Rodger Hartley: A licensed home inspector in Arkansas and Oklahoma and member of NACHI(National Association of Certified Home Inspectors.)
Knowledge and Experience are a necessity in the construction industry today, and the home inspection field is no exception. With 35 years in the construction industry and the last 28 years of that as a contractor, he has built homes from the basement through the roof. A long with new construction he has also had plenty of experience in refurbishing and remodeling. In the past few years the high energy efficiency homes have brought new technology, methods and materials to the home construction business. First hand knowledge of these systems and materials are a crucial factor in determining the quality of a home inspection. A long with homes comes barns, shop buildings, stables, fences, commercial buildings, and the list goes on.
He is an Industrial Engineer and has worked for Fortune 500 companies in this capacity. He has also been a sales associate in real estate among other careers along the way. He has restored '57 T'Birds and is wanting to build a street rod next. " I bought a Model A Ford in 1962 and couldn't decide on what to do with it. I grew up in the hot rod era and have always wanted a street rod. Guess once your bitten by the bug it's for ever, and ever since then I've wanted to build a street rod. Soon after I got it home I took it apart and its been in pieces since then. There is no time like the present to get started on it. I have been looking at frames and talking to some of my friends who have rods and the urge is set on go."
After living in the country for 30+ years, how can you avoid rasing horses, or "hay burners" as he prefers to refer to them as. "Wino, a buckskin, was my favorite. Seems like every spring it was time to find out who was in charge. I thought, I was and, Wino thought he was. It was all I could do to get my leg over him and into the stirrup before he took off, looking for the first low hanging tree branch he could find and making a beeline for it, then it was a test of wills. Was I willing to eat Oak leafs or not? After all was said and done, whether I ate Oak leafs, was knocked off or ducked in time, Wino just wanted me to know he was just letting me think I was the one in charge, but in reality, he had the final say."
"I really am a country boy at heart, even though I was born and raised in So.Calif. Although I miss surfing (on a long board) at Doheny, long before the marina was built, in an area known as the Bone Yard, and from Newport to Huntington Beach from days long ago, I really do love the county life. The peace and quiet is something that can't be replaced. I enjoy watching the fox and grey squirrels, the white tail deer and the wide variety of birds, it's like having your own wild life refuge." He frequently mentions the fact he misses Lake Havasu and the Colorado River, but says he gets to enjoy a slower pace of river life by floating down the Illinois River or just going down to Ballard Creek and floating in our own private swimming hole. "I like the big cities, like L.A. Dallas and Tulsa, but I really like them where they are, a long way off. Living in NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas at this time is a great place to be, with the best of both worlds, city and country. There is really no better place to be than right here in NE Oklahoma, or NW Arkansas. In one hour you can be at any one of 6 major lakes and with in 5 hours in Dallas, Little Rock, OKC or Kansas City and way less than that to Tulsa or Fayetteville and you can't beat that with a stick."
"I guess its time to slow down and start enjoying life more. I have always had something to do and cannot imagine coming to a complete stop. Like Jethro Bodine, I couldn't decide on being a "brain surgeon" or a "fry cook" so I thought I would settle on something I knew, so I selected home inspections. I decided to put my knowledge to work for others."
Shelly Hancock: Our office manager, wears many hats and cracks a some what mean whip. She was born and raised in New Mexico and has spent most of her adult life in Texas and Oklahoma. She is a world traveler and enjoys being on the go. She is very involved in family, especially her three grandsons, all of whom are big Sooner fans.
She has been in the business world most of her life. A top producer in the furniture industry, mostly in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, including Bakers Furniture in Garland ,TX. She is the founder and current director of the Hope Center, Westville,OK. which serves northern Adair County. She is at home whether dealing with an individual, in a one on one basis or dealing with the largest corporation in the world.
Shelly has also achieved another pinnacle in her live, she is an accomplished author and has a novel in print, entitled "Entertaining Jonathan", published by I Universe and available at major book stores. Her first works were poems which were published in New Mexico travelers magazines. At present she is contemplating her second novel which she says "will be a real novel."
Hilda French: Our office assistant, was born beneath beautiful Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At a young age, her parents introduced her to the love of hiking, rock hunting, and riding horses. Her father owned a large construction business and her mother stayed busy keeping track of four girls.
Eventually, her father wanted the family to experience "farm life" in the Ozarks and moved them to Southern Missouri. It took years of hard work to transform their 185 acre brush patch into a beautiful working cattle ranch that is still in operation today.
At twenty, Hilda married a young man from Southern California. They lived in Big Bear City, located in the mountains above the L.A. basin. While her husband ran their floor covering business, Hilda worked at the airport as an Office Manager for Bear Valley Aviation. She was also responsible for fueling the planes, and still laughs when she pictures the faces of men who saw a woman climb out of the fuel truck to service their plane! She wanted to become a pilot, but after a few lessons, decided to leave the flying up to her husband.
To expand their floor covering business, they moved to Diamond Bar, California. They had two children, a boy, and a girl.
In 1986 Hilda started working for D.I.C. comics and Filmation as an assistant animator. She worked on such cartoons as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", and "New Kids on the Block", to name a few.
Now divorced and married to a song writer/musician, Hilda has settled back into the Ozarks. Her children are grown and live in the Livingston, Montana area where her son is attending college at Bozeman. She looks forward to someday building a house on her land so she can enjoy the country life again!