Giovanny Pazimino - Keeping the Caribbean Kool - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Giovanny Pazimino, regional manager for the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico at Sherwin-Williams. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Intro: Welcome to CoatingsCast, the ultimate podcast dedicated to the science, art and  innovation of liquid and fluid-applied roofing, coatings for surfaces and  waterproofing. It's time to roll up our sleeves, put on our lab coats and  dive headfirst into the world of liquid protection that keeps your roofs and surfaces in prime condition. The future is here and it's liquid, so don't miss out. This is CoatingsCast where every drop counts in the world of roof and service protection. 

Megan Ellsworth: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CoatingsCast. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at CoatingsCoffeeshop.com. And I'm so excited, I have my friend Giovanni here from Sherwin-Williams and Kool Seal and we're talking about roofing in the Caribbean. Hi, Giovanni, how are you? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Hey, Megan. Thank you for the opportunity [inaudible 00:01:10]. 

Megan Ellsworth: Very cool. 

Giovanny Pazimino: We have the opportunity to certify contractors. 

Megan Ellsworth: That is amazing. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Thank you Megan. 

Megan Ellsworth: Let's dive right in. Can you tell us a little bit about you and your history? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Just a little bit about my background. I started with Sherwin-Williams 20 years ago. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Giovanny Pazimino: I got involved with the Roofing Coatings Group on 2019. Prior to that I had the opportunity to work as the export manager for Sherwin-Williams, where coincidentally I worked with different projects overseas. This gave me the exposure to meet people from the roofing industry. That's why later in 2019 I had the opportunity to be part of the Roofing Coatings Group of Sherwin-Williams, which consists in Kool Seal and the other brands. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Uniflex and GSL. Correct. That's my background and how I landed in this big industry of the Roofing Coatings. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Can you give us a little background on Kool Seal as a company? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Sure. Kool Seal is a company that started back over a hundred years ago and then same as Uniflex and  they were acquired by Sherwin-Williams in 2006. This is a company that's been for a long time in the industry and same as Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams acquired them and we've been long, that's what I can tell about Roofing Coatings and Kool Seal specifically. 

Megan Ellsworth: Cool. I didn't know it had such a long history, Kool Seal over a hundred years. That's amazing. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Yes, it's cool. That's what make us stronger and we've been in the market so there's no way that we going to do something to... We're going to do our best to still in the market. 

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. The area you oversee includes not just different regions but many individual countries. Can you describe what it's like to work with so many different cultures and countries? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Sure. Just to give you a little bit of the region that I cover is the Caribbean, the Central American area. Now it's Mexico and I have a couple of assignments to Asia Pacific, one in Saipan. Basically the Roof Coatings Group, the international market is handled by my person. It is very interesting. The question that you had is very interesting because you have to consider that especially Caribbean, Central America or Mexico, we're talking about different economies. It's not the same to sell a premium product in the US, which our capacity to expand is bigger. 

Giovanny Pazimino: However, big companies, they prefer American or North American products in this case Kool Seal. I think the main differentiator is quality. We also have to consider, you already mentioned cultural backgrounds or in this case in some places like in Puerto Rico, I can mention Puerto Rico because it is the biggest country and it has the potential due to also the relationship with the US but they also like to use products manufactured here in the island in Puerto Rico. I would say in every other market, those are our challenges. People prefer to support companies that are made in the same land. Same thing happens in the other islands where they have other products like the original products. I would say those are the challenges that we have. I hope I answered your question. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, you did. What a beautiful area that you oversee. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Yes, it is. 

Megan Ellsworth:  Not too shabby. 

Giovanny Pazimino: That's another thing that when we travel for pleasure, we see the nice places and not the challenges, but it is really nice and you get to learn a lot from the people, from the industry, from government, because every single country, even though they are really small, but they have different regulatory systems, some of our products or some of the US products cannot be sold in some islands or in some of the islands can be and in some of the islands there's a lot of red tape. You have to deal with a lot of the cultural things involved that it is not easy to handle just one business. 

Megan Ellsworth: It doesn't sound easy. Lots of different inflation across different countries. And you're overseeing Central America, the Caribbean and  parts of the South Pacific. That's a lot of different countries like you mentioned. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Yes. 

Megan Ellsworth: What are some challenges you face when it comes to storms in that area? It's part of life. How do they affect the work you do and the type of roofing used in the Caribbean region maybe specifically? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Sure and  we are exposed to natural disasters and as you could see in the news and  I would say every year we have something new, we don't know where it's going to hit and the advantage that I can say for Kool Seal or  Uniflex either/or that our distribution channels specifically Sherwin-Williams were located in all those islands. It makes us easier to react faster than other companies. When other companies are just relying on exporting as they go, we have locations. I know that it could be more costly if our Sherwin-Williams stores or the other distribution channels are affected, but I think that our strength is our distribution channels and the sales force that we have or  let's say some of the islands is affected, we have another country that is close by that it could help. I think logistically we have the advantage and that's why it makes us maybe key of the success is that Kool Seal and the other Sherwin-Williams brands are growing is due to the sales force and logistics that we have. That's what I can say as a plus. 

Megan Ellsworth: What would you say is the most popular type of roofing system down there? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Something that is different and the whole, I would say Latin American architecture and the islands is concrete because usually the roof, some of them they don't have roofs, they just have the highest level of concrete. What gives us the opportunity to this new niche, just the silicone market. That's what we are growing and I would say the system that is in trend is silicone right now and  that's why the sales that we have is through our brands with Kool Seal Tundra and  since you already mentioned it, the silicon Tundra is the product more sold in the whole Caribbean and this whole Central America, maybe that's what it makes different. Then another thing would be prior to the silicon, what they were doing is this membrane, the asphaltic membrane. Since we have systems and if the silicon is suitable to those membranes, we also apply over those membranes. That's why we're growing in a really fast pace. 

Megan Ellsworth: What would you say are some of the differences? I know you mentioned the concrete, but the differences not only culturally between the United States and the different areas you oversee, but also roofing system-wise. What are the main differences between the roofing systems in the US and the roofing systems down there in the Caribbean? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Difference? I would say that in the commercial sector here in the US, we have different type of structural systems. Let's say the APDM is insulated with a membrane TPO and in the Caribbean countries or let's say Mexico, we also have those. What maybe we were not used to see as we see now is the coatings and  that's why our opportunity, I would say that there's not a big difference. Maybe it's the amount or the quantity that we have. In the US, biologic is massive construction, we have a variety of different type of systems. I would say it's the same, but I would say different size. 

Megan Ellsworth: Interesting. Going back to the storms, how does Kool Seal and Uniflex stand up against storms? Because I know they're great products. Can you talk about their storm weather system? 

Giovanny Pazimino: First, just to clarify, even though our systems have warranty involved, we have systems that could go from 7, 10, 15 years or 20, however, if it is natural disaster, we cannot calculate the impact that this could have. But just by experience, we can see that in constructions you have had had this stand for years and what we do and  usually it's just correct the areas that were affected and the rest, usually they kept intact, they don't have any damage. It's just few areas and we cannot control if some constructions they break apart in two pieces, three pieces. But I would say that our systems do perform as we say that it will perform. 

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. I always love, at trade shows, seeing the products at work, you all always have really great demonstrations in your booth when applying things underwater and seeing the holes plug up. It's always just really satisfying and it's good to see a product that works so well. What do you think roofing looks like in the Caribbean, Central America in the future? Where is it moving towards? 

Giovanny Pazimino: As you mentioned in our presentations and  usually what we invest is in the partnership with contractors. Usually they become our approved applicators and we call our partners. We want our products to be used by contractors that know how to use it. We don't want to be blamed by a bad contractor that doesn't know how to use our products. Now, answering your question, the second part of this answer would be, yeah, we invest and we try to be on the trend of technology. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Before, as I knew, we only had acrylic elastomerics and  then the trend came the siliconized system. Now we have a siliconized system, something more complex. We also have polyurethane foam, which goes as a system with either the acrylic elastomeric or the silicone. Now we are introducing in two months the urethane. This is something new and maybe we promote it in our national sales meeting in January, urethanes are going to be available. We try to be in the trends as it evolves. That's what we are doing now. That will be the near future. I don't know what is going to be next, but we try to be in the trend. That's what I can say. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's the foreseeable future, the one that is right in front of us. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Correct. 

Megan Ellsworth: I love it. You did talk about training a little bit. Can you tell us a little bit about this university, Kool Seal University you're doing in Puerto Rico? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Correct. Usually, we used to call them the US, it's Uniflex University. Then in the Caribbean we called Roof Coatings University, where we present, it's a formal day of training to clients. We explain them how our system work, how the specifications are grading, how we can provide warranty. They have to apply also. This is an experience that customers have the opportunity to test our products. We build macaps, big macaps that simulate roofs and where we have the chance to promote our ceilings, to test our ceilings, to use the trimmings to make sure the moisture and then also test them. They have to pass a test. We also partnered our partnership with, we have a partnership with a spray equipment companies like Graycor Titan. They will go, same thing, they have to try the equipment. It's very interesting, very educational and  especially my markets, just to participate in BITS, they have to at least have this type certification by us. They have to be certified by any manufacturer that does coatings. 

Megan Ellsworth: Got it. 

Giovanny Pazimino: I can tell you about Puerto Rico. Last year we had four universities. 

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Yes, the participation radio goes from 45 to 65, it's a big range of contractors. This time, this Wednesday we're going to have one in the city of Guánica, Guánica, Puerto Rico, which is maybe almost two hours from San Juan and  we already have people working there and  right now I'm driving in one hour over there, we're going to have again, 60 people. That's the idea. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's amazing. 

Giovanny Pazimino: And it's fun. What happens is people feel appreciated because a few companies spend the time, the products that we give to the customers and we don't charge anything. We could see that this type of formal trainings usually costs from 500... Here, I can tell you here the same type of trainings, they charge from 300 to $700. We do it for free because we want our partners to feel the appreciation from brands, Kool Seal in this case. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's great. And they take a test and they then walk away with a little certification. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Correct. That's what we do, we certify. And we've seen that they feel like more confident on using it and  we can see that sales go up because of investment. They feel the appreciation and they know how to use our products. They can buy anywhere different type of products and technology, but they don't have the support that we can provide. We have the sales force here. We have a big sales force here and  I would say in every island in the Caribbean. That's the plus that we have, I can tell you. 

Megan Ellsworth: That just is amazing and I love the dedication Sherwin-Williams has to supporting and educating their customers and  that's just really cool that you all do that all across that whole area, not just Puerto Rico. How else can contractors access some of this experience, expertise if they can't attend a university session? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Sure, they can contact us directly and  I'm the one who handles this, but they can contact Kool Seal and we also update in our web page www.koolseal.warranty.com, the universities that we'll be held in here internationally, I would say. Some other universities are in the US so I think the same type of training they can receive in the US, maybe Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, but if they are interested in participating or expanding the business in the Caribbean, I can tell you there's great opportunities, especially if they partner with us. 

Megan Ellsworth: Especially, amazing. 

Giovanny Pazimino: I can tell you all the details if they partner with us, there are a lot of opportunities and this is a market that is booming. There's not going backwards really. It's exciting. 

Megan Ellsworth: It is exciting. Thank you so much, Giovanni. Is there anything else you want the contractors out there to know about Kool Seal or Uniflex? 

Giovanny Pazimino: Sure. What I can say is that our brands, as I mentioned it before, we have the greatest backup, in terms of security for any contractor, for any companies, that we're going to be there all the way along, we're going to back up the systems that we promote. That's what I can say. The rest is maybe they know a lot of roofing, but we will be the best partners. 

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Thank you Giovanni for chatting with me. This has been fabulous. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Thank you, Megan. 

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Everyone out there go to the Kool Seal and Uniflex directory, the Sherwin-Williams directory on CoatingsCoffeeshop.com to learn more and  I believe you can find the link to sign up for a Kool Seal/Uniflex University class there as well. 

Giovanny Pazimino: Thank you, Megan. Thank you for the opportunity and have a great day. Goodbye. 

Megan Ellsworth: You too. 

Outro: Thanks for joining us on this coating adventure. Stay tuned for more episodes and in the meantime, be sure to follow us on social media to stay updated with all things roof coatings. Until next time, stay coated. For more information, go to Coatingscoffeeshop.com.