00:00 And I started looking at what my income

00:02 was going to be against my expenses with

00:04 my student loans and rent and all these

00:06 things. And I was like, this is like the

00:07 math doesn't math. So, um, I quit and

00:11 set out on my own. I ran into a friend

00:13 of mine who was doing roofing at the

00:15 time and I learned that game. I started

00:16 my own roofing company. I would knock

00:18 doors, set the leads, close the leads,

00:20 and I started having a lot of success.

00:22 Like, how many roofs are you guys doing

00:23 a year? Anywhere from 3 to 4,000 roofs a

00:28 year or more. The vision is to expand

00:30 into 32 markets across the US. [music]

00:32 >> So, what do you think you guys need to

00:33 do to be able to go from six to 32?

00:36 >> The people that have the best tech will

00:38 be the ones that win long term.

00:41 >> Welcome back to another episode of the

00:42 M19 podcast. Today, we're in beautiful

00:44 Celane, Idaho, and I've got an amazing

00:47 guest. This guy has built a roofing

00:49 business that's done over nine figures

00:51 in revenue. and we're going to talk

00:53 about their mission to re-energize

00:56 America in so many different ways. I've

00:59 got Josh Yergy. What's up, bro?

01:01 >> Thanks for having me, brother.

01:02 >> Yeah. So, tell me a little bit about how

01:05 you built this business, man, to do over

01:07 nine figures in revenue and you're a

01:08 young dude. Like, how'd you do it?

01:10 >> All right. I'll try and summarize in a

01:11 few minutes, but I got told, you know,

01:13 go to college just like everybody else

01:15 growing up and that's what's going to

01:17 get you a job, get a mortgage, get a

01:19 house, have a family. So, that's what I

01:21 did. um went to school and after I

01:24 graduated, I started looking at the jobs

01:26 that I qualified for and I started

01:28 looking at, you know, what my income was

01:32 going to be against my expenses with my

01:34 student loans and rent and all these

01:35 things and I was like, this is like the

01:37 math doesn't math.

01:38 >> Yeah.

01:39 >> Uh so I answered an ad to sell windows

01:42 um that said that you can make six

01:44 figures. So I did that for four years.

01:46 Loved that job. But uh one day my boss

01:49 called me into his office. He started

01:50 yelling at me. He's like, "Why did like

01:52 what are you doing? How could you do

01:53 this to me? Like what's going on?" I'm

01:54 like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What happened?"

01:56 And I had referred my brother to work

01:58 there cuz I loved it so much. And he

02:00 wasn't picking up the training fast

02:01 enough. And he's like, "Corpets's up my

02:03 ass. They they want me to fire him. I

02:05 can't believe you would refer him to

02:06 work here." And I just very quickly

02:08 realized that uh I was just a number,

02:11 you know, and they didn't actually care

02:14 cuz he'd only been there for a couple of

02:16 weeks [snorts] at that point, my

02:17 brother. So, um, I quit and set out on

02:21 my own. I ran into a friend of mine who

02:23 was doing roofing at the time and I

02:25 learned that game and, uh, set out

02:27 knocking doors. So, I started my own

02:30 roofing company. I knocked doors, set

02:32 the leads, close the leads, and I

02:34 started having a lot of success and all

02:36 my friends and family started to notice

02:38 and uh, so I started training them how

02:40 to do it.

02:41 >> What year was this?

02:42 >> This was

02:44 uh, 16.

02:45 >> Wow. Okay.

02:46 >> Yeah. and uh it it uh snowballed from

02:52 there. So you know we took we started

02:54 with a salesforce and the beautiful

02:56 thing about contracting is you can sell

02:58 the job and then build fulfill it later.

03:00 >> Right.

03:00 >> Right. I don't have to go out and build

03:02 a product first. So we were able to just

03:05 keep reinvesting profits and all of our

03:08 growth has come from green fields. Um

03:10 and we became a top 20 roofing

03:12 contractor in the United States first

03:14 time in 2022.

03:16 Yeah.

03:17 >> So, walk me through this. Right. You

03:19 start as a sales guy essentially selling

03:21 window cleaning, then you start selling

03:23 roofs and all this stuff to now,

03:26 >> you know, you're talking about then you

03:27 got to go fulfill it. So, like were you

03:29 just a sales army for a roofing company

03:31 first and then you started doing it on

03:33 your own? Like, how did that work?

03:35 >> Yeah. So, a friend of mine um owned a

03:38 roofing company, but he didn't know how

03:40 to sell,

03:41 >> right?

03:41 >> So, they were really struggling. They

03:42 were trying to sell roofs online at the

03:44 time and uh so we were basically the

03:47 sales org for for that company.

03:49 >> Got it.

03:50 >> Yeah. And then uh he ended up burning us

03:55 on some stuff and we decided that it was

03:58 time for us to build out our own

03:59 installation.

04:00 >> Yeah.

04:01 >> Team. Yeah.

04:01 >> Which side do you think is harder, the

04:04 sales side or the install side?

04:06 >> Most roofers would say that the sales

04:08 side is harder. I find that the

04:10 operations side is is more difficult. My

04:12 but that's due to my skill set. Exactly.

04:14 So I've had to go out and get great

04:16 people to build that side of the

04:18 company.

04:18 >> Like how many roofs are you guys doing a

04:20 year?

04:21 >> So you know anywhere from three to 4,000

04:26 roofs a year or more.

04:28 >> That's crazy.

04:29 >> Yeah. And then we have siding and

04:30 windows and gutters attic insulation.

04:33 >> How do you manage that much logistics?

04:35 Like how many states is this across and

04:37 everything? Uh, so we service right now

04:40 six markets um from North Carolina up to

04:44 New Jersey and then out to Ohio.

04:46 >> Got it.

04:47 >> Yeah. So, I've seen kind of like with

04:50 roofing, it's interesting. Like I'm in

04:52 Vegas where we got tile roof and stuff

04:54 and it just doesn't seem like that

04:56 lucrative because they don't need

04:58 replacing as much as like you know in

05:00 these I don't know hurricane

05:02 environments or cold environments and

05:04 where everything's shingle and you know

05:06 there's all these insurance claims.

05:07 >> Yeah. So you're in Vegas. Um a lot of

05:10 tile roofs out there. Usually with tile

05:13 roofs the damage is hidden. So the wind

05:15 will lift the tile up and then smash it

05:17 down and it'll lay back down. So from

05:19 that the ground you'll look up, it looks

05:20 fine,

05:21 >> but the tile's actually cracked

05:23 >> and then it's just a matter of time

05:24 before it starts to leak inside the

05:27 house. So you're right, it looks fine,

05:29 but once you get up there and actually

05:31 look around, you'll see that there's

05:32 actually quite a bit of damage, right?

05:34 >> Um because in in Vegas, you guys have

05:36 really high winds that'll blow through

05:38 there,

05:38 >> right?

05:39 >> Yeah. So,

05:40 >> do you guys do Vegas a lot or like

05:43 >> We don't we don't do installs in Vegas

05:45 currently, but the vision is to expand

05:47 into 32 markets across the US and Vegas

05:49 would be one of them. Yeah.

05:50 >> Just the biggest markets in the US.

05:53 >> Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

05:54 >> So, what do you think you guys need to

05:55 do to be able to go from six to 32?

05:59 >> Um, so the thing that's holding us back

06:01 right now is technology. We've actually

06:02 just made a huge investment into our

06:04 technology. Um, and we're coming out of

06:06 all of those projects. But, uh, that is

06:10 going to unlock unlimited scale for us.

06:13 I'm super excited about that. And it's

06:15 it's going to create the best experience

06:17 in our industry for the salesperson. Um,

06:21 >> like what is the tech going to manage

06:22 that's currently like no one has?

06:26 Um,

06:28 without saying too too much about it,

06:31 um, the sales rep is going to have a lot

06:33 more visibility and assistance inside of

06:37 the technology and they're going to be

06:38 able to get paid a lot faster. So, the

06:40 way that the roofing industry currently

06:41 operates is the salesperson has limited

06:45 visibility into their pipeline, their

06:47 projects, their customers, and they get

06:49 paid after the customer is paid in full.

06:53 So, this technology is going to allow us

06:55 to give the rep like really deep

06:57 insights um and assistance from uh from

07:02 AI being able to analyze their data and

07:04 like give them feedback and really help

07:07 them be as efficient as possible and at

07:09 the same time allow us to pay them way

07:12 faster than anybody else. So your

07:15 >> that's really that's really the the

07:16 primary driver is creating the best

07:19 experience for the salesperson to allow

07:22 the most salespeople to succeed as fast

07:25 as possible.

07:26 >> Yeah. Because you got to sell to be able

07:28 to go expand into these markets. You got

07:30 to get people who are excited about it.

07:32 And if you have technology that makes

07:35 them better, gets them paid quicker,

07:37 perform better, then you should get the

07:39 best reps.

07:40 >> Yeah. Exactly. And that and that's the

07:42 mission is to create the best reps and

07:45 create an environment that they don't

07:47 ever want to leave like they want to

07:48 stay.

07:48 >> So tell me about this mission to

07:50 re-energize America. Like what does that

07:52 mean?

07:53 >> So uh most people will define the

07:56 American dream as owning a home. So

07:58 there was studies done by uh Forbes a

08:01 few years back and most people believe

08:03 that that's not attainable now.

08:04 >> Yeah. And so, you know, our mission is

08:08 to create a place where without any

08:10 special degrees or certifications,

08:12 without going into a ton of debt to, you

08:15 know, get a degree that you come out and

08:16 you start paying bills and you find out

08:18 that, you know, you can't get a job that

08:20 can even pay for those uh student loans

08:24 is to create a place where anyone with

08:26 grit, positivity, and an open mind can

08:29 come in, work really hard, and create

08:32 their American dream where they can earn

08:33 multiple six figures and they can buy

08:35 that house. And you know, I I think a

08:38 lot of people think that they're

08:40 entitled to the American dream. We we

08:42 really want to focus on the opportunity,

08:44 creating the opportunity. Like America

08:46 is the land of opportunity, not the land

08:47 of guarantees. You're not owed anything.

08:49 Yeah.

08:49 >> And we want to do our part to

08:52 uh provide that opportunity. That's

08:53 really the driving factor is what gets

08:55 me out of bed every morning. Like I know

08:56 that there's somebody out there that

08:58 they're probably not working at our in

08:59 our business yet, but there's someone

09:00 out there that's counting on us to show

09:03 up and build a company that is going to

09:05 unlock the American dream for them.

09:07 >> Yeah. I mean, what do you think about

09:08 the trades in general? Right. I mean,

09:10 we're seeing so much of private equity.

09:13 We're seeing um all this talk,

09:15 especially with AI and data centers of

09:17 like, no, these trades are about to just

09:19 pop off.

09:21 Yeah, there's a lot of money flooding

09:23 into the into the marketplace, but I

09:26 will say that they're struggling to

09:27 integrate. Um, you know, the trades are

09:30 a little bit behind when it comes to

09:32 technology, right?

09:33 >> So, trying to merge all of these

09:35 companies together is proving to be

09:37 pretty difficult and a lot of these

09:39 funds aren't off to the hottest start.

09:41 >> Yeah.

09:41 >> So, the people that have the best tech

09:44 will be the ones that win long term.

09:45 Those will be the platforms. Well, I'm

09:47 even just saying for these people you

09:48 want to help like that are looking for

09:51 career paths because they're they're

09:52 coming out of college just like you

09:55 having student loans and they're like,

09:56 "Huh, the job market's not really what I

09:59 thought it was going to be. This math

10:01 don't math,

10:01 >> right?" Yeah. The trades I mean, I think

10:04 that what we do will be one of the last

10:06 things. Like, you need you don't need

10:08 just AI, you need robotics and AI to be

10:11 able to do what we do,

10:12 >> right?

10:13 >> And I think that'll be the last phase.

10:14 So, from a job security standpoint, is

10:16 it 100% AI proof? I don't think so. Will

10:19 it last a lot longer than most things?

10:22 >> Absolutely. And especially with sales,

10:24 too.

10:24 >> Yeah, totally.

10:26 >> Yeah.

10:26 >> Yeah.

10:26 >> So, tell me about um golf, dude. How

10:29 does a roofer get into golf?

10:32 >> So, I've always been competitive. I

10:34 played soccer all through college. That

10:36 was my dream was to play professional

10:37 soccer. That didn't didn't work out. But

10:40 uh I got into golf [snorts] when I was

10:43 the day I turned 15 and a half, we were

10:44 legal to get a job in Virginia where I

10:46 was living.

10:46 >> Okay.

10:47 >> And my mom um drove me down to the local

10:51 golf course, local municipal. And my

10:53 grandfather was working there in the pro

10:54 shop. He had just retired. He got a job

10:56 in the pro shop and uh he had set me up

10:59 with an interview. So I interviewed, got

11:01 the job washing golf carts, six bucks an

11:03 hour. Um.

11:04 >> Mhm.

11:04 >> And the benefit though, the best part

11:06 was that my grandfather was a scratch

11:08 golfer. And we were pretty poor growing

11:11 up. I there was no way I could afford to

11:13 play golf.

11:14 >> But I got to play free golf cuz I worked

11:16 there.

11:17 >> Yeah.

11:17 >> So after, you know, we would I would

11:19 finish washing all the carts every day.

11:21 He would lock up the pro shop and then

11:24 we'd take two large buckets up to the

11:25 range and he would teach me how to play

11:27 golf.

11:28 >> So that's that's how I got it. And that

11:30 was, you know, 20 plus years ago.

11:32 should be a lot better at this point.

11:33 But [laughter]

11:35 >> yeah, you know, I started everyone's

11:37 default answer is now gonna be Yeah, I

11:39 started like last year just for

11:40 [laughter] their game.

11:41 >> Yeah, we got a guy, his name's Boku.

11:43 He's really cool. I've golf with him a

11:44 few times now. He played pro soccer.

11:46 >> Okay.

11:46 >> And I haven't met him yet.

11:48 >> Yeah, I'll link you guys up. You'll like

11:50 him. And um now he's got a huge plastics

11:53 company.

11:53 >> Okay.

11:54 >> And um but he played pro soccer for

11:56 quite a while. And you know, he's

11:58 picking up golf quick now.

11:59 >> Okay. Okay.

11:59 >> He's like, "Bro, how do I hit it as far

12:01 as you?" I go, "Swing harder."

12:03 [laughter]

12:03 >> I go, "You just It's pretty simple,

12:07 dude. How do you kick a ball further?

12:08 You just get stronger.

12:10 >> Try harder."

12:11 >> Yeah. Get faster leg speed. I [laughter]

12:13 don't know what you would call it. And

12:14 how do I run faster? You just do.

12:17 >> I don't know. Just do it.

12:18 >> Yeah. [laughter]

12:20 >> So, anyways, he's funny. You'll like

12:22 him. But, um, what made you want to join

12:24 M19?

12:25 >> Uh, networking is difficult for me.

12:27 Like, I'm an introvert at heart. Yeah,

12:30 even this right now, like this

12:32 conversation, like this is I'm like 100%

12:34 focused is I got to be really focused to

12:37 be able to do this. Um,

12:39 >> golf is a much more natural thing for me

12:41 to do to meet new people. And I think a

12:43 lot of times as an entrepreneur, you're

12:45 looking for a support system, right?

12:46 Like you're looking for people that are

12:47 going through what you're going through.

12:49 I was following you on Instagram.

12:51 >> I I you know, based on what I saw, I was

12:52 like, I'm I'm very similar to this guy.

12:54 I think I would like what he's doing.

12:56 So, um, I joined and, uh, it's been very

13:00 on brand. I think it you you've done a

13:03 good job of attracting people that have

13:06 similar beliefs to you and they're all

13:07 business owners to various scales. Um,

13:10 and everyone so that I've met so far has

13:13 been amazing. [clears throat]

13:14 It's been easy to to network, too. Golf

13:16 is a much easier thing to to network

13:19 around for me.

13:20 >> It's less awkward for me, [laughter]

13:22 >> you know? I I've realized that too, like

13:24 as I've gotten older and and I mean I'm

13:27 sure you've been to all the seminars and

13:30 big events and things that entrepreneurs

13:31 do, but it's like, yeah, you know, let's

13:33 um go just have a drink or whatever. And

13:36 I'm like, yeah, you know, it's great.

13:38 Like, I can have a drink, but

13:40 >> you know, it's just I don't know, it's

13:41 kind of surface level when you're just

13:43 chilling, just whatever. But then like

13:45 you go play golf with somebody for four

13:48 hours, five hours, and it's like you

13:50 have to spend a lot of time together,

13:51 but you're like doing something fun and

13:53 active and there's this it's just easier

13:56 to just

13:56 >> way more natural

13:57 >> get to know people.

13:58 >> Yeah. Way more natural. I love it, man.

14:00 I think it's a fantastic idea.

14:02 >> Yeah. You guys know I love the game of

14:04 golf and that is why I started M19. It

14:07 is a golf mastermind for entrepreneurs

14:09 who are doing over seven figures in

14:10 their business and who want to go on

14:12 bucket list golf trips together. We

14:14 already have hundreds of members all

14:16 across the country. And we've been to

14:17 some of the best courses in the world.

14:19 Places like Pebble Beach, Pinehurst,

14:21 Bandon Dunes, and many others. The

14:23 course is the best place to do deals,

14:24 make great relationships, and have fun.

14:26 So go to mastermind 19.com today.

14:29 >> Anybody that's looking for a support

14:30 system in a in a golf environment, I

14:33 mean, as a business owner, like this is

14:35 it.

14:35 >> Yeah.

14:36 >> Yeah.

14:36 >> So, what do you think for you guys is

14:38 going to be the key to the next level of

14:40 growth? What do you what do you need to

14:42 improve on as a CEO and as a founder?

14:45 >> Oh man, I've got a lot of areas to

14:47 improve on. Um,

14:52 for me personally, the the thing that

14:54 I'm focused on right now is an older,

14:57 you know, a younger version of myself. I

15:00 as far as my industry goes, like in home

15:02 sales of home improvement, I know it

15:04 better than anyone,

15:06 >> right?

15:06 >> But as a as a leader, it's not enough

15:08 just to know what needs to be done. You

15:10 got to get the buy in of everybody to

15:12 actually do it. Like it's the execution.

15:14 It's it does knowing what to do isn't

15:16 good enough. It's it's it's not the the

15:18 whole equation. What really matters is

15:20 do you know what needs to be done and

15:21 can you get everyone bought into it? An

15:23 old version of me would have gone to the

15:24 team and said, "Hey, here's what we need

15:26 to do." And it probably wouldn't get

15:29 done the way I wanted to get done. And

15:31 it probably would take a really long

15:32 time to get the team bought in to doing

15:35 it the way I want them to do it. And so

15:37 what I've been focused on is

15:40 giving them the what needs to get done

15:41 and why we need to do it, but then

15:43 asking them how do you guys think that

15:46 this should be done and letting them

15:47 create the SOP with my guidance,

15:51 >> but letting them create how it needs to

15:54 be done. And what I found is that the

15:56 implementation is so much faster even if

15:59 I know what needs to get done and

16:00 eventually they come to the same

16:02 conclusion that I already have. Even if

16:04 it takes them two weeks to get there,

16:06 it's still faster than me spending an

16:08 entire quarter forcing my ideas onto

16:12 them.

16:13 >> Yeah. Because they feel like they came

16:14 up with the idea. They feel like it was

16:16 their thing.

16:17 >> I learned that a long time ago when you

16:19 know you're training people, it's like,

16:20 man,

16:21 >> the more collaborative you can be with

16:22 them and take feedback and, you know,

16:24 take true feedback, right? And then even

16:27 if you know the answer, if if you let

16:30 them come up with the answer, now it was

16:32 their idea instead of your idea.

16:34 Exactly. They're going to be way more

16:35 bought into their own idea.

16:37 >> 100%. Even if even if what you're

16:39 talking about is 100% of the perfect

16:41 solution and they come up with 80%, let

16:44 them run with the 80.

16:46 >> Yeah.

16:46 >> Like it's going to be more effective.

16:49 >> Yeah. 100%.

16:50 >> So that's my own limitation. As far as a

16:52 business goes, I am so excited for this

16:55 uh technology transformation that we've

16:57 just gone through. Um we got a couple

16:59 more weeks left before we're we're

17:01 stabilized uh and everything is is

17:05 operating without [snorts]

17:06 major um any [clears throat] major

17:08 setbacks, but this is going to unlock

17:11 the scale that we've needed for a long

17:13 time. Super pumped.

17:15 >> What do you think? Uh

17:17 I mean obviously as you expand to all

17:19 these markets right you're talking about

17:20 32 markets is where you want to be.

17:23 >> Um how do you how do you plan to manage

17:25 such a large team remotely?

17:29 >> That's a great question. Um

17:32 you know the org chart is the org chart

17:35 and you know with technology I think

17:37 that accountability is with technology

17:39 we're building accountability is going

17:40 to be fairly simple.

17:42 >> Okay.

17:42 >> Um

17:43 >> just getting good leaders in each

17:44 market.

17:45 >> Yeah. good leaders and creating an

17:46 environment where they're constantly

17:48 being developed and there's a culture of

17:51 humility similar to what you you've

17:53 created at M19 like there's I haven't

17:55 run into many egos yet.

17:57 >> Yeah.

17:57 >> And if you can create an environment

17:58 like that in business where there's

17:59 little very little entitlement you can

18:01 get it done remotely.

18:02 >> Yeah.

18:03 >> Um but it's you got to have in my

18:06 opinion you got to have the technology

18:07 in place to be able to scale like that.

18:09 If you don't like

18:10 >> Yeah. Especially in this new world that

18:11 we're entering in where everyone's going

18:13 to have tech to some degree.

18:15 >> Mh.

18:16 >> And it's like, hey,

18:17 >> if you don't have it, it's going to be

18:19 tough to compete.

18:20 >> Yeah. 100%.

18:21 >> And I think a lot of sales

18:22 organizations, they don't want to do all

18:24 that. They just want to sell.

18:25 >> Right. Right. And they're going to get

18:27 run over by people with great tech

18:29 because their operating expenses are

18:31 going to be so much lower, especially

18:33 with AI. Like

18:34 >> you don't need setters the way you used

18:35 to need it and follow up. Like AI can do

18:37 so much now.

18:38 >> 100%. Yeah. Yeah,

18:40 >> the best tech is going to win.

18:42 >> So, how can somebody work with you,

18:44 right? I mean, obviously you guys do

18:46 roofs, so if somebody needs a new roof,

18:48 you can do that. But also, too, you're

18:49 looking for sales reps, it sounds like,

18:51 as well. So, like where where can they

18:53 get these opportunities?

18:54 >> So, if you live within a 60-mi radius of

18:58 New York City, Philadelphia, Washington

19:00 DC, Raleigh, North Carolina, Pittsburgh,

19:02 Pennsylvania, um you can go onto our

19:06 website and fill out an application.

19:08 >> What's the website?

19:09 interview. Smartroof.com.

19:11 >> Smartroof.com. That's a good name.

19:13 >> Thank you.

19:13 >> How much was that myself?

19:15 >> How much was that domain? I got to know.

19:17 >> You know, it's funny. I tried. It was

19:18 originally owned by someone else and I

19:20 could never get a hold of them and then

19:22 I just brought on a uh a new COO and he

19:26 had a big tech background. He was able

19:27 to track the guy down and get it for a

19:29 dollar.

19:30 >> What? [laughter]

19:31 >> Smartroof.com.

19:32 >> Yeah.

19:33 >> Dang.

19:34 >> That's good. Whenever I hear somebody

19:37 get a good domain name for nothing, I'm

19:39 like, that's good.

19:41 >> Yeah,

19:41 >> that's worth a lot. Well, bro, um guys,

19:44 if if you are looking for a career, a

19:47 multi6figure career, you want to

19:49 re-energize your life and [snorts] all

19:52 of those things, you can go to

19:52 smartroof.com, apply. Um they're hiring

19:55 like crazy and they're going to be in

19:56 multiple markets too soon outside of

19:58 those ones. So, go check them out. Josh,

20:02 it's been great, man. Appreciate you

20:03 coming on the show.

20:04 >> Yeah, thank you for having me.

20:05 >> Yep. See you guys. Peace.