Welcome to the Fire Protection Podcast

An introduction to the Fire Protection Podcast starts with 3 of the 4 co-founders (Padraic Doyle - CEO, Drew Slocum - VP of Bus Dev, & Jennifer Doyle - VP of Customer Success) of Inspect Point. They get into where the idea spurred from and how they got into the business. Drew gives a sneak peek into what topics and discussions he will be doing over the next few months.

Full Transcript

Drew Slocum: (00:09):

This is episode one of the Fire Protection Podcast, powered by Inspect Point. I'm here at the headquarters of Inspect Point here in Troy, New York here with three of the four co-founders of Inspect Point, Pat Doer, Pat Doyle. Sorry, Pat . No problem. Jennifer Doyle and myself. Drew Slocum.

Drew Slocum: (00:26):

Slocum. Same last name.

Drew Slocum: (00:27):

Yeah, same last name, same last name. Um, wanted to give a little introduction to the Fire Protection Podcast, what we're gonna be discussing our background. Um, you want me to go first?

Pat Doyle: (00:39):

I, I can go first. Uh, uh, Drew, thanks for the intro. This is Pat. I'm CEO of Inspect Point. I have a technology background. Uh, I've been in the software industry for, I'm dating myself probably 15 years, maybe longer. I don't even know. Uh, and yeah. Uh, Jenn, you want to go?

Jennifer Doyle: (01:00):

Yeah, sure. So, um, I'm Jennifer Doyle. Um, I'm the, a co-founder and VP of Customer Success and Spec Point. Um, I have a little, an interesting background come from both education and software, which I guess blends quite nicely together for my role of training and support here. Um, but I probably have a good combination of education and software, what, like 10 years or so Yeah. About that.

Pat Doyle: (01:27):

So, yeah. So, so, uh, Drew, uh, you're the host of the podcast. This is our first episode. Um, Hey, now. Hey, now. Hey, now, uh, we think we're going to, uh, turn the tables interview you a little bit so people know what they're gonna get in future episodes. So, uh, drew, how long, when did we meet?

Drew Slocum: (01:48):

90, 99.

Pat Doyle: (01:50):

99 When I was a freshman? Yeah. Yeah. Like the Prince song?

Drew Slocum: (01:54):

Yes.

Pat Doyle: (01:55):

. So, 99. And were you in fire protection in 99? No,

Drew Slocum: (02:00):

We were in RPI

Pat Doyle: (02:01):

We were, yeah. You were a freshman. I was a sophomore, junior, sophomore. RPI Yeah. Yep. So

Drew Slocum: (02:06):

RPI if anybody knows, it's, it's Rennselear Polytechnic, uh, big competitor to Worcester Polytechnic, which is big in fire protection, um mm-hmm.

Pat Doyle: (02:16):

,

Drew Slocum: (02:17):

You know.

Pat Doyle: (02:17):

Yep. So then I, I, I have to say it was maybe 2000. When do you think I met you? And at the time I knew nothing about fire protection, and you were told me that you had just entered this industry. What year was that?

Drew Slocum: (02:32):

So I entered the industry in 2000, late 2003, 2004, with Tyco. Uh, one of, obviously the big manufacturer out there. Um, and as well, simplex Grinnell, they own Simplex Grinnell now part of Johnson Controls, but,

Pat Doyle: (02:47):

Um, and we have a little connection to the original Simplex Grinnell, right?

Drew Slocum: (02:51):

Yes. So we went, yeah. Yeah. We, uh, Frederick Grinnell was a, a alumni of, of rpi. Yeah. Which is kinda cool.

Pat Doyle: (03:00):

Yeah.

Drew Slocum: (03:00):

So two, I always, I always point that out to every WPI in Maryland grad Yep. That the founder of Fire Protection started

Pat Doyle: (03:07):

Rpi. There you go. So 2004, you're working for Tyco and you're in Arizona at this time, or where are you?

Drew Slocum: (03:13):

No, I was in Houston, Texas, uh, manufacturing, uh, dry valves for, for Tyco at the time. Uh, worked my way through the Tyco ranks, doing manufacturing, engineering, process engineering, uh, moved to Rio.

Pat Doyle: (03:26):

But you'd had nothing, your education was nothing. Fire protection, right?

Drew Slocum: (03:30):

Nothing. Fire protection, industrial.

Pat Doyle: (03:31):

It was industrial. Industrial engineering. Yeah. Yeah. So how, how, what's the leap? How do you go from industrial management, engineering and RPI to working for Tyco in fire production?

Drew Slocum: (03:42):

So working through the ranks in Tyco as a manufacturing engineer. Uh, got my Six Sigma black belt, which I always like to

Pat Doyle: (03:51):

, put in demos, put in.

Drew Slocum: (03:52):

Yeah. Yeah. Um, I then went to work, uh, at their Air Arizona, uh, sprinkler pipe mill in Arizona. When was that? That was in 2006 timeframe. And that's,

Pat Doyle: (04:06):

So you went with the dry valve in 2004? Yeah. Right. And then at the, at the time, were you thinking, this is my career, I love fire protection, or were you thinking like, this is, I just graduated. This is a

Drew Slocum: (04:17):

Job I was manufacturing. I actually didn't know what the dry valve did. Yeah. I just knew how to make it. I knew all the plunger assemblies, a clapper on the inside. Yep. Um, so I didn't really know what it did. So that at, after that I did a couple other things with valves and Tyco. Then I moved to Reno, Nevada and worked on their, um, control valve plant, which it wasn't fire protection, it was more on the, uh, coal

Pat Doyle: (04:40):

Industry. So before Arizona was Reno,

Drew Slocum: (04:43):

Before Arizona was Reno. Reno, yeah. Yes. But I was an, uh, eh, and s manager, environmental health and safety manager there, where I managed not only the fire protection, but all the OSHA and, uh, facilities.

Pat Doyle: (04:56):

Uh, and how big was that facility in Reno?

Drew Slocum: (04:58):

Uh, there were probably 120 employees.

Pat Doyle: (05:00):

Bigger than Houston, or,

Drew Slocum: (05:02):

Uh, about the same size. Yeah. They're both valve plants.

Pat Doyle: (05:04):

Yeah. So when you work at a big place like Tyco, do you, do they say, okay, drew, we want this position is open, or do you see the position and you go for it and you're like, I'm gonna move from Houston to Reno? Like, how does that work?

Drew Slocum: (05:18):

Well, I was in the management leadership program within Tyco. Um, so I was set at least for two, two locations with probably three different jobs. So they tried to kind of prime you for management mm-hmm. at some point. Mm-hmm. . So, uh, at that point, at the end of two years, they were, you know, you had to find a job at that point. So I became the environmental health and safety manager, uh, in Reno. And eh, and s OSHA is

Pat Doyle: (05:46):

A, the biggest little city. The

Drew Slocum: (05:47):

Biggest little city, yes. In the world. Yeah. Um, great town. Love it. Still love it. Um, but yeah, eh, and s wasn't, wasn't really for me. I, you know, OSHA was like a, it was like a no-win job. I still love dealing with it, but didn't want to get on that side. So I was looking, and there was another Tyco plant in Arizona. Mm-hmm. , which manufactured

Pat Doyle: (06:10):

Pipe where? In Arizona?

Drew Slocum: (06:11):

Uh, Phoenix. Right in downtown. Yep. Um, so downtown Arizona, uh, did a bunch of stuff with them. Did my six Sigma with them, got involved in, uh, process development. And then at some point, uh, because there's a lot of housing construction out west, uh, they're like, they invited me out the golf course one day. I haven't told it.

Pat Doyle: (06:34):

So ,

Drew Slocum: (06:35):

Did they know

Jennifer Doyle: (06:35):

What they were getting themselves in for? They

Drew Slocum: (06:37):

Invited you to the golf? Well, they would always invite me to the golf tournaments because, you know, they wanted to win. Yeah. So, uh,

Jennifer Doyle: (06:43):

So they knew what they were getting

Drew Slocum: (06:44):

. So, you know, after a few months, they're like, Hey, we have this sales position open up, you know, you know, the engineering side, you could play golf. And a lot of those deals out there were done on the golf course mm-hmm. . So I did my first stint in sales.

Pat Doyle: (06:58):

Yeah. Out in, so I mean, you were always an outgoing guy, you know, always a personal person, but like at the heart, you were always an engineer when I knew you at R P I, right? Yeah. So what was, you know, you do see people occasionally or making the jump, I think engineers make great sales, sales reps. Uh, I mean, what were you thinking where you're like, this is, I'm gonna try this, and maybe it'll work out where you're like, this is a cool opportunity, like in your mind where you're like, this is where I want my career to go? Or were you kind of unsure if this is gonna be what you wanted to do?

Drew Slocum: (07:31):

No, the, the general manager of, uh, allied Tube and Conduit, or, uh, allied at the time when Tyco still owned them, um, pretty much told me when I was a Six Sigma black belt, either you gotta make a decision, you either go operations and go the manufacturing and plant route, or you jump into sales and go technical, or kind of go that route. Mm-hmm. . So he's, he's, it was a pretty much a fork in the road at that point. And, um, I, I like to play golf. Yeah. , .

Pat Doyle: (08:02):

Well, I mean, I think if anyone, uh, listening has got a demo for Dr from Drew for Inspect Point, they would know that you, you managed to be technical, but not being overbearing about it. Yeah. So do you think, you know, I, I know we're jumping around, but to be a good sales rep, having that technical background, do you think, you know, how important is that? Is that, especially in fire protection, right? Like we talk about it a lot, like being able to talk wire protection and everything. Like, is that 99% of the job as a sales rep in the industry, or especially for people out there are listening who might be sales reps in the industry?

Drew Slocum: (08:37):

Right. Uh, good point. So yeah, you have to know the technical lingo especially, and, uh, we didn't finish my, my story. Yeah,

Pat Doyle: (08:45):

We'll get to it. , we're jumping around.

Jennifer Doyle: (08:47):

I know. I haven't heard this story. I wanna hear it.

Pat Doyle: (08:49):

Yeah.

Drew Slocum: (08:49):

. Anyway, uh, you do need some technical background. You have to at least know kind of the lingo of some, it does help a lot. You could be a, a, a, a great salesperson on, on that alone if you're in an industry or if you're just a great salesperson, you know how to listen to people. And a lot of what sales is, is listening. Mm-hmm. versus talking. Mm-hmm. .

Pat Doyle: (09:10):

So definitely. Um, so your approach to move, uh, to essentially switch roles, potentially forking in the road, six Sigma, you gotta go one way or another. Uh, do you remember, you know, your first, the first sales call you did, do you remember like what that was like?

Drew Slocum: (09:28):

Yeah, I actually, one, one of the first sales calls I had, I, I took over the, um, territory of Las Vegas for, for Allied at the time. Vegas

Pat Doyle: (09:36):

Baby Vegas.

Drew Slocum: (09:37):

Vegas , which is, uh, it was booming at the time, 2007. Sure. Even early 2008, um, booming. I was, I was selling, uh, a actually steel studs, uh, worked for, worked for a division of, um, Tyco called Stud Co. Mm-hmm. , great, great name, . I was not there anymore. Anyway, um, uh, I, I literally got beat up in a meeting, not physically beat up, but there were three people just screaming at me about, uh, just the delivery, the pricing, technical aspects. And I knew very technically of how the product was produced and where it went and, and all that, but didn't know how to handle sometimes how a, uh, how to handle that attack from a, from a potential customer. So, um, that was one of the first challenges I ended up, you know, skating my way around that, that nice. And getting back to them . So, uh, after getting through that, you know, uh, kind of launched myself into sales.

Pat Doyle: (10:35):

That's great. So when did you start? So you're still going along trying to figure it out. When does fire protection come back around?

Drew Slocum: (10:43):

So, in 2008, I believe, uh, there was a big Vegas, uh, project called Echelon that shut down, fired two, laid off 400 workers within a day. At that point, my, my boss at the time was like, you better, you know, there's something coming. And this is like two months before the crash happened. Mm-hmm. in two, in September, October of 2008. So at that point, I started looking and there was a position within Tyco, uh, Tyco Fire Products in, um, New York, New York, New Jersey. Uh, interviewed for that, um, great mentors, Charlie Ubon, uh, who, who was my boss for, for five or so years there, uh, interviewed me and, um, you know, didn't really know much about fire protection or sprinklers. I knew about the piping and manufacturing and the dry valves, but didn't know too much fire protection. So, uh, got thrown to the wolves in New York City. So, . So,

Pat Doyle: (11:40):

So that seems to be like a, a recurring theme in your, your career, right? Is mentors, right? Like, it seems like you've had mentors almost every step of the way. Is that safe to say?

Drew Slocum: (11:52):

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Every few years. Every year,

Pat Doyle: (11:54):

Really. Yeah. And do you still keep in touch with these guys and girls, or, you know, like, is that, do you try to at least, or Yeah.

Drew Slocum: (12:01):

Yeah. All my mentors, I mean, I, I, uh, uh, I, I'm actually gonna have a few of 'em on the podcast, so.

Pat Doyle: (12:07):

Nice. That's great. Um,

Drew Slocum: (12:09):

Episode two and four, two of my mentors, Charlie's still a mentor. I talk to him, talk to him a lot. Um, Jim Dooley at Vikings. So there's, there's been a lot of mentors even aside of that, which we'll have on the podcast. Yeah.

Pat Doyle: (12:22):

And all, so all four of our co-founders, Phil and I here, you went home early today, , , we're all from, from essentially upstate New York. Mm-hmm. , uh, a lot different weather than Reno, Arizona, Vegas, Houston. Yeah. We went to college in upstate New York. Yes. So you get the, you get the id, the seed planted in your head, Hey, it might be a good idea to go back to the East Coast. What goes through your head at that point? Like, is that an excitement? Is that, you know, oh, man, I'm going back to where I started. Like, like what, what's going through your head at, at the Drew Slocum of, what is this? 2009, 2008. 2008, yeah. Post financial crisis. Yeah, yeah.

Drew Slocum: (13:04):

Post Financial. So, um, and the construction market was taking a hit, uh, at that time. I just, I looked at what their market share was in New York City, and, and their product line, Ty was always great at, at producing great products. Yeah. So, um, didn't, you know, didn't question it there, uh, you know, but when you arrived in New York on an interview and you just look up and just like this huge city, you know, there's a lot of potential if you're the number one, uh, if you're the number one manufacturer trying to sell product, and you have a great product line, but you're like three or four in the market, that's, there's just huge room for growth. So mm-hmm. , um, you know, jumping right into New York City was a, was a challenge. Sprinkler

Pat Doyle: (13:48):

Too. Yeah.

Drew Slocum: (13:48):

Sprinkler. Sprinkler, right. It was all sprinkler. I got involved in some suppression and Yeah. Business development while I was there, so, yeah.

Pat Doyle: (13:55):

Yeah. Yeah. So 2009 you moved back to, you moved to Brooklyn. Yeah.

Drew Slocum: (14:01):

Right. Yeah. 2009, Brooklyn. Yeah. Yep.

Pat Doyle: (14:03):

Sounds sprinkler. Yep. Trying to figure that out. , right? .

Drew Slocum: (14:07):

Yeah. I didn't know much about it, but, uh, a lot of mentors, again, along the way, but you learn quick and, uh, Tyco's, Tyco's training Center, I'm getting a lot of shout, shout out to Tyco, but, uh, they did really train. They trained us well. Yeah. Um, and up in their Cranson Rhode Island facility, uh, Phil Gunning, who I, I'm gonna have on the podcast, uh, you know, one of the head trainers, they really put you through and teach you, not just Tyco, but just in general, fire protection. So you get a good technical basis if you are a, an engineer can talk that technical, just, it helps you sell the product

Pat Doyle: (14:44):

Even further. Yeah. And I think, like, you know, we talked about, that's like a recurring theme of great sales reps is be able to, uh, not walk to walk, talk, to talk. Right. Especially in a town like New York. Is that true or Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. , they're gonna call, they're gonna call

Drew Slocum: (14:58):

You out, they'll call you out, they'll call you out. Yeah. You gotta, you gotta be ready for it. And, uh, you know, a lot of it was is price, so they would beat you up. So if you don't, if you don't know kind of the pricing structure, how, how things, uh, go together in a fire protection system and what's worth money, what's not worth money, what you can negotiate with. Yeah. Um, you know, it all goes together and Yep. You learn that over the way.

Pat Doyle: (15:22):

So Phil, other co-founder is not here. Him and I worked at ca, a large company, 20,000 people. Jen's worked at, you know, medium to large, uh, institutions like Russell Sage and some local companies around the way. Some companies too, around the, you look, you work Phil, uh, Phil Drew, you worked at a giant, is it fair to say conglomerate? Yep. Yep. How did that feel? Did you feel how, I mean, I, you know, this is, obviously Tyco has changed throughout the years, but, uh, Tyco in 2009, like, did you feel a cog in a machine? Did you feel like it was a, you know, regional style office? Like, how, you know, what was like that, like, for people listening who haven't been part of a huge corporation like that, like what is it to work for like a Tyco? It,

Drew Slocum: (16:05):

It was, it was great when I worked there, it was a good team. Um, it was a good team. There were a lot of great products, a lot of great people that work for the company. And, and there still is there, there definitely is. But big corporations are, are driven obviously by, you know, the quarterly shareholders mm-hmm. . So, you know, they go through fluctuations with that, whether who they're owned by, uh, what shareholders are, are influencing that. So, um, didn't really see too much of that at that, at that level, but I knew it was there, obviously. So, um, it was great. There was a lot of resources. There was training, there was, uh, uh, great marketing for the product. So I, I, I got out in front of a lot of customers, really learned the market. You

Pat Doyle: (16:49):

Had that support, a huge support staff behind.

Drew Slocum: (16:52):

Yeah. But I was, I was the person in New York after really a year or two, so I was the person. So, um, I was kind of running my own, essentially business within a, a big conglomerate, but I was a person in New York.

Pat Doyle: (17:07):

So at this point, it's 2010, it's not 1950. You're not gonna be with Tyco forever. Eventually. How does Viking fit in?

Drew Slocum: (17:16):

So, uh, I almost, I almost took a job with Tyco in, uh, the west coast for, uh, I was doing a lot of engineer consulting work and just, uh, working on big projects, uh, getting material specified. And, uh, they wanted me to move into a, a business development role, which there was an opening in the, uh, western half of the country to, to handle California in the whole western region. It, you know, just didn't work out. It didn't work out. And, uh, you know, I wanted to see my career evolve because I knew, you know, this, this wasn't it. Yeah. So, um, Viking came along and, you know, it has a lot of great product. When I went to first, you know, what happened, you know, it's not a, a shot at Tyco or anything, but there was just a lull in product development within Tyco, and a lot of selling is having good technology mm-hmm. to go to sell the market to Yeah. Like we do at in spec point. Yeah. If we're not, if we're not developing product, then our customers are gonna leave and go somewhere else. Yeah. So, yeah. Um, it's very important. And, uh, so at that point, Viking was making a big push. They had a lot of great sprinklers out there. They have a great business model. They still do. And, uh, so they, they kind of weaned me in, or, you know, yeah. Mm-hmm. pulled me in and, uh, I ran their operation

Pat Doyle: (18:35):

Still in New York,

Drew Slocum: (18:35):

Right? Yeah. Still in New York. Yeah. Uh, only New York, uh, New York City, long Island. And, uh, ran their operation in, in that territory for about four years doing similar, similar things that I did at Tyco. Great. But, uh, I, I was more on the business side, day to day, uh, making sure product got got to the customers. It was a little different model than Tyco. Yeah. Similar industry.

Pat Doyle: (19:00):

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. So, you know, we, you know, I think a good segue, like we have plenty of time to talk about Inspect Point, who we are. You know, you probably know who we are if you're listening to this podcast and we have time to talk about how Jennifer, Phil, myself, drew, all got into Inspect Point. But why don't you give people just a little idea of what this podcast is gonna be about, because, you know, maybe I drop in and Jen drops in and Phil drops in every now and again, but you're gonna be the one interviewing all these mentors. Yeah. All the people you know, in your career. Uh, just give a little preview, why, if you are listening to this episode one, why you should listen to episode one to 100.

Drew Slocum: (19:43):

Yeah. I, I, I, you know, you brought up the idea, you know, a while ago, and honestly, a big, uh, uh, first person that got into this is, is Chris Logan out out of Ontario. Yep.

Pat Doyle: (19:55):

Mm-hmm. Love Chris's podcast,

Drew Slocum: (19:57):

Podcast, podcast is

Pat Doyle: (19:58):

Awesome. Love, love Chris's.

Drew Slocum: (19:59):

Um, he's doing a great job with that. Uh, you know, I talked to him early on. We were on, I was on the podcast and, and, and did something early with him, and I've been talking to him every month just of ideas. So, again, more, more avenues to get our message out there. But, uh, you know, we want fire protection because inspect points, kind of the full realm of fire protection, fire alarm, sprinkler, obviously, um, suppression and even some of the new digital technologies that are coming out. Um, not, not just in inspect point, but just kind of the, the future of, uh, internet of Things and how contractors are reacting to, to the changes in the market. So I wanna bring some lit, uh, industry leaders on, um, to talk about what they think is coming and what's already here. Talk about their products.

(20:49)
You know, you could go to a, a, a presentation, um, or a webinar or, or anything like at a, at a conference, or if they're doing a, uh, something at your office where you get an industry leader there, you might get them there every, I don't know, three to five years, but with a podcast, it's, it's broadcast to the world, essentially. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So why not, why not get the, the people that are involved in fire protection on the podcast? Um, uh, you know, I, a future podcast that we're gonna do, which we've already recorded,

Pat Doyle: (21:22):

By the way, ,

Drew Slocum: (21:23):

Um, John Industry, so great. John, John Mackey, one of my mentors mentioned a, uh, uh, is a great point be because he mentioned like podcasting. You can listen, you can listen to it in the car. Sure. On your way from an appointment. Yeah. Appointment into an appointment, or while you're designing a fire protection project, you know, throw it on your headphones. You can, you can just be listening to it. So, um, again, wanna get fire protection leaders on talk about, it's very informal. Mm-hmm. . So,

Pat Doyle: (21:52):

Uh, you could probably tell by listening to this podcast, it's very informal.

Drew Slocum: (21:55):

Informal. I ask them what beers they like, you know? Yeah.

Pat Doyle: (22:00):

So, I mean, that's great. I think, um, you know, at Inspect point, you know, we're a hundred percent focused on fire protection. So like, drew to close up, tell people one, if they want to get a demo from Inspect point, how they get in touch with you. And two, if they wanna be on a podcast, how can people reach you? What's your email?

Drew Slocum: (22:18):

So, uh, pretty simple. Uh, drew inspect point.com. Um, if you want a demo, please reach out and obviously would love feedback on the podcast. Uh, what kind of topics, um, you know, different people to have on, you know, you know, my background is sprinkler suppression. We've gotten to alarm, obviously pretty, pretty quickly at inspect point, so I'm trying to reach out to more of the alarm side and security side. So, um, yeah, really looking forward to it. It's gonna be, uh, I've already prerecorded a few, a few podcasts, so, um, I'm already into it a few episodes, so,

Pat Doyle: (22:55):

And they're good. I've listened to a Yeah.

Drew Slocum: (22:57):

Yeah.

Pat Doyle: (22:57):

I like, yeah, they're good. Great. . All right. Thanks everyone.

Drew Slocum: (23:01):

Yeah. Yeah. Keep,

Pat Doyle: (23:02):

Keep in touch. Yep. Subscribe, hit that subscribe button in the top right, and, uh, yeah. Thank

Drew Slocum: (23:07):

You. All the social media channels on Inspect Point, we'll, we'll be posting everything there,

Pat Doyle: (23:12):

So. All right.

Drew Slocum: (23:13):

See you guys soon.