Ramblin’ Rhyno Reflections: Love at first Spark with Cory Byron

[HERO] Ramblin' Rhyno Reflections: Love at first Spark with Cory Byron

    • Episode Number: 178

    • Podcast: HVAC R&D Podcast

    • Guest: Cory Byron, Founder of Van City Electric & NextStep Systems

    • Recording Location: The R&D Virtual Studio (with a guest appearance by the schnauzers)

    • Watch the Full Episode: YouTube Link

    There’s a specific kind of energy when you realize you’re breaking new ground.

    For 177 episodes, we’ve talked to legends in HVAC, plumbing, manufacturing, and distribution. We’ve covered the “HVAC” of Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning rom every angle imaginable. But Friday’s show felt a little different. We finally brought the “sparky” energy to the table. Cory Byron, the man behind Van City Electric and NextStep Systems, joined us as our first-ever guest who is solely, purely an electrician.

    And let me tell you, the lessons he brought to the TradeCrew are universal. Whether you’re turning a wrench on a gas line, brazing in a new compressor or pulling wire through a crawlspace, the “spark” Cory talks about is exactly what this industry needs more of.

    As we were recording, my schnauzers, aka the Chilly Dogs, decided they wanted a piece of the action, barking in the background and reminding me that even when we’re talking about high-level business systems, we’re still just people in our homes and shops, doing the work. It was authentic. It was raw. It was exactly what HVAC R&D is all about.

    From “Trades are for Losers” to 23-Year Veteran

    Cory didn’t start out thinking he’d be the guy running a powerhouse electrical firm. In fact, he was part of that generation told that the “trades are for losers.” It’s a stigma we’ve all felt. It’s that old-school mentality that if you didn’t go to a four-year university to get a degree in something you’d possibly never use, you somehow failed.

    Cory’s journey is a 23-year middle finger to that narrative.

    He spent those decades in the trenches, literally and figuratively. He felt the weight of the tools, the pressure of the deadlines, and the grind of the daily hustle. But along the way, he realized something critical: the trades aren’t just a “job.” They are a massive, scalable business opportunity for anyone willing to put in the work and: more importantly: build the systems to support that work.

    The Death of the “Write in the Rain” Notebook

    We’ve all been there. The “office” is the dashboard of the truck. Your CRM is a “Write in the Rain” notebook or a stack of coffee-stained invoices shoved into the glovebox. Cory lived that life. He knew the chaos of trying to scale a business when your brain is the only database you have.

    The realization hit him hard: you can’t grow if you’re the bottleneck.

    He made the jump. He moved from the notebook to Jobber, and then he leaned into the mentorship of Breakthrough Academy. That shift is where the “spark” really started to scale. It wasn’t just about doing better electrical work; it was about building a machine that could perform whether Cory was on the job site or not.

    In this industry, we often confuse “working hard” with “building a business.” Cory proved that if you don’t have the systems, you don’t have a business: you just have a very stressful job.

    The “Race to the Face” and the Virtual Revolution

    One of the most tactical takeaways from our chat was the concept of the “Race to the Face.”

    In the modern world, the first person to get in front of the customer usually wins. But sending a truck and a tech across town just to give a quote is expensive, slow, and often unnecessary. Cory is leveraging LiveSwitch to perform virtual estimates.

    Think about that.

    Before a tire even hits the pavement, he’s seen the panel, he’s seen the scope of work, and he’s built a rapport with the homeowner. It’s about efficiency. It’s about respect for the customer’s time. It’s about winning the job before your competitor has even finished their first cup of coffee.

    And he’s not stopping at virtual estimates. Cory is leaning into AI for the hiring process: using it to evaluate applicants and ensure he’s bringing the right culture-fits into the Van City family. In a world where everyone is complaining they “can’t find good help,” Cory is using technology to find the needles in the haystack.

    Book a LiveSwitch demo Now

    The Amazon/Uber Model: Overcommunication is the Key

    We talked a lot about the “Amazon effect.” When you order a package, you know when it’s picked, when it’s shipped, and when it’s two stops away. When you call an Uber, you see the car moving on the map.

    Why should the trades be any different?

    Cory’s philosophy is simple: Overcommunicate.

    The fear most homeowners have isn’t the price: it’s the unknown. Will they show up? When? Who is coming into my house? By using the LiveSwitch demo link available in our Resource Hub, you can provide that same Uber-level transparency. Text updates, technician bios, and real-time tracking aren’t “nice-to-haves” anymore. They are the standard.

    Mentorship: Looking Them in the Eye

    Despite all the talk of AI and virtual estimates, Cory hammered home a point that I think we lose sight of sometimes.

    The best training doesn’t happen in a classroom or on a Zoom call. It happens in the van.

    There is no substitute for riding in the van with the boss. That’s where you learn the “soft skills” that make or break a career. How to look a customer in the eye. How to shake a hand firmly. How to read the room before you start pulling out tools.

    Cory is a huge advocate for mentorship. He knows that the future of the trades depends on us taking the time to pass down not just the technical knowledge, but the character knowledge.

    Character. Consistency. Connection.

    That’s the recipe.

    Bumping Shoulders with Greatness

    This episode was a reminder of why we do what we do at HVAC R&D. We are a community. We are the #TradeCrew. And while we might have different specialties, we’re all fighting the same battles.

    A huge shoutout to our Q2 partners who make these conversations possible. Companies like DiversiTech Corporation, LiveSwitch, RLS Rapid Locking System, True Nature Meats Co., Resideo, and MANN+HUMMEL aren’t just sponsors; they are part of the ecosystem that helps us all scale our own “sparks.”

    If you haven’t yet, make sure you subscribe to the HVAC R&D Substack. We’re dropping deep dives like this every week, and we’ve just relaunched our Resource Hub to give you more access and information about the actual tools we talk about on the show.

    Closing Reflection

    As the dogs finally settled down and Cory and I wrapped up the recording, I realized that the “spark” he talks about isn’t just about electricity. It’s that internal drive to move from “doing” to “leading.”

    The trades aren’t for losers. They are for the innovators, the systems-builders, and the people who aren’t afraid to look the future in the eye and shake its hand.

    Scale the spark. Build the system. Respect the craft.

    I’ll see you out there in the field.

    Stay grounded,

    Ramblin’ Rhyno, out. Peace y’all.

    Want to hear more? Check out our latest episodes or find out where to listen to the full conversation with Cory Byron.