๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข-๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ $๐๐๐: Barry Sutliveโs Blueprint for Purpose-Driven Leadership
ย
Can you build a multimillion-dollar company with just $100, no ladder, and unwavering faith?
ย
๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ข๐โand heโs here to share how.
ย
On this powerful episode of ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ, I sit down with my longtime friend Barry Sutlive, founder and CEO of Reliable Roofing in Georgia. Barry started with just $100 and a deep desire to create something meaningful, and over 35 years, he built much more than a business. He built a legacy.
ย
From growing up with hardworking parents to leading a values-driven company through market challenges, ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐, integrity, and the acronym TRUST became the foundation of his business success.
ย
๐๏ธWe talk about:
โ๏ธOvercoming the odds and humble beginnings
โ๏ธHow his parentsโ sacrifices shaped his work ethic and values
โ๏ธLeading with trust, faith, and servant leadership
โ๏ธStaying consistent with character, even when no oneโs watching
โ๏ธPractical takeaways for entrepreneurs and leaders at any level
โ๏ธBarryโs story is rich with lessons for anyone seeking to lead with purpose and live with impact.
ย ๐ง Whether you're an entrepreneur, business leader, or someone seeking purpose in your work, this episode will challenge and inspire you to lead differently.
ย
ย ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐:
ย ๐ Reliable Roofing Website: https://www.reliableroofing.com/
ย ๐ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reliableroofingus/
ย ๐ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reliable-roofing/
ย
ย ๐๏ธ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก Host ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐:
ย ๐ Explore The Uncommon Leader Podcast here: https://coachjohngallagher.com/podcast/ or here https://youtu.be/yJit_iagSK8
ย ๐ฒ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachjohngallagher/
ย ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซโ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ค๐ญ๐ซ๐๐:ย https://shorturl.at/ta8pu
Ready to take your next step toward uncommon leadership? Click through to Johnโs Linktree and stay connected with the community!
ย
ย ๐ If this story inspired you, ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ with your biggest takeaway, and donโt forget to ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ for more uncommon leadership stories every week.
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Until next timeโGo and Grow, Champions! ๐ช
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
do the right thing, even if others don't.
I think that's one of the greatpitfalls in life that it can
happen in family relationships.
It can happen in business, thatwhen other people behave in an
inappropriate way, we somehowcan fall into a trap of giving
ourselves permission to act inan inappropriate way ourselves.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hey, uncommon Leaders , welcome back.
This is the Uncommon LeaderPodcast.
I'm your host, john Gallagher,and I've got a fantastic guest
for you today.
I'm very grateful to be able tocall this gentleman, a friend,
barry Sutliff, who's the founderand CEO of Reliable Roofing in
Georgia, and I can't wait to geta chance to talk with him about
his story.
One of the things we'll talkabout today is from when he
(00:46):
started this organization with$100 in his pocket and today, as
it sits as amultimillion-dollar organization
.
And while that's a veryimportant part of the journey
for Barry as the CEO of acompany, what I really
appreciate in our friendship andour conversation today is how
he is committed to living outhis purpose, his God-given
talents and gifts inside of hisorganization and his life that I
(01:10):
think are going to be inspiringand encouraging for all of us
to listen to today.
So, barry, welcome to theUncommon Leader Podcast.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I'm doing great and thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Absolutely.
Again, looking forward to ourconversation.
So many things about yourbusiness and I got all kinds of
questions to talk about, but Ialways start my first time
guests with the same firstquestion asking you to tell me a
story from your childhood thatstill impacts who you are today,
as a person or as a leader.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, you did give me a heads up that you'd be asking
that question, so I thoughtabout it a lot and there's a lot
of places I could go with it,but I think probably the most I
think, like so many people, youstart back with your parents and
you and they form so much ofwho we are and even whether the
things are tough or the thingsare easy, it forms who you are.
(02:01):
So I think about my father wasa foot soldier as an 18 year old
, with his first assignmentbeing the battle of the bulge
and and and how that molded himand his personality and and his
just way of looking at life.
And I think in some ways thatwere challenged but in other
ways that were super positive,dad became a, came back from the
(02:22):
war, spent one year in collegeand then went and worked for a
corporation which he ended upworking there 40 years and he
started in the factory and whenhe left, after seven moves, he
was in New York running theentire 23 plants of the company.
So he was willing to sacrificeand he was willing to and he
(02:44):
worked hard and he also stuckwith stuff.
So I think that had a biginfluence on me.
I think also my mother justrealizing what she went through
and trying to move sevendifferent times was a lot of
resilience there and a lot ofsacrifice that she demonstrated.
And there were six kids and soit was not an easy thing, but I
(03:07):
think I'm really grateful toboth of them.
There was a lot of trials inthe life.
I had a brother who passed awayat age seven and brought a lot
of pain into the family and sothat sort of shaped some of the
childhood too.
There was a lot of wounds thatcame out of that.
He did pass away before I wasborn but it just impacted the
family greatly and some of thatmanifests itself later.
(03:28):
But but I think the beauty ofmoving a lot for me was that
that I I got to hone my skillsand meeting new people and and
also maybe reading people andunderstanding like how do you
see what's going on in a new anddifferent situation, and I
think that's been.
I think that's been veryhelpful and I think my parents
has been role models for for howto push through with a lot of
(03:51):
different change has been veryhelpful.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Barry, I love that and I think about those six
moves.
It reminds me a good good bitof even some of our journey.
I cannot imagine with six kids.
I know that we moved as a newlymarried couple three times
before we settled into Virginiatwice and then, even in Virginia
, I had 11 different addresseswithin 17 years, never leaving
(04:14):
the zip code.
So those moves can bechallenging on family dynamics,
no doubt about it.
But with six I can't imaginehow that even tries to flow.
So and I think that, again, thateven frames a little bit then
some of that grit that yourfather had to go from the shop
floor up and up into running thecompany is something that you
guys started on as well.
(04:35):
I love the story and fulldisclosure.
Barry and I have workedtogether now for a little over a
year on some of the consultingthat I do and as I got a chance
to know him, I knew that Iwanted him to be a guest on
Young Common Leader Podcast toshare his story.
But one of the stories that Ihadn't heard before was really
the ultimate startup of reliableroofing, where you started with
$100 in your pocket 35 yearsago and ultimately have led it
(04:59):
to the success that it is today,with hundreds of employees and
hundreds of people impacted aswell many more impacted.
That's an incredible story ofgrit in and of itself.
What were some of thechallenges that you had to
overcome early in that journeyto get where you are today?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, I think the beauty of being 25 years old and
starting a business and havingthis idea is that you don't know
what you don't know, becausehad I known what some of those
challenges would be, I might nothave done it, because it was a
lot of pain and I think anyentrepreneur watching this is
like, yes, they can totallyrelate to that.
But we were encouraged early on.
(05:38):
The business was started out ofan apartment with $100.
It's actually an interestingstory we like to share, because
my wife actually lived in anapartment.
She was my girlfriend at thetime and she lived in an
apartment below me and I hadborrowed her typewriter.
When she came home from work andfound out to type up a flyer
and she asked me what I wasdoing and I told her I was going
(06:00):
to start a roofing company.
Her response was very dramaticoh my gosh, you need to get a
job.
I, like you, know I need to geta job.
You have a few problems.
You don't have any capital, youreally know a little bit about
roofing material, you don'treally know about roofing and
you don't have a ladder andthat's probably going to be a
problem.
But I did have some crews towork with.
(06:21):
But I did have some crews towork with and 38 years ago it
wasn't common.
There's a lot of people in theroofing business.
It seems like today, but 38years ago it was a little
different world in the roofingbusiness.
Most of the roofers who weredoing well were former roofers
and not as much business peoplewho had decided they would get
into the roofing business withsome exceptions but anyway, my
(06:42):
wife quickly got on board andbecame a huge cheerleader for
the business and wasinstrumental in those early
years.
But it's funny as we look backon it and it was a risky
proposition.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, there's so many things there.
I mean again, if you'd haveknown then what you know now,
you might not have started it.
It's risky to start a businesswith $100 in your pocket.
It's even more outlandish,maybe, to start a roofing
company without a ladder.
Okay, so here we go with someof the things that you've
overcome in your journey, andthere's many things that you've
(07:15):
talked about as you move throughthat journey to today.
You ultimately built a companywith what I've seen in your
notes of three Ts teamwork,trust and timeless values.
So I want to start with thosetimeless values where we are.
I mean, it's something thatreally drew me to you in terms
(07:36):
of understanding.
Tell me a little bit about howyou established those values in
your organization.
Maybe it's part of who you wereas you grew up as well, and how
those values continue to drivewho you are today in your
business.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
And my values have grown over the years, but when I
started, one thing that I wasconfident in was that people
needed someone they could trustto do their roofing, that there
was the process of getting itdone, but that a service like
roofing was after the job wasdone.
The warranty and what happensover the next few years is every
(08:12):
bit as important as whathappens right when you're doing
the job because of the weather.
So really it was all aboutbeing trustworthy and it was
about doing, you know, honoring,being honest with our customers
and honoring them and doingeverything you can do to make
their experience good.
And so the company and originalvalues were based on the
(08:32):
acronym TRUST.
I did that early on and theTRUST stood for teamwork,
respect, understanding, the ideaof understanding, you know,
seek first to understand, thenbe understood, just really
understanding what the customerwanted.
Service, you know, providingthem what they wanted and, after
you've listened to them andheard what they wanted, to
(08:52):
provide that service.
And then transformation and theidea that that that those
processes really transform, justtransform relationships like
this idea of working togetherand and respecting one another,
hearing one another, serving oneanother, that they really it's
a transformed relationships.
So so that was kind of that wasmy idea early on was like there
(09:13):
would that we would build it onon the company, on trust, and
you see, that common wherepeople are like honest,
trustworthy, whatever, but wereally and nobody's we really
worked hard on always honoringour customer, the trust that was
bestowed upon us by ourcustomers.
And even to this day, as youknow, we work all over the
(09:36):
country practically with onlylocations in physical location
Florida and Georgia.
And it's an interesting conceptof how people in Michigan big
customers we work in Bostonsometimes and in Dallas or
wherever we're working, there'sa lot of roofing contractors
between our home office andthose places.
(09:58):
But why did they choose us?
In a lot of cases it's becausethey trust us and we don't ever
want to do anything to betraythat trust.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, Well, I know I've had a chance to meet with a
few of your customers in thetime we've been together and
there's no doubt thatrelationship and that trust
that's been built over the yearsis something that is
foundational to your success,and I love the use of the
acronym TRUST.
I was another thing, that's twothings.
Now I wasn't aware of that.
You had there the teamwork,respect, understanding, service
(10:27):
and transformation, and for me,even the word that came to mind
as you talked about it wasintegrity.
I think about doing the rightthing, even though it may cost a
little bit more than you'rewilling to pay, or sometimes a
lot more than you're willing topay.
You mentioned how you've donethat with customers.
Can you think of a story whereyou had to actually go above and
beyond, where it cost yourcompany more than you really
(10:48):
wanted it to, but you needed tomaintain that trust with a
customer.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, it comes up all the time.
You can imagine that wherethere's examples all the time
where there's some kind ofproblem with a roof that may not
have manifested itself Even intime if we, for instance, have a
five-year warranty on a roof,it may be six or seven years and
we see something that wasactually something that was not
correct in the first place, thatwe will go ahead and correct
that even though there's been,even though it doesn't.
(11:17):
We don't technically legally owethat, but we try to do the
right thing.
I guess probably one of thebiggest examples of that was a
big owe that we found inSavannah, georgia, where we had
done a property and I think itwas possibly a year or so later
when they were asking us we'ddone about 50,000 square feet of
(11:37):
roofing on this apartmentcomplex and for some reason they
didn't notice till thefollowing year that it was the
wrong color and it was acalamity of errors of how that
happened and obviously it wasn'ttoo clear to anyone, which is
why it took them a year todiscover it.
But that was a big one where wehad to go back and say, okay,
(12:00):
we'll take care of it.
We replaced the entire 50,000square feet of roofing for them
to make the color right.
Wow that was kind of legendaryin the reliable roofing history.
That would be legendary.
50,000 square feet worth,absolutely, yeah, wow.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's that was kind of legendary in the reliable
roofing history.
That would be legendary, 50,000feet worth Absolutely and
fixing that problem anddefinitely again, definitely a
sign that I could understand howthat would build trust with
your customer base overall,because those those words get
around to you know, small moralyou're.
You're in 35 States now interms of providing the work that
you do now.
Back then maybe you weren't,but either way that's still a
(12:31):
small community where some ofthose words get around as to how
you're servicing thosecustomers becomes a big part of
it.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And the customer worked with us to give us some
other work to try to soften theblow of that.
They were appreciative of that,but the main thing is doing the
right thing.
I had a mentor early on whowould encourage me to get at
least a $250,000 reserve whichwas laughable back then because
he was adamant about it.
Like you need to build thisreserve, build a reserve.
(12:59):
Build a reserve Because he saidI know you want to do the right
thing, but if you don't handleyour finances well, you may find
yourself in a lot of situationswhere you'd actually like to do
the right thing, but you haveto have to argue about it or not
do it because you don't havethe financial capability of
doing it.
So so that's been part of ourapproach with the business too,
(13:20):
and keeping our really managingour finance, as well as trying
to keep ourselves in a positionto where you can, where where
the lack of funds doesn't creepinto a lack of character funds
doesn't creep into a lack ofcharacter, barry.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
We could talk entrepreneurship a lot of the
time through.
Another characteristic of BarrySutliff that I love is the I'll
use the word balance.
I don't know that it's a greatword, but certainly the fact
that you have the ability andyou might judge yourself.
I'll let you talk to it here ina minute.
You've been married for 36years to your wife.
(13:59):
You have a large family, youhave hobbies that you like to do
, you're a golfer, you havesports that you like and you are
involved in your community as atrustee for the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes, chairman ofthe Young Leaders International.
How do you balance all of thosethings in your leadership style
, the demands of running amulti-million dollar business
(14:19):
with the need to add value toothers outside of work as well?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Yeah, and I don't.
As you said, balance is anillusion, right, you're never
going to have personal balancewith things.
But I think two things.
The first I would want to sayis just the team that we have
here at Reliable Roofing is justsome really great people.
We built the business with thisidea that we need to create an
(14:46):
environment where people canreach their God-given potential.
We need to create anentrepreneurial environment
where people can reach theirGod-given potential, and if we
don't do that, then they shouldleave.
We should want them to leave,but I don't really like people
to leave because I really careabout people and we've had some
great people.
My right-hand man has been withme for 33 years.
He's an amazing person who'sgot honor, integrity,
(15:10):
responsibility, hard work anddone a fantastic job, had a
right.
And a woman who just retired,who was there with the company
for 36 years, who also had justa ton of integrity and support.
And then we have a lot of otherfolks who've been more than 25
years with the business that arejust quality, solid people, and
so without them, it's not evenpossible.
Right Without the team?
So that's the team.
And the them it's not evenpossible.
(15:30):
Right Without the team.
So that's the team.
When the teamwork it's not evenremotely possible, because it's
really largely true that theybuilt the business.
You know, I led it and did somehad some vision, some ideas,
whatever, but those are the,those are the men and women that
made it happen.
So so that's part of it.
But then the other piece is isputting the putting the first
things first.
(15:51):
And I don't claim to have donethis perfectly at all.
We raised four sons.
You can just sports and allthat kind of stuff.
You can only imagine the timeschedules, especially being an
entrepreneur.
But to keep reminding myself toput God first, like to put that
, to put God first.
Once you get your head rightaround that, then that puts
(16:15):
perspective on everything.
And then family, my wife andthen my family.
And so early on there was somereal intentionality that I had
around limiting the hours Iwould work.
For instance, I started in 1998with saying after six o'clock I
would be, I'd make everyintention to be home by six.
Now, that was at that time.
(16:36):
That was a stretch to say that,and and I didn't always do it,
but but putting that boundary inthere made me much more
effective up until six and I'dgo home and be around the family
and go to bed for a few hoursand wake up and do bids in the
middle of the night and whateverit took to get the job done.
But I had that as a priorityand I didn't want to miss my
children's childhood and Ididn't.
(16:57):
So I think if I could just sumthat up, it would be having the
right priorities and then thosethings will fall into place.
If you sort of seek God first,then the rest will fall into
place.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Hey listeners, I want to take a quick moment to share
something special with you.
Many of the topics anddiscussions we have on this
podcast are areas where Iprovide coaching and consulting
services for individuals andorganizations.
If you've been inspired by ourconversation and are seeking a
catalyst for change in your ownlife or within your team, I
(17:32):
invite you to visitcoachjohngallaghercom forward
slash free call to sign up for afree coaching call with me.
It's an opportunity for us toconnect, discuss your unique
challenges and explore howcoaching or consulting can
benefit you and your team.
Okay, let's get back to theshow Love that Seek God first,
but also again putting thoseother things in your calendar
first as well.
(17:53):
After that time.
I know that it won't be perfect.
I mean, there are seasons in anentrepreneur's life, there are
seasons in a business leader'slife where you have to be
investing a significant amountof time in your business, but
when you can have thosepriorities, first for children,
wife, god those are the rightones to have and now
grandchildren for you as well.
Very important, speaking ofthose values Romans 12 plays a
(18:15):
significant role in yourcompany's values.
How have you look, I say,practically integrated those
principles into your business ona daily, daily basis?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, well, so for those of your listeners who
don't know what basis yeah, sofor those of your listeners who
don't know much about Romans 12,it was a letter written to the
Romans.
I think maybe Paul wrote it fromprison.
I know Paul wrote it, if Iremember correctly, but he
describes a lot about thetheologies that he's discussing
with the Romans.
But then he does a backgroundon that and then in Romans 12,
(18:51):
he says in a chapter and Ihighly recommend anybody go read
it and digest it but he saysnow, here is how you're supposed
to live.
And that became a life chapterto me in 1989, when I became a
believer and had a faith for thefirst real time in my life.
This is a life chapter is thatthis shows you and it's it's a
(19:14):
really beautifully written andand I took it and shortly
thereafter and took it and putit into 12 directives that I
believe would help us live outthat trust acronym and our
values.
So this was really thebehaviors that would support the
trust acronym.
So I, so the they're the trustacronym, so they're really rich
and at Reliable Roofing.
(19:34):
You don't have to have a faithto work here.
We don't think any different ofyou.
We're wide open to that Peopleof all faith.
There's no theocracy here atthe company, but people
understand my faith and that I'mattempting to do a good job at
walking that out Not always,sometimes better than others.
But the very first R12directive is it all belongs to
(19:56):
God.
But I always explain during ourmeetings, if this comes up or
to new hires or whatever, thatthat doesn't mean you have to
have a faith and you have toeven believe in God.
Maybe we'll start with that bysaying that's a stewardship
issue.
Like we're all stewards ofwhatever we're doing.
We're stewards of our lives.
We're stewards of our children.
We're stewards of theproperties that we have.
(20:16):
We're not going to have themforever.
Like it's everything's almost atemporary assignment when we're
the leader and we're going tobe, we're going to be in charge
of them.
But but for those who do have afaith, we understand that the
perspective that you gain withwith when you truly just say you
know what.
He owns it all.
There's such freedom in that.
Even right now, as you and Iwere talking right before the
show, the terrorists worldwideterrorists are hitting everyone.
(20:41):
We're all business people.
We're invested in differentbusinesses.
This is just really a lot ofchaos going on, we step back and
take a deep breath andunderstand God owns it all.
Whatever happens here, we trusthim.
We do need to do what we needto do.
We need to take action and dowhatever.
That doesn't mean we sit backand do nothing but at the end of
(21:02):
the day, we're going to be allright.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I love that, Barron.
I love that like a reset.
I mean it's a calibration.
It is Because, if we watch thenews and all that stuff going on
in the chaos, fear will set inon all sides in terms of what's
happening.
We just don't know.
The stock market going down solow, the news telling us who's
bad and who's good and all thesedifferent things, and when we
(21:23):
have a chance to step back andsay it all belongs to him is
really powerful and we can havethat perspective.
No doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Yeah, it's a truth, and that's the thing.
The truth sets you free.
It just is a.
It's a, it's, it's, it isthere's.
It's not a platitude, it's just, it's just true that you can,
when you rest, on things thatare true.
And and I think right now, withjust the world in general, with
the news cycle, it is designedto make you afraid.
(21:54):
It is designed to breed fear,because fear attracts eyeballs,
and that's what they're tryingto do is capture eyeballs and we
can kind of get addicted to itand whatever side of the
political aisle you're on, youcan just argue and get all
worked up about what the otherside is doing and how disastrous
it's going to be, and they feedthat.
So, but it's always good to putit back, to have a true north
(22:17):
and a center that says all right, this is not.
You know, I'm a steward of whatI'm supposed to be a steward of
and I'm going to do the bestthat I can do, and then after
that I'm going to trust God, I'mgoing to honor him and trust
him.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Well, I love that in terms of saying, too, we're not
going to roofing For allmeasures.
You've had a very successfulcompany, yet you've come to us
(23:01):
over a year ago and said and Iwant to do better.
We talk about the framework ofdeveloping self, developing your
team or developing others,implementing new structures and
processes.
Ultimately, what leads tosustainable success?
Kingdom impact, as we've oftentalked about it.
But what was the catalyst foryou to say we're doing okay now
(23:22):
and I want to do more.
I want to do better.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Yeah, there's a few catalysts to it.
Some of it is just my age andrealizing that I need to really
shore up the foundation ofeverything that is in the
business age.
And realizing that I need toreally shore up the foundation
of everything that is in thebusiness and I want it to
continue, that I don't know thatmy my years are are certainly
on the short end of the years ofhow long I'll be here and and
having the opportunity to toimprove it and make it as
(23:46):
sustainable as possible wasimportant to me.
That for the future, I alsohave had more time, the kids are
out of the house.
Some of the demands are stillbig, but some of them the
day-to-day demands of when youhad four sons have changed
dramatically.
The other part is that ourindustry's changed and the world
has changed and everybody'sexperienced in this
(24:07):
consolidation of there's likethis money machine out there
that is gobbling up everybusiness and entity to have
those assets producing returnsfor them and that's okay, that's
their job and that's theirbusiness.
But they're also doing that inthe roofing industry.
Major suppliers are beingpurchased, our customers are
being purchased and ourcompetitors are being purchased,
(24:27):
so we need to be the bestversion of ourselves to just
position ourselves and to be agreat competitor in those
environments and to serve ourcustomers.
And our intentions are tocontinue just to serve our
customers as personally and ashonestly as possible.
And while the world is changingwith who owns what and what,
(24:49):
the world is changing withartificial intelligence and I'm
a proponent of using thatwherever it's possible to still
value people but to bringefficiencies.
But what we're really going tofocus on at Reliable is the
stuff that doesn't change.
You know we're going to change.
That's valuing people and beinghonest with people and serving
them and trying to meet theirneeds and putting them above
(25:11):
yourselves and trying to be agood friend and a good vendor
and a good employer to ouremployees and a good contractor
to our contractors and that kindof stuff.
So those things will neverchange.
People will always want thosekinds of things and that's where
we're trying to focus on thingsthat won't change.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Excellent To be commended for that.
I mean oftentimes, especiallyon the entrepreneurial side, I
believe that folks can beseduced by success and just kind
of keep riding it along there.
But you've made a hard choiceto do hard things to make it
even better, and I'd love thediscussion you talk about in
terms of your team.
You mentioned that personthat's your right-hand person
(25:51):
that's been there for almost aslong as you have on that journey
.
You have many 25-year employeesin your organization and you
like to keep it that way.
You know the team is somethingthat's very important to you.
Is there a time that you weremost proud of your team and what
they were able to accomplish?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
We've been through a lot If you think about the time
since 1987, we started in 87.
There was a stock market crashin October of 87.
That was a lot.
In 1990, there was a bigrecession that was really
damaging to the roofing business.
A lot of people went, whichjust shook everyone in the
economy.
We had the great economic resetin 2007 that just devastated
(26:38):
the housing industry.
You know there was a andthere's been other things along
the way, but of course, we hadCOVID in 2020.
And I would say the COVIDresponse by far and we've been
through so many hurricanes, likethe business has been through a
lot of challenges the COVIDresponse by far was what just
endeared me to the people inthis business in a new way Scary
(27:02):
times.
We were having a meeting onMarch 13th of 2020, offsite
meeting with the leadership teamat a remote workplace and they
they said we're closing down.
And the word came out that daywe're closing down.
And my right-hand man that Iwas mentioning earlier, who was
coughing maybe a little bit thatday, I don't know but within
(27:25):
seven days he was in thehospital with a severe case of
COVID, one of the firsthospitalized.
People couldn't really talk andlow oxygen, just really in a
rough, rough spot and just theinstrumental key to this
business and obviously theworld's shutting down.
We roof apartment complexesprimarily and they're shutting
everything down.
(27:46):
So we know our apartment ownersaren't going to get their rent
and we know that these entitiesall stand on their own, these
individual entities, and we haveroofing work.
But if they don't get theirrent and they can't pay their
bills, then this is a matter.
We don't know how long this isgoing to last, but so it's
uncertain, as it was foreveryone.
But our team came together andwe jumped all in and technology
(28:11):
and brought in some newtechnology, jumped all in and
technology and bought in somenew technology.
And I and I just can't tell youthe, the, the, the.
Some people stay in the officea lot became remote workers for
us at the time and have sincecome back.
But but the real, the bravery ofthe project management team and
sales team and the and thecrews to go out when others were
(28:31):
, everybody else was stayinghome, we were essential workers
and and we, we had to keepworking and they and they did,
and we went into some toughplaces, like we were up in
Virginia where there was therewas very fearful outbreaks and
everyone was at home.
And there are some of oursenior living places were saying
I need you to roof these.
They had some these it's a midrises that were senior living
(28:52):
like that were senior living.
These roofs are leaking andthese residents are in their
homes, they're in their rooms bythemselves and we need these
roofs done.
And with great fear and anxietywith the families of the people
who worked here for theirfamilies to be leaving the house
and coming back in, our teamdid it and we and we and we
(29:14):
thrive.
We had a.
We had with our mask on, we hadon our mask.
Time to shine, it was on.
The had our had our mascot, ourRufus the gorilla that has roof
us and and it went.
The thing that said time toshine and I can say I could not
be pr of the collaborativeeffort and the way the team came
(29:36):
and sacrificially for theirfellow workers so that they'd
have a job and also just for thesenior living residents and
just the company at large andfor their own families.
I would not say they weren'tafraid.
Some were more afraid thanothers, but they went to work
and I don't think we'll ever topthat one in my mind.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
You.
Just I mean to talk all the waythrough those years and the
different things that the ebbsand the flows that you know many
businesses have gone through.
I mean your story is not thatdissimilar from others, but to
hear that from the story oflosing or not losing, but
certainly having one of your topleaders be so affected from it
from a physical standpoint, tobe ready and I know talking with
(30:15):
him today he still remembersthat all too well in terms of
what he went through and maybestill suffering from some of
that today physically that'shappening To have your team
rally around that and to make,ultimately, work that needed to
be done to keep folks safe andto keep them in their homes as
well.
Realizing that the cash may notbe there for you Again goes
back to that trust that you'vebuilt over time with your
(30:38):
business and that acronym andhow it makes so much sense.
Barry, what's the future foryou?
What are you learning right nowthat excites you and what are
you looking forward to?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
I think, just helping people grow and using the
platform that I have been givenover having a business that has
turned out to be a prettysuccessful business.
It's.
There's been many times overthe years where we weren't sure
where it was going to make it.
So it's been.
It's been far from a smoothroad, but, but to use that to
help people, to help them grow,to speak into their lives, to
(31:11):
teach them things that I'velearned along the way and to
encourage them to serve theircustomer.
That's the biggest thing that Iwould say along the way serve
others.
The world constantly tells youthat the key to success and the
key to getting ahead is to focuson you and that you deserve a
break and you deserve more andyou should not have people
(31:32):
telling you this or doing that.
Whatever is, it's this you, you, you or me, me, me kind of kind
of focus.
The problem with it is itdoesn't work.
It doesn't.
The more focused you really areon you, you, you, the more
unhappy you'll be and the lessthe rest piece that you'll
really ultimately have.
We're important.
Each individual person isimportant.
It is it's noting yourself,it's just valuing others and
(31:55):
realizing that becoming men andwomen who are built for others
is really a great way to have apeaceful, productive, meaningful
life that will also benefit yougreatly, much more so than sort
of being centered as what's init.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
For me, the name of the podcast is the Uncommon
Leader.
Barry.
That's an uncommon response interms of others, focused versus
self-focused.
We know it's biblical we'retold to love others, love our
neighbors.
We are told to serve and not beserved, as Jesus came to this
earth to serve and not be served.
(32:29):
Love kind of that approach.
And it is an uncommon approach.
I could keep going and goingand I want to honor our time
commitment that we had here.
Barry, the stories that you'veshared, the wisdom that you've
shared, I know is going to addvalue to the folks of the
Uncommon Leader Podcast and Iappreciate the time that you've
invested.
I want to give you that lastone that I set you up for as
(32:49):
well, that last question thatgives you the last word on the
podcast.
I'm going to give you abillboard.
You can put it anywhere youwant to.
You're going to put a messageon that billboard for others, to
serve others.
What's the message that you puton there and why?
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, I would say there's a few of the R12
directives.
We didn't really get to talkabout that are.
There's 12 of them, but thegratitude is one and humility is
one.
But I think the I think one ofmy favorites is the idea that I
would probably put on thebillboard is do the right thing
Even if others don't.
I think that's even if othersdon't.
I think that's the.
That's one of the great pitfallsin life and it can happen in
(33:27):
family relationships.
It can happen in business thatwhen other people behave in a in
an inappropriate way andsomehow with it, and that can
even be parents in aninappropriate way and somehow
and that can even be parents,whatever it is there can be a
when other people behave in aninappropriate way, we somehow
can fall into a trap of givingourselves permission to act in
(33:48):
an inappropriate way ourselves.
And amongst the Christian peergroup we're like what we're
really saying when we do that isthat person is Lord.
He's not Lord.
If you're, you know, but ifyou're not a person of faith,
just in general, don't letsomeone else's bad behavior give
you and let you fall into thetrap of having bad behavior.
So do the right thing, even ifthey did.
(34:09):
That's just, and there's a tonof freedom.
So all of these values and thethings you just shared about
what the ancient wisdoms thatare in the Bible and the
teaching there there's a lot inthere for anyone of any faith,
but they're all designed to makeour lives better and more
peaceful and more personal andthey're like guardrails.
So I think that would be oneI'd have to put on there and
(34:30):
hope people would attempt toadhere to it, because it's a lot
easier to say it than it is todo it.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
That is so true as well.
It's easier to say and, Barry,I know you've been a model for
that and understanding that andall that I've heard about you.
And again I wish you the best.
I appreciate you investing thetime with the listeners of the
Uncommon Leader Podcast.
Maybe we'll do this again andwe'll walk down deep into each
one of those R12 principles andreally understand those deeper.
(34:56):
I'm going to put a link to yourwebsite at Reliable Roofing
where folks can learn more aboutyou and your organization as
well in the show notes so thatpeople can stay in touch with
you.
But again, I wish you the bestgoing forward and I want to
thank you for your time.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, well, thank you for having me, it's been a
pleasure.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
And that wraps up another episode of the Uncommon
Leader Podcast.
Thanks for tuning in today.
If you found value in thisepisode, I encourage you to
share it with your friends,colleagues or anyone else who
could benefit from the insightsand inspiration we've shared.
Also, if you have a moment, I'dgreatly appreciate if you could
leave a rating and review onyour favorite podcast platform.
Your feedback not only helps usto improve, but it also helps
(35:36):
others discover the podcast andjoin our growing community of
uncommon leaders.
Until next time, go and growchampions.
do the right thing, even if others don't.
I think that's one of the greatpitfalls in life that it can
happen in family relationships.
It can happen in business, thatwhen other people behave in an
inappropriate way, we somehowcan fall into a trap of giving
ourselves permission to act inan inappropriate way ourselves.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hey, uncommon Leaders , welcome back.
This is the Uncommon LeaderPodcast.
I'm your host, john Gallagher,and I've got a fantastic guest
for you today.
I'm very grateful to be able tocall this gentleman, a friend,
barry Sutliff, who's the founderand CEO of Reliable Roofing in
Georgia, and I can't wait to geta chance to talk with him about
his story.
One of the things we'll talkabout today is from when he
(00:46):
started this organization with$100 in his pocket and today, as
it sits as amultimillion-dollar organization
.
And while that's a veryimportant part of the journey
for Barry as the CEO of acompany, what I really
appreciate in our friendship andour conversation today is how
he is committed to living outhis purpose, his God-given
talents and gifts inside of hisorganization and his life that I
(01:10):
think are going to be inspiringand encouraging for all of us
to listen to today.
So, barry, welcome to theUncommon Leader Podcast.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I'm doing great and thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Absolutely.
Again, looking forward to ourconversation.
So many things about yourbusiness and I got all kinds of
questions to talk about, but Ialways start my first time
guests with the same firstquestion asking you to tell me a
story from your childhood thatstill impacts who you are today,
as a person or as a leader.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, you did give me a heads up that you'd be asking
that question, so I thoughtabout it a lot and there's a lot
of places I could go with it,but I think probably the most I
think, like so many people, youstart back with your parents and
you and they form so much ofwho we are and even whether the
things are tough or the thingsare easy, it forms who you are.
(02:01):
So I think about my father wasa foot soldier as an 18 year old
, with his first assignmentbeing the battle of the bulge
and and and how that molded himand his personality and and his
just way of looking at life.
And I think in some ways thatwere challenged but in other
ways that were super positive,dad became a, came back from the
(02:22):
war, spent one year in collegeand then went and worked for a
corporation which he ended upworking there 40 years and he
started in the factory and whenhe left, after seven moves, he
was in New York running theentire 23 plants of the company.
So he was willing to sacrificeand he was willing to and he
(02:44):
worked hard and he also stuckwith stuff.
So I think that had a biginfluence on me.
I think also my mother justrealizing what she went through
and trying to move sevendifferent times was a lot of
resilience there and a lot ofsacrifice that she demonstrated.
And there were six kids and soit was not an easy thing, but I
(03:07):
think I'm really grateful toboth of them.
There was a lot of trials inthe life.
I had a brother who passed awayat age seven and brought a lot
of pain into the family and sothat sort of shaped some of the
childhood too.
There was a lot of wounds thatcame out of that.
He did pass away before I wasborn but it just impacted the
family greatly and some of thatmanifests itself later.
(03:28):
But but I think the beauty ofmoving a lot for me was that
that I I got to hone my skillsand meeting new people and and
also maybe reading people andunderstanding like how do you
see what's going on in a new anddifferent situation, and I
think that's been.
I think that's been veryhelpful and I think my parents
has been role models for for howto push through with a lot of
(03:51):
different change has been veryhelpful.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Barry, I love that and I think about those six
moves.
It reminds me a good good bitof even some of our journey.
I cannot imagine with six kids.
I know that we moved as a newlymarried couple three times
before we settled into Virginiatwice and then, even in Virginia
, I had 11 different addresseswithin 17 years, never leaving
(04:14):
the zip code.
So those moves can bechallenging on family dynamics,
no doubt about it.
But with six I can't imaginehow that even tries to flow.
So and I think that, again, thateven frames a little bit then
some of that grit that yourfather had to go from the shop
floor up and up into running thecompany is something that you
guys started on as well.
(04:35):
I love the story and fulldisclosure.
Barry and I have workedtogether now for a little over a
year on some of the consultingthat I do and as I got a chance
to know him, I knew that Iwanted him to be a guest on
Young Common Leader Podcast toshare his story.
But one of the stories that Ihadn't heard before was really
the ultimate startup of reliableroofing, where you started with
$100 in your pocket 35 yearsago and ultimately have led it
(04:59):
to the success that it is today,with hundreds of employees and
hundreds of people impacted aswell many more impacted.
That's an incredible story ofgrit in and of itself.
What were some of thechallenges that you had to
overcome early in that journeyto get where you are today?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, I think the beauty of being 25 years old and
starting a business and havingthis idea is that you don't know
what you don't know, becausehad I known what some of those
challenges would be, I might nothave done it, because it was a
lot of pain and I think anyentrepreneur watching this is
like, yes, they can totallyrelate to that.
But we were encouraged early on.
(05:38):
The business was started out ofan apartment with $100.
It's actually an interestingstory we like to share, because
my wife actually lived in anapartment.
She was my girlfriend at thetime and she lived in an
apartment below me and I hadborrowed her typewriter.
When she came home from work andfound out to type up a flyer
and she asked me what I wasdoing and I told her I was going
(06:00):
to start a roofing company.
Her response was very dramaticoh my gosh, you need to get a
job.
I, like you, know I need to geta job.
You have a few problems.
You don't have any capital, youreally know a little bit about
roofing material, you don'treally know about roofing and
you don't have a ladder andthat's probably going to be a
problem.
But I did have some crews towork with.
(06:21):
But I did have some crews towork with and 38 years ago it
wasn't common.
There's a lot of people in theroofing business.
It seems like today, but 38years ago it was a little
different world in the roofingbusiness.
Most of the roofers who weredoing well were former roofers
and not as much business peoplewho had decided they would get
into the roofing business withsome exceptions but anyway, my
(06:42):
wife quickly got on board andbecame a huge cheerleader for
the business and wasinstrumental in those early
years.
But it's funny as we look backon it and it was a risky
proposition.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, there's so many things there.
I mean again, if you'd haveknown then what you know now,
you might not have started it.
It's risky to start a businesswith $100 in your pocket.
It's even more outlandish,maybe, to start a roofing
company without a ladder.
Okay, so here we go with someof the things that you've
overcome in your journey, andthere's many things that you've
(07:15):
talked about as you move throughthat journey to today.
You ultimately built a companywith what I've seen in your
notes of three Ts teamwork,trust and timeless values.
So I want to start with thosetimeless values where we are.
I mean, it's something thatreally drew me to you in terms
(07:36):
of understanding.
Tell me a little bit about howyou established those values in
your organization.
Maybe it's part of who you wereas you grew up as well, and how
those values continue to drivewho you are today in your
business.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
And my values have grown over the years, but when I
started, one thing that I wasconfident in was that people
needed someone they could trustto do their roofing, that there
was the process of getting itdone, but that a service like
roofing was after the job wasdone.
The warranty and what happensover the next few years is every
(08:12):
bit as important as whathappens right when you're doing
the job because of the weather.
So really it was all aboutbeing trustworthy and it was
about doing, you know, honoring,being honest with our customers
and honoring them and doingeverything you can do to make
their experience good.
And so the company and originalvalues were based on the
(08:32):
acronym TRUST.
I did that early on and theTRUST stood for teamwork,
respect, understanding, the ideaof understanding, you know,
seek first to understand, thenbe understood, just really
understanding what the customerwanted.
Service, you know, providingthem what they wanted and, after
you've listened to them andheard what they wanted, to
(08:52):
provide that service.
And then transformation and theidea that that that those
processes really transform, justtransform relationships like
this idea of working togetherand and respecting one another,
hearing one another, serving oneanother, that they really it's
a transformed relationships.
So so that was kind of that wasmy idea early on was like there
(09:13):
would that we would build it onon the company, on trust, and
you see, that common wherepeople are like honest,
trustworthy, whatever, but wereally and nobody's we really
worked hard on always honoringour customer, the trust that was
bestowed upon us by ourcustomers.
And even to this day, as youknow, we work all over the
(09:36):
country practically with onlylocations in physical location
Florida and Georgia.
And it's an interesting conceptof how people in Michigan big
customers we work in Bostonsometimes and in Dallas or
wherever we're working, there'sa lot of roofing contractors
between our home office andthose places.
(09:58):
But why did they choose us?
In a lot of cases it's becausethey trust us and we don't ever
want to do anything to betraythat trust.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, Well, I know I've had a chance to meet with a
few of your customers in thetime we've been together and
there's no doubt thatrelationship and that trust
that's been built over the yearsis something that is
foundational to your success,and I love the use of the
acronym TRUST.
I was another thing, that's twothings.
Now I wasn't aware of that.
You had there the teamwork,respect, understanding, service
(10:27):
and transformation, and for me,even the word that came to mind
as you talked about it wasintegrity.
I think about doing the rightthing, even though it may cost a
little bit more than you'rewilling to pay, or sometimes a
lot more than you're willing topay.
You mentioned how you've donethat with customers.
Can you think of a story whereyou had to actually go above and
beyond, where it cost yourcompany more than you really
(10:48):
wanted it to, but you needed tomaintain that trust with a
customer.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, it comes up all the time.
You can imagine that wherethere's examples all the time
where there's some kind ofproblem with a roof that may not
have manifested itself Even intime if we, for instance, have a
five-year warranty on a roof,it may be six or seven years and
we see something that wasactually something that was not
correct in the first place, thatwe will go ahead and correct
that even though there's been,even though it doesn't.
(11:17):
We don't technically legally owethat, but we try to do the
right thing.
I guess probably one of thebiggest examples of that was a
big owe that we found inSavannah, georgia, where we had
done a property and I think itwas possibly a year or so later
when they were asking us we'ddone about 50,000 square feet of
(11:37):
roofing on this apartmentcomplex and for some reason they
didn't notice till thefollowing year that it was the
wrong color and it was acalamity of errors of how that
happened and obviously it wasn'ttoo clear to anyone, which is
why it took them a year todiscover it.
But that was a big one where wehad to go back and say, okay,
(12:00):
we'll take care of it.
We replaced the entire 50,000square feet of roofing for them
to make the color right.
Wow that was kind of legendaryin the reliable roofing history.
That would be legendary.
50,000 square feet worth,absolutely, yeah, wow.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's that was kind of legendary in the reliable
roofing history.
That would be legendary, 50,000feet worth Absolutely and
fixing that problem anddefinitely again, definitely a
sign that I could understand howthat would build trust with
your customer base overall,because those those words get
around to you know, small moralyou're.
You're in 35 States now interms of providing the work that
you do now.
Back then maybe you weren't,but either way that's still a
(12:31):
small community where some ofthose words get around as to how
you're servicing thosecustomers becomes a big part of
it.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And the customer worked with us to give us some
other work to try to soften theblow of that.
They were appreciative of that,but the main thing is doing the
right thing.
I had a mentor early on whowould encourage me to get at
least a $250,000 reserve whichwas laughable back then because
he was adamant about it.
Like you need to build thisreserve, build a reserve.
(12:59):
Build a reserve Because he saidI know you want to do the right
thing, but if you don't handleyour finances well, you may find
yourself in a lot of situationswhere you'd actually like to do
the right thing, but you haveto have to argue about it or not
do it because you don't havethe financial capability of
doing it.
So so that's been part of ourapproach with the business too,
(13:20):
and keeping our really managingour finance, as well as trying
to keep ourselves in a positionto where you can, where where
the lack of funds doesn't creepinto a lack of character funds
doesn't creep into a lack ofcharacter, barry.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
We could talk entrepreneurship a lot of the
time through.
Another characteristic of BarrySutliff that I love is the I'll
use the word balance.
I don't know that it's a greatword, but certainly the fact
that you have the ability andyou might judge yourself.
I'll let you talk to it here ina minute.
You've been married for 36years to your wife.
(13:59):
You have a large family, youhave hobbies that you like to do
, you're a golfer, you havesports that you like and you are
involved in your community as atrustee for the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes, chairman ofthe Young Leaders International.
How do you balance all of thosethings in your leadership style
, the demands of running amulti-million dollar business
(14:19):
with the need to add value toothers outside of work as well?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Yeah, and I don't.
As you said, balance is anillusion, right, you're never
going to have personal balancewith things.
But I think two things.
The first I would want to sayis just the team that we have
here at Reliable Roofing is justsome really great people.
We built the business with thisidea that we need to create an
(14:46):
environment where people canreach their God-given potential.
We need to create anentrepreneurial environment
where people can reach theirGod-given potential, and if we
don't do that, then they shouldleave.
We should want them to leave,but I don't really like people
to leave because I really careabout people and we've had some
great people.
My right-hand man has been withme for 33 years.
He's an amazing person who'sgot honor, integrity,
(15:10):
responsibility, hard work anddone a fantastic job, had a
right.
And a woman who just retired,who was there with the company
for 36 years, who also had justa ton of integrity and support.
And then we have a lot of otherfolks who've been more than 25
years with the business that arejust quality, solid people, and
so without them, it's not evenpossible.
Right Without the team?
So that's the team.
And the them it's not evenpossible.
(15:30):
Right Without the team.
So that's the team.
When the teamwork it's not evenremotely possible, because it's
really largely true that theybuilt the business.
You know, I led it and did somehad some vision, some ideas,
whatever, but those are the,those are the men and women that
made it happen.
So so that's part of it.
But then the other piece is isputting the putting the first
things first.
(15:51):
And I don't claim to have donethis perfectly at all.
We raised four sons.
You can just sports and allthat kind of stuff.
You can only imagine the timeschedules, especially being an
entrepreneur.
But to keep reminding myself toput God first, like to put that
, to put God first.
Once you get your head rightaround that, then that puts
(16:15):
perspective on everything.
And then family, my wife andthen my family.
And so early on there was somereal intentionality that I had
around limiting the hours Iwould work.
For instance, I started in 1998with saying after six o'clock I
would be, I'd make everyintention to be home by six.
Now, that was at that time.
(16:36):
That was a stretch to say that,and and I didn't always do it,
but but putting that boundary inthere made me much more
effective up until six and I'dgo home and be around the family
and go to bed for a few hoursand wake up and do bids in the
middle of the night and whateverit took to get the job done.
But I had that as a priorityand I didn't want to miss my
children's childhood and Ididn't.
(16:57):
So I think if I could just sumthat up, it would be having the
right priorities and then thosethings will fall into place.
If you sort of seek God first,then the rest will fall into
place.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Hey listeners, I want to take a quick moment to share
something special with you.
Many of the topics anddiscussions we have on this
podcast are areas where Iprovide coaching and consulting
services for individuals andorganizations.
If you've been inspired by ourconversation and are seeking a
catalyst for change in your ownlife or within your team, I
(17:32):
invite you to visitcoachjohngallaghercom forward
slash free call to sign up for afree coaching call with me.
It's an opportunity for us toconnect, discuss your unique
challenges and explore howcoaching or consulting can
benefit you and your team.
Okay, let's get back to theshow Love that Seek God first,
but also again putting thoseother things in your calendar
first as well.
(17:53):
After that time.
I know that it won't be perfect.
I mean, there are seasons in anentrepreneur's life, there are
seasons in a business leader'slife where you have to be
investing a significant amountof time in your business, but
when you can have thosepriorities, first for children,
wife, god those are the rightones to have and now
grandchildren for you as well.
Very important, speaking ofthose values Romans 12 plays a
(18:15):
significant role in yourcompany's values.
How have you look, I say,practically integrated those
principles into your business ona daily, daily basis?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, well, so for those of your listeners who
don't know what basis yeah, sofor those of your listeners who
don't know much about Romans 12,it was a letter written to the
Romans.
I think maybe Paul wrote it fromprison.
I know Paul wrote it, if Iremember correctly, but he
describes a lot about thetheologies that he's discussing
with the Romans.
But then he does a backgroundon that and then in Romans 12,
(18:51):
he says in a chapter and Ihighly recommend anybody go read
it and digest it but he saysnow, here is how you're supposed
to live.
And that became a life chapterto me in 1989, when I became a
believer and had a faith for thefirst real time in my life.
This is a life chapter is thatthis shows you and it's it's a
(19:14):
really beautifully written andand I took it and shortly
thereafter and took it and putit into 12 directives that I
believe would help us live outthat trust acronym and our
values.
So this was really thebehaviors that would support the
trust acronym.
So I, so the they're the trustacronym, so they're really rich
and at Reliable Roofing.
(19:34):
You don't have to have a faithto work here.
We don't think any different ofyou.
We're wide open to that Peopleof all faith.
There's no theocracy here atthe company, but people
understand my faith and that I'mattempting to do a good job at
walking that out Not always,sometimes better than others.
But the very first R12directive is it all belongs to
(19:56):
God.
But I always explain during ourmeetings, if this comes up or
to new hires or whatever, thatthat doesn't mean you have to
have a faith and you have toeven believe in God.
Maybe we'll start with that bysaying that's a stewardship
issue.
Like we're all stewards ofwhatever we're doing.
We're stewards of our lives.
We're stewards of our children.
We're stewards of theproperties that we have.
(20:16):
We're not going to have themforever.
Like it's everything's almost atemporary assignment when we're
the leader and we're going tobe, we're going to be in charge
of them.
But but for those who do have afaith, we understand that the
perspective that you gain withwith when you truly just say you
know what.
He owns it all.
There's such freedom in that.
Even right now, as you and Iwere talking right before the
show, the terrorists worldwideterrorists are hitting everyone.
(20:41):
We're all business people.
We're invested in differentbusinesses.
This is just really a lot ofchaos going on, we step back and
take a deep breath andunderstand God owns it all.
Whatever happens here, we trusthim.
We do need to do what we needto do.
We need to take action and dowhatever.
That doesn't mean we sit backand do nothing but at the end of
(21:02):
the day, we're going to be allright.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I love that, Barron.
I love that like a reset.
I mean it's a calibration.
It is Because, if we watch thenews and all that stuff going on
in the chaos, fear will set inon all sides in terms of what's
happening.
We just don't know.
The stock market going down solow, the news telling us who's
bad and who's good and all thesedifferent things, and when we
(21:23):
have a chance to step back andsay it all belongs to him is
really powerful and we can havethat perspective.
No doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Yeah, it's a truth, and that's the thing.
The truth sets you free.
It just is a.
It's a, it's, it's, it isthere's.
It's not a platitude, it's just, it's just true that you can,
when you rest, on things thatare true.
And and I think right now, withjust the world in general, with
the news cycle, it is designedto make you afraid.
(21:54):
It is designed to breed fear,because fear attracts eyeballs,
and that's what they're tryingto do is capture eyeballs and we
can kind of get addicted to itand whatever side of the
political aisle you're on, youcan just argue and get all
worked up about what the otherside is doing and how disastrous
it's going to be, and they feedthat.
So, but it's always good to putit back, to have a true north
(22:17):
and a center that says all right, this is not.
You know, I'm a steward of whatI'm supposed to be a steward of
and I'm going to do the bestthat I can do, and then after
that I'm going to trust God, I'mgoing to honor him and trust
him.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Well, I love that in terms of saying, too, we're not
going to roofing For allmeasures.
You've had a very successfulcompany, yet you've come to us
(23:01):
over a year ago and said and Iwant to do better.
We talk about the framework ofdeveloping self, developing your
team or developing others,implementing new structures and
processes.
Ultimately, what leads tosustainable success?
Kingdom impact, as we've oftentalked about it.
But what was the catalyst foryou to say we're doing okay now
(23:22):
and I want to do more.
I want to do better.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Yeah, there's a few catalysts to it.
Some of it is just my age andrealizing that I need to really
shore up the foundation ofeverything that is in the
business age.
And realizing that I need toreally shore up the foundation
of everything that is in thebusiness and I want it to
continue, that I don't know thatmy my years are are certainly
on the short end of the years ofhow long I'll be here and and
having the opportunity to toimprove it and make it as
(23:46):
sustainable as possible wasimportant to me.
That for the future, I alsohave had more time, the kids are
out of the house.
Some of the demands are stillbig, but some of them the
day-to-day demands of when youhad four sons have changed
dramatically.
The other part is that ourindustry's changed and the world
has changed and everybody'sexperienced in this
(24:07):
consolidation of there's likethis money machine out there
that is gobbling up everybusiness and entity to have
those assets producing returnsfor them and that's okay, that's
their job and that's theirbusiness.
But they're also doing that inthe roofing industry.
Major suppliers are beingpurchased, our customers are
being purchased and ourcompetitors are being purchased,
(24:27):
so we need to be the bestversion of ourselves to just
position ourselves and to be agreat competitor in those
environments and to serve ourcustomers.
And our intentions are tocontinue just to serve our
customers as personally and ashonestly as possible.
And while the world is changingwith who owns what and what,
(24:49):
the world is changing withartificial intelligence and I'm
a proponent of using thatwherever it's possible to still
value people but to bringefficiencies.
But what we're really going tofocus on at Reliable is the
stuff that doesn't change.
You know we're going to change.
That's valuing people and beinghonest with people and serving
them and trying to meet theirneeds and putting them above
(25:11):
yourselves and trying to be agood friend and a good vendor
and a good employer to ouremployees and a good contractor
to our contractors and that kindof stuff.
So those things will neverchange.
People will always want thosekinds of things and that's where
we're trying to focus on thingsthat won't change.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Excellent To be commended for that.
I mean oftentimes, especiallyon the entrepreneurial side, I
believe that folks can beseduced by success and just kind
of keep riding it along there.
But you've made a hard choiceto do hard things to make it
even better, and I'd love thediscussion you talk about in
terms of your team.
You mentioned that personthat's your right-hand person
(25:51):
that's been there for almost aslong as you have on that journey
.
You have many 25-year employeesin your organization and you
like to keep it that way.
You know the team is somethingthat's very important to you.
Is there a time that you weremost proud of your team and what
they were able to accomplish?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
We've been through a lot If you think about the time
since 1987, we started in 87.
There was a stock market crashin October of 87.
That was a lot.
In 1990, there was a bigrecession that was really
damaging to the roofing business.
A lot of people went, whichjust shook everyone in the
economy.
We had the great economic resetin 2007 that just devastated
(26:38):
the housing industry.
You know there was a andthere's been other things along
the way, but of course, we hadCOVID in 2020.
And I would say the COVIDresponse by far and we've been
through so many hurricanes, likethe business has been through a
lot of challenges the COVIDresponse by far was what just
endeared me to the people inthis business in a new way Scary
(27:02):
times.
We were having a meeting onMarch 13th of 2020, offsite
meeting with the leadership teamat a remote workplace and they
they said we're closing down.
And the word came out that daywe're closing down.
And my right-hand man that Iwas mentioning earlier, who was
coughing maybe a little bit thatday, I don't know but within
(27:25):
seven days he was in thehospital with a severe case of
COVID, one of the firsthospitalized.
People couldn't really talk andlow oxygen, just really in a
rough, rough spot and just theinstrumental key to this
business and obviously theworld's shutting down.
We roof apartment complexesprimarily and they're shutting
everything down.
(27:46):
So we know our apartment ownersaren't going to get their rent
and we know that these entitiesall stand on their own, these
individual entities, and we haveroofing work.
But if they don't get theirrent and they can't pay their
bills, then this is a matter.
We don't know how long this isgoing to last, but so it's
uncertain, as it was foreveryone.
But our team came together andwe jumped all in and technology
(28:11):
and brought in some newtechnology, jumped all in and
technology and bought in somenew technology.
And I and I just can't tell youthe, the, the, the.
Some people stay in the officea lot became remote workers for
us at the time and have sincecome back.
But but the real, the bravery ofthe project management team and
sales team and the and thecrews to go out when others were
(28:31):
, everybody else was stayinghome, we were essential workers
and and we, we had to keepworking and they and they did,
and we went into some toughplaces, like we were up in
Virginia where there was therewas very fearful outbreaks and
everyone was at home.
And there are some of oursenior living places were saying
I need you to roof these.
They had some these it's a midrises that were senior living
(28:52):
like that were senior living.
These roofs are leaking andthese residents are in their
homes, they're in their rooms bythemselves and we need these
roofs done.
And with great fear and anxietywith the families of the people
who worked here for theirfamilies to be leaving the house
and coming back in, our teamdid it and we and we and we
(29:14):
thrive.
We had a.
We had with our mask on, we hadon our mask.
Time to shine, it was on.
The had our had our mascot, ourRufus the gorilla that has roof
us and and it went.
The thing that said time toshine and I can say I could not
be pr of the collaborativeeffort and the way the team came
(29:36):
and sacrificially for theirfellow workers so that they'd
have a job and also just for thesenior living residents and
just the company at large andfor their own families.
I would not say they weren'tafraid.
Some were more afraid thanothers, but they went to work
and I don't think we'll ever topthat one in my mind.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
You.
Just I mean to talk all the waythrough those years and the
different things that the ebbsand the flows that you know many
businesses have gone through.
I mean your story is not thatdissimilar from others, but to
hear that from the story oflosing or not losing, but
certainly having one of your topleaders be so affected from it
from a physical standpoint, tobe ready and I know talking with
(30:15):
him today he still remembersthat all too well in terms of
what he went through and maybestill suffering from some of
that today physically that'shappening To have your team
rally around that and to make,ultimately, work that needed to
be done to keep folks safe andto keep them in their homes as
well.
Realizing that the cash may notbe there for you Again goes
back to that trust that you'vebuilt over time with your
(30:38):
business and that acronym andhow it makes so much sense.
Barry, what's the future foryou?
What are you learning right nowthat excites you and what are
you looking forward to?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
I think, just helping people grow and using the
platform that I have been givenover having a business that has
turned out to be a prettysuccessful business.
It's.
There's been many times overthe years where we weren't sure
where it was going to make it.
So it's been.
It's been far from a smoothroad, but, but to use that to
help people, to help them grow,to speak into their lives, to
(31:11):
teach them things that I'velearned along the way and to
encourage them to serve theircustomer.
That's the biggest thing that Iwould say along the way serve
others.
The world constantly tells youthat the key to success and the
key to getting ahead is to focuson you and that you deserve a
break and you deserve more andyou should not have people
(31:32):
telling you this or doing that.
Whatever is, it's this you, you, you or me, me, me kind of kind
of focus.
The problem with it is itdoesn't work.
It doesn't.
The more focused you really areon you, you, you, the more
unhappy you'll be and the lessthe rest piece that you'll
really ultimately have.
We're important.
Each individual person isimportant.
It is it's noting yourself,it's just valuing others and
(31:55):
realizing that becoming men andwomen who are built for others
is really a great way to have apeaceful, productive, meaningful
life that will also benefit yougreatly, much more so than sort
of being centered as what's init.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
For me, the name of the podcast is the Uncommon
Leader.
Barry.
That's an uncommon response interms of others, focused versus
self-focused.
We know it's biblical we'retold to love others, love our
neighbors.
We are told to serve and not beserved, as Jesus came to this
earth to serve and not be served.
(32:29):
Love kind of that approach.
And it is an uncommon approach.
I could keep going and goingand I want to honor our time
commitment that we had here.
Barry, the stories that you'veshared, the wisdom that you've
shared, I know is going to addvalue to the folks of the
Uncommon Leader Podcast and Iappreciate the time that you've
invested.
I want to give you that lastone that I set you up for as
(32:49):
well, that last question thatgives you the last word on the
podcast.
I'm going to give you abillboard.
You can put it anywhere youwant to.
You're going to put a messageon that billboard for others, to
serve others.
What's the message that you puton there and why?
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, I would say there's a few of the R12
directives.
We didn't really get to talkabout that are.
There's 12 of them, but thegratitude is one and humility is
one.
But I think the I think one ofmy favorites is the idea that I
would probably put on thebillboard is do the right thing
Even if others don't.
I think that's even if othersdon't.
I think that's the.
That's one of the great pitfallsin life and it can happen in
(33:27):
family relationships.
It can happen in business thatwhen other people behave in a in
an inappropriate way andsomehow with it, and that can
even be parents in aninappropriate way and somehow
and that can even be parents,whatever it is there can be a
when other people behave in aninappropriate way, we somehow
can fall into a trap of givingourselves permission to act in
(33:48):
an inappropriate way ourselves.
And amongst the Christian peergroup we're like what we're
really saying when we do that isthat person is Lord.
He's not Lord.
If you're, you know, but ifyou're not a person of faith,
just in general, don't letsomeone else's bad behavior give
you and let you fall into thetrap of having bad behavior.
So do the right thing, even ifthey did.
(34:09):
That's just, and there's a tonof freedom.
So all of these values and thethings you just shared about
what the ancient wisdoms thatare in the Bible and the
teaching there there's a lot inthere for anyone of any faith,
but they're all designed to makeour lives better and more
peaceful and more personal andthey're like guardrails.
So I think that would be oneI'd have to put on there and
(34:30):
hope people would attempt toadhere to it, because it's a lot
easier to say it than it is todo it.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
That is so true as well.
It's easier to say and, Barry,I know you've been a model for
that and understanding that andall that I've heard about you.
And again I wish you the best.
I appreciate you investing thetime with the listeners of the
Uncommon Leader Podcast.
Maybe we'll do this again andwe'll walk down deep into each
one of those R12 principles andreally understand those deeper.
(34:56):
I'm going to put a link to yourwebsite at Reliable Roofing
where folks can learn more aboutyou and your organization as
well in the show notes so thatpeople can stay in touch with
you.
But again, I wish you the bestgoing forward and I want to
thank you for your time.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, well, thank you for having me, it's been a
pleasure.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
And that wraps up another episode of the Uncommon
Leader Podcast.
Thanks for tuning in today.
If you found value in thisepisode, I encourage you to
share it with your friends,colleagues or anyone else who
could benefit from the insightsand inspiration we've shared.
Also, if you have a moment, I'dgreatly appreciate if you could
leave a rating and review onyour favorite podcast platform.
Your feedback not only helps usto improve, but it also helps
(35:36):
others discover the podcast andjoin our growing community of
uncommon leaders.
Until next time, go and growchampions.
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