Spectora Spotlight with Carla Heatherly

Spectora Spotlight with Carla Heatherly

Home inspection & real estate trends, tips and tools to help the modern home inspector grow and run a successful business. Learn more about Spectora at https://www.spectora.com

Episodes

August 14, 2025 29 mins

You don’t need a massive ad budget to grow your inspection business—you just need to show up for your people. 

In this episode, Lauren Hughes from Lighted Way Home Inspections shares how she’s built a thriving business in a rural Texas market by leading with generosity, consistency, and heart. From delivering flowers to agents’ desks to sponsoring local events, Lauren proves that the best marketing is often just being a good neighb...

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Ep. 140: AI in Home Inspections, Part 2 Guest: Chris Skinner, Silk Inspections (Fayetteville, NC)

Let’s get nerdy! In Part 2, Chris Skinner shares how he’s gone beyond the basics to train custom GPTs, communicate faster with agents, and use AI to unlock serious focus in the field. 

We dig into:

  • How to use AI when you’re not the owner

  • The real potential of custom GPTs

  • Communication hacks for agents + clients

  • Where AI sh...

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AI isn’t coming for your job—but it is here to help you work smarter. In this episode, Chris Skinner from Silk Inspections breaks down the automation and AI tools he’s using to save time, reduce mental load, and bring more consistency to his business.

We get into:

  • Why he started automating—and what he’d never go back to
  • The tools that have made the biggest differenc...
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July 11, 2025 1 min

Join new host Carla Heatherly as she talks with inspectors and industry pros about growth, real-world strategies, and what’s next for the modern home inspector.

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Yon and Brian grew up less than a mile apart. They played on the same sports teams as kids. Now, although they live across the country, they're both home inspectors. And they learn from each other every day.

In this episode, we get into:

- Growing a YouTube channel and why client education is so important

- Building home maintenance plans for clients post-inspection

- The difference between inspecting new builds and historic homes

...

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Thomas is BACK by popular demand. In the episode, we get into:

- Why collaboration is the key to leveling up the industry

- Raising your prices and adding/communicating value

- Taking ownership of issues clients run into vs learning when to say no this just isn’t our problem/fault

- Navigating contractor relationships, insurance woes, and how to give recommendations without being the upgrade police 

- Home health inspections and ge...

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Matt is a beacon of wisdom in this industry. This episode is a must-listen for any inspector thinking about becoming a business owner...or thinking about selling, for that matter. We get into:

- How Matt went from company employee to company owner

- Commitment and consistency over hustle culture

- The future of mergers & acquisitions in the inspection industry

- Why you need to KYN (Know Your Numbers)

- How he spent his life sa...

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We're lucky to have not only an incredibly successful real estate broker, but a CEO, best-selling author, coach & keynote speaker on Spectora Spotlight.

Leigh Brown is a straight shooter and an advocate for serving customers and improving the real estate industry in any way we can.

Leigh and Kevin have a free flowing conversation around the NAR lawsuit and settlement and what it could mean for Realtors, home inspectors and home...

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If you don't know Bill, you should. He and his team are some of the kindest, hard-working folks you'll come across. We've been fortunate enough to know them since the beginning of Spectora. Bill & team discuss:

- Starting a sole proprietorship with a spouse

- The importance of starting with two

- Values and excellence

- Quality software

- Growing your vision as you grow

- Hiring & team inspecting

- Looking for your "off ram...

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Jeremy Smith talks to Kevin about his unique co-op model of growing regionally, and possibly nationally. They also get into his unique backstory, how he extends value beyond the home inspection, and why this industry is perfect for lifestyle and balancing with family life.

Get in touch with Jeremy!

jeremy@apexpropertyinspection.com

http://www.apexpropertyinspection.com/laramie

 

 Interested in Spectora? Start your free trial today...

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Chuck is an absolute pleasure to talk to, and a wealth of knowledge in this industry.

We get into specifics of bringing services in-house, being a consultant for life, how to handle downturns and agent relationships.

Connect with Chuck at his email and website: info@realsvs.com http://www.realinspectionservices.com

 

 Interested in Spectora? Start your free trial today: https://hubl.li/Q02nfFrR0  Bundle a year of the app with a c...

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Michael Craycraft of Greenworks has a pretty unique vantage point, basically running one of the largest home inspection companies in the country. Michael and Kevin chat about:

  • His journey at Greenworks
  • Growing within an org vs. being your own boss
  • His views on the industry
  • Hiring and training inspectors
  • How he thinks about operations vs. strategic thinking

Want to learn more about Greenworks? Find them at their website -...

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Dylan and Kevin get into Dylan's backstory and many other topics:

  • Marketing
  • Differentiation
  • What hasn't worked
  • How HomeAdvisor/ANGI actually worked for him
  • Leveraging tech for efficiency
  • Iterative approach

Email Dylan or hit him up at his website:

dmorgan@propertydocinspections.com https://www.propertydocinspections.com    Interested in Spectora? Start your free trial today: https://hubl.li/Q02nfFrR0  Bundle a year of ...
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This one had something for every inspector stage! Kevin and Mike get into:

  • Going from full-time to part-time and still growing
  • Background as a firefighter and cop
  • Agent acquisition story
  • Weird market dynamics in New York
  • Partnering with moving companies to help clients
  • Using Actions for more upsells
  • Productizing annual maintenance inspections
  • Google Guarantee is pretty great actually
  • Battling imposter syndrome

You can ge...

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Bailey McHugh of SWELL Home Inspections gets nearly 90% of her referrals from Instagram. In this Spectora Spotlight interview, Bailey and Kevin break down how. They also dive into:
  • What to say when you slide into those DMs
  • How to get your posts in front of hundreds of agents
  • Overcoming the fear of putting yourself out there
  • Why automation and consistency are game changers
  • Bailey...
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Do you offer a home energy assessment as part of your inspection? Shannon Bloemker makes a great case for why you should.   Shannon is the founder and CEO of Energy Raven, a home energy assessment that helps homebuyers see how the home uses energy and where they can save. She and Kevin get into:
  • Home energy assessments
  • New tax rebates and why they matter
  • How little a ...
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David Van Vurst has a pretty cool story to get here. He shares his story of owning a Skyzone up until Covid and how he met his first set of agents with creativity! They also get into:

  • Using QR codes
  • Realities of year 1 income as a home inspector
  • Helping seniors
  • Using strategies agents can RELATE to
  • Social media usage

You can connect with David through his website - https://www.phoenixresolutions.com/ or on Instagram - ht...

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Shante is a Spectora OG. Not only because she's known us since the beginning, it's because she is one of the most kind, fun, intelligent people you'll find in this industry. And she's just getting started. Kevin and Shante cover so much:

  • How she got involved in the business
  • COVID growth story
  • Balancing being a mom and working
  • Hiring a VA
  • Social media
  • Hiring a growth coordinator
  • Downsizing
  • Being a boss vs. a leader
  • Spouse dynami...
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Ryan is leading the youth movement in home inspections! You can tell from his refreshing approach to meeting agents, to recommending contractors - he's the future of this business. Kevin and Ryan get into:

 

  • His story from college to home inspections
  • Homeowner education is 100% the future
  • User experience for homebuyers
  • Recommending contractors
  • Sliding into those DMs
  • Wish list items for Spectora

Hit Ryan up at his website...

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Randy is a Spectora OG. Customer #7 we believe! Kevin finally gets him on the pod to chat about:

- Working with a spouse

- IEB & the important of vision

- Management styles

- NAR Suit and what you can do

- How to handle price shoppers

You can find Randy at his website - https://www.lamberthomeinspections.com/ or on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LambertHomeInspections/ or on Instagram where they crush it, @lamberthomeinspe...

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