Ramona Long from Money Pages, Maggie Grayeski from ServiceWise Electric, and Chelsea Winters and Jessica Winters from Terminus Construction Group

Speaker1: [00:00:08] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Woodstock, Georgia. Welcome to women in business where we celebrate influential women making a difference in our community.

Speaker2: [00:00:22] Now here’s your host. Hello, this is Laurie Kennedy, and I’m your host today for women in business, powered by Business RadioX Stone Payton, our producer is also in the studio with us today and we are grateful to have you tuned in with us today. We are interviewing Maggie Gray Sky. Yep. With with service wise electric. And we are interviewing Ramona along with money pages. And we also have a Jessica Winters and Chelsea Winters with terminus construction. Hello ladies, how are you today?

Speaker3: [00:01:04] Fantastic.

Speaker2: [00:01:05] Thank you and good. Thank you. Yay. I’m glad you’re here. Ok, so we’re going to jump right in and I’m going to start with you, Jessica. I am. I am. I want to know. How did you find your way in to the industry that you’re in right now and then tell us about that industry? Tell us a little about your company, what you guys do and how you found your way into it?

Speaker4: [00:01:29] Yeah. So I actually professionally did hair for 12 years behind the chair and in films. So that was a really easy transition to roofing, which is what we do now. It’s the the natural progression, right, right into there. Well, I did here for 12 years behind the chair, film, print, movies, magazines, everything was really burnt out. It’s really physically exhausting. And when we had our second daughter, me and my husband made the decision that was for me to stay home, and that turned into a really hard decision for me, whether right or wrong. I learned very quickly over that four years that I found a lot of my self-worth in, in my job, in my profession and what I’m doing. And so staying at home, I had a really hard time. Living up to my own expectations of myself. So towards the end of that, I was like, I have to find something, I have to do, something we’re going to do. We’re going to do something. At the time, my husband was super not happy with his work. He worked with his brother in building distribution and it was over Christmas. We were like, Why don’t we start something? Let’s just do something here. Oh yeah, I was. I was doing my sister in law’s here and we were like, Hey, guys, you’re both miserable. You’ve been talking about doing this for years. You just need to do it. And they pushed back and they weren’t ready. And I had all the excuses in the world. And so Chelsea and I kind of were like, Well, we’ll do it, we’ll start it. And then you guys can come over when you’re ready, when you guys are

Speaker5: [00:03:03] Ready, yeah, we’ll just go ahead and get it

Speaker4: [00:03:05] Going. Yeah, we’ll just go ahead and get it going. We can figure this out. We’re both really smart and and quick quick with a, you know, basic business skills. And we’ve heard you guys complain about roofers for like five years. So we know what not to do really well. And so, yeah, we got started so that that put us at a February of 2020, so we all know what happened the next month with shut downs. And they both worked for home from home for like a month, and it gave us the perfect opportunity to really test it out. You know, they weren’t going into the office. We could really get get some processes down and and try to work it out for that month. And it was it was awesome. Yeah, it was full on, you know, balls of the walls from there, like it was ready to go and we never slowed down. They put in their two weeks notice and Chelsea quit her job too, because she was a dental hygienist, a very successful one at that. And yeah, it’s been full on since then. It was. It’s been really great. So that is my not typical way into roofing

Speaker2: [00:04:12] And so to the hubby’s work for you guys now.

Speaker4: [00:04:16] Technically, yes, but it would be a disservice to them to say that they work for us. They they both do so much. My my brother in law, Chelsea husband Matt, he is over our commercial roofing and then does all of the operations. My husband’s over all the sales and all the residential. So they they definitely take on a lot of the legwork of it. And Chelsea and me kind of have mastered the behind the scenes, keeping things smooth and organized in the business

Speaker5: [00:04:44] Systems and the organization and the money.

Speaker2: [00:04:47] Yeah. So Chelsea, tell me, how do you guys divide it out, what the things are in the office or the parts that you guys do? What are those and how are they divided out?

Speaker5: [00:04:59] So Jess is really she’s really good about systems, and she’s really good about creating things and being very innovative and and she’s also really good with money. So she’s CFO, but she also does all like the marketing side and stuff like that. But another thing that Jessica brought to the table is that everybody that works for Terminus, we always do a characteristic personality test by doing that. We learned so much about one another and learned that there’s different things that everybody can bring to the table. And sometimes you sign up to do X when really you shouldn’t be doing that, somebody else should be doing that one. So, yeah, so we did that. And kind of I mean, it’s we all wear a lot of hats as owners. I mean, whenever you start a business, you have a bajillion, so you just have to keep switching them off. But yeah, and then as we grew and we hired new people to come in, I, you know, I was able to give one of my hats away and wear my other one proudly and what we which we keep changing my name.

Speaker4: [00:06:08] Chelsea is a jack of all trades. She’s really good at so many different things. It’s been really hard to like, put her in one role. So her role is definitely evolved over the past, like almost two years. And what we’ve found is her sweet spot, which is actually how she knows these beautiful ladies is networking. Chelsea has a gift. She can go into her room and connect people effortlessly like I’ve never seen. She’ll walk in, have five best friends, leave with 20 appointments. She’s like, OK, here you go here. This person wants to talk to you and this person wants to talk to you. So she’s now our CNO is what we’ve renamed her for the second time. But she also does a lot of the behind the scenes, like helping me with invoicing and keeping all that straight too. So it’s it’s hard to define like a one role of what me and her do in the business. The boys are very much so in their own little lanes, and me and Chelsea are kind of like, Here you go. Here’s everything else.

Speaker2: [00:07:02] Figure it out. Well, I do love when we met one of the stories that you said was we were talking about like software systems in reference to accounting. And you were like, Yeah, I’d never been on QuickBooks before. I was like, Oh, I’ll learn it. No problem.

Speaker5: [00:07:18] So, yes, Ron Green calls it the YouTube University. Yeah, that’s what that’s what Ron did. I mean, it

Speaker2: [00:07:26] Works, and I think that’s so typical with us as women. Like we just we we know what needs to be done and we’ll do what it takes to get it done. So I think that’s, you know, especially. You know, we just we do it, it’s got to get done, we do it. Well, Maggie, tell us, how did you end up in this industry? Oh my goodness. So my husband’s been doing this since 2004, and my background is actually medical. So I’ve always had just a real passion for helping people and caring for others. And then when he worked for a larger company and we decided that, you know, corporate really wasn’t for him, wasn’t for us, I should say. And so we decided, you know, there’s a better there’s something better out there. And we knew there was something better out there. So we decided to start service wise 2.0, as we call it, because we actually had this. We started this back in 2006. So this is the second time and we we started it back up. We knew there was something better. So we just we took up the reins and we just went with it. So I mean, it was it was both of our dreams just to have a better service company out there for, you know, electrical needs for customers. And we knew we could do it and we knew we could offer it. So we just we just did it. And so how do you find working with your husband and reference to have you had to figure out what things he needs to be responsible for and what things you need to be like? How do you when I got in business with my husband, it was like we had to figure I had.

Speaker2: [00:08:54] He was doing it successfully without me, and I had to figure out how to jump in without stepping on toes so that I was helping and not we weren’t going to kill each other, you know? So yes, yes, I know. And it is. It is something, you know, it’s a live and learn process. I mean, you know, you just you just go at it with each other and you just kind of like, OK, well, you got this, I got this and you just have each other’s backs. And it’s just, you know, we’re the yin to the yang to each other, and it just flows. We just mesh well with each other. I don’t there’s not really a set process that we had. He’s more of the technical side, obviously. You know, he’s out in the field doing all that. And I’m I’m the behind the scenes. I’m the office, I’m the marketing, I’m the, you know, everything accounting like all that good stuff. So we just make it work. I mean, we just we don’t step on each other’s toes, you know? I mean, obviously, every day is not a, you know, just rainbow and sunshine, but we make it work. You just you do what you got to do and you get it done.

Speaker5: [00:09:51] Yeah, but don’t you feel like I feel like this now working with Matt and working with my husband, there is this groan like adoration or an appreciation and like. Wow. Like, you’re you’re killing it, you know, like I feel like he he respects me more now that we work together and he sees what I deal with and what I do and absolutely like and things that he’s like he wouldn’t want to do. You know, things like that. But then even for like our marriage, I think that it’s been everybody had said they’re like, Oh my gosh, going into business with your husband? Oh gosh. Like, that’s. And your brother and your sister in law and your dad and your brother. And we have a lot of people family wise that live with work with us. But anyways, yeah, I just feel like it really did it, really. We’ve had moments, you know, like we’ve definitely had moments where it’s been trying, but I’m like, All right, listen. We can we can work this

Speaker2: [00:10:50] Out at the end of the day, you both want what’s best for the company, you both want what’s best for you personally. So I mean, yes, you got this. You just you do it. Just you do it. But yes, there is definitely just that admiration of, you know, both of us respecting each other more because we see what we bring to the table. And I know I can do it without him, and he knows he can do without me. So it’s just a mutual respect. Yeah. Well, Ramona, tell us how you ended up in your line of work.

Speaker3: [00:11:18] Similar to Jessica’s story, I I was in education for a really long time. A classroom teacher, IEP team chair. I wrote curriculum. I trained other teachers and my husband was actually in corporate America. He’s a national director for Coke and we had moved down here from New England for that role and I had decided I’m going to scale way back and be, you know, the just a classroom teacher if there is such a thing. And about eight weeks into the school year, my dad had a stroke up in New England and it was one of those circumstances where I was really the only person in the position to kind of take leave to go and take care of him. And God bless my dad. But if any of you are familiar with the comedian Ron White, if you put that man in a velour tracksuit and put some scar holes in it, that’s my dad and he is stubborn and wonderful and was a small business owner. Growing up, he had a landscape construction company. I’m the unexpected twin of a boy, so I learned how to drive a bulldozer in a bucket loader before I learned how to ride a bike. And when this man needed me, I, you know, I believe that our children are our number one trust.

Speaker3: [00:12:31] And you can’t be in and out and kids, especially not special needs kids. And that’s you know what I was doing. So I opted for early retirement and, you know, was doing some different things. And my husband was getting frustrated with the fact that this role that was supposed to be, you know, 25 percent travel now was 90 percent travel. And we have five kids. I’m a horrible, empty nester. And I think he was a little afraid that if he didn’t stop traveling, I would have more than three cats. And that would be a bad thing because I needed something in the house when nobody else was home. And so we did some research in franchising and we looked at everything and we came across many pages through Fran Arnett, Lizzie Cubin out of Atlanta. She’s amazing. And it was never something I ever expected to do, but I really wanted something that was going to be a great work life balance and be something that was impactful in the community and family businesses. You know, you guys all have them are what drives our community. It’s, you know, our businesses are the ones that sponsor the charity 5Ks. You know, the smoke on the lake, the big chanty, the football teams, the baseball teams, the band trips, all of that stuff.

Speaker3: [00:13:37] And I’m, you know, a firm believer that our community should support those who support the community. And I can recall when my dad had to send us out to scrape the stickers that said the clear landscaping construction off the dump trucks and replace them with AAA landscaping. So he could be first in the phone book because he couldn’t afford the advertising, which was, you know, the phone book back in the day. Yes, I’m totally aging myself right there, Yellow Pages. So when I came across this, it’s a Christian owned company, 20 years experience out of Atlanta, and our corporate founder and CEO is the original guy. He had left a big power position with Cox Media because he really wanted to do something that allowed small businesses the opportunity to market like the big companies do, make it accessible, affordable and connect them directly with their community. And they do a lot of philanthropy, which is really important to me, and that’s how I kind of got into it and it’s been such a blessing. I just really love it. And I get to work with my husband, too.

Speaker2: [00:14:40] So and aren’t you guys getting ready to expand?

Speaker3: [00:14:44] Yeah, we actually expanded. We were going to launch our second territory. We’ve we started in Kennesaw with our flagship product, which is a magazine direct mail magazine that goes to now forty two thousand homes, Kennesaw, Acworth. We launched a second one earlier this year. That’s another forty two thousand homes out in East Cobb. And then we have a sister company in North Atlanta, another forty two thousand homes out there. And we are looking to expand. We’re doing a little research and development, although Woodstock right now is on the top of our list of where we want to go to next because it’s just a lot of progression and the three communities really complement each other so well from a government standpoint, to a faith standpoint, to a community standpoint. So I think that’s where we’re looking to go to next. As local franchise owners, I spent the first year and a half teacher and me think studying the digital side of stuff and getting certifications in that because I wanted to really be an expert on what I was talking to people about so that we are making sure it’s the right message, right channel, right time for different industries because we work with industries of of all kinds, from from your construction to your.

Speaker3: [00:15:49] Are Salon to your service, electric, to automotive, to restaurants? And it’s been really a blessing, we were actually super lucky in that our CEO was able to offset things. So during COVID, as you know, you just started, it was really difficult to stay in touch with your community and say, How are we pivoting as much as I hate that word now, it’s it’s a reality for all of us as business owners and especially for our restaurant partners. He covered that, and he created a website that allowed businesses that want to sell gift cards to be able to drive revenue to do that. And he paid all the credit card processing. 100 percent of the proceeds went back to the local business owners across the country. And that’s, you know, kind of who we are as a company and it’s inward looking to grow in this territory, and we’re just really excited to be able to be so impactful in the different communities we service.

Speaker2: [00:16:42] Yeah, that’s awesome. So let me ask you, what are Maggie? What are some misconceptions about your industry? I think the biggest misconception are that construction workers are uneducated. You know, that’s really I think that’s one of the largest ones we have. And, you know, sometimes the disrespect that comes from customers, and it’s kind of funny. So Michael, my husband, he’s out in the field like he’s just a regular field technician running calls. And, you know, when customers, they once they find out that he’s the owner or, you know, co-owner, the difference that their attitude and the respect that they give him, just from the service technician to the owner, it’s, you know, it’s kind of appalling. So I think that’s a big misconception is that they’re uneducated and that’s farthest from the truth. I mean, you know, these guys are absolutely brilliant. It’s just, you know, there, it’s just a different, different avenue. They went down and you know, they. So I think that’s a big misconception. Yeah, we’re we’re totally seeing that with automotive technicians as well. And I think all the service industries are seeing that. And I think what we’re going to find because everybody’s been sending their kids to college for so many years and not into service industries is that they’re going to increase in cost dramatically very soon if they aren’t already doing so.

Speaker3: [00:18:08] Absolutely. I always find it amazing that there is that disrespect for the roofers and the automotive and the service and, you know, electricians because they can’t do it themselves. That’s why they called you. Yeah. So, you know, it’s kind of remarkable that, you know, you know, you can’t do it. So why are you not respecting the person that can? There’s there’s such a level of education, especially for electricians, that they have to go through in order to be certified to do that.

Speaker2: [00:18:35] Yes, absolutely.

Speaker4: [00:18:37] I think a huge thing for us, it’s like we have door knockers that go and they go into storm damaged areas to help people utilize their insurance, what they pay for. Right. And people will call the cops or threaten them with guns, literally. We’ve had guys that have had people pull guns on them. Let this get off my property like, whoa, I was sitting here, you know, to let you know that you have shingles falling off your roof. I just got your neighbor’s roof approved, so I could probably get yours approved. Let your insurance, take care of it and keep your home totally safe. You know, like you don’t want mold in your house. And a lot of people don’t know is if you’re not proactive as a homeowner, your insurance can drop you. So if your insurance drives by, you have big holes in your roof. Guess what? Your insurance is not going to cover you the next year. So when our guys are out there doing like free community outreach to let you know, Hey, you had Hale at your house last year, you’re coming up on the time that you know that cutoff is coming up for you to file it on that, that claim. We’re there to help. We’re not there to rob you or whatever else.

Speaker4: [00:19:40] Like, do not pull guns on my guys. I will go out there and yell at you myself. I am five two. Like, I do not care. I am not scared of you or your guns, but you’re not going to pull your guns or threaten my guys with stuff that they’re not doing anything illegal. And that’s like, so frustrating for us. And especially even on the flip side, we just recently got into solar. The amount of people that call us and we’re like, Solar’s a scam, and I’m like, I’m sorry that the sales rep didn’t educate you on how this works. Solar is not a scam. It works very well everywhere in the country. It’s not here yet because of our electrician or electricity costs, but our electricity costs are going up. The tax incentives that you have right now, there’s a two year window. You can get it now for cheap, or you can wait two years and pay full price. I don’t care, but it’s not a scam. Don’t post all over. My ads like seller is a scam and they’re here to get you out of money. I’m like, Well, stop using the people that don’t live here, like use a local company. Yeah.

Speaker5: [00:20:35] Like if if the people knocking on your door are from out of town. Yeah, don’t like just call somebody local. Yeah, for

Speaker3: [00:20:42] Sure. Again, that’s why, like for us, our our thing is, is there a big national companies that have reached out to us? And there’s even some larger corporations here locally that have reached out to us, and our thing is no, ours are all local family owned businesses. So, you know, a money pages company is is a locally owned and operated company because you’re right, there are those people, especially in a storm damage situation that want to come and take advantage of somebody’s poor circumstances. And you need to rely on your friends and neighbors who are your local business owners that you can know, like and trust to take care of you in your home and your needs.

Speaker2: [00:21:19] Yeah. One of the things that we talked about Chelsea and Jessica, was You have somebody on your staff that helps navigate the insurance side of things to help your customers tell us a little about that.

Speaker4: [00:21:32] A lot of our guys are insurance specialists. And what that means is like, we’re not PaaS. We’re not going to legally do anything. But if you don’t understand your policy, let us read it and help you walk through it. Or we partner with a lot of insurance companies. So chances are, if you are injured by someone locally, we have a partnership with them and we can just call your agent and be like, Hey, can you help so-and-so walk through their insurance policy, understand what’s covered, what’s not covered, what they have to pay out of their pocket and what the insurance is responsible for? But I mean, all of our guys are very well versed in reading the insurance paperwork and doing all that, but it’s an interesting time in insurance restoration. I’ll say that I’m not going to say anything bad about it, but it’s definitely it’s a time that insurance companies seem to be pushing back a little bit, and it’s really, really important to have a contractor who understands the insurance process before you file a claim by yourself, because you’re probably not going to get the the full benefits of your insurance if you try to do it by yourself. So it is really important. And I mean, I always tell people I’m like, Well, if you don’t go with us, let me refer you to five other contractors that do it the right way, and I’ll tell you five to stay away from, because there’s a lot of people out here that do take advantage of homeowners and put them in a bad situation. So it’s really important to to really, you know, research

Speaker2: [00:22:49] Your roof,

Speaker4: [00:22:50] Your roofing contractor. It’s the biggest purchase that you’re going to make on your home.

Speaker2: [00:22:53] So, yeah. So Maggie, you were telling us what you were going to do this weekend. Can you share that with us? Yeah, absolutely. So we’re we are big advocates of just helping out our community in any way, shape or form that we can. And one of our local charities that we like to sponsor is Cherokee Family Violence. So they’re actually having a 5K. It’s the Tina’s Cat 5K or something like that, the Saturday. So I’m going to be running that this Saturday morning. That’s awesome. And so what kind of things does do you guys or does your company get involved with in the local community? We. Anything locally. I’d really try to be a big part of, you know, whether it’s just sponsoring the high school football teams, baseball teams, little programs, Goshen Valley were, you know, big, big advocates for them, just any anything that we can help them, you know, Cherokee veterans, community, anything we can do to help any of our communities. And even if it’s just pushing out their word and their mission and we just want to be as helpful as we can for those that help serve our community, that’s awesome. What about you, Ramona? How does your company and how do you guys walk in your local community?

Speaker3: [00:24:17] Well, it’s nice to take inspiration from from our founder and CEO Allen Worley and Kristen Worley actually just served as the race chairs for the dreams come true 5K down in Jacksonville. But locally, we sponsor Big Shante Festival, which supports education initiatives, which of course as a former teacher, is near and dear to my heart. We sponsor the smoke on the lake, which is Rotary Club initiatives. We’re involved in a lot of the other community events as well. We are actually in talks to figure out a way to sponsor FCA and the local schools, so we like that as well. And you know, for for us, it’s any any band thing, football thing, baseball thing, five kids. We went through that. We know what that fundraising is like, so we help to support those things as well. But you know, it’s whenever we see an opportunity and somebody asks, we’d like to do that. We’re coming up on Thanksgiving. So we partner with Blue Thanksgiving to promote them for free because it’s important to support our local police officers. They provide Thanksgiving meals for those police officers who are working that day. So those are just a few of the ones that we like to partner with.

Speaker5: [00:25:28] That’s super cool. At Terminus, we have since women owned and in roofing and and in solar. It was something for us that we really wanted to make the women owned aspect really prominent. So for us, there’s a women’s shelter up in Rome that is near and dear to Jessica’s heart and her family. And so that has been our thing that we’ve every month we give a portion of all the proceeds from roofs and everything that we do to them along with now with breast cancer. I lost one of my best friends a year ago, and so for me, super excited on Saturday to walk arm in arm with Tammy Lewis from St. Louis and the hero walk in downtown Woodstock. So we’re going to do that walk and then our guys and then our guys ran. Take our guys up to Rome, to a walk in her shoes walk. And so it’s for the the women’s shelter up in Rome. But the guys and we got to get this thing. Guys have to literally walk the mile in high heels.

Speaker2: [00:26:33] That is that is awesome pictures, please.

Speaker4: [00:26:35] Absolutely. Anyone wants to join us. You can sign up for free. It’s totally free. You get a T-shirt bag. It’s a walk a mile at hospitality house in Rome. It’s literally like a mile on a Friday. I think it’s at noon. It’s so fun. Guys, the police chief gets involved every year and has like the craziest high heels.

Speaker5: [00:26:54] Like all, just don’t know where they find us. I was

Speaker3: [00:26:57] Just going to say I will

Speaker4: [00:26:58] Totally make my husband and then there are

Speaker2: [00:27:01] Anything on Amazon.

Speaker5: [00:27:04] So you have to you.

Speaker3: [00:27:06] Do they have to size 11? Tripoli’s all right. I might have to put Brian in a pair of those, but

Speaker4: [00:27:12] I mean, like, there’s guys that are going to be in like thigh high boots walking down the street. It’s hilarious. It’s such a good cause. It’s their biggest event of the year that they put on, and so we’re so blessed to be one of the title sponsors this year.

Speaker3: [00:27:23] So do you guys do like clothing, drives and things for the shelter as well?

Speaker4: [00:27:27] So the the shelter has a thrift store in Rome and they take donations and then they sell it and all the proceeds they keep. But the people that are in the shelter get to shop for free so you can volunteer there. They don’t have any employees, they’re all volunteer. Only you can drop off. I mean, this would be far for them to come pick up. But if you had like something really big, they might be able to come get a volunteer to come pick it up. But yeah, my mom’s actually the director and has been for over 20 years there. She did 10 years in Raleigh and then came back and found herself right back where she started right after college. And it’s such a good shelter. It’s it’s such a huge need. And unfortunately, they’ve they’ve lost a lot of funding over the past eight years from the government. So if you feel entitled or like, if you feel led to donate, that’s a great shelter to to to be at. And yeah, it’s a 10000 square foot shelter. They can think they can house like a hundred people, a hundred women and their kids. And so it’s it’s truly a special place.

Speaker3: [00:28:30] That’s amazing. Please, please say thank you to your mom for the work she’s doing.

Speaker2: [00:28:34] Yeah, that’s all. Some so, Maggie, what motivates and inspires you? I would say poor customer service motivates and inspires me is odd as that sounds, but whenever I receive. Yes. So whenever I receive like poor customer service, it just it. It makes me want to give more to our customers. So any time that I receive that, I’m like, You know what? I’m going to go out there and I’m going to give the best customer service I can today. So, you know, I think poor customer service just really motivates me because there’s nothing more that that aggravates me than receiving poor customer service. There’s just no excuse for it. I mean, absolutely none. So definitely just want to show the mountain do better and and give better. That’s awesome, Ramona. Same question.

Speaker3: [00:29:21] Well, I told you, my dad was a small business owner and so was Brian’s. Brian’s dad owned a small business, too. So for me, maybe it’s the former English teacher. The thing that motivates, inspires me is meeting people like yourselves, the small local business owner, and hearing your story because everything starts with that dream and the dream to provide that better customer service to take care of your friends and neighbors in your community in a way that larger corporations or bigger people, or even just that not reputable guy that’s not licensed and insured, which you know you guys know, we refer to them as truck and a truck, you know, and there’s tons of them, especially all over social media, and you can’t trust those people. So what motivates and inspires me is the opportunity to kind of meet them, learn their story and help Huracan. And sometimes that’s through money pages with marketing. And sometimes it’s just who do I know that can help you and help your business? I, you know, with my background, I actually spent yesterday serving as a free educational advocate for one of my business owners because her son’s IEP meeting was up and she was beside herself and didn’t know how to handle it. So that’s why I spent my my my morning yesterday, you know, because you’re called to help however you can. And you ladies are really inspiring. And quite frankly, you know, I work with my husband too, and it’s a rare thing I have to say to be in a room where there are four of us who work very successfully with our husbands. And what a blessing. But that’s that’s really what it is for me is it’s the story and the journey and the it takes a village mindset to be able to, you know, help others.

Speaker2: [00:30:55] Chelsea, what about you?

Speaker5: [00:30:58] Hmm. I mean, I really feel like for us, it’s yes, we want to do. We want to do everything differently. I know that there’s a lot of really good roofers and roofing companies out there, but I just I just have this feeling in my soul that we that we’re meant for something big. You know, we’re meant for something bigger and something that we can like the generational wealth, like something that I can give to my children, something I can feel like we we did that like that was from scratch. Like, Heck, yeah, you know, like good. I mean, seriously, I just especially whenever I can, whether it’s residential or commercial or anything like that, just being able to go into a room and to own it with confidence and to know that out of anybody in this room, I know I’m the best, you know, and I’m I want to I want that to to be something that my children see. I want them to see. Their mom owns something and own something well and own something with integrity and be able to stamp it and prove it and be like, All right, loving me.

Speaker3: [00:32:10] That’s inspiring.

Speaker2: [00:32:12] It’s very inspiring. Jessica, tell us about you.

Speaker4: [00:32:16] Let’s see. I’m going to piggyback off Chelsea a little bit. I grew up with a single mom, so me and my mom are always super close. I’m an only child and then I have three girls. So I grew up and I always I always joke. It’s I call it gifted kid syndrome like, you know, got put in gifted when I was really young and always had to like, do the best and be the best and always had, you know, great grades, even without trying. And then I got done with school and I was like, Oh, what? What do I do? What do I do now? And I think it’s I know a lot of my friends that had the same exact path growing up, and we always are like, it’s kind of like Jack of all trades, master of none. And and to feel like the OK, this is what I pick. I’m not going to be indecisive. I’m going to pick this. And did I think it was going to be roofing? No. But I want to show my kids that it doesn’t matter what you pick. You can be successful at whatever you want to do, whether it’s even if it’s like one of the cliches like, Oh, there’s you know, all the actors work in a coffee shop.

Speaker4: [00:33:13] Ok, well, if you want to do that, I mean, my kids are little right now. They don’t know what they want to do, but they would all be very good actresses. They are very dramatic, but it’s like one of those things that it’s like if you’re going to if you’re going to say you’re going to be an actor, well, I’m moving your butt out to California or wherever the Hollywood is at that point and you’re going to be the best damn one. You can be like, I don’t care if you ever get a role, but as long as you’re doing the best that you can be, that’s all I care about. And I just want them to see me doing the best that I can do at something, even if it’s not like what I thought that I would be doing and that that’s OK. You can still find success in the unexpected. And then when life changes like still find that way to to get fulfilled and be successful, even if it’s not what you originally like, think you know?

Speaker2: [00:33:58] Yeah, my husband grew up in New Orleans, and so he participated in, you know, Mardi Gras every year, parades and stuff. And he he he would always say the same thing to the kids. He would say, If you have to shovel poop behind the horses in the parade, you be the best poop shovel that you can be. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker4: [00:34:19] And it’s OK to adapt and, you know, have five different careers. It’s totally fine. And it doesn’t mean that you are less than someone who’s had the same dream since they were five. It’s OK. You can still have the same amount of success and and self-worth is as that person that’s known what they’ve wanted to do since they were two. It doesn’t matter.

Speaker3: [00:34:37] And then sometimes you, you know, like I knew, teaching was my thing from second grade on and then here I am, you know, at 50, doing a complete career change and loving it, it’s been such a blessing. And it’s really great message for your kids, for you to say, you know, you don’t have to fit into society’s expectations or even necessarily the expectations of yourself on the path you’re on. You can make that change and do something really amazing and great.

Speaker5: [00:35:04] Good for you. Yeah. And I feel like to another thing that motivates me a little bit along the way has been in a weird way. I don’t know if it’s happened for you guys, but as you grow in success and as you grow in like popularity in your field of expertize. I mean, I’ve lost a lot of friends like, you know, like I have, you know, the the hatred there is terrible. But yeah, like, I mean, you know, people that I really thought were going to be by my side no matter what. And then whenever I decided to do this and they didn’t think it was a good idea at the time, you know, totally gone. Just gone, you know, and then words that, you know, they’ll say, or I hear people say on social media or whatever and like, Cool man, OK, well, you’re lucky that that actually has worked. As a disadvantage to you, because now that’s lit my fire up like in I actually posted on my story today where it was like, if you’re going to have those thoughts, you’re going to like, admire me from afar, but don’t come interrupt me and what I’m doing because the best is yet to come and you can’t take me down. You know, like, I can’t remember the Bible verse right now, but I’m on the mountain and you can’t bring me down that one. Anyways, it’s in the Bible. You know

Speaker3: [00:36:36] It is. I would imagine for you. Your friends were probably shocked because it’s such an unexpected industry for women, and I’m betting Maggie, you probably experience some of that being in service.

Speaker2: [00:36:46] Yeah. Absolutely. Yes to. Yes, yes.

Speaker3: [00:36:49] And you two? Yeah, automotive. Absolutely, right?

Speaker2: [00:36:52] Yeah, I do. You think they’re jealous, Chelsea, of your success?

Speaker5: [00:37:02] I would say yes. Yeah. But I mean, I frankly, I don’t really care now because if they if they were my real friends, you know, well, I’m sorry, would be there.

Speaker2: [00:37:12] I’m sorry you’ve had to live through that, but I do feel like we become like the people that we surround ourselves with. And as you continue to grow and change, the people that you surround yourself with are going to be more like minded. And that’s going to help you continue to move in the direction that you feel called to move in. And like that brings me to the next question, which is about mentoring, being mentored and mentoring others. Who wants to answer that first? Like who is mentoring you and who are you mentoring and how does that look?

Speaker4: [00:37:51] It’s Jessica, I don’t know if you guys know our voices yet, so I I really honestly feel like I’ve been mentored my whole life by my mom. I touched on her a little bit, but she was always the loudest in the room and not always the popular one. She has worked really, really hard at her job. I’ve seen her go toe to toe with lawyers, doctors, policemen, politicians, senators like yelling at them because they’re doing the wrong thing. Like she was never afraid to be that voice and watching that growing up as a young girl and being like, OK, well, you know, so-and-so is not showing up at the shelter, so we’re going to go spend the night at the shelter. Sorry, mommy has to work like that’s how it was. And she never made an excuse and she never apologized for who she was. And in that changed my perception of what it means to be a strong woman, and that it’s OK to have the loudest voice and not be the popular one. There was a brief, you know, stint in high school that I did not think that that was OK.

Speaker3: [00:38:50] But you know, I think we all had that nice girl.

Speaker4: [00:38:53] Yeah. But as an adult, looking back on how. Who she is and how she raised me, and, you know, I remember it’s so funny that I remember this, but the first time she ever met my husband, he asked her What’s one thing I need to know? And she was like, That just is going to be who she is, whether she’s in front of the president or the homeless person down the street, and she is not going to apologize for it. And I raised her that way. And if you ever try to change it, I will make sure she leaves you. And I was like, OK, well, hi. Nice to meet you. Ok, great coffee.

Speaker2: [00:39:24] But who needs the data room with the gun, right?

Speaker4: [00:39:26] Right, exactly. She’s much scarier, much scarier. But no, I truly believe that she has been my mentor, my whole life of who I want to be. And even if I didn’t know who I wanted to be, I knew I wanted to be like her. But not only that, like industry specific, I’ve been blessed to be in the room with a bunch of really powerful women that have killed the roofing and solar industry, and some of them are younger than me. But I still look at them and I’m like, Damn, I want to do that. How do you do that? Like, they walk in the room in every single person’s eye looks at them, not because they’re beautiful, which they are, but because they’re strong and they’re powerful and they’re smart and they know their industry inside and out. And I think that’s what when I’m looking for a mentors, I want someone who knows they want to know more than anyone else because people like, write them off before they even walk in. But then when they start talking, everyone’s like, Oh, oh, oh, she’s yeah, yep, she’s way smarter than me, OK? So that’s that’s my who I look for in mentors, as is people that are much smarter than I am and can command the respect that they they deserve even in this industry.

Speaker5: [00:40:32] Yeah. And do you feel like with. The Woodstock Business Club. So I firmly believe now getting yourself involved in any of those clubs in those communities so that you can meet amazing people that I mean, Laurie, are coffee with you. I mean, you know, it was amazing. I mean, I wasn’t expecting to. Oh, that was my knee. I wasn’t expecting to, you know, be incomplete like adoration of what you do and your heart, you know, so there’s just there’s so many opportunities just around just sitting right across from you or down the street from you or whenever you go to one of the restaurants, you know, the people that own them. They’re all wonderful people. So for us, I feel like I’ve been in the process too of like, you know, doing Woodstock Business Club. And that has opened up doors to be a part of other clubs like down in Atlanta for commercial side, where I’m looking at these women that they’re just killing it. So to have the nerve or whatever you want to call it, to just go and ask them to, you know, go have coffee or go. In my case, it was to go have tequila, but I’m not going to lie

Speaker2: [00:41:58] Whatever it takes. Yes.

Speaker5: [00:42:00] So and it just hurt me. I mean, that was her favorite, too. So it worked out. And now, you know, I can call a couple of them with any question. And two, they’re really good about just encouraging me and just sending me text messages to say, Hey, go rocket today. All right, like, just kill it. And if you have questions, let me know. You know you just have their backs, but you just it’s that first step of going to a like a community club type thing speaking up. And if you have if you feel like I need to meet this one, this one and this one. Go meet them and then set up your one on ones. Yeah, and grow those relationships.

Speaker2: [00:42:42] What about your Ramona?

Speaker3: [00:42:45] I have a mom similar to yours, so she’s been my role model my whole life, but coming into a career change at this point, I don’t have a mentor, I have a board of directors I call them who aren’t actually our company board of directors. They’re my life board of directors. And some of them are amazing women who helped me in my faith journey and, you know, are just as support sort of source of support for that. And then I have some that I’ve met in networking and there’s men and women like because they all have different strengths and weaknesses, as in areas of expertize. So they mentor me on terms of, you know, how did I get started in networking and where do you go and what do you look for? And and you know, how do you organize your time? Because all of all of that’s so new for me. Or at least it was a few years ago. And how do you, you know, connect with local businesses? And as far as, like, the key mentor? I would I would have to say it’s really Alan Worley, our CEO and his wife, Kirsten.

Speaker3: [00:43:46] There are, you know, role models in terms of giving back and how they do it. And Alan really gave up this high power position with a great thing, mortgaged his house, borrowed money from his parents and started his company from scratch 20 years ago, pounding the streets, knocking on the doors. You know all of that. And he’s grown it now to a national level company that handles the likes of the print digital for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Better Business Bureau and people like that. But he’s still humble and in touch, and he is available to kind of talk me through anything from I’m going into a big meeting and this is what I want to talk about. Like, how do I do this? Because I’m, you know, I’m here’s the opportunity. I’m not. I really we don’t sell advertising. We create partnerships so that whole like, Oh. Always be closing. That’s just not part of our culture, but ultimately it’s business. So he’s that person that has built this from the relationship standpoint. So he’s a great source of inspiration and resource for me.

Speaker2: [00:44:47] Yeah, that’s awesome. I do feel like we’ve we’ve mentioned Woodstock Business Club specifically, but I do feel like mentoring or I like networking is new to me as well, and I do feel like the success that has come from it has not been about trying to find the business. It’s been about creating the friendships and the relationships and and that it’s come from there because in every business, you’re not going to do everything perfectly. But if I know who you are and I know your heart, then I know that if if there’s a mistake, you’ll fix it or I know that you didn’t mean to do it, or I know that you weren’t trying to rip me off or whatever, whatever, whatever it is, you know, you’re not

Speaker3: [00:45:32] That out of town, scam person. Just yeah, yeah. Right?

Speaker2: [00:45:37] Yeah. Well, Maggie, how about you? Who? Who is mentoring you and who are you mentoring and how does that look? So I think that we can take something from each person that we meet, even if it’s something like that. I, you know, I’m like, I don’t want to be like that person. I didn’t appreciate the way that they interacted with me. I want to make sure that I don’t do that toward somebody else, or it can be a positive thing. There’s always something that we can take from each person that we meet, and it’s just surrounding yourselves with like minded individuals, you know, strong women in business that, you know, we know we have each other’s backs. And if I need, you know, have a question or need a little bit of encouragement or something like that, then you know, I’ve got 10 people that I can, you know, just reach out to and get that, you know, motivation and encouragement from them. So I think it’s just really important just to surround yourself with like minded individuals. And, you know, we can just mentor each other and you know it, you know, it takes a village, but I mean, it does take a village, right? I mean, so really?

Speaker5: [00:46:35] Yeah, or it’s like, you see somebody and you’re like, OK, in ten years, I want to be there, right? How did you do it? What did you do that you would never do again? Like, what are the like? I want to know all the good stuff and the bad stuff, so I don’t do the bad stuff. Exactly. I’m just going to do this stuff right here in the middle. That’s the good

Speaker2: [00:46:53] Stuff. And then you take you take away from them and then you make it your own. I mean, so you know, it’s important to get a collaborative opinions, views, perspectives on everything. And then you just turn it into your own and then it becomes.

Speaker5: [00:47:07] And to have people that you can just go and vent. Exactly.

Speaker2: [00:47:10] Yes, that is so important.

Speaker5: [00:47:12] This homeowner that literally won’t pay.

Speaker4: [00:47:16] Oh, how do you do that?

Speaker3: [00:47:17] Let’s, yeah, let’s not talk about those people. But you know, you mentioned the Woodstock one and four. For those people who are listening who are women in business, the KBIA Women’s Luncheon is an amazing place to meet some amazing people over there. Mba has a great group of women in the East. Cobb East. Com Business Association has a women’s luncheon as well. I would strongly recommend them. There are some phenomenal women across all industries that you can get in touch with are so. Like high school women where you know, it’s catty and whatever they’re really looking to, how do we build each other up? How do we help each other, whether you do business together or not, do business together. It’s we’re all in business together. How do we help one another? And there are some great resources there, too?

Speaker2: [00:48:00] Yeah. Well, you bring me to the last question for everybody, and I’ll start with you, Maggie. What advice do you have for other women business owners who are out there trying to kill it? Oh, wow. Don’t take shit from anybody. Just just don’t take shit from anybody. I mean, be your own person, own it. If you if you mess up. Own it, but just be your own person. Go out there and do it. How about you, Jessica?

Speaker4: [00:48:32] I would say don’t limit yourself to your own beliefs or other people’s. I think as women, we always are quick to apologize for things that are not our fault or quickly diminish ourselves to make other people comfortable. Stop shrinking yourself to make other people comfortable and learn your craft. Learn it better because unfortunately, you’re going to have to to sit in some rooms, be the smartest person at the table that you possibly can be and and always stay humble, but definitely know you’re worth going into an industry.

Speaker3: [00:49:04] Ramona. In my teaching years from my very first classroom when I still had a chalkboard. Yes, that long ago, I always had a saying that I put on the board. That was adversity ends with perseverance and perseverance ends with success. And I always had it up there and talk to my kids about that as they thought. You know, as middle schoolers starting to figure themselves out. You know who who you want to be as a person who you want to be as that. And I have found that it’s on a chalkboard in my office now because I kind of am old school that way. And it’s a good reminder for me every day because there are challenges and adversities every day in different forms. And sometimes it’s business and sometimes it’s emotional and sometimes emotional impacts your business. But stick with it. Don’t give up you. You have this dream and you started something for a reason. So never forget your purpose and just, you know, know that there’s people out there to support you.

Speaker2: [00:50:00] That’s perfect, awesome, Chelsea.

Speaker5: [00:50:05] I mean, all theirs are really, really good. So I mean, I feel like if you have the the feeling or the that pool to do it and do it, like if you don’t do it, you’re you’re going to look back and wonder what ifs. But then I also feel like one of the best things to do is just to continue to invest in yourself and in your mind. So if you’re going to, you know, own a company and push it to be the best? I mean, it’s it’s kind of the the whole thing we were taught was that you have like, what was John Maxwell said it. It’s like you have your ceiling and your ceiling goes only this high. So then that’s if this is how much you know and how much you’re putting into yourself. That’s that’s how your business is going to go. So if you want your business to succeed and to be abundant and growing well, you have to grow and you have to keep pushing that ceiling up. So investing in yourself and your and your body, your soul and your mind, all of it and just never. Never going back on what you why you first started, so remember your whys and that’s something we push really hard with our sales reps. We have all of our sales reps, write out all of their goals and their why. So whenever they have their quarterly reviews with their manager, like, don’t forget, this is why you’re doing it, you know? So always remember your whys and. Don’t don’t take crap from nobody.

Speaker2: [00:51:44] And this is why I do this, because I have learned so much today and I’ve been so inspired and I can’t wait to go back and listen to this over and over again and continue to my own journey, you know, growing and and learning and becoming. So thank you guys for being here today. And it’s just been an amazing time. I appreciate each of you.

Speaker3: [00:52:05] Thank you. Thank you so much.