A Rooftop Reflection on Business Evolution and Empowering Others

Eavesdrop on a riveting conversation straight from the heart of SRC Averhall 2024, where my colleague Randy Brothers and I dissect the roofing industry's most consequential dialogues. On the back of eight transformative years, we celebrate a podcast that's matured from live, raw beginnings to a strategically polished cornerstone of entrepreneurial expertise. Our chat navigates the evolution of the show, underscoring our commitment to authenticity and the ripple effect it has on our community. We don't just talk shop; we pay homage to the trailblazers, whose tenacity propels us to share wisdom and trigger growth.

As the co-founder of The Roofing Academy, I uncover the personal milestones that have shaped our podcast narrative — from the early days, awash with uncertainty, to a beacon of insight for roofing entrepreneurs. The episode teems with reflection and gratitude, teasing a possible nostalgic reunion that promises to spotlight our incredible arc through this industry. Randy and I swap tales of how recalibrating the recording process not only enhanced the show's quality but also aligned with our life's passions, underscoring the power of intentionality over mere viewership stats. 

Venture with us into the mindset of visionary entrepreneurship, where I divulge the transformative shift from being bogged down in minutiae to steering the grander vision of my company. In an intimate recount, the poignant catalyst that spurred me to delegate and focus comes to light. This narrative is peppered with insights on hiring skilled managers, maintaining a personal touch in the business, and the invaluable impact this has had on my life and business trajectory. We tie it all back to the core tenet of giving back — illustrating how personal triumphs translate into a fervent dedication to teaching, coaching, and uplifting others within the roofing community.

Transcript

Ty Backer: 0:00

We are at SRC Averhall 2024, frisco, texas. I'm with my friend Randy Brothers. How the hell are you, man Dude?

Randy Brothers: 0:08

I'm doing great man. I finally made it. I made it to the big show. Yeah Well, I'm a big timer now because I made it on your show. What's?

Ty Backer: 0:14

cool is about this being here like you can't really, I think, appreciate it until you actually see it, because for them, just watching us, you know from a distance like they are. But when you're here like just to really get to experience it and enjoy it, you can really appreciate the time, the effort and the energy that it's taking the team to put this thing up. And then, of course, you get the witnessed little pickups that we have to with going live raw and uncut and that's kind of been like a thing and we've learned that from you. Whether you know that or not, we've always watched you, you know, because I don't know, when I started watching your show at least three years ago, it was live, you and Nick, yeah back Nick.

Ty Backer: 0:51

Yeah, Nicky P.

Randy Brothers: 0:52

Yeah.

Ty Backer: 0:53

So that was like my favorite because your show would be on Tuesdays, ours was on Wednesdays, but this was before Thursdays. Back then it might have been on Thursdays because you switched it somewhere in there. We were watching you and it was like you know, it was live, it was raw, it was uncut. People were commenting, somebody from your team or yourself was engaging with the crowd and stuff like that. So we learned like, oh wow, he's getting a lot of engagement by engaging with his crowd and stuff like that. And so we've always kind of looked up to like what you did, like you're definitely the goat the greatest of all times when it comes to the roofing podcaster. You know what I mean. So you've been inspired us, whether you know that or not.

Randy Brothers: 1:33

Wow, I mean I wouldn't go so far. I'm just the guy just grabbed a phone and tried a thing you know and you know. So you know, looking at this setup, I mean you're the goat now, bro. Like I'm just. You know, we've been doing a long time. I think I have like 300 episodes or something at this point, but it's I've almost like I've gone the other direction just because it's at so many things. At some point you got to kind of pick and choose where you're going to put your time and energy 100%, and we'd like to create and make sure we stay consistent with our content. But, man, this setup for y'all listening or watching this like you got to be here to see this it's next level and you guys have done an incredible job with this, for sure.

Ty Backer: 2:12

Thank you so much. We wanted to bring. We saw what you were bringing. You know you brought a lot of, you know, not just inspiration and stuff, but the knowledge and the wisdom that you were bringing. You know the content you know was is is very relevant, like I don't even remember how much stuff that I've learned over the years by listening to you.

Ty Backer: 2:29

So it was kind of like we wanted to also implement and compliment what you were doing and bring something to the roofing industry to have a good impact, lasting impact, and get, get the messages out, whatever the messages or the knowledge that needs to be out there, because you know as well as I do, the roofing industry is like 10 years behind the HVAC industry. Yeah, now it's changing, rapidly changing here and love it. It has to do with guys like you early on that was trying to get out there like any new tool that was being implemented by your company personally or something or someone that you knew. You know that you could bring on your show and express what they were getting involved with and how it was going to change our industry and stuff like that. So it's kind of like because of guys like you and I that love and were so passionate about our industry. You know that's.

Randy Brothers: 3:15

We're just trying to make an impact and leave it better than it was the way we found it Absolutely Well and for me, getting the, the ideas and meeting the people and connecting to to build up the you know, the audience or not, this, the guest list, this type of event we're here at SRC here in Frisco, texas like. Coming to these events is where I connect and meet people and connect with people and and for me is always really important that if I'm going to bring some on my show I want to make sure you know they, they fit that kind of criteria of values and just making sure that they're there to to share and give back to the industry and not take. You know you can kind of tell if somebody's like just trying to get what they can get just by selling something or coming on here trying to be all salesy. No, it's share the story and our show, the premise has always been we want to share the entrepreneurial journey.

Randy Brothers: 4:05

In Rufus it's not just Rufus, it's you know, you know lead scout or whoever. Like somebody other companies, software companies, like manufacturers, like anybody we can get that can share entrepreneurial and entrepreneurial leadership type of advice yes, based on experience. Hey, that brings value to the audience and people like that and they listen, they watch and they want more. So that's kind of the baseline of what you're doing now and what we would able to do and get started. It's super cool.

Ty Backer: 4:31

Yeah, it is. It is cool man, and it's been cool to watch you on your journey. Um and and again, I can't say enough. You know, kudos to you for being that trailblazer for us and opening you know our eyes to like, hey, this is how we can reach you know, people in our industry and and and find those that align, whether it be our core values or or or beliefs. Right, yeah, bring those people, types of people, on the show. And and how much I've learned by bringing these guests on or coming to Exactly Events like this. Like I get more out of interviewing you and just asking five questions, right, and mostly I hate to say this out loud but selfishly like I'm asking you them questions because I don't know I need to, right, and I'm sure if I don't know these things, our viewers or listeners don't know either, and that usually turns into a great conversation with great content and and and a lot of knowledge and experience that I get to gain, and and so does everybody else. And this is, you know, social, social media, you know social commerce Like this is this is what is making the roofing industry not as big. You know, it's kind of shrinking it down where we can reach more people on such a, you know, in 30 minutes. You know, and it's kind of cool Cause, you know, I didn't realize that when we started this.

Ty Backer: 5:42

I'll be honest with you, when we started this, it was we were trying to figure out a way to allow people to know about this charitable event that we were trying to participate in. So we built these gazebos and we were a part of the York Builders Association which hosted the York County Home and Garden Show. So we go to builder shows. So we built these gazebos, we were auctioning them off and we were like well, how are we, how are people going to know, to come to the home show, you know, to bid on these gazebos? When somebody made a comment or mentioned why don't you do a Facebook live?

Ty Backer: 6:12

Yeah, so I phoned eight out in front of it hey, I'm high with TC Backer and we built these gazebos. Come on down February, whatever, blah, blah, blah. And to sign an auction, come on down. So we did that for about four or five weeks prior to the home show, went live the entire time we were at the home show and we realized that that point time where we were reaching more people outside the home show. That would then what was actually attending the home show to her like, well, maybe we're on to something and mind you back then you could host a watch party.

Randy Brothers: 6:43

Yeah. So the reach was a lot easier. That was back when Facebook was really promoting all the lives, so there was like plugging it everywhere and yes, and, and you get a lot of exposure that way. Yes, reach a lot of people. It's cool.

Ty Backer: 6:55

Yeah yeah, it was cool, definitely, and I think it was more towards like a TC backer thing, right. But then the more we started to dig into like the whole podcast, anything. That's when I discovered Randy Brothers and the start Bill Groh show yeah Right, and I thought it was like, oh my God, this dude's like you know, and plus we were running out of content. It was like, dude, I can only talk about single set, I can only talk about windows and much gutter, solar, and I was like, oh my God. So then it went to solar month or gutter months. If we're weeks in a row, we would talk about roofing and stuff like that. It was great and people were watching, but we didn't even care if people were watching. It was like a little garage, you know what I mean. And there's Randy Brothers, our rock star up on the. I know I keep, but hopefully I'm not embarrassing.

Randy Brothers: 7:39

Little bit. I like whoa, I didn't realize that you know it's, you know it's crazy about that, though is we just had an idea and we're like, hey, you know, he at the time he had a marketing company and now I was getting my, my coaching, you know the roofing academy off the ground and and we're like you know, let's just go live and three to little show. And we weren't even a podcast at first. We just went live and it was in the comments. Same a couple weeks in, maybe maybe like five or six episodes in someone's like hey, are you recording this, is it a podcast? We're like, hey, we wish you a podcast, so just kind of happen. Yeah, it is like let's go live, let's, let's see what happens and and go from there. So it's really cool to see.

Randy Brothers: 8:13

And you don't realize like it's kind of cool, man, because right now I'm gonna have a moment of like realization, of like the impact that it actually has. We just been doing it for so long now. It's just part of we still produce, we still create it. I haven't done the live thing a lot more lately, just selfishly that the time, that the commitment of setting it all up, dealing with the technical challenges and the time and taking away from my family in the evening times and Every single week being consistent, we made a decision to kind of switch.

Randy Brothers: 8:39

So now that we still produce a podcast every single week, but the live thing, I kind of miss it and I'm kind of like getting that. It's like maybe I should start that again. Yeah, you know, it's really funny, is I? Actually, me and Nick just caught up for a beer a couple weeks ago, you know, and just hung out because we're so, we're so good buddies, yeah, and it was cool to catch up. He's not even in the roofing industry anymore, but he's doing some really cool stuff with what he's doing with right now and I'm like we should do like an episode, like a recap of hey, it's been literally eight years ago when we started this.

Randy Brothers: 9:08

Wow, this is crazy to think about.

Ty Backer: 9:10

Yeah, that's amazing. And going back to like we just recently Switched from 7 pm Eastern Standard Time to 12 o'clock lunchtime, we're doing like a lunch pop, lunchtime episode during each week and stuff like that. And it's like when, when you were talking, it's like not only was was Myself and the team, but my family was also held postage, yeah, basically every single Wednesday night for four straight years. So it was like and then I'm not fresh either at night, like 7 pm After working, you know, all day long and I try to pace myself like I'm a go-getter, so no matter what was going on or whatever challenges, I would have to deal with them. But but then to try to bring it every Wednesday night, like you said, being live, you have to remain. You know that I can't show on my face even though I know it has probably more than I'd like to admit to shown on my face that I just had a long yeah, and then I really don't really do this.

Randy Brothers: 10:02

You don't have long days and no stress and the challenges of the deal.

Ty Backer: 10:05

Not at all.

Randy Brothers: 10:06

No way, not at all right.

Ty Backer: 10:08

Um, yeah, but anyhow, you know it. But it was like, okay, let's, let's switch it up. I mean, what's the worst thing? It's gonna happen. Okay, so we might lose, you know, our viewership, but then we've always never made that like how many people are watching, you know, thank god, we never made it about like we. It wasn't about like the dopamine hit. We didn't even know what that was back then when we first started this. But knowing, knowing what we knew now, thank god, that wasn't, that wasn't our intentions when we first got started and we still don't chase that dopamine yet. I think our intentions have always been been good.

Ty Backer: 10:39

But I know that I need to be on point with whatever the topic or discussion of the person that we have coming in. I don't want this to suck for you. Yeah, either. Do you know what I mean? So I know I gotta, I gotta be on point. I gotta, you know, do my research and and those kinds of things, because I want, I want the content to go out there, because the reason why we're doing this Is for those of everybody that's watching and listening. It's about them. It's not even about us, absolutely, you know. I mean, I don't care how many arms and os, but F bombs every now and again I might draw like it's, like, it is what it is.

Randy Brothers: 11:11

I am real, it's raw and yeah, and I would, I would you know while I got you. I appreciate that you've taken you've taken the torch on that, because that was at the time. I mean, yeah, facebook live was like a thing. We're like what, if we do a live podcast every single weekend but get new guests and new people on and Apparently it worked, it's pretty cool. And you guys have kind of taken the torch and Leveled up like a hundred acts, not just 10x, so it's cool. I appreciate you kind of carried on and it's like full circle, coming back Like years later to be able to be a guest on your show right, yeah and hopefully some of this is, and it gets a little Varian it's just that.

Ty Backer: 11:46

Just give me goosebumps, because I hope, if anything else, I hope, that we inspired you to want to get more creative with it, where you can find it like get that spark Again. Yeah, reunite that flame for you to. Not that you died out or or petered out, but I I understand the grind because, unless you've done this, as long as you've done this, the wear and tear that it has on your mind because we only have so much bandwidth throughout the course of the day for week. Oh, yeah, right, so to suit up and show a weekend and week out, like you have done for five years.

Ty Backer: 12:17

Dude, no-transcript, you're the Iron man of podcasting in the roofing industry and if you didn't have a nickname, like you are now the Iron man. The Iron man, I'll take it. Okay, you're not self-proclaimed. So we just we gave you the Iron man and again we get that. Yeah, you know, and I'll be honest with you, so I can't remember it was either DeSean Bryant or David Packard that actually saved us. Okay, one of them reached out to us. I don't know which order it was, because, like then, two weeks later, the other one came on the show. One of them reached out to us and was like hey, man, I'm kind of digging your podcast, do you mind if we come on it? It was like I didn't want to act too excited right away. Yeah.

Ty Backer: 12:58

I was like, oh yeah, we think you, yeah, we can probably squeeze you in Behind the scenes. I was like thank you, baby Jesus, because I was just out of content. Right, we were. We were so out of content. It was like because now it was just becoming like this grab assy, you know, we were talking. How much can you talk about? Like, we were talking about our team a good bit, which it hit. Yeah, help strengthen our culture, because most of our team watches, you know, our show and stuff like that, and usually when we're launching something new, they find out here first, because normally I'll dribble it out, you know we got a new CRM coming out in the company next week and you're going to be training.

Ty Backer: 13:33

Congratulations. That's right. I'll let something leak out that way a lot of times and that's how we've also like. So we do the 21 Turkish Loop. And that was just because of a conversation that was three of us having, I think. I asked somebody like what's the Guinness Book of World Records of turkeys being deep fried simultaneously? And it was 20. So, being who I am you know all or nothing kind of guy, I was like, all right, well, we're going to beat the Guinness Book of World Record, but there's got to be purpose behind it. I don't want to just go and buy 21 turkeys and just deep fry them and not know what to do with them. So we were like, well, we're going to feed people, there you go. So we went downtown and we actually, I think the first year we did, we did like 30, some turkeys. The second year we did like 60, and now I think we're up over 80 turkeys. That's awesome, over 800 people. So this is where this, the creativity happens. This is where the magic happens.

Randy Brothers: 14:22

I love it. Yeah, and I've gotten you mentioned this earlier and I'll retouch this a little bit because it applies so much, I think, to life and listeners can take this is I learn more by teaching than I do anything else and in like interviewing, like when I'm sitting doing my show, I learned so much from my guests. It's like I can just bring any industry expert I need. We got the platform I can learn all this stuff. And then coaching right, I have a whole coaching platform with the Roofing Academy and I'm constantly learning, constantly learning, because every conversation I have sure I've got, you know, a lifetime of experiences. It's like 20 years of in the grind, figuring it out, trying to build a great businesses, and I can always share. But I always find myself learning more than what I'm actually, what I feel like I'm actually giving to whoever it is, whatever conversation I'm having, and it's cool, it's just. It's just. That's what reinforces, like why I do what I do, why we do what we do. And in one thing too, I just go off the cuff here and talk about the why behind so much of this is why do a podcast? Why do you know? I have a very successful roofing company. I have a very successful roofing company. I don't need to be podcast, I don't need to coach, I don't need to do those things.

Randy Brothers: 15:34

But the thing is, man, when I got into this business, this industry found me in a dark place. I was homeless, I was broke. Just broke up with my long-term girlfriend, Like I like nothing really in life was going positive for me. I had a very entrepreneurial spirit, I wanted to make things happen. I've always had that but, like when I kind of stumbled into this industry, I was in a bad place and this industry has provided an incredible life, took me out of that, got me out of bankruptcy, got me, you know, out of homelessness, all the things, and it provided an incredible life for me, for my family, and not only for my family, my immediate family, but my mom, sister, my brother, like everybody, my dad, everybody in my immediate family, plus my extended family they've all been immersed in this industry, plus friends and people that I've grew up with, and the amount of impact that I've been able to have, even in a closed circuit, is incredible.

Randy Brothers: 16:33

So that's like I feel like I owe it, like you know, and it's a type of person and I'm like this industry has provided so much for me that who knows where I'd be right now if I didn't have this. So it's like I'm grateful and blessed and more than willing to give back and do these things, because if I can help one other person who was in a place where I was in, to then see what happens, the the ancillary benefits of you know the elusive game that they get from just Learning something that you shared, or that I shared, or or that I guessed, or that something we can teach them on a coaching call or something like that. There's no way to really describe the feeling and the gratitude that I get from being able to do that. So it's my duty to get back.

Ty Backer: 17:17

I was just why I'm here thinking that's like it's your moral obligation to get back what has been I don't want to say freely given to you, but but like what you, what would you work for? And now the pits of hell that this industry has pulled you, yeah, and you feel like you got to give back what, what has been given to you, right, and I feel the same way to you. That that's been like one of my biggest Motivators. And the one thing that you missed and I know, I know, or maybe that's what you meant by your immediate family Was your team, the impact you've had on your team and the families, their families and their extended families because of your success, right that you've been able to impact so many other people that that you're not even on social media saying hey, talton, can you read tops like play?

Ty Backer: 17:58

look at me, the great Randy brothers that I am. You don't have to do that. You've always, you've always presented yourself in a very humble light. I love what you do, the impact that you're having on on your family, your team, you know all, all of the the entire roofing industry. Right, and I was just sitting there when I was trying to, I was paying attention what you're saying. So there's a threefold thing about you when, when you're out there coaching and teaching people, right? So one, you're gonna practice what you preach.

Ty Backer: 18:25

So one of them one of the learning things that you learn more from, from teaching then. Then the Student right is one you're not gonna tell them to do something if you're not doing it yourself. Right to, you have to stay one Step ahead. So, basically, you got to continuously level yourself up because you got to come up with new stuff. Right, because once the student gets to a certain level, right, you need to make sure that you they left there are continuously Leveling up. So you need to level up. So it's pushing you, whether you know it or not. I know you know that, but you have to stay ahead of that. Yeah, man, right. And then I can't remember the third fold of that, of what I wanted to say. But but that's one of many things. That, to those two things there that I just mentioned, is is why I think we get so much out of teaching and Having other people come on our podcast, is because we're not gonna sit here and just say something live and not actually Mirror that when that camera's coming off.

Randy Brothers: 19:20

Yeah, I mean.

Ty Backer: 19:21

It's just, that's not who we are, it's not how we're built. You know what I mean. So that that and this is accountability. You know, I mean for us and those around us that if we're not doing what we're saying, that we're doing, you know, then how can we expect them to do it if we're not leading by example?

Randy Brothers: 19:35

Yeah Well, and I think there's a couple things, as we probably try to land the plan and got a bunch going on, and this is right now.

Randy Brothers: 19:42

Yeah, but a couple things there is. You know one, you said practice what you preach. And for me, like it comes up and Question like, okay, you have, you know you do in the podcast. You have the, the media stuff and the Roofing Academy and coaching and told them all that stuff and a roofing company like, at what point do you pick one of the other? What point do you just go into coaching and insulting?

Randy Brothers: 20:04

And I might be one of the last people in the coaching business that's still holding on, because I feel like I stay involved with my roofing company because of If it's constantly evolving and constantly changing, like I'm not done yet. I haven't figured it all out. I don't have it all figured out. We've seen some really cool things. We've been some major ups, major downs. We've seen so much. But I feel like the industry is constantly changing and if I'm gonna do, you know this can be a good.

Randy Brothers: 20:31

I had some good arguments on my show about this specific topic, but I feel, in my opinion, that I'm gonna be the best coach and the best you know, you have the best answers and guide people the best when I'm still getting firsthand experience, because as soon as I believe and that's some point it. Who knows, maybe that'll happen one day, maybe that's in the cards. But as soon as I'm like, okay, the roofing company is over here, now I'm going over here, that disconnects starts to happen. And then I'm not being super true to like, hey, this happened in my company last week and now I can share this with you to help you avoid that mistake I made or learn whatever it is that. So that's why I stay Dedicated to both.

Randy Brothers: 21:09

And then the last thing I'll say is like about the show, and one of things I learned is, in all things in business is just be consistent. Like show up day in and day out. Show up and keep showing up and keep showing up and keep showing up, and results will come. I mean from the roofing side. And if I showed you like a graph of where we started to where we like skyrocketed on cover of roofing contract magazine, just crushing it, and then Four years of no storms for it, and then it's like, okay, we're hovering here, we're trying to figure, figure it out, like Launching new branches and launching new do whenever we can to survive and figure things out, and then all of a sudden, you know, it all just clicked again, the storms happen, all this and then shot up again.

Randy Brothers: 21:54

But that's what life looks like but it is show up Every single day and learning, grow and learning, grow and learning grow. Same thing with the show. It's like I, I'm like my hair is standing up because it's like five years ago, every single week, we've produced a just about every single week. For over five years now We've put out a show. I don't and honestly I don't with you. I don't know, I don't even know the data, like I don't know how the dollars, I know that I think it's good. I mean, you told me you get inspired, you so cool that works. One guy was inspired by our show.

Randy Brothers: 22:25

Yeah doing it for five years. That's enough for me.

Ty Backer: 22:27

Yeah, man, right on, that's all things. That one person that you're Acting okay. So to circle back a little bit on the not giving letting go yet Okay, do you think it's because you don't think you're finished throwing into your team yet? Like you, you feel like you still got a lot to offer and and that you don't want to let them down because a lot of those people, if you would just turn your back now and go into coaching, you'd feel like you let them down. Do you think that's why you don't want to let go?

Randy Brothers: 22:54

yet there is. There is a sense of that's a sense of like duty and commitment, like that's my brand. My company and I recruited a lot of people and they, you know, and they like need leadership and there's a certain point where I went through this we're launching tra and it was like a little, took a lot of my energy and I know and the year, year and a half later I knew I wasn't putting as much in the roofing side you can see a sense that the things change, the culture change, like the energy, if people change like wait a minute, no, no, no, I got to figure this out, I got a bit. I got to pour back into this and make sure that the keep the main thing. The main thing that's my baby, that's the business that's taking care of my life, my family, everything like. I can't just be a band in that because, yeah, shiny new toy over here, that doesn't work like. I learned a little bit little hard lessons in there and now I'm trying to really massage and figure out my time and how I'm able to kind of do Things that are in my strength zone. But it incorporates both. Yeah, the media, the content is great and but coaching, okay, it's not just me coaching clients.

Randy Brothers: 23:54

I love that you mentioned that, because my role in my business, like, I don't have a I'm not in the day-to-day all the time. I'm not, I'm not in office all day. I'm not like out solving bleep problems and right and dealing with. I don't do that anymore. I have an amazing team of people who are better than me yet, so I don't have to do that anymore.

Randy Brothers: 24:08

However, I know my job as the face, the founder, the you know, the leader of the organization, like they still do need that. I can't just abandon that. So my role is it's shifting is coaching my team, yeah, and coaching my clients, yeah, like that's what I'm passionate about. I love it. I'm getting, I'm trying to pour my as when I'm reading books, I'm going to conference and going events, getting certifications, like, do whatever I can to be the best Life coach, business coach that I can be so I can lift both up right. So you all you mentioned that because that's my role is, yeah, you know, be the face, create content, like always innovate and vision for Both companies, but coach my team as well as our clients, and that's what I love to do.

Ty Backer: 24:51

Yeah, no doubt me. And the reason why I asked that? Because I experienced similar, similar situation. Right, I don't, that's there. I do coach a few people on a personal level. I don't have a whole course and stuff like like you do with the Academy and stuff like that, but I do. I do coach some, some other roofing contractors and stuff, to try to save them a lot of time and and and resources and money.

Ty Backer: 25:13

But there be, I started to to to pull away from my roofing company. We were traveling a lot and stuff like that, opening up new locations, traveling a lot with with the honey tool belt, and I noticed that the energy was shit a little bit and things, things just didn't seem the same. When, when I was getting back, plus I, my head was somewhere else, I was getting ready for the next traveling event or whatever, whatever I had going on at the time, and but I just noticed things, things weren't the same and I wasn't present. Yeah, right, and so I made. I made a goal to myself. This was last year, the beginning of 2023, I said to myself it's like I know I can't be here and do all the you know the things that I wish that I could do because I like to get in the weeds, but when I am here, I need to be present. They need to know that I'm here. Right, I and I currently read this book now, it really doesn't have anything to do About it because I interpret things a little bit differently, but it's called the energy bust by John Gordon.

Ty Backer: 26:08

She's a short read. You could sit down and read it in one book and they talk about the CEO Creating other CEO. Right, and what a CEO is is a chief energy officer. So my job today is is to create other chief energy officers. So when I'm there, I need to be present if my, if someone needs my team, like my doors always open. If you see my truck outside, I'm here. My door is open. Like I can't keep that door shut, like I'm so guilty of because I'll get in and dated, I will inundate myself with all these shiny things that aren't even really relevant at times to To the vehicle that actually, that gave me the opportunity to get involved with those shine. You know what I mean. It's like I can't let this thing sure blow up and die over here. You know what I mean.

Ty Backer: 26:48

And we got awesome people, like everyone that you see that that's here helping us. The podcast isn't their full-time job. Dc backers actually their full-time job and I've made this a part-time job for them. Yeah, but, but Vic gravitated towards us. He's a wonderful musician. We hired him to be our, our costing manager. Well, he showed interest about three years ago in the podcast and now he's like. I made a name up for him. He's like my chief oh, I don't even know engineer, av, engineer, some shit like that.

Ty Backer: 27:16

But it has created opportunities not to get off track. But I don't want this to be a distraction of those people that has been following. These people have been following me for some of them over a decade, and here I'm out, gallivanting and doing all these things, and not that the people that replaced me in those positions aren't good at what they do, but I'm the guy that brings the heat. I'm the one that sold them on that dream, that vision, and it's hard to follow somebody, a manager's vision, when it's like I want your job. But when I show up and I bring the heat, that just rekindles that fire for them. That's why they're here.

Ty Backer: 27:57

That's the guy that I wanted to come work for and I don't ever want to lose that right, wrong or indifferent, and maybe I'm thinking too small-minded and somebody should replace me someday and I'm sure somebody will, and that's my plan someday to have somebody replace me. But until then, I'm going to be the chief energy officer. When I'm there, I'm going to be present. There are times that I can't be there, even though I'm there right, but when I'm there and I have that bandwidth, I need to be there and my presence needs to be known, not in a negative way, but bringing that energy, bringing that heat when I'm there. What was the second part to that?

Randy Brothers: 28:33

Well, the vision side. I've gone through this too as I've grown my business. I'm a believer in entrepreneurship, a rule that if you want to be successful, replace yourself, find people better than you and work yourself out of all that.

Ty Backer: 28:51

I've done all the jobs and I've worked myself out of all that.

Randy Brothers: 28:53

You get to a certain level, you're like now what? But through that journey you should really press in and understand who you are and what makes you tick and what your strength zone is. We all have a superpower right. One of my superpowers is connecting with people and being able to be that energy officer and being the vision of the company and connecting people and bringing people into things. I just try to do that all the time. I like that Right and I think in this journey I went through a point where I'm like I'm going to start to lose your identity. Identity is it?

Randy Brothers: 29:27

I did that a couple of years ago, a couple of years ago and maybe I've devalued myself as a visionary for the company and luckily I have some great mentors in my life that really kind of poured into me. It's like, dude, get that out of your head.

Ty Backer: 29:40

because I felt like almost devalued in my own company because I replaced myself with people who were better at the job than I was at the job have you ever found yourself trying to get caught up to new technology that they may have implemented and you feel some kind of way like I don't even know how to use that gadget? Or have you ever never got that disconnected?

Randy Brothers: 29:59

So guilty as charged man. You do not want me trying to operate a lot of our technology. I could get in there and foam around and look at reports and do enough to be, dangerous, but no.

Ty Backer: 30:13

Do you ever beat yourself up by not mastering that like you did early on?

Randy Brothers: 30:17

No, for a short period of time. But no, I think I've really understood that the concept Like that's not my job and to be a high level entrepreneur, I have to find people to execute all the things. I don't have to know every little thing about everything, because that becomes and I'm a control guy like control. But I've had to learn that if I'm going to have to know everything about everything and control things, it's going to limit me, it's going to limit my company, it's going to limit them. So I've had to learn to like I get calls.

Randy Brothers: 30:47

I got to work with guys over here on a big job like natural claims advisor trying a big job. Oh yeah, the funds just got released on that big yada yada horse barn thing. We're like a half a million dollar job and I'm like, okay, cool, I think they were rolling panels a couple of weeks ago, but I don't know. There was a point in my life I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't know. But now I'm like you were doing like 10 jobs a day all over the place, I don't whether it's service or solar or commercial. I can't have your finger on the ball.

Randy Brothers: 31:16

If I knew about all those jobs, our company would be in trouble. But I have great leadership and great structure in place to where I know what I need to know enough and when things are difficult and I got to help solve problems great on there. But I've empowered my team to execute and I just run leadership team meetings and run it, try to run the thing like a CEO and not, you know, like someone who's running around in the weeds acting like a CEO. So, yes, it's been a transition.

Ty Backer: 31:43

Yes, when would you say that happened? Was there just like one day you were like, okay, I give up, I can't figure it out? Or was it like a slow transition? And how far back was that?

Randy Brothers: 31:51

So you know some of my background of I did it all myself at first right I was doing the books, writing the checks that's why I'm asking this Doing all the things Same thing Okay, I did.

Randy Brothers: 32:02

I was doing all the things. Yes, I lost it all. I went bankrupt, literally bankrupt filed, wrote it like. It was a really tough time in my life and the biggest thing I learned out of that is like, if you really want to be successful, you can't do that. You can't do be the be all, end, all of your company.

Randy Brothers: 32:19

And from that moment I knew that if I'm going to rebuild, my objective from day one was always to be an entrepreneur, not a business runner, not a manager, not a like. I've never talked to my staff, whatever I'm like. I claim this like I'm a visionary, not a manager. Some I think I hire great managers because that's their job is to manage. My job is to be vision and to make sure that this company has a great reputation and great brand and that we put the right people in the right seats. That I hired great people from top to bottom. That's my thing, right, not the day to day in the weeds. So I learned that after that failure, my mission from then on was to not get so attached to every little thing, because I knew what can limit it, what kind of limits that would put on myself and on my business. And we've been. We've been able to execute from there.

Ty Backer: 33:11

And that you said you talked about limits there, and it's like not only do you suffer, but your family suffers too when you're trying to be the chief everything officer. Yeah, you know what I mean. Ben, there did that. My moment came about nine years ago, probably a little further back. My mom looked at us, she moved in with us, she was diagnosed with cancer for her second bout of it and we were out to dinner one night. It was me, my wife and my mom and my family at night and everything. I mean everything, every lead, every phone call, every email, every text message, everything through it, and I just couldn't take it a red button. And I never did because I thought, you know, this is how I feel, my family, every time that phone rings like I need to answer.

Randy Brothers: 33:51

I value to that. Yeah, Every time I touch his phone there's a value attached to it because I'm the person in control.

Ty Backer: 33:57

Right, right, and my poor mom and I was beating myself up because, you know, ganna was watching, taking care of my mom all day long, and I was beating myself up for not being present, right, you know, emotionally present. Even when I was there, I wasn't there. So I was kicking the crap out of myself and I felt bad. And my mom was sitting there and she looked at me and she said something and it's not very profound and we've heard it two things she said to me, but for whatever reason, in that moment it hit differently. Okay, and, mind you, my mom was back. She was dying, basically of cancer, and she said Tyrus, she said life is too short. We've heard that.

Randy Brothers: 34:33

Yeah.

Ty Backer: 34:33

A whole life, but in that moment it's given me goosebumps.

Randy Brothers: 34:36

Yeah.

Ty Backer: 34:37

Like she's like life is entirely too short and she's been an entrepreneur for a whole bar restaurant industry. I guess what I grew up in, my dad was mechanical engineer but a wonderful, wonderful carpenter in my, my, my uncle's, his brothers and my grandfathers, great grandfather all good, wonderful carpenters is where I got my skills from. And so she said that. And then she said you need, you need help, we need to find someone to help you. So at that moment, it was over nine years ago I went on a mission to to find people. And this is what was crazy. We'd already had people in our organization. The problem was is I talked them. I talked them not how to think, but what to think, right, like they were waiting for me for all the answers Yep, you know. And. And so my mind shifted. At that moment it was like I need help, but my family's suffering, I'm, I'm kicking the shit. I can't. I can't even spend an hour with my mom at Texas Roadhouse or whatever, wherever we were. Longhorn Steakhouse is where we were up in McKinnock for Pennsylvania. And so I went on a mission and it wasn't easy for me to start finding people. You know to surround myself with people. But somebody said something to me and I know I'm going to say this wrong, but they said if I could find somebody that could do what I was doing 70% as well, as I could do it at 100%. They're going to be doing it 100% better than how you're doing it now. Okay, because everything that I'm doing I'm mediocre at Yep, I cannot excel at anything. I'm bogged down. So out of those 15 tasks and this is no exaggeration, there was 15 tasks that I was doing created 12 full-time, 40 hour week plus jobs for 12 individuals. Out of the 15 things that I was doing on a daily base ordering materials, doing the take off, selling jobs I was even doing repairs.

Ty Backer: 36:22

Still at that point in time Right, like I'm doing everything. I had a service department, I had accounts payable, I had account receivables, but there was not one thing I still to this day, the one thing I won't let go with. Now. Most people do ACH, but I sign every check that's printed. I just out of respect, I don't care if it's going to distribution, manufacturing, a subcontractor, an employee that doesn't have an ACH I still sign every hand sign, not stamp. I have a stamp in case I am out of town, like I am right now. The accountant's got the stamp, yeah, yeah.

Randy Brothers: 36:55

It's locked. I got one too. It's locked.

Ty Backer: 36:57

Yeah, locked Didn't say. You know what I mean. But and I just find that's a respect thing, like thank you.

Randy Brothers: 37:02

Yeah.

Ty Backer: 37:02

Thank you for your you know. Thank you, yeah, you know what I mean. At least I can do it. But but I went on a mission to surround myself around people that were smarter than me in areas that I shouldn't even be messing with. Like I don't know anything about a website, could I figure it out? Yeah, I could build a website, but I don't have Four, six, eight months to figure it out.

Randy Brothers: 37:19

Yeah.

Ty Backer: 37:20

Hire a professional, hire someone that knows SEO, hire someone I just had a great podcast with with Demi about AI and SEOs. Great, cool, love it. I'll get on the horn and make sure my team's already out in front of this, because that's my job to make sure that we're flowing in the right direction. Making sure like I loved how you said, making sure the marketing, the branding you know the brand is still being represented, the way the brand was built. It's you.

Randy Brothers: 37:42

You're TCB, that's your company, right, that's your brand. Like you can't, you have to own that, we have to own it. Yeah, that's that's part of what we have and, whether we realized or not, it is our brand and and our values. Whether they're written or not, they're there and it's a direct extension of us as the founder of the, of the, as the visionary of the business. And if we don't, if we're not intentional about the, what the narrative is of that brand and what the messaging is and what that brand represents, guess what happens? The narrative gets filled in for you and other people's narratives are not ours, and then we lose total control there. So that's the one thing where it's my, it's my baby, it's my brand and I will always be there to support that and own that. I love that.

Ty Backer: 38:28

I love that. I love that. I think this is a good, good place for us to wrap up in. But this dude what, what an amazing conversation. I'm grateful, yeah, I'm grateful for you. I'm grateful for everything you've done for our industry. Let's, let's do something together. I don't know what, like, I don't. Whatever, let's figure something out with your brother.

Randy Brothers: 38:48

Yeah, we'll get you on our show too. Yeah, yeah, and let's do it, man. Congrats. This, you guys, you can't see. You see, like no, this setup is legit as good as it gets, man, super professional.

Ty Backer: 38:59

Thank you, um, I got work to do myself, hey any question, I got a little bit up here, thank you so much Appreciate you, man Yep.

Randy Brothers: 39:06

Thank you.

Ty Backer: 39:07

Thank you, guys for tuning in. We will see you on the next round.