Roofing Success
The Roofing Success Podcast is a show created to inspire roofing contractors to achieve optimal success in their roofing businesses. The host, Jim Ahlin, is the co-author of the book, "Internet Marketing For Roofing Contractors, How to TRIPLE Your Sales and Turn Your Roofing Website Into an Online Lead Generation Machine", and Co-Founder of Roofer Marketers, the Digital Marketing Agency for the roofing industry. On each episode, Jim will be sitting down with industry leaders to talk about their processes, the lessons they learned, and how to find success in roofing.
Roofing Success
Biggest Mistakes That Can Derail Your Roofing Business Momentum with Bryson Berard
This week on Roofing Success, join Jim and Bryson Berard, CEO of In the Light Roofing, as Bryson shares how aligning his God-given talents with a clear vision has fueled his success. Learn how he builds momentum through effective systems, servant leadership, and a strong team culture. Discover his strategies for scaling operations, hiring based on core values, and fostering continuous improvement to drive growth and profitability.
Bryson reflects on early hiring challenges, the value of moral authority, and the importance of investing in people. Hear his insights on building relationships with subcontractors and understanding cultural nuances to enhance collaboration and loyalty.
This episode delves into inventory management, leveraging industry relationships, and honing leadership skills for sustainable growth. Gain practical tips to align your strengths with your business, prevent burnout, and create a lasting legacy while leading a mission-driven team.
🔗 https://inthelightroofing.com/
🔑 Key Takeaways:
- Align Talents and Vision
- Build a Strong Team and Culture
- Momentum Through Systems and Stewardship
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What happens when you align your God-given talents with your business vision. Bryson's journey reveals the extraordinary results. In this episode of Roofing Success, we dive deep with Bryson Barad of In the Light Roofing to uncover how he's built unstoppable momentum in his business, from navigating the challenges of scaling up operations to fostering a culture where team members and subcontractors excel. Bryson shares his journey of continuous improvement and leadership growth. Bryson isn't just the CEO of In the Light Roofing. He's a dynamic leader who's grown his company over seven years into business with a clear vision for 2025 and beyond. And what sets Bryson apart is his relentless drive to build momentum through systems, culture and servant leadership. Whether it's empowering his team with the right core values or ensuring even the smallest repair gets done with care, bryson's approach is as strategic as it is inspiring. What makes this conversation truly unique is Bryson's focus on stewardship and efficiency, which stems from his passion for service and a vision to make a lasting impact on the roofing industry and beyond. In today's episode, you'll learn how to systematize your operations for scalability, develop a winning team culture and master the art of balancing ambition with actionable strategies. Let's dive in with Bryson Barad from In the Light Roofing.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Roofing Success Podcast. I'm Jim Alleyne and I'm here to bring you insights from top leaders in the roofing industry to help you grow and scale your roofing business. Bryson Barad In the Light R light roofing how are you, man? Amazing, amazing, doing well, awesome man. The energy is always high with you. I love it. You're, you have a passion for this, yeah, um, but, but in the beginning. So if everyone, if people, for people who don't know this is your second time on the podcast it's been about two years now, I think you on about I think it was like episode 135 or something like that. So for people that want to go back and listen and get to know you more and your journey, more you know, go back to go back to episode 135 and kind of listen to that.
Speaker 1:In the Light, roofing has grown over the years. You continue. What I love about what you're doing and is is you've had this. You have this mentality of continuous improvement. Right, and like I remember in our first conversation, you were talking about stuff you learned from Dimitri and stuff you learned from Martin Pettigrew and stuff you learned, like from Ryan Groff and stuff like you're just constantly consuming and iterating on your business and so. So what I what I think I'd love to start with is is is how do you build momentum through the phases of your business, through the stages of your business as you're going through them? What, how is that for you? What? What are you thinking about in that regard?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, that's great and, uh, hey, totally appreciate you having me on the podcast again. So I'm glad that, uh, you know I get to share a little bit more and hopefully it catches some people, uh that that are needing some of this information. Um, so, one thing I could know where you know we're going on like seven and a half years in business that the business hasn't always looked the same. It started off a certain way and is now moving in a certain direction that, honestly, I can't necessarily stop. You know there's been so much momentum over the years that we started off more as like a snowball and now we're like really becoming like snowmen. I know that's kind of like a little cheesy thing, I just made it up.
Speaker 2:So, I heard it before, but it's just kind of something that makes sense to me. When you first start your company, you're trying to figure out, like okay, like how do I sell a job? And then you're like, okay, how do I install a job, how do we get the dumpster there, like so I have to order the dumpster and the material and the crew's going to show up all at one time, like to some entrepreneurs or some people that are entering the roofing space. That's a lot, and you know what People at high level still struggle with that. But then it starts to get to the point where you're like okay, now I did that like one day a week, and now I'm doing that two days a week, now I'm doing that three days a week, now I'm doing that 10 days a week. How am I? I'm doing that 10 days a week and I'm doing that for an entire quarter and that's something that we experienced this year, so for just about a quarter of the year. It was so cool. We were running like just about like anywhere between like 10 jobs a week. You know, for us starting out in the beginning maybe you hear in the beginning of the podcast on the other, on episode 135, we were not. We weren't there, we were just trying to make it. How can we do a roof a day for five days a week? Now we're running two crews and we're doing it for an entire quarter, crushing it, killing it, and it's so cool.
Speaker 2:But, like it takes, it takes disciplines, it takes really good habits to make sure that you can do those things on a frequent basis. But you got to have like the moral authority within yourself to to communicate that to your team, to therefore produce that on a regular basis. So yeah, I guess, going back to the beginning of it all, is that there's just little hurdles that consistently need to be achieved each and every day and eventually you continue to do those, continue to do those, continue to do those. People know you, people recognize you. And then you come to a certain continue to do those, continue to do those. People know you, people recognize you. And then you show you come to a certain point in your business where, like, literally, you could go on vacation for a week and things aren't going to fall apart and 10 roofs get built. I'm in costa rica, like with my wife and, um, you, you know, obviously you come back. There's a couple little things like, but that's just, that's just being an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:Let let let's talk about that journey a little bit. Like there's there are so many things you have to figure out. I loved, I love that. Like there are so many things that you have to figure out in the beginning, like you said, just even how to get the dump trailer to the like, who picks it up right, who drops who like right. Like there's all of these little details that we don't think about in those early stages. But that's what you're, you're learning all of those things what were like talk about those early days and and kind of the, the, the, the challenges that you overcome, or or like some. I remember this one. That was one that, oh, and we solved it this way, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think there was a point where we were trying to, we were trying to have the salesmen be responsible for production as well, and I think when we overcame the fact of learning that sales should be designated to sales and production should be to production, I think that's when we jumped levels. Now it took some time to really get that up and running, because you're always juggling things and it's like how many things can you juggle at the same time and still do a good job at it? Cause, like you don't want to be juggling too much and be dropping the stuff you're juggling all the time. You want to be juggling and doing it fluently and like it's just running nice.
Speaker 2:So I think that's when we realized that, hey, we got to get the sales guys to really focus on their sales game and grow and get really good at sales. And it's not really sales, it's more so just helping people and being like being master communicators. That, hey, you know what, we are the best company in the state of Pennsylvania. Like this is why, and so, like that needs to be on point. Like production needs to be on point, the subcontractor crew needs to be on point, and so when you get everyone to like know their place, get inside sales to understand their place and their piece to it, like then you really have something that you could step away for a second and just know that it's still getting done. And I think that's the whole goal is how can we create a really efficient assembly line?
Speaker 1:How okay. So what were some of the things that you did or have evolved with the company that get sales people on point and then we'll go to production and then the subcontractors yeah, so for the sales people, what were some of the things that have been impactful along the way that, like man in, like they've gone through? I know you train your guys and you're always bringing in or bringing them to trainings or bringing you know like there's part of that, but it has to be in the execution.
Speaker 1:How did you guys execute on that?
Speaker 2:Well, I think you have to hire people with the right mindset. Execute on that. Well, I think you have to hire people with the right mindset. I know it sounds super simple, but I think that's really. It is just getting people that are like-minded, that can understand your core values, your mission statement, and so when you start to hire from there, I learned it early on is that you should hire. We should have core values. That's number one, but you should hire and fire and coach based upon them. So sometimes it just needs to be a coaching opportunity for you guys to have a conversation towards hey, you're not doing this, we want you to do this and this is the reasons why, like, you got to be able to like get people that are bought in and then kind of coach them continuously along the way. But to really answer your question, what was it? Again? I want to make sure.
Speaker 1:Well, it's really that you're right on line with it and I think I have a follow up already. It's like you know, I think early on sometimes is early on we need people or we think we need people and we don't have a skill set in hiring. I love that. You know, like we talked about this before, but I'm a big fan of EOS and establishing your core values and measuring your team against core values Early on. A lot of times we don't have those core values or they're not as defined as we want them to be, and I think that a lot of times we want a body right, we want somebody to be doing this right, somebody to be doing sales, somebody to be doing production. We need a body in that seat and we start to overlook their misalignment with our core values. Did you ever make those mistakes early on? And and and how did you learn like to just say to, to, to more quickly determine if it was the right person or not?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think when you're just starting out, your resources are a little bit more limited and you know timing is everything. So sometimes what you want to do, you don't have the people that you really want to start with and you have to realize, hey, this is where I need to build from, which helps you become a better leader. It helps you be someone that, um, you can take someone that has a certain skill set and then say, ok, well, I really need them to produce this, but they're not doing it. And it now helps you to self audit. Like you know, am I being the person that that can lead them? That comes down to moral authority. Like. Are you living your life in a way that someone wants to listen to, or are you just being that boss that, just because you're an authority like, you have to do it because you know you're the boss Like you want people to like look at you and listen to you because you have the moral authority to be listened to, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:So I think, sometimes you got to recognize where people are at and just say, okay, like this gives me an opportunity to grow as a leader.
Speaker 2:And then also, too, is just like okay, there's levels to things. So as we grow as a company, like I've been preparing my guys that we've been dialed in through 2025. I mean, you know it's November 25th, but we've been talking about it for about three weeks now, so we're already putting ourselves in the framework of 2025. So I'm making sure, hey, everyone's on board for this 2025. And if someone isn't, I want to make sure that how can I get them there? You know, cause not everyone is going to like quickly. When you say jump, they're going to jump to some people. It's going to take a little bit more time. So that comes down to the leadership side of it is like how can I be a good leader to get people everyone moving towards 2025? So there's a couple of things there I said. But basically it's just like you got to like recognize where you're at as a company, recognize the people that you have, and then realize that you want to grow your people, you want to grow yourself, and then you want to continue to hire, like I have a sign on my door in front of the office that says, like now hiring, ask me. It's been there for like two years when I had the idea of doing it, because we never stop hiring. Like some people, they'll be like, oh yeah, this person was looking for a job. I'm like, well, tell them to put in an application. Like we people, they'll be like, oh yeah, this person was looking for a job. I'm like, well, tell them to put in an application. Like we may not need that position right now, but like we should always be having conversations.
Speaker 2:Like I got a guy that I just was at a funeral. I went to a funeral and, uh, you know, obviously a super sad circumstance, but you end up catching up with old people that you, like you haven't talked to in a while. So, talking to this younger guy, and literally his dad actually was the one that died, but you know I was, I was a person of influence, so like I had some authority with him where I could talk to him, and he says he was looking for something different. I said, dude, you should just like, come with me and be a project manager. And and you know, do I need a project manager right now? No, be a project manager. And, and you know, do I need a project manager right now? No, but I have enough belief in myself and the company that I'm going to need another project manager.
Speaker 2:So I said, january 1st you rolls around, come on board. I'll train this guy for like a month. I'll get them to go full onboarding. I'll get them to understand what I need them to understand. So when, like January, february, march rolls around, that's where I'll start to see that profitability.
Speaker 2:So it's not about like how can this guy make me money, like right now or in two weeks? Now I know there's a lot of great people out there that, like dude, that's their standard, that's great. But for me, like I understand that sometimes you have to like pour into people and make a lot more deposits into them before you can take that withdrawal. Like you just gotta like always be recruiting, always be looking to hire, always be looking to advance top talent and uh growing your people from within and, like I said, being that person that like someone would listen to, because the more and more I realize business, the more and more I realize it's people that like, the more people I can influence, the more people I can gain on my side, uh, the better my company is going to be and then.
Speaker 2:So then it's. It comes down to that momentum. If I'm constantly, uh, looking to bring the best people on, if I'm looking to put the best roofs on, if I'm looking to have the best relationships in the industry, I'm going to have so much momentum that there's going to be a point where, like, I'm going to have people that are on my team doing this and now it's not just dependent upon me, it's dependent upon, like an entire team of recruiting and leveling up and growing and getting better and looking at 2025, when it's November, like you're going to have, you're going to have that belief system that's going to be communicated to the team, and now the team is doing what you want them to do, not because you're their boss, but because you're their leader and someone that they look up to.
Speaker 1:I love that and I think that that of ties into those, those phases of business, right Like, or the stages of your company in the beginning. You're you're trying to just figure out how to get things done. You're figuring out, like you said, how to sell a job, how to build a roof, how to like, how to get a dumpster there on like, how to everything right. All of these things are things that you need to figure out. All of these things are things that you need to figure out. But now, like in what you just said, you're at a place where you are able to forecast into the future and, even if you don't need the person right now, you have faith that you'll need them come 2025, right, I build up that it'll.
Speaker 2:That's what I expect.
Speaker 1:Exactly. You know you've gotten to a place where it's predictable. The outcome is more predictable. Maybe that's a good way to put it Right. And so but, but man, there's some in between there, right? So in the beginning you're just figuring things out. I love the next kind of as the next phase is you're. You're really finding the right people and understanding your culture and and and who. That is who they are. How do you? Is it the same in the production side as it is on the sales side, or are there any differences there?
Speaker 2:To be honest with you, I think it's very much the same. I think it's just a. It's a, it's something that doesn't change because, like, people are just people. So if you can understand people in sales, you can understand people in production. Now, their language and the way that they're going to respond to certain things are going to be different, but again, it's just going back to people, like understanding that, like, salespeople are motivated by this and this is what salespeople are attracted to, and then understanding like production has a different way of thinking. Totally cool, because they're different people. What?
Speaker 1:are the differences? What are the differences that you find?
Speaker 2:Production looks at things like, let's say like, for instance, like compensation, like what's most important to them, like differently than sales. I don't want to get like too involved with it. You know what I mean Sales people in production are completely different people they think differently.
Speaker 2:They have different goals for themselves, they value themselves differently, not like one's more important, that's not what I'm saying, but like they just look at life differently, right? So I can't try to attract a production person like I would a salesperson and vice versa, not to say again, it's not a diss on the person or the position, it's just like you just think they're different.
Speaker 1:They're different roles, right, yeah, and then so, so you're really. What I'm hearing is you're finding what motivates them. You're, you're, you're finding what motivates them and leading them in that direction. Now there's that other aspect to the roofing business, and that's your subcontractors that you mentioned. How you like, is there a like you, you still have to express your core values. You still have to. I I feel like anytime you're hiring subs, you still have to treat them like an employee in a way. Yeah, like, there still has to. Like they're not gonna like there's, there's very few subcontracting crews that are just gonna solve all your problems, right, right, like, oh, I'll just out outsource it, right, like, I'll just outsource my problem, right, they're always going to. There is still a management of it. What have you found that has kept you on point in managing your subcontracting crew?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the most powerful thing that I learned over the years is understanding that there's uh, especially in, like, the Spanish culture, they're uh, the way that they like they're, they're super, super loyal, uh, community, they're very loyal to one another. So when, um, I want to come in there and I want to be an encouragement, my buy-in is a lot more guarded. So I almost have to go to the subcontractor leader and I have to go to him so that he can communicate it. Some barriers that I can't really cross because of just because them, being a subcontractor, I can't tell them when to show up. I can't tell.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of things that, like, because they're not an employee, like I'm a little bit limited to what I can and can't say, but I know what. Two things that work really well for me is like I know that when I do have something that does arise, I need to go to the leader and that's the subcontractor leader and have that conversation with him, because really, they're not my guys, they're his guys. The other thing, too, is like I need to make sure as much of the time I'm getting as much I'm depositing as much as into them as I that I should say it like I got to make sure I'm constantly depositing to them. Because when I come to the job site and I check in on them and I just say, hey, man, you guys are killing it, you're doing a good job, and like being a source of encouragement, and then be like, hey, can I get you guys lunch today, or can I get you guys waters or something like that, so that, like that, next time, when that homeowner comes around and they're like, why does the drip edge look like that? I'm like, hey, guys, you got to take that piece of drip edge off. Like they don't like it.
Speaker 2:And and the subcontractor is like, well, dude, that's what the guy gave me. And like, so now it's like, but I, I've had enough, uh, deposits into that subcontractor crew and just say, and you know what, they're not going to charge me more. They're just going to say, hey, you know what? Like we, like we love you, bryson, you're a great guy. Like we'll just fix that piece. They might be a little upset as they're doing it, but they'll still do it for me because I've I've spent so much time with them.
Speaker 2:Like some of my guys have been with me almost four years as a subcontractor, um, and they still have the freedom to to work for other people, uh, but they choose not to because they like working with us. They they love the stability that we can bring to the place. So, yeah, you know what? Maybe there's a day of the week that they're they are working for another guy, and you know what? Again there's, there's some laws and restrictions and Pennsylvania where, like you got to make sure that you don't get in trouble with that because you don't want to get audited, and then, because you don't want to get audited, and then you're looking at some serious response bills. So I know how to do as much as I can do and not do too much, because I don't want to screw the system up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I think the key point is that you're pouring into them in a certain way, right, in a certain way right Like you're. You're making those deposits of goodwill to, to, and, and and, being encouraging and and and and leading. Still right, you're not just true.
Speaker 1:You know people treat subcontractors differently, right, like if you and and poorly in some cases it's crazy and a lot of times they're used to that and when they if you are someone who is encouraging and is taking care of them and you're doing the right things, like like you said, then people want to work for you and that's in the office, you know, on your sales team or your subs. I think that happens, um, in kind of along the way. You know, it sounds like a lot of team and culture stuff have been, are on your mind and that's, you know, in the phases of business, like I think, early on, a lot, of, a lot of that is like we said, like you're just looking for a body You're not looking for like this person who is a perfect cultural fit, and they're just, you know, like what phase or what stage of your business do you was that, did things open up for you, where you were able to go? Oh, now I can really focus on this, which is the next level.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the next level was when I was able to learn from, for instance, monarch and Riva. So, basically, how they did things is they just siloed things out. And I think there was a point in time in my business when I couldn't just silo things out realistic expectation and say, hey, I only have two or three guys to create that system is going to take some time, it's going to take some more momentum, which I don't have yet. But I can create it by creating like just little disciplines of like hey, guys, as we progress and move forward in this direction, we got to start doing it like this, and so it's just little subtle changes and then eventually, in like a year, like it changes, and then you got two years and you get three years and eventually, you know, we'll hit that 10 year mark and even the stuff I'm saying today will be so far, uh, from from what I'm truly dealing with when I'm at 10 years.
Speaker 1:Um, so I think there's just like a time where you recognize where you want to go.
Speaker 2:Like, there's always that like funny thing, like you only ever like earn what your self-worth is and you only ever like. For instance, there was like that four minute mile. Right, everyone was like dude, nobody could do the four minute mile, nobody could do the four minute mile. Well then, like, someone hits the four minute mile and then like a couple like, not far after that, another guy hits it, breaks the record, another guy breaks the record. But when people think that they can never do it, it'll never be done.
Speaker 2:But as soon as you start to realize, hey, um, I'm only one, two or three guys right now, but I want to build with Monarch built, or I want to build, uh, something even greater than what they've built, you got to almost have a you know, a crazy, a crazy belief that you can do it. And as soon as you start to just like say you, you can, and you start to do the actions that high level people do, then you realize you know what? I just need to keep, keep on this train, because it's so funny that there's a lot of guys in the industry that they never reach their full potential because, like, they just get they, just they could be like the best roofer but, like, sometimes the best roofer doesn't win the job. It's the guy that, like, can market right, but there's a lot of people that can just market right but they can't get production down.
Speaker 2:Like you want to realize that you want to build an organization that, like you, market really well, you sell really well, you have an amazing production team. Really well, you, you have an amazing production team like you. You, you have people in your company that are, you know, just doing crazy cool stuff. And I, I think goes back to the beginning of what I've been saying it's just, it's just momentum. Once you gain that momentum, like you can't be stopped yeah, and that momentum takes time to build it.
Speaker 1:To me it's like you're. To me it's like you're pushing up the hill, first Right, and then you get to the top of the hill, and then you, and now it just like you can't stop it. Right, there's a point where you can't. It's like it feels like you can't stop it. Yeah, has that started to happen with you where you're like man, like you said, I could go to Costa Rica with my wife and things are completely getting done. To me, that's where that corner is turned right, and now it's this momentum that's been built that feels like you can't stop it. Has that happened? And where do you think in a business like, is that a $5 million? And I know it's simplifying it by just doing it by like gross revenue or something like that, but like, where along the way, are these like milestones that people should like? Like, is it zero to 2 million? Is just like figure stuff out.
Speaker 1:And then I would say, I would say like two to five, you're starting to figure out like, oh, this is how we're going to silo it. And then we're getting like, where, what's the what's that for you? What is that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you're, you're, you're, you're being extremely helpful by saying that, because that's exactly it, I think and again, I'm not a, you know, a huge, massive company but we have the workings of doing that and we will do it. But if any experience I can speak from, there are different phases. So, like you got a little bit more of the beginning phase where you just kind of do everything yourself and you know what that's a great business model. If that's what you want, like, go and do it. You'll have a lot of freedom and peace of mind because like, hey, I only want to be this size and I know I can make this level of income and I know I have the freedom for this, great Cool.
Speaker 2:And then there's like that next silo that actually going backwards would be more comfortable, because sometimes that two to three million is actually like that sucky spot, because it's like you're not quite there and you're not really as profitable as you could be because you're trying to have the structure in place to be that big company. And so sometimes, like there's those different phases where every time I've grown I kind of miss the rear view mirror where I was like, oh man, like that was a little bit easier. I remember when I could have just done this, but sometimes you can't get away with those things anymore, so I think, but then it always gets better. So like, if you continue to like move in that positive direction, eventually you'll work yourself out of that that little hurdle and then you'll get to like a new hurdle, and then um, and then then it's just a continuous progression of like hey, we're killing it, but you have new problems, so different levels there's different levels.
Speaker 1:How do you decide which problem to solve next? Because there always is a problem to solve. What, what's? What do you think about when it's like okay, we got these 10 things that we could work on?
Speaker 2:How do you decide which one comes next? So I'm not sure if this is actually like the right answer, but I know this is what I can look back on and say that is consistent. I think it's always self-development. So self-development with myself and self-development with the team, because when you can continue to grow, like those things just become easier. Like some people have said it before, really good.
Speaker 2:We're like when you pray to God for patience, like God will show you patience so that you can become patient. He doesn't just like make you patient, and it's like the same thing where it's like if you want to reach another level, he's going to place things in your life that are going to make you reach that next level. But you can't reach that next level if you're not prepared to like go through the fire. So, and I think it's always you versus you, it's always like what you believe about yourself, what you believe about yourself can, is the next thing that can be done. And so I don't know, like I said, I don't know if that's actually right, but I know that it works for me and, like, every time I level up, the company levels up. Every time I stay complacent and stay average, the company remains and stays average.
Speaker 2:But, like, I know that I want to impact thousands of lives for the kingdom of God through in the light roofing Right. So I know that in order to do that, wow, 1,000 lives that's a lot of people that I got to touch. Well, I can't just do that if I'm only doing two or three or four or 5 million. I know that it comes down to having a bigger company because that means I can have more people on my team. That therefore impacts other people like homeowners or subcontractors or whatever, or just people who are out of the gas station. When you have a bigger company and you recruit good people and like that guy that's on your team and your company clothes represents the company right, well that's impacting a life right In a positive direction. So it's just like a lot of that just being repeated, I think.
Speaker 1:No, it's, and it's the vision growing. It sounds like to. Your vision keeps growing. You know, from our last call or our last podcast to this one about two years from now, I don't think you had that vision yet before. Like what? How? How did your vision come into play? Like and like what?
Speaker 1:I love that you're always about continuous improvement and I'm sure that's where it came from. Right, like. It was like hey, I read a book or I was at a conference, or something said in some like but but where? How did you decide that this is the vision? Because there's another thing that I think and I'm getting all kind of complicating this a little bit, but I think that the vision in the beginning is to make a living, like when we talk about the stages again, right Like.
Speaker 1:The vision in the beginning is to see if you can make, or even like what I think you said it when we were talking earlier like to see if you can even make a living doing this. Right, like, that's like your first thing. And then it becomes something else and I think that there's definitely a point where it turns to your why becomes your people? From a lot of the contractors that I have interviewed. It turns to their people, but then it turns into the greater community. Right, and it sounds like that's how your vision has progressed. And now you have this much deeper why? When did that come about in your stages of business?
Speaker 2:At least for me, if I can really look back and say when did that come in? I would since think, ultimately since day one. I think it truly was something that was like put inside of me. I don't think I developed it or grew it.
Speaker 2:Maybe I got better at it, but I think better at articulating it Maybe yeah, yeah, like I think it was always there because I think it was something that like, like, I truly believe that like God put me on this earth to literally like have this company and to put roofs on. Like I love what I do. I have like a weird passion for it, um, and I don't think that comes from like finding it, I think it's just there, like, for instance, like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, and uh and uh, hey, you know what. I'm comparing myself to those guys. That's all right, um, but anyways, those guys didn't like they weren't just like one day, like did you want to be the greatest? They always wanted to be the greatest. They just like, sometimes they had some different roadblocks along the way that, like, they weren't ready for that, and so, like, there's just some some sort of like fire or some sort of like dog that you have in in you, that you like you know what you want and you just want to go out and get it, and sometimes it takes some time, sometimes it takes like a whole lifetime to really truly get there.
Speaker 2:Um, so, yeah, I just think it was like placed in me from the beginning that I knew that I had this, this, this vision for greatness, and I and I love God, I love living my life through the lens of that, and I think it was just like an easy blend, like there's, there's this guy, ty Lopez he talks about this where he's like you should find what your like God given ability is like something that, like, you don't need to, you don't need to trick yourself to do. Like, for instance, like like I, I recognize that I really like to help people, right. So I know that like service is in my realm of like the strengths, right, like it gets even more intricate where you start to look at like the way you're built, like your design Well, I recognize that I have a little bit of a stockier build Like I'm good for construction, I look like a construction worker, so I should be in construction because it compliments me. And so then you start to like, look at all these things that you're good at and you start to see how they interject.
Speaker 2:Um, tai Lopez, he says it way better, but basically that's it. He's like you know, like if you're six, five and and you're like you're really good at basketball, like don't be like a football player, like it's not, like you're God given thing. So, um, I think it's just a matter of just like understanding, like what you're good at, wanting to, uh, to hone in on those things, and just like live in the place that promotes you to perform at the highest level and, uh, just make sure you're constantly surrounded towards that mission.
Speaker 1:How did? Like I think that's a, that's a real thing and you told me earlier when we were chatting and chatting it's like, find what you love to do plus your vocation, and put them together Right, and so does that kind of go along with it. A hundred percent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think it's. It's uh, cause that, that's what. That's how people don't get burnt out Like people get burnt out at things because they were never, they never really loved it. You know, there's a lot of people that are in the roofing space um, for a period of time and then it was like, nah, dude, I don't like that, because they were never truly passionate about it. They never really loved it. That's why you'll see me in the roofing game for a long time, because I love it. I got a passion for it. I know that I can make a very, very nice income and I know that it promotes me being the best.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's amazing when you do find the things that you enjoy right, or the things that really that, that really motivate you and drive you, and and when you do find that that what you're doing for your vocation aligns with those things in your like, the, the, your kind of, your truth or whatever. Right, like it's, like it. It's different.
Speaker 1:I think of that in team too, like around team, and it's a lot of times we have to find the right. We want to find the right person, right Culturally for our company, but then we have to find the right fit for them. Like, because you, you, you know, you, you talk about, you know you're built to be a roofer, even your, your build and everything like that. But are you built like there's? You have everyone has their certain strengths and and you know, maybe they're better from a sales perspective, maybe they're better, you know, as a job site supervisor and their, their attention to detail is amazing. Right, like there's also, like I think there's also finding that those, especially in your team, like you found it in yourself. Now, how do you find it in your team?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think I think this isn't something that's as easy to find. Sometimes it takes a period of time for someone to work for you for three months or six months, or even an entire year for you to really understand how they're wired. And I think that just comes naturally and organically. Organically, like I don't think you can force some of that stuff. Like some of that just needs to take place through time. Uh, like time is like the best thing. Like sometimes you bring someone on you think they're going to perform so well, but they only perform that well for like three months or like a month and that comes down to because, like they were just kind of like putting on a front. They weren't really wired that way.
Speaker 2:So I think, once you're understand, once you're able to understand how people are wired and like what motivates them, what's their why, like you know what's pushing them to do what they do, like is it just making more money or is it just like enjoying what they do? Like I have a guy on my team that, like dude, he is so cool man, he just like wants to be needed, be needed like he just like he wants to be the guy that people go to. So you could literally and and obviously we, we don't, we don't take advantage of him but you could pay the guy whatever you like anything the guy would still work here because he loves to be needed, he loves to be included in things and that, like that's a beautiful person to have on your team. You know, like you want people that, like they have a passion for service. Again, it aligns completely within our core values of like he fits the bill. Like he fits.
Speaker 2:Why, why he's on the team? Because he's so good at just like being that all in guys, like, whatever you need, I'll go do it. And it's just like some people could take advantage of the guy and I'm sure it's happened in his life. But I'm not going to be that guy. I'm going to be the guy that, like, understands his worth, understands his value that he brings to the table, and I want to recruit more people like him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, and we had talked about this at one time is like that some of the some of your team members you might not be able to measure them from an ROI perspective, like from a from a dollar amount right, it's easy to it's easier, tens of millions of dollars that that's exactly how their business model is Like. How much can this rep do? How?
Speaker 2:many leads did they run? How many closes did they take place, like and I'm not saying that that's bad Like you actually need that. You need to have some intelligence on to see who's performing. But sometimes there's a different metric that takes place and it's not done by like you ran this many appointments, you close as many jobs, you made this much money, yeah, and and that's why you're still on the team sometimes it's like there's something more that's within you and I need to make sure, by the time you know, something happens like I need to make sure that that's tap. We tap into that because I know that that's tap. We tap into that because I know that that's what's going to get us to the next level. All right.
Speaker 1:So you're. Is that something that you're consciously doing? Do you think, or subconsciously doing with your team? Like I think it's both.
Speaker 2:Like, yeah, yeah, I think it's both. I think it's something that, like, you need to be conscious, conscious of, but I think it's also one of those things that, uh, like, like it, it just kind of naturally takes place, cause, again, I think the best thing that, like to create really good culture in a really good environment, it needs to naturally take place. So I think it just, sometimes, you, you do it subconsciously and then you do it consciously, like there's there's different, uh, frequencies I think you tap into. So, like, sometimes you are being super intentional, and then other times I'm like I'm not trying to be something, I'm just being me, and that actually is promoting what I'm trying to do. So, like you know what I mean. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Definitely. Now you guys are really a roofing company.
Speaker 2:Like you would consider yourselves a roofing Like you're not a sales and marketing organization that sells roofs.
Speaker 1:You're a roofing company and explain the differentiation in your mind there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, when we have someone from our production team to the install team, to, to even the guy that answers the phone, right, like all of us truly understand um, some more than others but like all of us truly understand roofing and we understand that, like, hey, like, in order to help people and fix people's problems, we can't just like, quote people roof replacements left and right, Because, like, there's a lot of companies and again not talking smack but they only do replacements.
Speaker 2:Well, like you're not really there to help people as as much as you say you are. If you only offer replacements, like, if you truly want to help people and you truly are a roofing company, you have to do repairs. Like you can't just only ever give people the replacement option and I get it like dude, that's just not us. We're not doing that. We'll help you if it's a $500 repair all the way up to, like, a $50,000 roof replacement. Because, again, our aim, our goal, our core values, is teamwork and stewardship. So, like, we want to steward that relationship, even if that's not like the most profitable thing, it's the right thing to do, because we know, in order to create momentum, in order to move in a positive direction, you just continuously make the right choices, and then it's just easier and easier to like perform at a higher level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. That's awesome in your in, in, in, in having that in mind, like you're, you're looking at and I'm thinking about like the siloing and all the things you've done along the way and as you progressed. Like when you guys have a warehouse, you've had a warehouse for a for a few years, so you have a shop, you have a warehouse, you know an office warehouse. When did what stage of business did that come into play?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we've been in business for about you know, seven and a half years or whatever. So when we jumped into, you know what actually started at our previous building too because, like I said, I really come from roofing, I really am a roofer that kind of just realized there was more potential for me in a different position. So, yeah, I think it was something that I always like, enjoyed, I always loved, like uh, I just always really loved construction. So I always knew that, like, a part of the business is the material.
Speaker 2:So I think I understood that very early on and then I realized that there's like it's not just stocking the material, it's actually understanding how much volume of material you're going to move through to make sure that it makes sense for you buying all that. Because, like earlier on, I would buy, like you know, 80k off a rip and just be like, oh, I'm going to buy three rolls of this and four rolls of that and it's like, dude, it took me like a year to go through it. Like I could have just had my money in the bank or use that more in marketing, like. So that was something that I learned, um was that there needs to be some like, like there needs to be some thought that's taken into purchasing this. It's not to buy, you know, 50 ultimate pipe boots at internet quarters where.
Speaker 2:I know that I'm only going to go through that in an entire year. I don't need to spend a whole year stocking it. It makes the most sense to say, okay, I need X amount for this month, and so I think that's where it took place it. It started off just knowing that as a contractor, you need these products to do the job, um, and then it forms into other things and I think you just learn more, more stuff along the way. That help.
Speaker 1:So I think it's, I think it's a great thing, like it's not something that a lot of contractors do, right, they just rely on their suppliers to have stuff in stock when they need it and they, and that's just how they do business in stock when they need it and they, and that's just how they do business. What has what has has has building this in inventory management, muscle and warehouse and it like how is that?
Speaker 2:how does that help your business on an ongoing basis? Yeah, it gives us an edge. So, like now, when we get to talk to that customer that that they are considering another contractor and, uh, now you can mention that within your presentation. Hey, did you know that? Like, if you ever came back by our house or our office, I'm sorry, and that deposit that you gave us, if you ever wanted to make sure that like we had it all, just come check us out because, like we got, we got a bays where, like jobs that are going into production are now being like okay, like that's the material for that job and so like it's just like that.
Speaker 2:I think it's just like another thing that just helps us be different, because you're always looking for those differentiators. Like there's a lot of guys in our area, um, and they're just smaller. There's a lot of just smaller guys. And then there's like the big guys that are big salespeople, like in our. In my mindset, there's like no one like us, like we're one of one in our market, like there's no one else that is doing the level of stuff that we're doing in the roofing space, cause, like we just solely focus on roofing. We do a little bit of gutters but a lot of that just promotes the roofing. So it makes sense to be in the roofing space.
Speaker 2:But like no, a lot of people they get distracted cause they're doing a lot of different things. But like, if you spend all of your energy on one thing, um, you'll be the real, true master of it. And that, like dude, I don't, I don don't come in this game to be like kind of second best or you know, I'm kind of good at this and I'm kind of good at that. Like I don't know, I come from. Two, I'm too competitive. Uh, I remember when I was in was wrestling and I'd get second place and I'm like dude, that that freaking fired me up, that got me so mad like oh dude, like you got second.
Speaker 2:Like dude, yeah, but I didn't come to get second, I came to get first, like, so I don't know, it's just like one of those things that, like, if I'm going to get first, I'm going to be the best roofer in the state of pennsylvania. Like dude, I gotta have a warehouse because I'm not looking to be like kind of good, like I'm good to be, I want to be the best, I want to dominate the market. So that's why I have, like you know, different subcontractor, so that's why I have, like you know, different subcontractor crews, and that's why I have production teams and that's why we can do two roofs a day, and that's why, like, I have three equipters because, like, we're turning and burning jobs and you know like you can't do that if you don't have the resources to do that at. You know, and if you can, you know, like my, my whole thing is like how can I save my guys time and how can I save myself time? Like that's the difference, that's like the gap that's generally separated from people that are good and great is like they understand their time, like some people would be like, hey, I want to save this, so therefore, I'll do it myself when I'm like like my wife. She's so funny man. She's like all you do is just tell people what to do all the time.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, yeah, but I'm not really just that's not like. My aim is just to so I don't do anything. But it's like if I have that person doing that thing, then I don't have to do it and therefore I can think about something else, have to do it and therefore I could think about something else, and then if I'm not thinking about that thing, then I'm thinking about the next thing and it's just like. It's just like I understand that the time is the most important thing and it's not money. So if I can create an environment that promotes the like saving time, well, like I wouldn't have stewardship as my core value if I didn't live, breathe and sleep it Like I mean that from you know, saving the half a roll of paper to stock it in the warehouse to having like a dumpster on site so that, like I can, I can do, I can walk, walk and talk. What I'm saying and not just I don't know. I'm getting a little excited.
Speaker 1:That's like it to me. Like back to your wrestling days and things like that. It's efficiency of movement, right, like there's. Like there's an efficiency like all of the best athletes have. Like this efficiency in movement they're not like they're not doing the most all the time. They're doing the things at the right time, they're doing everything at the right time. And you know, of course, in an individual sport like wrestling, you're not relying on your teammates to a point right, you are relying on your coaches and things like that. But but it's that efficiency of movement, the efficiency of which you do things at and and and that's what makes me think of like what you're talking about. Like do things that and I, and and that's what makes me think of like what you're talking about. Like, if I'm going to be the best, I need to be the most efficient in I want, I want, I want to have the most like and that it it. Maybe, maybe I'm wrong, but that's where it's that. That's kind of how it. I heard it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a hundred percent, yeah, yeah, I think that, like you're, probably just looking at it better than I am.
Speaker 1:You know, like I think that's summarizing things, bryson, like that's what I have a skill set. I was on stage at a marketing event recently and one of my what a good friend of mine who's also in the marketing space was man. He had this really long, complicated answer and I was like let me summarize that for everyone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like this is what you meant, right. And he's like, yeah, well, let's summarize this Like, let's summarize, moving through the stages of business, how you thought about it and how you think now, looking back and looking into the future, like those, those, those lessons that you learned, the, the, the things that were most impactful. Let's summarize that for everyone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, that's a tough one. Yeah, but I guess, to summarize it, are you looking like for in, like a few sentences or more like in a word?
Speaker 1:Yeah, however, you want to do it, man. If it takes you 10 minutes to summarize it, summarize it in 10 minutes.
Speaker 1:You know, like just like to kind of close this out and put this together as a concise thing for people, like if you were looking back now, looking back at the path that you've gone down and looking at the road forward ahead of you, like you've done a lot of things. There's different stages of business that you've gone through. You know some of the most, like what, what makes you get through those stages, what gets you through those stages and what, what can people do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say, like I mentioned earlier on, is that you should find what you're already good at Like, like, for instance this is something I learned too is like, for instance, we take a disc assessment and it tells you all the areas that you're really good at, some areas of growth, and then what is it like to work alongside of a person when you have this disc assessment? So I think what it is is understanding what are your natural born God giving gifts, right? Okay, am I putting myself in a position that's going to like promote the betterment of that, or am I working against the grain? And sometimes I think it's okay to work against the grain because, like, there's a lot of things that I was not born with. Like, I don't think I was naturally born a really good leader. I think I was actually, like born very introverted. I was like kind of like anytime there was confrontation, I didn't know how to handle it. Well, both of those things like isn't what, like a real leader does.
Speaker 2:So I had to develop that, now that I'm in this leadership position of the company, of being the CEO, like being the owner, like, well, I got to get really good at like standing up for myself or standing up for the betterment of the business, or doing the right thing even when it's hard. So that wasn't actually a God-given thing, but I knew that I like construction was my good thing. So, like, in order to protect that good, like the good thing that I had, which was the company, I needed to realize that I needed to develop in the area of leadership and people. So, therefore, I went against what I was naturally good at and went in a different direction, because I knew that that was a necessary requirement towards growing the company. So I think I noticed that I pivoted from that. I went on this journey. I'm still on this journey and now it's like okay, um, how can I make sure that, like, the best people are on my team, um, and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:So I think to wrap it up in a nutshell is like, do what you're good at. Like if you're really good at doing code. Like just do really good at doing code. Or like, if you're really good at like code. Like just do really good at doing code. Or like, if you're really good at like SEO and marketing and all that stuff.
Speaker 2:Like some people, they're really good at it but they're not performing where they want to go. So then they get, like they start looking at something else, like, oh man, I should just be a roofer instead of like being the guy that manages the ads. I should just be a roofer because, like, I understand marketing, but that's a totally different thing. Like if you just focused on the one thing that you are good at and just became amazing at it, I think you'd just do so much better. So I guess, to wrap it up in a nutshell is really just focus on what you're good at, know the areas that you're not good at, and then just like develop those skills or add people on your team that that can do that awesome man.
Speaker 1:This has been another episode of the roofing success podcast. Thank you for tuning into the roofing success podcast. For more valuable content, visit roofing success podcastcom while there, check out our sponsors for exclusive offers, shop for merchandise and sign up for our newsletter for industry updates and tips. Also join the Roofing Success Facebook group to connect with other professionals and stay updated on the latest trends. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, share and leave a comment. Your support helps us continue to bring you top industry insights. The website link is in the description. Thanks for listening.
