Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Cobb County. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Milli M. helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Cobb County, Georgia.
Is your business serving the residents of Cobb County? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpCobbCounty.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County
Building Trust: How NGL is Rebuilding the Contractor Reputation One Home at a Time
Ready to transform your home but worried about finding a trustworthy contractor? The Good Neighbor Podcast introduces Will and Leah Gomez, the family team behind NGL Renovations who are changing the contracting industry one project at a time.
Will's journey spans two decades, evolving from tile setter to project manager before launching his own licensed general contracting business. Together with Leah, they've built a reputation for excellence in bathroom and kitchen remodels, basement renovations, and full home rehabilitations throughout Georgia. What makes their story particularly compelling is their head-on approach to the industry's biggest challenge: trust.
"Not all contractors are bad," Will emphasizes, addressing the elephant in the room. The Gomez family has systematically eliminated common client concerns through transparent contracts, clear payment schedules, and accountability—regardless of whether they're handling a $1,500 job or a $150,000 renovation. Their commitment goes beyond paperwork; Will admits to answering client texts at midnight, demonstrating an accessibility rarely seen in construction services.
The couple's success stems partly from their complementary skills. Will's construction expertise combined with Leah's business acumen created a turning point for their company. "We each have our roles...we know how to stay in our lanes," explains Will, revealing how they've mastered both working and living together. This partnership extends to their approach with clients, whom they treat like family, and employees, who join them for activities like fishing trips.
Looking to renovate with confidence? Visit nglrenovations.com to explore their portfolio of actual completed projects (no stock photos here!) or find them on Instagram @NGLrenovations. Experience the difference a family-owned renovation company can make—where your home transformation comes with peace of mind.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Millie.
Speaker 2:M. Hello everybody, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, millie M. Are you in need of a general contractor for your new home remodel? Well, one might be closer than you think. I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor Will and Leah Gomez of NGL Renovations. How are you all doing?
Speaker 3:We're well, thank you.
Speaker 2:Doing great. Thank you, happy to be here. I'm glad. I'm glad we are so excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us more about NGL.
Speaker 3:Sure, I'll take this one. So we're a licensed general contracting company for the state of Georgia. We do bathroom remodels, kitchen remodels, we do full rehabs, we do additions if people are in need. The way I started in this business and I've been in this business for, I think, going on eight or nine, 10 years give or take I started flipping houses for real estate investors back then and, of course, once I got the experience and the knowledge and so on and so forth, then I became a licensed contractor. I've been a licensed contractor for, I'd say, maybe five years and we've seen it all, done it all in any, I guess, anything inside of the house Go ahead.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and then also we'll do basements. Basement remodels we can do, you know, exterior remodels as well. So just whatever, you know whatever anybody needs Remodels, small or large.
Speaker 3:we're pretty much your go-to when it comes to that.
Speaker 2:Those basement remodels are big because it just adds like a whole nother floor, a whole nother just so much more square footage to a home. So that's a big one. So I know you said you started flipping homes for realtors, but what made you decide that you wanted to get into remodeling in general?
Speaker 3:I've always been a. I've always been in the industry, so I've been doing this for maybe 20 years, give or take. I started doing tile work back when I was in my early twenties and after that I became a project manager for another contracting company and then after, finally I decided you know, I have enough experience to go out and do it on my own and try it for myself. And it's been tough, you know, I'm not saying that it's going to be like that was like the best decision I ever made, but it's definitely a lot of freedom.
Speaker 3:Yeah, being a business owner is hard and that was the part that we struggled, I know, I think on some of the questionnaires and I'm sure you're probably going to ask me that later what was one of my biggest struggles? I think one of mine was to learn how to run a business properly. So once we got some you know, some people in place, we did better. But at first it was, you know, swinging hammers, and now it's more. You know, face to face with clients and you know, meeting new people, try to get different avenues of business to come to, I guess, the company.
Speaker 2:Well, congratulations to you, because a lot of people are scared to step out the way that you did, and so you bet on yourself that you knew that you could do it, and look at you now. So what are some of the myths or misconceptions about your industry or what you do in particular?
Speaker 3:that was a good one. Um, I think and I I it hasn't happened to me, but I have heard a lot of horror stories um, but that's what we have, like all these different ways of things that we do. We have it in place, so stuff like this doesn't happen. But for us it's more the you know, the contractor not showing up to the job site and, as a matter of fact, this happened to me before where they've hired me to come and take over other people's, I guess mistakes per se, the contractor getting a huge deposit and not disappearing and then all of a sudden there's you know, attorneys involved in that.
Speaker 3:As a matter of fact, that happened in my first, very first job, and that's how I was able to get. My first job was that the the client was in need of a different contractor because the previous one pretty much just left her high and dry yeah you know.
Speaker 3:So I think those are the hardest things for us as contractors. But, um, like I I tell my wife all the time was like, as long as we have different um, I guess different ways of doing things and to make sure that we have all the right paperwork in place so that stuff like this doesn't happen. So for us especially, we have a contract in place. So every time it could be a $1,500 job, it could be $150,000 job and we're going to have a contract in place. Why?
Speaker 4:Because the contract is going to protect obviously us as a company, but it's also going to protect our clients so that and it's going to be transparent to the client like they have their draw schedule on there, they know how they're going to be paying for it and everything.
Speaker 3:It's really important and I guess for us, or at least for me, speaking for myself, I've worked so hard to get my general contractor's license that one bad mistake I could lose it, and I don't. You know I don't want to deal with that kind of stuff. So I 100% try to do everything by the book. You know, of course it's hard sometimes, but you know, as long as I do it by the book and the way the you know the book tells me to do it, then I'll be said I'll be okay, and what we want people to know is not all contractors are bad.
Speaker 2:That's the misconception right there. That's the misconception correct. Well, it sounds like you guys have systems and procedures in place that build trust, and that's really, really important in an industry where there's such a bad reputation of people. And when you're doing a remodel, you're trusting, like you're, for most people, their biggest asset in someone's hands, like they've spent thousands of dollars and they're in this loan for 30 years. You know what I'm saying and you're releasing that to someone to take care of it. So I love the fact that you guys established that trust. So we know that marketing is the heart of every business. So who's your target customer? Homeowners, I'm assuming, but who's your target client and how do you reach them?
Speaker 3:Well, lately it has been pretty much all word of mouth. Our target is people that are looking to have, you know, a kitchen remodel done, a bathroom remodel, a basement remodel. Um, we have, uh, we have a website that people can go to and see our work. All the, all the stuff that's in our, on our website, um, is stuff that we've done. All the work that's there, photos that are there, it's um, it's stuff that we have done in the past, so we don't obviously don't take photos from ai or the internet stop photos, right, I didn't even think about that, but that is definitely something that people need to look out for as technology changes.
Speaker 2:Have you ever considered doing a podcast of some sort to just get the word out and talk about different projects, different flips, or you know what I'm saying, to get the word out.
Speaker 3:We have not. We've been invited before. Believe it or not, this is the first one of the podcasts that we've done.
Speaker 2:Oh, congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Leah and I, about maybe three or four years ago, right after COVID, we were invited to come on as a general contractor on HGTV, one of the shows that they were filming, and so ever since that happened, obviously it worked, you know, for our, to our advantage, because we were able to get more business from it, we were able to market ourselves a little bit better, and we're still navigating that marketing aspect of, you know, the business part we're, we're, we're working on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it sounds like you guys have a lot of knowledge to share with people. For sure. Yeah exactly Outside of work. What do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:Well, we have a little one. He's eight years old. Definitely like to spend time with him, whereas, a matter of fact, we're we're leaving on a fishing trip in a couple hours, so we're going to take them fishing. We're actually going to take some of our employees fishing also, so kind of make it a little, you know, relaxing time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we try to make it nice for those that help us, those that work so hard for us, you know, to do nice things for them. We're both. We're both very healthy people. So we, we love to, you know, work out and eat healthy and all that kind of stuff. So I think that's a big part of our lives and then we're actually teaching our son and then we're actually teaching our son, grayson, to be that way also.
Speaker 4:So Nathan.
Speaker 3:Yes, and then we have a 23 year old who's out of the house, but you know, still ours. You know, of course, always your baby. Always.
Speaker 2:So you touched on it a little bit earlier, just if you wanted to expand on it. But just you know a hardship or a life challenge that you overcome and how it made you stronger. So you said it was starting your business.
Speaker 3:I think for me, I've been in business outside of doing the work, right, I've been in business for, I think, 10 years give or take. Business for I think 10 years give or take. Uh leah, my wife is actually, I think. Once she came on board, believe it or not, it life, it changed for both of us we work together.
Speaker 3:Uh, we, we get along. A lot of people will ask us like how do you guys get along? We get along because we know how to stay in both of um in our lanes, I guess yeah, per se, we each have our roles with the company and um, but before then it was me.
Speaker 3:Mismanagement, um, I didn't. I didn't know how to do accounting, um, I knew how to bid, I knew how to do estimates, I knew how to hire people, I knew how to find the work, but I wasn't very good at running the actual business as far as accounting. You know bookkeepers and that kind of stuff. Her background came in and she was like well, you know what, I've done it before, so I'll help you. And that made it to where I could focus more on what I like to do and what I do, which is pretty much being on the field. That's kind of what I do. I think the hardest thing for us was to learn how to run the business. I don't want to say properly, but better, because there's no way. I don't, I don't know that. I'm sure there is a way to do it properly, but I still haven't learned it yet. I'm still, you know, to do it better for us, and that you know, I guess a smoother transition.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Learning your way in the best way, exactly.
Speaker 2:So quickly. Just tell our listeners one thing you want them to always remember about NGL renovation.
Speaker 3:Family owned business and family. To us it means a lot.
Speaker 4:We appreciate their business. We want them to be happy. We'll make sure everything's right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, in a sense she's right, but I mean more, I guess. To go on a deeper level, I mean obviously to us family means, so we try to treat our customers like family. It's funny because I have some clients that maybe I shouldn't do this, but they'll text me at like midnight and some people are like crap, I shouldn't answer that or I shouldn't and I'm so used to it.
Speaker 4:If you're up at midnight.
Speaker 3:Right, but no, obviously we're always going to try to do well by them, and when I got onto doing this, that was my number one goal was that, even if I didn't make a whole lot of profit, I'd make sure that my clients were taken care of and my employees were taken care of, and I still stand by that to this day.
Speaker 2:That's a wonderful stance and you're definitely changing the perception and the image of what contractors are by building those beautiful relationships with your clients where they feel like family. So if someone's ready to join the NGO family and get their renovation done from top to bottom, how can they reach you?
Speaker 3:Well, they can reach us at our, on our website, and obviously it's easier to give them our website, and the reason why is because then they can just see the website and everything that we've done. So it's nglrenovationscom. Then you go through the website, then they can call us, email us and you know, so on and so forth. But I feel like that would be the easiest way to do it.
Speaker 4:Yep and we're also on Instagram at NGL renovations.
Speaker 3:But, we're.
Speaker 4:we're not as great as keep keeping up with our social media so they can go back and see some things, but we definitely need to do better with that.
Speaker 2:We'll definitely work on that for you. All right Well thank you so much. I'm so glad that I was able to chat with you about your business and best of luck moving forward Well thank you.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Cobb Countycom. That's GNP Cobcountycom, that's gnpcobbcountycom, or call 470-470-4506.