animals and we wanted to make new houses for them. And so what we did was actually, I asked it, all right, what kind of cell a house would Obama live in if he was a person? What kind of style pig would live?

00:59:54:15 - 00:59:55:09
Andy Richardson
Okay.

00:59:55:11 - 01:00:05:14
Chris Epps
And so it came up with that style. Then I asked, I imagine, and he came up with a house style that and I use that as a driver for my architecture.

01:00:05:18 - 01:00:06:14
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:00:06:17 - 01:00:17:19
Chris Epps
Because a llama was like post like really modern, but not true modern because Islam is kind of all up front. And so I asked, like if this was a person, how would it design?

01:00:17:22 - 01:00:18:24
Andy Richardson
Okay. And so it.

01:00:18:24 - 01:00:23:11
Chris Epps
Was really interesting way of pushing that. I think I like Star Trek.

01:00:23:18 - 01:00:24:04
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:00:24:07 - 01:00:45:23
Chris Epps
You know, you see in Star Trek, they're not asking me to come up with everything. They're using AI to take away all that busywork that prevents you from actually doing your job. And really, if you think about it, remember how much of admin is actually involved in each of your projects? It's a huge amount. And actually doing work is a small amount.

01:00:45:26 - 01:00:55:03
Chris Epps
And that's how our industries are now. We have all this admin other stuff and actually doing design or doing the stuff. Anyhow, it takes away that.

01:00:55:06 - 01:00:55:16
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:00:55:23 - 01:00:59:26
Chris Epps
And allows us to within that budget come up with better designs.

01:00:59:26 - 01:01:01:21
Andy Richardson
Yeah. If if you're mastering it.

01:01:01:21 - 01:01:03:18
Chris Epps
Properly, if you mastering properly.

01:01:03:20 - 01:01:04:15
Andy Richardson
So. Well any.

01:01:04:15 - 01:01:05:17
Chris Epps
Tool.

01:01:05:20 - 01:01:07:25
Andy Richardson
Any tool. Yeah. Revit I mean it can master.

01:01:07:26 - 01:01:12:08
Chris Epps
Yeah I mean you give it a whole revitalizing privatizing.

01:01:12:14 - 01:01:15:07
Andy Richardson
So I think I got an idea what you're talking about what you.

01:01:15:10 - 01:01:17:11
Chris Epps
If you don't know how to make custom families.

01:01:17:13 - 01:01:17:23
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:01:17:25 - 01:01:36:19
Chris Epps
You use everybody's bling. And so building started looking very blocky okay. Just because they didn't know how to push Revit very conceptually okay. And so buildings all started looking the same. Things are using the block families and just curtailing the energies. We had no time to actually design. So we just started using the block.

01:01:36:19 - 01:01:40:03
Andy Richardson
Families to kind of add a Revit.

01:01:40:06 - 01:01:48:18
Chris Epps
That's why you go like hotels like in Savannah and downtown. All of you have like a little inlay and stuff like that was like, oh my God, that's a Revit really.

01:01:48:18 - 01:01:49:19
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Interesting.

01:01:49:23 - 01:01:54:09
Chris Epps
You just use Revit to design it too. Yeah. And it's a joke is relatively.

01:01:54:12 - 01:02:17:10
Andy Richardson
Well you know it kind of reminds me of going back to the the I like the ChatGPT because you can see that. You can see that too. You can see the watermark of ChatGPT on writings and things. And I really I really hate that. Like, I, you know, my son was talking about there's one word that it's like a, it's like a definite, telltale that you have used.

01:02:17:10 - 01:02:18:01
Andy Richardson
ChatGPT.

01:02:18:03 - 01:02:22:10
Chris Epps
Oh, I hope you do know. Was it like a beginning of a delve is.

01:02:22:13 - 01:02:27:02
Andy Richardson
Let's delve into this. He's like, if you say delve, nobody says delve.

01:02:27:04 - 01:02:31:06
Chris Epps
So there was one that was a guide. And every beginning of every. I hope you're doing well.

01:02:31:06 - 01:02:31:27
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:02:31:29 - 01:02:37:07
Chris Epps
So you can actually do custom commands each one. You can go in there and I said never ever say I did that.

01:02:37:09 - 01:02:39:25
Andy Richardson
And it still does. Like please quit doing that.

01:02:39:28 - 01:02:48:27
Chris Epps
I did it too. I started doing I analyze my communication style and analyze how I interact with people.

01:02:49:04 - 01:02:50:10
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:02:50:12 - 01:02:55:26
Chris Epps
And then write a script, a prompt. Do you plug and play.

01:02:55:29 - 01:02:56:11
Andy Richardson
Right.

01:02:56:17 - 01:02:58:28
Chris Epps
In? It wrote me a prompt to put in there.

01:02:59:03 - 01:03:00:07
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Okay.

01:03:00:09 - 01:03:09:02
Chris Epps
Nice. And said, all right, I have these telltale signs. I have these you know, little parts of me erase those in my emails.

01:03:09:04 - 01:03:09:18
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:03:09:20 - 01:03:14:14
Chris Epps
And know what I'm doing then always kind of fix me on that one. And it.

01:03:14:14 - 01:03:16:20
Andy Richardson
Does. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

01:03:16:23 - 01:03:18:12
Chris Epps
I do too much deep dives.

01:03:18:15 - 01:03:36:16
Andy Richardson
No I think that's that's really good tips for, for how to use that. So yeah. Let's bring this in for a landing. I just want to thank you. I want to give you an opportunity to share a little bit about anything else. Obviously. Thank you for your time. And, No worries. Interesting. Things we learned about today and insights.

01:03:36:18 - 01:03:41:25
Andy Richardson
But I just want to give you an opportunity to share any final thoughts or anything about. Well.

01:03:41:28 - 01:03:44:00
Chris Epps
Yeah, we do a lot of nonprofit work.

01:03:44:03 - 01:03:44:13
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:03:44:20 - 01:04:01:23
Chris Epps
And that's something I feel like we have to it's it's really weird. US problem trials are always doing the most nonprofit work. Give it back. As an industry, we should always be giving back, no matter to nonprofit work. Or is the best way to also get your name out there.

01:04:02:00 - 01:04:02:23
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Okay.

01:04:02:23 - 01:04:14:01
Chris Epps
So networking too. So I do a lot of, I've been on multiple nonprofit boards, but we live in an area that has the most nonprofits per capita or anywhere else.

01:04:14:03 - 01:04:15:20
Andy Richardson
Oh, sorry. I didn't know that. Okay.

01:04:15:24 - 01:04:23:03
Chris Epps
And so I can tell people it's the most rewarding thing you got. You got to do some volunteer work.

01:04:23:05 - 01:04:23:24
Andy Richardson
Okay?

01:04:23:27 - 01:04:28:24
Chris Epps
You know, either through monetary or if you don't have the money, go donate time.

01:04:29:01 - 01:04:30:20
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Design a building.

01:04:30:22 - 01:04:33:12
Chris Epps
Design ada ramps.

01:04:33:14 - 01:04:35:07
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:04:35:10 - 01:04:44:22
Chris Epps
Is a big one. Or just pick a nonprofit. But you got to do something outside of the industry to really be outside. You know, you really can get things, but.

01:04:44:29 - 01:04:50:09
Andy Richardson
Is there any one that you want to, pop up today or.

01:04:50:12 - 01:04:52:14
Chris Epps
Locally? All mine or local?

01:04:52:16 - 01:04:52:29
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:04:52:29 - 01:05:13:08
Chris Epps
They're not really that long. And there's no, like, Doctors Without Borders for architecture anymore. And there's no, habitat through manatees. Really good program to do. Yeah, definitely. With Jimmy Card passing away, that's should be somebody's Salvation Army rotary. I've involved so many different. Yeah, I'm a Shriner. We're Terry, and I'm a lion.

01:05:13:10 - 01:05:13:20
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:05:13:23 - 01:05:20:06
Chris Epps
Club. They do a lot of different ones. That's what breaks up the monotony of.

01:05:20:08 - 01:05:23:10
Andy Richardson
Okay day work. Yeah. I mean, you're you're enhancing the all around.

01:05:23:10 - 01:05:34:26
Chris Epps
Yeah. And get out. It's like, you have that engineering club that you meet this, right? Every so often when you're looking to do networking or anything, go outside of the industry, right?

01:05:34:29 - 01:05:35:07
Andy Richardson
Right.

01:05:35:07 - 01:05:41:08
Chris Epps
Like I can't I can't tell you. Last one time I went to an AA meeting. You just I'm just talking with people I know.

01:05:41:15 - 01:05:42:06
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:05:42:08 - 01:05:52:23
Chris Epps
But by talking as an architect, we know we're the only one. The only, professions that it pays to know a little bit about a lot of things.

01:05:52:23 - 01:05:53:25
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:05:53:28 - 01:06:04:19
Chris Epps
And so I need to know enough to be able to communicate with you as an engineer or know terminology that we can communicate a session. And you don't get that if you always with the same people.

01:06:04:21 - 01:06:05:14
Andy Richardson
Yeah.

01:06:05:16 - 01:06:14:28
Chris Epps
Like when, you invited me for lunch. I learned things I didn't know about. Right. And so now I can talk to you about, you know, what was it concrete? Yes.

01:06:15:00 - 01:06:15:26
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Concrete.

01:06:15:27 - 01:06:18:20
Chris Epps
And know what the hell you're talking about instead of just faking through it.

01:06:18:20 - 01:06:19:14
Andy Richardson
Right.

01:06:19:16 - 01:06:24:20
Chris Epps
And you said, oh, remember that. And so by doing so, you learn so much about different things.

01:06:24:27 - 01:06:27:08
Andy Richardson
Yeah, that's a good thing. Good advice.

01:06:27:09 - 01:06:33:09
Chris Epps
Yeah. Go outside of architects. Boring. I'm sorry. I got a lot of good friends.

01:06:33:15 - 01:06:38:23
Andy Richardson
Yeah, well, I know a lot of architects, but it's good advice to, get outside of your area.

01:06:38:26 - 01:06:41:07
Chris Epps
Well, fun if you want. Sand Castle.

01:06:41:10 - 01:06:41:23
Andy Richardson
I'm sorry.

01:06:41:24 - 01:06:44:23
Chris Epps
We have a sand castle thing every year that we build sand Castle.

01:06:44:26 - 01:06:45:09
Andy Richardson
Architect.

01:06:45:10 - 01:06:47:15
Chris Epps
When I was in school, we made the best ones.

01:06:47:22 - 01:06:48:11
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:06:48:13 - 01:06:59:14
Chris Epps
So it's a joke, and we'll fun at parties because we know a little bit about everything, but just don't take yourself. So, like we discussed that. Take yourself serious and be forgiving.

01:06:59:16 - 01:07:00:16
Andy Richardson
Yeah, that's my lesson.

01:07:00:17 - 01:07:02:12
Chris Epps
Just forgive me. Forgiving?

01:07:02:18 - 01:07:12:23
Andy Richardson
Yeah. Awesome. So, again, thanks. Thanks for coming on the show. How do people find you? If they want to find you? Good.

01:07:12:26 - 01:07:18:08
Chris Epps
Just go online and circle architecture or Chris Epps, Bluffton or pop up.

01:07:18:08 - 01:07:22:02
Andy Richardson
Okay. So website or like you're on LinkedIn around here.

01:07:22:02 - 01:07:28:25
Chris Epps
Ask somebody, at least you know how to get in contact with me. Yeah, I'm on Facebook, but I don't really follow. I gotta get better on social media.

01:07:28:25 - 01:07:30:07
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:07:30:09 - 01:07:35:15
Chris Epps
I'm on, Instagram for not your typical architect. I somehow picked that one up.

01:07:35:17 - 01:07:37:10
Andy Richardson
Okay.

01:07:37:13 - 01:07:39:20
Chris Epps
But really, just call.

01:07:39:22 - 01:07:49:10
Andy Richardson
Okay? Just give me a call. All right? We'll put all that information on the show notes. So thanks again, Chris, and thanks everybody. Hope you enjoyed the show.

01:07:49:13 - 01:07:51:06
Chris Epps
Thank you.

01:07:51:06 - 01:07:55:11
Madeline RIchardson
Hey everybody, thanks for listening to today's episode of enhance.

01:07:55:13 - 01:08:00:18
Madeline Richardson
And please me like a subscribe or follow and we'll see you next time.