Home Services Success Stories

How Milestone Built DFW’s Top Home Service Brand Through Culture, Faith, And Relentless Execution

• Peakzi • Season 1 • Episode 6

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What does it really take to turn two trucks and a hunch into the most reviewed home services brand in Dallas? CEO and co-founder Gus Antos joins us to share how Milestone Home Service Company scaled by choosing a neglected niche, building a people-first culture, and treating every day like a chance to earn trust again. No hype, no silver bullets—just values lived out in hiring, service, and relentless follow-through.

We dig into the moment Milestone shifted from construction to residential service and why that single focus changed everything. Gus explains how faith guides his leadership without turning into a marketing shtick, why “Best Companies to Work For” is the only award that truly matters, and how reading every review—then celebrating wins and fixing misses—created a flywheel for quality. You’ll hear the simple system behind 35,000+ Google reviews at 4.9 stars and how a small-business mindset can thrive at scale.

We also explore the next wave of growth: AI. Partnering with Peakzi helped Milestone ensure large language models and assistants surface accurate, up-to-date facts. As Gus puts it, it’s not what you think your brand is—it’s what AI thinks your brand is. From early broadcast TV and PPC to today’s AI infrastructure, Milestone keeps moving where attention goes, all while staying rooted in DFW with a focused giving strategy around military, kids, and churches.

If you lead a home service company—or any service brand—this conversation offers a practical roadmap: invest in people, make reviews your scoreboard, and shape your digital presence so humans and AI both understand your value. Subscribe, share with a fellow operator, and leave a review telling us which idea you’ll implement first.

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More resources at: https://callmilestone.com/

Peakzi Podcast: Home Services Success Stories

Speaker:

Welcome to the Home Services Success Stories Podcast, powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business. And on the show today, we have Gus Antos, who is the co-founder and CEO at Milestone Home Service Company. Gus, welcome to the show. How are you?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely great. And thank you for having me.

Speaker:

Absolutely. Great to finally have you on. This has been months in the making. You're a busy man.

Speaker 1:

Well, in the home service industry, there's never a shortage of things to do. So thank you for your patience.

Speaker:

Absolutely, absolutely. So, well, Gus, let's jump in. Excited to learn more about you and also your story. So uh you co-founded Milestone back in 2004. So, what inspired you to start the company and what need did you see in home services to begin with it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Um, you know, I think like a lot of people that probably start any company, it's more of a that door just kind of opens and then you go through the door and then you figure out what you're gonna do from there. Uh, so there was never any big master plan of I know what we should do, we should start this company, and then this is what we actually started the company to to uh we were doing construction at the time. I I had a partner that actually had a company, and then I just joined up with him and he was doing commercial construction. But to answer your question, the reason that we we changed uh was there was a need in the market for residential uh electricians at the time. There was nobody who really specialized in that, and an organization helped uh share that with us, and we kind of bought into that vision of specializing in uh same-day service and repair license, background check, drug tested, and basically, and this seems crazy because the industry has evolved so much, but 20 years ago, there was almost no electricians that only did residential service. And what that means is really no job that took more than a day. And uh, you know, we started doing it, and the demand kept growing and growing, and so we just kept doing it.

Speaker:

So there was a kind of a gap that you saw in the marketplace that you did exploit and expand upon, and saw that there was a need for that particular thing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and uh, like I said, that that's a that sounds really good. Somebody basically showed us, hey, this isn't happening, y'all should try it. And construction wasn't going great. So we were like, we'll give it a try. And then when we started doing it, we saw the demand, and uh, you know, we started with two trucks, uh, five employees, and our our first year's revenue in 2004 was uh $497,000. And so um, you know, there's there's a lot of days where we do more than that in a day now, so it's been it's been a long journey.

Speaker:

And what a journey indeed. And and you said construction, but what all did you do before home services, I guess? What background did you come from?

Speaker 1:

I came from um kind of accounting, marketing, sales. I I just had some different jobs, and I was working at a cell phone store, and uh a guy that I knew from the church that we went to offered me a job and I hated the job I had. So any job sounded good. So, but I really liked him as a human being, and so we ended up that's how we got ended up joining up together.

Speaker:

So interesting. Okay, you you mentioned God, and your website is is very open about your faith, and you say that you serve customers for God. So, how has faith shaped your leadership in the kind of culture that you've built at Milestone?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so this is a question we get all the time. Um, you know, our our company mission statement, if you uh come to our organization, is to impact our team commu team customers and community for God. There's a bunch of different ways that we do that. Um, you know, if we don't have crosses or Bible verses on our trucks or on our invoices, uh customer facing, um, the faith part, you really don't see that. I I would hope that people would see it by the way that we treat them and by our actions. As far as our organization, for me personally, uh, and this doesn't land the same with everybody, and I'm certainly not trying to convince other people what they should or shouldn't do. Um, as a person of faith for me, when whenever I made that decision, I I I made that decision to lay down my life and live for Jesus Christ. And so it never made sense for me personally that you know, we spend more hours at work traditionally uh than we do anywhere else. Um you're here for you know eight or nine hours. It's a lot of times more than the time you see your family sometimes, and you do that for you know a large amount of years. It never worked in my head that the very thing that I said I'm living for uh would also not be a part of where I spend 90% of my time. And I was fortunate to to start doing this at 21 years old. My partner had was already pretty far down that road as far as belief system and how that looked at work. And so I was very fortunate to learn from him on that. Um, so I wouldn't really say that it's you can't set for me, you can't separate the two. I am who I am, whether I'm at work, whether I'm at church, whether I'm at friends, uh coaching a little league team, playing golf, all of those same things. I I think I hope I'm the same person. So faith hasn't really helped me develop a leadership. It's, you know, I don't know if that's answering that the right way, but it's all one and the same, if that makes sense.

Speaker:

What I heard from that is that you have chosen not to compartmentalize, but just to live your faith in every aspect of existence, but be it personal and business and and live out your values that way.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Julian, I'm just gonna have you come work here and you can explain. You explain it a lot better than I do. So, yes, that's exactly what I was trying to say.

Speaker:

Awesome. Well, I appreciate the clarity on that. So, well, you've already hinted at the remarkable story that is milestone. So, starting from one truck to becoming DFW's number one home services provider, that's certainly no small feat. So, what were some of those turning points? What are some of those keys to success? What did you do differently to become such a great leader in the home services?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you know, people ask this question, and and I think a lot of my responses can be frustrating for people, but I try to just be completely authentic and truthful. I I saw this question on there, and the the honest to God truth is the biggest turning point was coming to the realization that there are no big turning points. When you start a business and you start growing it, there are definitely moments where it feels like, hey, I think we may have turned a corner here or we got rid of this situation. But I think when you, if you talk to most founders of businesses, what they will tell you is it was groundhog day and it still is. We woke up every single day, like we still do. We try to take care of our team, our customers, we try to do a really great job of those two things. We focus on those. It was, it was probably, we were probably five years into the business before I ever even thought about having a five-year plan. I was like, what do I need that for? I gotta wake up tomorrow. We got to work hard, we got to plan for what's happening in the next 90 days. Um and we do have a five-year plan now, and it's really just to make sure that you know we don't get the cart before the horse in some areas of the business, but life changes pretty quickly every day. And so we plan 90 days out, is about how far we really, really plan at this point. Um and so as far as big turning points, I mean, we made a decision to go on broadcast TV probably in 2007. And I thought we were either gonna really grow the business or we were gonna go out of business. Uh, fortunately, we we grew the business. Uh, we've had several key hires, but at the time you didn't know they were a key hire, you just know that we really needed somebody, and that ended up being really great. Um, we added on services, you know. I remember when we we we bought a small HVAC company, we bought a small plumbing company, and we've done some different stuff like that. So uh there was never any, and this is what I tell a lot of uh younger contractors or people that are getting into it. Don't don't the biggest thing, one of the biggest mistakes you can do is think there is a magic bullet or there's these defining decision points. Um, and there are they they do come, but the more you think about them, the less that they come. Just get up and work hard. You'll be amazed at what happens when you do that.

Speaker:

I love that. So, what I took away from that is that just approach everything, small or big, with excellence. Do your absolute best with what you've got, where you are. Um, that being said, there were a few key things. You sort of hired some really great people, but didn't know they were really great until probably, I don't know, months down the line within the business. Um, also, you mentioned TV was kind of an interesting channel for you to promote the business. Uh, but I think those are really good points. Um, so you know the the proof is in in the pudding, and Milestone has over, I think like 33,000 4.9 Google reviews. And the Google review is interesting because that's the end product of a lot of things that have to come together, right? So, what what has been kind of your keys to success in creating such a like a culture of excellence and not not just having it be one person, but the entire organization deliver that high level of customer service?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a great question. I will back up. There's a couple of uh turning points uh of people that we hired. More of the turning points that I remember are people that we fired. That's a whole separate podcast. So uh those can be some of the best decisions that you ever make, um, unfortunately. Um, okay, so I just got a uh a note uh yesterday. We'll cross 35,000 Google reviews at uh 4.9 stars uh this week. And so um one of the things that I'll tell you is just that right there. We talk about it all the time. Um, it isn't something that just happens. Uh, we have a handful of things that we measure in the business, but the 35,000 Google reviews, 4.9 stars. It's definitely the most in DFW. I think it's one of the most in the entire nation. Um, we have a saying, and it's not we didn't we didn't coin this, but we do live by it. Uh what's get what gets celebrated is what gets repeated. And so we talk about good reviews, customer service, uh, every single week at our huddle. We don't just, you know, some companies say they read, we literally read every review. Uh we shout our team members out, we talk about it at huddles. Uh if we get a bad one, uh in a given week, we get anywhere between three to four hundred uh Google reviews. Uh, and on average, one percent of those is negative. So it could be one, two, or three. And if you look at that, I think that's just incredible to begin with. It's such a small fraction. And on those, those, those, those, uh, we figure out what we did wrong and then we fix it. We call those people, I call them, our team calls them, we go visit their house. It's whatever it is. So um we also still treat it, we do our absolute best to treat it like it's a small business. When you first start the business, every you the owner, the founder knows every call you go on and what happened. We do our absolute best to maintain that kind of mentality. And so um it's a it's a it's a culture more than it is than a system and a process, if that makes sense.

Speaker:

It's a culture more than it is a system and a process. And a culture is essentially a shared way of being and thinking. And the thing that I took away from that is that you're constantly talking about it, is it is top of mind. Everyone is obsessively focusing on the thing to measure, and the thing is the Google review. That's it. So I think that's a great point. Um, Google reviews are made possible because of technology. That is actually how you and I are connected because of Pawan. And he, of course, is uh founder of Peakzi. And you're always looking to stay uh on the cutting edge when it comes to services that can promote the business and deliver value to your customers. So um you're also a customer of Peakzi. So what has been your experience working with Peakzi?

Speaker 1:

Oh, Peakzi is great. I mean, it's you know, it's 20 years ago when we started this business, I was on the front cutting edge of Google as far as paid paid searches, and a lot of the industry wasn't doing that. And um we got a lot of momentum because I understood uh PPC and paid searches and Google and websites, and I was on the front of that. And now with AI, that same exact thing is happening, but even at a faster speed. Um I didn't want to go learn everything that I did like I did for Google Pay-Por Click. And so we teamed up with Peakzi to give us to turbocharge uh us getting to the front of the line on AI. And uh one of the things that Pawan does a great job of explaining is it's not how good of a company that you have, it's not how good of a job that you do, it's what AI believes about you. And he did a really got good job of explaining that to me. And what Peakzi does is comes in and helps you understand this is how the world of AI is seeing what you do. It doesn't matter if you have 35,000 five-star Google reviews. If they don't see that and they don't understand it, all they may see is your one or two bad reviews. Well, why is that happening? And so uh Pawan, your team or the team has done a great job of uh leading us through this transition. And I mean, it there's no secret. Just like we had to be the best at paid search 20 years ago, we got to be the best at understanding AI and what's going on and how the customers view our business. And Peakzi does that.

Speaker:

Interesting. I've never I haven't even heard Pawan say that. It's what AI thinks about you.

Speaker 1:

So he didn't say it. I I told him like you do to me. I said, Pawan, what I hear you saying is this.

Speaker:

So gotcha. Well, well, what has been either the coolest feature or most significant measurable outcome that you've experienced in the business having used Peakzi?

Speaker 1:

Um it's so early still in this whole AI thing. The single biggest thing that I care about is when you type in questions about our company, it's actually telling what is the truth. Which before I got to Peakzi, if someone typed in something, it would say something, and I'm like, that is not even right. Or that is the wrong answer, and it's not viewing it the right way. So Peakzi has given us a bunch of a bunch of understanding and ability of how AI is viewing our organization. It's back to what I was just saying, and fixing that on how it's being viewed, and then also uh doing all the infrastructure so that AI can understand who we are and what we're doing and how to share that with the end user the best way. That's the most meaningful thing. Um, I like to say it's got us, you know, more business. It uh I I would say early on in AI, we had customers stay, we were standing in front of customers and they were typing stuff. And the the answers that it was saying was totally wrong. And it made it really hard for our associates inside the house, and we've cleaned up a lot of that, so that's been great too.

Speaker:

Interesting. Okay. Well, before we move on and close out with a few uh final questions here, anything else that you'd like to mention about Peakzi?

Speaker 1:

Um, if you're not gonna any home service business, I'm big fan of Peakzi, big fan of Pawan, so you can absolutely people can say, uh, well, Gus sounded like he was promoting him. I am. I think you if you're not using Peakzi, I don't know what else is out there. You just need to be doing something, whatever that is. This is not a stick my head in the the sand and hope this all goes away. I wish it was. Life was a lot easier, honestly, before before Google Pay-Por Click, when we just had yellow pages, but it ain't changing. And so um, you either get better or you get left behind. So yeah.

Speaker:

Love it. I think those are great points. So so Gus, you've received major awards like best in DFW, consumer choice, best companies to work for. What do these recognitions mean to you in the grand scheme of things?

Speaker 1:

The only one that really matters on there is best company to work for. Um, we've had some other ones like that, along those that we've been recognized by some uh fire departments and different stuff like that. Those are the most meaningful ones. And the reason is uh unapologetically, we're a customer first, uh team member first custom uh company. It's kind of a chicken or the egg, but our entire existence is wanting to create an environment for our team members to succeed and be happy. And when we do that, they inadvertently go take care of our customers. And I hear people say we're customer first, and I'm not saying that that's bad. All I'm saying, if you really want, on my perspective, if you really want your customers to have the best experience, then create an organization where people like to work at and they feel valued and cared for. And then you have to, you don't have to make them provide good experiences, it's just who they are. So the best companies to work for is always the the single best award that we do. I'm thankful for the other ones, but that's the one that that that always matters to us.

Speaker:

So take care of your people and they'll take your customers. And that as a strategy is highly scalable. And that's that's it.

Speaker 1:

See, I feel like if I just said that, you'd be like, that's your whole answer, but that's what I wanted to say.

Speaker:

Well, well, Gus, um, this has been really cool. So um, community service seems deeply embedded into your company's DNA. So, how does milestone give back to the DFW community and why is that so important to y'all as an organization?

Speaker 1:

Well, it's literally who we that's the entire reason that we exist. It's the reason I haven't sold the company. Um it's team, customer, and community trying to reach them for God. Uh, if I felt like somebody else would do a better job of that as the CEO, then I would happily give them that. Unfortunately, for milestone, I'm I'm their best option right now that I see. And so that's the reason that we continue to do it. For us, uh, we we we have three main things that we focus on, which is military, um, kids that are in need, and churches. And those are our three main things. I would tell any organization, if you're passionate about giving back, figure out what your one or two or three things is instead of trying to be everything to everyone. There's more synergy, the more you can go um, you know, instead of a inch deep and a mile wide, just an inch wide and a mile deep. We've found more success in that. It's called a giving strategy. And so uh those things are our our team members also really identify with military helping kids, and most of them go to a church somewhere. And so when we do get to help out, they actually help out too. And so it's kind of full circle. And so um uh we have some different organizations that we help, but really, if anyone calls us on one of those three things, we're trying to figure out how we can help.

Speaker:

Love it, and I think that's really cool. Not only do you have a great business and serving the community that way, but uh there's a great um social community aspect to what you do. So um, well, Gus, close us out. I know you don't like doing a whole lot of like fast forward strategic planning, but like to the best of your ability, like what what is your vision for the company? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind in the community?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a great question. Um I think the the best way that I could put it is if milestones stopped to exist, that the DFW community would say, we've noticed something different, and our community's worse off without milestone being here. I would think if we could accomplish that on a very practical purpose here on Earth, that's kind of our vision. Wherever that road takes us, we're continuing to expand, take ground. We're just focused on DFW. We don't want to go to other markets. Um, and so we want to be super involved here and try to do everything that we can in this one community. And uh from a faith-based perspective, I live my life the best I can, focusing on nothing in this life actually matters in comparison to eternity. And so, what are we gonna do that matters in eternity today? And so um going and taking care of people in their homes is is the conduit, but helping people is what it's all about for us.

Speaker:

Love it. And amen to that. So um, Gus, this has been really awesome to get to know you and learn your story. Close us out, tell our viewers how to connect with you, find the website, connect with you in social, share with us all that.

Speaker 1:

Oh man, that's great. Uh, so I don't have any social media. Um uh but you can find me on LinkedIn. That's the one that I do have, uh, Constantine Gus Antos. Uh it's a family name. Just disregard the Constantine, but you have to type that in to find me. Um and then email is always the best way to get me. Gus G U S at callmilestone.com. If you send me an email there and I don't respond, that means I did not get it. And so just send it again. I uh respond to every single email I get at some point. And so um, that's always the best way to get me. And uh if you live in DFW, you can just stop by our offices. I'm usually here um and uh show you around and learn something from whoever comes by. So that's it.

Speaker:

I love that. I live in DFW. I may take you up on that, Gus.

Speaker 1:

I hope you do.

Speaker:

All right, well, Gus, this has been uh so awesome. Thank you for sharing your story with us here today. It's been really inspirational.

Speaker 1:

Hi, Julian. I really appreciate it. If I can ever do anything to help you, tell me.

Speaker:

Well, thank you very much. And everyone, that is it for today's episode. So thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Home Services Success Stories podcast powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business.