Scaling IT Services in Small Towns: Ali Johnston (EP 804)

[Uncle Marv]
Hello friends, Uncle Marv back, continuing with day two, ASCII Edge in Orlando. We are halfway through, just finished lunchtime now with Solution Pavilion. But I am here with a friend of the show, a fan favorite, Ali Johnston, Bel Tech Services out of my hometown, Satellite Beach, Florida.

[Ali Johnston]
Ali, how are you? Awesome, Marv, great to see you. How's everything going?

It's going good for me. How's it going for you? Really good.

This is actually my first event of the year. Get out.

[Uncle Marv]
You've been traveling all over the place before.

[Ali Johnston]
Before I was. Took a little, you know, hiatus there. Really worked on the business.

That was, you know, super important to me. So got out of the circuit for a little while, but I'm back and yeah, this is my first event. All right.

[Uncle Marv]
So what have you been doing with the business? Because I remember you were doing a big cybersecurity push early last year. So how did that go and what else have you been doing?

[Ali Johnston]
So, yeah, it's actually going well. I, you know, really did a big push for growth. That was my main goal for end of year and still going into this year.

So hyper growth and that's all working out great. Yes. Focusing on cybersecurity and trying to get back into I was doing a lot of webinars, you know, and then I was going on your show.

I really wanted to get on. Get the word out about cybersecurity because awareness is my biggest thing. And actually, as of late, I know personally know two people who fell for scams.

And you just never think it's going to happen to someone, you know, but it did. And it hit really close to home. I can't believe what these scammers are doing.

I mean, it's just getting out of control. I don't know if you saw my post, but they went so far to get this person an Uber to take them to the bank.

[Uncle Marv]
I did stand by it. I didn't read the full details. But, yeah, listen, if they think that there is a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow, they're going to take it.

Yep. And if they can string people along and yes, you have money, you can't go out, get you there. And wow, that's pretty interesting.

I did not know that in your post. Now, is this somebody local in the beach area?

[Ali Johnston]
Yes.

[Uncle Marv]
And the beach area stuff, some of those some of those people haven't been exposed to. Right. A lot of the going on in our arena.

So, yeah, educating them has got to be interesting.

[Ali Johnston]
It is. And it's our you know, it's our it's the older community. I should let people know.

[Uncle Marv]
So Satellite Beach, there were two aspects to Satellite Beach when I moved there. The Air Force Base, which is how I got there. And then the retirement slash.

We grew up here and we never left.

[Ali Johnston]
You hit the nail on the head.

[Uncle Marv]
Satellite Beach. I mean, it's a it's a big town. To say, I mean, my wife is from a much, much smaller place in Ohio.

And I mean, like my graduating class was bigger than her high school. So if that wow, it's a weird thing because Satellite Beach isn't big by Florida standards, but it is a nice place. So and I know it's growing, especially the Melbourne side.

People are moving there. It's a nice commute to Orlando and stuff. But it is still that sleepy type of community where we don't have to worry about technology.

Yes, we're the Space Coast, but we don't care.

[Ali Johnston]
It's true.

[Uncle Marv]
And then a little history for listeners that may not know, you actually started in Fort Lauderdale. I did doing I.T. down there managing what was it, 200 people? Yes.

And then had to take a break and do that retirement thing to Satellite Beach.

[Ali Johnston]
Yeah, I got out of the rat race in 2018 and moved to sleepy Satellite Beach. I love it. I love it up there.

I really do.

[Uncle Marv]
So I know that you kept some clients in Fort Lauderdale.

[Ali Johnston]
I do, yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
But tell me, how is business there on the beach? Are you actually able to get true business managed services or are you dealing with the smaller mom and pop shop?

[Ali Johnston]
So right now, yes, it's mostly mom and pop shops. Most of my service work, you know, it starts out as service work that I can turn into managed services eventually. Coming from this small town, you know, they all tell me they don't want to deal with a big company.

They want someone local. They're like, oh, yeah, that's why I called you. You're down the road.

You're right on A1A. So are we. You know, I'm like, yeah, five minutes away.

I'll be right there. They love that. So, yeah, I'm getting a lot of small town customers.

[Uncle Marv]
Nice. Nice. I need to find out.

We do this off air, but I want to see if any of them know me.

[Ali Johnston]
That would be very interesting.

[Uncle Marv]
Because I know that every time I go back, you know, people get upset because, oh, you were here. You didn't let us know. We've not we've not compared notes to see how many of my friends are possibly your client.

[Ali Johnston]
You just never know.

[Uncle Marv]
Because I'm not poaching. I'm not asking for. I don't want to go to Satellite Beach and have to do tech.

[Ali Johnston]
Right. Yeah. And I do.

I love it. You know, all my customers, it takes me five minutes to get wherever I need to go in town. And I love that.

[Uncle Marv]
OK, we're going off script here. Tell me about the speed issues on A1A. The last time I was there, they've got all these little warning lights and pedestrian poles in the middle of the road.

What's up with A1A?

[Ali Johnston]
So it's a very dangerous portion of A1A by us. We had what had happened was we had a elementary age kid was hit by a car and it didn't. Yeah.

And so after that, the parents really pushed for speed reduction. They got it. So we went from 45 miles an hour down to 35.

And then that's when the government put in all of those pedestrian crosswalks. And it's still a problem. People are still going 50 miles an hour down A1A.

Which is a shame. But I'll tell you, if for anybody who ever comes to Satellite Beach, I'm going to tell you what, do not speed. We do not take kindly to people who are speeding.

So all my friends who come from Fort Lauderdale and you know, down there, we there's anarchy on the road. You can't go below the speed limit in Fort Lauderdale. No.

In Satellite Beach, you have to. Yeah. Yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
I remember driving through and I'm like, what is all of this? This was not here. But to give people perspective, you know, so your business is on A1A, which is literally across from the beach.

You cross over the street. You have condominiums to deal with. Those condominiums were not there when I grew up.

It was literally A1A and the beach. So when people see my high school, it's my high school, the shopping plaza, A1A and the beach. People are like, you live that close to the beach?

You go to school that close to the beach? Yes. Like, yeah, we would skip school and go surf.

[Ali Johnston]
Exactly. Oh, yeah. When I'm going, you know, when I'm driving around town and I see the kids running across, like from the public's parking lot, you know, with their boards underneath.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah, that's it.

[Ali Johnston]
I'm like, oh, the waves must be kicking today.

[Uncle Marv]
All right. So back to your business. I know that you so either you had a partner or somebody you were working with on the West Coast.

Are you still doing that?

[Ali Johnston]
No, but I actually am gaining traction on the West Coast, which is also interesting. So my customer base, mostly Fort Lauderdale, growing in Brevard, Satellite Beach, really, and then actually growing in the Tampa area, Tampa, St. Pete.

[Uncle Marv]
How so? How did you get Tampa?

[Ali Johnston]
I have a few friends over there and basically everything is coming from word of mouth. So I've got a great friend. She is, you know, works over there and they needed an IT person.

So, you know, yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
Expanding up into Viera?

[Ali Johnston]
No, as of yet, no, no.

[Uncle Marv]
Viera is an up and coming city community. It was tiny when I was there. It was Suntree was the big area west of the Intercoastal there.

And then Viera popped up and is now, you know, becoming this big master plan community. Master plan. Yes.

[Ali Johnston]
Yes.

[Uncle Marv]
That's the best way to describe it. Very interesting.

[Ali Johnston]
Very interesting out there. And we're actually getting a Topgolf. We're all very excited about that.

[Uncle Marv]
We've had a Topgolf for years. I don't know.

[Ali Johnston]
I know you have.

[Uncle Marv]
Is that a big deal?

[Ali Johnston]
For us? Heck yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
Like we've got a target.

[Ali Johnston]
For real. Well, I tell people, I try to give people perspective about the area. And I say, look, if I if I need to go to an Apple store, I have to drive to Orlando.

You know, that's where we are tiny.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah.

[Ali Johnston]
Especially compared to Fort Lauderdale. True.

[Uncle Marv]
True. But that was the beauty of Satellite Beach. You knew all the businesses.

As a matter of fact, I was driving back off of South Patrick Drive and the South Patrick Lumber is gone. I'm sorry.

[Ali Johnston]
I wouldn't know it. No, no.

[Uncle Marv]
The Double Tree Tennis.

[Ali Johnston]
Yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
It was right in that area.

[Ali Johnston]
OK. Now it's an eight. Now, well, I don't know if it's the same location, but we do have an ace.

[Uncle Marv]
An ace hardware.

[Ali Johnston]
Yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
Interesting. I know there was no ace when I was growing up there.

[Ali Johnston]
Yeah. Pretty new.

[Uncle Marv]
Reminiscing. What else is OK? So you're on a one day you're in a little plaza there.

What other what are the main businesses around you in my plaza?

[Ali Johnston]
So I actually it's a coworking space that I'm a part of. So we have multiple small businesses in that plaza. Mostly, though, I'm branching out like I've got health care.

I've got real estate agents, which is unique because they usually I've tried marketing to real estate people before. And they just they're like, I don't really need an IT person. But some of them, some of them do.

[Uncle Marv]
And so, well, they should because of the wire transfers and stuff. So I've got there's I think I've got three friends from high school that are realtors there. I'm going to throw their names out because they're never going to listen.

But if they do, Karen Horak.

[Ali Johnston]
OK.

[Uncle Marv]
Tina Veltri. No. OK.

Veltri. I think she's partnered with her brother. I remember his name.

And then I forget the other one. OK. So you don't know them.

[Ali Johnston]
I do not know them now.

[Uncle Marv]
I'll show you Facebook afterwards.

[Ali Johnston]
OK, great.

[Uncle Marv]
Let's see. And if I remember correctly where you are, you're not across from the Virginia Fried Chicken.

[Ali Johnston]
We're across from. Gosh. Morning Glory, which is probably new, is probably new to you.

Yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
How far are you down from the A-Frame?

[Ali Johnston]
What's that?

[Uncle Marv]
OK, that's probably I think it changed names. So it's not the A-Frame. There's an A-Frame looking building there that used to be the A-Frame.

It was like a little pub that we all went to.

[Ali Johnston]
Oh, that sounds interesting.

[Uncle Marv]
Right there on A1A.

[Ali Johnston]
Do you know Virginia? Yeah. OK.

Right around that. Right around there.

[Uncle Marv]
Right around there. OK, so DeSoto area.

[Ali Johnston]
Yes. Thank you.

[Uncle Marv]
Where we go every year to watch the Christmas lights.

[Ali Johnston]
Exactly. That's why I figured you would know it.

[Uncle Marv]
Of course.

[Ali Johnston]
Everybody goes to Virginia for Christmas.

[Uncle Marv]
Everybody. Yes. Virginia Court.

Yeah. The Avenue of Lights.

[Ali Johnston]
Yeah. OK. Doubles.

So Doubles moved from Patrick.

[Uncle Marv]
Doubles used to be on Patrick and they moved to A1A.

[Ali Johnston]
Yes.

[Uncle Marv]
Which is weird.

[Ali Johnston]
It is. All the people who all the old timers are like, oh, it's not the same. They moved.

It got expensive. Of course it did.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah. Moved to the beach. So.

[Ali Johnston]
Right.

[Uncle Marv]
It's got to. Sorry for it's about reminiscing, but it's interesting to talk to people from the beach.

[Ali Johnston]
Yeah. Yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
And so here's the weird thing. So there is a lot of tech there. Like Harris Corporation is there.

There's an office of L3 there. The Air Force Base had a lot of tech stuff there. So there is a ton of tech around there.

A lot of the people that worked for the Kennedy Space Center retired there and all of that stuff. So it is weird to know that there's tech around there. But yet most of the people that actually reach out are non-technical.

That's correct. Yeah. Businesses and stuff.

It's.

[Ali Johnston]
It's the area is booming. I mean, around us. You know, you go up to Kennedy Space Center, you know, you've got Blue Origin.

Big project up there with Blue Origin, you know, competing with Elon's satellites. A lot of commerce, a lot of business going on. The I try to get out into the community with chambers of commerce and such.

And so I keep I keep my finger on the pulse that way. But we're growing so quickly that we don't even have they're having trouble finding contractors. And of course, it's all government work.

Right. So the even trickier part is finding a contractor who doesn't dabble in extracurricular activities. I'll call it.

So we've got a. Yeah, they can't find contractors, plumbers, electricians.

[Uncle Marv]
So the opportunity is there at some point that you're going to get that business. All right. So this is your first foray out for 2025.

Any particular reason this one or what are you looking for specifically for the business?

[Ali Johnston]
Actually, no, I needed to get out really because it was close. I've been to a couple of ASCII events before. I love them.

They're small, they're intimate and you really get to I can actually talk to all the vendors right now. I think what's top of mind for me really is sassy zero trust and, you know, VPN. So that that's really where I'm at right now.

[Uncle Marv]
Have you talked to any of those particular vendors like total or.

[Ali Johnston]
I've talked to a few. Yes, for sure. OK, it's hard to align on one product.

And here's my biggest problem. How many agents am I going to put on the computer?

[Uncle Marv]
As many as needed.

[Ali Johnston]
I know. I'm just so you know, it's just like it's another agent consuming CPU and memory. And, you know, when's the computer going to stop running?

[Uncle Marv]
Well, at some point, these bundles are going to make it to where you just are able to do multiple things with one agent. We can talk about that on another show.

[Ali Johnston]
Yes, I'd like to, because I really would like to pick your brain on that. Yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
Don't pick it here.

[Ali Johnston]
No, I get it.

[Uncle Marv]
Got it. OK, cool. Ali, we missed you.

I told you that you were a fan, fan favorite.

[Ali Johnston]
Yeah.

[Uncle Marv]
We won't talk about what happened before, but we need to get you on. OK. And happy back on the show.

[Ali Johnston]
OK, good. I'd love to. Yeah, sure.

Thanks. Thanks for having me today.

[Uncle Marv]
Thank you for hanging out. And I know it's you got to go get some swag. So, yeah, go do that.

Find a vendor and we'll chat later. OK, cool. Thanks.

All right, folks. That's it. We'll be back with a couple more interviews here at ASCII Edge.