On today's episode of Gathering the Kings. I'm still not The technical person. That's not my 4 k. And the cool thing is I don't have to pretend it is. Realize that guys and girls really have a very unique, you know, way of approaching things. And the unique skill set when one person is really honored and able to just run as free as they want in their specialty and the other person is able to do that. Like, together, it's It's like an even bigger third.
It's like the whole collaboration creates something even greater. You are listening to Gathering the Kings with Chaz Wolfe, featuring fellow 7, 8, and even 9 figure business owners who have real battle scars from business and life but have prevailed as the king that they are designed to be. We welcome high performing entrepreneurs to the stage in order to reveal the reel of the reel. On what it takes to build a The and how you too can get there.
Through this dialogue, you will learn the value of growing your network and surrounding yourself with power players and Kings like today's guest. Grab your pen and notebook because we're about to dive in. What's up, everybody? I'm Chaz Wolfe, Gathering the Kings podcast. I got Tamara Chase. On the Kings stage today, a queen herself. How are you, Tamara? Hello. I'm so glad you're here. Happy Monday to you. Thank you.
We were just off air, but I like to say this every single time I have a queen on the stage. Is that Kings? King is not masculine its mindset and you are, full fulfillment of that mindset. I'm excited for this conversation. You've got an incredible business. What kind of business do you have? I am I am proud to be in the roofing industry. And not by not by choice. But now I love it. I don't know if I that wasn't on my business plan.
Well, we're gonna have to get into how in the world that changed, but I I love everything that you're Kings. You know, you're branding. I can see the pink hard hat behind you. I just I love the smile on your face as well as all of your people that I've seen through a lot of your content stuff. So think we're having a great conversation here, around what it means to build a business in that way. But before we do, Tamara, I wanna know at this level, you guys are crushing.
You guys have a great business, great team. You know, you're a dolphins fan. They, The, they won this weekend because you said it was a good weekend. I wanna know what drives you at this level. Like, why are you still pushing? Well, my why is not about money. And so that's quite interesting. It's something I I didn't realize a lot. No. I wouldn't go really actually. Though, my why is all about relationships connect to The the connections with them.
Yeah. And I I use I use to use roofing as really a platform to have a bill have a business so that I can fill this way. So I love I love seeing the best of people. And I love I love watching people grow. I'm a big, you know, I'm always learning and, you know, all you can do is really look at yourself and It's never it's never really the people around you. It's always yourself.
It's a The Gathering I learned to pass this was The more I could you know, point the finger at me and see how, you know, see where I Chaz take ownership of my own part. I suddenly noticed that everyone else around, we started, like, doing better. Thought that was interesting. So Yeah. I I really like seeing the best in people, and I like I love seeing put, you know, their possibilities that they don't know. And The the construction industry, that's that's easy to do.
You have you have women who aren't necessarily even know Chaz, like, construction is an option. And so you see them, like, you know, choosing it and choosing this as an industry and you see you see people just, like, rowing in that area because they didn't even know that was possible. You see men, I have a lot of I have a lot of guys on our team that are in addiction and in recovery and super successful. I have guys that maybe made a couple of bad choices a long time ago.
And, unfortunately, people start judging them after that, and I could see past So I love creating, like, this playground that we all get to really create the platform to to rise. It's the opportunity to grow and stretch and see what your best is. And and that's what it's all about. So that that that is what makes me tick. It makes me Yeah. Happy to be a part of, really. Yeah. I mean, obviously, you can just, you can hear it in your tone.
If you're watching the video or the listener here, you can see it in your smile. Just that that recognition of someone else's potential And how, really, that has no connection to well, like you said, The their past, whether they're male or female, like, none of it matters. It just matters. What do you want? Yep. What are you willing to put in to get it? Yep. Let's go. Like, that's that's the equation. You know?
So I love that about you that you're not only have done that literally, but then that you're facilitating that opportunity for for others. Through your industry. So why do you think just recently you figured that out? Like, what what happened that made you feel, you know, figured that out recently? There's I mean, everyone who's who's a business owner knows the zillions of things that happen have to go into a business. Right?
So Yeah. I mean, we could go on for, you know, years years of this conversation of, like, how many different things there it takes to really have a successful business. Right. And how many how many times even the, you know, the things that are bad or what helps you learn and grow and the silver lining around all Chaz. But It is. I don't know. I guess the reason I just recently found out is because, typically, you're handling all The types of things to make it work. Right? And so, like Right.
The business has to work. Otherwise, you can't play this game. Right? And you get busy focusing on all that stuff, and it wasn't like recently when I was like, how come How come I I really wanna keep doing this? Like, I could have sold it a long time ago. I could have Right. You know, I could have you know what I mean? Like, why? Why? What makes wanna keep going with this. And Yeah. And it it's like, I do I I'm a I have coaches myself.
I firmly believe in The, and during some of those sessions or when you really get to, like, turn The finger inside and look and see, like, what's that about? Why why is that? It was just a re it was just pretty recent The where I just realized, wow. My wire end has nothing to do with money. I mean, yeah, I like money. I love all the stuff we do with money, but Yeah. But it's not my The. And so Yeah. Yeah. It's usually gotta be tied to something that money can do for you, for sure.
In this case, facilitating that opportunity. Hiring people that that is their why around me is is helpful. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. I and I would even say that you're what you just described is accurate for anybody that you're gonna bring on, anybody who's listening today, at some point, money has to be more than that. It's okay that it's money right now if you're listening or if you're on, you know, it's Mara's team. And and your your why is provision. Right? I wanna make money to buy things.
Okay. Fine. Great. At some point though, you realize that that that life is more than The. And and whether it's helping others or legacy or, well, you know, whatever whatever that looks like for your family, it's pretty cool when you can get to that place. Because now it's like a whole another level of, like, you know, intensity, really. It is. It's it makes me it makes me so proud that I didn't give up in the middle of it.
There's been there was a silly in times I could have, and it makes me it makes me really proud to be a part of it because now now I realize, like, the responsibility and the honor that I have The now I I I've created a nice little plaque So now people listen to me when they talk. And so now even more than ever, you can put a little ripple out there and where that goes.
Ever you know, Yeah. I've always had a big thing on kindness, and that was one of our differentiating, you know, factors in the company was really we could possibly do this successfully and be nice to each other. So it doesn't mean always like, cool by y'all, but it means, like, respects and everything. Professionals. Yeah. So so now that's coming around full circle. So it's really, really cool to see everybody, play with me on this arena Exactly.
Yeah. I love what you said there that, you know, you kinda happened into this ability where people listen to you. And I think that that's really cool for the listener to hear today because they're probably not where you are, you know, revenue wise, team wise, experience wise, but it's really, really cool for someone on the front end. Imagine us before we were where we are, hearing somebody say, hey.
Look. I know how it feels right now, but if you'll just keep going, if you don't quit in the middle, Eventually, what happens is x. And whether that's, like you're saying, maybe some notoriety, maybe some authority, maybe some ability to change and speak The industry or people involved in the industry, whatever the opportunity is, those things come with the persistence of just kinda just doing the thing over and over and over for a period of time. And so I just think that's so encouraging.
Let's go back in your story. I wanna know Why did you start the company? Was this the 1st business? Did you did you grow up in an entrepreneurial family? Give us, like, the beginnings of you and business together. I I think no. My wife's family did put me around a lot of cool situations when I was younger. I had I had my sister and the 2 of us are two and a half years apart. So, you know, when you're at all girls, it's different. So I was the oldest.
So I was the boy of the family, so I took out the garbage and moved the yard and did the boy stuff. And and my dad was involved with a lot of really cool stuff. So, like, at the time, he was like a pain in the butt. He really was. Yeah. But I have I really owe a lot of who I am because of the experiences that he put me in. So I I was in solar patrol, all guys. Wow. And it you know, what I I've really became a leader there.
They taught me how to how to be a leader if that that that was, like, the Air Force version of ROTC. Okay. Yeah. What the is what the. So I had that in a hedge band and I had church and orchestra and all that. So, like, all those things really helped developing. But I don't know if they ever push me into business. They they worked for other people, but I was pilot. My mom was an executive assistant.
So it wasn't that, but I think I I think when I hear that question, I go back to Lake like, elementary school where I was selling red hot toothpicks. You ever you ever do that when you were a kid where you chew on, like, to okay. Okay. So like a flavored toothpick? Yeah. Like, they Okay. Cook them in cinnamon oil and then sell sell the sticks. Interesting. The also did chocolates. My mom had this mold that she didn't. So I'm like, oh, I can do chocolates.
I put little men little doilies, and I'm like, what kid doesn't want chocolate? So it's all for two hearts for 25¢. Wow. Okay. A whole quarter. Yeah. Whole quarter. So, yeah, I did Chaz. And The, I mean, I always had a job, so in Gathering newspapers and, you know, all of Chaz. But I think onto the new dispute was always there. It was sort of like, how do I combine that that need you see with the service that you provide. Right. So I've I've always I think I've always had that that think.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So how how did fast forward a little bit to was this the first company that you and then you started, or was there one officially before that? Yeah. So my husband my husband started this particular company with a partner or his. He was my husband was working at the Truckingham Street. And a national trucking Chaz. Let go already. 25,000 people. So he said he The up his friend. He was a handyman and said, hey. Listen. Can I make a you basically for the day?
So he knew he had a $100 and not, you know, the next day. So they were doing that and that they suddenly were doing a little more and more. They were really in The big vinyl side of things and painting and, you know, kitchen remodels. I I sort of saw, like, wow. This could be a business. And And so I I went behind I was, like, behind the scenes Kings, get a license and ensure, like, you know, my husband's smart.
So you just see I know him went for the test, and he goes down and he's now a contractor. He's like, so all of a sudden, we have, you know, we gotta load the hell away. You know, business cards, and I'm, like, doing business development at networking groups. My husband didn't do Chaz, and I was still very in the background. I was going back to school at the time. My kids were in middle school, and I hadn't gotten a degree, you know, I would harp in on them to get a degree.
And I'm like, wait a second. I haven't gotten a degree's degree. So I had to go you know, my money where my mouth was. Yeah. Wow. And and I was on track to to go to law school. So I didn't get into Nova, which is the local law school. And so that means I was gonna have to travel and raise kids over Skype. Before Zoom where there was a state. Right? So Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. A lot of that wasn't really a reality. So I started just, like, started getting more and more involved with my husband.
So as we group, The I just took on more. And, eventually, I took over in 2010 and did we we were at the time doing hurricane protection and roofing, we we had slowly added those on. Yeah. So maybe 2004, we went over into roofing, and then Wilma came in 2005. And we never really went back after that. I I just merged everything we were doing hurricane protection. So we we had our Miami in a way. We were doing accordion shutters when they were a thing.
So I I did the hurricane protection side, and John did the roofing side. And then The one I took over, I said, let's street line, and we just went down a roofing. And that sort of never went back. We never really went back to GC. Yeah. Stay with it a little. We are we are GC. It's contractors, but we we usually stick with that when it has to do with, like, the trusses and Sure. You know, we'll just, you know, and stops and stuff like that.
So we tend we Wolfe tend to get into The the 2 g c of the Wolfe. I I love I love the story. I one thing that you that you said that I just think I mean, I don't know if it's funny. I don't know if that's The right descriptive word, but how you said The beginning, basically, you were the puppeteer. Yeah. You're behind the scenes. Kind of made it sound like it was no big deal, but you were the orchestrator.
You were the, like, The creative mind, you know, The, yeah, the the the doctor evil behind everything, making it all happen. And what what a dynamic duo that you and your husband are Exactly. To where where not only he would be willing he sounds like a freaking go get Like, just one to the next and just making it happen. But to have a dynamic with you where where you each have your spot and can go and tug and lead each The.
Talk on that because I'm sure you guys, over the years, have have played this out, rolled this out, you know, being in the same business, but then when you say I took over, I mean, a lot of I think a lot of men out there would be like, you know, like No. Talk fuck through that a little bit because I think I think The there's some there's some magic there. Yeah. So this is interesting because, you know, I I wasn't trying over.
But what was happening is I was behind the scenes, and I was the one, like, having to pick up the messes. And Yeah. And I like systems and processes, so it drove me crazy that after we would make a mistake of it. Okay. That's fine. Like, what did we learn from that day? Create a different way so that you're streamlining your business better, and I didn't feel like I had I had that. So I was physically, like, going crazy.
And and and my poor husband was trying to, like, run things from, you know, by then, The other partner had left fairly early in the beginning. And so, you know, he was out in the field trying to do things from a phone and and he doesn't like systems and processes as much. He doesn't That's okay. That's why you guys are drawn to each other. I see. Right. So, you know, it it was a struggle for him. In fact, you know, because, like you said, like, like, how we got a lot of guys feel.
It took me a long time to say something. Yeah. Because it was really you know, I was putting myself out there. I've I basically had the be hurting enough to say, hey. Listen. I'm a smart person. I'll go find something else to do. This isn't really working for me. Yeah. And he's like, what do you mean? Right. So and he's like, you know, now he now he's jokes around his face. You know, guys are pretty simple. If the dude's really tell us, you know, Yeah.
I don't know why it took me a couple of years to say something, but, you know, I finally did. And I said The, and I I need to I need to move on and let you do this your way, or I need to take over it because this is I'm I, like, physically I felt like I was gonna have the hives or something. Like, it was you know what I mean? It wasn't good. And he was so happy that I said something. So I don't He's like, why do you take so long to say something? Yeah. He's been begging for help, dying for it.
Yeah. So so he was really happy about it. So he he got to, you know, do what he was more interested in Kings. And, you know, he loves coming up with with out of the ordinary solution. So he was great, you know, with the customers and he's not sales. He's like, it's so interesting now to look at how similar both of our direction is. And have different way to approach it.
Like, he's basically the introverted version of me, but we both have, you know, we're both, like, really about like, relationships and connection and Right. Solutions. You know? Yeah. So I think I think it was sort of wild. Like, I finally say something, and then he he's like, yay. Perfect. Take over. Yeah. I just think that's incredible that not only that you got there finally.
Thank goodness, but But I how many how many husband Wolfe duos are out there that are in that same scenario, or maybe the wife isn't involved, but The guy, the the leader, the guy who's listening right now is just like your husband. He's spinning, you know, trying to keep all plates happening all the same time. Systems and processes aren't necessarily his forte. Right. And and he what he hasn't had is someone Unfortunately, for yours, man, it was you. Right.
A lot of times, we have to go make that hire. We have to say, okay. Exactly. I'm not good in these areas. Yeah. In order to survive, in order to grow to to to multiple millions, you've gotta have systems in process. And so Yeah. You can't just be fly by the seat of your pants all the time. That that works for a period of time in the ingenuity stage, but you have to be able to create a business.
And so Yes. Yes. To make it a true business and not something that you're just doing Chaz, like, you know, he's like, well, he was more like the technician role. Like, he understood the skill set behind. And so You know, I, I mean, I went and became a roofing contract. Eventually, he's the one that supported that. He said, listen. You're the one, you know, protecting my license. We need to go become a roofing objector.
So, like, I went and did that, but, you know, I'm still not the technical person. That's not my Forte. And and the cool thing is I don't have to pretend it is. I don't have to Yeah. Like, what a blessing that I get to see things through my lens, and he gets to see things through his lens. And and instead of, like, fighting each The, like, frustrated why the other person doesn't see it. You're right.
Realized Chaz, really, guys and girls really have a very unique you know, way of approaching Kings. And and the the approach of the unique skill set when one person is really honored and able to just run as free as they want in their specialty and the other person is able to do that. Like, together, it's It's like a even bigger third. It's like a whole collaboration. It creates something even greater. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, You're right.
The putting those 2 together, especially since the lenses are so different, and you could go you could I mean, the love and respect book, you know, where it's like the pink earphones, the pink microphone, and the blue, and, like, in marriage, obviously, those things are it comes out of my mouth one way, but into your ears a different way. Right. But that happens in business also. If you can get on the same page Yep. You know, it's funny because I had a gal.
Oh, this was probably 4 or 5 months ago. It was actually two ladies on the pod, and one's the visionary, one's the integrator. And the integrator was like, you know, you know who makes great integrators. Usually, are women. And more even so, more so, moms, because this is what we do. And it's funny when I think about my own organizations, I I employ mostly women. And because it's probably well, first off, I grew up single mom family.
It was me, my mom, my grandma, my sister, the female cats, female dogs, it was all females, but me. But the re but it's there's something to be said about Yeah. Email touch, if you will, or the the Chaz that mindset that just is so impacted. Was always he was raised with a really strong mom, a really strong grandmother. So he didn't know anything different and and really mean, I guess that's probably a a big part of it.
I I think, like, I think it's actually fascinating because this is my 20th year in this and There's a definite difference between now and 20 years ago. I mean, I I think that can even just like my own leadership style. There wasn't they didn't have words like feminine leadership. The didn't have that firm The. But it was just like, I think because I was in the construction industry was just so blatantly not my style that it was easy for me to go, yeah, that doesn't really work for me.
Let me let me do it this way. Let's build a team around culture and about possibilities and and and getting us all in the same direction versus The technical part of it. So I I think it's fascinating to see, like, literally before my eyes, like, the the what's Gathering, like, I see I see how men and women showed up with good old boys, and I see Ben now Chaz are just I mean, they're rock stars and and The their companies are all doing better because of it.
They're they're, you know, holding up women for, like, the strengths that they have, and they're able to play in the same sandbox and Yep. I don't know. I I'm, like, totally inspired by these days. I know. I know. You're right because there's a lot of things that are changing, but I just think that you're I just wanted to highlight your your portion there because you've you've led the way, I'm sure, in a lot of areas, especially in your industry. So Yeah. Just incredible.
Let's let's get into a good and bad decision here. The me and potatoes of the show here, I wanna know a good decision. Something that you made along the way Chaz you can think of. A lot of your success has come from this one decision. What is that? The decisions. You know, I think I think that sometimes it's timing. Yeah. I agree. And I think back some of the best decisions, it was sort of like trusting the intuition of Yeah.
This is the right way to go, and you have the support and you start to go. Certainly after Hurricane Wilma was a big It was a big, you know, stepping stone for us. It put it put us on the map really. We were a lot smaller before that. That's really what led us to to grow. And I think of, like, how we handled Chaz. Yeah. Being The small players, we didn't have we didn't have access to materials in a supply house. We didn't have electricity for a couple weeks. We didn't have a sales team.
We had we had a generator a laptop and a printer. And I went to the office store, and I made car I got carbon, old sheets of carbon, and I I we went into, like, these small little neighborhoods that actually The everyone says the eye of the storm went over their house, but The is really the, actually, I have the story we're exiting over, and you are these little thirteen square two story shingle roofs that Yep. Were down the wood. And and and it was right around the corner of us.
And I I'm thinking back at, like, how quick we were we were able to adapt to that and, you know, running up in the middle of the night up where you could get gas fill in on the vents of the trucks with a whole bunch of, you know, little gas cans and whatever we could grab, we were we were grabbing. Yeah. And and then we we got all my all my kids and their friends to be the salespeople because anyone just wanted a roofer. They didn't they didn't care. Yeah. Just help.
We realized in this one particular model. There was 3 models. So we, like, made 3 templates up, and we just, like, we were just on the street and there. And anything we promised Wolfe fulfilled. So I think I think that literally is what what put us on the map Chaz I I'm you know what I mean? I'm just so grateful, like, I think of if we were to hit if we were to have a storm like, oh my god. Now with what we know now Yeah.
It would have been very different money wise, but, like, that's what they really put us on the map as far as a team coming in and Yeah. Getting together Yeah. The the the very fabric of your company DNA was not only tested, but created, it sounds like, really. Exactly. It was created. Wow. One thing that I heard you say that it's probably more of a me just giving you an attaboy than anything, but I just think it's so incredible. You said the eye of the storm.
These people who were demolished were right around the corner from you. A k a, you personally were probably experiencing some of the same culties. But yet here you guys were in the middle of the night, hustling figuring it out, getting gas, putting templates together on a generator, powering your laptop, figuring out templates, Chaz just, to me, speaks fortitude. It speaks opportunity. It speaks.
Even though we were this tiny company, we weren't on the map at all, It's like, you know, here in the Midwest, when the sun shines, you make hay. Like Yes. That's when you do it. You know, like Yep. When when Wilma comes, you you help people with roofs.
And and I I just even though it's so simple and so small, I just think that what you said there You were dealing with the same stuff, I'm sure, personally, and people around you, people in your church, people in your community, and yet you were still, you know, making it happen. And then then your team, like you said, the DNA around Chaz, What what do you think? Like okay. So I'm sure that went on for a period of time. What was the next step out of that?
I'm trying to correlate maybe, like, this moment for the listener, because they're gonna have this moment, this moment of opportunity, as we're gonna maybe dub it for you. Hey, Kings and Queens. Chaz Wolf. I wanna talk to you about something that's super important to me. We put a lot of time and effort. We, meaning myself and my team, into this podcast, into the content that goes out every single day.
And if you have been getting any sort of value or insight from this, we want it to be able to reach other business owners too. So we would love if you would like, comment, share, leave a review, post, share again all of the things on social media, on all the different platforms, or even on the podcast mediums of Apple and Spotify.
We would love to be able to get our content into more hands, more entrepreneurs so they can grow their business as quick as Together, we are building a community of like minded entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their businesses to new heights. So let's do this. Let's help each other. Let's help each other grow. What did you do next after you Kings, like, got done with the scrambling phase? What was phase 2 of maximizing this this opportunity? Well, we learned a lot to that next phase.
We Chaz more roof jobs than we could handle. We ended up with a crew. We we had right before and we had done a refund on our own house. It was really, really bad experience. And, you know, so we The the owner permit. We hired this through, and it was just really bad. First thing they did was, like, come and drop, like, The rolled off this dumpster, and it, like, ruined our poor little cheap driveway. And, they peed in the shingles in the front yard. It was just a disgusting garbage everywhere.
Like, horrible experience. And so we fired that move and brought on another crew that we brought on ended up doing work with us years and years. They were they end up being her Wow. Or a crew for, I don't probably a good 7, 8 years. And so it was I don't know. It was really cool to see the Yeah. The, you know, come around with The. The the The life out of a deadly scenario.
But, I mean, like, really when I think about, like, the the the meat and the potatoes of, like, why you were doing Chaz, when I think back, we were just trying to, you know, support. However, we could support. I mean, they needed help. I mean, we I remember we even had, like, The electric stove that we were, like, cooking meals for everybody back in one of my older lives. I, worked with The church and we would be 350 women on Wednesdays once a month, and I was in charge of the food.
So I knew how to cook without a kitchen, and, you know, prepare, like, a lot. And so this little tiny electric stove, we were able to, like, cook for the neighborhood. Yeah. You know, just service however we could. You know, people I'll never forget how people were acting then, the the how scared they were. And and how nobody was coming out to help them because any big roofer, what do they you know, they're going out these little tiny roofs.
Like, it just wasn't even something that they they could do. Yeah. Yeah. So I see, like, after that, we had all of these jobs. It was like, which job did we do today? And so Like, after that was really, like, take an opportunity of, like, how do we organize this? How do we get the people on the team to to make it happen and fulfill what you promised? You know?
Yeah. That was gonna be the second thing I was gonna pull out from the story that you said is that you fulfilled every promise that you made. And so I think that you know, both of these things for the listener, if I'm gonna if I'm gonna give just a little bit of a a stamp for the listener from this part of your story, is that number 1, you you hustle when you hustle. Like, of course, we're hustling all the time. Like, you you have a business.
You gotta go get it, but there are moments when you have to really, really press in. And, and sometimes it looks like in the middle of the night, sometimes it looks like providing meals for the neighborhood. Whatever that hustle, quote, unquote, looks like, it's really just you serving in whatever capacity that you can. You're probably gonna be tired. You're probably gonna be overwhelmed. You're probably gonna be stressed, but the the the heart there is serving.
And then on the backside is, man, just do what you say you're gonna do. And and watch, I'm sure over the course of time between the front end and the back end of those two things coming together, people started to, recognize you guys as not only somebody who is trustworthy, but somebody who could do what they say they're gonna do is a good job. They're taking care of the community. Like, Wolfe. What an impact? I'm sure that you made Chaz a Wolfe there.
Would you like to add anything to that for the listener? Yeah. I think, you know, like, the level opportunities, like, when people are people are always watching, though, and I I don't think I realized that at the time. Now I realized that but people are always watching you. So they they can tell when your behavior and your words don't match. And True. You know, we we had a I I remember one time we had a tint tag inspection in. We were an inch off on our tint tags.
And and so the inspector came out and he failed it and said, okay. He did he suggested go ahead and put another another tint tag in between So you can go every other one, and then that'll that'll work. It'll shorten up your your, you know, your tint packages. And but we knew that that's gonna, like, put the double amount double amount of holes in a roof And so we took it off and started over.
And I'll I'll never forget the inspector came back out and was like, look into his papers, trying to figure out, like, I know I remember seeing this and thinking he's gonna come see, you know, just a bunch of shiny tint tags on the roofing, and we had redone it. And that cost us $10 to redo that. You know? Right. And he was so impressed that we did the right thing with it. He he's still talking about it. Oh, I'm sure.
Yeah. Because it's sort of like how it it's just an ignore examples that teams doing this all the time. It's like bringing the right people on for character And that's why. Because, like, when no one's watching you, how they act It matters. Is is your company. It's not just, like, how they are when you're there. Yeah. Yeah. The challenge there for the owner listening is that number 1, you do the right thing. Right? Yep. They're watching. They're watching.
And and then And it it when you do something wrong and use that because they watch that too. So if I just brush it off, I mean, there's a link. Things that that, you know, I'm I'm not so proud of. And Yeah. Yeah. You gotta you gotta own them and and admit it because otherwise, they just They know. They they they see you. They do. They do. I think that we could spend a whole podcast just on Chaz, but you're right. You're right.
So let's let's let's dig into your little dirty cookie jar there that you're that you're referring to over the some of those things you've made mistakes on. Wanna know what what's a what's a bad decision that you've made that, you know, that's caused some issues that maybe you could share and help save some time for the listener. I would say the very 1st years comparing us to other people was a big mistake.
We were we were so caught up on, you know, in the roosting world, everything's done by the square, and we were so caught up on, alright. So, you know, so and so is doing it for 400 to square The, and we're doing 425, so we're doing good. Except for the 1 year where we almost went out of business and could not understand where the cash was going. And so I got a coach.
My husband actually is the one that first suggested this, and I was so angry at first because I was like, Any entrepreneur that's busy knows, the last thing I need is to add more things today. So if you don't have time to go on vacation, if you don't have time to go see a coach then you need to coach. Literally.
Yes. So during that this coaching session, I, you know, the first things I learned was really we how to operate a business and not just not just like Chaz, how do you get things done, but how do you do things by the numbers? How how much does it cost to do a job? So that summer, we'll want an almost went out of business. What what do you do?
You go and get more jobs because you think that it's the cash flow And that summer is when I realized that it wasn't a cash flow issue, it it was we weren't charging enough for our jobs. You didn't know what our true overhand was. You didn't know like, a true cost of growth. Right. And so I had to go borrow money for my mother-in-law. And Chaz sucks. I was I was dying on the end of my chair. They're going, what is she gonna say? What's she gonna Yeah. K. Yeah.
That turkey doesn't taste as good at Thanksgiving when your mother-in-law, buddy. But, you know, I I looked at her, and I promise I freaking out. So Chaz was that was, you know, that was a home eat a lot of humble pie and asking for help and really getting people around you and doing the work figuring out, like, the true cost of business. Yeah. Super important. Yeah. Yeah. The the equations The.
I I love what you said, obviously, for you The the in the construction space, specifically roofing cost per job, obviously, like you said, cost for growth. I think a lot of people don't calculate that. Right. As far as what does that look like to go from 5 Whatever you think you need to grow, double it. Nope. Right. Right. Yeah. Exactly. You're a 100% right. And and also cut in half what you think is gonna happen on the back end. You know?
It's like Yes. And it's not really about, like, Kings yourself out. It's more of a it's just gonna cost more time and effort than you think. It just always does, always Wolfe. Gonna be snags along the way that you just can't anticipate, but what we can anticipate is that it's just gonna cost. And so Right. The best of our ability dialing in those numbers adding some on to the top just to make sure. Obviously, you did that with a coach.
You've got people, I'm sure, on your team now that you do that with different departments in industry or different, you know, divisions, but anything that you would give to the $600,000 business owner who's it's a him and you know, 2, 3 folks, one gal on the office or one guy in the office. Like, what would you say to Chaz, that owner, that guy, or gal? I I would say plan for growth and don't let it control you. So be strategic about it.
So to me, One of the biggest things I always go back down is 2 of just fundamentals. And I know, like, each stage of growth creates its own level of issues. So it depends on the stages. You know, at first, certainly Chaz trading systems or processes, getting the right people in the right seat on the right bus, it is you cannot go over that enough times.
Yep. You know, whether it's family members or your friends or whatever who or whoever is helping, really, stopping and looking at, like, what are people's strengths and and, you know, having having a real clear guideline so that everyone knows which date they're in. So that doesn't mean that you don't know the other person's lane.
That's something my husband and I learned a long time ago Chaz to really say if someone comes to me and asks me a question and it's really in John's area, then I say, I don't know. Let's find out. That's that's really a John question. Right. Because it doesn't matter if I know the answer, I may not know the other five things that he taking a consideration because that's his lane. That's his specialty.
And then for him to do the same thing, it's like a respect free for each The, and it's also letting everyone else know Yeah. This isn't my my area. This is this is his area or vice versa. So I think I think that's super that's, like, critical at the beginning. And really having a plan, having The the the hard conversations with people to make sure that everyone is aware of your plan. And on board with your plan, and willing, willing capable and knowledgeable.
So, like, always go into those 3 things. And if someone is not willing, knowledgeable, or capable, then get them invite them to be happy somewhere else because it's really holding up the growth. Like, if I look back over this 20 years, I've all the lessons that I could have probably sped this whole process up, you know, a a lot faster than what we did. So, you know, It's it's definitely The are some of the biggest ones. Cash flow, for sure, having a plan plan your budget, look at a plan?
Are you on track with The plan that you need to adjust? Everyone in today's knows Wolfe, we have a lot of stuff going on. So Right. Yep. We're having to adjust more and more. Yeah. Yeah. It's like overnight, you know, overnight, we didn't have solar. So overnight, we weren't able to sell town reach like that. That's a crazy Kings.
You know, when you when you plan on so much revenue and and you have tiles on roofs and, like, all the all the things that touches, It's it's adjusting and being flexible and really, really keeping in your own lane. I I I think I'd go back to that word a lot because it's super spend critical for us. I think also probably relationships.
I think that was another key one to really help people, like, support you and use, you know, people that you've been supporting all along is to ship you a win win. Totally. And you can lean on your vendors and banks. Yep. Don't wait. Don't wait till you're out of money to talk to your bank. So talk to your bank bank or today. And That's right. That's right. Line of credit card. A 100%. I in in all seriousness, I I agree with that. Oh, yeah.
I agree with everything you've said, but I just highlight that little piece there. 100%. Right? You got a plan for it. I love what you said. There was one Gathering. We'll move on to the speed round here in a second. You said not only do you have to have a plan, and you have to be able to track in essence is what you're saying. But you used the word budget, and this was something that it took me a long time to figure out.
I had CPA know, CPA with multiple companies, you know, figuring out financials. I, you know, reviewing all the numbers. I had all the numbers dialed in. I'm a numbers guy. But what I didn't do for a long time, which you said is budget or think ahead. So that way I mean, I was thinking ahead, but, like, putting numbers on a sheet ahead. So that way as we're going along, there can be actual adjustments made. Here. So, okay, so we're about to wrap up September. How did September go?
That's looking backwards. How did it go in comparison to how we thought it was gonna go? And then let's make the adjustment for October and maybe even November, December Chaz finish out the year, that's budgeting or planning ahead, putting people in lanes, being able to make adjustments. Yeah. And even someone like myself who had a CPA multiple companies doing millions. Chaz was just that small little thing. That was something that made a big difference for me, which I love what you said there.
So let's over to the speed round here before we run out of time, but you have been incredible so far. So I don't wanna I don't wanna rush these answers, but they are the speed round. I want you to just off the top here, give me what comes to your mind. In this business that you call this roofing, this this conglomerate, really, What would be the one metric? If you Chaz only pick 1 to track forever and ever, what would it be?
Cash. K. Cash in the bank, cash on jobs, cash on cash return, what what all of everything that I just cash. So, like, how many how, like, basics? How many how many leads do we get in? Do we have enough leads to bring the sales, and do we have enough sales to get stuff done and get enough stuff done to collect. Yeah. Yeah. Can't forget to collect. The cash. That cash line, like, You gotta look at it. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Good stuff. K. What book would you recommend to a 6 figure business owner?
I I just finished daring the lead by Renee Brown. Okay. And I thought it was fascinating because I, you know, it goes so it goes so much into not just the tech part of it, but, like, the the technical part of a business and a team, but Yeah. Just around the culture and The the ownership, really of the of the visionary. Yep. Love that. K. Good way. What do you think about intentionally networking and or master mining with other entrepreneurs. It's The base sense of our business. K. Why?
100% of my baby because it's all about relationships. Yeah. So people people buy from people The know, like, and trust for that before. Yeah. And it takes a while like in Gathering. You know, you don't see a commercial or decide you're gonna go buy something. Right. I mean, it's usually several touches, and it's the same thing with people. It's safe several times before you're like, oh, okay. Wait a second. I'm seeing a different side of them.
Yeah. I've I've never liked the whole, like, shove a card. I didn't talk to anybody to carry business card. People always you have a card. I'm like, it'll pop. You know, you you can figure out how to find me. And I'm not saying salespeople should do that because they're trying to do something. But to me, Networking is not at all about making a sale right then. It's about The relationship.
So it's like, it's great in roofing because you either need a roof or you don't, so I didn't have that pressure of that. So Right. Right. Go and have fun. And It's just my job to determine whether you like me or not. You know? And so if you like me, you'll do a roof with me. Exactly. I love that. It's so simple, but so true. I appreciate your perspective on that. Last question here for Chaz. As we wrap up, I wanna know if you lost it all, Tamir. What would you do? Oh, what would I do?
I'd probably probably go and be like, a gypsy with no responsibility somewhere. Running hide and nobody Yeah. They'll they'll live on a beach somewhere in The forever, Jamaica. I'm sorry. That's awesome. Just disappear, it sound like. The disappeared. No responsibility. And it's a lot of pressure. Yeah. It's a lot of pressure. The the person right now who's listening Hearing you say there's a lot of pressure.
You know, obviously, you've you've built an amazing business culture team brand, this whole this whole thing. What would you leave them with as they're Kings? They're overwhelmed. They're wearing too many hats. You know, they're maybe they're networking, but they really don't have time. The don't really have a solid sales process. They're Kings just winging it, going job to job. Maybe they got a couple of guys, but or gals that maybe they leave, I mean, they're not in the right seat.
Like, you know, you remember Yeah. These The moments like I do. What's your, you know, parting thoughts for that business owner? I would say my My biggest thing my biggest piece of advice would be to take carriers some first and not wait until there's time to do that because you you will just burn out. And it's I've gone through that before, and it's not fun. And you're no good to anyone else if you are not taking care of yourself.
So I'd say before anything, put things on the calendar that are gonna feed you, whatever that means. You know, I'm the I'm the queen of 15 minute breaks I love them. There's something so magical that happens when you just stop working for 15 minutes and go, listen to music, screen, Dan's color doesn't matter you do, stare at the water, have a whatever, how much more productive you are after that, and our brains are not necessarily why is that want to go go go.
And and so I would say insisting on taking care of yourself first, whatever that means to make yourself filled up so you're, like, running over. Yeah. Whatever whatever whatever is your whatever is your mojo. You know? Yeah. I love that. I had an old sales manager. This was, you know, darn there 20 years ago, who certain random times throughout the The, they would turn on music, like, super loud and be like, hey. 30 seconds of mandatory dance. And, literally, Eric, like, hey. Stand up. Stand up.
Stand up. You know, and Whether you whether you did a jig or not, the point was is that you'd you checked out. You took your headset off for a second. Yep. It was just music. Took a deep breath. Stood up. You got some blood flow. Maybe you did a jig. The funny thing is is that that sales manager was a female. So I wonder if The little I have a 30 second dance button party. There you go. Press it and they're all over the office. So, like, it's really interesting to use that.
It really moves the energy around. We get stuck and whenever I find myself be, like, I have to do this or procrastinating, like, starting off with a little, you know, for me just, like, standing up, like, I stupid in for a few seconds. It works. Yeah. It really does. It really does. Well, Tamara, you've been a absolutely incredible here today. How can the listener find you? If they've just connected, they wanna get to know you.
Maybe maybe they've got a job that needs to have done in the Pompano or Tampa area. How can I find you? Tamarachase.com, probably the easiest Chaz all my contact information and and the different businesses I have on there and my no profit on there. So Love it. Feel free. Love it. Love it. Well, we'll put we'll put all that in the show notes as well. As long as as well as with many other quotes that you've given to us here today.
And, of course, we'll be able to, you know, get all this out here to the listeners very soon. So, again, Thank you for being here on the show. We appreciate you. I'm sure the listeners feel like I do, which is just, wow. So thank you for doing that. Thank you, Tass. Talk to you soon. Thank you for listening to Gathering the Kings today. I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away.
More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it takes more to be successful than just being by yourself Kings it all on your own. Caring the weight all by yourself. What I have realized, not only in my own journey from multiple businesses and multiple different industries and now interviewing over 2 or 300 The very successful 7, 8, and 9 figure business owners is that it's tough to do it alone. And so gathering the Kings exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs.
In fact, we are putting together 1000 Kings specifically who are grateful, but not done. We're intentionally assembling kings who fight tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities, and here's what we see that in the pursuit of excellence in those areas, that it ignites within us the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy.
So if that relates and and resonates with you and you know that you need people around you, sharp qualified other very successful business owners. I want you to go to Gathering. I want you to take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit. To 1000 kings. Talk soon.