October 13, 2025 • 35 mins
What happens when a Night Stalker trades flight ops for flat roofs—and still refuses to miss the mission? We sit down with Dylan Kirkpatrick, a former 160th SOAR crew chief, who rebuilt his sense of purpose by owning the full stack of commercial roofing: business development, estimating, and project management in the booming Dallas–Fort Worth market.
Dylan walks us through the habits forged in special operations—meticulous planning, relentless tempo, and uncompromising integrity—and how they transfer directly to high-stakes construction. He unpacks the steep learning curve of product mastery, from manufacturer systems to screw counts that make or break million-dollar proposals, and explains why a partnership mindset earns trust when roofers are first to be blamed for leaks. Along the way, we talk frankly about identity after service, survivor’s guilt, and the ongoing toll of suicide in both veteran and construction communities, grounding big goals with family support and everyday routines that keep him steady.
If you’re curious how to build a book of business from zero, get onto GC bid lists, or diversify into building owners and property management groups, Dylan shares concrete steps and targets—like crossing $1.1M in awarded revenue within months and pushing for $1.5M by year’s end. We also explore the wider DFW landscape—data centers, healthcare, K–12, and high-end interiors—and why now is a prime window for veterans and career changers to enter trades like roofing, HVAC, electrical, or GC operations with tools such as SkillBridge.
Subscribe for more real-world playbooks from veterans thriving in construction. If Dylan’s journey helped you, share this episode with a teammate, leave a review, and tell us what mission you’re chasing next.
This episode is brought to you buy Aerial Resupply Coffee. Aerial Resupply delivers bold flavor with every sip. Their beans are expertly roasted for peak freshness and a smooth, invigorating taste. Elevate your coffee game by using code CONSTRUCTIONVET10 at checkout to receive 10% off every order. Stay caffeinated with Aerial Resupply Coffee.
If you're a military veteran in the construction industry, or you're in the construction industry and support our military vets, and you'd like to be a guest on the podcast you can find me at constructionvetpodcast@gmail.com , or send me a message on LinkedIn. You can find me there at Scott Friend. Let's share the stories and motivate others!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:46):
Hey Dylan, how's it going, man?
SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
It's going good, Scott.
How are you, sir?
SPEAKER_02 (00:50):
I'm good, man.
I appreciate it.
Uh, I'm really excited aboutthis Dylan.
So Dylan's a U.S.
Army vet who served in the 160thSpecial Operations Aviation
Aviation Regiment.
We'll get into a little bitabout that, but it's basically
like the most elite aviationunit in the world, in my
opinion, um, and many others.
But he recently, afterseparating last year, correct,
(01:12):
from the service, um recentlygot into business development
and estimating for TXDcommercial, which is a
commercial and multifamilyroofing company.
So uh I'm excited to dig intoit, man.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
I appreciate the intro.
I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_02 (01:28):
Yeah.
So uh let's start kind of withyour origin story with your
roots.
So, where did you grow up andwhat influenced your decision to
join the army?
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
Yeah, so uh like you said, Dylan Kirkpatrick.
So I grew up here in uh DFW, somore specifically, Great Vine,
Texas.
Uh grew up here, um had anawesome childhood, uh, ended up
wanting to join the militaryjust through uh you know having,
I feel like a lot of us kind ofhave this same feeling, but just
a passion to do more.
(01:57):
You know, I really didn't have alot going for me coming out of
high school, didn't really payattention to anything like that.
So, you know, the army was uh agreat way to get out and explore
and see the world.
And uh yeah, just joined themilitary, wanted to do something
in aviation.
Uh I liked being a mechanic, youknow, at home, working on cars
and stuff like that.
So um ended up getting in intouh 15 Tango, which is Blackhawk
(02:22):
uh mechanics.
So ended up doing that, went tobasic at uh Fort Jackson, uh
relaxing Jackson, if you will,and then went to AIT at Fort
Eustace, learned how to uh fixhelicopters, and then uh
ultimately got DA selected.
So uh the regiment told me thatI was gonna go to their
selection course.
Knew nothing about them and uhwent through the course and had
(02:44):
a great time.
SPEAKER_02 (02:45):
Nice.
So I want to back up.
So you you liked tinkering onengines and things like that.
So what was it that drew youspecifically to aviation?
Because there's a bunch ofdifferent roles in the army that
you could have been working ontrucks or all kinds of stuff.
What was it about aviation?
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Man, aviation is just I've always had a passion
for it, whether it be you know,planes, cessna's, or you know,
jets or anything like that.
And you know, everybody sees thecool guy movies, uh helicopters
flying around and stuff likethat.
So I I just knew that aviationwas a path that I wanted, and I
I liked I liked working as amechanic, and you know,
(03:22):
ultimately I I did have anunderstanding of uh you know
being a crew chief and beingable to fly around and escort
guys and helicopters and stufflike that.
So uh, you know, my baselineknowledge was very minimum, but
I knew that was kind of theroute that I wanted.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
Very cool.
So uh for people that don'tknow, can you give us a sense of
what life was like serving inthat type of unit and what the
160th is?
SPEAKER_01 (03:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
Man, the tempo is insanity.
Um, it's the most rewarding job,you know, that I could ever wish
for in the military.
So I was DA selected, so forpeople that don't know, I was
told that I was gonna be goingto this unit, you know, that
multiple factors, whether it'slow manning or you know, just
(04:06):
needing new blood in there.
So I was told that I was gonnago to the regiment.
Had no idea who they were, whatthey did.
Um so I ended up going and theunit, if I can sum it up, I was
with uh 1st Battalion 160th atFort Campbell, Kentucky, uh, for
about two years.
You know, side story, I was withuh C2, which was another flight
(04:28):
company um within the 160th, uh2nd Battalion.
But basically the mission set isto support customers that we
that we had at the you know thehighest hot tempo that you can
ask for in army aviation,whether it may be you know
high-value targets or you know,essentially I like to call it uh
(04:50):
uber black.
So we would take people wherethey needed to go to do what
they needed to do.
SPEAKER_02 (04:56):
Uber black.
Okay, that's a good way to putit.
And uh so looking back, what doyou feel the army in particular
special operations gave you uhin terms of mindset, discipline,
perspective, things like that?
SPEAKER_01 (05:10):
Yeah, I actually think about that a lot.
I you know, in my new life withwhat I do now in construction, I
honestly I I credit everythingto my upbringing in that type
unit.
I mean, you're taught from dayone that the mission set is is
number one.
You know, whatever you need todo to make it happen, that
that's what needs to be done.
So I I really hold that to ahigh value.
(05:32):
But you know, transitioning overinto my civilian life now, um,
you know, I see the resilience,you know, not getting down if
you know uh a client doesn'twant to go to lunch with you, or
you know, if you put out a badestimate or something like that,
it really just helps you grind.
And I feel like that sets meapart in this industry as a lot
of other veterans may feel thesame.
(05:54):
I just feel like we all havethat edge over somebody else
willing to do something, ormaybe go the extra mile or stay
late or whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_02 (06:04):
Yeah, very cool.
Okay, so so let's let's talkabout your transition um into
civilian life and what you'redoing now, your roofing career.
So you separated just lastApril.
So the transition, it's stillpretty fresh.
Uh, what was that first stretchof civilian life like for you?
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
It was hard.
Um, you know, biggest thing forme was uh best way to put it.
So I did um I did six yearsactive.
I'm finishing up a one-yearreservist contract contract
right now.
Um, a sense of purpose, youknow, once when whenever you're
in that that mindset and withwhatever you know unit anybody's
with, you you feel that thatsense of drive and you have a
(06:45):
purpose.
Definitely transitioning over.
I made the decision personallyfor my family, you know, with
the the unit that I was with, optempo is very high.
You're gone a lot, um, gonefrequently.
So I wanted to make thattransition to kind of be more
homebound, you know, with mydaughter growing up, my wife.
Um, but transitioning over wasgreat.
(07:06):
You know, I did the uh careerskills program, so I did a uh
six-month-long internship with auh large-scale GC down here in
Dallas, Texas.
Learned everything from theground up.
I mean, I was green as greengets and not knowing anything
about construction.
They took me in as an assistantsuperintendent, just kind of
threw me in projects, got to uhexperience a lot of different um
(07:30):
construction projects from theground up to heavy industrial to
tenant improvement, whatever itmay have been.
So I ended up doing that.
That's kind of how I got intothe industry.
Once fully separating from themilitary, um, I just felt like
that assistant superintendentwasn't really my calling where I
needed to be.
So I ended up making atransition over to roofing, more
(07:53):
specifically, kind of likeroofing sales.
Um and commercial roofing isgreat, man.
You know, I get to work withGCs, I get to, you know, own my
own book of business, I estimateall my projects, I close all my
deals, I manage my projects, soI get a little bit of everything
and I like where I'm at rightnow.
SPEAKER_02 (08:12):
Very good.
So how did you get connectedwith these guys at TXD
Commercial?
SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
So the COO of this company was actually my youth
pastor growing up as a kid.
And uh I stayed in contact withhim.
I I see him as a mentor, I Ilean on him a lot, and you know,
I I feel like I randomly reachedout to him one day and just kind
of told him, like, hey, thisassistant superintendent thing
isn't really for me.
I'm I'm fresh, I'm back home,um, you know, looking for
(08:42):
something to do, something to,you know, somewhere to work.
And uh really just kind of fellin my lap.
He gave me an opportunity and II ran with it.
SPEAKER_02 (08:51):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So the this job was this kind ofon your radar, or did it come
more of kind of like anopportunity that opened up?
It sounds like it was just moreof a shock than anything.
SPEAKER_01 (09:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
The uh the opportunity was notplanned.
Uh, I never thought that I'd bea roofing estimator for a
commercial roofing company.
Uh that was not in the plan.
But I mean, these guys aregreat.
They taught me everything.
You know, we use a system calledProcore.
I learned how to estimateprojects, pricing, you know,
(09:22):
accounting, you know, reallytaught me how to uh own a book
of business, close deals, youknow, uh pretty much everything.
SPEAKER_02 (09:32):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So walk us through kind of whatyour role.
I know you do two differentroles.
You kind of you do theestimating thing and BD.
So what does your day-to-daylook like at TXD Commercial?
SPEAKER_01 (09:43):
Yeah, so I I joke about this a lot, especially
with my boss.
Um, and I have a hybrid role, isthe best way to put it.
So kind of with my backgroundand my drive, like we were
talking about earlier, I I'm abusiness of business development
manager first and foremost.
So I own my own book.
I I prospect my own clients thatI want to work for.
(10:06):
I basically go out, I find uh aGC.
I do a lot of uh newconstruction work.
So I find a GC that I want towork for that you know has
similar values as me.
And I earn their trust, I getput on their bid list, they give
me opportunities for projectsthat they're working on.
I you know, do my own estimates,create a proposal with whatever
(10:26):
number I need, send it off tothem.
You know, once it's in theirball court, you know, I kind of
play into that uh businessrelationship.
You know, I end up closing thedeal, and then once contracts
are signed, um, then I kind ofput on my project management
cap.
I deal with all the logistics,getting material on site, uh,
(10:47):
scheduling my cruise, makingsure that they're good to go,
and then then I put on mysuperintendent hat and then I
make sure the project goes welluh according to budget.
I mean, it's a lot of work, butit's it's the best way that I
can do it because it's all in myhands.
I know the project, I know themoney, I know how it's supposed
to happen, and then uh punchlists, get warrantees out, and
(11:08):
uh on to the next one.
SPEAKER_02 (11:10):
Yeah, I mean, and that's a lot for you to have to
learn in about a year and a halfor so.
I mean, you've you've kind ofbeen all in.
Uh so were you what what did youfind the most rewarding about
this new chapter and kind ofwhat what's been the steepest
learning curve along the way?
SPEAKER_01 (11:28):
Yeah, I'd say steepest learning curve for sure
is just kind of learning theproduct.
So the biggest thing for me, andI feel like the same thing for
you, Scott, and really everyother veteran is I mean, we all
have the same mindset.
I'm not gonna push out a productthat that I don't really trust
or, you know, know that theproduct is good.
(11:48):
So I would say the biggestlearning curve would be
understanding the manufacturerthat I like to use, uh, giving a
detail-oriented proposal, youknow, screw screw count matters,
you know, whenever it comes downto a million-dollar proposal all
the way down to you know a tenthousand dollar proposal.
So I guess understanding thesystems, really kind of being a
(12:12):
steward of my craft, if youwill.
So knowing what I'm selling,understanding how everything
works, I would say that that'skind of my my biggest learning
curve and also the mostrewarding.
It it feels good to be thesmartest guy, you know, whenever
somebody asks you a question andyou can you can answer it with
confidence.
SPEAKER_02 (12:30):
Yeah, so I'm assuming you stay in contact
with a lot of folks from the160th.
So have you have you talked toold friends of yours from your
squadron and said, hey, likethis is what I'm doing now.
I think it's been a goodtransition.
Have you been able to sell foruh lack of better terms, the
industry to folks you servedwith?
SPEAKER_01 (12:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
I I I stay in contact withpretty much a pretty good
handful of uh of the guys that Iused to fly with.
Um you know, a lot a lot of myold friends, they're not in the
same, not old friends, mycurrent friends, they're not
really in the same space as me.
You know, they don't they don'thave young families, some of
them do.
Um, but to be honest with you,nobody wants to leave.
(13:12):
It's a great unit to be a partof.
They take care of their people,you know, it's it's a big
family.
It it takes a lot for somebodyto leave.
SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
Yeah, that's awesome.
That's really encouraging here.
Um okay, so kind of switchinggears here.
Uh, so vets often bring veryunique strengths to the table.
Um, and from your perspective,how do you think what you did in
the 160th helped you inestimating in BD?
SPEAKER_01 (13:40):
I I would definitely say the op tempo and the drive.
Um, you know, it's really easyto you know punch in at 8, 9
a.m.
if that's what you do, but youknow, more specific more
specific specifically for mehere, you know, we we started
days around you know 7, 7 30.
We go till about 5, 5.30.
(14:01):
And you know from what I've seenon the civilian side, that's not
normal.
Um, but it's also not abnormal.
It's really about the drive thatyou put in.
And I feel like kind of my myupbringing in my unit, but I
really credit it to that.
SPEAKER_02 (14:19):
Yeah, it's that grit, I would say for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (14:22):
Um, so in special operations, precision and
planning are also massive.
Um, and you kind of alluded to alittle bit about the planning,
but how else do those kind ofthings show up in the roofing
world?
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
Yeah, so uh I mean, roofing specifically, we're the
first people to get blamed foranything, right?
So if there's a leak, it was theroofer.
So definitely planning.
Um, you know, it anybody can putnumbers together and then you
know push out a proposal.
The biggest thing for us uh atTXD and myself specifically, um,
you know, a partnership mindset.
(14:58):
That's kind of what one of ourcore values that we live by here
at TXD.
I I don't want to, you know, putdown a roofing system and then
walk away, wipe my hands, if youwill.
So the biggest thing for us isuh partnership mindset,
basically having a plan, youknow, having unwavering,
(15:19):
unwavering integrity, justmaking sure that the the client
has trust in TXD.
So planning is up up frontforemost, the biggest thing for
us, just making sure that weknow what we're doing, we're
confident in our abilities, andyou know, we're gonna push out a
good product.
SPEAKER_02 (15:36):
Yeah, it's good.
Um so I know I'm producing thisafter the suicide prevention
month.
So we're we're recording thisthough on September 29th.
So we're at the butt end ofSuicide Prevention Month.
Obviously, we know it's amassive issue uh for vets, but
it's also the number one killerin construction as well.
(15:56):
Uh so I want to pause becausemental health and identity are
massive, uh, and they're uhthey're a big part of the
transition journey also.
So, how did leaving the army andleaving such a specialized unit,
how did that affect your senseof identity?
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
Honestly, it's huge.
Um, I definitely that was who Iwas for you know my entire I'm
I'm a younger gentleman.
I'm 25.
Uh, you know, I joined when Iwas 17, so that that's who I
was.
That's what I knew.
I you know, I wasn't a I wasn'tan adult going into the
military.
So um suicide prevention andmental health is it's a big deal
(16:36):
for me.
Um, you know, unfortunately, I Idid lose my first mentor, uh, my
platoon sergeant Roger Waffle tosuicide.
So I definitely love to check onthe guys, uh, make sure, you
know, first and foremost, I'mokay and all that good stuff.
But definitely, I'm sorry, Idrew a blank there.
SPEAKER_02 (16:58):
No, you're good.
Just kind of that that lostsense of identity.
I think we all feel that.
Um, and if anything, I'd ventureto say it's probably harder when
you leave such a special uhspecialized unit.
SPEAKER_01 (17:09):
Um yeah, absolutely, yeah.
Thank you.
So yeah, losing, you know,leaving the unit was uh a big
transition for me, a big, a bigjump.
You know, I talked about it withmy wife quite a bit, but
honestly, finding a good networkwhere wherever you go.
So whenever I transition, youknow, I do stay in contact with
you know my old buddies, uhmaking sure they're all good,
(17:31):
and but also finding a newpurpose in what I do now.
You know, I I was you know thebest crew chief that I could be
for the 160th at that time, andnow I want to be the best
business development manager andestimator and project manager.
You know, that that's where Iput my drive, and I really feel
like it it does good for themental health as well.
SPEAKER_02 (17:52):
Yeah, for sure.
And I I think I might havementioned when we went to lunch,
um, you know, we we're alltouched by it in one way or
another.
Suicide impacts a lot of peoplein the veteran community.
Um, we don't talk about itenough, I think, in the
construction community.
It's kind of like, oh, we focuson it a month or so.
I just don't feel like it's hiton enough.
(18:13):
Um, so my my bracelet that Iwear, you know, a lot of vets
wear a memorial bracelet.
Two of the guys on that braceletdied by their own hand, and it
it's rough to think about, butit's we wear these things as a
constant reminder.
Um that's to check in with yourbuddies.
Um, you know, the ones that thattook their life.
If you're wearing that on yourbracelet, it's a reminder to
check in with with your friends.
So um what challenges, I wouldsay mentally or emotionally, do
(18:37):
you think you you faced duringthe transition?
Maybe not the loss of selfnecessarily, but was it just
like like I'll I'll give you myexample for me.
I definitely lost myself.
It took me probably a decade toreally get comfortable with who
I was as a man and not identifysolely with my service.
But what what do you think youreally faced?
SPEAKER_01 (18:57):
Yeah, actually, it's funny you say that.
I I was talking about it withyou know my dad about two weeks
ago.
So the biggest challenge for mewas you know feeling a sense of
um quitting, if you will.
So I was able, you know, I couldhave kept going.
You know, I made a selfishdecision to, you know,
(19:17):
prioritize my family.
Um, not saying that the guy'sstill in the unit or doing that
by any means, but you know,whether it may be, you know,
losing friends and and crashesor whatever it may be, um,
definitely feeling a sense uh ofbeing a quitter.
You know, I I was able, I wastrained, I was proficient, I
(19:38):
knew what I was doing, and youknow, you just get that
self-doubt.
You you know, you think thatmaybe you could have done
something or you could have beena mentor or trained somebody or
something like that.
I would say that's the biggeststruggle for me.
SPEAKER_02 (19:51):
Yeah, I I want to interject there.
I would say I'm gonna disagreewith you.
I don't think it was selfish, Ithink it was selfless.
I think if you were selfish, youwouldn't have thought about your
wife and child.
You would have thought aboutwhat my career was, my future,
me, me, me, me.
So I don't think you made thewrong choice at all.
And there's a lot of guys thatget out uh for that reason.
(20:11):
And I know there's a lot ofpeople that want to focus on
retention and staying in, butyou've got to do what's what's
best for you and your family.
And I remember um I might haveshared this during lunch, but
when I when I went back in and Icommissioned this time, and I I
had every intent to go back toactive duty and to the chaplain
corps, and my mentor at the timehe said, Listen, don't forget
(20:35):
that your family needs to bethere to receive you off that
stage when you retire.
And you know, don't screw thatup.
And I I served in the reservesfor a couple years, and then I
went, you know what?
I don't think this is the bestthing for my family.
So I think I'm done.
I'm I'm glad I gave it a shot.
Um, but I I think if anything,you were you were selfless.
So um, so construction, it it'svery, very high pressure, just
(21:00):
like the service.
Uh, have you seen similaritiesbetween the stress of military
life and the stretch stress ofconstruction and business
development?
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah, so prime example is I havea project uh locally here in
Weatherford, Texas, which is uhit's a large-scale project, I
would say, you know, maybe30,000, 40,000 square feet,
something like that.
So um definitely whenever youkind of get up there in the the
larger square footage, I mean,there's always problems in
(21:29):
construction.
Somebody did something wrong orsomebody messed up your your
roof, and you know, it it's hardto be everywhere at once, but
you know, just kind of taking astep back, taking a breather,
you know, it's construction,things are gonna happen.
Um, but yes, to answer yourquestion, the stress levels are
there.
SPEAKER_02 (21:47):
Yeah, I mean it's a different type of stress,
granted.
Um, you're not getting bombslobbed at you, but it's it's
still dangerous.
I mean, it's very high pressure,especially in roofing.
You know, me being an insuranceguy now, roofing is it's very
difficult to insure roofersbecause it's it's a high-risk
environment.
So what do you think has beenhelpful for you personally to
(22:08):
keep balance and stay groundedand sort of protect your mental
health?
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
And honestly, family.
I mean, it it's awesome.
You know, I was at FortCampbell, so the in the
regiment, there's only threeplaces you can go, and that's
Georgia, Kentucky, orWashington.
So my family's all here inTexas, so you know, seeing them
maybe once, twice a year,something like that.
Definitely being able to rely ona on a family system is amazing.
(22:36):
Um, whether it be parents orbrother, sister, you know, in my
family, my daughter and my wife,it's it's just great.
You know, right now, you know,I'm doing the podcast and my
mom's helping me out with mydaughter tonight.
SPEAKER_02 (22:48):
That's awesome.
God bless, man.
That's such a a huge, huge thingto have that type of support
system.
I mean, in the military and andout for sure.
Um, what what advice do youthink you would give other
service members who are they'reabout to separate and they just
don't know what's next?
I mean, it's scary.
Let's let's be honest.
It's a very scary jump.
Um, I think guys like you and Iare very fortunate because we we
(23:11):
sort of had a way to land on ourfeet.
But I've seen guys from mybattalion that like they don't
know what to do and and they getthey get worried.
I don't know what's next.
So, what advice, if you'resomebody getting out right now,
would you give them?
SPEAKER_01 (23:24):
Man, trust the process.
The that's the one one thingthat I can say is trust the
process.
And two, use the resourcesallocated to you.
You know, the the army orwhatever branch of service you
were with, you know, you gaveeverything you had, and you
know, now it's your time totransition.
The military has so many greatopportunities, like Skillbridge,
(23:45):
for example.
That that's the route that Itook to ensure employment
whenever I separated.
The army will literally pay, youknow, per diem, travel, you you
keep your your military pay,your tri-care for six months
while you are essentially um acivilian employee.
You know, it's a no-brainer foryourself or a company wanting to
(24:10):
give you an opportunity becauseit's uh you're essentially free
labor for the for the civilianemployer.
You have endless opportunities.
Whatever you want to do, takethe jump.
Uh, one of the biggest things Istruggled with before I
separated was, you know, is thisthe right decision?
You know, I have a paycheckevery two weeks, I have
tri-care, my family's taken careof, all I got to do is work.
(24:31):
You know, walking away from thatis is tough, but there are
endless opportunities out here.
You know, you just have to keepthat same drive.
It's not gonna be easy, but justwork at it.
SPEAKER_02 (24:42):
Yeah, very cool.
Um, okay, so I'm gonna kind ofsegue into something else here.
Um, sort of like lessons, thevision, and and looking forward
in your career.
So you've been in this newcareer for just over a year.
Uh, what do you think you'remost proud of so far at this
point?
SPEAKER_01 (25:02):
Man, probably a selfish answer, but just kind of
what what I've built.
Um, like I said, I walked intothis industry with zero
contacts.
I I built my book of businessfrom from nothing, from
networking or, you know, officevisits or you know, whatever it
may have been, you know, I'mapproximately sitting, you know,
1 million, 1.1 million inawarded revenue.
(25:25):
It's a great goal and a greataccomplishment for me, not
knowing that, you know, I'd behere and you know, kind of
killing my goal that I set formyself.
I I'd say that that is that's mygreatest accomplishment as of
right now.
SPEAKER_02 (25:43):
Yeah, you should be proud, man.
I mean, I have just been stunnedby a couple folks that I've
interviewed to see the successin such a short amount of time,
Dylan.
I mean, I'm impressed, man.
I'm proud of you.
And another guy, Carl Muller,that I interviewed, he's he just
finished up his skill bridgeprogram.
He retired after 21 years.
(26:04):
He was a master sergeant.
And to hear the knowledge he hasabout the construction industry
that took me years to build, um,I'm just impressed, man.
I mean, the the quality ofpeople that are coming out of
the service these days has beennothing short of amazing.
So that's a big deal.
I mean, 1.1 million in sales inyour first year and a half being
in the industry.
That's a that's awesome.
(26:24):
You definitely should be proudof that.
SPEAKER_01 (26:26):
Yeah, I'm just gonna add a couple more brownie points
in there.
That's yeah, 10 months, 10months.
So just this year.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:34):
Wow, that's awesome, man.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Um, and I mean, roofing, likeyou said, it can be tough, but
it's I'd say with a lot oftrades, it's certainly
rewarding.
Um what do you think is thebigger vision for you, like
personally or with with TXD?
Like, what do you see coming forDylan in the future?
SPEAKER_01 (26:53):
Yeah, so the biggest thing is I I'm invested in in
TXD.
They've they've invested in me.
They've they've took the time totrain to you know bring me up
the right way.
And I really have massive goalsfor myself and for TXD.
We're you know, a roofingcompany here in in the
Metroplex, which, if anybodyknows this area, roofers are a
(27:16):
dime a dozen.
I mean, there's a million of ushere, so definitely wanting to
scale my operations and what Ican you know produce here and
with TXD commercial.
And also, you know, I'm I wantto see I want to see us grow.
I want to see multiple uh campuslocations for for TXD, and you
know, I want us to dolarge-scale projects.
SPEAKER_02 (27:39):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So, what about personally?
What do you think?
So you got you got a little oneand your wife, we didn't mention
your wife is prior army as well,she's a police officer.
Um what would you say, likewhat's the big picture for the
family?
SPEAKER_01 (27:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
So definitely wanting to man,what do I want us to do?
I I want us to, we just got intoa new house.
Uh we live up in Hazlet, Texas.
I I would say the next goal isto buy some land, uh, build our
dream home at that point, andyou know, just keep seeing my my
(28:16):
daughter succeed.
I wanna uh we just finished uppotty training this week, thank
God.
Yeah, so it's been rough.
Yeah, so you know, just seeingher succeed.
I want I want her to playsports, I want her to be happy,
I want her to grow up uh withher family and cousins and all
that stuff, and just kind ofkeep going.
SPEAKER_02 (28:34):
Yeah, and you know, I we might have talked at lunch,
but when my so I've got threedaughters, as a lot of people
know, but when my first onecame, my dad, so it's just me
and my sister, my dad said, Beready to be stressed out for the
rest of your life, because weknow how little boys think.
So, like protecting her, butman, it's it's such a cool
journey, and I'm I'm I'm soexcited for you guys uh to walk
(28:57):
through that.
So um kind of looping backaround.
If so, if a younger vet came upto you and said, Hey, I'm
thinking about constructionafter I get out, what what would
you tell them?
Like, let's talk about the good,the bad, the ugly, all of it.
Like, let's I think we need tobe straight up with people
instead of uh the industrysugarcoating it a lot because
they make it seem like it'swonderful just because they need
(29:19):
more people.
But what would you tell thisperson?
SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
Honestly, I would tell them yes.
I mean, there's a thousanddifferent avenues that you can
go through uh, you know, in theconstruction network.
I mean, if you want to be on theGC side, if you want to be
operations, you know, as asuperintendent, or if you want
to go to school and be a projectmanager, I don't even think you
have to go to schoolnecessarily, but really uh you
(29:42):
can go into each trade, HVAC,you know, plumbing,
electricians, roofing, you know,whatever it may be.
There's endless opportunities inthe in the construction world.
And contrary to belief, I mean,industry's booming right now,
people are building.
Uh, it's a great time for mespecifically.
Um, I would say it's it's agreat way to go.
(30:04):
You know, some of the ugly of itis it's not easy.
You know, you you had a hardlife in the military.
It's hard over here, too.
It's just about grit.
What do you want to put into it?
What do you want to get out ofit?
SPEAKER_02 (30:15):
Yeah, for sure.
And and dude, you're not lying.
I mean, here in Dallas FortWorth, we are blowing up, man.
I mean, it is booming.
Uh, it's moving up north, likepractically into Oklahoma.
It's moving down south where Ilive.
So you got data centers, you gothealthcare, you got K through
12, you've got high-endinteriors, office fit out, like
(30:36):
all this big stuff going on.
And it's not looking like it'sgoing to slow down.
I mean, I know the tax structurehere is great, so businesses
want to move in here.
Um, so now's definitely the timeto get into it for sure.
I mean, I I would say if I man,if I went back and did it all
over again, I would have gottenmy general contractor's license,
and I probably, this is when Iwas in Virginia and DC at the
(30:57):
time when I got out.
I probably would have started myown gig.
Um, and Texas is a really goodplace to do that.
You don't need a GC licensehere.
Um, you can start an LLC forwhat, like 300 bucks, maybe go
on a legal Zoom website orsomething sim uh similar to
that.
But yeah, I I I think what Iwould tell people is there's a
(31:21):
lot of positives, but like youneed to be ready to have that
grit that you talked about too.
Because there are like somebodyonce said to me, the highs are
high and the lows are reallylow.
Like it can be really tough.
You can really have to grindthrough it.
But I think where we bring adifferent perspective as vets is
like, man, today sucks, but I'mnot getting bombs lobbed at me,
(31:43):
I'm not getting shot at.
I will most likely be sleepingin my own bed tonight if I'm not
a traveling guy.
So I think you know, even thethe negatives aren't as bad as
we've experienced, right?
SPEAKER_01 (31:55):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (31:57):
So um what goals are you chasing right now, man?
You got a you got a big revenuegoal you're chasing, or are you
guys trying to expand?
What do you think?
SPEAKER_01 (32:06):
Yeah, so personally for myself, um, a goal that I
set for myself earlier in theyear, you know, I really want to
reach 1.5 million, which youknow, I a couple of my clients
that I have, we have someoutstanding proposals that you
know have a have a really goodchance to go through.
I'd say financially that that'smy goal.
Um personally, a goal for myselfis you know, I'm very uh GC
(32:27):
dense in my pipeline.
I I do a lot of GC work, a lotof new construction.
Definitely trying to get outthere and network, meet a lot of
uh you know, building owners orproperty management groups, just
trying to diversify myself alittle bit.
You know, TXD Commercial, we'rea large-scale roofing company
where we can, you know, knockout the accurate dealership off
(32:50):
of 820.
You know, we we have thecapacity to do that, but we also
do you know, tenant improvement.
You know, if anybody has a leak,I can go out there and fix it or
you know, service plans,whatever it may be, just kind of
diversify myself a little bit,you know, get away from strictly
GC work, which is great, it'sprofitable.
I'm having a great time doingit, but just trying to expand my
(33:12):
book a little bit.
SPEAKER_02 (33:14):
Yeah, very good.
Well, man, I gotta say, I reallyappreciate you sharing your
story.
Uh, you know, going from servingin one of the most elite
aviation units and then steppinginto a brand new role in roofing
and BD.
I mean, your your journey isinspiring, it's real.
Um, so if if people arelistening and their your story
(33:35):
resonated with them, what's agood way to reach out if they
want to get in touch with you?
SPEAKER_01 (33:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, I mean, obviously you canGoogle TXD commercial, call our
office line, and you know, youcan get my contact information
there, or feel free to reach outon LinkedIn, Dylan Kirkpatrick.
Um, and I'd love to uh diversifymy network, not only you know
business-wise, but um on apersonal level.
(34:02):
I I love meeting veterans, youknow.
I'm talking with you, Scott andDan, trying to get into some
construction networking eventsaround here.
Just kind of get back to theroots and talk to some uh like
minded people.
So please feel free to reachout.
I'd love to help out if you haveany roofing related issues or
even you know, just a network.
SPEAKER_02 (34:21):
Very cool.
Man, I appreciate your time,Dylan.
SPEAKER_01 (34:24):
Yeah, Scott, thanks for having me, man.
This was awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (34:26):
Absolutely.
Hey Dylan, how's it going, man?
SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
It's going good, Scott.
How are you, sir?
SPEAKER_02 (00:50):
I'm good, man.
I appreciate it.
Uh, I'm really excited aboutthis Dylan.
So Dylan's a U.S.
Army vet who served in the 160thSpecial Operations Aviation
Aviation Regiment.
We'll get into a little bitabout that, but it's basically
like the most elite aviationunit in the world, in my
opinion, um, and many others.
But he recently, afterseparating last year, correct,
(01:12):
from the service, um recentlygot into business development
and estimating for TXDcommercial, which is a
commercial and multifamilyroofing company.
So uh I'm excited to dig intoit, man.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
I appreciate the intro.
I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_02 (01:28):
Yeah.
So uh let's start kind of withyour origin story with your
roots.
So, where did you grow up andwhat influenced your decision to
join the army?
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
Yeah, so uh like you said, Dylan Kirkpatrick.
So I grew up here in uh DFW, somore specifically, Great Vine,
Texas.
Uh grew up here, um had anawesome childhood, uh, ended up
wanting to join the militaryjust through uh you know having,
I feel like a lot of us kind ofhave this same feeling, but just
a passion to do more.
(01:57):
You know, I really didn't have alot going for me coming out of
high school, didn't really payattention to anything like that.
So, you know, the army was uh agreat way to get out and explore
and see the world.
And uh yeah, just joined themilitary, wanted to do something
in aviation.
Uh I liked being a mechanic, youknow, at home, working on cars
and stuff like that.
So um ended up getting in intouh 15 Tango, which is Blackhawk
(02:22):
uh mechanics.
So ended up doing that, went tobasic at uh Fort Jackson, uh
relaxing Jackson, if you will,and then went to AIT at Fort
Eustace, learned how to uh fixhelicopters, and then uh
ultimately got DA selected.
So uh the regiment told me thatI was gonna go to their
selection course.
Knew nothing about them and uhwent through the course and had
(02:44):
a great time.
SPEAKER_02 (02:45):
Nice.
So I want to back up.
So you you liked tinkering onengines and things like that.
So what was it that drew youspecifically to aviation?
Because there's a bunch ofdifferent roles in the army that
you could have been working ontrucks or all kinds of stuff.
What was it about aviation?
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Man, aviation is just I've always had a passion
for it, whether it be you know,planes, cessna's, or you know,
jets or anything like that.
And you know, everybody sees thecool guy movies, uh helicopters
flying around and stuff likethat.
So I I just knew that aviationwas a path that I wanted, and I
I liked I liked working as amechanic, and you know,
(03:22):
ultimately I I did have anunderstanding of uh you know
being a crew chief and beingable to fly around and escort
guys and helicopters and stufflike that.
So uh, you know, my baselineknowledge was very minimum, but
I knew that was kind of theroute that I wanted.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
Very cool.
So uh for people that don'tknow, can you give us a sense of
what life was like serving inthat type of unit and what the
160th is?
SPEAKER_01 (03:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
Man, the tempo is insanity.
Um, it's the most rewarding job,you know, that I could ever wish
for in the military.
So I was DA selected, so forpeople that don't know, I was
told that I was gonna be goingto this unit, you know, that
multiple factors, whether it'slow manning or you know, just
(04:06):
needing new blood in there.
So I was told that I was gonnago to the regiment.
Had no idea who they were, whatthey did.
Um so I ended up going and theunit, if I can sum it up, I was
with uh 1st Battalion 160th atFort Campbell, Kentucky, uh, for
about two years.
You know, side story, I was withuh C2, which was another flight
(04:28):
company um within the 160th, uh2nd Battalion.
But basically the mission set isto support customers that we
that we had at the you know thehighest hot tempo that you can
ask for in army aviation,whether it may be you know
high-value targets or you know,essentially I like to call it uh
(04:50):
uber black.
So we would take people wherethey needed to go to do what
they needed to do.
SPEAKER_02 (04:56):
Uber black.
Okay, that's a good way to putit.
And uh so looking back, what doyou feel the army in particular
special operations gave you uhin terms of mindset, discipline,
perspective, things like that?
SPEAKER_01 (05:10):
Yeah, I actually think about that a lot.
I you know, in my new life withwhat I do now in construction, I
honestly I I credit everythingto my upbringing in that type
unit.
I mean, you're taught from dayone that the mission set is is
number one.
You know, whatever you need todo to make it happen, that
that's what needs to be done.
So I I really hold that to ahigh value.
(05:32):
But you know, transitioning overinto my civilian life now, um,
you know, I see the resilience,you know, not getting down if
you know uh a client doesn'twant to go to lunch with you, or
you know, if you put out a badestimate or something like that,
it really just helps you grind.
And I feel like that sets meapart in this industry as a lot
of other veterans may feel thesame.
(05:54):
I just feel like we all havethat edge over somebody else
willing to do something, ormaybe go the extra mile or stay
late or whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_02 (06:04):
Yeah, very cool.
Okay, so so let's let's talkabout your transition um into
civilian life and what you'redoing now, your roofing career.
So you separated just lastApril.
So the transition, it's stillpretty fresh.
Uh, what was that first stretchof civilian life like for you?
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
It was hard.
Um, you know, biggest thing forme was uh best way to put it.
So I did um I did six yearsactive.
I'm finishing up a one-yearreservist contract contract
right now.
Um, a sense of purpose, youknow, once when whenever you're
in that that mindset and withwhatever you know unit anybody's
with, you you feel that thatsense of drive and you have a
(06:45):
purpose.
Definitely transitioning over.
I made the decision personallyfor my family, you know, with
the the unit that I was with, optempo is very high.
You're gone a lot, um, gonefrequently.
So I wanted to make thattransition to kind of be more
homebound, you know, with mydaughter growing up, my wife.
Um, but transitioning over wasgreat.
(07:06):
You know, I did the uh careerskills program, so I did a uh
six-month-long internship with auh large-scale GC down here in
Dallas, Texas.
Learned everything from theground up.
I mean, I was green as greengets and not knowing anything
about construction.
They took me in as an assistantsuperintendent, just kind of
threw me in projects, got to uhexperience a lot of different um
(07:30):
construction projects from theground up to heavy industrial to
tenant improvement, whatever itmay have been.
So I ended up doing that.
That's kind of how I got intothe industry.
Once fully separating from themilitary, um, I just felt like
that assistant superintendentwasn't really my calling where I
needed to be.
So I ended up making atransition over to roofing, more
(07:53):
specifically, kind of likeroofing sales.
Um and commercial roofing isgreat, man.
You know, I get to work withGCs, I get to, you know, own my
own book of business, I estimateall my projects, I close all my
deals, I manage my projects, soI get a little bit of everything
and I like where I'm at rightnow.
SPEAKER_02 (08:12):
Very good.
So how did you get connectedwith these guys at TXD
Commercial?
SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
So the COO of this company was actually my youth
pastor growing up as a kid.
And uh I stayed in contact withhim.
I I see him as a mentor, I Ilean on him a lot, and you know,
I I feel like I randomly reachedout to him one day and just kind
of told him, like, hey, thisassistant superintendent thing
isn't really for me.
I'm I'm fresh, I'm back home,um, you know, looking for
(08:42):
something to do, something to,you know, somewhere to work.
And uh really just kind of fellin my lap.
He gave me an opportunity and II ran with it.
SPEAKER_02 (08:51):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So the this job was this kind ofon your radar, or did it come
more of kind of like anopportunity that opened up?
It sounds like it was just moreof a shock than anything.
SPEAKER_01 (09:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
The uh the opportunity was notplanned.
Uh, I never thought that I'd bea roofing estimator for a
commercial roofing company.
Uh that was not in the plan.
But I mean, these guys aregreat.
They taught me everything.
You know, we use a system calledProcore.
I learned how to estimateprojects, pricing, you know,
(09:22):
accounting, you know, reallytaught me how to uh own a book
of business, close deals, youknow, uh pretty much everything.
SPEAKER_02 (09:32):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So walk us through kind of whatyour role.
I know you do two differentroles.
You kind of you do theestimating thing and BD.
So what does your day-to-daylook like at TXD Commercial?
SPEAKER_01 (09:43):
Yeah, so I I joke about this a lot, especially
with my boss.
Um, and I have a hybrid role, isthe best way to put it.
So kind of with my backgroundand my drive, like we were
talking about earlier, I I'm abusiness of business development
manager first and foremost.
So I own my own book.
I I prospect my own clients thatI want to work for.
(10:06):
I basically go out, I find uh aGC.
I do a lot of uh newconstruction work.
So I find a GC that I want towork for that you know has
similar values as me.
And I earn their trust, I getput on their bid list, they give
me opportunities for projectsthat they're working on.
I you know, do my own estimates,create a proposal with whatever
(10:26):
number I need, send it off tothem.
You know, once it's in theirball court, you know, I kind of
play into that uh businessrelationship.
You know, I end up closing thedeal, and then once contracts
are signed, um, then I kind ofput on my project management
cap.
I deal with all the logistics,getting material on site, uh,
(10:47):
scheduling my cruise, makingsure that they're good to go,
and then then I put on mysuperintendent hat and then I
make sure the project goes welluh according to budget.
I mean, it's a lot of work, butit's it's the best way that I
can do it because it's all in myhands.
I know the project, I know themoney, I know how it's supposed
to happen, and then uh punchlists, get warrantees out, and
(11:08):
uh on to the next one.
SPEAKER_02 (11:10):
Yeah, I mean, and that's a lot for you to have to
learn in about a year and a halfor so.
I mean, you've you've kind ofbeen all in.
Uh so were you what what did youfind the most rewarding about
this new chapter and kind ofwhat what's been the steepest
learning curve along the way?
SPEAKER_01 (11:28):
Yeah, I'd say steepest learning curve for sure
is just kind of learning theproduct.
So the biggest thing for me, andI feel like the same thing for
you, Scott, and really everyother veteran is I mean, we all
have the same mindset.
I'm not gonna push out a productthat that I don't really trust
or, you know, know that theproduct is good.
(11:48):
So I would say the biggestlearning curve would be
understanding the manufacturerthat I like to use, uh, giving a
detail-oriented proposal, youknow, screw screw count matters,
you know, whenever it comes downto a million-dollar proposal all
the way down to you know a tenthousand dollar proposal.
So I guess understanding thesystems, really kind of being a
(12:12):
steward of my craft, if youwill.
So knowing what I'm selling,understanding how everything
works, I would say that that'skind of my my biggest learning
curve and also the mostrewarding.
It it feels good to be thesmartest guy, you know, whenever
somebody asks you a question andyou can you can answer it with
confidence.
SPEAKER_02 (12:30):
Yeah, so I'm assuming you stay in contact
with a lot of folks from the160th.
So have you have you talked toold friends of yours from your
squadron and said, hey, likethis is what I'm doing now.
I think it's been a goodtransition.
Have you been able to sell foruh lack of better terms, the
industry to folks you servedwith?
SPEAKER_01 (12:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
I I I stay in contact withpretty much a pretty good
handful of uh of the guys that Iused to fly with.
Um you know, a lot a lot of myold friends, they're not in the
same, not old friends, mycurrent friends, they're not
really in the same space as me.
You know, they don't they don'thave young families, some of
them do.
Um, but to be honest with you,nobody wants to leave.
(13:12):
It's a great unit to be a partof.
They take care of their people,you know, it's it's a big
family.
It it takes a lot for somebodyto leave.
SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
Yeah, that's awesome.
That's really encouraging here.
Um okay, so kind of switchinggears here.
Uh, so vets often bring veryunique strengths to the table.
Um, and from your perspective,how do you think what you did in
the 160th helped you inestimating in BD?
SPEAKER_01 (13:40):
I I would definitely say the op tempo and the drive.
Um, you know, it's really easyto you know punch in at 8, 9
a.m.
if that's what you do, but youknow, more specific more
specific specifically for mehere, you know, we we started
days around you know 7, 7 30.
We go till about 5, 5.30.
(14:01):
And you know from what I've seenon the civilian side, that's not
normal.
Um, but it's also not abnormal.
It's really about the drive thatyou put in.
And I feel like kind of my myupbringing in my unit, but I
really credit it to that.
SPEAKER_02 (14:19):
Yeah, it's that grit, I would say for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (14:22):
Um, so in special operations, precision and
planning are also massive.
Um, and you kind of alluded to alittle bit about the planning,
but how else do those kind ofthings show up in the roofing
world?
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
Yeah, so uh I mean, roofing specifically, we're the
first people to get blamed foranything, right?
So if there's a leak, it was theroofer.
So definitely planning.
Um, you know, it anybody can putnumbers together and then you
know push out a proposal.
The biggest thing for us uh atTXD and myself specifically, um,
you know, a partnership mindset.
(14:58):
That's kind of what one of ourcore values that we live by here
at TXD.
I I don't want to, you know, putdown a roofing system and then
walk away, wipe my hands, if youwill.
So the biggest thing for us isuh partnership mindset,
basically having a plan, youknow, having unwavering,
(15:19):
unwavering integrity, justmaking sure that the the client
has trust in TXD.
So planning is up up frontforemost, the biggest thing for
us, just making sure that weknow what we're doing, we're
confident in our abilities, andyou know, we're gonna push out a
good product.
SPEAKER_02 (15:36):
Yeah, it's good.
Um so I know I'm producing thisafter the suicide prevention
month.
So we're we're recording thisthough on September 29th.
So we're at the butt end ofSuicide Prevention Month.
Obviously, we know it's amassive issue uh for vets, but
it's also the number one killerin construction as well.
(15:56):
Uh so I want to pause becausemental health and identity are
massive, uh, and they're uhthey're a big part of the
transition journey also.
So, how did leaving the army andleaving such a specialized unit,
how did that affect your senseof identity?
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
Honestly, it's huge.
Um, I definitely that was who Iwas for you know my entire I'm
I'm a younger gentleman.
I'm 25.
Uh, you know, I joined when Iwas 17, so that that's who I
was.
That's what I knew.
I you know, I wasn't a I wasn'tan adult going into the
military.
So um suicide prevention andmental health is it's a big deal
(16:36):
for me.
Um, you know, unfortunately, I Idid lose my first mentor, uh, my
platoon sergeant Roger Waffle tosuicide.
So I definitely love to check onthe guys, uh, make sure, you
know, first and foremost, I'mokay and all that good stuff.
But definitely, I'm sorry, Idrew a blank there.
SPEAKER_02 (16:58):
No, you're good.
Just kind of that that lostsense of identity.
I think we all feel that.
Um, and if anything, I'd ventureto say it's probably harder when
you leave such a special uhspecialized unit.
SPEAKER_01 (17:09):
Um yeah, absolutely, yeah.
Thank you.
So yeah, losing, you know,leaving the unit was uh a big
transition for me, a big, a bigjump.
You know, I talked about it withmy wife quite a bit, but
honestly, finding a good networkwhere wherever you go.
So whenever I transition, youknow, I do stay in contact with
you know my old buddies, uhmaking sure they're all good,
(17:31):
and but also finding a newpurpose in what I do now.
You know, I I was you know thebest crew chief that I could be
for the 160th at that time, andnow I want to be the best
business development manager andestimator and project manager.
You know, that that's where Iput my drive, and I really feel
like it it does good for themental health as well.
SPEAKER_02 (17:52):
Yeah, for sure.
And I I think I might havementioned when we went to lunch,
um, you know, we we're alltouched by it in one way or
another.
Suicide impacts a lot of peoplein the veteran community.
Um, we don't talk about itenough, I think, in the
construction community.
It's kind of like, oh, we focuson it a month or so.
I just don't feel like it's hiton enough.
(18:13):
Um, so my my bracelet that Iwear, you know, a lot of vets
wear a memorial bracelet.
Two of the guys on that braceletdied by their own hand, and it
it's rough to think about, butit's we wear these things as a
constant reminder.
Um that's to check in with yourbuddies.
Um, you know, the ones that thattook their life.
If you're wearing that on yourbracelet, it's a reminder to
check in with with your friends.
So um what challenges, I wouldsay mentally or emotionally, do
(18:37):
you think you you faced duringthe transition?
Maybe not the loss of selfnecessarily, but was it just
like like I'll I'll give you myexample for me.
I definitely lost myself.
It took me probably a decade toreally get comfortable with who
I was as a man and not identifysolely with my service.
But what what do you think youreally faced?
SPEAKER_01 (18:57):
Yeah, actually, it's funny you say that.
I I was talking about it withyou know my dad about two weeks
ago.
So the biggest challenge for mewas you know feeling a sense of
um quitting, if you will.
So I was able, you know, I couldhave kept going.
You know, I made a selfishdecision to, you know,
(19:17):
prioritize my family.
Um, not saying that the guy'sstill in the unit or doing that
by any means, but you know,whether it may be, you know,
losing friends and and crashesor whatever it may be, um,
definitely feeling a sense uh ofbeing a quitter.
You know, I I was able, I wastrained, I was proficient, I
(19:38):
knew what I was doing, and youknow, you just get that
self-doubt.
You you know, you think thatmaybe you could have done
something or you could have beena mentor or trained somebody or
something like that.
I would say that's the biggeststruggle for me.
SPEAKER_02 (19:51):
Yeah, I I want to interject there.
I would say I'm gonna disagreewith you.
I don't think it was selfish, Ithink it was selfless.
I think if you were selfish, youwouldn't have thought about your
wife and child.
You would have thought aboutwhat my career was, my future,
me, me, me, me.
So I don't think you made thewrong choice at all.
And there's a lot of guys thatget out uh for that reason.
(20:11):
And I know there's a lot ofpeople that want to focus on
retention and staying in, butyou've got to do what's what's
best for you and your family.
And I remember um I might haveshared this during lunch, but
when I when I went back in and Icommissioned this time, and I I
had every intent to go back toactive duty and to the chaplain
corps, and my mentor at the timehe said, Listen, don't forget
(20:35):
that your family needs to bethere to receive you off that
stage when you retire.
And you know, don't screw thatup.
And I I served in the reservesfor a couple years, and then I
went, you know what?
I don't think this is the bestthing for my family.
So I think I'm done.
I'm I'm glad I gave it a shot.
Um, but I I think if anything,you were you were selfless.
So um, so construction, it it'svery, very high pressure, just
(21:00):
like the service.
Uh, have you seen similaritiesbetween the stress of military
life and the stretch stress ofconstruction and business
development?
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah, so prime example is I havea project uh locally here in
Weatherford, Texas, which is uhit's a large-scale project, I
would say, you know, maybe30,000, 40,000 square feet,
something like that.
So um definitely whenever youkind of get up there in the the
larger square footage, I mean,there's always problems in
(21:29):
construction.
Somebody did something wrong orsomebody messed up your your
roof, and you know, it it's hardto be everywhere at once, but
you know, just kind of taking astep back, taking a breather,
you know, it's construction,things are gonna happen.
Um, but yes, to answer yourquestion, the stress levels are
there.
SPEAKER_02 (21:47):
Yeah, I mean it's a different type of stress,
granted.
Um, you're not getting bombslobbed at you, but it's it's
still dangerous.
I mean, it's very high pressure,especially in roofing.
You know, me being an insuranceguy now, roofing is it's very
difficult to insure roofersbecause it's it's a high-risk
environment.
So what do you think has beenhelpful for you personally to
(22:08):
keep balance and stay groundedand sort of protect your mental
health?
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
And honestly, family.
I mean, it it's awesome.
You know, I was at FortCampbell, so the in the
regiment, there's only threeplaces you can go, and that's
Georgia, Kentucky, orWashington.
So my family's all here inTexas, so you know, seeing them
maybe once, twice a year,something like that.
Definitely being able to rely ona on a family system is amazing.
(22:36):
Um, whether it be parents orbrother, sister, you know, in my
family, my daughter and my wife,it's it's just great.
You know, right now, you know,I'm doing the podcast and my
mom's helping me out with mydaughter tonight.
SPEAKER_02 (22:48):
That's awesome.
God bless, man.
That's such a a huge, huge thingto have that type of support
system.
I mean, in the military and andout for sure.
Um, what what advice do youthink you would give other
service members who are they'reabout to separate and they just
don't know what's next?
I mean, it's scary.
Let's let's be honest.
It's a very scary jump.
Um, I think guys like you and Iare very fortunate because we we
(23:11):
sort of had a way to land on ourfeet.
But I've seen guys from mybattalion that like they don't
know what to do and and they getthey get worried.
I don't know what's next.
So, what advice, if you'resomebody getting out right now,
would you give them?
SPEAKER_01 (23:24):
Man, trust the process.
The that's the one one thingthat I can say is trust the
process.
And two, use the resourcesallocated to you.
You know, the the army orwhatever branch of service you
were with, you know, you gaveeverything you had, and you
know, now it's your time totransition.
The military has so many greatopportunities, like Skillbridge,
(23:45):
for example.
That that's the route that Itook to ensure employment
whenever I separated.
The army will literally pay, youknow, per diem, travel, you you
keep your your military pay,your tri-care for six months
while you are essentially um acivilian employee.
You know, it's a no-brainer foryourself or a company wanting to
(24:10):
give you an opportunity becauseit's uh you're essentially free
labor for the for the civilianemployer.
You have endless opportunities.
Whatever you want to do, takethe jump.
Uh, one of the biggest things Istruggled with before I
separated was, you know, is thisthe right decision?
You know, I have a paycheckevery two weeks, I have
tri-care, my family's taken careof, all I got to do is work.
(24:31):
You know, walking away from thatis is tough, but there are
endless opportunities out here.
You know, you just have to keepthat same drive.
It's not gonna be easy, but justwork at it.
SPEAKER_02 (24:42):
Yeah, very cool.
Um, okay, so I'm gonna kind ofsegue into something else here.
Um, sort of like lessons, thevision, and and looking forward
in your career.
So you've been in this newcareer for just over a year.
Uh, what do you think you'remost proud of so far at this
point?
SPEAKER_01 (25:02):
Man, probably a selfish answer, but just kind of
what what I've built.
Um, like I said, I walked intothis industry with zero
contacts.
I I built my book of businessfrom from nothing, from
networking or, you know, officevisits or you know, whatever it
may have been, you know, I'mapproximately sitting, you know,
1 million, 1.1 million inawarded revenue.
(25:25):
It's a great goal and a greataccomplishment for me, not
knowing that, you know, I'd behere and you know, kind of
killing my goal that I set formyself.
I I'd say that that is that's mygreatest accomplishment as of
right now.
SPEAKER_02 (25:43):
Yeah, you should be proud, man.
I mean, I have just been stunnedby a couple folks that I've
interviewed to see the successin such a short amount of time,
Dylan.
I mean, I'm impressed, man.
I'm proud of you.
And another guy, Carl Muller,that I interviewed, he's he just
finished up his skill bridgeprogram.
He retired after 21 years.
(26:04):
He was a master sergeant.
And to hear the knowledge he hasabout the construction industry
that took me years to build, um,I'm just impressed, man.
I mean, the the quality ofpeople that are coming out of
the service these days has beennothing short of amazing.
So that's a big deal.
I mean, 1.1 million in sales inyour first year and a half being
in the industry.
That's a that's awesome.
(26:24):
You definitely should be proudof that.
SPEAKER_01 (26:26):
Yeah, I'm just gonna add a couple more brownie points
in there.
That's yeah, 10 months, 10months.
So just this year.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:34):
Wow, that's awesome, man.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Um, and I mean, roofing, likeyou said, it can be tough, but
it's I'd say with a lot oftrades, it's certainly
rewarding.
Um what do you think is thebigger vision for you, like
personally or with with TXD?
Like, what do you see coming forDylan in the future?
SPEAKER_01 (26:53):
Yeah, so the biggest thing is I I'm invested in in
TXD.
They've they've invested in me.
They've they've took the time totrain to you know bring me up
the right way.
And I really have massive goalsfor myself and for TXD.
We're you know, a roofingcompany here in in the
Metroplex, which, if anybodyknows this area, roofers are a
(27:16):
dime a dozen.
I mean, there's a million of ushere, so definitely wanting to
scale my operations and what Ican you know produce here and
with TXD commercial.
And also, you know, I'm I wantto see I want to see us grow.
I want to see multiple uh campuslocations for for TXD, and you
know, I want us to dolarge-scale projects.
SPEAKER_02 (27:39):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So, what about personally?
What do you think?
So you got you got a little oneand your wife, we didn't mention
your wife is prior army as well,she's a police officer.
Um what would you say, likewhat's the big picture for the
family?
SPEAKER_01 (27:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
So definitely wanting to man,what do I want us to do?
I I want us to, we just got intoa new house.
Uh we live up in Hazlet, Texas.
I I would say the next goal isto buy some land, uh, build our
dream home at that point, andyou know, just keep seeing my my
(28:16):
daughter succeed.
I wanna uh we just finished uppotty training this week, thank
God.
Yeah, so it's been rough.
Yeah, so you know, just seeingher succeed.
I want I want her to playsports, I want her to be happy,
I want her to grow up uh withher family and cousins and all
that stuff, and just kind ofkeep going.
SPEAKER_02 (28:34):
Yeah, and you know, I we might have talked at lunch,
but when my so I've got threedaughters, as a lot of people
know, but when my first onecame, my dad, so it's just me
and my sister, my dad said, Beready to be stressed out for the
rest of your life, because weknow how little boys think.
So, like protecting her, butman, it's it's such a cool
journey, and I'm I'm I'm soexcited for you guys uh to walk
(28:57):
through that.
So um kind of looping backaround.
If so, if a younger vet came upto you and said, Hey, I'm
thinking about constructionafter I get out, what what would
you tell them?
Like, let's talk about the good,the bad, the ugly, all of it.
Like, let's I think we need tobe straight up with people
instead of uh the industrysugarcoating it a lot because
they make it seem like it'swonderful just because they need
(29:19):
more people.
But what would you tell thisperson?
SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
Honestly, I would tell them yes.
I mean, there's a thousanddifferent avenues that you can
go through uh, you know, in theconstruction network.
I mean, if you want to be on theGC side, if you want to be
operations, you know, as asuperintendent, or if you want
to go to school and be a projectmanager, I don't even think you
have to go to schoolnecessarily, but really uh you
(29:42):
can go into each trade, HVAC,you know, plumbing,
electricians, roofing, you know,whatever it may be.
There's endless opportunities inthe in the construction world.
And contrary to belief, I mean,industry's booming right now,
people are building.
Uh, it's a great time for mespecifically.
Um, I would say it's it's agreat way to go.
(30:04):
You know, some of the ugly of itis it's not easy.
You know, you you had a hardlife in the military.
It's hard over here, too.
It's just about grit.
What do you want to put into it?
What do you want to get out ofit?
SPEAKER_02 (30:15):
Yeah, for sure.
And and dude, you're not lying.
I mean, here in Dallas FortWorth, we are blowing up, man.
I mean, it is booming.
Uh, it's moving up north, likepractically into Oklahoma.
It's moving down south where Ilive.
So you got data centers, you gothealthcare, you got K through
12, you've got high-endinteriors, office fit out, like
(30:36):
all this big stuff going on.
And it's not looking like it'sgoing to slow down.
I mean, I know the tax structurehere is great, so businesses
want to move in here.
Um, so now's definitely the timeto get into it for sure.
I mean, I I would say if I man,if I went back and did it all
over again, I would have gottenmy general contractor's license,
and I probably, this is when Iwas in Virginia and DC at the
(30:57):
time when I got out.
I probably would have started myown gig.
Um, and Texas is a really goodplace to do that.
You don't need a GC licensehere.
Um, you can start an LLC forwhat, like 300 bucks, maybe go
on a legal Zoom website orsomething sim uh similar to
that.
But yeah, I I I think what Iwould tell people is there's a
(31:21):
lot of positives, but like youneed to be ready to have that
grit that you talked about too.
Because there are like somebodyonce said to me, the highs are
high and the lows are reallylow.
Like it can be really tough.
You can really have to grindthrough it.
But I think where we bring adifferent perspective as vets is
like, man, today sucks, but I'mnot getting bombs lobbed at me,
(31:43):
I'm not getting shot at.
I will most likely be sleepingin my own bed tonight if I'm not
a traveling guy.
So I think you know, even thethe negatives aren't as bad as
we've experienced, right?
SPEAKER_01 (31:55):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (31:57):
So um what goals are you chasing right now, man?
You got a you got a big revenuegoal you're chasing, or are you
guys trying to expand?
What do you think?
SPEAKER_01 (32:06):
Yeah, so personally for myself, um, a goal that I
set for myself earlier in theyear, you know, I really want to
reach 1.5 million, which youknow, I a couple of my clients
that I have, we have someoutstanding proposals that you
know have a have a really goodchance to go through.
I'd say financially that that'smy goal.
Um personally, a goal for myselfis you know, I'm very uh GC
(32:27):
dense in my pipeline.
I I do a lot of GC work, a lotof new construction.
Definitely trying to get outthere and network, meet a lot of
uh you know, building owners orproperty management groups, just
trying to diversify myself alittle bit.
You know, TXD Commercial, we'rea large-scale roofing company
where we can, you know, knockout the accurate dealership off
(32:50):
of 820.
You know, we we have thecapacity to do that, but we also
do you know, tenant improvement.
You know, if anybody has a leak,I can go out there and fix it or
you know, service plans,whatever it may be, just kind of
diversify myself a little bit,you know, get away from strictly
GC work, which is great, it'sprofitable.
I'm having a great time doingit, but just trying to expand my
(33:12):
book a little bit.
SPEAKER_02 (33:14):
Yeah, very good.
Well, man, I gotta say, I reallyappreciate you sharing your
story.
Uh, you know, going from servingin one of the most elite
aviation units and then steppinginto a brand new role in roofing
and BD.
I mean, your your journey isinspiring, it's real.
Um, so if if people arelistening and their your story
(33:35):
resonated with them, what's agood way to reach out if they
want to get in touch with you?
SPEAKER_01 (33:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, I mean, obviously you canGoogle TXD commercial, call our
office line, and you know, youcan get my contact information
there, or feel free to reach outon LinkedIn, Dylan Kirkpatrick.
Um, and I'd love to uh diversifymy network, not only you know
business-wise, but um on apersonal level.
(34:02):
I I love meeting veterans, youknow.
I'm talking with you, Scott andDan, trying to get into some
construction networking eventsaround here.
Just kind of get back to theroots and talk to some uh like
minded people.
So please feel free to reachout.
I'd love to help out if you haveany roofing related issues or
even you know, just a network.
SPEAKER_02 (34:21):
Very cool.
Man, I appreciate your time,Dylan.
SPEAKER_01 (34:24):
Yeah, Scott, thanks for having me, man.
This was awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (34:26):
Absolutely.
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