People Make Roofing: Chris Coryell - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Chris Coryell, CEO of Coryell Roofing. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Intro: Welcome to People Make Roofing, a call to action led by Roofing Talent America and rooferscoffeeshop.com. We're tackling the industry's biggest challenges from outdated misconceptions to the widening skills gap. Our mission, to show the next generation the true potential of roofing, including the diverse opportunities, endless growth possibilities and  a chance to make a lasting impact. Join us as we share unfiltered stories from the industry professionals across North America, inspiring and guiding the future of roofing. 

Luke McCormack: Hello, this is People Make Roofing. I am your host, Luke McCormack of Roofing Talent America. 

Heidi Ellsworth: And I'm Heidi Ellsworth, president of Roofers Coffee Shop and co-host of People Make Roofing. We are here to celebrate roofing and the people in roofing who really make it happen, make it great and  we are so honored today to have Chris Coryell with us, one of the leaders in roofing. Chris, welcome. 

Luke McCormack: Welcome, Chris. 

Chris Coryell: Thank you Heidi. Thank you Luke. Great to be here. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I can hear the little birds behind you. Where are you? 

Chris Coryell: I'm in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Fort Worth, Texas. Looking down Mule Alley. It's pretty fascinating. This is a great historic district. It's actually the most visited city in the United States right now, statistically. So it's a phenomenal tradition and a lot of legacy and heritage of the western culture and the cowboy world right here in Fort Worth. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I'm jealous. It looks awesome. 

Chris Coryell: Yee haw. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, Chris, can you introduce yourself and tell us about your company? It is just such an amazing company, so let everybody know a little bit about you and your company. 

Chris Coryell: Well, first of all, I want to give a big shout-out to our Oklahoma City founder. We're an Oklahoma City based team. They locked up the Western Conference finals last night and  so we're going to the finals and it's exciting for Oklahoma. I'm proud for Oklahoma. I'm an Oklahoma boy. I live in Norman, Oklahoma, just outside of Norman, little town called Goldsby on a ranch. I've got my family there, my beautiful wife, Teresa, my three sons, Justin, Christian, Cooper and  I'm sorry, my daughter-in-law, Tomi, my granddaughter Caroline and  then my future daughter-in-law Gracie. So we all live there and we're happy and love our business and love what we get to do. Coryell Roofing being based out of Oklahoma City, we have offices in Arlington, Texas, Temple, Texas. We also have an office in Franklin, Tennessee. And we cover about six states and expanding out further than that. So pretty exciting stuff. 

Heidi Ellsworth: And just during this introduction, we just have to say you have been one of the top Duralast contractors for years, for years. Just mention just a little bit about all the awards that you've won. 

Chris Coryell: We have. We always chase that coveted roofing contractor of the year with Duralast. It drives us. It inspires our entire team. And speaking of team, I have to mention. You ask about the company and I got to tell you, our company is what it is because of our team. We have hands down the best team in America. They are phenomenal. We're a unit. Our culture's unbelievable. But, that's what makes us special. It truly is. But as far as all the awards that we've won from Duralast, that's because we've got an amazing team and amazing culture and we just constantly go for more. We go for let's do it better than anybody else. Let's do it bigger than anybody else. And let's be a shining light in this industry because it needs it. The industry needs it. 

Luke McCormack: That's amazing. Chris, I've heard great things about you throughout the industry. I'm on your LinkedIn and  the first job I could see was Coca-Cola. And I'm very intrigued to know how did you get into the industry and how did you get to where you are now? So many people think you need to be a roofer to get in. Maybe you were as well, but love to hear the story, Chris. 

Chris Coryell: Love to tell it. Our conversations prior to this podcast. We talked a little bit about to the people out there that want to trade or don't know how to get into the roofing industry. I want you to understand when you look at my resume and you see Coca-Cola on there, that was my university. I was not built for college, I just wasn't. I tried it. I was on a vocal scholarship to Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts in 1992 and  I went and it did not fit. And I left there wondering what am I going to do with my life? And I was thrust into the workforce and I found a home at Coca-Cola. And I learned so much about branding and marketing and product placement and customer service from my five, six years at Coca-Cola. That was my university. And then, as you look forward into my career, I had multiple career path changes and then businesses that I've owned. 

And then, I found an opportunity in roofing, because I live in Oklahoma and we're surrounded by horrible elements. We get the most severe weather in the country consistently. That's a proven statistic. And because of that, we're constantly dealing with large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes and  my own personal house was actually affected by a tornado in about 2010, 2009-2010. And because of that, I got to see the actual contracting process that took place when homeowners in Oklahoma or Texas or any state that's affected by storms, the process they had to go through with their insurance companies and with identifying the right contractor and making sure they're getting a good contractor. 

So I watched the process because I had to hire contractors and I had to deal with the insurance company. And through that process I recognized that there's a better way. And roofing contractors in general and  I say this cautiously because of the audience, but roofing contractors in general aren't viewed favorably in a lot of cases, especially when it comes to door-knocking and going after customers. It's almost that used car salesman mentality and that's how people view roofing contractors. And I thought, "I want to be a resource in this industry where I bridge the gap between the property owner, policyholder and  the insurance carrier or contractors or architects. I want to be the conduit that brings that all together and provides solutions that makes sense, that's fair, that's reasonable to all parties. And so, that's how the company formed. I just saw an opportunity because of a storm. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. I mean when you really think about that and think about what brought you all together. So can you tell us a little bit, I mean you saw the opportunity and how did you go about starting your business and really how did you get this team? I mean, I'm really interested in that when you talk about the people in your company or what make it, how did you go about finding them and building that culture? 

Luke McCormack: Just to add to that question, Chris, obviously we are in the talent game, putting people into roofing companies. And the NRCA report was that 80% of roofing companies report that staffing, recruitment is their biggest challenge. And we can tell, I've seen your team, I've seen the reputation, what you've got out there. So I think that for this part, this is also advice to other roofing contracting owners out there. How do you assemble the team? How do you retain them? How do you grow? I would love to hear how you've done it. 

Chris Coryell: Yeah, absolutely. You said something very critical in your question or comment to Heidi's question, retention. That is huge in any company. Because if you invest into a team, if you invest into professionals, possibly years of investing into honing their craft and their trade and making them a valuable team member, but you can't keep them, it's wasteful, it's dangerous, it's damaging to a company. So you have to put protective mechanisms in place and you have to build a culture where people don't want to leave. And so often, I think what's happening in our industry today and  one of the things that you said, Luke, is we've got to help people understand that the roofing industry is an incredible industry and there's a lot of opportunity for advancement. There's a lot of opportunity for placement. There's growth, there's professional and personal growth that can take place in the roofing industry if you do it the right way. 

And for the young people out there that are looking for something that they can latch onto and make a career out of, there's nothing better than the roofing industry. But the key to it is hand selecting everybody that walks through your door from the top down. We're going through a process right now, the EOS model, the Entrepreneur Operating System. We've been doing it for about the last 18 months and  I'm telling you, it's been instrumental in our view, our entire team's view, on growth and leadership. I'm a big John Maxwell guy. I love motivational stuff. I love inspirational stuff. So I share it with my team all the time, keeping everybody like, "We've got this. You are incredible. We are the best. Let's keep going. Let's keep striving. Let's be a resource in this industry. Let's help others get what they need because that's what's most important. Let's take care of our customers." 

When you breed that culture and that mentality into a team, they want to be a part of a winning team. That's how you get to championships. And when you get to championships, everybody wants to be a part of that. And they don't want to leave because they want another championship and another championship. And then the other element of it is this. So often I think in the roofing industry and  I hope this answers your question directly, Heidi. So often in the roofing industry, I think roofing contractors have a tendency to shortcut their team in terms of compensation. We treat it like it's a non-skilled trade, so it doesn't have to pay. 

When your talent pool and the people that the generations that are coming up could go work at Chick-fil or Amazon for more money than what you're willing to pay them as a roofing contractor. And roofing can be hard work. But there's so many different things inside a roofing that you can learn, estimating safety, site supervision, project management, there's marketing. There's so many different aspects of the roofing industry that anybody can get involved in, but owners have to step up and recognize you've got to pay your people and you've got to treat them right and  you have to build a culture where they want to be there. That's how you build a winning team. That's how you keep a winning team. We've been successful at it. 

Now, I'm not going to say we're perfect. Our goal is 90% retention rate over the next seven years. We're a teenage company by the way. We're only 14 years old. We just got our driver's license. And by the time we hit 20 years, our target is we've got a revenue amount that we know we're going for. But our second item that is our top focus is 90% employee retention over the next seven years. So when you make that a priority, that team is the priority. You're nothing without your team, nothing. So that's our mentality, that's our philosophy. And it works for us. And I think it could work for a lot of other business owners in the roofing industry, but you have to open the doors to talent. You have to bring the talent in, you have to treat them right and  you have to give them an opportunity to flourish in that environment. 

Luke McCormack: Chris, that is amazing. And we're all singing from the same hymn sheet. What do you think, Chris, you've spoke about sales, the people, the sales people in commercial roofing. When it comes to sales recruitment, do you look for people within the industry or do you look for people out of the industry? How do you do it? Is it recruiting, personality, trade on skill or  what's the avatar of someone that you would look for? Because a lot of people are struggling with that right now and  you seem to have cracked it. 

Chris Coryell: We focus on culture. I don't even care what kind of degree you have or skill set you have or background or experience. That doesn't matter to me. If you fit our culture, we can extract value, we can help you. We can extract value for the company and the company can extract value for you. And it's a powerful combination when you identify that. But if you don't have the right culture fit, if you don't have people that believe in the core values of core roofing, which our core values are a commitment to excellence, a commitment to integrity and  a commitment to growth. Those are our three core values. So every person that walks through that door is measured against those core values. And if they don't fit, then we can't do anything with that. 

Now, secondary to culture and finding the right people and making sure they align with our core values and understanding our purpose and our mission. We're protecting people, property and policy, people that walk through the doors of Coryell Roofing, they have to understand something. We have a duty and responsibility to protect people, property and policy. They're counting on us. We have to protect. We have a lot of military people in our company that have come through the doors. They obviously fit the core values, commitment to excellence, integrity and  growth, but when they get to experience the protective mechanisms to the side of the roofing industry that we offer, it taps into their natural-born instinct to protect people. That's why they were military. And so, they get behind it. They're like, "I may not be on a battlefield, but I'm on a rooftop. I know that the people below this rooftop are depending on me to do my job today. If I do my job today and I do it right, I go home at the end of the day rewarded, fulfilled, knowing I've protected somebody." That's what we're all about and  it starts with culture. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I love that. And that's one of the things we are also on EOS, Chris and  it has changed our business also. And it's so important, as you're bringing people in, to kind of share those core values of who you are. One of our main things we say is we shine a light. We shine a light on the greatness of roofing or on the greatness of the trades. Right? And I think as you are looking and talking to some of the young people and  I love it, young people coming out of the military or maybe not so young coming out of the military who are getting involved with you, what's some of your advice that you give to them as they walk through your doors and come in and start working in the roofing industry? What's your advice to them on a real solid career? 

Chris Coryell: Add value, find ways in your life, your passions. I'll take my oldest son, for example, Justin. He's worked for the company for 11 years since pretty much since the beginning. He was going to college at West Texas A&M University and UCO in Edmond, Oklahoma. He was on a football scholarship, didn't want to play football. It was hurting him too bad. So he decided to go to a different school. He ended up starting in the company and through back and forth with school and work, we were really having a hard time finding where he truly fit into the company, where he could offer value. And we worked to develop and build and he was there constantly. And about three, four years ago, we put him into the IT department to run it on a heavy level. And I got to tell you, he is thriving in the company. He adds value. 

And just because you're a roofing company doesn't mean everybody carries a hammer. He is offering value because he's a drone pilot. He's our certified drone pilot. He's our IT director. He's a thermographer. So everybody in the company looks to him. He's implementing AI and technology and procedures and processes in our company that are blowing people's minds and revolutionizing just how we go to market. So that's what I would tell anybody that's getting into the industry or anybody looking at a career in roofing industry is you may not understand just how diverse the roofing industry is in terms of the skill sets that you need from people. So be a culture fit wherever you go, add value wherever you go and  find your niche. That's the most important thing. That's what Justin did. He found his niche and now people all across our entire company, across six states, they lean on him every single day for their technology needs. That's pretty valuable. 

Heidi Ellsworth: That's awesome. 

Luke McCormack: I absolutely love that, Chris. This is what I've been saying for so long that you don't need to be a roofer to add value in a roofing company. And for the young people coming through that they could operate AI, [inaudible 00:17:29] at their fingertips, I don't think that they realize the impact that they can make on a contractor for them. Like you have done with your son in a living short years, he's now an IT director. The pace in which you can move up the career ladder is there. The barrier to entry is low, the upward mobility is high. And I love that you're doing that and you're putting young people into these senior positions because they are the leaders of tomorrow. 

Chris Coryell: They are. Can I add one more thing to that? Do you mind, Heidi? So it's so fun to watch people grow. That's what I get excited about. I love paying people a lot of money and I love making them grow. That's what I think I was born to do in life. I love inspiring people. I love building. And I love empowering people and just watching them grow. So Brandon Raekstra is one of our top salespeople out of Oklahoma City. He just turned 30 years old this month, about 10 days ago actually. Brandon came to me when he was 19 years old. He graduated high school with my son in New Castle, Oklahoma and played football with him. He stayed at my house on Thursday nights before their Friday games, he's like a son of mine. He grew up with our family, love him. 

Brandon called me when he was 19 years old. He had a baseball scholarship to a college in western Oklahoma. He was going to go to nursing school. It just wasn't fitting. He wasn't feeling it. Very similar to me. I was on scholarship going to be an accountant. It just wasn't fitting. So he was sitting in my back patio one night about 12 years ago and  I was talking to my son, Justin and  Brandon and  several of his friends. These are young guys, these are the guys that you're talking about, Luke. These are the guys that are saying, 'What am I going to do with my life?" And I was sitting around having this conversation with these guys and I said, "Look, I want you all to understand something. Pursue education. Pursue education." That doesn't necessarily have to be a four-year college. That doesn't necessarily have to be a university. That could be a trade, that could be a certification. 

And I used several examples of how you don't have to feel defeated just because you didn't finish your college degree. Is it encouraged? Absolutely. But can you add value to a company without it? Yes, you can, but you have to identify how you can add that value. And so, after that conversation that night around the fire pit at my house, Brandon called me the next day. I was at a basketball game in Newcastle High School gymnasium. Brandon calls me and said, "Hey, where are you at?" And I said, "I'm at a basketball game watching my son play." He said, "I'm going to be there in 15 minutes." He walked in with a sport coat, at 19 years old, 19, sport coat, a resume, handed me his resume and said, "I want in." 

And I said, "Brandon, listen, I don't have a lot for you right now." We weren't the magnitude of company that we are today. I said, "The best I can offer you is an hourly rate, hourly pay and  you can make outgoing calls to generate opportunities in commercial industrial business." He said, "I'll take it." I said, "You got to answer phones too. If you're going to be behind the phone, you got to answer the phone." "I'll take it. I just want in." I'm proud to say that almost 12 years later, Brandon is one of our top salespeople. He covers the state of Oklahoma, Arkansas and  Tennessee. He is considered one of the leading professionals in the industry. He is respected by his elders. He's been with us 11 years, almost 12 and he's 30 years old. We helped Brandon develop skills that he could carry through the rest of his life. Brandon is equipped to do whatever he wants to do now. He's a powerful, powerful ambassador of our brand. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Of your brand and of the roofing industry overall and of construction. Yeah. 

Luke McCormack: We would love to get him on People Make Roofing, Chris. I'm going to go around a lot of universities in America and I want to show them if they come into roofing in a sales capacity, this is what can happen. And Brandon sounds like the perfect profile to share his story with them and people of Brandon's age is 33% of the workforce demographics in our industry today. So there's more Brandons out there. But what they need is more Chrises to see the opportunity and to give them the chance and  you've obviously invested in them to allow them to move up. So I love that, Chris. Congratulations to you and to Brandon. 

Chris Coryell: Well, I was going to say we have a dozen of those in our company. I mean, we have story after story after story. That's how we build people up and  it's unbelievable to watch. When you look at our growth, that is the only explanation for it is we're taking people that have passion, they have desire, they have culture. They're driven. They want it. They GWC it, they get it, want it and  have the capacity. Okay? We're taking people like that. We're putting the right people in the right seat and we're letting them shine. And I'm telling you, it's unbelievable what it can do for new people coming into the industry, young people. The stories I can tell you of how I've watched families grow. My nephew, Jeremy Hyde did the exact same thing as Brandon. I won't drag this out any further by telling that story too, but he has a powerful story to tell. My brother, Kelly Coryell, who's been with me since day one, he's got a powerful story to tell. 

It's just everywhere you look. It's people that said, "I believe in this. I believe in what we're doing here. I think I can make a difference in this industry." And we've all joined together, holding hands, supporting each other, celebrating each other and  built each other up. And we are making a difference in the roofing industry every single day. We're setting standards, we're changing mentalities, we're correcting issues that have been going on for 20, 30 years. We're changing the industry. And here's the other interesting thing, Luke, very interesting in relation to your mission for what you're trying to accomplish in this industry. I don't know if you're aware of this, but the majority of our clients are K-12 schools in the states that I mentioned. When I say say, "We're protecting people." We're protecting the future of our country. We're protecting the children that are being educated. 

We're trying to remove disruptions and distractions from classrooms so that those students can learn without having to worry about a bucket catching water from leaks in a roof or  a superintendent having to give his focus to a construction project when he should be focused on educating children. That's what they're there to do for. They're not there to be roofing professionals. That's our job. And it's time that people in this industry step up to that and say, "We're going to take an obligation." Not just a, "We're going to accept a bid and put the roof on and take your money and see you later. If you have problems, call me." It's investing into your clients and making sure that they understand there's a better way to do things. Let's set some standards. Let's remove the distractions and disruptions and let's let you do what you are good at. 

So we have so many schools, Luke, that have talked to us about the graduating classes and what they're doing and how they work together with the trade schools close to their K-12 school. So we're talking about VOTEC trade schools. Right? So this happens a lot in Oklahoma, a lot in Texas, all over the states that we work in. Kids, right in high school, they start working in conjunction with the trade schools. I've had many of them talk to us about creating a commercial roofing education program inside those trade schools. So some of them teach general construction, but when you talk about bringing up the next level of roofing contractors and finding out where their skill sets are, it happens at that level in education. So if we do our job right and protect these properties and remove distractions and  we also help the schools by educating the students on a trade that is extremely relevant, extremely powerful and  extremely necessary in our industry, we're empowering students to learn something and get into this industry. And they're the next Brandon, they're the next Jeremy, they are the next Kelly. That's what we're going for. 

Luke McCormack: Chris, that is amazing. And that stuff like that, why you were commercial roofing contractor of the year last year. So I absolutely take my hat off to you and I'll follow up with you to support that mission because the industry needs it. And it's so refreshing to hear you saying this. I was thinking as you were speaking. Right? Where do you find people, not from schools and universities, but you're operational, your managerial, your executive talent. Where do you get them from Chris? And I'm sure a lot of them just come to you because of your employer brand, but I'm keen to hear what's your strategies as you grow the business to your 20-year target. What are the strategies to get the best of the best in the right seats at Coryell? 

Chris Coryell: Oh, that's such a juggling act. It's such a balance. So when you're a young company and a lot of your audience right now may be young companies that are trying to figure it out and saying, "How do we get the talent in our team?" And I know that's why you're asking the question, Luke, if we can help other contractors find talented people, we raise the bar in the industry. Not just the contractors on the roof, not just the people on the roof. We're talking about the accountants and the marketing people and the IT people. If we can help them understand and attract them in that way, but how do you attract them? Because let's face it, roofing is not that sexy. It's just not. And nobody really thinks about their roofs until they have a problem with them. And everybody thinks that roofing is just a dirty, nasty, hard work industry, fair. I mean, you can buy into that. 

But roofing can be sexy. Roofing can be exciting, it can be fun and  people are depending on you. So when you've done your job right in roofing is when they don't have to call you, when they don't need to constantly come back to you. So how do I identify the quality people? Early on in the company, we almost had to beg people, talented people. That was my job as CEO. I recruit the talent, I bring them in. Sorry about the background noise with the truck. He'll be gone in a second. But I would go to them and sit down and I would show them the vision and the path and the future. And so, I attracted some talented people that way. It's also early on in a company, you have to develop people to become those talented people. You don't just because of financials. 

We didn't have money to throw at people with MBAs when we first started the company. We couldn't do that. We didn't have money to attract people that had tons of industry experience. We had to build it ourselves. Then as you evolve as a company and you build up and grow those talented people and  we got brilliant, brilliant minds in our company, brilliant. And as they develop inside the company, you become better and better and better. And then all of a sudden you start winning those championships and those awards and you get recognized as Roofing Contractor of the Year and  now people are knocking our door down. So it's that evolution of a company. We don't have to go look for talented people because they're coming to us. They want in. They want the culture, they want the experience and  they want a purpose in their life. And the compensation rates that we pay don't hurt either. 

But that's how we get the talented people, Luke. It's never been just, "Hey, click a button and bring somebody into the office and hope they're a right fit." We've had to really work at it and grow it organically before we could bring in people from the outside that fit. But within the past year, we've made some hires that still blow my mind. I'll give you one example. Jim Vidmar is our director of marketing. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I thought that I could hire a guy like Jim Vidmar to be the director of the marketing division at Coryell Roofing, I would've laughed. Jim has a master's. He was a professor, actually, I'm sorry, not a master's, PhD. He was a professor at the University of Oklahoma for 18 years teaching marketing. He's a professor. And he also worked for big organizations, Dental Depot, a couple other really prominent home builder organizations. 

And Jim was at a point in his career where he really needed a culture shift himself. He needed to identify with the right fit, the right company. And he said, "I want to find somewhere where I can land and finish out my career and  I feel like I'm doing something to make a difference." So when we attracted him, once we got him in the door, we had to share vision. We had to help him understand we're doing something different here and we're doing it special. In an industry that's not very sexy, you have the opportunity to make it look sexy because that's what marketing does, right? 

Jim agreed. He's been with us about two to three months now and  I can tell you every single day I'm thankful that he's leading our younger people. Janelle Nightingale, who's our marketing manager, marketing and communications manager, she's brilliant. She's a hard worker and  she gets to work under Jim Vidmar, a professor, to mentor her up. She'll be the next director of marketing. Graham Easterly, who's our brand manager. He comes in and he has direction from Jim. Jim's the director. Graham is the creative talent. And you combine all those three things together. We're building a talent pool so rich that people want into that. So we're at the point where we really don't have to recruit a whole lot. And I know that might be discouraging to some of the younger companies that do, but all I can say is this, keep pressing forward and focusing on the people that you have. 

Too often, employers are ready to discard employees just because they don't feel like they're the right fit. A lot of times and  I've taken this practice for the last, well, my entire career, every business I've owned, people can add value just about anywhere. You just have to find where that is. Don't be so quick to discard people just because you bring somebody into the company and they're not fitting in the position they're in, find the seat that they do fit in and watch them thrive. And if you take on that mentality rather than being a revolving door because you bring somebody in, you're not pleased with their performance, you get rid of them. Before you get rid of them, before you discard somebody, look and see, is there somewhere else in this company where they can add value? Because they wouldn't be here if they weren't a culture fit. Right? So where else can I help them add value? And you would be amazed at how you raise your level of performance company-wide and  that affects the whole industry. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I think that's the first question you have to ask yourself when it comes to retention. Are they a culture fit? Right? Did you do your job at the interview process? Did you miss something? Did you not? And so, I'm learning right now, Chris. Because first of all, I'm very impressed that being 14 years old. Yep, 14. That's right. Driver's license. 14 years that two years ago or 18 months ago, you brought in EOS. You are totally taking your company that one ... Because we the same. We brought EOS in a while ago, but really learning those cultural fits, I think that is the key. That is the key. Sometimes you get excited and you see, "Oh, this person has all the right things and they're going to be the right person for us." But if they aren't a culture fit, it doesn't matter how great they are. It kind of brings everyone down. 

Chris Coryell: You're right. And to tie that into a question that you asked earlier, you talked about all the awards that we've won. Well, we've received awards, but a lot of that is due to the fact that as a company and your culture, you have to identify yourself with a manufacturer and a partner in the industry that you can believe in and trust. And we've done that with Duralast, since day one of our company. And this is not a Duralast promotion. I'm not trying to do that on your show. I want you to understand that that has a lot to do with it. When you have a company that hops manufacturers all the time, there's no consistency. Your salespeople don't know what you're selling from day to day. Your production team doesn't know what you're installing from day to day. The marketing team doesn't even know what to market. 

When you partner, truly partner with somebody like Duralast, who partners in return and builds you up and stands by your side and provides products and solutions that are good for your clients, that's when you attract people into your company because they believe not only in the brand, but what you're offering. It's one thing to have this philosophy in the industry, "We want to protect people, property and policy." It's one thing to believe in your core values, but if you don't have something to offer as a solution to your clients or you're not consistent in what you offer as a solution to your clients, the people that are counting on you, those students in the classroom that need to stay focused on education so we can make America smarter, which we need to do. If you don't have the right solution that keeps distractions out of those classrooms or out of the businesses, what are you doing? 

And so, our partnership with Duralast has been a huge part of why we get to have such a valuable team in place. One simple example of that is every year Duralast has a national sales seminar. It's in a different city every year. They plan it out three years ahead of time and  we take our entire team. Now, a lot of that is because I believe we win as a team, we lose as a team. So if we're being showcased as an award-winner, maybe top three with Duralast, maybe contractor of the year, wherever we land, everybody goes out to the seminar. It's an educational format. We have a gala where all contractors are recognized and awarded. We take our entire team up on that stage, walk across that stage together and hold the trophy up together because that's how we win. We travel like a football team. We travel extremely heavy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything because every person that walks that stage had something to do and something to contribute with why we got that award. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow. Well, Chris, this has been, I have to tell you, so inspirational. Luke, I am looking at the time and I'm like, "Oh, okay, we could go for another hour." This has just been so great. Thank you so much. Wow. This is just great information and so inspirational for everyone out there. 

Luke McCormack: Yeah, we'll have so many have so short clips from this, Chris, that we'll share on LinkedIn because they divide the points that you're saying. A lot of what you've said is very similar to what Steve Little said the other month about early on. You just need to sell the vision to get the people so much value. And you're doing so much for the industry, for the younger generation, for your people and  you're being very humble about it, Chris. You're not taking any props. You're passing it all to your people. So big respect, Chris and  thank you for supporting our mission and good luck to you as you continue to get to your 20-year-old vision and  I hope it all works out. 

Chris Coryell: Thank you, I appreciate that and thanks for having me on today. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Thank you. Thank you so much, Chris. And everyone, please share this podcast out, People Make Roofing. This is the kind of stuff that just does make roofing. This is what it's all about. And Chris, I am going to say, I think it is sexy. So there you go. We're changing that. 

Chris Coryell: We're bringing it back. 

Heidi Ellsworth: We're bringing it back. So please check out all of the People Make Roofing podcasts on Roofer's Coffee Shop and  you can find some amazing clips and engagement and conversation on Luke's LinkedIn, Roofing Talent America. Check it out. It is so cool where you can have some conversations as we're going through it all. So Luke? 

Luke McCormack: Absolutely and  if anyone knows, I mean there's only one Chris Coryell, but if anyone wants to get a story out there or nominate someone who's worth shining a light on, please do reach out to myself or Heidi. But ,now stay tuned, we have got about 20 guests lined up, which are superstars from within the industry. So there's always lots more to come on Roofing Talent America, YouTube, LinkedIn, the coffee shops and all platforms. We will see you all soon. 

Heidi Ellsworth: See you soon. Have a great day. Thank you, Chris. Enjoy Texas. 

Chris Coryell: Thank you, Luke. Thank you, Heidi. 

Outro: Thanks for listening to People Make Roofing. Together with Roofing Talent America and  rooferscoffeeshop.com, we hope to shape the future of our industry. Share this episode and keep the conversation going because people truly make roofing.