Gary Mosleh: If You Make a Mistake, Own It
Intro:
Today, our guest is Gary Mosleh, Director of compliance at UNITEC Elevator in New York City. Gary joined the elevator industry mid career. After spending 10 years in the private equity world, he has learned to love the elevator industry, even though it’s very different from where he started. Gary plans to make the elevator industry his final career stop, and finds his work very satisfying. Gary, welcome to the show.
Summary:
Gary Mosleh, Director of Compliance at UNITEC Elevator, transitioned from a 10-year career in private equity to the elevator industry. Initially working in new construction and compliance, he found satisfaction in the industry’s challenges and relationships. Gary emphasized the importance of integrity, continuous learning, and effective communication with customers. He detailed the rigorous process of obtaining a Director of Inspection (DOB) license, including the need for extensive experience and passing a detailed code-based exam. Recent DOB code changes have increased fines for late deficiencies, emphasizing the need for timely compliance. Gary advises leaders to be humble, communicate openly, and be apologetic when mistakes occur.
Transcript:
Gary Mosleh 0:00
Lastly, I’d say, if you make a mistake, be apologetic, so that people see the human side of you. I think there’s a lot of room for redemption in the elevator industry, as long as you are are in a position where you don’t feel that you’re above it all, if you approach it saying, Listen, I made a mistake, and I’m sorry, and I’m not going to do that again. There are some good people in the elevator industry who will believe in you.
Matthew Allred 0:30
Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast sponsored by the Allred group. I am your host. Matt Allred, in this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers. Today, our guest is Gary Moseleh, Director of compliance at UNITEC Elevator in New York City. Gary joined the elevator industry mid career. After spending 10 years in the private equity world, he has learned to love the elevator industry, even though it’s very different from where he started. Gary plans to make the elevator industry his final career stop, and finds his work very satisfying. Gary, welcome to the show.
Gary Mosleh 1:17
Thanks for having me.
Matthew Allred 1:18
Thank you. I’m excited to be able to talk. I always enjoy our conversations and looking forward to the to the conversation, so I just wanna dive into your Tell me a little bit about your your early career,
Gary Mosleh 1:30
yep, so out of college, I started working at a travel agency when travel agencies were a thing and their little niche was deaf and hard of hearing groups that traveled. That’s both my grandparents were deaf. I am fluent in sign language, so that was pretty cool for a little while. When that died off, I joined a private equity company, did a lot of research on the companies that they were looking to invest in. Stayed there for about 10 years.
Matthew Allred 2:02
That’s an interesting switch there, from was there anything in particular that kind of led you that direction? Or how did you
Gary Mosleh 2:10
Yeah, I want to say I think I found the job through a New York Times ad back then, and it just seemed to be something that was intriguing. And it was a startup company at the time, and they hired me, and it was great, great experience. Really learned a lot there.
Matthew Allred 2:30
Tell me a little bit about what kind of research did you do? Were you like, heavy in an analysis, you know, financials, or just more kind of figuring out who did. I’m just curious.
Gary Mosleh 2:42
Yeah, so they, the company specialized in the media and telecom sector, and so I would do research on the companies they were looking to invest in. Not so much of the analysis on it, but just providing the data so that they could determine their investments.
Matthew Allred 2:57
Okay, So they had already kind of targeted certain companies and saying, Okay, go find every bit of evidence, whatever, every bit of info you can right about XYZ company, right? And that’ll help us make this decision.
Gary Mosleh 3:10
Correct, So I would kind of accumulate all of the information and put it in one kind of presentation with data that they can analyze and decide whether certain trends made sense or not,
Matthew Allred 3:24
right? Right? Cool. So, and you did that? How long?
Gary Mosleh 3:27
I did that for a decade, for 10 years, and then when I moved on, I ran into a neighbor who had an elevator company, and he said, I’m always out in the field. Can you be in the office I had my bachelor’s and master’s in entrepreneurship and small business management. So it was exciting for me to think of, you know, kind of running something and being able to make it grow. And so that’s how I got my start in elevators.
Matthew Allred 3:56
Interesting in elevator. So, back to private equity, for just a minute. Did you did you think, Hey, I’m gonna, I’m gonna spend my whole career here? Is that kind of, I mean, just curious what you were thinking before you left.
Gary Mosleh 4:06
I think I was young at the time. I don’t think I thought much about where I was gonna go from there. I had just gotten married and had kids towards the end of that 10 years, and I think I was solely focused on putting food on the table and not you know where my dream ambition would be, but as it worked out, I I was open to the idea of something else, and I wanted to use my skills to try and build something a little bit myself. So I think that’s where my passion led me, initially.
Matthew Allred 4:41
So obviously, no, no direct interest in elevators. It sounds like you said a neighbor. So, right? It just kind of, you know, stumbled into it in a sense, right?
Gary Mosleh 4:54
Yeah, I can be honest, like most people had no idea there was an industry that involved elevators whatsoever. Never gave me the thought, which is the reaction I still find now, when I tell people, I’m in the industry,
Matthew Allred 5:07
right, right? And I Yeah, hear that all the time, it’s like, what is that an industry? Like, how do you, how do you make a living doing that? So he wanted somebody in the office, right? And, you had the experience, and it’s like, All right, let’s, let’s give this thing a go. Yep. How long did you end up spending there?
Gary Mosleh 5:30
I was there for about three years before moving on, and I learned a lot, both good and bad, for many reasons, but really got submerged into the elevator industry, kind of drinking from a fire hose, trying to understand, yeah, everything that there was to it. And I found it fascinating
Matthew Allred 5:53
What was it that initially kind of captured your attention? When did you feel like, Oh, hey, there’s something here.
Gary Mosleh 5:59
Yeah, I think I I loved the idea of new construction. I always thought that was kind of cool because, you know, elevators were the first one in designing it, drawings that I thought was really cool, and then to the complete other side of it, on the maintenance and just the relationship you have with customers and how you can deliver that efficiently and cost effectively. And then also found that compliance was something rewarding, which is where the rest of my career kind of took off. Just because it was definable. You could do a test fix what’s broken, file paperwork and be done where, yes, there’s going to be a test following the next year, but you could actually see something come to a close, where other parts of the elevator industry kind of linger on and keep going. So I felt satisfaction.
Matthew Allred 6:51
Cool. So, so, coming from private equity, you mentioned, you know, degrees in entrepreneurship, and so there’s got to be some kind of, hey, I want to own a run something at least in the background. And I don’t know, did you ever feel that in in the private equity world, like, hey, I can really run something here? Or was it more of just kind of a exposure
Gary Mosleh 7:13
Yeah, yeah. I think I was definitely missing that part of it where I could own something and find my way of doing something. There are ways, within any job where you can find it to be more efficient and find your way of doing it that could work best. But I really enjoyed having the ability to have more control over what it was I was doing and how it would work, and how I could guide things to be efficient. That also brought me a great deal of happiness.
Matthew Allred 7:46
Yeah, yeah. Well, you and you talked about how, you know, in that first job of three years you, you kind of learned about the compliance piece and learned that, Oh, hey there, there are some pieces here that I can own, that I can control. How did you end up going, kind of from that it sounds like you were in kind of a generalist role, like you’re doing absolutely everything, soup to nuts, maybe even, you know, managing some people. I don’t know. How will that work, but how did you end up kind of landing in more of a compliance related role?
Gary Mosleh 8:15
There was an opening, and someone within the company at the time was going for it, but couldn’t make the commute, and passed it on to me, and said, I know, you know, things aren’t going well here, and you’re looking for something. So I reached out and expressed my interest, and it, it went back and forth, and then that’s how eventually I got into the industry with kind of the bigger players and, following into compliance. From there, I went into the service side as well, which, which helped, but then came back to compliance.
Matthew Allred 8:51
Cool. So did you? Did you have, like, your DOB inspector license or something, when you went into that role? Then
Gary Mosleh 8:58
No, you needed to have either seven years for inspector or 10 years of experience for that. So I was just learning, guiding the field, understanding how it worked, and that was building up my experience at the same time. Okay, so
Matthew Allred 9:13
you actually got that later, because we’ve talked a little bit about kind of the DOP process, and we can chat about that in a minute, but, but yeah, that so that three years counted maybe towards but it wasn’t, wasn’t enough to on its own right.
Gary Mosleh 9:26
Yep, so time and positions and and that’s there for a reason, which I understand, to really work with the mechanics in the field and people inspecting and testing to understand how it works, so that you can understand how the code applies. So there’s a good reason for that to be in place.
Matthew Allred 9:45
Yeah. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. What? What would you say? I mean, obviously you you’ve kind of chosen a specific niche within the industry, but what do you love most about the industry overall?
Gary Mosleh 9:57
For sure. The people love coming to work every day, seeing people who are in it with you. And those people are not just within the company, but the elevator industry involves, at least in New York City, witnesses and consultant companies, because of how testing is designed in New York, and then also the building and and their management company or ownership and how they work with you and understand what you’re going through and what they’re going through, and how we both have to work together to solve problems. So that part of it has been, I think, what has kept me in the industry, I’ve made some great people who I consider friends within the industry, and that hadn’t happened before, just good, genuine people
Matthew Allred 10:46
yeah, one. And one thing I see a lot, and I’m sure you see this too, is, is good, genuine people, also passionate about what they do, right, and loving what they do, and excited to do it again and again
Gary Mosleh 10:59
right? Right, right, and, and I think we’re all striving for a way to make our systems flow so that they’re really humming, but sure, there’s constantly changes, which can be tough sometimes, but keeps it exciting. It’s not the same thing all the time. There’s always something to keep you on your toes.
Matthew Allred 11:22
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, always, always things out of left field that you didn’t expect. And yeah, I’m sure, yeah, absolutely. So we talked a little bit about the the DOB license. And I guess just for those who aren’t in New York, Department of Buildings is what DOB stands for correct how? Tell me a little bit about that process. And you know, we talked about the seven years, the 10 years, but I’ve heard from a lot of people that it can be a real challenge. What can you tell us about that?
Gary Mosleh 11:53
So there, there are steps in order to get your director inspectors license. So to take a step back. The inspectors license is required for any mechanic who is testing the elevator in the five boroughs of New York City, and every elevator company must have at least one director. So the inspectors license requires a minimum of seven years of experience. The director’s license requires 10 years of experience or managing those in the field. And so that’s the first set of criteria. From there, you have to take an exam, which I highly recommend taking a prep course for so you kind of understand what you’re
Matthew Allred 12:37
So it’s not just a It’s not just a gimme. It’s like, No, you better know your stuff
Gary Mosleh 12:41
Absolutely and and I think there’s sometimes a misconception that you have to know everything about elevators in order to do well on that test. But really, the test is set up to see how well you can navigate through the code books. I don’t think they expect anyone to memorize every single part of code, but they do expect that when there is a question, you know where to find the answer
Matthew Allred 13:02
So is it an open book, like you can have a code book in front of you test
Gary Mosleh 13:05
It is, but they provide you the code books, but it’s all digital. So it used to be, I think the old actual books of the code that you would come through, but now they provide them to you digitally. So you walk in with nothing, and you just need to know which code books to go to to find the answers
Matthew Allred 13:22
Can you do a search to find certain key phrases
Gary Mosleh 13:25
You can, but for instance, if you search escalators, you’re going to find references, right? So you have to know specifically where in the code book you’re searching for it, so that you can jump to that spot, and then narrow down the search. So it’s not as easy as typing a long search in and finding the exact answer right away.
Matthew Allred 13:46
Yeah. So, so obviously, there’s a lot involved just to get ready for just just to be able to take the test, and then you take the test, and you need to prepare for the test. What else is is involved in that process that can drag it out even a little bit further, maybe
Gary Mosleh 14:02
Right, so that that next phase, once you have a passing grade on the test and you’re going to submit all your paperwork, the the the paperwork itself can be daunting. Every part of that paperwork needs to be filled out correctly, otherwise it gets rejected. And then there’s also the time it takes for them to do a background search. So hand in hand with making sure all of your information and your history is entered incorrectly, you have to then be subject to their background search and their questions based on your background search, so that part of it is tedious, and just like i i recommend someone do the prep course for the test, I also recommend that if you have someone or know someone that you can trust, to overlook your paperwork before you submit it, it can it can save you hurdles down the line that you avoid because you’ve taken care of the information in a correct manner and know how to fill out the forms correctly, even. And the best of us miss a checkbox here or a line there, and that can set you back in the timeline to get that approved.
Matthew Allred 15:09
Well, I think you’d said, from what you heard, at least, that if you miss one of those check boxes, your your application goes to the bottom of the pile, and then, yeah, however long it takes to bubble up to the top again. And then if you’ve got another missing check box or empty space, then you could, you could get recycled yet again.
Gary Mosleh 15:26
Absolutely. I think the method methodology is that if there’s something wrong with your application, it’s given back to you to to work on. Some people can turn it around in 20 minutes. Some people take 20 days. So in their best efforts, they’ll move on to the next person. And when yours is submitted, it goes back into the pile again. So there’s a reason behind it, but it can sure be frustrating.
Matthew Allred 15:51
Yeah, yeah. So it’s important, obviously, to well, it’s critical to have that that certification, or you can’t go to work doing what you do right at all. And I’ve also heard from some people that there’s, there’s some new pressure from the DOB these days, some, new fines. What? What do you know about that?
Gary Mosleh 16:09
Yeah, so that started in the end of 2021 there were two separate code changes made, one in the code that was issued, which had several changes made to the code about a periodic inspection that was now added time frames being cut down where you would have six months previously to do deficiency work that was cut down to Three months, but in short, they doubled your testing exposure with a periodic inspection, and then your CAT1 , and then shorten the time frame for each in to three months each. And so since they needed to stay three months apart, that adds another layer of scheduling complexities. But then on top of that, now your fine exposure was duplicated, because now you doubled both tests that had fines at the same time they made a change to the Administrative Code, which changed the timeline in which violations were issued. So previously, you would if you were late one month with a deficiency, there would be costs associated with that, $150 a month. And then when you reached a year after that, basically it would jump to $3,000 and so in this Administrative Code, that $3,000 got moved to be up against that 150 so if you’re one day late, you’re paying that 150 and will also also be issued a $3,000 fine. So that that financial impact really affected the industry.
Matthew Allred 17:48
Well and the timeline, right? Because you can’t afford to accuse accumulate a bunch of those $3,000 fines, and so you can’t just put it off for a year. And hey, we’ll just cover the 150 No, if it’s accumulating at 3000 I mean, did do those add up like per month? Or how does that work?
Gary Mosleh 18:05
Right. So that 150 still continues every month and maxes out at 1800 but once that affirmation of correction is not submitted by the time it’s designated, that will instantly trigger the that fine which will be issued when the whole deadline is over for that year of testing, that whole cycle of testing, which would be, you know, the following year. So after that is all done, and the DOB reviews all affirmation of corrections not submitted, that’ll be queued up to get a $3,000 fine. Where…So, you know, companies then had to shift, because prior to that change, making a repair one month late added an additional $150 to your cost, which could be minimal, and so you had to juggle what needed to be done depending on the safety requirement. But now it’s $3,000 instantly. So that percentage jump really affects how elevator companies and management companies do their work.
Matthew Allred 19:12
Sure, sure, get your attention quick, right? And I guess that’s why they’ve changed it, right, because they felt like there needed to be more, more attention. And, you know, getting these violations resolved for the safety of everybody involved
Gary Mosleh 19:26
Right. And they’ve stated that on meetings, the Department of Buildings have said that was the impetus behind changing that fine structure.
Matthew Allred 19:36
Yeah, Understood. Understood. So you’ve, uh, you’ve obviously had kind of two very, very different careers. Uh, how long have you been in elevators now?
Gary Mosleh 19:46
Now, almost the same time as private equity, a little over 10 years, right?
Matthew Allred 19:49
Little bit of, little bit of, yeah, like 10 years in in private equity, 10 in elevators. Um, you ever thought of going back to private equity? That ever even crossed your mind?
Gary Mosleh 19:58
No, I don’t think so. I. Could have great relationships with people that I worked with and still stay in touch with them and and that part of it was great, but really found myself closely connected to the industry now in elevators and really enjoying it.
Matthew Allred 20:17
Well, very cool. What? I’m just curious what, what has your family said? Or have you gotten any comments on, you know, used to this usually. Was there any difference or, or has, you know, I’m just curious what the reaction has been?
Gary Mosleh 20:31
Yeah, I was a young parent at the time when I started in the elevator industry, and I was also born and raised in Brooklyn, so the combination of those two factors, I think my language was a little bit different when I started in the elevator industry. And it’s just, I think, commonplace for the most part. And I’ll I remember, you know, driving in the car with my young kids and having a call on speaker and them hearing how everyone else spoke, and then I may have pitching in so and it was completely contradictory to how I was raising them and how I thought they should speak. And so that was a real wake up call, and I made a conscious decision to stop, you know, and so they still hear that in the car to this day, because I can’t control people I’m speaking to, but they won’t ever hear that from me. And I’ve done that purposely to show that, you know, I think there’s a more professional way to talk, not that I have a problem with anybody who speaks that way, but just that that’s how I carry myself.
Matthew Allred 21:41
Sure, Well, it’s a different, different culture, of different world, right? Than than where you you came from. So certainly there’s, you know, it’s going to be a different, different side of dad as your kids. Yeah, very cool. No, I appreciate that. So as we wrap this up, what advice or wisdom would you give to your brothers and sisters in the elevator industry, or maybe those that are that are just coming in mid career, like you?
Gary Mosleh 22:08
Yeah, I think if you’re in a leadership position to lead with integrity, I think that’s fundamental. Lean on those who have more knowledge than you. Don’t be afraid to ask those questions. Take the time to ask questions and really humble yourself to learn. You’re never at a point where you know everything. There’s always more to learn. On the customer side, always communicate with customers, no matter what the news is. I’m a firm believer that the majority of customers want to hear what’s happening no matter what it is. And then I think if you lastly, I’d say, if you make a mistake, be apologetic, so that people see the human side of you. I think there’s a lot of room for redemption in the elevator industry, as long as you are are in a position where you don’t feel that you’re above it all, if you approach it saying, Listen, I made a mistake, and I’m sorry, and I’m not going to do that again. There are some good people in the elevator industry who will believe in you.
Matthew Allred 23:20
I appreciate the words of wisdom. Appreciate your time, Gary, it’s always a pleasure, and wish you the best as you continue on your career.
Gary Mosleh 23:28
Same here. Thanks for the time. Appreciate it.
Matthew Allred 23:30
Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting. You can check us out online at elevatorcareers.net please subscribe and until next time, stay safe.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai