This CRM Leader Started at Staples?! Mike Ippoliti’s Wild Journey to Leap

In this episode of The Hoel Truth Podcast, Bob welcomes Mike Ippoliti, Strategic Implementation Lead at Leap CRM, for an emotional and insightful conversation on purpose, growth, and building better contractor businesses.

Mike shares how a print job at Staples launched his CRM career, how faith and service fuel his mission, and why empowering contractors with better tech and better culture is his life’s work. From the backstory of JobProgress to how Leap streamlines sales, estimates, and customer experience—this episode is full of heart, strategy, and actionable wisdom.

Transcript

Mike, why did you come back to work for Leap? And then also, what do you contribute the biggest factor for most of your growth, just in your life as a person?

Great question. So I came back to Leap because I really believe in what this platform can offer for contractors and then their homeowners, and the biggest driving factor for growth in my life has absolutely been the relationship that I have with God & my spirituality.

Welcome to this edition of the Hoel Truth Podcast. Today, our special guest is Mike, and I'm not even going to try to pronounce your last name because I'll butcher it. But, Mike, Mike's a friend.

He also works for leap, which is our CRM, company that we use. Mike, take a second. Introduce yourself, and, we'll go from there. Sure. Absolutely. First of all, thank you for having me. I appreciate just the loving environment. And honestly, it really means a lot to me. So thank you for, you know, bringing me to the farm, letting me hang out with the family, take me out to supper last night.

I really do appreciate that. So it's an honor to be here, and it really is an honor to to call you a friend, to take you seriously mean that? And, a little bit about myself. My name is Mike Ippoliti. So I am the strategic implementation lead over at leap CRM. And essentially what I do is I help improve the onboarding implementation process for all our contractors that use the system to make sure that it streamlines their processes to fit exactly what they do, instead of you having to mold and change the way you do business to use the CRM, we like to mold the CRM around you.

So last night we'll have a little fun here for a second. So last night he came after the house. You know, coming from a guy that grew up in Jersey, you know, and, RIT had to take him out to the barn show in the cars. He's out there, pet. Maybe cats or young or little old cars.

He was checking out one of the kids, a show heifer. So it's just it's always cool for me. Like, this is just so natural and used to me like, you're like, you're out there, like, lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. And I mean, it, it it's cool because I enjoy agriculture. Small town. Like, that's who we are.

As who me and Emily are, is a person. So, like, when you get to show somebody that's really never been around it, you know? And like my son, this eats it up, you know, that opportunity. So I mean, that was that was a lot of fun for, for me, like I said, like, it's every day, like we gotta take care of them cows every day.

Like, you know, some people get tired of that, but, like, you show up and you're excitement. That was that was pretty cool. So. Oh, I absolutely I absolutely loved it. I mean, again, just like you said, it's an experience I've never had before. We were talking earlier, you know, have I ever seen a cow? And I'm like, of course, right.

But have I ever been that close to a cow from been able to pet it? No, I haven't, and it was just definitely a wild experience that I absolutely was enthralled with. I mean, the knowledge that you were able to pour into me about just agricultural farming and even Brett, he's so intelligent. I know so much about everything that's going on.

When we took that little tour around the property, and he was just kind of pointing everything out to me. It's amazing. It's incredible. And your family's just incredible people. He's he's a gentleman. Your daughters are just so incredibly kind. We went out to dinner last night. Just the way that they interact with people, it's it really shows that you're instilling in them the same core values that you hold near and dear to your heart, that you express that whole roofing remodeling.

And so you're instilling that it's live, it's tangible, it's something that you can feel. And I just really appreciate the opportunity to learn about something that I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn about. Right? Right. I just really you opened my eyes to a lot of stuff by giving me some really good information on how the industry works, what's happening, what to look out for, terms that you know, people think may mean a certain thing, but truly don't write this, you know, marketing gimmick here.

Yeah, yeah, I can't wait. You know, next time you're going to get me some beef, right? I absolutely promise it's going to freeze dry and send it over to Jersey. Oh yeah. And I'll send some pizzas back in return. Yeah. The kids the kids will love that. So. So, the reason Mike came in to town, Canada, to help our customers out with is we're really working on we try to focus on the customer experience at Whole Roofing.

You know, I always, I'll say this, a 100 times. Contractors don't show up when they say they're going to. They don't give you estimates when they say they're going to, they don't do the frickin job when you say you're going to. And I feel like as a company, we do a good job with with that. But we're just we continue to dig.

So like some cool features of Mike. I mean, Mike, I mean, you kind of help build I mean, it was job progress, but you were the third employee hired. Correct. So like you, text and a buddy of mine, Brenton, that is just jumped on with you guys and, like, make sure you use Mike as a resource because, like, you know, the ins and outs of it and like, I don't get computer stuff, like, I mean, I understand how to use apps, but you understand the back like how it works and that kind of stuff.

So a few features that, you know, we can kind of talk about, I think here, is we're going to make, our estimating where customers can go in there and, you know, add things like if they want gutter guards with their gutter estimate and that kind of stuff. Right? Yeah, absolutely. So we want to be able to put that power in the homeowners hands and give them multiple options, give them stuff that they can add on or take off that fits within their budget and of course, show them the details on how much these things are going to cost.

So instead of being forced on, you need to go with this option. It gives them the ability to make that selection on their own. And by digitizing your contracts and having that all automated, it's actually something that they can mess with. When they're on their phone, they're on their computer. They could sign it at any time. They don't have to be in front of them.

They don't have to get in, you know, their car and come over here and get something signed. So it just really takes a lot of that pressure off of the homeowner to feel like they need to make a decision right now, and I need to go with what's just being presented, something that really think is very important as a homeowner for me.

Right. I want to be able to have a little bit of say in what's being performed, or at least have options that I could look at based off of the recommendations of the professional, because I'm coming to you guys because you're the professionals. So the fact that you take the time outs, present me with different options that I could choose from, it really changes the experience.

Well, I mean, one thing that, you know, we're always we're always making sure that we do genuinely take care of the customer, give them their options, you know, make sure they have, you know, they have multiple options. But something else we're working on as a company is is we're working with a marketing company. It's called Impact marketing with Marcus Sheridan.

His old book was they ask you answer. So we're trying to put more stuff on our website to make it more. I don't want to say user friendly, but people right now, we're in the age where people want to research and they don't want to be sold like they want they they want to be educated. So we're trying to do a better job at putting more on our website.

We've actually got, a full time team member and another full time, one full time team member. All they do is focus on is that another one that's probably half to three fourths of his time? Is focus in on that. So what I like about this is that actually helps bring all that together. Where now when people are researching and looking at stuff and they can like we'll explain it to them and, and house as much as they want.

But but I understand that some people do want to go back, and they want to spend the time of research and looking things up, you know, that kind of stuff. So that's, that's, that's cool. Like, like I said, the reason you're here is like just helping us, making sure that we're using your system that we're already paying for to the fullest extent with getting things, using it.

And like I said, it goes back to being beneficial to our customers. You know, where, another tool you can kind of talk a little bit about is more of the scheduling tool where a customer is going to be able to see their stuff on the calendar and that kind of stuff. So as you understand that way better, I'm just going to shut up and let you talk about it for a minute.

Yeah. No, absolutely. And, to, to go back to your point about the knowledge, right, enabling our homeowners on what the process is, what they can expect, what's going to happen when we actually show up on their doorstep and the materials have been dropped. So by providing them the ability to research this information on their own, and now taking our digitized templates and including things like videos on warranty options or, you know, the root system that they're looking for, instead of them having to navigate away or Google things on their own, we're providing them that information right upfront so they can see the stuff they can really identify with.

Okay, I want to go with this because this serves my needs. This is what I want. It's not just you telling them what they need to go with, but now as a homeowner, I'm empowered because you guys took the time out to really teach me and I can make those decisions on my own. And then combining the customer web page that we're working on where we can share the invoice, they could actually pay online.

They have the option to, you know, have that control, right? When they want to pay it, how they want to pay it, without again having to drive over here and drop off, check, drop off some cash. It's going to make it a much more streamlined and smooth process. Right? And then right on that customer web page, we can share our photos.

They could sign a document right from their viewing the estimate. There's also videos we can have on there the invoice information. And as you mentioned the production calendar. So if we have, you know, roofing, siding and gutters that we're doing, you can actually see exactly when we're going to be coming out there and performing this work. Yeah, that's I, I like that just because, people forget or, you know, it's just it truly like I said, we go back, we want it to be the customer experience.

Like, I want to make it as easy on the customer as possible and then also help our team so we can we can see it all on the board, like we have our own whiteboard here at the office with everything on it, you know? But just so we know how the scheduling is and all that, you know, is, is pretty fun.

What, what are some other features of, like, Lee that kind of help us as a contractor to make our process process smoother? That maybe I'm not even really discussing. So you guys are already using and utilizing a lot of really cool features, like our communication aspect. And that's what I love about what you're doing, that whole thing remodeling.

You are giving the customer the information that they need through each step of the process. So when that appointment is scheduled, you know, what can you expect? Here's the rep that's coming out and you guys have the video already set up on who specifically is meeting them. I mean, now I don't have to worry about who's knocking on my door because you're letting me know who's coming.

And I think that's incredible. And of course, having things like different touch points on, hey, this is when we're coming out for a production. This is what's going to happen. This is what you can expect. It puts, again, that knowledge inside of the customer's hands so they don't have to go digging for this. And then with that customer web page, you know, I don't want to have to call up and see when you're coming out, right?

I don't want to have to call up and find out what my balance is. You know, in today's digital environment, we're really transitioning to utilizing what's in front of us. So I busy I'm working, you know, I'm taking care of the kids. I got to go to church. It's so nice to me. I'll just pull up my phone, go into my email or my text messages from whole, be able to see what's going on, click that link.

And now that information is in front of me, I don't have to go call you guys up. Wait for a response. Yeah, that's something that that customer touchpoints like in the industry in general is something that, you know, we need to solve for. And you guys are already taking advantage of that and doing it, which I think is absolutely incredible.

So, let's go ahead and step back. Like how did you end up at what was job progress? Now it's actually like, you know, if you're the third hire there. Like how I mean, that's pretty cool. Just because I know how big leap is now job progress. Like how many customers it's serving. So like tell that story if you would.

So, when I was about 23 years old, I was working at a Staples in South Plainfield, New Jersey, and the owner of Job Progress at the time, David Boselli. He was coming in getting all of his promotional printing work done. And I worked in the copy center that that was my domain. So he came in with a, a poster that was, 24 by 36 that needed to be printed and laminated, mounted, all that good stuff.

My manager had originally told him, no, it's something that you have to you have to wait for it to come out tomorrow. So I said, you know what, let me take a look and see what I can do. Printed that out for him, mounted it, landed, and he's like, can I get another 19 of these done by tomorrow at 2 p.m.?

I was like, sure, not a problem. Little did I know, I didn't even understand what he was doing when he explained this to me, but it was actually for a presentation at a manufacturer on what the system is, what job progress was. So fast forward about two years. I'm working for a managed service provider doing, you know, tech support.

People call in helping them out. I, had never, ever in my life looked for a job on Craigslist. And this is this is where God comes into play sometimes and really points you in the right direction. So I type in it support or something along those lines. And I see this company job progress. Mind you, it's been about two years since I was working with David.

So I call up staples and I knew somebody that still worked over there and said, hey, can you look up in our CRM, this company and let me know, am I thinking of the right person? She said, David Basil, is that ring a bell? Yes. What's his number? I called him up. He remembered me two years later because I guess, you know, making that impression and being able to be flexible enough to deliver on his needs, it meant a lot to him.

Right? So he said, do I want to come in and meet the second employee, individual named Lester Morris? He ran the sales team. I met him at a Starbucks, and I still say this to this day. It was like a scene from a movie where after we had our discussion and we shook hands, it felt like, you know, the sun was shining through the windows.

You know, one of those moments where it's like, it's happening and from there, I'll never forget when I first pulled up to a garage at a roofing company, I'm like, what did I just do? You know, I, I left my job and now I'm pulling up to a garage when I said that to David, he was like, don't forget Amazon, Apple, many other companies all started in the garage.

And that's when I took the position as the director of Customer Success. Eventually, I was able to start hiring people, bring on a nice team. We moved to an actual office and I stayed there up until the acquisition. So once the acquisition happened, I wanted to kind of like spread my wings a little bit. I wanted to open up my own consulting firm and really take it to the next level.

On helping contractors streamline their operations to serve their homeowners better. At that time, I went I worked for C3, and I help them develop their franchise model. After that contract was over, I then became the director of technology for Tech Better Construction. I really credit my growth in my career and just what I'm able to translate when I work with contractors, due to the fact that not only was I on the software side, I actually worked for a roofing company, right?

Right. And we use the product, you know, we use leaks, right? So I was able to see on a different perspective instead of just the individual implementing it. But now I'm a user and I'm making sure that everything is processed correctly. Our SOPs are built, you know, to optimize performance and production, sales, whatever it may be. So it really opened up my eyes to how can we maximize what the system can do in order to again, provide the best customer experience, not only for our contractors, but for their homeowners and the customers that they work with.

So after some time, I ended up working for a company called Service Site and spent about a year there. And then I had reached out to leave. We had gotten in touch with each other. Basically they were like, hey, do you want to come home? I said, absolutely, I would love to come back. And it's just been an incredible experience being back at lead, because the growth that has continued to happen after I left, you know, during the acquisition, it's amazing to see all these different moving parts, different departments, everybody cross-functionally working together and being able to be a part of that and nurture not only the growth of our contractors using it, but also

our internal team helping them to become consultants and really identify what a contractor needs to utilize instead of just checking the box. You know what I'm saying? Like we're going to activate this, this, this and this. No, I want to hear about your business. How do you work with your homeowners? How do you manage your sales team? How do you manage production?

Let's go ahead and build this system out to fit those needs. And let's implement some other tools that can streamline this all together. So what how many employees now we're at about 202. Around 200. Some. Oh, wow. How many? How many were there? When I left? Yeah. 16. 16. 16. Wow. Okay, so which leap was more of a sales proposal?

Correct. All right. So that was a that was a separate company. Yeah. Any idea how big they were when they, when they bought out job progress? They were a little bit larger than us. Leap again, as you said, it was originally like an estimating and proposal in home selling tool. And they got backed by private equity because they were just doing such a fantastic job.

And they saw job progress. We, you know, smaller company. But we quickly earned the rank of being one of the top three CRMs in the industry. So it was, you know, Nimbus AQ links and us. And I always used to make a joke with customers like we're like Goldilocks and Three bears. You know, you've got one that may be a little bit too expensive and rigid.

You've got one that maybe not doesn't really fully do what you need. And then we could be that sweet spot, right? We can give you the operations that you need to focus on, the tools that you need to use, and then the city you having to conform to us. Like I said, we get to conform to you.

Nice. Nice way to put it, I guess. What? So that, you know, the crazy thing is, it's the job that you reached out on Craigslist. That's actually how I got in the roofing space. So I was looking for a straight commission sales job because, I had followed Dave Ramsey for a few years, and he's like, you know, straight commission sales is one of them.

If you want to control your own destiny, like that's something you should look into. So that's what I did. And that's literally I'm pretty confident when I say this, the only job I ever looked on Craigslist. But you know, so as soon as you said that, I was like, oh, wow, that's that's that's crazy. You know? And then the crazy thing is, I got it trained me.

You really grew up. You didn't grow up that far from him, you know? So that was that's even crazier. This, like, the roofing space is so big. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. But then, like, how how a sales manager in Indiana could hire a guy off of Craigslist, you know, and, you know, that's been several years ago, you know, now.

So you said you've been in the in the roofing space almost ten years. Yeah. So I started in, November of 2017 was when I started, job progress here. We're coming up on ten years. And other than my time at service site, and I've always been using job progress slash sleep CRM, so it's something that's just it's in my blood.

You know, I love this product because I know the potential that it has to really help contractors grow. And I've witnessed it. I've seen it. That's why we still have companies that have been with us since I was there in the beginning. Well, and one thing that I appreciate the older I get is like working with people that enjoy what they do.

And I mean, you sitting in our office like you, I mean, just the pure excitement, like, you know, I'm just like, to me, it's boring tech crap that I have to do that we have to have for the company, you know, for the business. Like, I understand the importance of it. I'm not one of them guys. Like, I don't need that crap.

But, like, you thoroughly enjoy it. And like I said, like that is that is probably something that the older I get, the more I, I enjoy when somebody, shout out to Stephanie that does our bookkeeping. Like she loves it. Like she, she enjoys it. Adam, when he goes and does videos, like he's come back to the office sometimes giddy like a high school girl, you know, just, like, so excited about shooting that video for that small business.

And, like, that makes me. It makes me excited. You know? Like, it kind of reminds me, you know, why I do what I do? But I mean, genuinely, like, I want to thank you for your professionalism, for caring, you know, and there was some stuff that we were having problems with. If that was an easy fix, we just had to say it to you, you know, and just some other things that you told us that are coming up and things that we can do, like they just it makes our life easier.

So, I mean, you know, sincerely like, thank you for for your love of it because to many people, it just they want to check the box and it's like, well, I'm going to check that box. That's what I was supposed to do the day like have have passion. Like I want that to be different. Like I've had people come to me and say, you guys were not the cheapest bid, but your sales guys believed like they believe in you.

And I'm like, that's pretty cool to hear. A it's cool to hear from somebody that knows me, but be like a complete stranger to say what you and Emily are doing here is special. And like, it's that that's pretty cool for like I said, that that's cool for me to hear, you know, and like I say, to witness like your love for it of like, just, hey, guys, we can do this.

We can do that. And like, some of it's like, starts getting over my head for a minute. I was like, all right, let me, let me real back into, you know what? You know what what Mike is saying there. So

God just works in mysterious ways, right? All because of that getting that job at staples. It gave me a career. You know, I don't have a college degree. I'm not, you know, not formally educated, but I I've learned through experience and just the knowledge that's been passed over to me, talking to guys like you.

I didn't know the roofing industry beforehand, actually, as a matter of fact, my first call ever, I. So I shadowed David Boselli, the owner, for three days. Right. And again, I don't really know the system. I don't know the roofing industry that he tells Lester. He's like, all right, Lester, next sale you get, Mike's going to onboard them.

And I won't say the individual's name, but I remember that I got on that call. He said, do you know anything about roofing? Do you know anything about the software? Do you even work for this company? I, I vowed then that I was going to do everything in my power to learn this industry what we do, how we do it, and then really master the platform, the system that we were building.

So it was an awesome experience to be able to contribute. Not my ideas, but listening to individuals like yourself. Right. What you want to see the platform, do what you want. That's how you want that to function, how you want it to work. And then taking this, visualizing it, talking to the development team, talking with the owner and making sure that we were able to provide these solutions based off what our contractors need.

And that's why our our slogan is built for contractors by contractors and to this day, even leap, right. So Leap was owned by New Look Home Design, our current CEO Patrick Ingles. He's a contractor. We are roofers. This is it's what we do. So that was something that really changed my life because it gave me purpose. I realized that I am talented.

I realized that I can talk in front of groups of people, and I can lead implementations and teach teams how to grow. And like you mentioned, the passion for, you know what the passion comes from. It's because of your culture and the culture that you built, because I see how passionate your team is and how hungry they are to really provide the best possible experience to your customers.

So I would be discrediting you if I didn't offer the same and really provide that insight on like, hey, you know, we could do this, or have we thought about doing something like that and just conversing about it, getting that feedback and then being able to either implement it or if it's something that we can't do, relay that information back to the team so that we can make it happen.

Because at the end of the day, we're here to serve you and you're going to serve your homeowners. So we have to do our job to make sure that you're equipped with everything that you need to provide the best possible experience. Every customer who calls you well, and you know, it's kind of crazy because, you know, like, truly how God's hand is in like, everything.

And, you know, because like I said, I didn't know anything about roofing. I'll be honest, when I got hired in, I got hired in as a salesman for a company out of Indy, and we did a tour at the Owens Corning plant that happens to be about 35, 40 minutes from here in Brookville, Indiana. And, I remember when I got back from that tour, I crawled up in the, we had a Bedford stone with an attached garage, and you could get up in the attic from the garage, and I crawled up there, and there was a bundle of Owens Corning shingles.

That's the only reason I knew that I had Owens Corning shingles on the house that I was living in, you know, that we had owned at the time. So, like, that was that that was. But like, you know, it's always funny because I always hear people in the roofing space because I'm not your traditional laborer. That was swinging like I was a sales guy that got in in the roofing space, you know, and, you know, since I've done a lot of repairs, done a lot of house flipping that, but I had to teach a lot of this stuff, you know?

And, it's always funny because I hear people say, I didn't choose roofing. Roofing chose me. You know, and, like, I mean, to think that, you know, Adam and Elly that work for us, they were both in the church youth group that me and Emily helped out with when we were freshly married, you know, and Adam has that tech, that technology.

He gets that tech, and he has that love for videography and that kind of stuff. And it's really cool to be able to hire somebody like him that he can work, and the community that raised him and do something like that. He enjoys, like, I truly don't think there's another full time videographer in Rush County. I could be wrong.

I don't say that arrogantly. I'm very appreciative of the talents that we have that work here. You know? But it's it's a lot of fun, you know, just to kind of see, like, you know, you know, I, I believe a lot in like we create, we create our life like I believe in God. I believe he's in control.

Don't get me wrong, however, like, you know, you know, how did they build leap? Well, they just started one day and started working on it and look where it's at now. You know, like, how did Bob and Emily build the Hoel Roofing & Remodeling? I just wanted the opportunity to better my kids life. So I was like, I'm going to start selling roof jobs for myself.

And I was doing the sales, the production, the QC, everything. And then it just gradually build a team and build a team, you know, and but it's.

To me it's, it's it's we live in a crazy world. We were going down a rabbit hole earlier about conspiracy theory stuff and. Oh, not do that right now. But like, but genuinely, like, there's a lot of good people out there, you know? I couldn't do it without me and them. I couldn't do it. That our team, you know, like, Emily was asking you a million questions because she wants to know.

Leap inside and out. You know, Jonathan, Elly sat in there a lot. Chris was in there some of like trying to really figure it out to make their life easier, you know, so that's, that's that's the fun part of like, you know, just sitting back and, you know, got the opportunity to take you out to our house last night,

the home that we just built, and just like, that's pretty cool for me of like to step back and just look at truly what God has blessed us with. Like, we've had to work our asses off. I don't hide behind that. At all, you know? And we've had to hire a lot of good people and, you know, they've had to work hard, you know?

But it's just it's rewarding. It's just it's we live in a pretty awesome world, too. Like, I we could pick and complain about all the crazy stuff, but, like, we genuinely, you know, you know, like, you got pulled over yesterday on your way home, like, you know, he could have gave you a ticket, but it's just as easy as just, you know, not flying back to Indiana to go to the.

But that is good, bro. It's like it's so incredible to see you built this culture, you know, and through that through the gifts that that we've been blessed with, that you've been blessed with, it empowers you to provide opportunities for other individuals. You know, it gives them the opportunity to shine, right. They can perform to the best of their ability, and then you pour into them the knowledge that they need.

So don't forget, always keep in mind that you built this culture well. I always say, like me and Emily, we may have kind of set the standards, but I always tell the new the new team members like or all the team members like, it's if it's they keep that same culture though, like they've got to speak up when we are interviewing and they're like, that person doesn't fit here.

Not in a bad way. It's just you know, and sometimes I've listened and sometimes I haven't, and it always works its way out, you know, but you know, like, I mean, if it's like answering the call at 11:00 at night to take a customer's call, like, yes, she could have easily ignored that call and I wouldn't even have said anything.

Like, I got to get the notification that the answering service picked it up, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't even have been like, oh, well, why is she doing her job for God sakes? Is 11:00 on a Saturday night? But like, you know what? Whatever that is like when I get compliments from, like, Adam, whenever he's coming back, you know, from doing we do some small business spotlights, you know, like, oh, my gosh.

Like, he loves what he does. He believes in you guys. Like that was that was really fun interacting. You know, hear a lot of compliments from our sales guys. We've got some really kind guys, you know. And it's easier to hear compliments from the sales guys that are the face of the company in saying 2 or 3 people every single day.

Then Adam, that's behind the camera, that's behind the computer 90% of the time. But you know, it's like, yes, you're right. You know, but it's it's also people like Jonathan and Nick and Chris and Cody and them guys that's been here a while that care. They like that genuinely care. You know Tim he he helps site supervisor.

He's a production guy out in the field. Like you don't know how many times it's 605. My my phone's going off. There's some guy at the office. It's like, well that's Tim, like six life and frigging morning. He lives an hour away. It's like, Tim, do you ever sleep? You know, but like, he enjoys, like, he's an installer.

Like, he enjoys that, and, like, that's, I guess that's the coolest part of of an owner is like finding people that enjoy the their job because, like, if you've got five, six, eight, ten, 12, 14, 15 people that enjoy doing their job, it just it I mean, it just it makes everything just flow nicer and like, I mean running the business, trying to construction companies, there's always hiccups, you know, but just having the right people and the right culture and you know, and I kind of hate the word culture because sometimes people think that's just like your mission.

Some of the people that nobody abides by like, you know, integrity. And then, you know, just stuff like that, that's like, okay, that's one of my it's one of our core values. But like, how do we, you know, how do we live that, you know. Yeah. So how do we live those core values. Yeah. And you know, another thing that you're able to do for the entire team is you're giving them instead of just a job checking the box.

Right. Just a job. You're providing a career that builds purpose. And that is so extremely important for everybody. I mean, going and showing up for work and knowing that everything that I do today is going to have a direct impact to either better the business or create a better experience for our customers and our homeowners that is purpose driven opportunity right there.

And I think it's something that's extremely important. And a lot of times this is missing, you know, so when people feel like they're providing something that delivers an optimized purpose, they feel complete. And if I feel complete, then I know that I can actually perform at a higher level because I truly do care, right? Because I am passionate about this, because he is showing up at 6 a.m., because he cares, right?

He wants to make sure that everything's right, not only at home roofing and remodeling, but also for the homeowner that there isn't anything that was missed from the supply or dropped it off or whatever it may be, but just setting the stage and creating a foundation of nurturing love and growth, that's what I've witnessed while I've been here, honestly.

And just again, you know, the hospitality, the love, the feeling like I'm part of the family, you all did that. You all provided that because that's what lives here. It's a living and breathing organism. And it's something that I think that everybody can take note of because it's really it's incredible. It really is. I mean, I've done a lot of on sites, worked with a lot of incredible companies, but there are certain individuals and certain companies that you work with where you just feel like these guys are awesome, you know, like, this is home.

I like I honestly, I could I said I would move here, I love it here, I absolutely love it here. And it's just because of that vibe, that feeling. It's just you provide that the company provides that the individuals that work here provide that love and make it so that you don't want to leave. You know, I want to work with a company and five years a homeowner.

I want to work with a company where the employees are happy. Right? You know, they're being taken care of. They're doing things to the best of their ability because they love what they do. And if they love what they do, that's going to translate in the work that's performed. So it's not having to be fearful that I'm going to get ripped off for that.

You know, production is going to be late because no, these individuals actually care, and they care about providing the best possible solutions to the homeowners. And when it's not just a job, but when it is a career that you have purpose and you want to excel, you want to grow. And you can see that. And I see that here.

You unfortunately, you got to take off for a flight here, in a few minutes. I just want to thank you for, you know, for coming to help us. But sitting down, you know, getting on, getting vulnerable there, you know, talking about, you know, past struggles and is there is there any let ending notes, I guess maybe, you want to end this with I mean, you're, you're it's about teared up.

Just like watching you tell some of your story, you know? Well, two things. I mean, from a business perspective. So if you're a business owner, the one thing that that I heard that I always thought was very powerful from one of my, former employers was you need to stop working in your business and start working on your business.

Right. And that's what you do by delegating, creating a circle of excellence around you, by providing people with the purpose, just like you're doing. Because when you let go of the reins and allow them to shine, it creates an opportunity in their life that they can build upon that strong foundation. And now, on a personal note, there's always hope that's available.

You don't have to struggle and you're not alone. And when we ask for help, we'll get it. Drops your knees. Talk to God, pray. Talk to your friends and family. Don't struggle and suffer in silence because you don't have to.

Like I was going to leave right there. I appreciate you, Mike. Thank you brother. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate thank you for hosting me. Seriously, I really appreciate it. I have had an incredible time. I don't want to go back to Jersey. I want to stay here. But I really do appreciate it. I love it here, man, and I look forward to doing this again.

Thank you.