Jill Fratianne 0:02

Welcome to the Unscripted Symphony, the podcast where courage takes the lead and life's greatest opportunities happen between the notes. I'm Jill Frattiane, and with Each Week, we'll explore the stories, lessons, and bold decisions that remind us to do it scared, trust the process, and create a life that's uniquely your own. Welcome. We are here today with Murillo, or otherwise known as Murillo here in English, and is the founder and CEO of Black Sparrow Contracting, a Toronto-based construction company he built from zero to seven figures by bringing clear communication and tight timelines to an industry known for neither. I am super excited to have you here today. You uh um if we'll we'll drop your link in the bio and all of your socials, but um Marillo has been following his own daily non-negotiables and is inspiring all of us daily on social media on an industry, quite frankly, that is not known to be on the internet. I don't know too many contractors, you know, posting daily posts helping other contractors or even buyers or people hiring contracting companies. So one of the things I was super impressed with you is, and it leads to a question: how in the world is a construction company leveraging AI? I don't know too many other contractors leveraging cloud code, so you can you fill us in?

Murillo Silva 1:40

Yeah, absolutely. So the way that I've been using uh AI um is by replacing myself. If you are the bottleneck, I've been replacing myself as you know the role with AI. So I've created agents that do a good portion of my work for me. So let's say, for instance, I have an agent that was built with Cloud Code and works independently that does all my bookkeeping. So it keeps track of all the books, inputs on QuickBooks and pull data and does all that. And then I have another agent that does all my communication. So an email comes in from a client or from anyone, it will filter, let me know if it's an urgency. Uh it will uh dictate if it can just go ahead and reply without me. If it's something that it like myself is required, it will draft something and then leave it for me to reveal and send. And the other things is just tools that help me speed up my work in regards to bidding. Um and um yeah, it's I've been doing uh a lot slowly.

Jill Fratianne 3:01

And what when did you start building on Cloud Code?

Murillo Silva 3:06

When did I start? Um I started sometime last year, Jill. I don't remember exactly the date, but it was sometime last year.

Jill Fratianne 3:17

About a year.

Murillo Silva 3:18

And I do uh you asked about having a background on um IT. I did go to university at the time, and I dropped out on the third year, so that was my that was the thing that I was going to university for, and I wound up being a contractor, and now things are just tying together. Oh, that's so cool.

Jill Fratianne 3:39

So you did so you had you had a background or an interest in technology before you became a contractor.

Murillo Silva 3:46

Yeah.

Jill Fratianne 3:47

That is so fascinating. What an awesome skill. What an awesome skill.

Murillo Silva 3:51

Yeah. Um yeah.

Jill Fratianne 3:54

I I just found it so fascinating because I emailed with you as well and I got the auto response. I knew it was an autoresponse because you know, because I would know, but I was also super impressed because never have I ever gotten immediate response with the correct response from a contractor. Ever. Very cool. I have a I have my own uh side obsession with um building, architecture, construction projects, real estate. And believe me, I've worked with many. I was just really, really impressed. One of the things that you are doing for everybody else out there is helping teach us about red flags. So tell me a little bit about a red flag as an individual who, you know, maybe owns let's talk about even if you own a condo, okay, and you're redoing your kitchen and you talk to a couple construction companies, everyone seems to know what they're talking about, or you know, a contractor. What are some red flags that you should look for when you have to, let's say, redo your kitchen in your condo?

Murillo Silva 5:08

Uh, that's funny because uh I actually had to deal with that uh not long ago in my own condo. I live in the condo, and um the builder uh at the time could just cut a bunch of corners. And one of the things that it might have been at the time, I don't know, but it's no longer uh code for a condo is using PAX B. PAX B is one type of plumbing in um in a in a kitchen, and people are having issues with that because it doesn't hold as much pressure of water, and uh it's not it's not meant for a condo. So for a condo, you have to use PAX A. Um, and uh I found that my building is all entirely done in PEX B and some copper, which is to me like that's a major red flag. Right. The way you would find that out is by looking at the plumbing underneath the the kitchen sink, right? When you're looking to buy or just to find out which way it's been done yours.

Jill Fratianne 6:10

Well, and even when you're so if you're the if you're the person who also needs to renovate their kitchen, right? So this is a huge this is a huge tip for you too, right? Look at your own plumbing before you talk to somebody and get a general understanding. And then let's say you interview three contractors to come and do the work, how do I know which one I should choose? What should I be looking out for for a red flag for hiring any of them?

Murillo Silva 6:40

I I hire contractors all the time. And usually I talked about this not long ago on my on my social media, but you should have you either first you do pay someone to come and scope your job. So it's itemized line by line, what's gonna happen on that job, or you yourself you have an understanding of what needs to be done in order to achieve your vision. Because if you just tell a contractor what you want, three different contractors will interpret that job differently. And you know, you're getting three quotes, the price is getting draw, uh, the job's getting priced three times, but they're not the same scope. And people tend to go towards what's you know the middle ground or the cheapest. I'm not saying the highest price is the correct answer, but definitely the cheapest one is also not the correct answer. You have to have like scope it out in the proper way.

Jill Fratianne 7:42

And they have to give you a. And I go to I go to Oh, I was gonna say, and and they they uh there's probably a delay. Um that uh I your your point of them giving you a professional presentation, basically, or a scope of what they're gonna do is really important.

Murillo Silva 8:05

Yeah, correct. And uh also communication and um and uh you you know the people that you vibe with, right? Like if I contact you, I've had so many people that send me prices by text message, don't put a lot of effort, right? So I I know how much work it is to put a price together and to have all everything itemized and sketched the way that you're gonna do the the job. And uh when people do that to me, it that to me is already a no. That's a red flag.

Jill Fratianne 8:38

Red flag.

Murillo Silva 8:39

Like you're not putting the effort at the beginning, you're not gonna put the effort when I need you to show up for the job.

Jill Fratianne 8:45

So interesting. I can't tell you how many times I've done a rehab project on the back of a napkin. Literally, you know, we'll price it out this, we'll do that. Okay, when are you getting it done? Then, you know. Um something else really interesting that you posted. And as someone who has architected and built their own house, obviously at a construction company build the house, building code. I live in an area in New Hampshire where the building code is as strict as anywhere in northern New England, and I know it can drive some people nuts, and builders like to go around it and they find it very annoying and they don't like inspections. Tell me, tell me why building code is so important, and also you know, like what happens if it goes sideways or you didn't get something up to code?

Murillo Silva 9:41

Right. So building code is important because uh you you sort through the contractors that you are hiring. If you tell them up front that you're gonna get uh a permit and things are gonna be inspected, you're not gonna get people trying too hard to cut corners. And then you essentially you have a second set of eyes, which will be the inspector, uh, a reassurance to make sure that your job has been uh it's been done properly. And I mean, that's not like a set rule because a lot of inspectors they don't know left from right. Um but from you know from a broader perspective, at least in Ontario, where I am, um, sometimes you get it's not one specter for everything, you get different inspectors for different things. So you get your HVAC inspector, you get your structure inspector, you get your um your ESA inspector, which is the electrical, and they all have a different set of skills. And sometimes one inspector will see something elsewhere and will mention. So that's that to me is like a winning combination. And if something goes sideways, the way that I deal with that is communicating with the client right away, because the let uh the the the last thing you want is for the client to find out from the inspector or from someone else that something is incorrect and you're not dealing with, right? So, first of all, you deal with, and then the second you communicate with the client um as quickly as possible.

Jill Fratianne 11:27

I have uh never is a strong word. But I don't know if I have ever talked to an owner of a construction company that really embraced building code and inspections. And now that you say it too, I ended up I ended up developing a pretty strong relationship with our code enforcement officer in the town when the pro my project was done. And I did have moments where I was very grateful that they came in and double-checked something. For example, like we had a major beam, right? The the major beam that's like stabilizing the whole house. And there was, there was a there was a debate whether or not it should be wood, whether or not it should be steel, um, the coat off that everybody had a debate over it. And then we got another um engineer to come and double check that the beam that was put in was proper. And I know everybody on the job was very upset for the delay. And I looked at my husband, I said, I don't really care. Okay. This is the major con this is the major beam that's running throughout the entire structure of the house. I don't care if it takes an extra month for three other people to make sure that that's the right one there, right? I felt even though it delayed the project, probably cost more money. It did make me feel like we're gonna have three or four different specialists called in because it's a significant beam. In other areas of New Hampshire, like based on where I live, they probably would have just overlooked it and whatever. Right? Just whatever. Didn't wouldn't have really made sure. So I just think it's interesting.

Murillo Silva 13:06

Yeah. A lot of a lot of contractors push for not having an inspection. Uh, and this is to protect their timeline because when you have inspections, you call it in and you're basically at a mercy of uh an inspector because they'll tell you when they'll come and inspect, and that changes. You have to adjust. But you know, if you're playing willy-nilly and you don't have like a schedule and you don't buffer the time to be away from site until inspector gets there, that's when things are things are not great, and then you know you hired the wrong contractor.

Jill Fratianne 13:40

Right.

Murillo Silva 13:41

Yeah.

Jill Fratianne 13:42

Right. Um, we still have a little bit of time left. I'd love a brief story. How you arrived at Canada with nothing, literally nothing, and you had the courage to start your company.

Murillo Silva 14:00

Uh wow, yeah. That's uh that's a that's a blast from the past. It's been um I've been here now for 18 years, and I arrived, I had no English, I had no money, and uh I have a twin sister, so my twin sister decided to move to Canada. She only stayed here for six months, uh, and by the time I arrived to follow her, a week and a half later she left. But I was like, I'm already here, so I'm gonna you know sit tight and see what this is like. But after like two months, I was already in love with Canada. And even though the first year was a struggle uh with language and work, um uh I found work the second day that I was here. Started working in uh as a cleaner before I shifted to construction and um just it day by day. I used a lot of um I started watching uh Friends, um, the TV show at the time uh to learn English. So I would one of the things that I did was avoid my own people. I know some people they moved to a country and then they try to find their own to feel comfortable. I did the opposite, I put myself in a position where I was uncomfortable, so I did not try to find my community. I moved away from them, and uh the guys that I was working with at first wouldn't let me join them in the coffee shop because you know I couldn't speak English. And then I somehow convinced one of the guys and he started pushing for me, and then I started coming to the coffee shop, and at first I was just listening to them, and then I would try to throw a word here and there just to make sure I was uh paying attention to what they were saying. And I remember when uh when Barack Obama became president, I was at the coffee shop with these guys, and then uh I asked the guy that was not too happy that I was there. I was like, why does uh Obama speak like that? Because he was very paused, very slow. And then he said to me, that is for people like you to understand him. I was like, it doesn't, it didn't bother me, right? But it's it's just it's jarring to hear things like that.

Jill Fratianne 16:24

Right. And you and you you just kept going and you did it anyway. Like you did not, you didn't leave the coffee shop.

Murillo Silva 16:32

Right? No, I didn't.

Jill Fratianne 16:34

No, you didn't.

Murillo Silva 16:34

You just sat I laughed it off right there and then just moved on.

Jill Fratianne 16:38

Wow. And so and friends, friends was your uh did you movies too? But Friends was my go-to. Friends was your go-to, so yeah.

Murillo Silva 16:48

I uh I also did not care too much the fact that I was watching and had to re-watch a bunch of times, but I had uh I had the the captions in English while listening in English, so things would, you know, because it was.

Jill Fratianne 17:04

So you're reading, rereading, yeah, it was forcing you to read.

Murillo Silva 17:09

Reading and listening at the same time. Wow. And uh I feel like some people they have an easier time learning a language because honestly, within four months I could already I could already speak English, and within six months I was like fully capable of holding a conversation, getting anywhere. But yeah, at first, uh the first few months was uh challenging. Also being in a new place, I remember Toronto is crazy. I don't know if you've ever been here, and I remember not understanding how to get into a streetcar because you know in Brazil, if you go on the street, people will run you over, and over here the streetcar stops like in the middle of the street, and then you have to walk past the cars to get to the streetcar. And uh also being in the subway and not understanding the subway uh stations uh lines and just being like I don't know. There was one time I was one hour off of where I needed to go because I didn't understand where my stop was.

Jill Fratianne 18:13

All by yourself.

Murillo Silva 18:14

Yeah, I didn't have uh yeah, by myself. I didn't have um I was against the the smartphone at first, and uh when uh iPhone first came out, I didn't buy one until I think the version fourth. So I was using a flip phone, so you can't just go and look up the map or something. But all the subways they have maps, but I still like the lack of language plus the lack of technology is just bad recipe. Or maybe arriving at places uh late. Yeah.

Jill Fratianne 18:49

Wow, it's it's awesome. And one of the things, I mean, you're just you're a disciplined-driven individual. You just are like you're gonna see a goal and you're gonna do it. I mean, just I I will forever now just envision you in that coffee shop going, I don't care if they're gonna say something to me, then I don't care if I sound silly. I'm going to learn this language. I mean, that's that's it's um yeah, it's very, it's it's awesome. So tell me a little bit about your business non-negotiables. Like what are some business or even life daily non-negotiables if you want to share that are just you know how you operate?

Murillo Silva 19:33

So I've been following the daily non-negotiables from my coaching program. I coach with Dam Retel, and um I find that those daily non-negotiables, which is rent reading 10 reading 10 pages a day, uh doing five open messages on Instagram, that's my choice of platform, uh, working out for 45 minutes every day, um reading my goals every day. And um the fifth one is uh uh so did I mention already? No, work out, work out, uh read my goals, the five opens, the 10 pages, and then posting my videos on on Instagram. I I've been following those religiously, and just those five daily non-negotiables, I've I've I've realized and I noticed how much my life has shifted since I started. Because I got injured in November, I tore my ACL am meniscus, and uh I started working out every day to get my knee better, and it's been a huge shift. Like right now, it's almost it feels like it's back to normal 100%. There's a few things that I'm limited, but you know, I don't have pain, I do not do surgery, and just the workout and strengthening of the muscles, that's what's been doing the work. And they all offer something different. So all of the negoti non-negotiables that I've been doing has been offering me something. Like reading, it's been great. Uh you just you learn so much. You're downloading information that people have put in decades uh of work to give it to you, right? I I've always loved reading and uh I've always loved reading, and until I started my being part of my known negotiables, it's been hard for me to actually uh prioritize the reading. But once that's started, it's uh it's taken off and it's proven how much I've loved reading.

Jill Fratianne 21:46

It's a game changer, isn't it?

Murillo Silva 21:50

It's a game changer.

Jill Fratianne 21:51

It's a game changer. Yes, there was something that Dan said on I think it I don't even think it was a coaching call, it was on one of the Uh it was on a post, but it was why do I read? And it was I read for a nugget for the day, right? Just a nugget. And I had one last night uh or the day before, just on how to fall asleep restfully. I have some new new daily non-negotiables that are part of the goals that I read every day, right? It's like to to achieve. For me, it's um controlling my central nervous system is a big goal for me. And one of those is sleeping, turning off the brain at 8 p.m. and waking up at five o'clock in the morning. I am not a morning person. And sure enough, I was struggling with how to turn the brain off at eight so that it winds down. Because at eight o'clock, you know, my brain will start developing a whole new business plan I got to start doing. And I'm just like, okay, all right. No. And one of the things I read too was, you know, if you don't want to have the two or three a.m. wake-up call, you know, where your central nervous system's like, you know, uh it at this age it tends to happen a lot. You have to be able to fall asleep in a very peaceful place. You have to convince your brain that at that moment you've had a very successful day. You've completed what you had to do, even if you feel like the tabs are open. But for me, that was a huge nugget. Did you have a did you have a nugget yesterday or the day before in your reading that you wanted to share that you learned?

Murillo Silva 23:34

On my reading? Yeah. Um I do. I uh I'm reading um a book by Mike McAllowicz. This is the second book that I that I'm reading from him. The first one you probably heard of. It's called uh the first one that I read is called Profit First. And it's a framework for how you run your company and the allocations that you have for your money. It's it's an accounting book on how to do your accounting for your business to be profit first. The name tells you what you're what you're trying to achieve. And uh the one that I'm reading now, it's a marketing book. It's called Call Uh Get Different. And um his framework, his dad framework to to know if something qualifies as a marketing piece. It's just uh I found it to be fascinating. And uh it's essentially doing something that uh you don't see out there that people are not doing. So a lot of this applies to social media too, right? Because as we know, things are you know, you have those five those five first seconds to grab the attention, or the person will scroll away from your content. And um I've been reading this book and applying a lot of his teachings onto my videos, trying different things and see what sticks.

Jill Fratianne 25:02

So good. So good. Well uh Barilo, thank you for joining me today, joining us today. Thank you for sharing, thank you for sharing your story. And if people are listening, where what's your Instagram handle? Where can they find you?

Murillo Silva 25:19

Yeah, thank you for having me. I that should have been the first thing, not at the at the very end, but thank you for for having me. I guess I was a little bit nervous because I've never been on a podcast, but people can find me on Instagram. Um, my handle is it period is period Marillo. That's my handle on Instagram. It is Marillo.

Jill Fratianne 25:42

Amazing. And I'm this is this was your first. We also got to join you for your first podcast.

Murillo Silva 25:49

That's awesome. Yeah, that's exciting, and thank you so much for the invitation. Uh, I'll definitely that will go back on my uh on my memory bank as my first uh experience with someone being interested in how I became or the company became the company.

Jill Fratianne 26:09

Amazing. Well, thank you again, and we look forward to following you more and just keep posting because we all want to read it.

Murillo Silva 26:19

Yeah, I'll be. I'll be I'm uh I'm on the street, so I'm there.

Jill Fratianne 26:25

Awesome. Have a good one.

Murillo Silva 26:28

You as well. Thanks so much.

Jill Fratianne 26:33

Thanks for listening to the unscripted symphony. If today's conversation inspired you to take one courageous step forward, share this episode with someone who needs it. Remember, life isn't about playing every note perfectly, it's about having the courage to keep playing. Until next time, go create your own masterpiece.