A.J. Alberts Owner Steve Grohn on the East Side Enterprise Podcast

I was the very first guest on the East Side Enterprise podcast, a new show hosted by Sam McKinney of McKinney Creative Ventures. Over the course of the conversation we got into my winding path into plumbing, the culture of care we have tried to build at A.J. Alberts, why our business runs almost entirely on repeat and referral instead of billboards, and what is actually in Woodbury water. You can listen to the full episode right here.

Prefer to open it elsewhere? Here is the direct link to the episode, and you can find the whole show on the East Side Enterprise podcast page.

I do not usually spend much time talking about myself, so sitting down for an hour to do exactly that was a little outside my comfort zone. I am glad I did. Here is a bit of what we covered, and why it connects to the way we take care of your home.

A winding road into plumbing

I did not grow up planning to own a plumbing company. My path ran through a dairy farm, a stretch at UPS, a run at Gateway Computers, and a few dot-com companies before I ever picked up a wrench for a living. Every one of those stops taught me something, about hard work, about systems, about taking care of people, and eventually all of it pointed me toward the trades and toward building A.J. Alberts into what it is today.

I think that winding road is part of why I see this business the way I do. Plumbing is not just pipes and fittings. It is showing up in someone’s home on a bad day and making it better.

Building a culture of care

The part of the conversation I cared most about was culture. A company is only as good as the people who show up at your door, so we are careful about who joins the team and we protect that culture hard. If someone is not a fit for how we treat customers, they are not a fit for A.J. Alberts.

That is also why we do not run a sales floor. We have no commissioned salespeople, and nobody here earns a bonus for talking you into something you do not need. We would rather explain your options, in plain language, and let you decide. If you want the longer version of that philosophy, it is all on our Why Us page, and you can meet the team on our About page.

Repeat and referral, not billboards

Sam asked how we grow, and the honest answer is that almost all of our work comes from repeat customers and referrals. You will not find us on a billboard. When your neighbor trusts you enough to hand your name to their friend, that is worth more than any ad we could buy, and it keeps us honest, because the only way to earn the next referral is to do right by the last one. Our reviews are really our customers telling that story for us.

Getting one percent better

One idea I keep coming back to, and that we talked about on the show, is the notion of small, steady improvement. You do not fix a company or a home overnight. You get a little bit better every day, one percent at a time, and you let those gains compound. That mindset shapes how we train our plumbers and how we approach a tricky job in your basement.

The harder parts

We did not keep it all light. Sam and I talked about some of the harder things too, including loss and grief, and what it means to keep building something through difficult seasons. I will let the episode speak for itself there. I will just say that running a business is personal, and the people you serve and work alongside are what carry you through.

And yes, we talked about your water

I would not be much of a water guy if I let an hour go by without mentioning what comes out of your tap. Woodbury sits on some genuinely challenging water. The city’s groundwater carries a documented PFAS burden from decades of regional pollution, and local hardness can run high enough to wear out your fixtures and appliances early. You can see the details on our Woodbury water quality page.

That is exactly why every A.J. Alberts visit includes a free in-home water test. We test on site, show you your real numbers, and explain what they mean before we ever suggest a softener, a filter, or anything else. No pressure, no obligation.

Listen to the full episode

If any of that sounds like a conversation you would enjoy, give it a listen using the player above or on the East Side Enterprise podcast. Thank you to Sam for having me on as the first guest, and thank you to everyone in Woodbury and across the East Metro who has trusted us over the years. That trust is the whole reason we get to do this work.

The bottom line

I am proud of the team we have built and grateful for the community that keeps us busy. If you want to put us to work, or you just want to finally find out what is in your water, we would love to help. Call or text 651-738-0580 or book online. Locally owned and family operated since 1989, licensed and insured in Minnesota (PC150039) and Wisconsin, and proud to be your East Metro plumbing and water conditioning team.