Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a colossal industry event? Get an insider look as I sit down with Josey Parks, the mastermind behind the Win The Storm conference. Josey takes us through the labyrinth of choosing speakers who don't just talk the talk but also walk the walk, and the personal hurdles of stretching beyond his usual boundaries to craft an event that's both enlightening and electrifying for the professionals in attendance.
The conversation takes a turn toward the digital as we reminisce about our podcast's humble beginnings and its transformation into a lighthouse of industry wisdom, all thanks to the power of social media. We address the need to keep content fresh to hold our audience's interest, and how blending pioneering technologies with our enterprise adds an edge to our endeavors. Furthermore, Josie and I reflect on the synergies among diverse professional communities, the influences that shape our brand alignments, and the hidden costs of entrepreneurship, including the balance between time reinvestment and personal sacrifice.
As we wrap up, our chat weaves through the essence of leadership and the profound impact of mentorship, while emphasizing the vitality of family amidst the whirlwind of business. We discuss passing the baton to the rising stars in the field and the significance of industry-wide collaboration in forging a future of innovation. Josey imparts invaluable wisdom for those on the cusp of their own success stories, ensuring you leave with more than just a peek behind the conference curtain, but a treasure trove of strategies to navigate your path.
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a colossal industry event? Get an insider look as I sit down with Josey Parks, the mastermind behind the Win The Storm conference. Josey takes us through the labyrinth of choosing speakers who don't just talk the talk but also walk the walk, and the personal hurdles of stretching beyond his usual boundaries to craft an event that's both enlightening and electrifying for the professionals in attendance.
The conversation takes a turn toward the digital as we reminisce about our podcast's humble beginnings and its transformation into a lighthouse of industry wisdom, all thanks to the power of social media. We address the need to keep content fresh to hold our audience's interest, and how blending pioneering technologies with our enterprise adds an edge to our endeavors. Furthermore, Josie and I reflect on the synergies among diverse professional communities, the influences that shape our brand alignments, and the hidden costs of entrepreneurship, including the balance between time reinvestment and personal sacrifice.
As we wrap up, our chat weaves through the essence of leadership and the profound impact of mentorship, while emphasizing the vitality of family amidst the whirlwind of business. We discuss passing the baton to the rising stars in the field and the significance of industry-wide collaboration in forging a future of innovation. Josey imparts invaluable wisdom for those on the cusp of their own success stories, ensuring you leave with more than just a peek behind the conference curtain, but a treasure trove of strategies to navigate your path.
And we're live. Welcome back everybody to behind the tool. Well, episode 220. Today we have another special guest. Stay tuned. We will be back after our short intro from our sponsors. My name is Ty backer. The name of the podcast is called behind a tool belt. Thank God, this isn't live, or is it your assholes? Go live. We might be here for a while, so buckle down. Welcome back everybody. God, it feels good to be back in the studio once again on Wednesday at 12 o'clock lunchtime. Behind the tool belt. Today we have another amazing guest, josie Parks, my friend. How are you, buddy?
Josey Parks:Doing, doing great man. Pressure is on, that's for sure. Glad to be here.
Ty Cobb Backer:Yeah, I can't even imagine. Thank you so much for carving out enough time to come on the show today. I know you're extremely busy as hell with when the storm next week, the. The dates are the 14th through the 16th, so I know that you're crunched for time right now. So what do you think has been the most stressful part of all of this? Getting ready for when the storm here I'm gonna jump right into it because I know how I get just before doing a podcast, but you're hosting the entire event and and I don't think you come from that you know background of hosting events, I'm sure on a smaller scale, but something like this where, shit, you're gonna have thousands of people there, man. So so, up to this point, what do you think the most stressful thing has been?
Josey Parks:Man, I'll tell you I'm. I've been on the board of IRE for five years now and you know I had some experience picking speakers and dealing with that, but I would say, just really curating the experience. You know, really not knowing every single person and all the people that applied to speak, selecting speakers and wanting to create the experience for contractors and have actionable Information like not just a bunch of fluff, really have pioneers that are out there doing the work, sharing their stories and, you know, just delivering value. I mean, that's the thing. Like this is all Value-based and you know I felt called to do this and I didn't want to do this.
Josey Parks:I still don't want to do this, but here I am doing it and I'll tell you I've been in business 17 years and I don't I've never known what anxiety feels like, but like this is the first time I feel like I know what anxiety is, and so it's. It's been intense, but really I would say just you know really wanting to to perform this first year better than the last nine years. This is the 10th anniversary and you know I'm a competitor and so I'm very competitive and I want to win, I want the industry to win, and so that's. That's where I would say time selecting speakers has really been just a pretty difficult part of it, just trying to curate that experience.
Ty Cobb Backer:Yeah, I would imagine to just make sure that that message that you're trying to articulate is the correct message by choosing the right speakers. But you touched on a on a bunch of things there, man, when you were talking about, like anxiety. A lot of people don't like to talk about that because I think they think you know, if I mentioned to Vick or someone like man, I'm experiencing anxiety, that that it's a sign of weakness, but what it is is, you know, it's you pushing yourself outside your comfort zone and, like you said before, it's like you thought you knew what anxiety was, but now you've really pushed that limit. You know the limits of stepping outside your comfort zone and not in itself is a great topic, because Vic and I were just talking about that. It's like you know, we, we set challenges for ourself On purpose to like push ourselves outside our comfort zone, because no greatness help happens Inside the comfort zone. Right, it only happens outside the comfort zone. If you want great shit to happen, big things To happen, like that happens outside the comfort zone and that's that. I think that's the the difference between you know big things and things that aren't so big, or success or not being so successful as being able to push yourself outside of the comfort zone.
Ty Cobb Backer:And and then you also touched on, you know, the past nine years of this event. You know, and that's that's some pretty big shoes to fill. You know, because you know the previous ownership, man, they, they were the, the trailblazer, I mean Jana and I, our first, my wife Jana, our first roofing conference was when the storm, about seven years ago, and we thought, man, god, this is great like this, like we're not alone anymore, you know, and the message was great and and you know there were some other things going on there, but, like, what we went to absorb, we were able to absorb exactly what we needed to be able to take home and and, like you were saying, for the for the past nine years. So now you have some pretty big shoes to fill, which in itself, you know, being a competitive person, I'm sure, by nature, that in itself creates anxiety. And here you are and it's got to be such such a so real Feeling of like holy shit.
Ty Cobb Backer:You know, and I guess, I guess some of my questions and probably some of our viewers too that that are familiar with this whole situation like, like, what was your, what was your? What like? What made you want to do this? I know you touched on a couple things earlier, but what was the what? And then let's talk about why.
Josey Parks:Yeah, totally yeah, it's a, it's an important part of the industry. You know, I've I've built all my connections face to face, belly to belly, and it's super important to have those Experiences. And yeah, I'm new to social. Talking about comfort zone, like I'm, I'm really new to social as well, so all that, like I I'm a real face-to-face kind of guy, personal, so that it's just been a lot. But you know, the industry needs this place to where we can all come together, we can share ideas, we can collaborate. I think we're all in this together. I think contractors share vision that we want this industry to be better. And that's where you know, when the storm, it was a, definitely Anthony pioneered and they got to a point where, you know, it just went downhill and a lot of people saw that and realized that it was very transactional. And you know, what I was looking for is to really just bring the industry back together and this be the platform for the platforms. Like I want to bring a lot of eyeballs for people like you, you know, and other leaders in the industry that they can hear and connect with those people in person and build long-lasting Relationships where you can really find people you can depend on, and that's you know what.
Josey Parks:When the storm is, it's a place to go to learn and to connect with others that are in the same battle as you, that are fighting the same types of problems and trying to solve, and you can lean on your brother, your sister and learn more, and so that's you know when I look at. You know what, when the storm is about is just the community. I mean really and it sounds cliche community, but it's so true, and I've got a lot of like really close friends that I met at when the storm. I wouldn't know them if it wasn't for that, and there's other events like that. But when the storm, you know we have a bad people.
Josey Parks:Look at the storm, industry is like we're the bad guys, whereas like we rebuild America, we restore homes after a storm. You know the. You know Impact that a storm makes is significant on a community, and if it's not for people like us that will charge into that storm, you know America wouldn't be the the same, and so I I just see it as a one of the highest callings is being a contractor, being a business leader, and so that's, that's how I look at it. Time.
Ty Cobb Backer:Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. Again a couple things there. You know, and I think, I think what happens To this is a perfect example of you know, the, the roofing industry is changing. It's in a pivotal point right now and it has been, I would say, for probably the past three or three to five years. Right, like, where you know the, the persona that that we used to have. You know, like roofing, you know your roofer, you know and and you know it's just a construction company kind of thing of the lack of professionalism and and a lot of extra. You know Curriculum activity going on. You know that that probably shouldn't be going on and stuff like that. And you know, but the, the industry right now, you know you got the hunter blues, you got the. You know Josie parks that are coming into the space, adam sands, adam Benz man, like all of these people, and then the list goes on the Mike Goldensteins from Rufal, the Travis Horregas, the man, the list goes on and on and on of all, and it's giving me goosebumps right now, the of these trailblazers that that are forging and galvanizing, like this new Outlook of the roofing industry right now.
Ty Cobb Backer:That's like it is a trade, is a trade a lot of us are proud of and who have been here For a long time. There's a lot of us that have been here for a long time and, and I think one of the things with when the storm, it's like any business, it's like you got to adapt to the times. Right, and I'm not taking anything away from Anthony you know burnout happens, fatigue sets in, what, whatever many things Happen to us business owners especially continuously pushing ourselves outside the comfort zone I was just telling Vic that before the podcast. Like when can I actually start to feel comfortable? After a decade and a half, you know, of putting myself in uncomfortable situations, why do I actually get to just feel feel comfortable? But you know, burnout, fatigue, all those things start to set in and I think we tend to take our eye off the ball. And you know pivot and where the roofing industry right now, with all the technology that's coming into the space, like Roofing, aerial measurement tools have been here for a minute but are now just taking off. Roofing, lead scout, all of these apps and smart people are coming into our space. We'll shit private equities even in our space, like we've caught their attention now because this has become a billion, billions of dollar industry Right now. And and it's like we have to pivot like even in my own roofing Company here or the podcast, like there are times that we've pivoted, and I'm just gonna use beyond tool belt as an example.
Ty Cobb Backer:When we first started out doing this, this was just to promote a local charitable event in our local community. We didn't know how to let people know that we built these gazebos. We're gonna auction them off. There's a silent auction Down at the local home and garden show and somebody suggested doing a Facebook live. So we are like, okay, because I don't really do anything small, it's either all or nothing, or bigger, go home, kind of attitude, right. And so we met this guy had a little home studio, went down there and and we were Recording, actually going live, doing these Facebook lives where you could host, watch parties, man, and we were reaching like five to ten thousand people like in an hour. It was crazy. So that was about six weeks prior to that home show. During the home show we went live the whole time. We're like holy crap, like we're reaching more people outside of here than are actually attending the home show right now. So when the home show ended, we decided to continue to do this.
Ty Cobb Backer:When the home show ended, we decided to continue doing you know the podcast, you know to kind of start plugging tc backer and things like that. But it was like it just we were running out of content. So it was either we stopped doing what we're doing, are we pivot? Well then people from the industry started to notice us. I think it was David Tagger or Deshaun Bryant years ago. One of them asked us and we're going back for four years, three and a half years ago when we, four years ago, when we started this, they were like hey, man, we're digging your you know your podcast, do you care if we come on? It was like I didn't want to act too excited, but I was like thank you, baby Jesus, because I was out of steam, chris Baker and I I mean, we were.
Ty Cobb Backer:We can only talk about Windows so much. We can only talk about roofing so much. But but my point is it's like we knew we needed to pivot, right and and it's like anything else TC backer like, if we want to stay relevant, okay, ai right now seems to be the biggest thing with websites, seo generation, like all these things and it's kind of like okay. Well, if I want to stay stuck in the old school, thinking of mentality and not saying the old school billboards, yard signs, canvassing, knocking doors, all those things that that there, I don't think should ever leave a business, I think that that in itself, the old school door-to-door is is stick to the basics. You never got to go back to own kind of thing. But there's also other things that you can add to your arsenal, and by attending Things like when the storm and and communicating with with other contractors, or seeing the new gadgets and Technology that's out, this is like a perfect place.
Ty Cobb Backer:This is where Jana and I, like I said earlier, it like opened our eyes to like so many other things. Plus, that's where I met Eric oh, paul Reed and all those guys from roofers in recovery. So not only am I at one of my most favorite places and that's a roofing convention with other roofers, like-minded thinking people, but there's also recovery here. You know what I mean. So, and and I know that those guys are attending this year's and and so it's I'm jacked.
Ty Cobb Backer:I got like the whole time I'm talking right now I got goosebumps all over me because I'm excited to go and and be able to participate and I'm excited for you because I've seen how much work from from back here. I've seen how much work you and your team are putting in with the amount of the, the talented speakers, the amount of of the, the ethical businesses that you have on that expo floor. And then just to promotion, the promoting, the promotion that that you've put into this thing. Man, like I can't even imagine, like what you're going through. But was there a moment where you thought, like this is never gonna work, like we're like I don't know if I should I do this or shouldn't I do this.
Josey Parks:No, there, totally was. And you know I wasn't gonna do it because the first, you know when, when Mike kept asking me about it, he's like dude, he's like you're the one that can bring it back. I'm like dude, I don't want that, like there's nothing to do with my strategy, I don't want it. But it just started to kind of linger there and Then you know when you feel called right, there's, there's something, there's a desire that just starts to To just burn up in you. And you know I was like okay, I was like you know we, the industry, needs better. I do think that I can bring it back together and like build it for the industry and like let the industry Build the future. And that's really what I was going after. And you know, when I started going through due diligence, I was like man, I can just build this way easier by my like, if I was gonna do this. And with my partner, larry, I was like we don't need what like when the storm, we can just start from scratch because there was a lot of baggage with it. Not many people want to put when the storm on their back and like that brand because it's very controversial. There's a lot of garbage and just past mistakes and you know transactional issues that happened in the past. And so, yeah, I did.
Josey Parks:I decided like man, I'm not gonna do it because I had just bought, you know, total home roofing. I just bought a nine-figure roofing business that also had a ton of problems. So, as you know, it's like taking on another shipwreck company. It's like, man, I don't, I don't have time to do all that. But you know, I went to an event in Utah. I've shared this a couple times and it's, you know, it was a significant moment in my life. Andy Frazella is one of my mentors, somebody that I absolutely love. If you don't listen to the real AF podcast, highly recommended. But, um, you know, I paid $10,000 for one night to just be in a room where Andy Frazella was at, and people don't Value to be in the rooms enough and like that's. I've always paid to be in rooms because that's that's where I can meet others that are gonna elevate my thinking.
Josey Parks:And so I stuck in Andy about it, telling him Kind of sharing where I was at with it, and that like you know I was gonna buy this because I feel like this is a Revolutionary year and that's like the big driving news talked about why earlier. Like dude, I believe contractors have to come together and we have to. We have to take back our country and it's more important than ever before. We have to serve our communities. We have to be in the change, be the change in our communities and be the leaders that we aspire to become.
Josey Parks:And you know that I was talking to Andy about it all and he's like dude. He's like I know you can make way more money working on the roofing business. He's like I totally get it and that was the case. It's like, dude, this I'm just gonna lose a ton of money. But he's Thinking through this. He's like years from now, you know you have money, more money's coming.
Josey Parks:He's like, but will you regret not doing this for the people? And Immediately Like, whatever I have to do, I'm gonna get this done. I'm gonna build this and I'm gonna show that we can change the future. We can be the future, like that is. I'm a very you know futuristic guy and that that's really what it was. I said like I was, I was not gonna do it, but it's just the regrets and you know, I felt called to do it and I'm answering the call and so many others in the industry Are answering the call and they're seeing this is like hey, we can change this. Like just because the past is there, it doesn't mean that's the future and that's like the perfect story of when the storm, because this year is gonna be completely different and people are gonna see the drastic change and how quickly we can change it. Perception of the event alone has already changed. So I mean that that just shows right there when you put your mind to something and you get your tribe together. But you can do whatever you put your mind to.
Ty Cobb Backer:Yeah, a lot of good stuff there, man. I love everything that you were just saying and and I mean from the outside, looking in right now, we can already see the change. And I use the word we intentionally, because this is the amount of support that that you're receiving right now from from some of the biggest figureheads in the industry, you know, dmitry Lipinski, alan Mick, I mean I mean the list goes on again and again. And then to have Tim Grover Speaking at this event, I mean, dude, it's been a minute since I think we've had An event that that's had a huge, heavy hitter, plus the, the laundry list of other people ahead of him speaking Right, because I'm imagining he's probably the headliner there, but I mean everybody on your list and it's. It's just amazing, and one of the things that that you had mentioned was gonna be.
Ty Cobb Backer:My next question was is you know, basically, like, like the why?
Ty Cobb Backer:You know, like, why did you want to do this?
Ty Cobb Backer:And you may answer that question, because after you had that meeting with Andy, it wasn't about the money, it was about it was it was impact over profit and and I can dig, I can dig that I think a lot of other people can gel with that as well. You know what I mean and because one of my questions I was gonna ask you to was is like how you know the expense that that it's taken. You know the the financial expense that that it's taking to host something like this, but not just hosting it, but to make sure it's being done right. You know what I mean. I can't even imagine the amount of finances, time, energy, resources in staying on top of it and making sure that you're not cutting corners. Let's talk about that a little bit like some of that anguish and time and energy and the amount of people that it's taking to host this thing, to make sure it goes off with not necessarily without a hitch I'm sure there's gonna be something, but but done the right way so the message is articulated correctly.
Josey Parks:Yeah, totally. You know, one of the reasons that I wasn't gonna buy it at the end was because we didn't even have a venue. So it was supposed to be in Nashville and we found out like late in the game. The down payment was never made, so we didn't actually have a spot toes when the storm. So trying to get together, you know 3000 plus person event within four months and find in that venue it's like nothing was available, and you know, that's where we found the Hilton Anatole, a four-star hotel, very high-end, like freakin part of the Berlin Wall is in this hotel millions and millions of dollars of Artifacts I mean the history in this hotel. This is one of the most wealthy families in Dallas that own this hotel. This was a passion project for them. They wanted to preserve history, tell the story of history at their hotel, and so that's where we're doing it. Whereas anyone would think that's absolutely psychotic to do it there, and it is.
Josey Parks:I'm telling you I'm gonna lose at least half a million dollars doing the event this year at least, and so I mean that's, that's a lot, and I didn't think going in I would, but it is what it is, and so you know we want to perform, though, and that's where, like Tim Groper I mean that he's like that, one of the top speakers in the world right now on everything, and Getting him wasn't cheap. But if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right, like I'm not sitting here cutting corners. My food bill alone is four hundred thousand dollars, and so VIPs and elites are gonna eat like kings. I'll tell you that, and you know. So, like everything that we're doing, it's gonna be done Right. It's gonna be an experience like no other, and you know, like, for instance, the the theme this year's mental toughness, and so that's what we're bringing is like Common themes that really can go throughout the event.
Josey Parks:You know we're opening with James Lawrence. If you don't know James Lawrence, he did a hundred Iron man in a hundred days straight. So I would look at him compared to Dave and Goggins. I would bet on James Lawrence, because the level of intensity to do a hundred Iron man in a hundred days, and then when he finished, he was like screwed, I'm gonna do one more. He did 101, and so just to be like that psychotic with your mental toughness, I want to learn from it, and I have, and that's why I'm bringing him LaShawn Bryant. He's a three-time Gold Olympian, you know gold medalist, and he has like 14 or 15 other medals. Mental toughness then I've got Tim Grover. The final day closes. So every single day the theme is mental toughness, because we need to be mentally tough more than ever before, and so I.
Josey Parks:It costs a lot of money to get these people here, and so that's where it's like not going cheap because, like, if you're gonna invest your time, you're gonna bring your team. I want you to leave like that was the absolute best event I've ever been to, like the level of professionalism, execution, schedule, like I'm, I'm really going to deliver. And you know I haven't been a social media guy. I don't care. I don't want to be a personality, I don't want to be known. That's not my goal.
Josey Parks:The reason so many people have gotten behind when the storm is because of my reputation. Though my last name I live by. I try to my very best to live by proverbs, and my last name is, you know, very important to me, and money is not going to change. You know how I view things, and so that's where it's like going into this event and wanting to just deliver immense value for contractors to level up to develop their thinking. That's really what it is. You're limited, based on your thinking. The the company's limited to the level of thinking of the leader, and so that's that's where it's at. I is, like you know, really delivering on an experience that transforms minds, transforms the heart, and like really get back to the heart of it and then the mind, and so that's that's how I'm looking at it. Is, you know, just Bringing the industry together to see, like look, this is how fast you can have change in your life and in your company and in your community.
Ty Cobb Backer:Love that, dude, I love you said so many great things there, josey, you really did, and I love, I think and I don't know if you made this connection or not or if maybe you didn't elaborate on it, um enough but the the correlation between where you're holding the venue and where they're trying to preserve history. You're hosting when the storm it's giving me goosebumps right now just thinking about this but you trying to preserve, not just when the storm, but like but, but, but, uh, preserve the roofing industry, like. This is like the, the rebirth Of the roofing industry that this is going to like, give us all, like that, that that pivotal point when we uh, what do they call it? Reflect, like, where we can just use this as a, a trampoline or springboard for the roofing industry. They kind of like skyrocket from here and it's, it's going to happen in dallas. You know what I mean, right there at the hilton, uh, what's the name of the Hilton? The hilton annitol. Yep, what is it? Annitol, annitol. Okay, dude, I love that coal, that that whole, whole coalition of of those two, uh, you know Preserves. You know where they're trying to preserve, you know history and stuff there and that you're going to host this there and and uh, you know the mental toughness thing, right, that's, that's such a huge thing and and like you were talking, you know, earlier with the we were talking about the anxiety of things, right, and and to be able to, to degrine through that and not let that paralyze us, and and to hear it from From, from studs like tim grover and iron cowboy and guys like that that could have gave up quit um, you know, not influenced or impact or Aspired other great athletes to to become great athletes, like like mr Grover has done. I mean, he, he coached the, the greatest Probably athlete in the world that we've seen in our in our lifetime and you know, michael jordan Kobe bryan, right, uh, but michael jordan mj, I mean he is definitely the g o a t, he's the goat, the greatest of all time Um when it comes to basketball and and potentially even the greatest athlete in the world. Um love him. Hence why we got the, the colors that we have today. Um is a big influence of of mj Um, I get to watch him fish once a year in a maryland Down in maryland, there in ocean city maryland, he comes in for the white marlin open and every year um it has for shit, I don't even know how long, for decades. He got the biggest boat in the harbor Down there and mr Mj on the back and in the back of the cockpit back there smoking his big ass.
Ty Cobb Backer:Churchill, you know stogies, but anyhow, you said a lot of good stuff, man. The leadership, the influence, the impact, that that you're aiming for and that that you're not cutting any corners and it's not going to be cheap. Um, you know, and and to to be able to have that, that type of impact and Energy and momentum that you have right now. I mean that comes with great responsibility. Right, there's, there's a. The weight of the world is on your shoulders right now. Let's get into a little bit of personal stuff here, a little bit. How, how are you dealing with that? Like, are you working out or you reading books? I mean, I, you mentioned that you got a mentor, you know Andy brazella but like, what else are you doing to to handle that? And and, like you said earlier, I mean, without creating a leadership lid and limiting your thinking and getting bogged down, what are you doing to be able to articulate that message and keep your team moving?
Josey Parks:yeah, well, you know I actually Went through. You know andi's 75 hard challenge it have you ever heard of that? Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah. So you know a lot of people know about it for 75 days straight you got to, you know, drinking gallon of water, two workouts, one outside, and you know, read 10 pages per day, take a selfie, follow a diet of some sort, and you know that really was like A complete mind shift for me. That shifted my mind and really built the muscle Of discipline. And because it's a muscle like you're building, because the more disciplined you you use, the more you build, but the less you use, the weaker.
Josey Parks:You are right, and you know I think they're trying to weaken us as society right now and like that's why mental toughness so important. But you know I have I've definitely leveraged a lot of my mental discipline and from, like, what I was using at the gym, you know I was working out like five, six days a week. Now I'm at like three because there's not enough time. You know, because I this is, I have nine companies and I'm not the day-to-day operator in them all, but you know I've got a lot of projects going and so I mean I've Been getting on average like four hours of sleep, and so I've been Sacrificing, putting it all on the line, everything that I have, leaving nothing on the field and just freaking beast mode as much as I possibly can to get through it. And yeah, I mean Just really go into my mentors and people for encouragement, collaborating on it and asking the industry. You know what, what we can do, how can we do better. You know we interviewed a lot of people on the past experiences and and what they would like to see different. So we took a lot of that feedback and built it into the event.
Josey Parks:But, um, personally I'm I'm just following the same practices, just staying as disciplined as possible. Um, working those freaking crazy late night hours and hitting the gym Whenever I can. I love the sauna, getting in the sauna and you know, even if I can't, I don't have time to hit the gym I'll just still hit the sauna and just Punish myself that's how I look at it and just bring back as much energy. And you know I've been trying my very best because you know, I bought Total home roofing in November and I barely saw my family up to you know, like mid-january, because it was just so much.
Josey Parks:You know I missed a lot of really important moments in life and I I hate that I didn't. I wasn't there, like I didn't get to see my grandfather before he passed, and that was something really hard. I got a call, I thought I had more time, I had my big kickoff, first sales meeting with the team and you know I'm like I can't miss that, but I I missed seeing my grandfather. He passed and I didn't get to go because I stayed for you know. So there's just a lot of moments like that over the last four months that I've looked at and it's like man, dude, I've sacrificed a lot of moments in time and I think that's really important for me and for them.
Josey Parks:For you know, these companies and I think we all do that as leaders we all have to make sacrifices and choose, like, what's most important with our time, how do we leverage our time and and that's really the thing is, like you know, buy back your time. So a book that I really love, I highly recommend buy back your time and really start to realize, like, how you have to delegate things and how much your time is worth and the true value and impact you can make if you prioritize tasks and not get stuck in the day-to-day, and that you know Larry Geneski, my partner. I mean, he has been my mentor since 2012 and you know the dude has completely changed my life and his, his training is a lot of its personal development, and so I, luckily, can just call him and have conversations with him as well and get coaching. But it's, you know, it's important that we understand who we want to become and we make decisions every single day Is if we're who we want to be in the future and we act on it today. And so that's where you know, like I, I feel called for a movement, like I you know I've never been on social, really, I'm not like I don't want to be an influencer, but like I just spark to call a movement. And like I believe that the blue collar industry is the last beating heart of America and that we have to step up and lead the future. And like all that you were talking about private equity coming in, that's coming in and that's just more resources, more fuel for us to be the change.
Josey Parks:And so, you know, personal life-wise, like you know, my I'm married, happily married, with four boys and man just going home and wrestling my boys, putting them through some discipline and you know, just like them doing their nightly workouts and rest. We have a routine like we play tickle tag, which basically tickling and wrestling and running around, doing their workouts, eating dinner and putting them to bed. Like that is really what has been my Sanity is just getting to connect. What matters most, you know, in my life, and that's my family and same with all the other people you know, business leaders and whatnot. Like our family and like we're trying to provide a better Future for them and that next generation, and I think it's our duty as conjure.
Josey Parks:I love your charity. You know this all started from charity. Like, I love that. That's such awesome thing. I've worn this since 2010 and it's lived different and it's about it's called hard work, dot TV. It's about rescuing orphans and sex traffic kids, and this all started from a business leader challenging one group of people and Through that business leader, we did 1076 orphan projects in a thousand days Because people wanted to live different, which a one business leader caused that significant impact.
Josey Parks:And so that's where, like this, I Want to get contractors in the communities and serving their communities, and so I mean this is all about impact for me, dude, like I really hope that I'm using my brand to launch this, but I really hope that I don't have to be the face of this at all, that contractors step up and they're the face of it. You know, that's why I created the board, you know. So I've got, you know, 18 people on the board different leaders of the industry from you know manufacturing, distribution, technologies, contractors, solar roofing and just brought them all together. So it's like, hey, these are the voices that should be the future. And it's not me, dude, I don't know at all whatsoever. I just want to have that platform for the industry. To where we can, we can leave the change.
Ty Cobb Backer:Wow again, you said so many good things there and and Answered a lot of my questions. I'm gonna ask you, when you're talking about the 75 hard, what books you know were you reading during that timeframe? But you talked about buying back your time and I heard somebody say something a while back and I'll probably butcher it up, but but it resonated and made a lot of sense to me. You know, especially you know the sacrifice that that we make as entrepreneurs. I don't care what size your business is and and if it's at any level of success. You know I posted something the other day success, you know, comes before or is it shit? Sacrifice comes before success. And even in the dictionary you know, I actually just literally posted that the other day because I don't think a lot of people understand, or or maybe they do understand but aren't willing to make that sacrifice.
Ty Cobb Backer:You know that that time Not spent with the kids at their football games I can't tell you how many first days of schools I missed. I can't tell you how many basketball games, how many football games, right, wrong or indifferent that's just what I did it, especially early on, my first five years, shit. My first seven years Up until about nine, nine and a half, ten years ago, right, I started to Buy back my time and and how. How you can do that is is actually hire people. Hire them for their time and Dedicating and delegating. You know some of those tasks I know. For me, early on, I was doing 15 tasks that turned into 12 full-time, 50-hour jobs for 12 people to actually impact their lives. You know what I mean and when I started to look at things like that like this isn't really necessarily about us you know what I mean. When you step into a leadership position, it there's a lot of sacrifice into it. Not not everybody is built to be able to put their own family, them, their own health and well-being and rest, you know, on the back burner for other people. Right, and it's not even an ego driven thing, it's a, it's a passion, it's a spark, it's a flame. That that is in you that you want to have an impact and you're not. That's like. Where your fulfillment comes from, you know, is knowing that the impact and the inspiration that that you're casting on individuals, especially at the level that you're at, I can't even imagine and I think you know, with just our hundred plus employees, that I'm Making a big impact here. But you, you've taken it to a whole another level and we've talked about maybe hosting our own smaller events to to be able to Get that message out there and to be able to impact more people's lives.
Ty Cobb Backer:And it's not about the money. You know what I mean and and this is the thing you got to have a Significant other at home that understands what it is that you're doing, because without that, that can create a lot of chaos. And you talked about your wife and and your four kids, right, like that, it's almost like they. They're playing a huge part in this too. Like they, they have a role to play. That's to take care of the household and and batten down the hatches and make sure everything at home is, is, is. It's like a business. They're running the business at home and you're running the actual business that that keeps the lights turned on. You know what I mean and I and I think of Jenna all the time and she's on here, but she's been a rider guy for me, which I'm sure your wife obviously has been, because if there's any kind of friction there, but I think what happens is at least for me I start to feel guilty, right? So I, I start identifying things. Plus, she'll make snarty remarks to me.
Ty Cobb Backer:Like you know, when I'm, when I'm there, I need to be present. Okay, just because I came home early tonight, you know, but I stayed, you know, on the laptop or on my phone the whole time. That's not good enough. You know what I mean. I have to be present when I'm there. It doesn't have to be a whole lot of time, right? It doesn't doesn't mean I have to take a week's long vacation every other week to spend time with my family. That means, if it's five minutes, an hour or two hours at the grocery store, with them being present, participating in what I would like to eat for the week that I am home. Right, you know, that's the quality time and that's the thing to make sure that we are carving out enough time to create memories For our children.
Ty Cobb Backer:I intentionally just this, just just this year. I stay home. A little later I'm cut from the cloth where I felt like for many years, that I needed to be the first one year and the last one to leave. Okay, well, when you do that, you missed first days of school. You, you miss them getting on the school bus. You miss a lot of stuff, a lot of after-school activities and things like that when you live like that.
Ty Cobb Backer:Well, because of doing that, we've been able to set a standard where there's guys that come, guys and gals that come into this office Earlier than I did back then, and I am not getting up any earlier than I get up today to beat them here, but that was that's the standard. Now, you know, and where I'm going with this is is I'm thinking to myself what are you gonna do next year? Not to piss all over the win the storm now, but I'm thinking to myself, like are you trying to find your replacement? I heard you got a board, which is great, because the other thing I was gonna touch on is what's cool about the position that we're in today? We don't have to make all the decisions anymore. We've surrounded ourself around a lot smarter people and probably a lot of areas of my life that I'm just not so smart in that can actually make decisions without me having to make all of those decisions.
Ty Cobb Backer:Like, there's a lot of things going on on the walls of this office building that I don't know that are going on. There are decisions being made on a daily basis that I have no idea what they are and to be able to step away like that, that takes a lot of trust right, learning how to delegate and becoming callous to mistakes being made and knowing because of those mistakes they're gaining experience, the same experience that I had to go through over the years of managing, operating, owning several different companies. Over the years that I've made the mistakes, I have to let them make them too, but I guess where I was going with it was so what are you gonna do to top this one? You don't know. Are you already thinking? Because you seem like the kind of guy it's like once this is over, you're like good, onto the next right. Are you that kind of guy like okay, once you do? Like you don't even relish in the victory that when this dorm went off without a hitch, you're probably like on done next.
Josey Parks:So are you?
Ty Cobb Backer:forward thinking Like what do you do next year?
Josey Parks:Yeah, I wish I could spend more time just relishing in the victories, but it's like that's not what we do, it's like, all right, I did that, I was just part of it, so you just gotta keep going. I'm gonna head on real quick so, like you were talking about all the things you missed. So my son he's 10, he just turned 10, my oldest, josie Wells, sparks the second. He doesn't remember me a lot when he was younger and he talks about how it was always gone and I was. And I had to learn that lesson. Like I was barely ever home because I would leave before he got up and I would get home after went to bed.
Josey Parks:I would be like a, you know, almost a full week without even seeing him and like there's so many of those sacrifices we make and I tried to be very intentional. Larry taught me you know, make sure you're home for dinner. If there's anything you can do, do that. And certain parts of the journey in life you can't do that because you have to sacrifice and you have to get your family on board of like, look guys, we're called for something great and we have to put in the time. We all have to sacrifice. Yeah, so I would just say, like, get your family on board with whatever your vision is and continuously talk about it and bring that up, because now my family knows, like the last you know three, four months that I was gone. Like my family, they were just so excited when I was home. I didn't hear them griping about me not being there, when you know my wife should be. But that's one thing I would say is just get your family on board, because it is a big sacrifice, and delegate with confidence. Talk about delegation. Delegation is key. You know, I bought my first company in 2011 and bought more after that and, like you know, I would just like totally just throw stuff on people because I didn't know. You know exactly how to do it and you know there's a time where you gotta. When you hand something off, there's a specific way, and I'll encourage everyone to go check out Harvard Business Review. Delegate with confidence. It's a great read, man. I use that as like my study guide. So those are a couple of things I just wanted to add to that.
Josey Parks:But, yeah, the future, man, we wanna create more synergies with you know, vendor relations and contractors and experiences and have more like regional events throughout the year and definitely I have a big vision for where this can. Since I had to get in, then I'm like, all right, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right, I'm gonna create what I wanted and what I would like. And so that's really like I had a mentor by telling me, like, dude, if you build it for yourself and what you would want, people will love it, because, like, get their feedback, but like you have to be passionate about it if you're gonna really execute at a high level. And so you know the future. I think we're gonna have a lot more regional events. We'll definitely still have our big yearly event.
Josey Parks:I did away with the awards show because I thought it was total garbage, but I think that you know the future. We're gonna have a standard Like so I really want Win the Storm to establish, from the industry, a standard we all agree Like this is the standard that we all aspire to be and like this is your top performers. So, like companies you can look at like hey, what type of leaders do you develop in your company? And we have a standard that we can look at and it can show, like for recruiting talent, like hey, from the industry's perspective, we develop people that are exceptionally better than average and so if you can push that and you can show, it's one thing about, like you know, hey, this guy's making six figures Nowadays. Six figures, you can barely feed your family and so, like you got to really aspire for more, and especially if you're gonna recruit a lot of talent.
Josey Parks:But, yeah, the future, ty, I really hope that I can. You know, I'm trying my very best to replace myself and this business day to day. I'm not the best person to run this business, like I'm not gonna be the person doing that. I just wanted to put the launch pad in place for the industry and that's really the board. I'm hoping, you know, we can really figure out that future. But you know, I am a visionary. I mean, I've got some incredible technology companies and you know I really I see the future and it's very clear to me and I'm trying to get business contractors to prepare their business for what's coming, cause disruption is here, like people just don't even realize it. But you know, if people don't change their ways and really start to adopt these new technologies and standardize their data and build real infrastructure processes, they will be disrupted.
Josey Parks:Technology advances strategy.
Josey Parks:I say it all the time. It advances your strategy and you know so many companies. You know they don't have a canvassing app. That's like you know. I know you know lead scouts here. A canvassing app helps you hold your reps accountable. It helps you understand markets and conversion rates and there's so much intelligence that you can put into your business and understand real accountability for your reps, versus then just coming and wanting another draw.
Josey Parks:It's like how many doors did you knock, like, and you can really see the data. Are they putting in the work? You're just having a rough patch, you know. Whatever that may be. But yeah, the future, man, we've got some really big plans and you know, I'm really hoping that the industry rises it up and we have all these different leaders, like you know Sam Taggart, april Hall, dimitri, randy Brothers I asked one guy who said only if I'm on the main stage, you can probably guess who that was Dimitri happened to KO him. But anyways, like I tried to bring every single industry like platform and leader to this event to bring them more eyeballs, to bring them more people to see what they're doing, because I think this industry, we need everybody and that's what this platform is gonna be. It's gonna be a platform for the people and by the people. That's what it's gonna be.
Ty Cobb Backer:I love that. I love that. So you were talking earlier. Are you insinuating or are you planning on doing like a storm venture group, the training platform you know? Are you gonna spin something off of when the storm or do you in the near future of some kind of training you're gonna provide?
Josey Parks:Yes, I bought both. I bought SVG and when the storm? So I bought both of those products and you know we've already created some new courses with that. Larry, you know my mentor I went to. He has a contractor training program as well and you know that's what I went through. I went through a three and a half year contractor course. It's, you know, the best education you can get as a contractor. But I think we need better tools as contractors and better education, and so that's really something that you know I'm excited about that. We'll be able to really build this futuristic training and you know we're gonna be releasing the new name for SVG and who's gonna be running it, like how that's gonna go. But we're gonna bring like real high quality content from real pioneers.
Josey Parks:I got this from Dave Carlson pioneers and gurus. You know pioneers are the ones that blaze the trail. Gurus are the one that tell other people's story. You need them both. You need them both, but there's just there's way too many gurus out there that are just, like you know, riding on the coattails of others, and I really saw that as a big issue in the industry is that you have these guys that have never actually done it coaching everyone and telling them how to do it.
Josey Parks:It's like dude, what you don't actually know. So like, why are you giving all this advice? Why are you running all this? And then, like, I understand eyeballs and all of that, but I think people are starting to see through that and I hope as an industry, we support more of the pioneers and less of the gurus, because I don't think that helping our industry a lot when they're just like regurgitating other people's info. They're needed, but this is the time for pioneers to really rise up and that's what we wanna bring eyeballs to pioneers. And so that's a future that we are creating and hopefully we can figure out how to get you in there as a pioneer leading the charge.
Ty Cobb Backer:Thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah, I definitely don't look at myself as a guru or a pioneer. We again going back to the platform that we use behind the tool about here, it's just to kind of just bring more show to, about you guys, not about how I look or the things I'm saying. My job is just to come up with the good questions for you to the poor, the questions or the answers out of you is my job. You know what I mean and I think in any circumstance, whether you're speaking on stage or at a breakout or a panel or hosting a huge event like this, I think the one thing that you need to learn right away if you wanna be successful and become a pioneer, it can't be about you. This has to be about everybody else around you, the message that I want you to hear or the people to hear coming from you, and that's my job today. I'm okay not being the Ed Milet on main stage. I'm the guy. I'm the Ed Milet on the podcast that asks about five to eight questions to pull out the answer, the information from you. And when I started to really think about that and how important that is and that's what I kind of get off on the questions that I wanna come up with and answer. It's kind of like a roadmap that I'm trying to draw and I'm kind of nerding out on it. The more mature I get with podcasting and speaking and things like that and the more that I make it about everybody else and not myself, I think that the better I'm getting at it. When I was more concerned about how I look, that I say too many ums and ahs, when I put all and shelved all that crap, I don't care how many f-bombs I drop, I don't care how many ums and all that. This has nothing to do with me. I'll stutter the whole way through this. All you have to do is understand the question that I asked you and let it go from there, and then I just start coming up with some other questions to ask you and I listen, I'm listening. I've learned to be a better listener.
Ty Cobb Backer:Really is what it comes down to, and not to talk about me, but that's what I've discovered over the years of doing this and being in a leadership role. It's none of this is about me. This is about everybody else, and how can we improve the quality of their lives while they're here under our management. You know what I mean. Like when they come in here it's like, well, what do you wanna do? Where do you wanna go? Do you want to further your education? Do you want to be in a different position? You're not so strong over here, but we feel like you're stronger over there. And that's just on the micro level.
Ty Cobb Backer:But the macro level is, this platform has given us the magnophone microphone or the megaphone, to be able to articulate that message, your message, out to the world. And this is live, raw and uncut. And that's sketchy, too, to do it four-year solid, every single Wednesday, and not say something that just bankrupt me or accidentally something didn't slip out. It takes big balls to do this, because 99% of these podcasts are recorded and then edited. But what do we have to fear here? You can't incriminate me more than I've already incriminated myself over the years. I am my own worst critic. You know what I mean and really I just want everybody to hear your message and that's why I was super excited about having you come on and you blazing that new frontier today, man, and galvanizing and solidifying and bringing together the roofing industry for one more great event. And this is gonna be I know it's gonna be a great event. I know we're super excited about getting down there.
Ty Cobb Backer:I got a guy that I coach. He's coming in to help. He's bringing his team. They're all coming in. He has a roofing company out in Ohio. They're coming in Bob Holt with whole roofing. He's coming in. A buddy of mine is coming in. I got Mike T and his wife from our Bluffton location. They're flying in on Tuesday to come in. So we're super excited to support you and we're gonna be going live like the entire time that we're there letting everybody know how badass this event's gonna be. But before we get off here, we're coming up on that hour mark here. Is there anything that you want? A gold nugget, a golden goose egg that you just wanna drop here and inspire somebody? Before we get off here quick.
Josey Parks:Sure, I mean I'll tell you like, in the day and age that we're in, there's a lot of noise and we are in a moment in time where the pendulum is swinging and I feel like there is so much coming at us and it's more important than ever before to control your environment and understand we're not perfect thought making machines and with the people and technology that is trying to make us a slave I think, having the discipline and the fortitude to really control your thinking as much as possible. So thoughts lead to action, action leads to results, and so, understanding that your environment really creates the thoughts that you have, and so putting better information in, you're gonna produce better information or you're gonna produce better results in your life. And so I just think it's so important, now more than ever, to focus on your environment. I mean it's cliche, whatever, but I mean that's where, I would say, right now, you're being attacked, everybody is attacking you. You're on a battlefield and it's up to you to have your tribe and the information that's gonna benefit you and your greater self. That's what you need to focus in on, and so just control your time and control your environment. It's so important and I like the term action here. I'm visioning and action nearing my future and we have to be an action here and we have to lead that.
Josey Parks:And, closing on, say, this event. It's gonna be unlike any other before and the training that we're gonna have on Thursday, ty, I really hope you can make it. I'm not sure if you're planning on getting there Thursday at 1.30, but Larry is going to be doing a training that completely changed my life. I literally retired from selling metal roofing. I sold $6 million in just residential metal roofing in Texas and I went to his training and it changed my life. And so he's gonna be doing a three hour in-depth training for the VIPs and elites and I highly recommend and encourage you to be at that event because I promise you like the workbooks that we've created and the content. It will change your life. I mean that alone is gonna be worth it, and then we've got a lot of other great things happening, but however, we can support I mean, ty, I don't know if you have time, but any feedback for me or any advice you have for me for this.
Ty Cobb Backer:Oh, at this moment, any advice. Man, I'm too weak. I mean, you're crushing it. We talked, I don't know, a couple months ago. You had asked me about the workshops and stuff the day before because of something that was done previously and I think, just touching on that just briefly, the way that you've changed things around. So it's not really, I guess, advice, but I'm more so encouragement I feel like you're going in the right direction.
Ty Cobb Backer:I really don't have any advice at this moment other than try to exercise, eat right and get plenty of rest, but I know that's impossible right now. It's not how much rest, is the quality of rest that you're gonna get. That's your bit of advice I'm gonna give you, but more so to encourage you to keep pushing, keep fighting. You're fighting the good fight, right. You're doing all the right things. You got all the right people around you. You set up a board and you just keep doing what you're doing and you're gonna keep getting what you're getting. You know what I mean. It's all good stuff, because you're doing all good things right now. I mean that can work both ways. Keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting, but right now you're momentum, the forward flow that you have right now and the group of men and women that you have around you right now, bro, you're killing it, you're absolutely crushing it.
Josey Parks:Yeah, thank you so much, really appreciate it. Yeah, man, thank you, and don't wait till next year. You need to be there this year and be a part of that, because there's gonna be something so special about those that believe in the future and that are committed to it and that actually take the action to get there. I think it's gonna transform minds and hearts and your business is gonna be different from going.
Ty Cobb Backer:No doubt man, no doubt. Well, josie, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you everyone for tuning in here on your lunch break of episode 220 Behind the Tool Belt. Don't forget to like, love, subscribe, review our YouTube page, check us out on Apple, google Play and, obviously, facebook. You guys have a great day and we will see you next week for episode 221. We have Mike Claudio coming on. Thank you guys, see ya.