Home Services Success Stories

From Roofer To Builder Of People

• Peakzi • Season 1 • Episode 12

Share episode

Peakzi Podcast: A sudden jobsite shutdown during the savings and loan crisis pushed a young union roofer to make an impossible choice: find another employer or build something of his own. That moment lit the fuse for A Brooks Construction KangaRoof in Bristol, PA, and today Abe Brooks joins us to unpack how a survival hustle became a durable, people-first business with profit discipline, strong systems, and the courage to say no to unprofitable work.

We dive into the hard years of plateauing around $1.2M, and how CertainPath’s profit days flipped the script from top-line chasing to margin mastery. Abe shares the real levers that moved the needle: standard operating procedures, daily training that turns managers into coaches, and a culture that praises wins as much as it fixes mistakes. He also walks through a unique ritual—sending team members to EP after one year—so they learn the why behind reviews, marketing attribution, and KPIs. It is a blueprint for growing leaders who take ownership and improve metrics in measurable, 90-day sprints.

Technology is the bridge that ties it all together across two locations. Morning huddles, shared dashboards, and intentional use of video keep Bucks County and the Poconos aligned. Then there’s the AI layer. With Peakzi’s AI website and call handling, KangaRoof is winning in AI search and reaching a new generation of buyers. One standout: a 28-year-old tech founder asked ChatGPT for the best roofer in the Poconos, found KangaRoof instantly, and booked a $65k project that led to more work. The takeaway is clear—reviews and AI-driven discovery are a powerful growth flywheel when the operation behind them is sound.

Beneath the numbers is a culture that changes lives and gives back. Monthly coaching has helped team members far beyond the job. Veteran roof giveaways and community programs turn profit into impact. Abe’s long-term vision is continuity: a company that thrives without him, led by people who grew within its systems, serving customers with the same care that built the brand. If you care about building a resilient home services business—one that scales on process, trains with purpose, and leverages AI without losing heart—you’ll find a playbook you can use today.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow the show, share it with a friend who runs a trades business, and leave a quick review to help more builders find it.

Peakzi Podcast: Home Services Success Stories

Julian Placino:

Welcome to the Home Services Success Stories podcast powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business. I'm Julian Placino, your host, and we have a great show in store for you today. Because today we have Abe Brooks, who is the founder and owner of Kanga Roof. Abe, welcome to the show. How are you?

Abe Brooks:

Thank you, Julian. Thank you. Very well. Very good.

Julian Placino:

It's great to have you on and to dig deep into your story, which is a very inspiring one indeed. So, so Abe, take us back to 1987. Tell us the Genesis founding story of Kanga Roof.

Abe Brooks:

Oh, it's many years back. It seems like light years, but uh I was roofing in a roofers union back in Pennsylvania. And uh, you know, me and my buddies who we all kind of grew up together working for one roofer and ended up working for another roofer in the union, we started doing jobs uh with the boss's blessings on the side because we did big commercial jobs and we started doing residential stuff. And uh one day, uh somewhere around 1987, 88, we had a big savings and loan crisis happened. And uh I'll never forget it. We were up on a five-story hotel building just outside of Philadelphia airport. And uh we had been there for, I don't know, a couple weeks doing roofs and metal, metal roof on uh on it, and flat roofs down on the inside of it. And uh I think it it it probably was I don't know what day it was that week, later on in the week, but we had decided, hey, we're just gonna work through break and we'll take lunch and finish early that day and to beat the traffic going home. Well, we didn't go through break, we come down for lunch, and typically there's 100 to 150 people on this job site, and we're walking down the steps and like, wow, it's awfully quiet, no one's here. And uh, as we get to the lunch truck, the girl says to us, I'm surprised you guys are here. We're like, we're we're the only ones left on the job. What's going on? And uh she kind of informed us, well, my first break, they got the message that the bank called the note on the project. Uh the GC went bankrupt. Everybody went home because no one was getting paid. Uh, you know, back in these days we didn't have cell phones or anything, so the job foreman's like, I'm gonna go call the boss, you know, I'll go hit a payphone and call the boss and see what they're what he has to say about this. So then you just say he comes back, all right, we'll just finish the day, we'll go back and go back to the office, and Jack was my boss, and and I said, Jack, what's going on? Avey, I have no idea. I gotta go see the accountant and a lawyer. I'll let you guys know tomorrow morning. Now, me and the job foreman had just bought houses literally less than a week from that day, and in the same neighborhood in Levitown and everything, we come back in and uh, you know, Jack was pretty broken up. And he's like, I don't know what to tell you guys, but I need you to finish his roof off because both the lawyer and my accountant told me that if we walk walk away from the job, I get paid nothing. But if we finish the job in seven years, I'll be lucky to get 20 cents on a dollar. And we had all known in the shout that this was probably the fifth job that we'd done for this GC, and there was still a lot of money out on the streets. So I said to Jack, I said, Jack, how much does he owe you? And then he says, AB he owes us $750,000, and my jaw just dropped. That was 1987. And uh we we finished the job and he had to lay us all off. We all ended up starting our own companies. And in the very beginning, the pack was, all right, you get a job, I'll work for you. You I get a job, you come work for me. And we did that for the first year, year and a half, and uh just made a go of it. So we've there've been three different roofing companies that started out of that. Uh and we keep keep moving on today. Uh the one thing I did do is uh my wife was pregnant with my third child at the time. So once the union benefits ran out, I had to make a decision. I gotta get some kind of health benefits for the new baby coming along or do something. So I ended up taking a job in a warehouse. And uh for the next five years worked the midnight shift in the warehouse while starting a Brooks Instruction Brooks Roofing at the time is what it was called. And uh my first hire was my brother, he was in 11th grade, and he started working with me, and he's still with me today, and we're a team and a partner just going through uh with my wife taking care of the books. And today I've got uh two sons in the business and the two locations, as we spoke about earlier or earlier, you know, the different locations and where we are today and how we grew.

Julian Placino:

Wow. So it really happened out of uh necessity, struggle, adversity, and um and and a lot of sacrifice. So well, I guess I'm curious, like in those early days then, what was the biggest difference in being you know a contractor doing the work versus building a business? What was the different mindset shift there?

Abe Brooks:

I think it was just of survival at first. It was, you know, how do we how do we get this? And you know, the mindset is day-to-day, getting jobs done. Uh always had to dream of being able to build a build a business, but we were just truly contractors, and you know, my brother often laughs, like we were the chuck in the trucks. There were four of us in the front seat of an old Dodge Ram pickup truck going to do the job with all the ladders and everything else. And, you know, we did everything on a handshake, didn't take money up front, didn't do anything, and uh didn't get paid until everybody was happy. Uh and that was my th thought process of how you build a business, you know, was really with trust and honesty and doing the exactly what you say you're gonna do and make everybody happy.

Julian Placino:

So what I heard in the beginning it really was just about of survival, doing anything you can. And you mentioned three companies grew out of that sort of layoff, right? So and you helped each other out. So iron sharpens iron. So, how did you go from kind of like that start of face, eventually growth, which I know that certain path was instrumental in? So, first off, shout out to Certain Path for allowing us to produce this very special episode with Abe here. So thank you very much for that. So, what are the some of the things that you learned uh from Certain Path that you went from startup to growth?

Abe Brooks:

Uh I tell you, we were in business for 20 years uh before I joined Certain Path.

Julian Placino:

Oh, wow.

Abe Brooks:

There was a lot of self-figuring out. So it it in those 20 years, I was able to grow the business to 1.2 million to 800,000. We would fluctuate between that. And you know, I'm gonna say from year 15 to year 20, it was a struggle because the frustration was me and my brother worked our butts off and did 1.2, and we made less money than when we did 800,000 in a slow year, and we couldn't grasp what was going on. Uh and when I sat in with profit days, the light bulb really went on listening to what they were talking about, why you know you're not making the profits that you should be making, what you need to do, how to watch your margins. Uh and with that said, within the first five years of being with Certain Path, I went from a, I'll just say a million-dollar company to three and a half million.

unknown:

Wow.

Abe Brooks:

You know, and ever since then we've been growing. We broke that five million mark probably seven years in, and we've been north of five million, hitting eight, nine million different years, uh, very consistently. And more importantly, me and my brother are always looking at the bottom line. You know, do we do we really want to take on this project and get a big big number in? But it doesn't help the bottom line. Because if we can't if we can't feed the bottom line, we can't feed the employees, we can't do the things we want to do. And, you know, we just we're we're focused more on the bottom line than the top line number, uh, to be honest with you that way. Making sure that we're just taking on the jobs that are going to be profitable for the company. And, you know, which in in in in the end leads to taking care of the employees and doing right with the community and doing right by everybody else. Because some of the a lot of the things we do, it costs money. And if you're not making the profits to do it, you can't reinvest in the community, you can't reinvest into your employees, you can't reinvest into the business. Uh and that was that's one of the big things that I preach to some of the new members here certain path is don't worry about the top line. Look at the bottom line.

Julian Placino:

Interesting. 1.2 to 3.5 in a matter of how long did you say? With within five years. Within five years. So a couple of things I heard there. You said make sure to take the jobs that are profitable. So don't just take anything, but be selective to sort of analyze a deal ahead of time. The second piece was taking care of your employees, taking care of them. They'll take your customers. Yes. But what were some of the other key implementations you learned from certain paths that really moved the needle and made the books?

Abe Brooks:

Uh implementations were would be the standard operating procedures, making sure we have uh processes in place. Uh and the biggest one, and I I I remember talking to one of the founding members of uh Clockwork at the time and said, What do I train on? And he just looked at me and said, Hey, but every day's a training. Whatever went wrong the day before and whatever went right the day before. People need to know that they did something right. And I was as most owners, we look at what went wrong, let's fix it. How about give the shout out to what went right? You know, and and what they what they taught me then was, you know, it's coaching. You know, you're not managing, you're coaching, coaching your employees. And that really resonated with me with having a lot of having five children and four of them being in sports and the other one being in dance. I coached them all. And I knew you got more through praise, you know, than anything else. If you if you can highlight the good, it's easier taking the sour stuff. Uh if it's built up with some sweetness, I guess is what I want to say. So, you know, uh the training, the training aspect was big and getting everybody involved, not just training a few people. And one of the things that we continually do is on your one-year anniversary with working for us, I bring uh all all the employees who were with me for a year to EP. EP here at Certain Path is for all the new owners or yeah, all new owners and new businesses that are coming in. And gives them a deep dive on what it takes to run a successful business. These are all the things. And when my employees have been with me for a year, I know they see everything, and and everybody on the team is very vigilant about this has got to get done, this has got to get done. But they don't really understand the why. And after the first day of EP, you know, we go out to dinner every night and we just have the discussion. What are you picking up? What you think? And it's always I always wondered why we did that, but I didn't know it. And this is explaining to me why you're doing this. And you know, because it it takes a while for you to understand, man, what why is he so passionate about the reviews? Why is he so passionate about finding out where the homeowner got our name from? You know, why is that important to them? They don't know. I just we just train on, hey, listen, talking to the homeowner, it's a great talking point. How did you hear about our company? And when you when when you find that out, I need you to put that in our CR app. And and then they come in here and they they see the DP, oh, he's using that for his marketing. And if he if the boots on the ground get that, now he knows his numbers, and then they'll hear me at when I do my yearly kickoff, explain to him about marketing on where we are, how we did, how many times we got this, and this is where all of our calls are coming from. This is how we know it. And it it starts coming together for them uh when they come here to EP. And they they typically come back, little do as I'll uh give them something to do. I mean, they all come back, and I'm always asking them, okay, so what do you what do you see? What what do you what do you think that we can do better that we're doing, we're doing 99% of everything they're telling us. What is it that you see that our weaknesses? And they usually give me one or two, and I'm like, hey, what do you think would be the most beneficial to the company of this? Okay, do me a favor, figure out how to fix it. And what do we got to do? And they take ownership, and usually I'll give them three months and see what we got, what we have to do to move the needle. Let's take a look at the metrics, see what we got. This is where we were, this is what you did. And they take ownership, and that's their first step in becoming a manager in a company or following through with what they got to do.

Julian Placino:

Yeah. Things that I heard is that Certain Path taught you a kind of a proven methodology. It's a different from running as an independent contractor versus building a business, and they gave you a kind of a blueprint to be able to follow so that you can scale operations. The second key thing that I heard is that really is focusing on the development of your people because this is a boots on the ground business. That technician is servicing your customer, that's your brand, that is your key to success. And I think that was a really good takeaway. So as you continue to grow, and you have grown quite a bit, you now serve Bristol and Cresco, serving both Bucks County and also the Poconos. Yes. So, what has been your key to continuing to scale that level of trading and development and service as you continue to grow?

Abe Brooks:

Uh I tell you what, with COVID coming in, and that's again, that's when I it I went up to the Poconos and started doing things, but using the technology that's out there, the Zoom meetings, and being able to be up in the Poconos and still look my guys in the eyes and talk to them via Zoom meetings and different venues that we have now. Podcast. We would never be doing podcasts. Uh but staying on the forefront of technology and using it in the business has really helped us uh with all of that. You know, having the daily meetings at 7 30 with the sales team, what went on, and the production guys, where are we going, what are we doing. Uh my brother kind of runs that down in Bucks County, but he we also incorporated the Poconos people into that meeting now. And just making it we are two two separate locations about two hours apart, but we're able to do it all in one. I have a location in a poka in a Poconos where I set it up big screen television cameras so we can all talk just like we're all in one one big meeting. Uh that has really helped out a lot to help run both locations. If I would have tried doing this probably ten years ago, I would have to run back and forth from one location to the next just to be able to get in front of them, uh, or sit on one phone and it wouldn't work.

Julian Placino:

So it sounds like it's the intentional use of technology to continue the principle that you mentioned, which is developing the people, keeping everyone sort of cohesive, not just using technology for technology's sake, but for having a very defined purpose. Um, you also mentioned innovation and staying up to date on the latest tools. So, of course, this podcast is powered by Peakzi, who are a customer of Peakzi, and we're here now. So, if you would tell us what has been your experience working with Peakzi?

Abe Brooks:

Uh very cutting edge. And a lot of it is the unknown still. What is AI going to do? How's it going to revo uh revolutionize everything? Uh and Pallon, I've had a relationship with him with the business that he had, and you know, me and him go back probably seven years now, and he was really big and instrumental in me getting my reviews to where we are today. And he kept saying to me then, Abe, your reviews are gonna be bigger than what you think. Just watch what happens. And with the AI revolution and how this is all coming on with Peak Z, he was very instrumental. He's like, Abe, I need you, I want you to be one of the first guys in here in a roofing platform. He says, You're gonna take it, you're gonna implement it, and we're gonna make this happen. So, I mean, it's been it's been a great ride, I'll say that. And it's not even I think we're just scratching the surface with the AI uh revolution and what we're doing. Um we've got I have AI answering my phones now, and people think I'm crazy, but I say they don't make mistakes. That's just it and if they didn't answer correctly, it's a matter of me sending an email or one of my head call takers sends an email and say we would prefer it be answered this way. And I'll be darned next time that phone rings, it's answered that way. Yeah, you you can't do that with a human uh the human element.

Julian Placino:

So what has Peakzi done for your business so far, would you say?

Abe Brooks:

Uh I'll tell you what, right from the very beginning, and again, this goes boots on the ground. My son runs the Cresco location up there. He runs the production there. And I don't even think we're one or two days in with Peakzi, and we got a call. We get a lot of people from New York. And typically in my in our realm, our aged the geographics that we're looking at is 35 to 65. And my son is very very much with the tech technology. He knows all this stuff. And he said to me that'll help us get to the younger generation. This AI and Peakzi. Well he goes out, comes back, sells a $65,000 roof job. The guy's a uh tech startup guy from New York City bought just bought a house up here in the Poconos. Got us from Chat CPT just what he did was ask who's the best roofer in in the Poconos. Poconos kangaroof is and laid out whatever we did. He's I went to your website told the girl who answered the phone Kathy I found my roofing company. I need you guys to come on out and can I have Kyle or Abe come on out because he's seen us on the website watched our commercials did everything there. That's a demographic that I would say we had no chance for guy's a young 28 28 year old millionaire and loves us. We've been doing replacing his windows gutters I mean he's redoing the whole house with that right there said to me Kyle you're right it's the younger generation but once the older generation picks up they're going to be doing the same thing with just going through an AI website how that's going to revolutionize and how people are going to go in and do their search engine searches. You're not going to type it in you're going to talk to your phone or talk to whatever's in your house at this point. And being the first one in that realm of of marketing I think is going to be a big boost for us. Or it I should say it already is seeing how that's going.

Julian Placino:

Wow what I heard from that is you were found by a customer who didn't necessarily belong to your demographic because of Peakzi because you were able to be found through AI search. Right? Because you said that the customer asked not on Google but on ChatGPT who's the best rooper in Poconos area and then Chat gave it uh Kenga.

Abe Brooks:

And it's and I believe the gentleman was in New York City when he asked that chat because he didn't live in the Poconos. He had just he had bought the house and you know the the way the story goes and that's my son was saying to me hey dad this he got us off of the AI website you know so it's just it it's it's very cool to see how this is all going.

Julian Placino:

Yeah you know and the AA website of course uh um uh a feature is is is uh that is what Peakzi does it creates an AI website to help you be much more visible and found through AI search. So uh that's really awesome I appreciate you sharing that story. Uh before we move on and kind of close out with the rest of your story anything else you'd like to mention about Peakzi to our audience?

Abe Brooks:

Uh it's it's the wave of the future one thing I do see in you know other businesses that I'm connected to with friends and all that people seem to be very afraid you're either you either love AI or you hate it. And I was at a conference in Phoenix in February and this was classic I go there um I love the AI realm and I get it I'm in the uh airport in Arizona here are these Waymo's coming by that are driverless cars and I wait get get in the Uber car Uber because I didn't realize they're there and I said to the guy what the white the white jaguars what are they and he he tells me so right away I'm on my phone boom okay Waymo So I go out to dinner that night and uh next morning I come in and I'm in uh in this conference with about 20 other guys mostly older than I am and someone says did you see them driverless cars? I would never get in them I wouldn't get I just said I said I went out to dinner with I think it's the best thing going and their perception of AI compared to you know my perception is completely different and they're like I would never trust a driverless car. I said so let me ask you you'll trust someone who you never met before to take you down a freeway 55 miles an hour that you don't know where he was prior to getting picking you up what was he doing where's he going does he know how to drive I said I think the computer knows what it's doing and if I open the door the car shuts off. I didn't know that. I said that's a safety feature I said you know so I you know from me talking to a lot of people with about AI and AI websites they feel threatened. And what I what I'm here to say is I I would not feel threatened by it at all. You got to use it as a tool and uh Peakzi has really helped us along doing that. So shout out to Peakzi and all the guys there.

Julian Placino:

Well certainly appreciate your words and I think those are really awesome great points. So um so A back to your your team I want to talk about your team and quite frankly when I asked you this in the pre-interview you mentioned you almost got a little emotional. So tell us about why that is and what makes your team so great.

Abe Brooks:

They they're all very passionate about what we do and uh they care so much. I mean I go to a lot of different businesses and I don't see what I I feel in my own company or see in my own company. Everybody you know that family thing is just a moniker and hey it is but when I have the Christmas parties and we do the different things or our team building events and all that and I just sit back and listen to what they what they've accomplished and what they've done. We have a monthly uh company meeting and uh I'm gonna say probably two years ago Thanksgiving and we have a facilitate a facilitator comes in through Dale Carnegie and they do a monthly training we could say but it's more about just getting our culture right. And me and the wife were sitting in the back and uh Mike the facilitator asked about is have everyone come on up and just talk about what you're thankful for. And to sit and listen to how our training has uh touched not them in their work lives but in their personal lives. Some of the struggles that they've had in their life and the training that we were able to provide to them through the business had helped them along and succeed in some of their struggles in everyday life. That I had to I had to get up walk out it was it was powerful to me like wow we're we're able to make a difference in your employees' lives and I couldn't do that unless they really had the fool they're bought in they they enjoy what they're doing. They love kangaroo they love what we're doing here. So uh that to me is what I think really makes us uh very different from a lot of companies and I'll say this uh the certain path coaches that I deal with when I send my employees here to the different coaching thing and I don't know I for a little bit I just thought uh they're just saying this no you're you you got dedicated employees they they they're they're they're special they're cut above and it just it makes me proud to know that hey we've done this in 40 years ago 1989 90 those first twenty years I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that on my own without certain path and the coaches and the training and the systems that they put in place you know just to get that done and I I see that with a lot of the guys coming in you know hey it's not a fault it's we just don't know what you don't know. And you know once you learn it start start start spreading it on to your people and watch watch them grow is is the big thing.

Julian Placino:

Well I can't wait for your team to see what it is that you just shared and I quite clearly now see why you are such a great leader Aid it's because you genuinely have a love for your people. You know it's hard to find great talent as you know in home services but it can be transactional but you have a real love and care for not just their their success in the job but their development as a person. And that is wonderful for you to share and thank you for sharing that piece with us. Thank you. You're welcome. And it seems like of course not just service to your team is important but to the community. I mean we have a whole list of organizations that you support Travis Manion Foundation CBS's Heroes Home Project a veteran roof giveaway holiday roof giveaway like why does it matter so much to give back to the community?

Abe Brooks:

Uh I mean that that has always been one of our focuses even before we were in certain path and uh just giving back to the community that we lived in and really started with me and my brother and our family being you know from Levitown and as we've grown now I I just look at the employees where where they where they live and out what happened their community if we can't take care of a community that serves our company what what good is it? And again if we're not able to be profitable we can't do those things. So you know it's all a way of just giving back and it every great company has got to help out the community. I mean it's a what do they say it takes a village to raise a a child right well it takes great companies to support the community and the community supports them what comes first you know I I believe the company supporting the community is going to be the first thing and then they'll they'll come back and support you in the end and uh it's very important to us to do that.

Julian Placino:

Yeah that it's it's you're not just a great home services company but you are also a force for good in the community which is very inspiring to hear. So Abe, final question here for you. So uh Kenga of course has won numerous awards GAF, Master Elite, Atlas, Platinum Pro Plus, and um you can look at the website and see all those accolades, right? So as you look ahead, what's your long-term vision for the business? What is the legacy that you want to leave behind for your team for your customers for your community?

Abe Brooks:

Oh the legacy to leave behind that's a tough one uh having a company that can stand on its own and the employees primarily owning it and running that company without myself my brother being around and knowing that my customers are taken care of 100% and they are that way today. It's just how much more can we push how much more can we grow the company and continually grow our people it's coming now that we're having employees kids come into the business which is really to me is the next generation of okay this is nice this is really great uh some of the some of the kids are going to college now uh last year we had twenty seven children at the Christmas party and I just start looking around like wow we're missing probably 10 that are in the high school age to really want to come to the Christmas party but there are probably two or three that are in college too. You know so just watching it watching the company grow and continually on with that legacy would be awesome and continually serve the community the way we do.

Julian Placino:

I love it.

Abe Brooks:

So it's that generational impact which I think you are already doing and seeing the fruits of so Abe this has been a true pleasure to get to know you and sharing your story close us out by sharing with our viewers or listeners how to connect with you how to check out the website tell us all that if you would uh the website is abrookinstruction.com uh you can email me at a brooksinstruction.com uh contact the company ask for me they'll get they'll get you in touch with me right away uh I'm not real big on the social media and all the other stuff like that uh but email or get in touch in touch with the con uh company would get you get you right to me.

Julian Placino:

Dream and we'll make sure to have all your contact information in the show notes as well. So Abe this has been a been a pleasure thank you so much for being on the show. All right thank you and everyone else thanks for tuning in and make sure to subscribe comment and share and we'll see you next time on the next episode of the Home Services Success Stories podcast powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business