We sit down with JP Warren, CEO, Podcast producer, and great Steven Segal fan. We have a blast talking about life as podcast hosts and the oil and gas space. JP’s company is Connecting Crue, and the podcast is the Energy Crew.
Thank you, JP for stoping by the Energy News Beat Podcast.
Please connect with JP on LinkedIn or check out his podcasts! His new business is also a great way to get connected to people in the Oil and Gas markets.
Best segment award goes to:
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:10:06] It’s like the just drop in Steven Seagal. I completely respect that. I’m a huge fan of the 80s action movies, Jean Claude Steven Seagal debate. But when you think that
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:10:16] the only time I’ve really been successful in my life is when I stepped in the ring with Steven Seagal and I did not win, you know, I got my black belt, but he beat me up.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:00:06] Hey, everybody, welcome today. Today is a fabulous day. My name is Stu Turley and president and CEO of the Sandstone Group. And I’ll tell you what, today’s podcast is absolutely fabulous. Not only do we have the J-P or we have the JP Warren And I’ll tell you what, JP, but we are also so glad you’re here. Thank you for stopping by.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:00:30] Well, thank you for having me. I know it’s I know you’ve been trying to hook up for a little bit. Things have obviously been busy in my realm. And we’ll get into that a little bit. But I appreciate everybody is here.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:00:40] I’ll tell you what, you’re absolutely so much fun. I enjoy seeing all of your output and all of your production right before the show. You and I were laughing about that one. Oil field guys really have it rough. Nobody understands an oil field guy how hard it is on the pad, how tough it is. And when I saw your machine and that guy, oh, our rig is going up for our folks listening. I’m going to have that attached. And that that thing, a guy is driving down the road and it says, oh, rig is going back up. And JP, this thing turned right around. And that fifth wheel that a boat on its guy made. Gonna tell us about why you even did that or what happened that one.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:01:27] Well, it’s funny. So first off, the oil field is I love this place. I mean, the community here and the people here are unbelievable. So whenever I do a meme, I always kind of poke fun, whether vendor, whether it’s an engineer, whether you’re a salesperson, it doesn’t matter who you are. I always kind of poke fun at ourselves, but you got to laugh at yourself at the end of the day. So I remember when I was working offshore, every time I’d get to the heliport before my hitch would be sitting around there for an hour and a half, just saying now just, you know, just talk and catch up what you do in your off time. And every single time it was like, oh, I got this boat. Oh, I’d put this new grill, got a new lift on my truck, got this new truck. I’m like, I’m looking at guys like this. I just want to get on this, buy toys. So that’s kind. I saw that trailer. That’s Bourbon, the boat. I’m like, it’s perfect because all field people love their toys.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:02:20] Now, how many boats have you owned?
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:02:23] Not that I grew up in Connecticut, so I don’t the only boating I know is sailing.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:02:27] So, yeah, you grew up in Connecticut and now you’re just talking about in offshore. How did you go from Connecticut offshore? I’ve got some fuzzy math going here.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:02:36] No, it’s not fuzzy math at all. It’s kind of an I’ll make a long story quick. So I was born here and I lived here till I was about eight years old. My dad was an accountant. You got transferred to New York or you took a position or whatever you want to call it. And we went up there. So I grew up from eight years old to 18 and I just decided to apply to Texas A&M. And I was the first Aggie. I just wore the A&M stuff throughout high school. Yeah, I’ll go here. So I went there, graduated marketing, went over to France, got a Masters’s in European business, took an MBA with a European business focus, and got back. And I couldn’t find a job for like six months. I was doing everything from applying to be a substitute teacher to, I don’t know, being an assistant manager. So I had no idea. I couldn’t find a job. And it was during the days of Match.com. So eventually I got in the oil field and I’ve been here ever since.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:03:33] No kidding. I have no I mean, that is one of the weirdest trips to the oil field. I’ve heard. I’ve heard a few weird ones, but that one’s a good one. Go from France to over here from in Europe with a new master’s in Holy Smokes. That’s pretty
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:03:48] cool. I remember I remember when I was interviewing, so I knew nothing about the oil at all. At all. And I remember this recruiter, she said, OK, you got to go to Noble drilling, OK? You got to get there. 10 a.m. is your slot. You’re going to be meeting tonight. So get ready. I’m all ready to go. And I’m thinking I’ve got to one-up because my roommate in college, RJ Moses, he was at Noble Energy at the time, energy. So me having no idea. I wanted to know what energy is like trying to go for an interview. And I’m like, yeah, I’m here for an interview to but we don’t I think he at the wrong place. I’m like, no, this is noble drilling but sir noble drilling in Sugar Land, you’re going to be late. So I had a Hufford from guns point all the way down to Sugar in this episode of the Energy. Newsbeat podcast is brought to us by King Operating Corporation, your partner for oil and gas investments. Check them out. King Operating Dotcom.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:04:44] I hate being late for meetings, but this interview, did you make it on time?
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:04:50] I was a little bit. You know, I’ve had enough time for. So we get there early. I was on the interstate and had a good laugh about that.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:04:57] There’s something about oil feel and laughing at the new guy. Oh, yeah. Did the new guy last with you on that one?
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:05:05] Well, it wasn’t so much there. It was a problem. It was when I saw so I started off in H.R. actually, I kind of did temp work. And then I got in the agency and I did HSC for about five, six years and eventually wanted to get to market. I mean, there is this group, you know, Mike Nesmith, John Murphy Kirchhoff. I just want to say
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:05:26] that I hear Safety
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:05:28] HSC. That’s right. Start off an HSC. I saw I was encouraged to see
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:05:32] there were so many jokes made about that crew. I know you are a victim of joking. I mean, there are so many Oil-Field jokes about the safety man.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:05:43] You got to laugh, though, because, I mean, half the time it’s true. You know, just because you have that role, I mean, as a safety person, I mean, just because you are following policies and procedures, that doesn’t mean that you actually change behavior. So that’s kind of I think that’s where the jokes stem from, is like with your glasses, like you’re not a safety cop. You’re trying to influence behavior when you’re not at the rate you’re not. So our guys I did that kind of gave me the opportunity to go see all over the globe from, you know, Nigeria to Qatar to K.L. to Newfoundland, to Brazil. It was an awesome experience. And eventually, I kind of want to get into marketing because there is this group of the older gentleman was like mad like they always wear suits at, you know, at the office or walking around these great lunches. And I was like, that’s what I want to do. And in order to do that, I had to go again. This program, Operations Management Training Program, ODP, and it was fun. I mean, you start, you know, so you learn how to manage the rig on shore, but it’s like it’s a two week, one week off, one week in the office where you actually one of the management of the offshore rigs. So it was it was a great time. And you work your way up. It’s fun.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:06:55] So when you’re offshore, I’ve always heard some weird stories about offshore. Give us a weird story.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:07:02] Well, I mean, it’s not really a weird story, but I do remember one time I was hot. It was like super hot and I was roughneck in at the time. And, you know, like, first off, it took a little bit to kind of gain their trust because they thought I was just like the corporate guy coming offshore to, like, spy. So, you know, that took probably about a year or two. Then after that, they realized I was out there to kind of learn, make friends. So. Right. I’m there was it’s hot. And I’m like, you know what? I got an idea. So I took a little swig of water and we’re pushing pipe back out, pushing pipe back in there. And I’m pushing it back just a bit. And I fake throw up the water. Right. Well, the driller, you know, Dale, he’s like, JP, get in, get in here, get to the doghouse and I walk in. What’s going on? He’s like you to sit down. You’ve got to cool off. And I appreciate that. So I’m sitting there and I get the other roughneck guys kind of like doing so eventually after about five minutes of cooling off. My God, I’ve got to get back out there. So I was like I was joking around. I’m fine. So what do you mean you’re not. No heat stroke? No, I’m good, actually. Moody put me up, so I blame it on another roughneck. I always, always blame stuff on me as a joke. And I was kind of give you our time. So you kind of get a little heat for that.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:08:16] Did he get mad at you because I
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:08:18] going to get mad he got he didn’t get mad at me, but I remember one time he was in the dark and he was pulled back and it was foggy and I was just bored. And I was like, hey, who’s up? Who’s at the man I’m looking for? That’s who I was like, you got to get him down. Like, Are you serious? What’s going on? I was like, well, he’s scared of ghosts. And he thinks goes and he’s like, no, I was like, I’m being kind of serious right now. So he got out of there and so pretty much that spread, that spread around the way that he was scared to go. So it’s just a good time. Just friendly banter, OK?
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:08:52] Now we always play jokes on each other. What kind of have you had other than that one? That was a good one. Are there any like at people’s bunks? Is that off-limits or did you mess with people? I mean, it was like a frown. I don’t
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:09:05] see. I think you missed someone’s personal property. I look, I get it. It’s funny if you, like, see it, you know what I mean? But, like, I don’t know. I don’t I don’t like this when people’s personal property is that funny or, you know, sometimes they make beds, you know, sometimes, you know, it’s like, you know, people want motivation to quit or quit smoking. Make it bit. All right. If if you get a cigarette or something like that, just back in the day like that and you got to shave and I like we got to do a line right there, something we’re in a mess with people too much. It was just kind of it was fun. I did invent a great dessert out there. One of those old brownies. You put a little ice cream on that called the little Texas twister. So I might still be out there, might still be going on. It was an oh, my
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:09:48] goodness, I like it. See, now, I lost a bet so many years ago that my head just stayed flesh colored instead of with whether you got beautiful hair and there’s no Manlove with that comment. But it’s like, man, I’m jealous. See, I want to grow a Steven Seagal with my wife won’t let me grow the ponytail out here.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:10:06] It’s like the just drop in Steven Seagal. I completely respect that. I’m a huge fan of the 80s action movies, Jean Claude Steven Seagal debate. But when you think that
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:10:16] the only time I’ve really been successful in my life is when I stepped in the ring with Steven Seagal and I did not win, you know, I got my black belt, but he beat me up. So anyway, I’m hitting on that, by the way, that
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:10:29] is I was kind of hoping that was kind of hoping you were serious about using a sword.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:10:34] It would have been I would have been a movie producer instead of a podcast host. So what made you start the Motley Crew and me through a podcast?
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:10:45] So. Previously on a podcast called Around the Road, and it was great, it was it started off during the beginning covid actually, I was just kind of sitting there thinking, like, man, how do we get people talking? I mean, was stuck in front of the computers scrolling through LinkedIn, which was what remembers the nightmare. It was that it was it was a bloodbath out there. You know, you turn the news on to get your mind off of that and the news. So it’s just like there’s just so much negativity out there. There’s so much fear. And so I just it was one of those things where it’s like, let’s get people just talking, you know like I’ve had so many great conversations with customers like, you know, on the tee box, at dinners, at lunch and breakfast. Like I would love to expose, like, some of these great individuals out because I feel like our industry has stereotypes, you know, either the engineer or the sales guy or like there’s definitely stereotype safety guy. The safety guy. Exactly. But sometimes it’s tough to break through that. So it’s just kind of one of those things. So I started it and I originally had like five questions relating to the industry and then all that stuff. And that got boring for me. So eventually I decided, like, let’s just if it’s boring for me, it’s I’m not going to be into it. I’m not going to motivation to do it. So I just decided to kind of go off-script. And actually from that I like the less preparation, the better. So I was I was gone. And so I did that. Not that last. That podcast lasted about 14 months, 15 months. And it did one hundred three episodes of that one to a week. And it was fun and a lot of good traction. And after three episodes kind of split up and decided to kind of venture into more of my own creation. I kind of aligns with the my attitude, my my my style a little bit more. So that’s how energy crew. Yeah.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:12:43] I’ll tell you what, I love your personal thing. I got to see you. You and I talked on the phone and prep the other day on this, and I really enjoy your personality interviewing people you were at at some event. And I just really respect and I saw you on coffee talk when you were doing the coffee shows. Those are fabulous. So anybody that does not see you on an interview when you’re doing the coffee show, tell me a little bit about what you do when you set up on these guys, because they’re great people that you’re talking to.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:13:19] So the breadth. So, OK, so what you’re talking about is the breakfast. So it’s cool. Field breakfast friends are a thing of the past. Some people say good, some people say bad. I personally never found a bang for your buck from it because it’s just awkward. I mean, somebody wants to come and get a cup of coffee. It’s like, I don’t know. So anyway, so I decided, you know, because breakfast friends are still not happening or field, it’s difficult for sales people, vendors, even other traders to get in front of other operators at this point. So it’s like, OK, well, let’s talk to them a little bit. So I’m doing a weekly segment where I’m sitting down with the customer. I’m just kind of just bantering. So there really is no threat to it. It’s kind of like a five. If if I start prepping too much for it, I will feel like I’m missing points in things. I’ll be listening rather than engaging. So it’s just kind of a quick 20, 40-minute conversation. What’s going on? Your world general field activities?
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:14:20] I’ll tell you, I really enjoy that methodology. And you’re really good at that, being able to pick up on other people and those things, the ones that I have seen were really good drawing questions out of that person. And I it’s
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:14:38] funny. I appreciate that. I feel like I’m a horrible interviewer. I really feel like I’m being serious, like if I have to listen. So first off, when I listen to him, I get like, you know, like sound clips or if I want to listen to know I hate hearing myself talk. I think when I have a question, I’ll have this one question and I’ll start expanding in and start and I’ll start like going off on tangents. Then I get to the bottom like, oh my God, my question. I also use a lot of followers. I use a lot, you know what I mean? That being said, so it’s kind of a I hate hearing myself talk,
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:15:13] but you’re so good at it. I mean, when you sit back and say people in the oil field don’t always talk in English, and I very rarely do I went to Oklahoma State and and then I had to cover it up with a degree somewhere else. So I got my masters. But it was in Oklahoma. They barely have cement on their runways. It’s so far behind where you got your masters. And it’s it’s really horrible. And you you had your Texas A&M. Tell me a little bit about Texas A&M and how did you go to marketing? And then marketing there
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:15:47] because, well, I mean, I could give a well, I’ve always been very interested, passionate about branding. I could get one of those speeches, but I’ll just give a really, really went down. So I would say am I was and I don’t know what the core cadets were, so I joined the coconut company F2. I did that for all four years and I think it was my sophomore year. I was still in general studies and I got accepted to business school. My dad’s an accountant by trade and he’s been out his whole life. And I was thinking about what to do. You’re an accountant now. I really dig that finance now. I’m really not a numbers guy. Right? That’s the marketing of the best-looking girl. So I know that. I mean, that’s kind of also I really enjoy the branding side of things and all that stuff. But, you know, honestly, as you know, 19, I did fall in the girls.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:16:41] OK, that brings me to my next episode is you’ve got your new company all set up. You’re I’m so excited about it in your founder of Connection CARU. Yes. So when you’re talking about what you do best, you bring people together. Tell me about the connection. What do you how are you going to start introducing people? Because you’re good at it.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:17:07] So here, let me get you. So here’s the deal with a Web connection. So after I left CPC, I joined energy funds for a little bit, and kind of probably about a couple of weeks into that, I had a conversation. My wife, I first off, let me give you let me kind of structure this first. The oil field, as we all know, is completely shifted. Breakfast friends, his office to work lunches to me. Aren’t that engaging? If you get to lunch with someone, that’s great. Well, that’s you’re really not going to build that relationship that warrants a text. You want to be on a texting basis with your customers. So lunches, I mean, they might be a great salad lunch, but then again, they’re going back to the office and they’re piled with work after that. So they’re not going to it’s really not hitting like the general relationships, really not being built dinners. I get there fine. I love them. But as far as actually, dinners being effective, first off, they’re overpriced. There are constant distracters. There are waiters and waitresses always coming by asking if you need help and all that stuff. And and I was pretty successful putting together these industry networking events in one other vendor and where we have, you know, eight, ten customers in the same room. And and it’s like it’s just a very engaging environment where relationships could be so. The oil feel changed. I went to the drug conference, I started noticing all these companies I had no idea about, but the only reason I knew the companies because I knew the person that worked at that company. So I realized that people are not identifying companies anymore. They’re not identifying the people. So through the I just kind of realized that I really enjoy promoting products. I enjoy putting the people in a room that need to meet. I enjoy if someone has some trouble trying to break in or a relationship with someone introducing those two people. I mean, even I mean, even to the point when it comes to, you know, some engineers that are out of work, putting them in touch with other engineers or salespeople that probably know what’s going on. So whether it’s. What happened, what transpired from covid, from me getting out there and I started the podcast and promoting this brand from a previous company promoting energy. I just really enjoy that. I enjoy bringing companies into the limelight and also not just so much of that, not just on their content, because a lot of content out there is so outdated. I mean, gosh, I mean, if I made a I made a commercial I’m released probably before this release. Directional drillers post record profits. I mean, that does not mean they think that it’s not content needs to be engaging. It needs to have an impact. And people need to stop scrolling, sit there and absorb what you’re trying to communicate to them. And historically, the oil and gas industry has been very boring. It’s been very, very conservative. It’s changing right now, though. And I just it’s one of those things that I can offer help to, to a company to create content, to stand out to show off the personality of the company. And I think that’s crucial to this day and age for companies.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:20:22] Oh, and you bring up a great point is where’s the next generation of employees coming? Where is the guard changing to those things? And you can help people educate people on the oil and get the true oil and gas. And that’s and
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:20:38] that’s and that’s the thing to a lot of times. You know, you have these service companies that whoever hire these these these marketing firms and nothing against them. You know, I’m not knocking that. But a lot of times you’ll find a pumpjack on a wire on companies’ media content where you want to call it. So I’ve been in the industry for over 16 years. You know, I’ve got the network. I know I know the old school. I know the new school. So it’s one of those things where it’s like I could be that bridge between I’m not trying to be pompous or anything like that, but I really can. I could be that bridge between, I guess, the older generation, the newer generation, how to actually promote and get your company into the limelight if you don’t need that to happen. Also, look what you need. Networking events can be set up and hosted together where it does allow and facilitate these great genuine connections because I love it. I love it when I’m talking to one customer and I bring up another customer that I don’t remember. But they are not like, oh yeah, we actually hung out because, you know, it’s just four months ago. I’m like, oh, wow. Like, I love seeing other friendships kind of, you know, or business relationship, whatever you want to call it, kind of a flirt.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:21:48] You hate going out to dinner with your wife because I guarantee everybody in town is going to go, J.B., how are you? And I bet you can’t eat out. I’m just guessing.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:21:58] Well, I love going to dinner. My wife, she is definitely the the better-looking half out of all of us, and she actually is probably more engaging than I am. So it is kind of funny, though. We were out to dinner and this guy did stop and was like jumping on stuff and stuff happens all the time. I’m like, that was probably the second time this happened, but it is kind of funny. But she’s a good sport, so sport, she’s awesome.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:22:24] I’ll tell you what I am. So I’m actually going on a date and I love me just because I get to see all the folks and everything else and I’m trying to arrange a couple podcasts and stuff down there. Are you heading?
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:22:35] They you know what I think weeks like Nathan Ötzi, I never put anything solid in the books just because it’s so fluid. Right. You don’t know what conversation you. So I’m gonna be in the area. I’m going to be around. I don’t have a pass to date or anything like that, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be hitting up some some networking events.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:22:57] I know some people, if you want to pass, let’s do it. Great, I’ll make it happen. I know people
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:23:07] it’s so massive, I know I can get it done.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:23:10] Yeah, I’ll make it happen for you.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:23:13] That’s actually awful feel. I know a guy. I know a guy. Boutte’s. I know a guy.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:23:17] So you’re saying The Sopranos learn from an oil guy, you know?
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:23:22] Yeah, I did X and I think I actually made a meme a while back about roughneck. I think the I think Roughnecks wrote for The Sopranos.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:23:32] Oh, I would love to see that.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:23:35] That’s got to two off line. So it’s not appropriate right now. But also that’s the offline of fantastic.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:23:41] We got to get some hardhat stickers made with your crew emblems and everything else, because trading stickers is a big deal. I mean, it’s almost like those milk bottle caps. You know, when you got a sticker for your hard hat, at least some great giveaways.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:23:59] So good. Hey, this is like a seventy-two. This is an out seventy two hours ago. But there’s a lot that I need to do. I mean, I’m still going for the website to be verified. So I think this silicones website verification gets emails and then stickers. Those are my top three priorities.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:24:17] Right. And well no getting your tax ID number and getting that done, I hope you got that. That’s done. Absolutely. I’ll tell you what, JP, thank you for taking time out of this. And I know that you’re going to be so successful with your new company. And if there’s absolutely anything else, I’d love to have you back. And if we do arrange to see you down there and they whatever I can do, I’ll have my people call your people.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:24:46] Let’s definitely tell young man. I’d love to see you.
Stu Turley, Sandstone Group [00:24:48] All right. Thank you very much.
JP Warren, Energy Crue, and Connection Crue [00:24:50] Me. Thanks. Thank you for having me. I enjoyed this. All right. We’ll talk soon. Absolutely.
