the day that I actually drove myself to
the clinic and died on the table that
that would've been the moment that changed
for me, but it- Mm-hmm … it wasn't.
I said a prayer to God.
I said,
God, I don't know what's happening
right now, but if you make this go
away, I'll never touch this stuff again
money just magnifies you of who
you actually are It's, uh, it
will expose your, your true heart
and who you are as a person.
I lost my little brother to a heroin
overdose when he was 28, I was 34 My
goal is to build a nine-figure company
in the next three to five years We'll
do
eight figures this year
You're listening to Building
Dallas, hosted by Arrington Roofing.
With 42 years of roofing North
Texas, Arrington Roofing is
building a better roof for you
hello, my name is Reese
Arrington with Building Dallas.
Welcome back.
This is the podcast where we talk
with people shaping homes, businesses,
and communities across North Texas.
Today, our guest is an entrepreneur,
health and wellness advocate, a
two-time heart attack survivor.
He's built a massive
social media following.
He's a public speaker.
He's a motivator, bestselling author,
and founder of Summit Solutions
Roofing and Construction, graduated
from the University of North Texas with
a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics.
Welcome, Jason, Jason Nemes.
Nailed it.
Thank you, babe.
Close enough,
right?
Appreciate you.
Yeah.
Grateful to be here.
Yeah, man.
No, thanks for coming.
So I wanted to have another
roofer on the podcast because
it's such a competitive industry.
Yes, it is.
Right.
And people kind of think that we're
pitted against each other, but I think
there's some commonality with the
people that wanna do it right, right?
I mean, there's the fly-by-night
guys, the guys with no insurance.
There's no, no, uh, barrier to entry
to get into roofing- Right … in
Dallas, in Texas in general.
In, yeah, Texas.
Yeah.
So anybody can do it.
I've dealt with other roofers who
were siding companies year before,
and they jump into roofing, and
they have none of the credentials.
Right.
So first off, I just wanna
kind of talk about who you
are and why you chose roofing.
Like, what got you here?
Well, the who I am in today's day and
age is a man who was on a mission to
help everybody tap into their greatness
and be the best that they can be.
And the reason for that is because
of things that I'm sure we'll get
into about my story- Yeah, yeah
uh, which you kinda touched on,
but the, the main heart attack
that had me dead on the table.
And so, and then how I got into
roofing, so- My previous business
that I was in was, uh, network
marketing, and the company took a
route that I didn't really care for.
Mm-hmm.
And so I was kind of in limbo for a
bit, for a few years, but still making
a multiple six-figure residual income.
Uh, and then, yeah, long story
short, a buddy of mine called me
about starting a roofing company.
It was between, like, w- the
transition for me was between
roofing, solar, and insurance.
And I had friends that were
multimillionaires in each industry.
Mm-hmm.
And I mean, not to toot my own horn,
but we know what we're capable of and,
and the different skills that we have.
And, uh, through the network marketing
journey, I mean, afterwards, and
who I was able to become and the
mentors that I had that poured into
me, and the version of Jason at
the time was, "I can do anything."
Yeah.
Anything that I do, I'll be successful.
I mean, I built a, a team of, like,
4,500 people across the world.
Wow.
Yeah, so but I mean, I wasn't
that person when I first started.
Mm-hmm.
Again, it was just all the people that
I was able to surround myself with,
the mentors that I had, the people
that poured into me and believed in me.
A- and that was, uh, that was the
catalyst for, for where I am today and
the growth and my ability to grow so fast.
In roofing it's like, yeah, I'm new to
roofing, but as far as building culture
and leadership and vision, getting people
to work together, pouring into people,
I've been doing that for over a decade.
Yeah.
So you have the raw entrepreneural,
entrepreneurial spirit.
That's right.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, roofing, roofing
can get complicated.
Yeah.
But I mean, essentially it's, it's
a pretty simple trades business.
It's very simple and very complicated.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I think what makes businesses
great is sticking around-
Yeah
… because roofing companies
go out of business so fast.
Oh, people were talking so
much smack when I first got in.
"Oh," s- so, "Here we go.
Another guy thinks he's blah, blah, blah.
He'll be gone and…" It's like,
no, we're growing like crazy.
Yeah, and that's difficult.
I mean, uh, you have to
price yourself right, right?
Yeah.
You have to be able to deliver
exceptional customer service.
Nobody looks at their roof.
They don't know what's going on up there.
Right.
You know?
So it's not like selling a car where you
go, "Hey, you got the turbo. You know, you
got, you know, this interior," whatever.
You're selling a, you know, a
product that's based on, you know,
a commodity, which is oil, right?
I mean, it's an asphalt product, you know?
Uh, so getting that, over that
hump of what is the value that
I'm bringing to the customer.
Right.
You know, is that the roof, just
making sure it doesn't leak, or
is it the experience that someone
gets when they work with me?
Right.
You know, so how have you
built value into roofing?
Well, I mean, that's a great question.
So a lot of it has to do with branding and
getting people to know, like, and trust.
Mm-hmm.
When I first started out and nobody
knew who we were, I at least had
the credentials of self, right?
Yeah.
Being the bestselling author,
I'm a published TEDx speaker.
You know, I did a- Yeah … TED Talk.
Yes, we- It's called, uh, Death Gave
Me a PhD on Life, and the PhD stands
for purpose, happiness, and discipline.
Yeah.
But I could be like, "Look, like this
is me. I'm not just some random person
at your doorstep." And that definitely
helped give me credibility with customers
And yeah, I mean, just, man, I, I've been
dealing with people and growing and, and
like I said, leadership for over 10 years.
So my ability to talk to people
and just show them the value that
I'm not just some random person.
We… Yes, we're insured.
And I mean, back then I didn't have
as good of margins as I do now.
Now I have supply companies that
are fighting for our business.
Uh, you know, leave one, now they
want us back and they're offering
all these different things.
And so, I mean, we were talking about
it earlier, but I don't put anything on,
like that's under at least a class three.
Mm-hmm.
And we're just able to do a
lot of things for customers
and provide next level value.
We're also a diamond, uh,
contractor with, uh, with TAMKO.
And I mean, we just, you know,
so like providing warranties and
higher end workmanship warranties.
We're just able to do a lot and we have,
we- I think we have one bad review.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, we've got 75 five
star, I think one one star.
You can't make everybody happy, and there
are things that are gonna go wrong and,
you know, it just, it, that is what it is.
Mm-hmm.
We're not claiming to be, be
perfect, but we do our absolute best.
And I mean, hell, I've, I've had things
go wrong before and, you know, I'm, I,
I spent $4,500 to fix it out of my own,
or out of the company overhead- Yeah
to make customers happy because
your reputation is everything, so.
Abs- absolutely.
I mean, we, we have 4.9-
Yeah
… on Google, right?
I almost don't even want a
five.
You don't, you don't… Yeah.
A five.
'Cause then people are like- You're like,
you, you're- … are five like really?
… your cousins and your-
Something's wrong with that
yeah, your, your mother-in-law,
your sister-in-law.
Yeah.
You get all these people
to write these reviews.
It's
almost good to have like a, a review
that's just- Yeah … that's not, 'cause
it shows like you're a real company.
Yeah.
We, we had a mess up and actually
the one star review, like I didn't
even know about the situation and
it was stuff in a different office
that actually went south- Mm-hmm
and people were stealing and-
Yeah … doing things behind my back.
So it, it wasn't even in like,
it, I had zero control of that
'cause I just didn't know.
Well, and that's, that's a really,
uh, difficult thing to manage once you
get to- It is … a certain s- size.
Yeah.
Right?
I mean, that's where my, when,
when I came back into the business
and my brother's, you know, here
with me, my- Which is so cool
we, which is awesome.
Yeah.
That's when we decided to, to grow more.
My dad was kind of fine, just, you
know, mom and popping it, you know.
My mom used to be a part of the
business, um, years ago when she
passed away in, in 2023, uh, 2022.
Sorry to hear that.
Yeah.
No.
So it was kinda, it was kinda tough.
Um- But he was always fine
with that mom-and-pop.
Like, "Hey, I'm making a great living,
got a great house, support my family."
Right.
But, you know, now that we're involved,
we're growing and, and now he can't
see everything, or he can't see
what all the sales guys are doing.
You can't see what every admin process is.
No.
And that gets kinda scary, 'cause like you
said, you had a situation go down where
you didn't even know what was going on.
Yeah, it, it gets very scary, man.
You know, I, I have a very
large social media reach.
Mm-hmm.
And I have people that hit me up.
Man, e- every week I have people
hitting me up in different states
wanting us to come there and wanting
to work for me- Right … essentially.
Yeah.
Because of my leadership and the
culture and, and how I treat people.
And initially I just, I want
to grow, like, so bad- … and,
and fast, 'cause I love it.
Uh-huh.
But you can't, you can't
compromise integrity.
Yeah.
You have to be very mindful of who you
allow to wear Arrington or Summit, because
for them it's just another company.
Right.
You know?
They can… If they F things up, they
can just go work for another company.
Mm-hmm.
But it's, your company's still affected.
Yeah.
So you have to be very
mindful who you bring on.
Yeah.
And the more and more I've
been in the industry, I, I, uh-
I'm, I'm a lot more mindful.
Yeah.
Before I was a- I was way more- Yeah
… loose earlier on, but not anymore.
Mm-hmm.
And, and we've always kinda, we still
say it sometimes that we're a family.
Yep.
Um, and, and I, I like it, but I- I
think A-team or, like, you know, dream
team is more of the vibe that I, I like.
I say family too.
I say family and, and I think
it's great, but at the end of the
day, um, people leave, you know?
Yeah.
Fa- family really i- is, in the literal
sense, I mean, that's your blood.
Like, you can't, you can't leave a family.
But dream teams, A-teams, you
know, sometimes y- you gotta let
people go, and sometimes people
wanna go join a different team.
Right.
You know?
So we have an essence of family,
but, um, you know, I, I try to,
I'm trying to be more, "Hey,"
like, "let's get star players.
Let's get, you know, this team
aspect of it, and then that's
how we're gonna work together to
achieve the goal, which is to win."
Yeah.
You know?
To win, but not in a sense
that someone else has to lose.
I think that, you know, one of our,
our, our, uh, our kinda sayings is,
you know, uh, be- benefiting all.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Creating solutions that benefit everybody.
Yep.
There's not just a winner.
I love it.
Right?
And so that makes, uh, makes me think
of, I s- I, I saw a video of yours,
I think it may have been the first
video that I saw, that made me, you
know, gain some respect because you
had this homeowner who didn't need any
st- uh, didn't need to file a claim.
And you told her, "Hey," like, "you're
good." Like, "You don't need to do
this." And I think especially when we're
knocking doors- … a lot of roofers
are out there just telling everyone-
Is that the one that gave
us the huge referral?
Yeah.
It was, like, a $100,000 job-
Yeah … that she
gave us.
Well, and, and it, and it upsets me,
because nowadays with deductibles
through the roof, I mean, you got
35,000, 10,000, $20,000 deductibles- Yeah
telling someone to file a
claim when they've got a few
hail hits hoping to get it-
Yeah, it's bull crap
… isn't really good for them.
It's
ridiculous.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I really respected that, and
so I think when you talk about,
you know, growing it, you know, I
think, and you talk about integrity.
Through integrity, it's one of our core
values.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
So when you said that, you know, like
grow- growing it, you know, I want, I
wanna grow it, like, what is, what is it?
Like, what is… I know it's the
roofing company, but more than
that, what's the message behind it?
Like, what i- what is it
you're trying to catch fire?
Man, I wanna have the biggest, most
amazing company in the country.
Mm-hmm.
And that's just really
what it comes down to.
It's, somebody else has the be- like-
Yeah, but other company that's doing
X amount and they're considered the
best, well, there's always room to-
Sure
… to beat them.
Mm-hmm.
So for me, it's like a
friendly competition.
If, if they can do it, if
they can do it, why not me?
Yeah.
We haven't even been around two years.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
That's crazy.
Next month- Yeah … the end
of the month will be two years.
Yeah.
And we're about to be in six states.
Mm-hmm.
We're about to add Florida and Maryland.
Wow.
Yeah.
Well, and you grew this
social media following.
When did you start?
I
had that way before.
You had that before?
Yeah.
Okay.
So you were able to leverage
that.
And, and correct, and that's another
reason that I was able to grow like I did,
is because man, I, I had good reputation-
Mm-hmm … for doing good, honest
business, and like, people knew who I was-
Yeah
… whenever I started posting
that I was in roofing.
But I actually, I didn't post anything
about roofing for about six months-
Oh, wow … when I was in the industry.
Yeah.
Okay.
So you just used the same
pages you had before?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
If you go start a new
page, it's starting over.
Like- Right … I got a
warm market right here.
Right.
Why would I completely start over?
Now, I did start a summit page, and
we're working on growing that a lot.
Mm-hmm.
But, but yeah, I mean, I've gone
viral in the blue collar space.
I get recognized pretty
much every day at the gym.
Really?
I get recognized at the airports,
restaurants in other states,
and it's, it's cool, man.
Yeah.
And Yeah, people, it,
and that's another thing.
It's like, it's, um, it's a
reminder to keep going and keep
putting out the content because-
Mm … you never know who's watching.
And like I said, my goal is
to help as many people as I
can tap into their greatness,
whether it's with Summit or not.
Yeah.
And social media is a, is a platform
to share a message, inspire, motivate,
and help people get through another
day, and give them hope, and I
think that's one of the biggest
things that people need is hope.
Yeah.
I mean, I was a major drug addict doing
crazy things, just being, being wild,
and completely flipped things around,
almost five years clean from drugs.
Wow.
Yeah.
Now?
Now, yeah.
Wow.
Next month will be five years.
Wow.
And I was doing it almost every day.
Wow.
Uh, sometimes I- it was every day.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow, okay.
So going back, 'cause you had a
health and wellness company, right?
No, so that was- Was that the s-
… with the network marketing company
… network marketing?
Yeah.
Okay.
I built a multi seven-figure-
Gotcha
… business within the business.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
And so-
I got to making, like,
40,000 a month residual.
Wow.
Wow.
So residual, so, like, just off of…
What, what do we mean by that exactly?
My entire team.
Oh,
okay.
As long as they're, they're
still doing stuff, whether I
sell something or not, like, um-
So kind of passive in a way, or just
residual?
Oh, it's pa- That's residual.
Okay, got it.
Passive is residual.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So you have to be working to make this-
I still make a six-figure residual.
Wow.
I should hit the, the level, like, the
bo- 'cause it just depends on the numbers
that your team does- Mm-hmm … whether
you, like, activate that next bonus.
Yeah.
My checks next month for this
month's work will be around 25,000.
Wow.
Yeah.
Okay.
Thank you.
Okay, so go back.
So, um, you know, what, what caused
the change from, you know, Jason the
addict and partaking in all these
activities to locking in, focusing,
and, and really chasing your dreams?
Well, you would think that the day
that I actually drove myself to the
clinic and died on the table, that that
would've been the moment that changed
for me, but it- Mm-hmm … it wasn't.
Uh, that was April 4th, 2021,
Easter Sunday of all days.
Wow.
Um, fast-forward a couple months later,
my birthday in Vegas, got a UFC fighter
who's very well known at my table, and he
was like, "Hey, you wanna, uh," you know.
I was like, "I can't
tell him no." You know?
There's always, like, a justification-
Absolutely … of why to do it.
Absolutely,
yeah.
It's like, all right, I guess
I'll go do it, you know.
So anyway, went and did it, but I
didn't have… Like, I didn't buy any.
Yeah.
I just… So I did it… The
problem for me is I wouldn't stop.
Yeah.
So- Then it was like a week later, I was
in Costa Rica for a bachelor party, and I
always wanted to try it in South America.
Yeah.
And this dude had a connect that
came by and brought like a brick.
Mm.
And I was like, "Oh, my." I was like,
"All right, I'll just do a little bit."
Anyway, I did not go to sleep that night.
Yeah.
I was up all night doing it, and,
uh, I felt myself in the room
in the morning, I hadn't slept.
Yeah.
And I felt myself kind
of fading out again.
Not exactly the same as the day
that I died when I had that heart
attack, but like… 'Cause I, I
felt the pains in the head, like
I had all the symptoms like crazy.
Yeah.
So that day I didn't have the symptoms
of a heart attack, but I had the
symptoms of like feeling like I'm
fading out and like I'm gonna die.
So I got scared, and I, I got up
and I, I put a bathing suit on
'cause our hotel was on the beach.
I walked out into the water
and I, I said a prayer to God.
I said, "God, I don't know
what's happening right now, but
if you make this go away, I'll
never touch this stuff again."
Wow.
And within minutes everything was clear.
Wow.
It was like I'm… I was perfectly sober,
and I haven't touched it since that day.
Damn.
And I lost my little brother to a heroin
overdose when he was 28, I was 34.
So it, it's not, you know, it's like,
um- My mom couldn't handle losing me.
I mean, I'm her last child.
Yeah.
So, and plus too, I just love life.
Yeah.
And, and you get high on drugs,
but it's like you can also get
high on impact and winning.
Huh.
And the high from impact and winning is
so much more powerful than high on drugs.
Yeah.
So h- so once you stopped all that,
you know, did it take a while for
your baseline to kind of come back up?
I mean, or were you just like,
"Done," like move on, and you
just kinda went full speed?
What do you
mean for baseline?
Like…
Uh, well, I mean, I've heard a story,
actually John Mayer has this, uh,
story on a podcast where he's like,
"You know, I quit drinking, I had
an embarrassing moment." And after
your, when you're first sober, you
know, you kinda miss the high highs.
Bro, I'll be honest with you.
And af- after a
while.
I, I still miss it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, there's times where you're out,
you're f- the music's going, you're
starting to drink, and it's like,
"Man, it'd be cool to do," you know?
I just- Yeah … and that's just
me being vulnerable and honest.
I had a li- I had a lot of fun
doing it, but I couldn't control it.
It controlled me.
That's straight up the devil.
And people that just stay out, but they're
doing drugs and partying, freaking losers.
Yeah.
I was that guy.
I was the loser, and, uh, it
amounts to nothing in life.
All it does is halt you from where you
wanna go, who you wanna be, who you
wanna become, and it just, yeah, man.
It, it was such a big part of my
life too, and with all the fentanyl
overdoses and, like, how many
different s- bags, like, I had.
Yeah.
Bro, I, I just look back and
I'm like, "I don't even-"
Yeah.
"That was-" Yeah, no, it- Playing with
fire there … yeah, it's, it's risky.
And I, I think that there's, um, a
hopelessness- … that when you're
stuck in that loop, right, where
you're like, "W- why am I making
this decision for this moment now
and completely ignoring the future?"
And it's like you, you know be-
you know better than that, right?
Oh, every
time I'd be like,
"I'm gonna-" You know better.
… the next morning like, "Oh,
man, what am I doing?" Yeah.
"I'm better than this." And, and then
you start getting down on yourself
'cause like you're saying, like,
"I, I know I'm better than this,
and I know not to do this- Mm-hmm
and what this life leads to.
Like, what am I doing?"
Yeah.
And so, you know, with, with, uh, you
know, some of the things that I've
dealt with in my past, I mean, just
having that faith, like having God
to go, "Hey, you know, there is-"
That was another thing.
I turned to God.
"There is hope."
I turned to God like
crazy.
There is hope in this life.
Yeah.
And I think when we look for that
temporary pleasure, we're, we're not
really trusting that God's way is better.
Right.
And it's, it's not an easy path.
It, it's constant sacrifice.
It's what Jesus did.
It's picking up your
cross and carrying it.
And whatever our cross is, we all have
different things, and some are gonna
be more destructive to our lives,
and some just feel like, you know,
"Whatever, I can live with kinda being
a prick," or, "I can, you know- Yeah
live with eating too much sugar or
whatever." But, you know, it's kinda
sometimes you can, you know, might
be, um, the positive way to look at
it is going, "I couldn't live with my
thing 'cause it would've killed me.
I had to get rid of it."
Oh, I would 100% die.
Yeah.
If I kept doing it, I, I would die.
Yeah.
I would either have a heart attack-
Mm-hmm
or I would get a batch of fentanyl.
I mean, it's just like-
Yeah … I would literally, I
would… Every day pretty much.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
It would be like four or five days a week,
and then sometimes it'd be every day.
But like minimum was four days a week.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's wild.
Um, okay, so back to kind of
how you, you got into roofing.
You, you had your, your degree.
So between the social media and then
your degree, w- did those both really
play a role in you being able to
grow companies, or would you give one
or the other a little more credit?
Well, the degree was a
waste of time and money.
Really?
100%. Yeah.
Whenever, like, that conversation
comes up, going to school and all
this, I'm like, I, I don't know
if I'm the guy you really want
to have that conversation with.
Dude,
no, go there, man.
I mean-
I'm just, I'm saying like the youth are p-
it's just, it pretty much a waste of time.
Yeah.
Unless you have to have that degree
to get into the profession you
want, doctor, lawyer- Mm-hmm … you
know, you know, all this stuff, uh,
veterinarian, that kind of thing.
If it's for business or marketing,
it's like why are you going to school?
Yeah.
Just go find an entrepreneur who's kicked
ass and, and h- go be a- Yeah … sponge.
Go work for him or her.
Uh, I mean, you can find everything
on YouTube and ChatGPT and Claude.
There's really- no good reason to-
Mm … to go to school, unless you wanna
party or be in a frat or a sorority.
It's like-
Going to
debt, yeah
you can get all of the info-
Yeah, there's so many classes
I, I don't need to know this.
Yeah.
Like, this is not gonna help me
in my future, and that's like
two or three years of your major.
That's a good point.
It's just, yeah, I, I
really couldn't tell you.
Like, getting into the network
marketing industry- Mm-hmm
and getting around the successful
people, they teach you the actual
skills and principles to win.
Yeah.
I did not get that in college.
Yeah.
Well, and you're, and
you're a master motivator.
Yeah.
Thank
you.
I mean, I look at your stuff and it's
like, dude, you rile me up, you know?
I
love
it.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Like, like, you're go, "I
gotta compete with this guy."
Yeah.
I gotta compete with this guy, right?
Um, it- Love it … but, but it
raises the standard, you know?
Yeah.
And that's why, that's why
I wanted to have you on.
I mean, I think that, um, when we, you
find companies and you find other roofers
that are doing things right, it sends a
great message to the community that, hey,
uh, while there are some bad apples, there
are some guys that a- genuinely care.
And genuinely caring about not
just the client, but our business,
they, they go hand in hand.
Yes, they do.
'Cause we're putting on a product
that's supposed to last 20 plus years.
Yep.
And if we're not around in five years
to honor any warranties, be able
to service the roof, you know, do
maintenance, which is really necessary,
you gotta have maintenance on your roof-
It is
then, then, I mean, w- we're not,
we're not doing our job right.
And so I think roofers, we need
to take care of ourselves and
elevate the entire industry.
Agree.
You know?
So what, what are some of the, the
challenges you faced in the sales
of roofing to get the homeowners to
understand the differences between a
quality roofer and just another guy?
'Cause we get a lot of price objections.
Well, I actually, I don't know if you
saw that video with the lady, but-
Mm-hmm
… I l- I lost a deal.
Well, she didn't sign with us because,
like, she's like, "Well, this company
has 300 something reviews, and they've
been around for this long, and you've
only been a- around a year and a half."
And- It's like, well, we all
kind of use the same crews.
It's like, yeah, but my crews have
been around for this long and…
But now it's like, well, I can sell
you the warranty through TAMKO.
Mm-hmm.
And whether I'm here or not-
Right … you have a 10-year or
25-year workmanship warranty.
So now we have mother, you
know, we have a lot of different
things that we can offer- Right
customers to give them that peace of mind.
Because, again, I mean, next year is two
years- Yeah … that we've been around.
Yeah.
And so for, for the audience, you
know, the, the differences between
these roofing warranties, certain
manufacturers, they allow you, if
you're certified, to give a non-prorated
warranty on the material and the labor.
That's right.
Right?
So a typical packaged shingle warranty,
they're gonna say, "Hey, yeah, we'll
warrant the product in case there's
any manufacture defects. Uh, if there
is one, we're gonna throw a bundle
of shingles, a pile of shingles in
your yard. You gotta go pay for the
labor to get this back on." Right?
And then that also prorates
around after 10 years.
Uh, that amount you get back for
the shingle product goes down.
So when you have certified contractors
like us, they actually will allow
you to give a warranty that covers
labor and material for the life
of, you know, the roof essentially.
Yep.
So these warranties are game
changers for homeowners.
They are.
They're huge.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and, and it's not, uh, you
know, manufacturers, they've
been around for a long time.
Things happen.
These shingles are made in
massive factories, and there's
gonna be some shingles that just
aren't, aren't up to, to par.
So these can really save you.
Uh, you know, e- even if we were to go
out of business, God forbid- For sure
you know, then they're gonna pay
for another- They're still covered.
Yeah.
They're, they're still covered.
Right.
Um, yeah.
So and warranties are
everything, uh, in roofing.
Yeah, they- Yeah … for
sure.
Yeah.
They
help a lot.
Mm-hmm.
So you mentioned AI in roofing.
Yeah.
Um, a- and I think it's definitely, it's
coming in hard in, into our industry.
Every industry.
Um, so where are you using it, and
where do you not think it's gonna go?
So I have, I had a couple calls last
week, and I have more calls this week.
I'm trying to figure out all the
different avenues and options of utilizing
AI.
Mm-hmm.
Because I understand that you
gotta stay up to the times.
And AI is g- I mean, it's, it's disrupting
every industry, and i- if you don't
adapt to that, you will get swept behind.
Yeah.
With that being said, and I'm not
gonna get too much into it because
I haven't signed the deal yet, but
I showed you what we've got coming.
Yeah.
Uh, it is a, an app that is on
the App Store that allows you to
create an estimate within five
to 10 seconds, and then share a
PDF with the customer right then.
And it, I mean, you don't
have to pay for an EagleView-
Mm-hmm … or a roofer report.
It's all done by AI.
And I mean, that's one of the ways.
And then there's also ways to pull data-
Yeah
… where, yeah, I mean, there's-
Yeah
… there's, there's some really
cool stuff that you can do.
Yeah.
And so we can utilize AI, AI in
roofing, but we're also AI resistant.
You know?
The, it's, AI's not necessarily
gonna take away our job.
Mm. I saw a video of this, you know,
AI machine putting on shingles.
I've seen it.
They, they, that came out
like a year and a half ago.
Yeah.
And, and it's like, you know,
it suctions up a shingle, moves
it like 10 feet, places it down.
It, it's slow.
I'm like, "See what I've got."
It'll be really slow and it's like,
well, what's the pitch of the roof?
You know?
It, it's- Yeah … I, I think that
it will come and it'll be very
efficient, but I mean, I think
it'll be at least five years.
Yeah.
But it's, that stuff is
definitely gonna come.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I,
I, I don't quite- It's about
having enough money to purchase
the machine, so then have- Right
the machine do it.
Right.
You know?
And then setting it up.
The laborers- How hard is the
setup?
Yeah.
The laborers are the ones to worry.
Yeah.
Because like the sales guys, we're still
gonna have to, you know, get out there and
sell and get the contracts and everything.
But the work, if it's done by a
robot… I was actually listening
to the PBD podcast on the way here.
Mm-hmm.
And one of the most influential people
in the world, who's one of the most
intelligent, like what he says is like
legit, he's not just BS'ing around.
He said in the next five years we'll have
more robots than humans roaming the earth.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
And it's, I mean, when we think about it,
like they're starting to mass produce.
Yeah.
That's, yeah.
It is a little scary.
I mean, I think that- Mm … right now
our labor force, uh, especially in Texas,
because it's so cheap, that it, it will
be a while before the robots like take
over and start installing shingles.
Yeah, it'll
be at least
five years.
At least five years.
I mean, it's gotta get really good.
'Cause I saw it was like
hooked up on the roof.
If they have a way to
mount it on the ground-
Yeah
… you know, and then do it from
there, like that might work better.
But we're talking about some s-
The only- … serious machinery.
Yeah, the only thing is
that the advancements are
happening so fast right now.
Yeah.
To go from like A to B
and B to C is happening-
Mm-hmm
… s- like lightning speed.
And it's, uh, especially
with AI and technology.
It's like by the time you launch an app
There's another app that's even better
than your app that you just launched.
Yeah.
It's, it's, it's moving very fast.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So.
No, that's, that's interesting.
Um, okay, so building a team, you've
obviously built a big team fast, right?
And I'm over here like, "Man, what
are we doing? I need, I need 50
people, 100 people." Am I s- And
then, yeah, anyway, keep going.
No, I mean, and, and, you know- … the,
there's, there's differences, you know.
Y- you, you have a brand
new company, right?
We've been around for 43 years.
Yeah, it's so amazing.
So, I mean-
Y'all are goals, man.
Yeah, but, but I, but you guys
have done, uh, you know, we're
probably on pretty similar levels.
I mean, you know, we, we could be doing
a lot more and, and I think part of
that is building the, a great team.
Like, we have clients that we
can call back from 20 years ago.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
And we paved their roof.
So harvesting those,
those clients is, is huge.
And just finding, um, people
who are self-motivated.
Yep.
You're a master motivator, but
you're not looking to drag somebody
along if they don't want it, right?
So, so how do you find those
highly motivated individuals?
I know you said social media.
What's your vetting process for them?
I would say you more so
attract those people.
Mm-hmm.
And man, I'm very blunt.
Yeah.
I let people know straight up, "Look,
you come to work here, I'm gonna bring
greatness out of you, or you're gonna
quit 'cause you can't handle it." Mm-hmm.
"I'm, I'm, I'm gonna get your
goals, and I'm gonna hold you
accountable to your goals."
I'm not somebody who's just sitting
here wanting to hire everybody.
Like, uh, and I, I read through the BS
a lot better than I used to about people
that just talk about, you know, all
the different things that they've done.
Like, the more that you tell me
that you've done, the more of a red
flag it is because you're company
hopping and you're still broke.
So if you were so great,
why are you company hopping?
Why are you broke, kind of thing.
Yeah.
But, um, yeah, I just-
Mm-hmm … think that it's
really about pouring into people.
My goal is to build a nine-figure
company in the next three to five years.
Yeah.
Reason being is because everybody's
goals fit in that goal, right?
So like I said, my goal is to help as
many people as I can tap into their
greatness- Mm-hmm … achieve their goals.
And when I ha- i- if I have a $10 million
goal, that's not giving people room to,
to accomplish their goals within my goal.
Right.
Right?
My goal has to be huge.
I mean, I'm a pretty big visionary.
Mm-hmm.
Because to me, it's just numbers.
Yeah.
I had 4,500 people in my
network marketing business.
Like, if you get 100 people
that just do a mil a year-
Yeah.
Yeah
… it's $100 million company.
Uh-huh.
It, it's not, um, it's not rocket science.
Right.
When you really break it down, it's
like, okay, your average job is
25,000, boom, boom, what are we…
And then I'm like, "That's
it?" And I, I'm so eager.
Uh, but, um, yeah, I have many different
things in place to recruit and sometimes
it's trash and sometimes it's great,
but you'll-- Man, even if you get
like, I mean, one rock star If they do-
Yeah … 2 million, 3 million, I mean,
that's a, a very good amount of revenue.
That's- And when you get those
people in- Yeah … they help
everybody around them, too.
Mm-hmm.
But people that don't go out and
work, if they don't, if they're
not going out canvassing and, and
door-knocking, high performers
don't wanna be around those people.
Right.
They don't, uh… They'll look
at the numbers, and it'll be an
excuse to not do as much- Mm-hmm
and, and do what they're capable of.
Yeah.
And it'll, it'll get into their mind
and their subconscious, and they,
they just won't perform at the level
that they can because they think
this is, is the ground, is the floor.
Yeah.
A-players wanna be around-
That's it … other A-players.
Eagles wanna fly with eagles, not pigeons.
Yeah, yeah.
So yeah.
So you do, uh… So y'all,
y'all do a lot of door-knocking?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
So do y'all do a lot of retail as well?
Or is it primarily insurance?
Well, it's primarily insurance
because of the market.
Yeah.
I mean, when you have… When, when
these homeowners, they know a hailstorm's
coming within a three to five-year period.
Mm-hmm.
But, like, I personally have
two roofs going up on Thursday
in Austin that are both retail.
Okay.
Yeah.
So yeah, I mean, we still sell
retail and- Mm-hmm … I mean, I, I
prefer retail- Yeah, I see … 'cause
you get paid within a week.
Yeah.
'Cause I get, you know, half up
front, and then your final payment's
due within 24 hours of completion.
Right.
Because- Right … you
should have the money.
You're not waiting on the
insurance money- Yeah … right?
Absolutely.
What about financing?
Do y'all
offer financing?
We offer financing, yeah.
How, how, how's the success there, like,
getting- I, it's- … people to sign
up for it or-
It's pretty good, yeah.
I mean, 'cause really, all, all they
have to finance is their deductible.
Right.
Because insurance covers-
Right … everything else on the, on
the- Mm-hmm … insurance side, so.
Yeah.
But we just clo- We just got a deal.
Uh, my, one of my guys, he
picked up a check yesterday.
Her deductible was 24,100.
Damn,
so crazy, man.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like you're just not
covered at that point, you know?
Yeah.
Which is why, you know,
and, and I'll- It's a
big deductible.
Yeah.
And I'll let you in, kind of, on
our, on our, part of our strategy.
I mean, asphalt products are
not going anywhere, right?
No, they're not.
They're g- they're gonna
be around for a long time.
But there's a product called
F-Wave, which is a synthetic-
Yep
uh, shingle.
And-
I've heard of it- Yeah … seen
it, and I saw it in your showroom.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We, we like it.
It's new, right?
Yep.
It's new.
So they've worked out kinks, but
they've been good about fixing
things when, when things go wrong.
That's good.
Um, but the great thing about
it is it, it lasts for 50 years.
I mean- Yeah … suppo- I mean,
they haven't been around that long,
so- Right … we don't really know.
Yeah.
But, but- You've been
around two years, and you say you
last 50.
Yeah, 50 years.
Where…
Yeah.
Yeah.
Where's the research-
But, but- … coming from?
Yeah.
Well, it's a long- Yeah,
yeah.
But there's, there's other
synthetic products that they
have some evidence of- Yeah
these things.
They, they last- That's
good … a lot longer.
Um, at the price point, you know,
I've done kind of the math, and I
have this in our, in our presentation,
that it, it's about five times less,
with all the insurance discounts,
right, over that 50-year span.
'Cause at year 21, let's just say your
asphalt roof lasts 20 years, you're
buying that second asphalt shingle.
Mm-hmm.
It costs almost, with inflation,
almost as much as buying that
synthetic for the first time.
One time, 50 year And then,
yeah, and then you gotta buy it
a third time in that same span.
So when you wanna get out of the
hail game, and I know, you know,
we're, we do about half retail, half
storm, so we, you know, our, you
know, you think it's kinda crazy.
Why would you wanna put a roof
on that is gonna last 50 years?
'Cause then you lose a client.
Right.
But we think we get that money up
front, we build that relationship,
um, it's a higher ticket item,
and then they're a fan, right?
And the next hailstorm comes through
and they don't have to deal with it
again, and then we get our praises sung.
So I mean, I, it, it's an interesting
play, but I mean, h- have you
guys dabbled in the synthetics?
I know you talked a
little bit about metal.
Yeah, I mean, we, standing seam is
probably thus far the nicest, most
expensive roof that we've installed.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Well, what are your on, I mean,
you can be totally blunt, man.
I mean, what are your
thoughts on synthetics?
You know, are you a fan or?
I mean, like you said, it's a 50-year-
Yeah … and it's supposed to last longer.
It's supposed to protect
against hail and wind better.
Mm-hmm.
So I mean, it's not that I'm,
like, a fan or not a fan.
Yeah.
We just haven't- Haven't gotten into it
stepped into that space really yet.
Yeah.
Sure.
Uh, I've had them contact
me, the, uh, rep for F-Wave.
Yeah.
They, they've hit me up.
One of my former guys, we talked about
it a little bit, but yeah, I mean, it's
just not something that we've sold.
Yeah.
That's all.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So I'm kinda curious, you know, you
are this master motivator, so where…
D- that started before
the heart attacks, right?
You were doing public
speaking- Yeah … for a while.
Yep.
So-
With a number marketing company, man, I've
spoken- Yeah … in Australia, Canada.
I mean- Okay … I've been
all over the United States.
So what was, what, what got you there?
What got you to being this guy that
just wanted to motivate when y- I
know your, your brother passed away.
I mean, did that kinda reinvigorate,
like, your desire, drive to
Man- To push people forward?
… I just hate seeing people
live in, in a mediocre life.
Mm-hmm.
I just, I know what it looks like on
the other side when you start to tap
into your greatness, when you start
to wake up with a fire, with purpose-
Mm … and just fucking get after it.
Yeah.
You know?
And, and you're gonna take the hits,
you're gonna lose, you're gonna fail, but
as long as you keep going, which is the
secret sauce, the perseverance to keep
going and never quit getting better, keep
showing up whether you feel like it or
not, which is the essence of discipline.
Yeah.
It's not about motivation,
it's not about inspiration.
That shit goes away.
It's I'm committed to the goal-
Mm-hmm
… whether I feel like it or not.
'Cause more days you're gonna
feel like not doing something.
Right.
A lot of people think I bought a company.
They think that I bought Summit
from somebody, and I'm like,
"No, I started it from nothing."
I was 38 years old, still making
a six-figure residual income,
a TEDx speaker, a best-selling
author, and I'm knocking doors.
Yeah.
Did I want to do that?
Hell no.
Did I think I was above that?
Kinda, but then I checked
myself like, "No, you're not."
Right.
And I got out there, I was hustling,
I was running appointments, and
door-knocking, and asking for
referrals, and doing all this stuff.
Then started recruiting and
man, we just, I just kept going.
Yeah.
Dude, I've had people steal.
I had one guy backdoor
half a million dollars.
I, I've had it all happen, bro.
Like, I can go on and on
about the horror stories.
And that's another thing, is a- as a
leader, your ability to stay neutral,
and I talk about that all the time.
Your emotional intelligence has to
be extremely high, and a lot of these
sales guys think, "Oh, I know how to
do sales. I can go run a company."
But they just don't… There's,
there's sales, there's, there's mana-
Yeah … yeah, sales, management,
there's probably another couple.
And then- Mm-hmm … becoming an
owner of a company, a successful
company, 'cause man, like- Yeah
they go out of business all the time.
So a successful company, it takes a lot.
And money management.
And I mean, I have a line of credit
of multiple six figures, so God,
'cause we do insurance work, right?
Right.
Right.
So we have a lot of money out.
Yeah.
And I gotta make payroll, and
like I'm waiting on 300 grand.
Mm-hmm.
I- my accounts receivable, we're at,
we're at seven figures right now, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's like, God forbid, I do
need that, I have access to it.
So do you have access?
So there's a, a lot of things
that, that play in there, but dude,
I just I wake up with a burning
desire- Mm … to fucking crush.
Yeah.
Like, I, I am a, I'm a maniac
when it comes to this stuff.
I have a hard time sleeping
sometimes- Mm-hmm … because
my mind just doesn't turn off.
Right.
And the biggest part of it
is I love to see people win.
Yeah.
I love to take somebody, I'm, I'm
starting to get chills thinking about it.
Mm. To take somebody who is
broken, who is about to lose it
all, but they have it within them.
Like, I- well, everybody has it within
them, but like when somebody, they
really will put the work in, they're
putting the work in at, you know, with
a different company and then they come
over here and it's just because the
things weren't working out over there,
and to just totally flip that, dude.
Yeah.
It's my favorite thing.
Yeah.
No, that's awesome.
And that's something that's
very important as a leader.
Mm-hmm.
You know, servant leadership.
Yeah.
Like, yeah, I wanna be successful of
course, but if you make it all about
me, me, me, that's ego, pride, greed.
Mm-hmm.
My thing is- Helping as many people
succeed knowing that, man, we do
that, like, I'm gonna be good.
Yeah.
But it's authentically doing it.
Mm-hmm.
Not I'm gonna help you because
it's gonna get me rich or whatever.
It's I'm gonna help you- Mm-hmm
… because I truly wanna see you win.
Yeah.
And I learned that in network marketing.
Yeah.
Well, and I… That, that kind
of taps into just the principle
that whenever you do something
good for somebody else, uh, it…
there's not just always this
binary give and take, right?
You get this other thing, which
is the, the good feeling really
that we get from helping people.
Yeah.
You know?
If I, if you… You know, I don't
really give homeless people money
that often, but if I do, you know,
it's like I lost something, they
gain, gained something, end of story.
Right.
But it's like, no, like, I know that
I'm helping someone, so there's this
kind of like, um, supernatural, uh, a-
addition into that equation, and it seems
like that's what's feeding you, is that
you can give your time for somebody.
They might return it with working
for you and making you money, but
at the end of the day, e- even
if they fail, like you, you…
Even if they go somewhere else-
Yeah
… you're still gonna get that, "Man,
like I, I, I helped somebody."
Well, my nu- my number one guy left.
Really?
Yeah.
I had just bought him a Rolex.
I had just paid for him, uh, first
class flight, him and his girlfriend.
I… All this stuff.
Mm-hmm.
Promised me he would
never leave, all this.
He's been in roofing for 15 years- Wow
… but I brought greatness out of him.
Mm-hmm.
And he made a post, and the post was
talking about how Summit Solutions is
the best company he ever worked for,
how I was such a powerful leader,
how I was able to help him change his
life and bring the best out of him,
and then he announced his company.
So I was sitting there so pissed and,
a- and, and happy at the same time.
Yeah.
And I just had to remind myself,
like, uh, man, that was, that,
that was the overall goal-
Mm-hmm.
Yeah
… is to help people be the best that
they can be, whether it's with me or
not, and he told me on Valentine's Day.
Oh, man.
Ah.
Uh, it was probably his
gift to his girlfriend.
Yeah.
But-
Yeah
… after dealing with it
how I dealt with it, I
I was cool.
I was good with it, you know?
Yeah.
It's a- And he, he's closing out
all of his jobs, so he's still
closing- Yeah, yeah, that's
good … he's doing things properly.
He's the one… He and I
talk, we talk like every day.
Like, we're, we're homies, right?
And then a week later, I got
a guy that came on board who's
been in roofing for six years.
He did 1.95 million last year.
That's it.
Yeah, so it's like, it's- Yeah.
No, there's a great quote in Ted Lasso.
I don't know if you've
ever seen that show before.
I haven't.
I've heard about it though, yeah.
It's silly.
But, but one of the guys says, you know,
uh, "A good mentor hopes you'll move
on. A great one knows you will." Yeah.
You know?
I love that.
And not that you, not that you want
people to leave the company, but you know,
if someone does, I mean, uh, you hope
that they go do bigger, better things.
If their goals are to own something or
whatever, you know, I wish people well.
There are- Me too … 7 million,
8 million people in, in DFW, and
there's 5,000 roofing contractors.
There's enough to go around.
There's plenty.
And I want, I want to be competing
against other people that are doing it
right, not the guy that is gonna go out
of business in five years because their
pricing is too comp- you know- Yeah
is too low that they're gonna,
they're gonna tank as soon
as something goes wrong.
Um, but y- you know, on, on the culture
building, one of the things that I had to,
I really respect about my dad for building
this is he is, he has that neutral.
He, he's able to not get too
emotional, and when there's a
disagreement in the office- Mm
I, it's so easy to, when someone comes,
you know, now that I'm in management,
someone come up to me and say, "Hey,
this person did that," I gotta go,
"Okay, yeah, totally understand.
You know, I, I, I get that
that might be upsetting.
You know, let's, let me talk to them
and we'll, we'll sort this out." Yeah.
You know?
If, if I can't pick sides, you
know, I have to be a mediator- Right
all the time.
And then if someone doesn't do what I ask
them to do or I don't feel they're living
up to it, there's different ways to lead.
I don't wanna lead by fear.
Yeah.
And I don't wanna lead by, "Oh,
I'm the owner's son and, and I'm
telling you what to do." I mean, that
can be kind of a tricky situation.
You want their, you want respect.
I want, I want respect.
Yeah.
I want people to leave because, I
want people to follow because they
go, "Man, he does it, too." It's
'cause they
trust
you.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
And so you know, it, it, there's
some things to overcome, um, in
that, especially being the owner's
son sometimes it feels that way.
But, um, but I just gotta be better, man.
Yeah.
That's what I… I got, I
gotta keep being better.
And when I have to call somebody out
and I feel like I hadn't been my best-
You know, it's like, "Dang, Reese, like
you need to step it up." I'm number
one on the leaderboard
right now for the month.
Yeah.
I- And I- You gotta be able to
I'll still go knock doors with the guys.
Yeah.
And like, they'll see me overcome
the objections, sign the deal.
Mm-hmm.
So when you do that, it's like, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, he's, he's in the office a lot,
and he's like, "What are y'all doing?
What, like how many knocks you at?" But
he has the right to do that because-
He did it
he, he did it, and he can still do it.
Mm-hmm.
So how'd you learn that?
Like, you know.
Well, I've been in door-to-door before.
Okay.
I sold fiber from 21 to 23.
I went door to door selling fiber optics
with Verizon Fios when it just dropped.
I, I led a team.
Uh, AT&T U-verse.
I've sold home security.
I've sold energy.
Wow.
So I had a lot of door-to-door experience
already, and I knew how lucrative it was.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So I mean, just a
combination of everything.
Yeah.
And, uh, it helps for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, we really have never been
a big door-to-door company.
I mean, I guess my, you know, the
door-to-door back in the day when my
dad started was just calling everybody
he news, knew until he had business.
Right.
And then so, you know, he
never actually knocked doors.
He just knew people.
Yeah.
He was, he was born and raised
in Dallas, Texas his whole life.
Yeah.
I think I'm like, I'm like a fourth
generation Dallasite, so having those
connections can be extremely beneficial.
Oh, 100%.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, so- Uh, this next topic, uh, people
are probably more divided on it, you know?
Uh, what's your opinion on work-
Uh-oh … life, work… No,
it's not that controversial.
Yeah.
Are, are we doing politics
or religion right now?
No, no, no, no.
I'm not- I'm, you know,
I'm just sitting here.
Yeah, yeah.
No, it's cool.
No, work-life balance, man.
There's none.
Yeah.
Is it a- Ain't no work-life
balance- Is it a, is it a myth?
in entrepreneurship.
Is it a myth?
Yeah.
I, I don't, I don't agree
with work-life balance.
Mm-hmm.
Um, I'm, I'm just all in.
Yeah.
You know, I wake up and I'm all in.
Mm. I'm all in on work.
I'm all in on my marriage, but I
have a wife who understands what
I'm up to and what I'm creating
and the purpose behind it.
So she understands.
There's not bickering, there's
not fighting, and I set the tone
from that, the expectations-
Yeah
and for them to be like, "Don't
get in my way of what I want to
do and what I want to accomplish
because then I'll resent you."
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I think that, you know,
people who wanna work a 9:00 to 5:00
and they wanna go, "Well, I wanna be
able to go home and do this or that,"
you know, whatever, uh, there's jobs
out there for, for people that, you
know, wanna compartmentalize- Yeah
their entire life.
But I mean, ultimately, if you're
in sales especially, uh, you gotta,
you gotta go when, when the i- You
gotta strike when the iron's hot.
For sure.
You know?
And especially in roofing,
it can be seasonal.
You know, I mean, you wanna-
Yeah, but we've had some of
our biggest months in December.
Yeah.
Because everybody else is chilling.
Yeah.
Well, and-
I'm like, "Cool. Y'all chill. We'll go
grind, and we'll sign all the deals."
Yeah.
Well, a- and we also have, we have an
uptick kinda in the later of the year.
Yeah.
Because we're still working, and people,
homeowners wanna get things off their
plate before Christmas rolls around.
Yep.
And then n- once the New
Year h- n- New Year hits, you
know, kids are back in school.
The, they're in, they're on
their New Year resolution.
They're on their, you know, "How am I
stepping up my game?" Last thing they
wanna do in February, uh, January and
February is put on a roof, you know?
Yeah.
Or be going through the process.
Yeah.
Uh-
We're always working, bro.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I, I, yeah, I think the, the
first two months of the year are,
are decent for production and
a little bit slower for sales.
Yeah.
You
know?
And I'll tell you this too, bro.
Like, to, to add to that, i- as far
as work goes and why just I'm always
working- Mm-hmm … is because, man,
I got a lot of people depending on me.
I got a lot of people counting
on me, and I gave them my word.
Whenever, anytime they come in, it's
like, "I work for you. Yeah, I own the
company, but I work for you." Mm-hmm.
My goal is to equip you to
be as successful as possible.
Yeah.
So I'm always working I
just, I can't turn it off.
But it's not even that I can't,
I don't want to turn it off
because I'm a, I'm addicted.
I'm an all-in, crazy,
passionate kind of guy.
I was so disciplined in the
wrong things that it killed me.
You know?
Like- Yeah.
For sure … I was so good at doing
the wrong things and, and doing
drugs, like I was so all in that
it led me to being dead on a table.
I just transitioned that into
a good energy and- Mm-hmm
productive, and here we are.
Yeah, yeah.
Dude, I mean, congrats.
Like, you know, uh, taking the
company, uh, o- into seven figures
and, um, I don't know where, where
you're at- This is our second
full year.
Yeah We'll
do
eight figures this year.
Yeah.
So- See, that's, that's incredible.
I mean, and in two years,
like, dude, congrats.
Thank you.
So to get there, uh, you've gotta be
paying attention to some, to some numbers.
Yeah.
Right?
So what are… You know, if you
were to boil it down, you know,
from an owner standpoint, the main
KPIs you look at to track your
growth, what are you checking out?
I
mean, it's outputs.
It's, it's people getting out
there and, and working daily.
That's really what it comes down to.
But I mean, in the last five weeks,
we did about, based on averages-
Mm-hmm … 'cause we don't have
all the scopes back, 2.25 million-
Okay
… in the last five weeks.
Wow, that's awesome.
I think we did 87 sign contingencies.
Mm-hmm.
It was something like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So- And, and new people.
Yeah.
Like, you got to stay
recruiting new people.
Yeah.
And I ha- like- I have a standard,
so you have to at least have
some kind of sales experience.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Like, if you have zero sales
experience, I just don't hire you.
And you might go to another company
and be the best roofing salesman,
uh, the industry's ever seen.
Mm-hmm.
I just… I'm not willing to
take that chance based on the
patterns and things that I've seen.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, when you're doing door-to-door,
you've gotta have that quality.
It's
brutal, yeah.
You know, you, you gotta h- you gotta take
the rejection, you have to be able to talk
to people, you can't be nervous or afraid.
I mean, you have to-
Takes a
different kind of
breed
to go door-to-door … it,
it, it does, it does.
Um, and you know, it's something
that we wanna get more into.
You know, I, I mean, like, we have it
so there's no reason we can't boom.
I mean, with the client that,
you know, past clients we have,
like, we've gotta fi- we've gotta
be harvesting this, you know?
Yeah, I mean, 40
years, I mean.
I know.
Y'all
have- It
is… Yeah.
We have, we have a, we have a large book.
Y-
your office is amazing too.
Oh,
I appreciate it.
Yeah.
No, I appreciate it.
Yeah.
I love seeing that.
I'm like, "I need to step it up.
What are we doing right now?"
Well, I mean, uh, and I, you
know, to be transparent, you know,
whe- when you're, when you're-
whe- when you're building to grow, and
we are, um, you know, you hit that kinda
wow, uh, we hired three more people
on overhead, um, we have to sell more.
Yeah.
Or we're not covering, you know,
covering ourselves on this, on
this investment to the company.
Yep.
So it's this cycle of, you know, oh,
sweet, you know, we're doing great,
and then reinvestment, and then boom.
Did you see that post I made yesterday?
I don't know if I did.
Oh, is it… It was like
life as an entrepreneur.
It's like Monday, boom, Tuesday-
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's I need to
scale my company- Yeah … to 100 million.
The next thing like,
man, I feel like I quit.
The next day, boom, boom.
Yeah.
Dude- That's the
life of an entrepreneur.
It's literally like this.
It is up and down.
All over the place.
It's up and down.
Like, today I wanna just go move
to Costa Rica, pitch a tent.
It's like, what the hell am I thinking?
I gotta get to 250 million.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, it, it is, it is an up and down.
It is up and down.
And especially when you're
selling high-ticket items- Yeah
like this in roofing, you
know, your booms are great.
They're awesome.
But it,
it, it's- But, you know- Yeah,
it's great … the, the val- the
valleys can be really low- It can be
rough … 'cause you're like, man, the
amount of money that we're spending on
a daily basis just to keep our roof.
What are your,
what are y'all's bills a month?
Oh, uh, maybe I tell you that off camera.
All right.
Tell me off camera.
This is where he's hitting the
paywall.
Yeah.
No, 'cause this shit gets, like it,
it'll give you some anxiety sometimes.
I'm like-
We, we need, we really, to, to
stay in business- Yeah … you
know, we really need to do, uh,
high multiple, seven figures.
I mean, if we do eight, then
we're, we're really crushing it.
You're good, yeah.
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, we can't,
we can't do five or six.
We can't do that.
Yeah, we'd go out of business.
Yeah.
Um, so but, but you know, the great
thing right now where we're at is,
like I, I kinda told you I think
earlier, you know, my dad started this
business with no systems or processes.
He is a lover.
He is, um, someone who just
attracts, like, really great, like
he, from his heart, like great
people, you know, around him.
Yeah.
And people just love working for him.
He might be a little bit too,
too lenient sometimes, but, but
people love working for him.
We've had people leave and come back- I-
'cause they're like, "Dude, I can't, I
can't work for anybody else." Uh, the,
the, the ethics- Y'all hire people back?
Uh, well if, depends on how- How do
you do
it?
… depends on how they leave.
Got it.
Right?
If, if, if we l- if we fire someone-
Yeah … we let someone go, probably not.
If someone-
What if they quit 'cause they
think the grass is greener on
the other side and they dip out
to go work for another company?
It, well, I-
I just had two people try to come back.
I'm like, "Okay."
Yeah.
So, so, you know, we had one guy,
he left, uh, to go work for a
completely different industry.
Okay.
Uh, and he had some other reasons,
family, and, you know, they were,
it was close to- That's a little
different though … to his deal.
Yeah.
And, and, and he came back, he
was like, "Man, guys, like, I, I
just didn't like their ethics, and
I just didn't know what I miss."
And so, you know, it's h- how they come
back- Yeah … their reasoning, what
they say, it'll make a huge, huge impact
on, on bringing someone back around.
Right.
Um, and, you know, maybe sometimes we
brought someone on and we shouldn't.
Um, but, but you know, everybody learns-
Well, you don't know until you know
… yeah, you learn the hard way, right?
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, but just that, that
culture that my dad built, uh, you
know, fr- you know, that, that is-
Well, you have to have it to be
around- Yeah
… 40-plus years.
Mm-hmm, yeah.
That's an absolute must.
And so, yeah, so where we're at is, you
know, we're developing these systems and
processes, and, and the reason I brought
up, you know, how my dad did things is
because we had, you know, seven, eight
different sales guys doing seven and
eight diff- different processes, and
so they're all doing different stuff.
And so now, you know, I've kinda come in
with a sales manager position and dialed
in, "Hey, here's what we're doing. Here's
the material we're using." And it's tough
to steer that ship because people have
their habits, but it's gonna be great,
'cause now when I bring on someone new-
Everybody has
to be on board
I'm gonna have the roadmap.
I'm gonna go, "Hey."
It's like McDonald's, bro.
Yeah.
Three pickles.
You do the, mm-hmm.
Little, yeah.
Yeah.
Mustard, I think it is.
Yeah.
And, and so that's kinda where we're at.
So we are, we've positioned ourselves to-
When'd you change that?
It's been the past year.
Okay.
We've been really changing that.
And, and this is another problem where
you implement change, you usually
reduce your efficiency by about 30, 30%.
For a-
You know
… a, a short time,
and then yeah, yeah … for a short
time, and then it gets, come, comes back.
Yeah.
So- That's a fact … I, what I've done,
I think, I think I may have overloaded
the system with change, and I've kinda
gotta go, "Okay, what are my priorities?
What needs to change right now?
What can change in, in three
months, and what can change
in, in 12 months?" You know?
But, but I gotta, I gotta prioritize
certain things, 'cause if I just give them
everything, nothing ha- nothing changes.
Yeah.
What CRM do y'all use?
JobNimbus.
Okay.
Dude
Yeah
We use AccuLynx.
My bill last month was 7,000.
Yeah.
Wow.
Like, these mother effers, bro.
Yeah.
Seven grand.
Mm-hmm.
No, it, it is… It's kinda- Duh … no,
it, it's, it's crazy and that's why, one
of the reasons we like JobNimbus because
they weren't as expensive as, like,
ServiceTitan or- Yeah … or AccuLynx.
Um, and they are investing a lot into,
uh, their, their platform and it's UX,
you know, it's, it's getting a lot better.
Um, you can also do estimating on there.
Um, it, it's getting better.
Cha- Chase has problems but- You can
do estimator on there, but don't
you have to pull measurements?
You, you can import
them through EagleView.
Yeah, but you still have to pull
measurements- You still have to
pull- … for square footage.
If it says 20,
25- Yeah, this-
a pop … I know.
Yeah, besides your… Yeah,
your, your little- I'm gonna get
you going
on that … yeah, you got,
you gotta show it to me, but-
It'll save you money.
Yeah.
But hey, man, um, you know, I, I…
Thank you so much for, for being here.
Like, I really enjoyed the conversation
and, you know, I feel, like, riled up and-
Thank you for having me
I'm ready to- Yeah, I'm, I'm a
little bit more chill right now, too.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Well, I,
well- Sometimes I just get crazy hyped.
Yeah.
No, I, I feel like you're
pretty hyped, you know?
I mean- Yeah … yeah.
Yeah, you know, uh, we, w- we,
we're, we're both doing, you
know, the same industry, but we're
doing it in, in different ways.
We got different flavors.
Yep.
But we both care for the client, you know?
And we want to do exceptional work, um,
and, and grow and serve more people,
and that's what it's about, you know?
So, you know, before we, before I sign
us off, I wanna give you a platform
to say whatever you wanna say.
Well, I mean, I'm, I'm grateful
for the opportunity to speak.
Pretty much every time I get asked to be
on a podcast, I say yes simply because
of my mission, and there's always new
viewers, and you never know who is going
to hear what you have to say and the
domino effect that can come from that.
Yeah.
You know, that, it might be
the, the next Elon or something.
You just never know what's
gonna land with who.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, I mean, look, I… People
look at me and definitely form an opinion
often with all the, the jewelry and, and
the cars and everything, but man, when
it comes down to it- I, I've had nothing.
Yeah.
When I started entrepreneurship back
in 2013, I had a trash bag of clothes
and lived in my buddy's living room.
My grandma and my great-grandma
bought me a bed, and the bed was in
the living room, and we had no AC.
I mean, so… And before that, um, my
buddy, we were talking about it the
other day, he's very successful now
too, but we were roommates, and we
would have to dig through the couch
to find change for a $5 Pizza Patron.
We were laughing about it the other day.
Yeah.
Because they had the $5 Pizza Patron, and
we, it would be enough food for the day.
And so, like, that was our go-to.
We were, like, 20, you know?
But it's just like, man, I've, I've
been at the bottom, come from the
humble beginnings, and you really
get in this life what you put into
it, and it is a, it is a choice.
Success is a choice.
Mm-hmm.
We all have reasons not to do something.
We all have reasons that can hold us back
in life, but it's the law of polarity.
There's also reasons
on the exact opposite.
And in life, you get what you focus
on, and what you focus on grows.
So, if you, if you focus on problems,
you're gonna get more problems.
You're gonna find it.
Uh, and, and if you focus on solutions
and opportunity and change for the better,
then that's what you're gonna find, and
that's what you're gonna attract in life.
And I've been on both
sides of the equation.
And money is not evil.
Yeah.
A lot of people growing up, you know,
they, they see their parents fighting
over money And they think money
makes you a bad person or something.
Mm-hmm.
Like, if you have money, you scam
somebody or you're doing bad out there.
And at the end of the day, money just
magnifies you of who you actually are.
It's, uh, it will expose your, your
true heart and who you are as a person.
Right.
And so the more money you have, the
more good you can do in the world,
and hopefully the more money…
Like, what, when you have a lot of money,
when you get it the right way, helping
people- Mm-hmm … it, you feel great.
But there's also a lot of people
out there that take their lives
that are billionaires- Right … and
multimillionaires, and it really
comes down, like I was saying, but
the, the way that you're achieving.
So man, just keep God first.
That's my number one.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, I got a cross on my freaking-
Yeah
… con- Some, some say it's my face.
I say it's my sideburns, but.
Uh, yeah, I mean, keeping God first
and, and just staying in the game-
Mm-hmm … staying in the fight.
Don't quit.
I've had every reason in the
world to quit, and I just, I
keep going, and you will win.
It's inevitable.
The- Yeah … the universe can't deny
somebody who gets up every single
day and gives it their absolute all.
Yeah.
So that's it, man.
It's, uh- It's all
about in what's between the ears.
That's it.
The, that's the game of life- Yeah … is
won or lost in between the ears.
Yeah.
That mindset.
Yeah.
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, well, Jason, dude, thank
you so much for coming on.
Thank you.
Everybody watching, if you want to
be motivated, if you want to change
your life, if you want to become the
very best version of yourself, this
is the episode you need to listen to.
Jason, thanks again.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
I appreciate it.
We'll see you all next time.
Sweet