Automatic episode summary
Roy Lietz sits down with Keith Vance for a walk back through eight decades. Keith opens not with the biography but with his own read on the man: the regular at the end of the bar at his deli with a small revolver poking out of his shorts pocket, who turned up with a stray dog in his truck bed, and who brought other people's children along because he had picked up that their home life was not good. Then the introduction: born in Illinois, married to Sharon for 44 years, five children, twelve grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, a lifetime entrepreneur. Asked what 81 feels like, Roy says he takes it one day at a time and prays at night that he will see tomorrow.
The story starts with his father, Ebert, nicknamed Popeye, a farmer who did everything by hand before augers and front-end loaders. The family was poorer than church mice, and Roy says that without the farm they would probably have starved. After his mother left, his father hired a succession of housekeepers and enforced one rule above all: nobody missed church or Sunday school, even on vacation. Roy declines to discuss his mother beyond calling her a horrible person, and says his anger is on his father's behalf. What he credits his father with most is taking in people nobody else claimed: Harmon, the deaf hired man who became family and died suddenly in the yard while Roy was a boy, and Anita, the baby sister his father raised as his own and never once called a stepdaughter. Anita died of cancer in 2012, after Roy rented her an apartment and helped care for her for two years. At their last meal she asked him to ride to the West Coast once more, and to do it on a Harley. He bought a 2012 Road Glide and went.
Roy earned an iron worker's card in seven weeks, moved his family to Maine at 23 or 24, and opened a pizza shop in Ellsworth within three weeks, never having made one. When the money ran out he asked a bank for $500 and told the president, Harris McClain, that he was the smartest guy who ever tried it; McClain wrote the check off his personal account, repaid in six months. That grew into a brick restaurant seating 124, a $2.99 spaghetti night built around a retired New York chef, and jobs for his father and stepmother. He sold out in 1978, bought a dump truck and John Deere equipment, and won a city landfill contract over four established contractors because, as he tells it, they wanted to make a killing off the city and he just wanted a fair day's wages. Florida followed: hauling under a broker, then on his own once he could post a million-dollar bond; a house finished in 1986; retirement at 51; and an equipment barn that filled with friends' boats and became a ten-acre, 436-renter storage business just before Babcock Ranch was built across Highway 31. Roy calls that a gift from God rather than something he deserved.
The weight of the episode is loss. He built the storage business for his son. Roy Jr. died on August 15, 2008, at 27, when an animal ran out in front of his motorcycle. Roy still sleeps in that room with his son's clothes in the closet and says he will know when it is time. Eight months later Natalie was born to Roy Jr.'s former girlfriend, Heather, who told the family he was not the father; Roy says that is what he had wanted, that it bothered him at first, and that it no longer matters. He flew back from Maine when she was eight days old, and sixteen years on they see each other two or three times a week. The closing stretch covers who counts as family, the one whipping his father ever gave him, three girls down the road he took to Dairy Queen, the night at 69 he answered a neighbor who had cursed at Sharon, and one line of counsel: don't ever give up, keep looking forward, and be willing to put in the work.
Speakers
- Intro voiceover other
- Keith Vance host
- Roy Lietz guest
- Crosstalk other
Chapters
- 0:35 A personal take, and turning 81
Keith gives his own read on Roy before the formal introduction, then reads the biography and asks what a day feels like at 81. Roy answers that he takes it one day at a time and still has trouble believing his own age.
- 6:02 Daddy was my hero
Roy describes life on the Illinois farm with his father Ebert, nicknamed Popeye: hand labor, milking cattle at eight years old, an unbreakable rule about church, and the sudden death of Harmon, the deaf hired man his father had taken in.
- 18:28 The mother he will not name
Roy explains why he refuses to talk about his mother, and turns instead to his baby sister Anita, whom his father raised as his own. He recounts caring for her through cancer and the last meal they shared before she died in 2012.
- 25:02 Three weeks to a pizza shop
Roy earns an iron worker's card in seven weeks, moves his family to Maine, and opens a pizza shop in Ellsworth with no experience. A bank president lends him $500 out of his personal checkbook.
- 35:21 His recipe for staying open
Asked why he succeeded where others failed, Roy points to long hours, good people, and a willingness to hire for what he could not do himself. Spaghetti night at $2.99 becomes the drawing card, and his father and stepmother come to work for him.
- 41:59 Dump trucks and a landfill contract
Roy sells the restaurants in 1978, buys a dump truck and John Deere equipment on the strength of a town sewer project, and outbids four established contractors for a three-year landfill conversion contract with no contracting experience.
- 49:37 Florida, land, and storage units
The move to Florida, hauling under a broker and then on his own, the house he finished in 1986, retirement at 51, and the equipment barn that filled with friends' boats and became a ten-acre self-storage business on Highway 31.
- 1:04:22 Losing Roy Jr.
The storage business was built for Roy's son. Roy Jr. died in 2008 at 27 in a motorcycle crash, and Roy speaks about the racing years they shared, the room he has left untouched, and a grief he says he will never get over.
- 1:09:45 Natalie, and family beyond blood
Eight months after his son's death, Natalie was born to Roy Jr.'s former girlfriend. Roy describes flying home to meet her at eight days old, the question of her paternity, and his conclusion that family is not decided by bloodline.
- 1:19:21 The pocketknife and the tug strap
Roy tells on himself about the pocketknife he stole as a high school freshman, the only whipping his father ever gave him, and what his father said afterward sitting on the edge of his bed.
- 1:24:28 Three girls down the road
Roy talks about three sisters from a hard home nearby whom he watched swim at his pond and took to Dairy Queen, including the middle girl who was killed at 12, and what two of them told him they wished.
- 1:32:37 Standing up for Sharon
The story of the neighbor who cursed at Sharon while she fed feral cats and what happened when Roy, then 69, got out of the truck; then the stray dog he caught in North Carolina and his closing word of counsel.
Key takeaways
- 17:51 Keith observes that Roy's habit of taking in people who need it, and giving them a purpose, traces directly back to his father taking in Harmon, the deaf hired man who became part of the family.
- 44:58 On why he won the landfill contract against four established contractors: "They wanted to make a killing off the city. And I just wanted a fair day's wages."
- 53:29 Keith draws out the pattern he sees in Roy's life: while the body is young and the mind is sharp, convert some of what your labor earns into something that earns for you later, which is how the equipment barn became a storage business.
- 1:18:09 Roy's picture of employees who never get ahead: a baseball catcher sitting back waiting for something to drop into his glove, unwilling to run out to the mound to get the ball. When workers told him it was easy for him to say, he answered that nobody gave him that money, he worked for it.
Pull quotes
"We was poorer than mice, you know, than church mice. If we hadn't been raised on a farm and a ranch, so to speak, we would have probably starved to death."
At their last meal together, Roy's dying sister Anita asked him to take another motorcycle trip to the West Coast and to do it on a Harley. He bought a 2012 Harley Road Glide and rode west, going to Montana.
Asked by the bank president what made him think he could succeed where other pizza shops had failed: "Because I'm the smartest guy that ever tried it." The banker replied that he did not lack confidence, and wrote him a personal check for $500.
On Babcock Ranch being built across the road from his storage property: "Just as a gift from God... I'd like to say that I deserved it. No."
On losing a child: "I've had a few enemies in my life, but I would not wish that on one of them."
"Don't ever sort your family out by their blood. By the bloodline... Because I learned a long, long time ago that doesn't matter."
His father, after the only whipping he ever gave him: "You're not going to understand this now, son, but someday you will. That hurt me more than it did you." Roy says he never stole anything again.
"It ain't hard to find a child that needs someone." Two of the three girls from down the road told him they wished he was their dad, which he says was about the attention he paid them, not anything material.
Roy's closing counsel: "Just don't ever give up and always keep looking forward, not backwards. And be willing to put in the work."
Scripture & context
- 12:14 Roy's father Ebert, nicknamed Popeye, was a farmer who did everything manually. Roy names two things you did not do with him: shake his hand, or challenge him to an arm wrestling match.
- 58:49 At its height the storage operation covered ten acres across Highway 31 with 436 renters, at an average of roughly $65 to $75 a month. Roy leased it out and closed on a sale January 31, 2024, but holds the note and says he will not call it sold until the last payment is made.
- 1:04:22 Roy Jr. was 27 when he died in a motorcycle crash on August 15, 2008. Roy had built the storage business to hand over to him. He still sleeps in his son's room, with the clothes hanging in the closet and the motocross trophies in place, and says his son will be the one to tell him when it is time.
- No Scripture passage is quoted or cited anywhere in this episode. Roy's faith surfaces in plainer language: his father's unbreakable rule about church and Sunday school, "the good Lord smiled on me," and calling the Babcock Ranch windfall a gift from God he did not deserve.
Questions answered
- What does Roy say it is like to be 81?
- Roy says he takes it one day at a time, and that at night he prays he will see tomorrow. He tells Keith he has a hard time believing he is 81 and that it does not seem possible, though he accepts it and makes do with what he has. jump · 4:03
- What did Roy learn from his father growing up on the farm?
- Roy calls his father his hero and says the man gave up his whole life to raise his children after their mother left. Everything on the farm was done by hand, and Roy was milking eight head of cattle and cooking breakfast for his sisters by the age of eight. He says his father planted things in him without him realizing it, and that he still lives by a lot of it today. jump · 6:02
- How did Roy get his first business off the ground with no money?
- He opened a pizza shop in Ellsworth, Maine within three weeks of hearing there was money in it, having never made a pizza. When he ran out of money before buying all his equipment, he asked bank president Harris McClain for $500; McClain said the board would throw him out for making the loan, then wrote the check off his own personal account. Roy paid him back within six months. jump · 27:52
- What does Roy say made him succeed where other people failed?
- He names long hours first, then good people. He hired a retired New York chef who walked into his restaurant as a customer and built a $2.99 all-you-can-eat spaghetti night around him, which became his drawing card. He also credits having his father and stepmother working for him, saying a high-paid employee will not have your back the way family does. jump · 36:01
- How did a man with no contracting experience win a city landfill contract?
- Roy simply bid it and got it, against four other bidders who were established contractors. He believes it came down to the fact that they wanted to make a killing off the city and he just wanted a fair day's wages. He also credits a relationship: the man a mile and a half down the road who sold him his cover material had been approached by two other bidders and did not like them. jump · 44:28
- How did Roy end up in the self-storage business?
- He had built a large building on his own property to house his heavy equipment. When he retired in 1995 and sold the equipment, the empty building started filling with friends' boats and trailers. Seeing it full by 2000, he bought five acres on Highway 31 and built storage buildings, then bought the five acres across the road in 2002. jump · 54:54
- What happened to Roy's son?
- Roy Jr. was 27 when he was killed on his motorcycle on August 15, 2008; they believe an animal, a raccoon, ran out in front of him. Roy had built the storage business specifically for him. He says he has never gotten over it and never will, and that he prays no other parent has to go through it. jump · 1:04:22
- Who is Natalie?
- Natalie was born about eight months after Roy Jr. died, to Heather, his former girlfriend. Roy suspects his son was her father and says that is what he wanted, but Heather told the family he was not; Roy says it bothered him at first and no longer matters. He flew from Maine to Florida to hold her when she was eight days old, and calls her his granddaughter and a blessing in his life. jump · 1:09:45
- What does Roy say about discipline and his father?
- The one time his father laid a hand on him was after he stole a pocketknife from a five-and-dime and the store phoned the house. His father whipped him with a tug strap, then carried him to his bed, put a hand on his shoulder and said, "You're not going to understand this now, son, but someday you will. That hurt me more than it did you." Roy says he never stole anything again, and that discipline is what he sees lacking in society today. jump · 1:19:21
- Why does Roy invest in children who are not his own?
- He saw that three sisters living down the road came from a home with a drunken father, a lot of swearing and drinking, so he let them swim at his pond, took them to Dairy Queen, and told them that if they ever needed a place to come or needed help, they could come to him. Two of the three told him they wished he was their dad. He says it is not hard to find a child who needs someone. jump · 1:24:28
- What is Roy's closing advice?
- Asked what he would say to encourage someone else, Roy answers: don't ever give up, always keep looking forward and not backwards, and be willing to put in the work. Keith notes that it is what has worked for Roy, and Roy agrees that is what worked for him. jump · 1:41:16
Helpful links
product
- Richardson 112 cap The Still Strong hat Keith gives every guest, which he says his kids call the best you can buy.
- Source trace minerals The trace mineral supplement Keith reads a short mid-episode sponsor spot for; he points listeners to the link in his bio rather than a spoken address.
other
- Babcock Ranch The development built across Highway 31 from Roy's storage property, which he calls a gift from God he did not earn.
Full transcript
Intro voiceover: I learned the hard way, nothing's overnight, some days you lose, some days you survive. Still Strong, even moving slow, every step counts more, then you know I found gold in the everyday, showing up and staying brave. Still Strong,
Keith Vance: even though I stand my mind. Welcome to the podcast, brother.
Roy Lietz: Oh, yeah. I guess.
Keith Vance: Roy, I have a proper introduction for you here, but it's been my protocol before I've given an introduction to give someone my personal take of them. And I could go on for a long time, Roy. Roy, I don't think you realize how big of an impact you've had on my life. I am an observer of people. I met you when I had Horsin' Around Deli.
Keith Vance: And I would watch you come in, you would sit at the end of the bar, and I don't even think you realize this, but you'd sit at the end of the bar, and half the time you'd sit down in the same shorts like you're wearing now, your little revolver in your pocket would kind of like, I figured it was there, your little revolver would kind of like poke out the side. So I'm like, okay, this guy is a defender of people. This guy is, and I watched you. And I would watch you come at Deli sometime with a stray dog in the back of your truck. You have a heart for animals, for stray things, for helpless things. You have a heart for helpless things. Several times you would bring children to the deli with you that were not your own. And I want to talk about that. I remember one time in particular, you picked up a sense that this family living next to you, like it might not have been a great home life for these two young kids. And you invested in them, you brought them to the deli, you spent time with them. So I get a picture of a man that is very stubborn. If he thinks a certain way, you're not going to change his mind. I think the only one that can change your mind is probably Sharon. But a person that has a heart and is a caregiver for children and animals. I've observed it. And to be able to do that at 81 years old, that's what I want to be like. I want to be like that. So that's my own personal take on you. A man, a hard man that I know has worked hard, but gentle when it's time to be gentle. My daughter, Emma, she was born when we owned Horses and Round Deli. I got a picture of you holding her while Karen and I were cooking food because we were busy. He said, hey, let me hold that baby. And to be able to hand her off to you and know she's secure and good. And you're just those pictures of you playing with her. Like you love, you love children and you love animals. Yeah. So let me give you this proper introduction. Roy Leitz, you were born in Illinois. You have two siblings. You're married to Sharon for 44 years. That poor woman.
Keith Vance: You have four daughters and a son, five children, 12 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren. One thing I'd like to dive in with you about is you are a lifetime entrepreneur. You've just been good at business. And I want to talk about that. And then last but not least, 81 years old. 81 years old.
Roy Lietz: At least I can talk still.
Keith Vance: Yeah. And I want to talk about that. What does it feel like to be 81 in the morning? Like what's a day like for a person in their 80s? I want to get to.
Roy Lietz: Just one day at a time. And, you know, you go to bed at night and you just pray that you're going to see tomorrow. Okay. You know. Now, you know what? I have a hard time believing that I'm 81. It's hard for me to accept. And, I mean, I accept it, but it just don't seem possible that I'm 81 years old. And soon be 82. But it is what it is. And so you make do with what you got.
Keith Vance: I want to, at some point in the conversation, I do want to talk about that because I had that, I just turned 50.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. I know. I was at your
Keith Vance: party. And 50 is nothing for 81. But I had that same feeling like, how did I get here so fast? I don't know what 50 is supposed to feel like. Yeah. But I don't feel 50. Yeah. Like, you're 81. Do you know what 81 is supposed to feel like? And do you feel like you're 81? No. Okay, so I want to understand that. Because I want to be like that. When I'm 81, I don't want to feel 81. So I want to learn the secret to that. But anyway, Roy, everyone that comes on the podcast gets a gift. These are Richardson 112s. My kids say these are the best hats you can buy. Still Strong. Only problem is, Roy, you probably got the biggest head of anybody I've interviewed. I don't know if this is going to fit you. So don't try it on in the podcast. Try it on later. And if we got to replace it, we'll do it later. It better
Roy Lietz: be a big adjustment.
Keith Vance: Well, thank you. Yeah, man. Yeah. All right, Roy, let's get rolling. So kind of the format is there is no format. I just want to have a real conversation with you. But I figure you can't go wrong with starting in the beginning. You were born in Illinois. I know your dad was your hero. Let's start at the beginning. Tell me what your home life was like. Tell me about those things that shaped you, who you are early on. And let's just get after it from there.
Roy Lietz: No, no. Well, like I said, my father was my hero. And to this day, it bothers me what he had to go through. Because you'll never hear me say anything about my mother. Because I've kind of come to it after. It took me several years. Because all I want to do is lash out at her. Not for what she'd done to us kids. But what she'd done to my father. And so from this point on, I won't even mention her. Understood. I never realized until I got to be in my teens, probably. It never soaked in on me. The sacrifices that my father made for us. We was poorer than mice. You know, than church mice. If we hadn't been raised on a farm and a ranch, so to speak, we would have probably served to death. Daddy planted almost a one-acre garden every year. And after a couple of years, after my mother had left, Daddy hired a housekeeper. And there were several of them in the next few years. Because Daddy was pretty strict about certain rules. One of them was you didn't miss church or Sunday school. I went to Lutheran, St. Paul's Lutheran Institute or Solanoi. And I can remember Daddy about his rule on church. When we would travel, which was very seldom, and later on in years, I remember one Sunday, we was in North Carolina. And Saturday night, Daddy said, make sure you're up and time for church. Wow. Even though we was on vacation, we went to church. Wow. So, but that was Daddy. But this man gave up his whole life. You know, just to raise us kids. And it's up for, depending on who you ask, if he done a good job or a bad job. But my baby sister, she passed away in 2012 of cancer. And so they're just me and my oldest sister. She's three years younger than me. And then I had a brother who was almost stillborn. He lived a few hours. And he was a year older than me. His name was Larry Ebert, named after my father, because my father's name was Ebert. And so Daddy just, without my even realizing it, Daddy planted stuff in me. Yes. And I still live a lot of that today. Yeah. You know what I mean? And I only, my biggest wish, I think, I have a few of them, but one of my biggest wishes is that where I'm at in life today, I wish Daddy was still here. So I could shower him with my success, you know, because now I can afford to show him things that he never, ever saw or dreamed of. And I would have liked to have had that opportunity. But, you know, I didn't. Daddy died at 66. years of age. He was a very bad diabetic and he went into an insulin diabetic coma and he passed. And he turned 66 on the, you know, he lived to be 66 years and 20 days old. And my, you know, me and my sisters, our world just about came to an end. He passed in 1985. He's buried by my house in Maine. And him and my stepmother, daddy remarried. And they're both buried right there. I tend to his stone every summer when I go north and the lots that he's on. And then of course, you know, a few years down the road, I, now I have my son's lot to tend to. That was the hardest thing I've ever had to accept in my life.
Keith Vance: Before we jump to your son, I want to stick in this little spot about your daddy. Pull that microphone a little bit closer. I want to make sure we hear you. I want to get to your son. Well, let's stay with your dad for a while. I'm feeling a lot here right now. What did your dad do for a living?
Roy Lietz: He was a farmer.
Keith Vance: That's what he did. Yeah. So when you said, Hey, if we hadn't have had some property, we would have probably starved. Like you weren't just, those weren't, you weren't just playing around with words.
Roy Lietz: No, no. Okay.
Keith Vance: Describe to me, your father's work ethic and describe to me, like you had said, Keith, describe me your daddy's hands. Just because you had said, Hey, Keith, you know, back then we didn't have machinery. Like back then everything was by hand. Like just let's, let's, let's don't just talk about it. I don't, I kind of want you to go back there and remember that. And like, just as you're remembering, I want to feel that. Like, what was it like as a boy living on that farm with your dad? Tell me some of the things that your dad did for work that you admire him about. Let's just, let's just live there for a minute.
Roy Lietz: Well, first of all, I got to point out my daddy's nickname. Let's hear it. And it was Popeye.
Keith Vance: Wow. Okay. Right there.
Roy Lietz: Everything we done was manually. You shoveled the green band, went wagons, 135 bushel. If that went into the sea, you'd done that with a scoop shovel. There wasn't augers and, you know, front end loaders. It wasn't all of that stuff at that time. Everything daddy done was manual and milk and cattle. He had the most unbelievable forearms. And so there was two things you didn't do. You didn't shake his hand and you didn't change him.
Keith Vance: Pull that, pull it, tilt it down a little bit. Just tilt it down. There you go. We're good now. And,
Roy Lietz: uh, uh, you didn't shake his hand. You don't shake hands with him and you don't challenge him to an arm wrestling match because you're going to lose. And, uh, I know, um, I, I, I got some satisfaction, uh, when I went to Maine and I opened the restaurants, I brought my daddy with me and I, I told him he was my manager and, um, I actually had, I had opened three restaurants and I started out with the one and little takeout place. And, and, uh, that was with my ex-wife and my four children. We went in an RV trailer pulling it behind, uh, uh, an 89 Oldsmobile. Wow. And, uh, I had my reasons for wanting to leave, uh, Illinois. I'd the, my ex-wife was from Illinois. Her father was the sheriff of the County that we lived in. Um, second, nice, nicest man I ever knew in my life. And, uh, so it wasn't, um, it was just getting away from bad habits that had developed back there. And, um, so we, we went to Maine and, um, I mean, I was bound determined I was going to make it at whatever. So of all things, how
Keith Vance: old were you when you left Illinois to Maine?
Roy Lietz: Um, I was 23 years old, 24.
Keith Vance: How old were you when you moved out of your daddy's house? Um, 18. You're 18. Yeah. I
Roy Lietz: moved down the road 300 yards and, uh, 300 feet and on the opposite side of the
Keith Vance: road. When you were living at home growing up. Um, Did you have responsibilities on the farm? Oh,
Roy Lietz: yeah. I would get up in the morning before Daddy could put together enough money to hire a housekeeper. I'd get up in the morning, and I'd milk eight head of cattle. Wow. And then I would come in and make breakfast for my sisters, and we'd get on a bus.
Keith Vance: How old are you when you're doing this?
Roy Lietz: Well, I would have been, well, I was milking cattle when I was eight years old. Yeah. You know, and I mean, but now when Daddy wasn't out in the field, you know, farming, and then he would milk the cattle. Got it. But of an evening when I come home, I'd definitely milk the cattle then.
Keith Vance: So in those days, the work that they did back then, it was a communal family effort. Like your daddy, at eight years old, your daddy needed you. Milking cows wasn't just for fun or practice or to teach you a life lesson. He needed you.
Roy Lietz: Yeah, well, we had a hired man that lived with us. He was deaf and dumb. and daddy just kind of took him in and he worked on the farm and he just became part of our family you know and and unfortunately he worked for daddy for four or five years and then one day we was all me and my daddy and the hired man was out on the tractors each one of us you know, we was plowing, that's what we were doing. We came to the house for lunch, and Harmon got up, and of course, he would just devour his food, and he got up and went out to fill the tractors full of gas, and you know, to refuel, to go back to work. And after a few minutes, Daddy said to me, boy, go check on Harmon. I haven't heard a tractor start up, like there was one pulled up to the tank, pull it away. I walked out of the house, and this is when I first, my first introduction to just shock. And I saw Harmon laying about halfway to the tractor, face first. I did not dare to walk to him. I'd come running back into the house, and I said, Daddy, Harmon's laying out there. Well, Harmon was dead. He had just, his heart just exploded. Wow. So I know us kids were, he was heartbroken. You know, even though he couldn't speak to us, he made us understand what he was trying to say. Wow. And so that was our first introduction to that.
Keith Vance: I didn't know that about your dad. I mean, I've heard a lot of these stories. I didn't know that about your dad with that guy, that hired hand that he just kind of took in. but it doesn't surprise me because I've seen you do that many times and we can, and we're going to get to that, but that, I think that would you having that skill to take people in that need it and giving them a purpose comes from your dad. Yes, it does. It comes from your dad.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. I am thankful that I have no trademarks of my mother. I, maybe I shouldn't have said that, but that's how I feel.
Keith Vance: Do you feel okay telling me why you have those feelings about your mother?
Roy Lietz: Yeah, I can describe it.
Keith Vance: What happened? She
Roy Lietz: was a horrible, horrible individual person. Everything about her was bad. And she had two more children by two different men. And my baby sister, daddy wasn't her father. We know who was, but daddy took her. Got it. Just like he's old. Got it. And never once did I ever hear daddy, you know, out in the public and conversation. Never once did I ever hear my daddy call her his stepdaughter or adopted daughter. Never, never. And she was such a gentle little soul. You know, she was little and 180 degrees from my mother. But like I said, she passed, and I took care of her the last two years that she was alive. She was going through all this treatment, and she tried to work. And she was actually a manager for Casey Incorporation, which is her. Big, big thing in the Midwest for gas stations and convenience stores. And she was a general manager for them. But then cancer got her. So I rented her an apartment. I paid her rent in an apartment complex that she lived in. And I have no idea how many times I get on my motorcycle and road to Illinois to see her. Because she loved motorcycles. She was just a little bitty thing. But she wore boots that had built-up heels on them. And she had an 883 Harley Davidson Sportster. And her husband at the time lowered it for her so she could ride.
Roy Lietz: And I want to touch on this point. The last meal that I had with her, I took her on a motorcycle ride. And we went to this restaurant two miles from her house. And we're sitting there. And she was very, very spiritual. Very spiritual. She reached across the table and took both my hands. And she said, now, brother, I want you to listen to me. She says, I'm going to die. And it's just around the corner. Wow. And she said, but here's what I want you to do. I want you to get on a motorcycle and take another trip to the West Coast. Pretend that I'm with you. And, but if you really want to make me happy, do it on a Harley. Yeah. She knew, of course, I had Jackbox. Yeah. Now, what did Roy do? I went to town and bought a Harley Road Glide, a 2012 Harley Road Glide. And I went to the West Coast. I went to Montana. Yeah. And so I fulfilled that for her.
Keith Vance: Yeah. I remember. So. I remember that. Yeah. Yeah. There was a story that I remember you talking about in those early days. You talk about a black woman that your mom hired that just loved you kids. Can you just, can you talk about her for a little bit? She
Roy Lietz: showed it. Well, I guess the first sentence of me, she showed love that my mother never did. And especially towards my baby sister. I mean, now at this point, I'm a, you know, a young adult. And so was my sister. And, but it was just amazing how she, how she took to Anita. But the one thing that I remember, she was very large breasted, very large. And she was a big woman. And we went to a grocery store on a Saturday. And me and all man and my two sisters. Well, Anita was an infant. And she had made this thing out of a pillowcase or a sheet or something that went around her neck. And Anita was right between them, very large breast and her little face. Little
Keith Vance: face to death. So we
Roy Lietz: walked up to the register. And she says to the girls in, she really put a lot of effort to make it sound black. Don't y'alls think that my baby is beautiful? And then two little white girls, of course, they looked at each other. And she said, what's the matter? Don't you think that my baby? I'll never, ever, ever forget that. But she loved Anita. And, but anyhow, unfortunately, she, we didn't have her very long at all. Daddy got up that one morning and his coffee wasn't ready. And he said he knew right then. He walked to her room and opened her door. And he hollered at her. And then he walked down and poked her foot. She dead. She died in her sleep. But
Keith Vance: you've, it sounds like those first, those early years at home, sounds like not only was the work hard, but it sounds like, I mean, we've only been talking for a few minutes. And we're already talking about people that have died. Yeah. Like that were close to you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do what you got to do. Dunkin' Donuts. This, this part of the podcast brought to you by Dunkin' Donuts.
Roy Lietz: A little freak. I'll send them a bill for the advertising.
Keith Vance: Roy, we're going to move to the transition. You, you talked about when you moved to Maine. You taught, you already started describing that. But before we do, is there any, is there any other thing in Illinois that you want to talk about, about your daddy home life early on? Anything there in this pocket of, of time of your life? You want to?
Roy Lietz: Daddy, everything Daddy could do for me, he done. You know, like I said, we's poor. Before I left Illinois, I joined the iron workers. I got in under an apprentice program, and it's supposed to be six months, and you get a union card. I done it in seven weeks. Wow. And got my union card. And so I worked as an iron worker. Well, I was married, you know, at that point, and I had my children, and that travel trailer I talked about, a friend of mine who lived, he was from Maine, he was my telephone man, and he lived just two miles from me in Illinois. Well, we kind of became friends, and he always talked to me about Maine, how beautiful it was. Okay. And everybody's got to see it. So he said, just don't come in the wintertime. So I loaded up my family, and we went to Maine.
Keith Vance: With no prospect of anything? Well,
Roy Lietz: I had called the union. Okay, got it. Understood. And, yes, I could work. Understood. Got it. I had my union card. Got it. So I got to Maine, and we checked into a campground there, and on a beautiful, beautiful lake. And so I thought, well, I can just hang out for a few days, and then I'll go to work. And in the meantime, the man that was my telephone man, he had opened a pizza shop. Okay. And I was hanging out with him of a night. And he said, you know, this is what you need to do. There's money in this. And he just had a little takeout shop, no tables, no nothing. Okay. And he said, you can really make some money doing that. Well, that got my attention. So I went 22 miles down the road into a larger town in Ellsworth, Maine. And in three weeks, I opened a pizza shop.
Keith Vance: Oh, man, listen. Okay. Okay. We're going to. You and I are going to connect here. All right. So, hey, you need to do this. There's money in it. Yeah. You went down there. Did you know how to make pizzas? Did you know how to make pizzas? No.
Roy Lietz: No. Okay. His wife came down and showed me how to make the sauce and everything else. We actually bought our crust, our dough. Yeah. And in the beginning. So
Keith Vance: in three weeks, you're doing this pizza thing with. Well,
Roy Lietz: I ran out of money before I had all the equipment I needed. Wow. So I went down to the bank. Yeah. Yeah. And I told him I wanted to borrow. I wanted to borrow $500. Mm-hmm. And Harris McClain, God love him. He was a president. And he said, if the board of directors would throw me out of here, if I was to make you a loan, you got no collateral except an old car and a camper. And he said, and you know, a lot of people have tried pizza shops and they failed. Right. What makes you think you can do it? And I looked at him and I said, because I'm the smartest guy that ever tried it. Mm-hmm. And he said, well, you don't lack on confidence. That's a good thing. He took his personal checkbook and wrote me a check for $500.
Keith Vance: Listen. Told me to
Roy Lietz: go out there and cash it. I did. And I said, I'll pay you back every... And in six months, I had paid him back.
Keith Vance: Let me hit a couple things here. I've had stories like that in my life where I can see where I need to go. And my mind is just, it's done. It just hasn't got there yet. Like I can see it. Like with you and your pizza shop. Yeah. You weren't afraid. You were like, you could see that vision. You went after it. Yeah. But then there comes a point where sometimes you've gone as far as you can go and someone else has to believe in your dream and they invest in you. And you just spoke to that banker that invested in you. And God uses people like that. The other thing why I said, hey, this resonates with us. Because for you to start that pizza shop, a guy says, hey, there's money in this. And you go do it. I sold my construction company. 2005. Took a year just to gather my thoughts. Spend some time with the kids. And built a couple of spec homes and flipped them. Then 2008 happened. Which... differed. differed. differed differed. differed Nothing's going on. Nothing's going on. 2009. You know what I mean? All the money that I had made, I invested in mutual funds and all this kind of stuff. And we were just kind of living off that income. I thought I was set. I was 30 years old. I thought, man, I made all this money. I did what you're supposed to do. I thought I was set. We bought Horsin' Round Deli. A friend of mine, I was just trying to figure out my next move. What's my next move? We're going up to lunch for Horsin' Round Deli. And I was like, man, this place is busy. I could see myself doing this with the family. I could envision it. Grace came over. I said, hey, would you ever consider selling this place? They looked at me shocked. They were wanting out. They were like, what's your number? I gave them my number. They were wanting out because his mom was having health problems. And they were having a conversation the night before about, hey, I need to be close to my mom. And then I had said that. So long story short, we ended up buying it. I went home and told my wife. I said, hey, we're buying a little sandwich shop. And she's like, what? She's like, Keith, you don't cook. You don't do anything. She pulled a griddle out. She pulled a griddle out with some bread and some butter and some cheese. And she said, make me a grilled cheese sandwich. I was like, all right, but what's the butter for? She said, you put the butter on the bread for the thing. Like, that was my skill set. I knew nothing. But I'm not afraid to work.
Roy Lietz: Yeah, that's right. Hey,
Keith Vance: you watched it firsthand. Yeah, I did. We blew that thing up. Yeah. And it was a good time for my children to be together, to work together, to get around the community. But I saw that vision. Yeah. And we got after it. Yeah. With no experience. I was learning literally in front of people in real time. It's not like you can just go somewhere and practice. Like, you were learning. And the other thing that was hard was Matt and Grace were so good at what they did, like, people didn't even have to tell them their order. Hey, you'd walk in. Hey, Roy, give me my usual. Well, I don't know what your usual is. Yeah. So some people got mad at me that I didn't know, like, you know, people don't like change. You know what I mean? So I had to overcome that obstacle. Yeah. But we made it happen, man. You made it happen. You did.
Roy Lietz: You did. You did a good job. You
Keith Vance: and I have a connection there with not being afraid, not being afraid to do something.
Roy Lietz: Well, I had my union card to fall back on. And Portland, I never realized how far away Portland, Maine was where I had to go to where they wanted me to go work. Mm-hmm. A hundred and seventy-five mile. Mm-hmm. Wow. And I thought, I can't, I don't want to be awake with my kids that, you know, five days a week. Right. Because obviously I couldn't drive back and forth. Oh.
Keith Vance: So how was the pizza business?
Roy Lietz: It was good. And in five years' time, I bought the property across the street. Wow. And built a new one. Wow. And this one, you know, I mean, my other one was carryout. Had two tables. I could see the total of seven people. Wow. And I built this new brick building, beautiful, beautiful building. And all of the prep and cook and everything was in the basement. Mm-hmm. And I'd had an unbelievable amount of business.
Keith Vance: How old are you during this time frame?
Roy Lietz: Well, I built, I opened it in 73. So I would have been 29 years old. Yeah. And, uh, uh, I mean, it just went crazy. So then I went to the very guy that put me on the pizza. I went back to his little town and I told him, because he kept saying, I want to go back over to his wife had left him and wish he should have. And I'm going to go over there and be around her. And, you know, he says, I think I'm going to sell out. And I said, well, maybe I'm interested in buying it. Yeah. No. So he gave me this price, this, you know, just stupid. I said, you're, you know, let me see the books. I don't have no books. I knew he did. You know, and I said, well, no. So we went round and round for about three months. And then I went across the street, bought the place over there, the building. And I set one up right there across the street from him. And he saw the writing on the wall. And in six weeks time, he was gone. He just sold out. But I put that, I built that one up and we had seafood there plus pizza. Wow. And we served just three brands, scallops, clams. And we served just three brands. and shrimp and haddock and then everything else is pieces and sandwiches.
Keith Vance: So an Illinois boy
Crosstalk: goes to Maine and he's figuring it out.
Crosstalk: If you could capsulize your
Keith Vance: particular recipe for success those first few years, what made you successful where other people had failed? What was it? If you can look back. So one, you had a guy that gambled on you with 500 bucks. He trusted you. But Roy, in five years, you went from those little places, sat just a few tables to build and then another one. So what was your recipe? That
Roy Lietz: held 124 people.
Keith Vance: So tell me, for someone who has a dream and wants to go after it and someone that made it happen, how come you were able to make it happen and others weren't?
Roy Lietz: Well, number one, we kept long hours, you know, and we've done a good job. I had good people. I actually hired a chef out of New York. He was up there on vacation. He was retired. And he kept coming in there and eating. Well, one day I struck up a conversation with him. And he said, you know, you ought to sell spaghetti. It's Italian and lasagna. I said, I wouldn't have a clue how to make spaghetti and lasagna. He said, I make probably the best there is. And so one thing led to another. I told him to make me some and I'll be the judge how good it is. And he wasn't kidding. So I hired him simply to cook the spaghetti and lasagna. So the first thing we done was on, we had a, I had a billboard that sat out in front of my restaurant. It was, it was six or eight feet long and about four and letters on it, you know. So I put spaghetti night, Wednesday night, spaghetti night special. It was cheap, $2.99, all you can eat spaghetti and with garlic bread. And of course they would, we serve beer, not no alcohol, just beer and a draft beer. Of course they buy a draft beer or two. Then, you know, I didn't lose money. And that was my drawing card. And they went crazy with that spaghetti. So that's how I done it. And then, so then I had a footprint of what ought to sell in that place. And it just went over big. I think my, I think my personality might've helped a little bit. And then there came a point where maybe it hurt. I don't know. But
Keith Vance: so you're a life, you're a lifelong entrepreneur. So while we're talking about pizza and entrepreneurship, I just want to go through all the businesses that you've had in time. Like, I want to go, like, let's just stay in this, this, this time period of entrepreneurship. But the first thing you said when I said, Hey, what was the recipe to discuss? You said, we worked long hours. When you own a business, you got to be willing to work whatever it takes. Yeah. Listen, just be whatever it takes. Right. And especially those early years, like whatever it takes. And then two, you said, I had good people and there was this guy that came in and said, Hey, why don't you do some pizza or do some, do some, do some spaghetti? Who cares? But I don't, but when you have a dream, it's been my, like I'm tracking with you because it's been my experience that in time, the right people come in the place to fill in those gaps that you're weak at. Like you said, I didn't know how to make spaghetti, but this guy did. Yeah. And to be able to build a team based on their strengths and kind of like, don't maximize the strengths, minimize the weaknesses. Like it takes all different types of people to make this world go round. Not everybody can be an owner where there's people that have their, their place and to be able to have that, that mindset of, Hey, it's going to take people to do this. I need good people. That's, that's, I think that's why you're successful. Yeah. And then to be able to read people because you're a good reader of people to be able to read people and say, okay, he's good here. He's good there. And for you to early on, not become a pizza maker, but a business owner and use people and have relationships with people. Yeah. I think that's,
Roy Lietz: I pretty. I brought my father up there. I told you that. You did, yeah. And my stepmother, Daddy had remarried. She worked for me for a number of years. Best help. And my father, he sold. But my feet started itching, you know. And so in 1978, I sold out.
Keith Vance: Hold on a minute. Before we talk about selling out, you had your dad and your stepmom working with you. I'm making correlations to where I'm at. You know virtually all my kids work with me in business.
Roy Lietz: Yeah, that's wonderful.
Keith Vance: Listen, how good does it feel to have your daddy with you that you can trust 1,000%? Yeah. Because, you know, there's something about family that they have your back in a way that others
Roy Lietz: can't. A high-paid employee won't. Yeah, I
Keith Vance: can't. So maybe another ingredient to your recipe for success was your daddy had your back. Your family, like that family support. I heard a statistic that if you start a business and the two spouses work together in the business, they're like 300 more times, 300 more times chance of being successful than if it's just one of the spouses working in it. Yeah. Just family pulling together. More people pulling together, that's a recipe for success. Family's everything. Yeah, man. Yeah. Family's everything. Yeah. So you got the itch. You sold out. I'm guessing you made some money because that's what you do.
Roy Lietz: Yeah, I did. And before I'd sold out, they started a big sewer project in that town. And so I saw these dump trucks build. Wow. So I said, well, I can't miss out on this. So I bought a dump truck and I bought a John Deere bulldozer and then I bought a John Deere articulated loader. And I worked out that the minute that contract, city contract was over. And oh, I left out for the city was looking for a contractor to convert the dump to a landfill. Well, this was after I bought it, that stuff because the sewer project was going to go on for four years, but it could only work through the summertime because in the wintertime, they can't work. So here I bought this equipment and I thought, well, you know, you're going to make that payment 12 months a year. So I bid that landfill project and I got it. I got the contract.
Keith Vance: Okay. So we got to pause. Do you have any contracting experience at this time?
Roy Lietz: Did I? No, not really.
Keith Vance: Okay. All right. But you bid this project. So relive this for me. All right. You see this opportunity. You bid this project. So how did you come up with that number?
Roy Lietz: Uh, well, I knew the number of yards that it was, they was estimating and everything. Of course, you know, what they put out on the spec sheet, they can be held to, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the words of hers and overage. Okay. So, so that the contractor doesn't get hung. Okay. So, uh, uh, I went, I knew where I could get my material. The way it turned out, it was just a mile and a half down the road. Okay. So, you know, cause every day you have to, you know, you, you compact this garbage, you know, with, with a bulldozer, I had to buy a bigger and heavier one. Right. And, uh, uh, you compact it and then you cover it. And, uh, you build berms to put this in. And, but no more open burning, old smelly dumps like there was. And so I had the, I had the three-year contract. Well, at the end of two years, uh.
Keith Vance: Hold on a minute. How did you get this contract? You have no experience.
Roy Lietz: I bid it and I got it.
Keith Vance: You just bid and you just got it. Yeah. But meanwhile, there's other people in the town that are, have that equipment and.
Roy Lietz: Oh, there was quite a few. Okay. So how do. Four other people bid it.
Keith Vance: And, uh. But, but the man with no experience got it. So.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. The one with no experience
Keith Vance: got it. That's what I'm saying. The man with no experience got it. So how did that happen? Well. You were just the cheapest bid? Did you know somebody? I think it all
Roy Lietz: comes down to one thing. And the other ones that were bidding it were established contractors, and they wanted to make a killing off the city. Got it. And I just wanted a fair day's wages. Got it. And that's basically, I think, what it came down to. Got it. It makes sense. To this day, I don't know how much they bid, and I don't care. But the thing that helped me was being able to link up with a guy a mile and a half down the road where I could get my material. Got it. And he told me he'd been approached by two other people. He said, I don't like them. And I said, so you like me? Yeah. He said, Felix Duschek.
Keith Vance: So, again, there's an aspect of business that requires relationships.
Roy Lietz: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Keith Vance: That man wouldn't do business with other people just because he didn't like them, but he did business with you. Yeah. If he hadn't liked you, that deal might not have happened. So there's this thing about business that requires reading somebody. Yeah. What is business? It's relationships. If I can't trust this relationship, then we got nothing.
Roy Lietz: Well, what appealed to me the most, in the wintertime, you've got to stockpile because you can't be trucking, you know, and the banks are frozen. So you stockpile this material and you sold it.
Roy Lietz: Mm-hmm. It has to be there, you know, six days a week, 10 hours a day. Okay. And then I had the perfect guy. I built him a, I call it his shack, but it had heat and a TV in it. Mm-hmm. And he would sit there and make sure they had a sticker on their car to be able to use it. And then of an evening when, before he closed, he'd take the loader and put the stuff up there and then take the dozer and push the sand down over the top of what we had compacted that day. And Roy come to Florida, me and my current wife. But in the meantime, I left out the divorce because I just don't really want to even talk about it.
Keith Vance: Yeah. And hold on one second. Michael, is that microphone good? Yeah. All right. I'm just curious if it was good. Yeah. I want to ask you about the. It's like
Crosstalk: technically the whole boomer. You can put it down to the highest. Are you comfortable? Yeah. All right. Before we talk
Keith Vance: about moving to Florida, how old are you when you started this, when you got the contract for this job in Maine that we're talking about? 24. You can't be 24 because you're 30-something when you started. Oh,
Roy Lietz: no. I mean 34. 34. That's what I meant.
Keith Vance: Got it. So 34. Yeah. Okay. And you had that contract for three years, you said? Yeah. For three years. Yeah. Was it a moneymaker? Yeah. Was there, during that time frame, was there, did you lose sleep at any time? Was there anything that happened that was like, oh, crap, this sucks. Like, I wish I, was there, was there any low points in that? Or was it just all, were you just cashing checks?
Roy Lietz: Yeah. I, they deposited the check every, I got paid once a month on my contract. Okay. They put it in my bank account and I sent my caretaker, the attendant there, I'd send him a check every week. You know, I'd mail it so we'd have it. Right. And, but then I came to, you know, Florida and I'm just going to hang out for a winter with my current wife. Sharon. And Sharon, yeah. And I just took it easy all winter. Well, then I went back to Maine for the summer.
Keith Vance: Okay. I understand now.
Roy Lietz: And that was the last year of my contract. But I had a one year extension at my disposal. Okay. And I walked in City Hall and told them I didn't want it. I said, go ahead and put it back out for a bit. I don't want to run it another year. Why? Well, just the, I mean, it wasn't like I was making that much money. And I just decided I didn't want to bother. I wanted to devote all of my time to what I was going to do in Florida.
Keith Vance: Okay. Understood. Understood.
Roy Lietz: That's, so that's, that's what I'd done. And, uh.
Keith Vance: So you, in Maine during the winters, there's nothing going on. No. So you came to Florida. Yeah. I'm guessing you saw some opportunities here because you could have renewed the contract. Oh yeah, they was,
Roy Lietz: they was everywhere.
Keith Vance: You could have renewed the contract. You said, hey, nevermind. Yeah. Okay. So let's, let's make that transition. You moved to Florida. Um, what were the opportunities in Florida? that you saw that you took advantage of?
Roy Lietz: Well, all of the construction that was going on. And that's where my interest lied, was in heavy equipment. And that's what I'd done.
Keith Vance: And you had a little bit of experience with heavy equipment from this contract in Maine. Yeah. And
Roy Lietz: plus, I grew up with it on the farm. Got it. Yeah. So, no, that's what I wanted to do, and that's what I'd done. And that all worked out pretty well. And then...
Keith Vance: What did you do? What did you do? You moved to Florida? What was the first thing you did when you moved to Florida in regard to business? There was a
Roy Lietz: company called General Co-op. Okay. And I went over to see them, and you lease them your truck. And you put a driver in it, or you drive it or whatever. And they had like 300 trucks leased, you know, and all of the work that was going on around here. And so, I'd done that for one year. Dump
Keith Vance: trucks. Yeah. Got it. And I had two of them. Did you drive the dump trucks? Yeah, I did. Wow. Okay.
Roy Lietz: And then Bill that works for me, he was the other part. Got it. And so, I'd done that. And then after, no, two years, I'd done that. And then, you know, you couldn't work without a broker, in other words.
Keith Vance: Understood. Yeah. That's how it works here. So, in regard to, like, dump truck hauling or whatever, you got your dump truck, but they all go through these brokers, right? Yeah. So, you have two dump trucks, and you said for two years you're working through this broker. Right. Hauling material, building roads, building house pads, whatever, right? Right. Yeah. Totally understood.
Roy Lietz: And then, and they're taking 10% of your money. Right. So, at the end of two years, the state finally smartened up and said, you didn't, it was called a PUC, Public Utility Commission. Okay. And so, you could go out on your own as long as you could post the insurance bond. Got it. And it was a million dollars is what it was. A million
Keith Vance: dollars. Are we, what are we at right now? We're in the 1980s? The 80s?
Keith Vance: 81. 81. Yeah. So, a million bucks in 81, that's significant. Yeah, well. That's probably a $3, $4 million bond today.
Roy Lietz: No, I got a, I got an insurance company to post my bond.
Keith Vance: Well, I'm saying it's a million dollars in the 80s, probably like $3, $4 million a day. Yeah, right, yeah. Got it.
Roy Lietz: So, that's how I got around that. And then, two or three years later, the state just even abolished that. So, now, you could go tomorrow and buy a dump truck. Just start working. And just go to work. So, I done that right up until 85. And, well, 86. I built the house that I live in now. Yeah. I CEO'd that in May of 1986. Wow. So, that's how long. I've been there, 40 years almost in that house. Same house, yeah. And, I just kept buying that land there around me. And, you know, and then there come the storage.
Keith Vance: So, hold on a minute.
Keith Vance: Okay, here we go. I think this is another recipe to success. And why, at your age, you have what you have. You utilize the money that you're making, hauling dirt or whatever it was. Mm-hmm. And then, you invested that in some property. You said, I just kept buying this property around me. Right. Okay. So, I'm just, I'm making mental notes. So. Because to use your body or your equipment to make money, you need to convert that into something that makes money for you. And, I think that's what we're getting with the storage units. Yeah. Right? Yep. So, again, the difference between working hard and not having anything when you're in your 80s and working hard and having something in your 80s is when your body's young, your mind is sharp, and you have the ability to make money, take some pieces of that and invest it in something that's going to make you some money in the future. Is that? Like the storage. Like the storage unit. Got it.
Roy Lietz: See, I built, and you know this, you've heard me talk about it. I built that building for my equipment.
Keith Vance: Wow. And. So, for people who don't know. And. For people who don't know, you're in the dump truck business. You built your house with the money that you made. You bought a piece of land to store your equipment. Right? Mm-hmm. To store your equipment. Right. All right. Now, you saw an opportunity there.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. Well, I built, like I said, I built that, I built that building. For my equipment on the same property I built my house on. Right. And then in 95, I just decided that I wanted to retire, that I felt that I had things in order enough that I could.
Keith Vance: So in 95, how old are you?
Roy Lietz: Well, in 95, I'd have been 51. Okay. Yeah.
Keith Vance: So by the time you moved from Illinois to Maine, you said you were, I think you were early 30s, right? When you started the pizza shop, you said you're early 30s. Yeah. Now 51. So for me, it was about 20 year stretch. Yeah. So for 20 years, you're just working long days, seeing opportunities, not being fearful of, and just getting after it. So in 20 years, you're like, hey man, I think I've made enough money here. Yeah. I want to make a different transition. Right. Yeah. Okay.
Roy Lietz: So I sold my equipment and I kept a 544 John Deere loader for a couple of years. And then I thought, why did you keep that? So I sold that too. And well, once I got all that equipment out of that building, all of a sudden, hey, I got a boat or something. So that's how I got started there. Now that was in 95. And then in 2000, when I seen all of a sudden, that big building of mine was full. Wow. So in 2000, I went up to 31. And I bought the south side of the road there. I bought that five acres and built them storage buildings. And then in 2002, I bought the other five acres on the other side of the road.
Keith Vance: So for people who may not understand where we live and understand this, your house that you live in now is what, like 30 acres? 24. 24 acres. Yeah. You have a big, long barn in the outback. Yeah. I've worked on that barn. We had a hurricane. Yeah. We lost some metal roofing. So I know what it looks like. So you have your house. You have this barn that, this big, long barn that you use for all your equipment when you need it. Yeah. You sold that equipment. People and friends say, hey, can I store my boat there? Where you live, there's a bunch of RV parks and stuff, right? Yeah, there is. And people haul them. Yeah. And so you're just letting your friends park and stuff in there. And then it was full. It's like, hmm, there's an opportunity here. So you buy up the road on 31 some property. Build some storage units. And you know, there's self-storage all over the place now. Yeah. But you were ahead of the time.
Roy Lietz: I was. I got lucky.
Keith Vance: You were ahead of the time, brother.
Roy Lietz: And then with Babcock all of a sudden coming in and buying right across the road from
Keith Vance: me. So you, but so describe to me the storage facility business. I know about it, but describe it. For someone who doesn't know, you, there's these trailer parks and stuff around us. You would even haul the trailers for them when they would go up the north. You say, hey, I'll take care of that. And you charge them a fee to go park it. Like you, you took care of your people. Yeah. So let's talk about the storage business. How long, how long were you, did you do that for?
Roy Lietz: Well, I, I opened it in the year 2000. Okay. And the, on the South side of the road. And then I just outgrow that five acres. So in 2002, I bought the five acres on the other side of the road. And in a year's time, I failed it. So I got 10 acres. I had 436 people paying me rent.
Keith Vance: What's the average rent?
Roy Lietz: Oh, I don't know what you'd call an average because you got outside and inside. This was the average. But the, an average rent would probably be, if you combine the inside and the outside together, probably be 65 to $75 a month.
Keith Vance: So it's not, it's, it's reasonable. Yeah. It's reasonable. Uh,
Roy Lietz: so that was, uh, the good Lord smiled on me when I went and bought that land. Yeah. I never dreamed or had any idea. Nobody knew that Babcock Ranch was going to build right across from me on
Keith Vance: 31. Before we get to Babcock Ranch, how long were you running the, the storage facility for? How long did I run it? Yeah.
Roy Lietz: I actually, for, uh, I actually closed on it, uh, January the 31st of 24, but I had at least out for three years out of that. Got it. So I ran it from, uh, until 21. Got it. And then you ended up selling it. I, I had at least out and yeah. And then I've sold it. And then I've sold it. I got, I'll never say that I've sold it until they make their last payment. And I've got until the year 1996 or the 96 payment. I mean, and eight at the end of eight years, then they either got to write me a really big check or I'll be the owner. I'll be the proud owner of it again or my kids will.
Keith Vance: But, um, and you make a, you bring a good point. Because in business, a lot of it is just being willing to work hard, whatever it takes to get it done. But then while you're being diligent in your business, being a wise steward, working your business, taking care of your customers, you said the good Lord smiled on me. So years ago, up 31, you're out in the middle of nowhere. There's, I think there's a fire department close by. And then there's just you in the storage. And it just looks like an abandoned old, like nothing. Yeah. But boy, brother, you go there now, there's a whole city across the road from you. What? A city? A city across the road from you. So what does that mean? What does that mean for you or where you're at?
Roy Lietz: Well, just as a gift from God. Why? Why? I'd like to say that I deserved it. Is it? No. No. It's just, I don't, I'd like to say that. I don't. Good things happen to good people.
Keith Vance: Your property value just went way up, right? Yeah. Your property value over there just skyrocketed, right? Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah.
Roy Lietz: I, but I, I made life very easy for my children as a result of it. Right. And, uh, uh, well, I, I will. Right. They don't get their hands on it yet. Yeah. And, um, you know, it's just, you know, I, I, if you want to, I want to go back and talk about Natalie. Okay. Let's, um. Not go back. I just want to talk
Keith Vance: about her. We're going to. So, and this is a good transition here. Yeah. We talked about your business. We talked about your work ethic, your diligence, you're seeing opportunities and getting after it. And then we saw God blessing you. And we saw that financially you can take care of not only your wife, but a big circle. Um, and again, this podcast is for like entrepreneurs and business people, people, people behind us are going to hear your story. And I want to talk about the grit to do what it takes, but also what's the purpose, not just to have money. Cause money doesn't bring happiness. Right. No, but money does create opportunities. And I want to talk about those opportunities that you're able to have to invest in people. I want to talk about Natalie. I want to talk about those kids that I talked about earlier. I want to talk about you being in a place where you can look around and have a, have a heartbeat on relationships and be able to be generous, to be able to invest time in the people because you've created a space in your life where you can have time for people. Um, but right now I got to hit that bathroom. So let's take a little break. We'll come back and talk about that side of you. This part of the podcast is brought to you by Frequence. The product is source. These are my trace minerals. It's no big secret that the American diet isn't what it used to be. Our food is not nutrient dense. This helps close the gap for me. Find the link in the bio and let's get back to the show. All right. We're back from the break. So we talked about your life and business. You created this nest egg, not just for you, but it was to take care of your circle, your daughters and your son that we briefly talked about.
Crosstalk: Yeah. Um,
Crosstalk: yeah. So the, the, the plan
Keith Vance: Roy was for you to turn over the, the storage to your, to your son and like to set him up.
Roy Lietz: I'd literally build it for him.
Keith Vance: And then there was a, a severe change in life that happened. What year was that? 2008, 2008. Yep. I remember you came in the deli and your demeanor was different. Yeah. Yeah. Your demeanor was different. Yeah. So Roy jr. He was 27, 27 years old. He was on his motorcycle and they think an animal or something right out in front of him. Great. Great.! Great. Raccoons. Yeah,
Crosstalk: raccoon.
Roy Lietz: Yeah, that is something that I am probably every day or night. I pray that no other parent has to go through. It's horrible.
Keith Vance: You pray that and I pray that, but the reality is it happens. Yeah. It happens. I don't know why it happens, but the reality is it happens.
Keith Vance: So here you got your boy that you're setting up for life and have a game plan that he's taken. And you've never gotten over that.
Roy Lietz: No, never will.
Keith Vance: I know some things about him. I know he loved boats. I know he loved motocross. I know you and him were connected on motocross. Like anything that boy wanted to do, you supported him with everything. And you guys were tight. You guys were close.
Roy Lietz: People always said, you're going anywhere without him. I said, not if I can help it. Yeah. No, we traveled a lot, you know, for his motocross. It wasn't really exciting for me, but I was with him. And that was, I mean, he raced in Unadilla, New York, and Michigan, Pontiac, and the Silverdome, Atlanta, Georgia. We traveled. I went and bought a toy hauler, a new diesel truck, and away we went. Some of the happiest days of my life.
Keith Vance: But even that, you building something to where you could take the time to spend with him, that's precious. Because not everybody has those opportunities. A lot of people are working day to day and don't have those opportunities. But you had this opportunity because of your work ethic and the intellect that God gave you, the work ethic that God gave you, to spend all this time with your son. Yeah. That was a gift. Yeah. It was a gift.
Crosstalk: Yeah.
Crosstalk: So, anything that you want to, while we're
Keith Vance: here talking about this, anything you want to say to honor your boy in this little pocket where we're at, to remember him?
Roy Lietz: The only way I can, the best way that I can honor him, I do on a daily basis. And that's because he's always on my mind. Mm-hmm. And that's it. Yeah. You know, that's, he wouldn't expect any less out of me. Yeah. You know? No.
Keith Vance: I know his room, you left it just the way it was. I'm sorry? I know his room, you left it just the way it was. Yeah, it is. All these years. And I sleep there.
Roy Lietz: I sleep in that room. His clothes are still hanging in the closet. Yeah. And his trophies are still there. I allowed my daughters, a couple of my daughters wanted some of these trophies. I let them take them. And especially my youngest daughter, she, him and her were real, real tight.
Roy Lietz: Mm-hmm. I'll just get up and say, you know what? It's time. But he'll have to be the one to tell me.
Keith Vance: Yeah. That's that. That. I
Roy Lietz: think I'll know when that time comes. Yeah. You know?
Roy Lietz: That's,
Keith Vance: you know, losing a child, especially in their 20s, especially as close as you were to him. Yeah. I don't think that's something I would ever want to get over. No. No.
Roy Lietz: I've, you know, I've had a few enemies in my life, but I would not whoosh that on one of them.
Keith Vance: That's the deepest pain you've ever felt? Yeah.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. I wouldn't whoosh that on my worst enemy losing a child. Yeah. It's the worst thing that can happen to
Crosstalk: a parent.
Keith Vance: In the hardest and lowest time of your life, a little sprout of blessing came up. And during that timeframe that I think gave you something not to distract you from the pain, but it gave you something to focus on. Yeah. And you mentioned Natalie. Yes, Natalie. Natalie. Natalie. Describe that relationship with Natalie. Who is Natalie? Like, describe losing your son and then this little blossom that popped up in your life that I think was medicine to you.
Roy Lietz: Right after we lost Roy, Natalie's mother, Roy's ex-girlfriend, whom they were
Crosstalk: not dating at the time than... You know, right at
Roy Lietz: the time she came to the house and she said she had something to tell us. And the minute she said that, I knew what it was. I just knew we were sitting there at the kitchen table. And I said, you're pregnant. Yeah, I'm going to have a baby. And she told us. And so anyhow, come May, she had a baby, a little baby girl. And I was in Maine by this time, up to my summer home. And Sharon, my wife, flew back to Florida to be in a hospital with Natalie's mama. And so when Natalie was eight days old, I got on a plane and flew back to Florida because I had to see this baby.
Roy Lietz: And I tell everybody that I took her, Heather handed her to me and I was holding her. And I looked and I saw them blue eyes.
Roy Lietz: And I fell in love with
Crosstalk: her. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Right then and right there. Yeah, you did. That was all she wrote, brother. That was it. Because listen, once that girl came on the scene, Roy, she was with you. Like every time I saw you, there she was. Papa, Papa.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. Apple. That's my name. Apple. Yeah, Apple. She's 16 now. Mm-hmm. And driving, doing real well in school.
Roy Lietz: And she's got a wonderful stepfather.
Keith Vance: So you guys get together how often, you and Natalie?
Roy Lietz: Two, three times a week now. Two, three times a week. She only lives three miles from me. Yeah. I used to go pick her up from school the night. And her and I'd go to Rib City or Waffle House or two favorite places to eat. Mm-hmm. But then when we go out as a group, you know, my circle of friends, we always take Natalie with us. And she wants to go because, you know, she likes them too. They look at her as family. So, and, oh, she's been a blessing in my life.
Keith Vance: You lost Roy. What month did you lose Roy? August. August 15th. And then when did- 2008. And then when did Natalie come on the scene?
Roy Lietz: Eight months later.
Keith Vance: Eight months later. Yeah. Perfect timing. Huh? Perfect timing.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. Yes. That's all I'm going to say about that. She, um,
Roy Lietz: Roy made a comment to me on the phone. I was in Maine, said him and Heather, Natalie's mother, uh, they had went fishing. And, uh, I said, and, uh, I thought you and her was done. He said, dad, I love to fish with her. She's a wonderful fisherman. And then he went on to say how hot it was. He said, we had to hunt for a shady spot. You know what I mean? Yeah, I know what you mean. Um,
Roy Lietz: maybe I shouldn't even say this, but nine months to the day from that day. Wow. Natalie was born. Wow. So when Natalie came into this world, I'm strongly suspecting, I think, uh, that, uh, that Roy was her father. Mm. And, uh, that's actually what I wanted. Right. And, uh, but Heather informed us that he wasn't, she wasn't. And, uh,
Keith Vance: but it didn't matter to you. And, uh,
Roy Lietz: but no, it, at first it kind of bothered me a little bit. And, uh, uh, but now it don't, it just don't matter. Don't matter. Don't matter.
Keith Vance: That's your grandbaby.
Roy Lietz: That's it. Yeah. That's it. She, uh, she, she's traveled summers, spent the whole summer with me in Maine. She's done that three or four years. And, um, so then her brother got married, you know, to the, um, man she's married to now. Yeah. I, I knew
Keith Vance: him. I didn't, I knew him for his, he was coming to the deli with his German shepherd. Right. Just a really good dude.
Roy Lietz: Oh, he is. He's a nice
Keith Vance: guy. And then later on, I found out that they're dating and had gotten married. Yeah. I'm like, I'm thinking, yeah, what a perfect, what a perfect father figure for Natalie. Yeah. Well. And then. Natalie
Roy Lietz: lives with her stepfather. Her mother is gone and been gone for some time now.
Roy Lietz: And that just lends strength to what you just said about him being a good guy. Yeah. He, Natalie, told me just that. He said, Natalie, you're not going to leave me, are you? She said, no, I'm not going to leave you.
Keith Vance: Right. I had a thought just now.
Keith Vance: Like, listening to your story from the beginning all the way through where we're at now.
Keith Vance: Natalie is your family, but she's not. Early on, Harmon was family, but he's not. A black caretaker was family, but she's not. Like, family doesn't have to look a certain way, does it? No. Doesn't have to look a certain way. And God can bring people in our lives that we can just love and treat like family, and it doesn't have to look a certain way. Right. And then listening to your story, a mother, your mother that should have been family, that's not. No. But other people that aren't family and are more connected than real family. Yeah. Right. Than actual blood. Yeah. Like, that's something that I can learn from you.
Roy Lietz: And don't ever sort your family out by their blood. By the bloodline.
Keith Vance: Don't do that. Yeah. I can learn that from you.
Roy Lietz: Because I learned a long, long time ago that doesn't matter. You know, my daddy accepted my baby sister.
Keith Vance: Even that story. Yeah. That's your sister.
Roy Lietz: She was, daddy wasn't her biological father, but, oh God, he loved her. He took to her, and she was a wonderful person, thanks to daddy. Yeah. Not my mother.
Keith Vance: I can see this theme from your dad taking on a daughter, and then you taking on a granddaughter. I can see this theme of, it doesn't have to be blood to be family. No. Man, and how God connects people in our lives at the right time that sometimes are closer than family.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. They're placed there. Placed there. Yeah. I believe that. But anyhow, I just want the best for Natalie and for my children and my wife. That's what I want.
Keith Vance: Yeah. Man. And you've done a good job of building a life for your family. I, like when I talk about being Still Strong, a part of being Still Strong is that financial stability. It's not about the money. It's about, as men, doing what we're supposed to do. If God gives you abilities and talents to get after it 100%, to build what you're supposed to build. And we're all built differently. Not everybody's an entrepreneur, but if you are, be the best one you can be. Like whatever God has called you to be, get after and be whatever you're supposed to be. I've seen. Not for yourself, but for the ones that you love.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. In my life, I've seen so many people that I've noticed it in employees that I've had over the years. And I've had a lot of them. They, all I think I can think of is a baseball catcher. They're just sitting back waiting on something to drop into their glove. Oh. They're not willing to run out to the mound to get the ball.
Keith Vance: That's a good analogy.
Roy Lietz: And then I, in my lifetime of having employees, I've had two or three of them say, well, it's easy for you to say, you know, the money you got. And I always told them all the same thing. Nobody gave me that money. Right. I worked for it. Right. And you need to do that. You know, you don't want to work overtime. You don't want to work Saturdays or Sundays, you know. So until you change your mind, if you, it ain't going to change.
Keith Vance: But you learned that at an early age, eight years old, milking cows. You learned a work ethic. And that work ethic has been a recipe for success for you. Yeah.
Roy Lietz: Well, I often ask myself, and I had neighbor guys ask me, you do all that? Work for your dad because you love him or because you're afraid of him? I said a little bit of both. A little bit of both. A little bit of both. Boy, he was a disciplinarian. He said, I don't chew my tobacco twice, boy. And he meant, he meant every word of that. Wow. I shouldn't tell this on myself. Well, when I was a freshman in high school, they had this initiation. You had to go. Let me differ. and steal something worth 25 cents. And I said, no, I'm not doing that, you know. So anyhow, one day Daddy and I was in, it was called the Five and Die, and walked along and there was a bin that had these little pocket knives about that long and had a chain on it. And I said, Daddy, can I have this? And he glanced at it and he said, just something else to get hurt with, boy, and I put it up. And he just walked on. I stuck that in my pocket when he turned his back. And we got home. We had just got a telephone. So we drove out the country to the farm, and the phone rang, and I was all excited to answer it. I ran over and answered it, and I heard that voice. Daddy wrote a check. And back then, they just had blank drafts. You'd write in the name of the bank and sign it, and that was it. And I said, yeah. I said, Daddy, the phone's for you. I laid the phone down, and I started towards the front door. I got right out into the kitchen. I heard him say, just a minute, boy. I knew what it was.
Keith Vance: I bet your heart sank.
Roy Lietz: Oh, man. He beat about two years of growth right off the line. Oh, no. He did. With a tug strap. But you know what? I never stole anything again the rest of my life. Wow. And I don't think I would have anyway, but he just confirmed that. Just made sure. Yeah. To show his conviction, three years later, my sister goes to high school. Same thing. And she got caught. Oh, no. And I thought, well, yeah. He took her to the barn, and he took a tug strap to her. And I could hear her letting the screeches rain, and I could feel for her. She couldn't say anything. I said, well, I'll bet you he didn't hit you as hard as he did me. But Daddy, but here's the thing about Daddy. He got to the back of my legs, so he told me to come out at the table. I had to come out there and eat. And I could hardly walk. He picked me up, carried me in, laid me belly first on my bed. And he sat down on the edge of the bed, and he put his hand on my shoulder, on my opposite shoulder. He said, you're not going to understand this now, son, but someday you will. That hurt me more than it did you. And I said, how could you say that after the way you hit me? That's what he told me. And I've never, ever, ever, or will I ever forget that? Wow. You know, it hurt me worse than it did you.
Keith Vance: So he disciplined you. But he also communicated love to you.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. You know what? That's the only time I think my father ever laid a hand on me in my life. Really? Yeah.
Keith Vance: It's when you stole.
Roy Lietz: I've seen him grab me by the arm. Are you listening? Yeah. No. But never, ever a blow or anything. Same way with my sister. You know, Daddy didn't. He didn't tend to thieving. He didn't. You
Crosstalk: know, so. He, uh. It was. That's the way the world ought to be today, to be perfectly
Roy Lietz: honest with you. You know, as far as children go. I don't mean they ought to get a beating. But I'm just saying, there's a lot of discipline lacking in today's society. Teenagers, young kids, adults, old people. I mean, we're living in a world of people just, I don't know. I don't know what's wrong.
Keith Vance: We've definitely lost our way.
Roy Lietz: Yes, we have. Yeah.
Keith Vance: And I don't. Yeah, we've definitely lost our way. Yeah. Just, just common respect. Just common respect. It's gone. Yeah. It's gone. Especially gotta be hard on an old guy like you. I'm 81 years old.
Roy Lietz: They gotta be nice to me. I'm old. Listen. They just soon punch me in the face.
Keith Vance: It's no wonder, like, that you're just not a cranky old man just mad at the world. Being around 81 years with a bunch of people, disrespectful young whippersnappers. Like, it's a wonder you're not cranky. You know the sad part
Roy Lietz: of it? I'll still tell them that, too. Good for you. Yeah. I still tell them, you know. I, uh.
Keith Vance: Can we, can we, uh, Roy, what I really like about you, and I mentioned it, you take in stray animals. Your wife and all those cats. The stray dogs. Children. Yeah. Can you just, can you just
Crosstalk: paint a picture of the. The. For instance. And you can
Keith Vance: tell the story. But for instance, it, it, it hit me hard when I saw you bring those two kids into the deli. Mm-hmm. That I knew there was something. You picked up there was something wrong with their home life, and you took it upon yourself to be a shield or just a respite, just a break for whatever it was they're going through. Like, you have a heart for, you have a soft spot. You're a big heart man, but you've got a soft spot, and I know you've been generous. I know you've given yourself. And I know you don't like talking about yourself, but just for my own piece of...
Roy Lietz: Well, them three girls that you talk about, they lived right down the road from me. And their home life was not good. Not at all. A lot of swearing, a lot of drinking. And so, I... They would walk and ride bicycles up and down. Well, Natalie was at my house. Natalie was living with us at that point. So, them girls come up there, and they go back up to the pond, and I'd go up there and let them swim, and I'd sit right there and watch them swim. And so, the second oldest girl, Alana, and Skye is the oldest one, and Brooklyn is the youngest, and Alana was the middle girl. She's the girl that got hit by the school bus on Durant Road. And they got killed, 12 years old. And that really, really, really bothered me. And there's still a monument there for her. And so, Brooklyn and Skye. Skye's out of school now, and she just went to Texas. Her and three other girls. Skye is 18 now. And Brooklyn, she's 15. And... No, she isn't. She's 16. She's 16 now. Same age as Natalie. Exactly. So, I just... They didn't know what it was like to go to Dairy Queen. I took them to Dairy Queen a lot. And they'd go in there and, you know, get the sandwich they wanted and have a Sunday or something. What
Keith Vance: was it that you saw in those girls that you said, hey, I need to intervene for them? What was it?
Roy Lietz: A drunken father.
Keith Vance: You picked up on that.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. Oh, it wasn't hard to do. And I wanted them. And I wound up after about the third or fourth time that I had had them out. Just them and I. And now I've got four little girls. Yeah. And I told them, if you ever need a place to come to, you come here. You know. Or if you need help. I even asked the oldest girl one time, does your dad ever hit you? No. No. He just yells and screams and throws stuff, she says. But he doesn't hit me. I said he hits
Crosstalk: mama. So I said, wow. That's...
Roy Lietz: You know, they're still married. And as far as I know, he's still a drunk. Their mother works for a bank. And she's a nice lady. But in my opinion, she's a fool for putting up with it. But...
Crosstalk: Well,
Keith Vance: I don't want to disparage them. I don't know them. I'm just... I just want to... I just want to hear, like, your play in the situation. And that you had the intuition. Because... We just said, blood doesn't make you family. And for you to reach out to someone else, like these little girls, and to pick up on it, and take time as an adult man to take time and to show some love and some compassion to some girls that need it, and to minister into their lives. I want to be like that. Yeah. And I feel like there's opportunities all around us. But we get so blind to what... Our own day-to-day. Our own struggles. And I want to be like what you're describing. And I think a part of... And a part of that is to create this buffer to where I don't need money. And I can see that the real needs around me. And to be a point of... Just to lift someone up. Even if it's just for a couple hours to go to Dairy Queen. Just to give a kid a break. Yeah. I want to be like that.
Roy Lietz: It ain't hard to find a child that needs someone.
Keith Vance: Isn't that sad to say it's not hard? That's sad, Roy. Two of
Roy Lietz: those, out of them three girls, two of them girls told me, I wish you was my dad. That's sad, Roy. Now, you think that don't get your attention? I wish you could be my dad. They wasn't saying that from the material. Things. They were showing it from the fact that I paid attention to them. You showed love to them. You know, I think, I noticed that the oldest girl there mined her father. He told her something. But I think that was out of just natural born respect, I think. I don't know, but it don't matter. I have no use for him.
Keith Vance: My, six years ago, I went to Michigan to visit one of my uncles that was dying. And my dad and I took a little road trip down memory lane. He showed me where he was, grew up and everything. And we pulled up into this one house, Roy, put the car in park. And then he went on to describe how old he was at this house and what life was like in this house. And Roy, they're not like where you're at, where there's these two and a half acre tracks or five acre tracks. Roy, the houses are close together. Right. The houses are close together. They're small houses, maybe a thousand square foot, and they're just right next to each other. So he's describing when his dad would come home drunk. He's describing like just a chaotic lifestyle and out of respect for him and the family. I'm not, just Roy, it.
Crosstalk: Terrible.
Crosstalk: No kid should be treated that way. No.
Keith Vance: Let alone by their parents. Yeah, I know. And so he's telling me this stuff. And I'm looking at the house right there and the freaking house right there. And I'm thinking, nobody intervened for this six-year-old boy? Yeah. The neighbor didn't come over here and like... Lay
Roy Lietz: hands on him?
Keith Vance: He said, Keith, it was just a different time back then. I said, Dad, different time or not, if I was your neighbor, I would have protected you. Different time or not, I would have protected you. Yeah. And that's what I love about you. Yeah. Is you have eyes for the innocent and you just don't see it and walk away. You do something about it.
Roy Lietz: I try. And
Keith Vance: I want to be that way.
Roy Lietz: That's a good quality to have.
Keith Vance: I want to be that way. That's what I love about you, man. I'm going to tell one story. We're going to tell it together. We're going to end this thing on a positive note. And then I'm going to let you finish this podcast however you want. So normally, I would say, hey, Roy, where are you at in life now? What would you speak to someone else? So be thinking about that. But we're going to finish one story. Okay. And you can correct me where I'm wrong. Your wife. How many cats do you guys have at the house?
Roy Lietz: How many cats?
Keith Vance: Cats. In the house? Or at the house, on the property. More or less. Is it 100?
Roy Lietz: No, no, no, no, no, no. I think she's down to like 12 or 13. Oh, so
Keith Vance: she's way down. Yeah. I remember she was feeding some stray cats by this dumpster area or doing something. Yeah. And some guy that was new to the neighborhood. You know where I'm going. Yeah. Some guy that was new to the neighborhood was being disrespectful to Sharon. Yeah. He called
Roy Lietz: her a very foul name.
Keith Vance: Somehow you got involved. Somehow this guy pushed you or did something. And the next thing he knows, and I think you're 70 something years old at this time. This guy's in his mid-30s.
Roy Lietz: I was 69.
Keith Vance: This dude's mid-30s and you're 69. Yeah. And at 69 years old, you wrapped him up in a freaking rear naked choke. Yeah. Choked him out. Dropped him on the ground. Yeah. Cops came. They're looking at him. He's all busted up and bloodied up and messed up. They're looking at you like, what's wrong with you, sir? Ain't nothing wrong with me. But he got a charge for abuse against the elderly because you're 69 years old and he's the one that got abused. Listen, Roy, I love that. Because at 70 years old, I want to be in a place in my life, not just monetarily, not just an open heart for children, but I want to choke something out at somebody out of 70. And I want them to go to jail for abuse against the elderly and I don't want to mark on me. You're the one
Roy Lietz: that sent me the sweatshirt. I did, didn't I?
Keith Vance: What did the shirt say? Heavyweight champion, a Dura-Tro. All right. So now you, you, you lived the story. So you tell me what, tell me what really happened.
Roy Lietz: My wife used to go around and feed feral cats, different locations, hog bodies. Yeah. Circle K up on 31. And then across the road from this guy's house, there's a two and a half acre track that a lady from Germany owns. And feral cats had taken into that. My wife would go down there and feed him. Now this guy lived. Now this guy lived. Now this guy lived. Now this guy lived. Now this guy lived. Now this guy lived. Let us differ differ differ differ on the other side of the road. And my wife told me he'd been yelling at her. And when she go down there, it got to the point, I didn't even know who he was, but I saw him riding by one day in a car and I was down at the mailbox and I just stopped and I looked at him and he went by. And so then the next time I ever laid eyes on him, was in LaHong's grocery store. And I just stood there and looked at him. I made him nervous. Me just standing there staring at him. Well, this particular night, I told my wife, I'm going. Oh, she told me the night before he was out there swearing at her and everything. So we had that Toyota Sequoia and it had a tin of windows. So I drove her down there and she got out to feed the cats. Well, he did not know I was in that Sequoia. Now I'm parked on the other side of the road and I just put her passenger window down a little bit so I could hear. And he started hoaring her profanities. And I got out of the Sequoia on the driver's side and started walking across the road at him. And he started telling me everything he was going to do to me if I come on his property. And I just let him talk. And they, he said, I told him, I said, you goofed up, man. You don't talk to my, you don't disrespect my wife like that. You don't own that property. And I said a few things to him too. But when I walked, I mean, he was a big guy. When I got to the distance that I wanted to be, talking was all over. I hit him right dead between the eyes.
Roy Lietz: And then I had to step back because he fell. Then I, like you said, I, he started to get up on his hands and knees. He's, I'm riding him like a puppy. I got him in that choke. I just waited on him to go limp. And there, his wife come out. I said, tell him next time. It's only going to get worse. And it's all what I said to her. And, uh, don't ever yell at my wife again. And they didn't. Sharon said, I don't think, I don't think he'd even turn in his driveway if I was there. So, but then the county came and Sharon, uh, got the county to come out and trap all them cats. One of them, she's trapped and it's living in my house now. Yeah. I don't, and, but all of her cats, you know, they're getting old and, and, she's got, you know, we go to law on grocery store every night and feed 10 or 11. Yeah. You know, I'll be with 10 there one night and 11 the next got one cat that comes and goes. She goes there every night, six o'clock. That's, that's our routine. Go down and feed the cats. And then she's constantly, I'm seeing checks to, uh, Farrell's of Lee County or something. Yeah. That's her passion.
Keith Vance: That's her passion. Everybody, everybody needs one. That's her. And then
Roy Lietz: that dog that I have, I absolutely love. Uh, I picked him up along the road in North Carolina. Wow. We went up there to looking for property actually. And the first day we was there and there was this pup. Have you ever seen my dog? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's, he's awesome. He really is. And
Keith Vance: for those of you that don't know, Roy's been having been trying to have a dog for as long as I've known. Five years. And Sharon just won't let him, but she finally broke down. She finally broke down. I never thought I'd see the day.
Roy Lietz: Yeah. They, uh, she told me you're too old to get a dog. Cause I lost my last dog, which was an American bulldog. Uh, and, uh, I, I mean, I've had dogs my whole life. I love dogs.
Keith Vance: Yeah, I know.
Roy Lietz: And, but when I saw that pup, took me two days to catch him, but I got him. Wow. Bacon, bacon strips. Crazy. He couldn't turn it down. And, the other day I picked him up, I'm standing on the scales and I won and I just picked him up. I said, I think the scales are way him and I both. And he weighed a 90.4 pounds. Oh, so
Keith Vance: he's up there.
Roy Lietz: And Sharon said, Oh, he don't weigh that much. He's just all muscle. So a few days later, I went out to 31 and I have, cause I got him everywhere I go. Sure. And I went and drove into the vets and I walked in and I said, can I bring my dog in and wave? Sure. So I walked him in there and he stepped on the scale and he weighed 90. I knew. One seven. Big boy. And he'd be three years old in June, I think it is. He'd be three years old, but what a fabulous dog.
Keith Vance: Everybody needs a companion. Huh? Everybody needs a companion. Yeah. Dogs are good companions.
Roy Lietz: I don't. I know I bought that new truck. I think he's probably driven down the value of it about $10,000 with the dog hair.
Keith Vance: That's like my truck. Agnes rides around with me, but I hate having her in there because she sheds all over the place, but I feel bad leaving her. So it's just.
Roy Lietz: When I left there to come out here today, I started because he's content. He'll just lay out there. Yeah. But Sharon said, you leave him right here. My wife's not a dog fan. No. He's winning her over, though.
Keith Vance: Good. Well, Roy, we're going to wrap this up. I know you've got stuff to do, but just you spending the last couple hours just reminiscing your life with me. What would you speak to someone else? Where you're sitting at in life right now, what would you speak to someone else to be an encouragement to them?
Roy Lietz: Just don't ever give up and always keep looking forward, not backwards. And be willing to put in the work.
Keith Vance: It's worked for you. Yeah. It's worked for you. That's what
Roy Lietz: worked for me. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Well, man, I love you. I appreciate our friendship. Yeah. I think I've. I enjoy being around older people because you can learn a lot from their wisdom. Yeah. And you never know when we're not going to be here. And I appreciate you laying some wisdom down with us today. Yeah. Brother, let's get out of here.
Intro voiceover: Still Strong. Watch me rise my way. Slow growth turns into real change. I found joy in the simple days. In honest work and faith. Still Strong. No rush. No rage. Let's do it. Let's do it.