[00:00:05] Welcome to the All In Podcast (and the Secret AI Challenge)

Allison: Okay.

What are we doing Hello, Allison. Welcome to episode one of the All In podcast. Today’s prompt, if you choose to accept it is as follows. During today’s episode, you must create a secret handshake with your guest and must repeat this handshake at least one separate time before the podcast ends.

You may not disclose to the guest that this is the secret AI prompt until the end of the episode. Failure to accomplish this task will result in the following punishment, which fittingly has been handed down by AI overlords, AKA chat GPT.

Allison: you will have to sing one verse karaoke style of a song of your choosing for a social media video to be published in grapevine’s social media stories. Nobody wants that. Let’s go.

Allison: Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Grapevine All in podcast. I’m Allison Imre, CEO, and General Director of Fun and Games.

In 2026, we have decided to take AI and put our own twist on it. So this year AI stands for all in and we’re going all in for all of our clients. And we will feature one client each month and tell their story, their connection to the community they serve, and our relationship.

Plus a few surprises. You may not. Expect today we welcome general manager, which is, um, it’s kind of like calling the King of England. The, you know, the, the director of operations. This is the guy, the man, the one and only

[00:01:59] Meet Armando Diaz & The Birth of the Handshake

Allison: Armando Diaz about Yes, yes. If I could do a rim shot, I would,

Armando : I couldn’t do it any better myself.

[00:02:04] Handshake Counter: 1

Armando : Should we like. like I feel like we’ve known each other long enough. Armando, should we like start a handshake? I feel like. And can we have like drum roll?

Keep it. Cool. So

Allison: wait, wait,

Armando : keep it cool.

Allison: Fist bump and then like, that’s our rim shot. That’s our rim shot handshake. Um, so this is Armando Diaz of, uh, Bowersox, air conditioning and heating.

And they are your. One stop shop. If air runs through it, they can do it. They’re expanding their service area. They have the best team in the game, and they have been in business for eight years and growing like a weed. Thank you for being here today, Armando. I appreciate it. Yes. Um, okay, so we want you. I’m gonna put you on the spot.

[00:02:40] Handshake Counter: 2

Allison: Okay. Give you, should we do the handshake one more time? Okay.

Okay.

Armando : Coolest guy. Coolest guy in the room. Clearly.

Allison: Cool. There’s a lot of guys in this room for the, you know, off camera still. Cool. So he’s still cool. Say he’s the coolest guy is actually a big statement since I’m not a guy. Um, alright, so tell us a little bit about, um, the, the history of Bowersox.

’cause what a silly name.

Armando : How much time do we have?

Allison: I mean, as much as you need. I got coffee.

Armando : Uh, well 2018. A man in a one car garage is where we started with Bruce himself. And uh,

Allison: I love it.

[00:03:08] From One Man, One Van to a Growing HVAC Powerhouse

Armando : Um, for the most part, you know, we built the business from, from one man, one van to. Uh, 62 trucks on the road, 87 team members. Um, just by putting people first. That’s it.

Allison: Mm-hmm.

Armando : Put your people first, take care of it. Give them a, a good service at a great price, and um, you know, just help the community. That’s really what we’re all about.

Allison: Okay. So there’s a couple of things I wanna unpack there. Number one man in a van. I love that. ’cause you hear Chuck in a truck, man in a Van’s like the new, I love that. Um, tell us a little bit, the 60 trucks on the road, and I’m going off script here a little bit so I might get in trouble. Um. You do something a lot of times pretty unique with those box trucks of yours?

Oh, absolutely. Tell, tell me about that.

Armando : So we like to give the power back to our people. Mm-hmm. So we actually let them, it’s kind of like, uh, the, uh, the NFL they do. Um. Your cleats, uh, your cause. We let our technicians actually choose what kind of trucks they want. So, uh, we just got, uh, a, uh, transformers or, or like transformers I should say, like transformers.

Allison: Transformers adjacent.

Armando : Yes. Yes. If

Allison: anyone’s watching with the trademark.

Armando : Yeah.

Allison: Mm-hmm.

Armando : Uh,

similar Uhhuh. Mm-hmm. Uh, we have. a Airassic park, um, truck as well. Mm-hmm. Uh, we have Airman, which is our guy. He’s our dude, you know. And, um, a really cool thing is, uh, we have a nice breast cancer, one for one of my technicians.

And you have an

Allison: autism one, don’t you?

Armando : We have an autism one as well. Um, and these all mean something to them. You know, the, the breast cancer, uh, the technician that drives it, his mother’s actually. Was, uh, has been dealing with breast cancer. So it’s a, it’s near and dear to his heart. And, you know, we, we support that, we support the community and, you know, it, it’s kind of off script because most brands you, you take away from the branding, but they all still save that similar Bowersox.

Socks. know, if air runs through it, we can do it.

Allison: Okay. So I’m, I’m probably gonna get in even more trouble here ’cause you just said something that I really wanna focus on. ’cause this is about being all in. Um. From our perspective, but I I have to honor you guys for a moment. You’re talking about the breast cancer truck and talking about the guy on your team whose mom is going through it, and you guys just made a significant commitment to the making strides against breast cancer.

Walk, walk here locally. And you were the first to that, that I’ve seen. Jump in.

Armando : No brainer. All in.

in.

Allison: That’s amazing.

Armando : That was, that was, uh, it’s near and dear to our heart and as soon as we got the opportunity, we’re like, why, why, why can’t October be here now?

Allison: That’s I.

and

To see an, an operator put their money where their mouth is, like literally.

And to jump in like that, ’cause you guys last year, I, I said, Hey, you, you were interested in participating in a sporting clays for this cause, and you brought eight teams to the table. So it wasn’t it wasn’t,

Armando : yeah. Part

Allison: way

Armando : in. They weren’t available. It,

Allison: was

Armando : I would’ve put 10, but we tried, we tried. I started to disappoint

Allison: and they were fine.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I’ll hang out with with your team. Yeah. Even with loaded weapons, they’re kind of

Armando : cool. They’re kind

A7rV0016-001: of

Allison: cool. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so I’m gonna get back on track here. Um. When you hear Grapevine talking about going all in, um, what does that mean to you as a client? Are, are we, are we walking the walk?

[00:06:11] What “All In” Means as a Grapevine Client

Armando : All in, uh, when I send that email at 9 59 and you respond at 10 15, I got you. I’m all in. You know, when, uh, when we have burst of, of information or thought, you know, we, we, we put it from thought to actuality, you know, and, and then we see it and we see the, the fruits of our labor, you know, uh, the phone starts ringing just a little bit more.

You know, I have to hire more people now because it keeps on ringing too much.

Allison: I love that. Good

Armando : problem to have though.

Allison: And, uh.

uh, just

full disclosure, and he’s not a paid endorser by any means, but there’s two AC units right outside this room. And when it came time for us to replace them, it was not a question.

It was knowing that you guys were going to give us the best level of service and the most square deal out there. And it’s, it’s fun for us and fulfilling for us to be able to do that business with you and to do business with people we like, we trust. And we respect.

Armando : Absolutely.

Allison: So thank you for the coupon.

Armando : Of course.

Allison: Yeah. Okay. Of

Armando : course. We haven’t put ’em in yet.

Allison: My mouth. Um, okay, so we’ve stepped into your world. On site and many people may have seen that all in video. Yeah. That we did. Where that super

Armando : cool.

Allison: Christina and Tricia rode in the, the mini cyber truck and wore the airman costume and, um, disrupted your world for a minute.

Armando : We call that Wednesday. No big deal.

Allison: Oh, uh uh, we just live in constant chaos. Um,

Um,

what does that level of involvement tell you about our partnership?

Armando : Oh, that, that you guys are willing to do what it takes to make it happen.

Allison: Darn right.

Armando : Look, we are mayor cans. Not mayor cans. Okay. We get it done. That’s it.

Allison: And that’s the, uh, the promo reel right there.

[00:07:53] Handshake counter: 3

Allison: That, that’s it. Okay. You’re welcome. I feel like we do do the handshake One more time. Beep.

Beep.

Um, okay. In America, can, in your business, trust is everything. Oh,

Armando : yeah. I mean, gotta trust somebody.

Allison: Yeah. People, people have let you in that house and can keep inviting you back in. Um. You show up, you go into homes, you make people, I mean, literally, you have to make them comfortable with the relationship.

And then they, the, the quality of the air makes them comfortable. Okay. Um, how is it, how important is it that your marketing partner, the one who’s that first line of communication, convincing people that you’re the one to trust? Um, how, how important was it when you selected us? That, that we show up that same way that we earn trust day in and day out.

Armando : Well, I mean, I always say proof’s in the pudding, right?

Allison: Darn right.

Armando : So, I mean, you guys impressed us on the front end. And then really, you, you put your, you put your money where your mouth is and we’ve seen it and consistently seen it and that’s why, uh, it was a no brainer realistically.

Allison: And the phones are ringing just a little bit more in your, just a

Armando : little bit more.

Not like I just have to hire two more people right now. That’s a real thing,

Allison: but, okay. But then let’s talk about that the, um, the, the, the growth and the messaging and the activation and the ideation sessions that we have that actually turn into, um, results. Uh, you’re expanding your footprint in the region.

Do you want to, do you wanna talk about that a little bit?

Armando : Absolutely. Well, so we, we cover all the way from Punta Godo to Sarasota County. Um, you know, we’re really saturated in Venice, you know, that’s our, our backyard. Mm-hmm. We like to try to own our backyard. Of course.

Allison: Smart.

Armando : Um,

But really just branching a little bit more into Sarasota, start moving our way towards Manatee County and be able to see, um, you know, our, our clients love us.

They just, you know, how can we serve more? How can we, how can we be a bigger impact to the community?

Allison: Well, I, and I’m gonna brag on you a little bit ’cause I, that was your prompt to brag on yourself. Yeah. And you didn’t take it. So I’m gonna brag on you. Um, you guys really, that, that expansion, you are, you’re, you’re trying to be very judicious about that growth, growth.

because

It’s most important that you make sure that you can maintain your level of service. Absolutely. Not only to your team, but to your customers. And so when in December of 2024, I needed a new AC unit. I was on the wrong side of the county line. And you, you guys, you did the right thing. You said maybe talk to these people, but we politely aren’t servicing that area yet.

Yeah. So you really do stick to your guns and maintain a control over your standards.

Armando : Well, you want, you want, I wanna under promise and over deliver consistently. And if we can’t do that, I don’t want to make a statement or, or do anything that I can’t fulfill. And, uh, good customer service is, I look at every situation as I’m a consumer, right?

Allison: Mm-hmm.

Armando : You know, uh, I treat every client like they’re my mom, right? And I love my mom. So I love

Allison: everybody loves their mama.

Armando : Who doesn’t love their

Allison: mama? Who doesn’t love their mama? Okay? So. Thank you for taking care of me and treating me like your mama.

Armando : Yeah.

Allison: Yeah. I mean, I

mean, with this

not with the other one.

When you said,

A7rV0016-001: no,

Armando : we can help you. We can’t help you.

Allison: When you said no, that was not, I hope how you treat your mother,

Armando : but I recommended you some good.

Allison: You did. You did. Okay. If another business owner, if another, someone, an operator in the business world, were to ask what it’s like to work with Grapevine and I’m asking for a shameless plug, but honest feedback.

Okay. What would you say?

Armando : Ooh.

Allison: Because we are, I mean, grapevine heard it through the grapevine. That’s our biggest thing. So

Armando : it’s like a, like a kooky, fun, wild Saturday night date,

Allison: woo. That

Armando : you tell all your friends about,

Allison: but still goes to church the next day.

Armando : Yes. Yes.

Allison: Okay.

Armando : And calls you for the second date too.

So,

[00:11:30] Handshake counter: 4

Allison: Hey, handshake. Handshake. Okay. So. We refer to ourselves sometimes as the island of misfit toys.

Armando : Okay.

Allison: Do you see that? I mean, is that

Armando : Yeah, yeah, yeah. You like that dysfunctional family that still works, that everyone still sits at the table, but. Somebody has to sit in the corners, politic, you know, you know, religion, you know, ev no, ev you know, same stuff.

Allison: Fair, fair. We can have different points of view, but we still,

Armando : I still love you, but

Allison: I

Armando : hate you say

Allison: that. Okay. Just so for those of you who can’t see what’s going on, um, the producer of the podcast is off camera and I’m not sure if he’s telling me to stop and move on or if he’s fanning himself ’cause he’s laughing so hard.

So either way, um, it’s funny. All right. How does Bowersox go all in for their clients?

Armando : Oof. How do we not, um, just being there, being honest. Being truthful. Communication. Mm-hmm. Communication is everything. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, if, if, if we make a mistake, we’re, we’re human, we make mistakes, I’m gonna make mistakes.

Um, it’s how you react from those mistakes or how you rebound from ’em. Um, giving them, uh, a great quality product at a, at a fair, reasonable price. Mm-hmm. So that everybody can afford it, you know? Um, and just be there. Be there when they need us. You know what? It’s not a feel good thing. Who, who likes to have their air conditioner broke?

It stinks.

Allison: No.

Armando : You know, um, but when you need us, we’re there.

It’s like insurance.

Allison: And

Armando : you hate to use it.

Allison: Better to have it not, but, but you don’t use insurance every day. You definitely use your

Armando : bad air

Allison: conditioning for it every day. So you’re better than insurance.

Armando : Oh,

Allison: you’re way better than insurance. Yeah.

Armando : Yes. We actually pay

Allison: out. There we go. We

Armando : show up.

Allison: Fair. There’s a payoff. Not just, not just putting money out, you’re getting benefit back,

Armando : return of, uh, investment.

Allison: So, so you, what, what makes that so believable? ’cause a lot of people will say, we’re trustworthy and, and the difference with you guys is, you know, you, you began in Venice with the man in the van.

Armando : Yep.

Allison: And you grew your market share there and owned your backyard. Off of word of mouth. Absolutely. Like you had to do the right thing every day to get those referrals and earn that business. Yeah. And that was your whole ethos.

Armando : Reputation is everything. Reputation is everything. If, uh, if you’re gonna say you’re gonna do it, we do it.

You know, and we, and if, if it’s not right, we make it right.

Allison: If it’s not right, we make it right. You heard it here first. Um, what’s been one of the biggest challenges in creating a successful AC business, and how did you overcome it?

[00:14:01] Building the Right Team & Company Culture

Armando : Having the right team, aligning with the right team. That’s really the thing because, ’cause without our team, we can’t, we can’t do anything.

You know, the, the team is everything. They’re the ones that touch that, answer the phone, pay the bills, touch the clients, fix it.

1. Do

work underneath houses in the attic a hundred degrees. Um, just finding and recruiting, um, top level team members to, to take care of our customers together, like-minded team members.

Allison: I think a lot of business leaders would, would give you a big high five on that.

[00:14:31] Handshake counter: 5

Allison: I feel like another rim shot handshake. Okay. Um, and, and what’s interesting is. You do all those events, like you’ll do, you’ll do the parades and you’ll do, you know, your Easter event even. And that’s as much for the community as it is for your team.

It seems.

Armando : We, we just had it on, uh, on Saturday, uh, over a thousand people. Uh, 15,000 eggs given, uh, gave away 20 uh, power wheels. From little Golden eggs, of course. Uh, um, and really just do it for the community, you know? Um, it’s really just for the kids, you know, because mm-hmm. Who, what else can you do with your young kids?

And just what you wanna do is you want to get ’em to go out. And come home and go to nap and then you can enjoy the rest of Saturday. Yeah. Win-win, win-win situations.

Allison: We both have 4-year-old daughters, so we know how That’s

Armando : it.

Allison: Yeah. That nap.

Armando : Oh Diva.

Allison: Oh God. It, no, it’s the best

Armando : diva.

[00:15:23] Suncoast Superlatives: Rapid‑Fire Local Favorites

Allison: They’re so fancy. Um, okay.

If someone is visiting the area for the first time, what are the best local recommendations? And this is rapid fire time, so, um, Suncoast. Superlative. Seven. So this is like superlatives are people in, and this is more for the audience than you in your yearbook. Like most likely to succeed, most likely to, you know, become an astronaut, all that stuff, or most likely to go to jail in my case.

Um, so now this is gonna be a rapid fire question. So your recommendations no holds Barr, no prep work, best restaurant, lunch, breakfast or dinner.

Armando : Uh, me and the wife love, uh, Mi Pueblo

Allison: Oh,

Armando : it’s, it’s the Mexican thing. I know

Allison: it. I didn’t say that. I love

Armando : tacos, man.

Allison: I didn’t say everybody loves tacos. I

Armando : know.

Exactly.

Allison: Okay. That’s why

Armando : they’re three restaurants, three locations. Just throwing that out there.

Allison: Shout out to me. Pueblo. Um, best Beach.

Armando : Oh, siesta. You can never go wrong with Siesta White things.

Allison: Quartz. It’s like powder. Okay. Uh, best place to grab a

a drink.

Armando : Ooh. You know,

Allison: you’re taking too long. This is rapid fire.

Armando : I, I’d still yard house. You know what I love Yard. Oh,

Allison: Oh.

Armando : Doesn’t love yard

who doesn’t love Yard House? Utc.

Allison: Yeah. That pretzel my, you know, my kids attack it like, hyenas on a wounded zebra. Yeah. Okay. Uh, best place to take the kids.

Armando : Ooh. Jump place. Uh, sky Zone.

Allison: All right. That’s a good one. That’s a good one.

Armando : Tires him out. Tires.

Allison: Um, best local secret spot.

Armando : Ooh,

You know, uh, I do love the rooftop bar at Weston. It is, it is. The, the views are phenomenal. That, that is breathtaking. It’s just nice to turn everything off. Mm-hmm. Turn the phone off and just enjoy the view. I,

Allison: I absolutely agree with that. That’s, yeah. Good timing. And then even if you get there early enough, you get that spot.

Yeah. And you don’t get, you know, the

Armando : one spot.

Allison: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, with the fire pit. With the fire pit. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, best community event.

Armando : Hmm,

Allison: you better say one of yours.

Armando : Ah, you know, our Bowersox, uh, Halloween event is always pretty scary. It does, uh, you know, we did have a few criers just throwing that out there.

Allison: They were adults too. It wasn’t the kids crying, it was the adults crying. Um, so yeah, for those of you who didn’t hear that, they do a full on like full court press Halloween event every year, and it is insanely well produced. And how many people did you have come through last

Armando : time? Ooh, we counted about 1500 at least.

Allison: Yeah. Okay. All right. Um, what’s the best part about living here?

[00:18:01] Why Living Here is Special

Armando : Ooh, you know, we forget that we’re living in paradise and we take for granted. Essentially. I can drive five minutes and be at the beach and like people come from all around the world and I’m like, ah. Oh, that’s, yeah, siesta. That’s cool.

Allison: So we should probably spend a little more time.

We

Armando : should

Allison: Tourists

Armando : in our around town. I’m doing the tour thing. I love doing the tourist thing when, when people come into town and I’m like, oh man, why have we even done this in forever? You know, let’s go airport touring again. That’s awesome. Really

Allison: good. I feel like that should be a thing. We should, we should do a, a tourist trium.

Armando : It’s always nice.

Allison: We do. Triumph is a client of ours.

Armando : Oh

Allison: yeah. Friends, that’s the beginning. So big fans, there’s

Armando : a reason.

Allison: Jungle Gardens, when was the last time you took the kids to Jungle Gardens?

Armando : Jungle Gardens.

Allison: Yeah.

Armando : Nostalgic.

Allison: Yeah, it’s og. Okay.

Armando : You know, it’s funny you said that. My mom just sent me a picture today of me holding a peacock two hours ago, and she’s like, do you remember this picture?

I swear to God,

Allison: I hope

were gently holding the wild animal.

Armando : I was a little bit fatter and younger, and I was like, Ugh, why’d you send me this picture, mom? You’re killing me.

Allison: Oh, but you know what’s funny, the peacocks, they’re just, they’re just there. They’re not part of jungle gardens.

Armando : They’re just chilling.

A7rV0016-001: They’re

Allison: just chilling. Yeah. Jungle Gardens gets a lot of complaints. Your peacocks escaped and they’re in our yard and we’re like those, no,

Armando : that’s not,

Allison: those are Florida’s peacocks.

Armando : I haven’t known those.

Allison: We didn’t.

Armando : You need to talk to God about

Allison: that. No. If it was a flamingo, right, right. If it was a flamingo, there would be a different conversation.

But the peacocks are free range.

Armando : That’s do your thing.

Allison: I have to see the P Kim. I want, I wanna get the peacock photo to incorporate into this episode. Can you get me the peacock photo?

Armando : Oh, of course.

Allison: Excellent. All right, so before we, we, um, close things out, is there anything else that you wanna add that you wanna celebrate for your team?

Are there any shout outs? Is there any love given? Anything we haven’t covered that you

Armando : well

Allison: wanna discuss?

Armando : I, I, I appreciate all my team, what they do on a daily basis. It’s not an easy job we do, but, uh, it’s a selfless job. They, they, they look at other people’s comfort before their own. And that’s, that’s the rewarding thing.

It’s nice to, to go in there when something’s not working. Mm-hmm. And by the time they leave, it’s working.

working.

Allison: Well, I got, I, I got, I gotta shout out just ’cause these are the guys that I’ve worked with, but John, who’s been, um, helping us arrange everything to get the two new units in. And Adam, who has pulled up the nose Oh yeah.

On repairing our machines at our other location on more than a couple occasions and does, it always looks to find us the, the best deal, save us the most money, get the most outta that warranty and he’s. Kind and funny. And he represents you well.

Armando : Top notch.

Allison: Yeah. You have a great team.

Armando : He’s top notch.

Allison: All right.

That’s a wrap of the inaugural episode of Grapevines All In podcast. I want to give a special thanks to our amazing guest today, Armando Diaz, the, the doer of all things at Bowersox Air Conditioning. Thank you. Should we do it one more time?

[00:20:49] Handshake counter: 6

Allison: Ba

Bam.

and in full transparency. Before we go today, Armando, our production team decided to have a little fun with me.

Armando : Okay. And

Allison: it’s not April

Armando : Fools.

Allison: They gave me, they gave me an all in. Oh, I know. This is not April. So, um, they gave me a, a secret all in prompt, something that I had to accomplish kind of on the slide before this. Okay. And it was to, um, oh, what is this? So, uh. It’s not an all in prompt, an Allison Imre prompt.

So we’re playing with my initials as well. So AI is artificial intelligence, Allison Imre, and all in, we’re all over the place. But, um, uh,

[00:21:26] The Big Reveal: The Secret Handshake Mission Explained

Allison: I was tasked with creating a secret handshake and make sure that we do it more than once.

Armando : Well, we

Allison: accomplished that baby. Do you feel

less special now? I hope.

Armando : you know what?

No more. You don’t get this

this

Allison: one? No,

No, but

it’s our.

[00:21:39] Handshake counter: 7

Allison: anymore.

Alright, so, um, so tell us, uh, here’s where everyone can find Bowersox online. We’re gonna

[00:21:50] Where to Find Bowersox & Final All In Send‑Off

Allison: put all of the information on the screen and it’s their website, it’s their socials. They do a lot of fun stuff and a lot of things that Yep. Um, you see the personality come through. So everything we talked about today, it is, um, the proof is indeed in the pudding.

Check ’em out online, check out their socials. It’s incredible. It’s

Armando : a really good ping.

Allison: It, it’s probably the best pudding I’ve ever had. It’s like more like a moose.

Armando : It’s a, it’s a good, it’s like a tapio.

Allison: Oh, oh.

Armando : Little surprises.

Allison: Oh, like the flavor pellets and the tapioca. Okay. Tapioca flavor pellets at Bowersox.

Bauer socks.

Um, we’ll releasing new episodes throughout the year, highlighting some Grapevine’s outstanding clients and the impact that they’re making on their teams. and Us and the community.

Armando : That’s it.

Allison: And, uh, be sure to follow Grapevine on all of our socials, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and of course, check us out at grapeinc.com.

Until our next episode. Please remember, no matter what you’re doing, always go all in, all in, all in.