By Jesse Sanchez.

How purpose-driven leadership is transforming the roofing industry from the inside out.

Charles Antis isn’t your typical roofing executive — and he doesn’t want to be. In this episode of People Make Roofing, hosted by Heidi J. Ellsworth and Luke McCormack, the founder of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing made a powerful case for purpose over profit in the construction industry. From the very start, Charles set the tone: “We exist to keep families safe and dry. And when you know why you exist, you're able to really perform in this beautiful trade as old as time.”

This episode — the second appearance for Charles on the show — focused heavily on his mission-first leadership approach, particularly during times of crisis. When wildfires recently devastated parts of Los Angeles, Charles’ team responded by bringing food to displaced families and supporting first responders. “There's this stress and this dishevelment and the fear where not only do they not know where their next meal is coming from, they don't know where they're going to sleep at night,” he said. “You hear their stories. And I feel bad that I’m not there.”

Charles’ emotional recollection of a moment during an NBA game in San Francisco — where fans held placards for fire victims — offered a powerful reflection on his commitment to service. “They gave every 50,000 people inside that stadium in the Chase arena, they gave him a chance to write down the family of the fire victim that they know lost their home,” he recalled. “And it was so touching to see the Jumbotron in that moment when we lifted up our placards and I couldn't wait to do it because that was the moment I was giving back something.”

His message: Roofing isn’t just about shingles and waterproofing. It’s about dignity, legacy and service.

This passion for people — not just profit — is woven through the culture at Antis Roofing. And it’s not accidental. Charles encourages companies to embrace what he calls “big intention” as a guiding principle. That, he argues, is what will keep the roofing industry not only afloat but thriving.

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the interview to learn more about how purpose, service and storytelling are reshaping the future of roofing through the work of leaders like Charles Antis!

By Dani Sheehan.

Through People Make Roofing, Luke McCormack is ensuring that the next generation sees roofing for what it truly is: an industry built on resilience, opportunity and community.

The roofing industry is often misunderstood. Many believe it’s a field with limited career potential, unsafe working conditions and little room for advancement. Luke McCormack, founder of Roofing Talent America, is on a mission to challenge these misconceptions in his People Make Roofing podcast. Through storytelling, industry leadership and a commitment to giving back, Luke is shaping the future of roofing by shining a light on the people who make it great.

Luke’s roots in roofing run deep. Growing up, he watched his father navigate the industry as an installer, contractor and eventually a sales manager in the supply sector. This early exposure gave Luke a unique perspective on both the contracting and supply sides of the business. When he transitioned into recruitment, he realized his knowledge of roofing – and his father’s industry connections – could give him a competitive edge.

His work in recruitment helped him become an integral part of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC). These connections led him to the U.S. market through the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) and he quickly became familiar with influential figures, including Reid Ribble and Steve Little. Over the past decade, Roofing Talent America has helped companies expand into new markets, build sales teams and hire key executives, making a tangible impact on the industry.

The start of People Make Roofing

In 2021, Luke launched People Make Roofing after five years of working in the industry. He was inspired by the number of young professionals entering leadership roles and building stable careers for themselves and their families. He saw an opportunity to create a platform that could showcase these success stories and provide a resource for schools, colleges and job seekers.

“There’s this perception that roofing is a dead-end job,” Luke explains. “But the reality is, this industry offers incredible career paths, financial stability and a strong sense of community. I wanted to highlight those stories and create a free online resource that could inspire the next generation.”

What started as a podcast has evolved into a global campaign to introduce underprivileged and underrepresented individuals to the roofing trade. The podcast aligns with Roofing Talent America’s mission of giving back – the company has donated $50,000 to the Roofing Alliance, supporting initiatives like the Ronald McDonald House Charities and efforts to professionalize the industry.

Building a community through storytelling

One of the defining aspects of People Make Roofing is its emphasis on community. Through his connections, Luke has built relationships with some of the most influential figures in the industry. Among them is Heidi J. Ellsworth, now Luke’s co-host on the podcast. Luke describes her as “one of the most connected people in the industry.” He shared that it has been thanks to his work with RoofersCoffeeShop®, he’s been able to elevate voices in roofing, including sharing his own mission.

Another standout individual who has been a guest on the podcast is Reid Ribble, a former U.S. congressman and industry advocate. “Reid drove two hours to meet me for lunch when he didn’t even know me,” Luke recalls. “He broke down the industry for me, gave me advice and helped me navigate the space. That’s what makes the roofing community special – people genuinely want to help each other succeed.  

Other notable guests include Steve Litte of KPost Roofing and Waterproofing, Charles Antis of Antis Roofing and Waterproofing and Greg Bloom with the Roofing Alliance. Each interview reinforces the industry’s spirit of support.

Changing perceptions, creating opportunities

While roofing faces similar challenges in both the U.S. and the U.K. — including retention struggles and a shortage of skilled labor — Luke has observed a stronger collective effort in the U.S. to professionalize the industry. “People in America are more ambitious, more willing to invest and more willing to give back,” he says. Efforts to integrate roofing education into universities, such as Clemson University, demonstrate this long-term commitment to the industry’s future.

The core message of People Make Roofing is simple: roofing is a career with an incredible spirit and vast opportunities. By amplifying voices and stories from people in roofing, this podcast proves that the future of the industry is bright – and it’s powered by the people who make it great.

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

Intro: Hello, I'm Alex Tolle with RoofersCoffeeShop and I am here for our February Roofer of the Month podcast. We are so excited to celebrate Antis Roofing, and I have himself here, Charles Antis. How are you, Charles?

Charles Antis: I'm so good, and I'm excited to be here today. Thank you, Alex, for inviting us and for giving us this great honor of being Roofer of the Month.

Alex Tolle: Yes, I know. It's so exciting.

Charles Antis: [inaudible 00:00:34].

Alex Tolle: Good bragging rights. So already did introductions, but tell us about yourself, about your company. You guys do a lot of great work, so brag about all the amazing work that you guys do.

Charles Antis: Well, I love to brag on my team. That's why I was showing you the... Flip the switch so you guys see you guys, Bobby and Cori in the booth over there. I have the most amazing team. Look at their smiles. Okay, get it back on me. Okay. So I just show up and they do amazing things and I'll get to it. But I'll first point out, I'm the founder and I call myself the chief people awakener here at Antis Roofing & Waterproofing. And I say that because I should always be telling those essential stories, whether I'm speaking to my employees or to the community or to the roofing industry, the stories that really matter that bring us together or why am I wasting your time telling you anything? And so-

Alex Tolle: Right.

Charles Antis: ... that's why I call myself the chief people awakener and that's why it's an honor for me to have this roofing company. We are the trade that keeps families safe and dry. I love putting my hands like this. These are the same hands that I used to hide in my pockets because I was afraid people would see my busted nails or the urethane inside embedded in them. I was ashamed, and today I go, "Wow, why was I ashamed? We are the providers of shelter." And my team feels that. We sell to the homeowners association market in Southern California. We likely are the most prolific provider of shelter in that space for existing homeowners that vote on their roofing as a whole. From San Fernando Valley, LA, Orange County down to San Diego, that's an area we really love to keep families safe and dry in. But there's something that really makes us powerful as a company, as a culture, as a family, as a brand, as a representative of roofing is the fact that we talk about and we do that same thing that roofers do across the country, we're struck with the condition.

We can't let a family have a leaky roof just because they don't have the money to pay. And you all have felt it. All those roofers listening and you or your foreman, if you haven't done it, I guarantee you, you're a foreman on a job, you go out there and the boss calls, "There's no money here, man. We got to get out of here." And then when you hang up and you think he's gone, Pedro, before he leaves because of the kindness of his heart, he patches that roof so maybe that family won't have that mold in their home anymore. And I think that's what makes my team special is we celebrate that. We celebrate when a man says, "Hey, Charles, we were working on this condo and 301B over there and there's this woman and her husband has cancer. And she's got a leaky deck and we're not doing deck work there. I'm wondering if I show up on Saturday to donate the labor to install a new deck, will Antis donate the material? What do you say to that? You're like, "Yes!"

Alex Tolle: Of course. That's amazing.

Charles Antis: And so that's what happens and that's what's happening now, and so I will brag on my team. We not only provide roofs, all of the last roofs for Habitat for Humanity over the last 14 years, 99 families.

Alex Tolle: Wow.

Charles Antis: But we also provide the Ronald McDonald House roofs, but we also hold blood drives. We've had 154 blood drives since COVID, and now our blood drives are needed more than ever with threats around us, including the LA fire. And right now, my team and this is all my team, the blood drives was not my idea. I didn't know what to do during COVID, but my COO, who's on the board of American Red Cross, because we believe in service, she said, "We can't get blood. We need blood. We have a big hall. Can we clear it out? Can we do blood drives?" And I just paused, pinched and said yes. That's all I did. I have to pinch myself sometimes because I'm scared, but all I do is say yes to my team.

And right now, Cori out there that you saw in the booth, Cori was very, very active orchestrating this, bringing food to LA to help not only the firemen, the policemen and the National Guard and those that are the frontline heroes, but those families that were displaced or had lost their homes. And so we have been up the last three weekends. We're going up again on Sunday. Last Sunday, I wasn't here. I was out of town with my family. My team delivered 4,000 meals up to these families, and they're doing it with the group of Orange County chefs that just have to give back.

There's a group of 16 of them, and Robert Duvall is the one who started this, but he also is friends with Wing Lam. And Wing Lam is the taco guy that the roofing industry knows that the roofing and shingle... The shingles and taco guy, the taco guy, the shingle guy get together. Well, we're together again just like we were during the California Love Drop, again during COVID when we were bringing meals to the people that were providing blood to the frontline heroes. And so I'm proud of my team now and I applaud them because right now, today I got a memo late last night or early the morning, it's all the same to me, that Sunday night's drop is not going to be in the regular drop. It's going to be an evening drop and oh, it's reminding me of COVID when we would do the hospital evening drops. Cori, what is that? Get close to the microphone and explain why we're doing an evening drop on Sunday up to LA.

Cori: We're not just delivering meals to the mission in Skid Row, we're serving meals as well.

Charles Antis: Oh, wow. Okay.

Alex Tolle: Wow.

Charles Antis: Thank you for reminding me that we're also taking care of families that are otherwise affected by what's going on, 'cause I think this is it. Once we realized and we celebrated the fact that we're struck with that condition that we can't let a family have a leaky roof without having the money to pay, then we celebrate opportunities like this. When people look to the community and go, "What we can do now," it doesn't have to be roofing, it can be blood, it can be food. But when you're listening to your people and you're showing up in the community, then everything feels like it matters. We say something in Antis Roofing, we say this thing that every nail matters. And that's true when you think about the good that we do. But let's talk about the roofing that we install. The average roof that Antis installs on a homeowner association has 200,000 parts-

Alex Tolle: Wow.

Charles Antis: ... 200,000 parts. And so many times when we go to look for a roof leak on a 7 or 12-year-old roof, it's that nail that was driven in too far through that. So every nail going in perfect matters, and that's why we donate the roofs for Habitat for Humanity because it pays for itself. Even though those roofs over the last 14 years are worth over $2 million, Antis Roofing holds a retention rate twice the national retention rate. Where the national retention rate is something like 46%, which means over half of the employees of any giving roofing company will leave during that year to work somewhere else, at Antis Roofing, we've tracked a 90% retention rate.

And so that really matters when you think about quality. When that guy up on the roof, when that technician or that male or female up on the roof, I shouldn't say that, I have to be careful, we have both, when we go up on the roof, there's a finesse that goes into every part to that roof, because it is so important to our people who know why we exist, keeping families safe and dry. I'm sorry, I'm just running and running my mouth.

Alex Tolle: No, it's great. This is so great. You guys do so much for your community. Really, it's incredible. And everybody should be taking notes on even if they just do one of those things, it's amazing. So the fact that you guys are doing all of it is just beyond words. I love to hear it.

Charles Antis: I got to tell roofing companies, I used to have told you 10 years ago, I didn't know. I would say, "Hey, I'm figuring this corporate social responsibility out. And if you really want to be respected inside and outside your company, then donate roofs because you're a roofing company." And I would say it makes sense why we donate the roofs for Habitat because we believe that every family deserves a safe dry home, which is part of how roofers feel and so do the people at Habitat. But man, I've learned a lot since then. I'm sorry, I'm going to get back to the questions. I keep spinning, and I want to get back to your questions.

Alex Tolle: You're good. This is all great. I love it. So you talked about it a little bit, but what type of services do you guys provide?

Charles Antis: Okay. Well, that's a great question. So we provide roofing services. So obviously we re-roof condos. And if you would look at all of our sales over the year, over half of our sales are going to be in replacing roofing because roofing components wear out. And not all roofs go 30 years or so they're supposed to, and we often replace them beforehand. But there's where the opportunity is, because I think what we do is we keep families safe and dry. And if we don't need them to spend a million dollars for 100-unit condo re-roof, if we could get them safe and dry another five or 10 years for $100,000, wow, what a bargain it is. And I want every contractor to understand it's also, it's a great value and it's great value for you. What happens is the homeowner, instead of spending whatever that cost would be to get 30 more years, he spends a third of that cost for the next 10.

So the homeowner association saves money. The environment really saves. That's something we don't talk about a lot. But my gosh, if we track the roofing that we're not putting in the landfills by doing what we call these special ops project and the special ops project at Antis is we go in and say, "Hey, we can get 10 more years out of this roof if you do this and it's going to save the environment." And what we have to do is your leaks are not occurring in the field areas of the roof. They're occurring in all the chimneys. You'll notice all your leaks. You've had 100 leaks, 98 of them have come at chimney. So why are we replacing all this good roofing when I can guarantee you can get 10 more years and I can warranty that? But I can replace what's bad and keep the rest. And we call that special ops. We used to call it black ops, but it sounded dark, so we call it special ops.

And I love doing special ops because what happens is not only does the environment save, not only do the homeowners save money, but to your bottom line, if you measured the value of that $150,000 rehab versus that million-dollar re-roof, what the risk is and what the time is, you make so much more money on the maintenance. And so why are we trying to sell that stadium re-roof with our picture on top of it. And why aren't we selling more maintenance where it's a win-win-win? And so I love selling re-roofs. Again, it's more than half of what we sell. I love putting on a roof that I know is going to keep them protected for 40 years. But I love even more going up on a roof and saying, seeing this family in distress, their castle's being invaded. And I go up there and I know where the problem is and I fix it sometimes for free, that is a powerful feeling. And I sleep better at night, so do my employees and so do all the people that I mentioned in that scenario.

Alex Tolle: Yes. That's amazing. And for a homeowner, like you said earlier, getting a new roof can be a daunting thing because of the cost of it. I just got a new roof last year and it was a little scary, 'cause we're like wow, that's a lot of money to put into the house and we don't even get to really see it. But we do get the benefits of obviously the peace of mind of knowing that we have a good roof.

Charles Antis: It's a big project. It's the biggest most invasive project most homeowners ever have. Unless you do a remodel, that's way worse.

Alex Tolle: But being able to extend the life of the roof for the environment, keeping that stuff out of the landfill is amazing. Even if it's just for a few more years and giving the homeowner maybe a few more years to save up for when they do really need to get a new roof, I think that's really important.

Charles Antis: That makes me feel good. That's how I built the brand. I didn't know in the beginning I couldn't compete. I didn't have a kettle. I couldn't sell the big re-roofs, but I became a master of leak repair, almost like quietly considered myself a leak whisperer. I didn't say that, but I did say this, "Give me the leak that no one else can solve and let me fix it for free." That was my swagger way of saying I'm confident. Even if I was scared, 'cause I was scared. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to solve it. I knew my whole reputation was writing on every job, and that was why I put everything into it.
I think when you have that big desire, I think that's a big key component. When I'm looking for employees or I'm meeting a young entrepreneur and I'm wondering if he's going to make it or not, I can tell by that big desire if they have it. They can make tons of mistakes. My nephew, when I hired him, he's my VP of growth here at Antis. We couldn't do anything about him. I hired him, man. He made all kinds of mistakes out loud. Literally, the first summer he worked here driving the boss's trucks on job sites, he accidentally raked off the passenger mirror on a mailbox.

Alex Tolle: Oh, no.

Charles Antis: He re-roofed the wrong house. He lost the ladder on the freeway I think twice. But there was something about the loudness of his mistakes that I saw his big intention. I saw how much it bothered him and I did. I confronted him on every one 'cause I didn't know any better back then, but the big desire. And then you look at him now and you wonder why he's one of the greatest salesmen I've ever seen, and it's that big desire. And I see the same in young people. And I think I had that looking back now, not knowing 'cause I thought I was going to fail. Literally, every night, I wondered if the business would be there when my eyes woke up in daylight. But that big desire, I think, shows up and it also shows up in goodness in your community and in your people. If you want to do good by your people, then tell them that.

This is how I started my HR. I didn't know any better. I just said, "Guys, if I'm ever doing anything that feels unfair, then please let me know." I had to say it even though I didn't think I had enough, "But tell me and I promise I'll make it right." And out of that, developed these amazing policies. If you broke a tool and you were using the job, Antis would pay for it. It made sense, like, well, I should pay for it. Using your tool on the job site, and it broke, so it's common sense. And then all of sudden, the guy's driving to a job site and his truck broke down. Boss says, "My truck broke down, you going to pay for it?" Like, "Well, that's not my truck." But you were using your truck as a tool.

Alex Tolle: Wow.

Charles Antis: "Wow, maybe I should pay for it." So we came up with policies. On certain types of car issues, we would pay the whole thing. On certain types, we'd pay half. But we always had a fair policy constantly saying, "Hey, if it's not fair, tell us." And eventually it turned into this probably about 10 years ago, we say this. And I say it on the inside and outside of their company. It is our job as managers, as leaders at Antis to err on the side of generosity in all of our decisions, in all of our transactions with all of our strakeholders, stakeholders, not strakeholders.

It's our job to err on the side of generosity in any decision. And if you think that way, it's amazing and it takes a while to believe it. Some days I say it, and honestly there's fear some days taking over. But I go back to that it's my job to err on the side of generosity in every transaction and in every breath. And if I can do that, my life is happy, their lives are happy and also we're abundantly... Our bottom line is healthy as any roofing company around.

Alex Tolle: Well, and I think that speaks to you talking about your retention rates of your employees is you show your employees how much you care about them and you're willing to invest your time and your money into your employees. And employees who have worked for a company that cares about them, they're going to want to stick around.

Charles Antis: I know today that my employees do know I care. There was a long time I wondered. But I know I'm looking at them, I know that they know I care and that means so much to me.

Alex Tolle: Good.

Charles Antis: That's the best aid and sleep ever. What your family thinks of you, what your wife and kids, obviously, what your company thinks of you, what's more important than that? Nothing.

Alex Tolle: Exactly. Totally agree. So it leads into the next question, which is something special that your company celebrates? It seems like it might be your team.

Charles Antis: Well, it is. It's about the team, so I'll lead up to it. I think for us to really deserve the culture recognition we get, it's really when it reached our Latin American employees. Because they were living in a different economy of things, most of them immigrants or first generation, things weren't so easy for them. Me being an immigrant from Oregon, them being an immigrant from mostly from there was a much darker, difficult time they had in getting here and so I think listening to their stories. And so I'll start with the story of when I took them one by one to my house and made them breakfast. I did an exercise with them, this is like 15 years ago, called Peaks and Valleys. It's an exercise that plots people's values. "What are your values?" "Oh, I don't know." You just got honesty.

And if you go to the low parts and high parts of your memories and you say what was there at the high parts, what was missing at the low parts, those are what you value most. And so I did this exercise with all of the technicians in the field, most of them with a translator. And I heard this one story, a couple stories over and over again. One of the stories is everyone, seeing a lobo was lucky if they ever saw a lobo. Maybe one out of six guys do, because lobos were no longer in high numbers, less than 100 wild in Mexico. And if you saw one on your ranch, it was good luck. They was like, "Wow, I heard that same story." If they had a bowl or not, it was a big deal. And if they had a bowl, it always tore down a wall or a fence, so same stories. Then there's this story. I first heard it from Pedro Vasquez.

This is when I really learned how to speak with honor and respect to men. He said, "Charles, when I was a young boy, my father would wake me in the morning at 3:00 AM and he would say, 'Hey, Pedro, will you come work with me on the ranch today before you go to school?'" Knowing he only has a few years of education. And then his father would hold his stare while Pedro would look back and nod and say, "Yes, father." And there would be this mutual, almost grabbing by the shoulders and then they would work. And there was something about hearing that story more than once that really taught us how to listen and really bring the culture of the Latin American employees to here. We did it first as an exercise, but then it became who we are. And if you want to know a unique thing that we do at Antis about the employees, it's an annual tradition called Aguinaldo and it's a Mexican word.

And if you were to go to open a business in Mexico City, you would be required by law to create this Aguinaldo fund. And it's a fund that basically is part of the salary that's saved back until November and given to the families to refreshen them right before the new year, to get the things that they need. And it takes a deeper tradition into the holidays from Thanksgiving to Christmas. And so I thought that was so beautiful we decided to do it. Roofing is feast or famine. If we have no rain this year, then we'll be lucky if we break even, I'll be honest. But if it rains, we make profit. And so what we do is we make profit. We take a portion of that profit, we give it back to the employees right before Christmas in the form of Aguinaldo, which has been as much as a month's salary.

Alex Tolle: Wow.

Charles Antis: And in years when we don't have a profit, some years we've taken what little profit we've had, we've put it all into the Aguinaldo and the bonuses and put it back out. So I think when I think of the word Aguinaldo, it's a tradition at Antis that's not ours, but in America we're unique. I've never read or heard or shared with another company that does it here, but we think it adds a deep-bedded respect mutually across all threads within our company because we also get to deeper appreciation for the holidays. And what's important in that time of the year and what is important is to take care of those things we need at home for our families health-wise or comfort-wise, and that's what we treat Aguinaldo for. So I'm very proud of my team for adopting that, for running with it, for developing it even more over the years.

Alex Tolle: I love that. And I think it's important to, when you have people of different backgrounds to really make them feel at home and that their culture and the things that they're used to, you can incorporate that into the business and give back to them.

Charles Antis: I love that, and I agree a 100%.

Alex Tolle: How do you define superior customer service? So what do you do for your customers that really is just, it's standout?

Charles Antis: A more real way to explain it would be we're built to deal with the stresses of an HOA. We know that a property manager's job is really tough. She's got seven condos, she's managing 300 units each. There's a potential of 2100 people calling her at any minute, and sometimes they all do, so I think the most important... The one thing we start with that everyone knows is our job is to make their job easy. So if you're a property manager and you call Antis, you shouldn't have to call for everything. We should communicate within our own selves with our own ERP system. And so I think making the property manager's job easier also extends to the board of trustees for that individual association. There's four or five individuals that we better make their job as a board member easy too, so everything better be laid out.

The warranty better be sound. Customer care and condos means this. This will always happen. At every 100-unit condo, there's going to be at least one or two people that everyone else thinks is crazy. And those people, according to everyone else, are going to cause a lot of trouble to anyone who shows up, including the contractor who creates that super invasive re-roofing project. So that person will raise their hand and demand something almost on every job. And I'm not saying we don't break things, but for everything we break, there's two or three other occurrences we're accused of something, maybe a plant that's irreplaceable that was given to her by her dead aunt and now because it's irreplaceable, they want $2,000, but the plant's not worth $25. So what do you do?

In those situations, it goes back to the principle I said earlier. Our job is to err on the side of generosity with all of our stakeholders. So I've seen myself, and I don't allow myself to loathe it anymore, write a 1,000, a 2,000, a $3,000 check. Even in some cases where you're being taken advantage of much bigger and write that check, it's always better not to take your energy and dump it into fighting for little stuff. It's always better to pay it forward. And if you continue your brand, even if that claim makes that job upside down, you're way better off letting go of that. Take that customer that says everyone that's ever worked there on that complex is a turd. And now you come and you make them happy, write them that check and they go, "I don't really like that guy." Then all of a sudden you've made people pause, you've changed everything. I think I'm always looking, what can we do in this instance to make it better, crazy better than anybody ever experienced?

And I think in an HOA, you have to have that super big heart for customer care. We have a customer service team. We only have 160 employees, but we've probably got seven on the customer care team because we need so much help beyond the sales guy calling everybody. Our sales guy has so much support. He's got so many assistants. He's got other departments that supports all of our salespeople so our salespeople can communicate with the property manager to make their job easier and with the homeowner association representatives so they can all sleep better at night, knowing there's a plan in place to keep all the families safe and dry. So it's a pretty amazing principle that we follow. It's just whatever it takes to make the customer right and make their job easy, and we afford all the resources we can to deliver it, knowing that even if it raises our cost, we'll be better off in the long run.

Alex Tolle: Yeah, I have quite a bit of history in the customer service area and it's definitely... it's not worth wasting your energy arguing with somebody or just getting into it over something silly. Just do what you can to make the customer happy.

Charles Antis: No matter what.

Alex Tolle: No matter what. And it can be hard-

Charles Antis: 'Cause I'm right.

Alex Tolle: Sometimes you're like, "I don't-

Charles Antis: That's just wrong.

Alex Tolle: ... want to cave into it." Exactly.

Charles Antis: But I'm right.

Alex Tolle: But it's so worth it. And there'll be a repeat customer and they're going to appreciate you in the long run for going out of your way to help them out.

Charles Antis: I used to fight those property managers when I knew I was right, and I wondered why it didn't end well. And finally it took a lot of years, of probably 15 years or so, having my business be fine. I finally learned just to listen, let them air it out and then to not correct them. Say, "Yes, okay, then this." Yeah.

Alex Tolle: And I definitely worked with a lot of other associates at the previous job and they'd come to me and that, "This person is so upset. They're so wrong. They're doing everything wrong. They're arguing with me." And I would be like, "Let's just fix it for them and let them move on with their lives. We'll move on with ours. Let's not get in our heads and freak out about this and let it ruin our day. Let's just fix it and move on."

Charles Antis: That's what we do. We have a good team here.

Alex Tolle: Yeah. That's awesome.

Charles Antis: One year, I was trying to train them. This is before Cori got here, before these guys were here, right before Cori. You're lucky. But I was so impressed with Zappos customer care, I called Zappos and got permission that I had every team member call, order five pair of shoes and they get to keep one, but they got the experience Zappos customer care. And it really was a good shocker for our system maybe 15 years ago because it was a whole other level. Well, it's cool now is I feel like we even have a better customer care experience than they do. It feels like what we've built genuinely is better because it fits the needs of our particular clients being homeowners inside HOAs in Southern California.

Alex Tolle: And you'll be memorable for that homeowner, that tenant in the condo. They're going to remember your generosity. They're going to remember your kindness, and they're not going to remember you as being a jerk who argued with them after you stomped on their plant.

Charles Antis: That's all I had. When I started my company, I didn't understand marketing yet, but I was very aware that every touch was the only touch I had, so everything was to brush off... If I even turned in a proposal, I was pasting pictures. Before digital, I was pasting pictures so they could see it 'cause even if I didn't get the job, which I didn't in the beginning at least they had that to remember that this guy seemed to know what he was looking at. That was marketing. I didn't know what marketing was, but marketing was every touch I had with the customer and so customer care was my first form of marketing because it became that repeated touch that would allow me to get more work.

Alex Tolle: Yeah, I love it. So in case it's not obvious, in case everybody's not sold already, why should homeowners and building owners work with Antis Roofing?

Charles Antis: Wow. Well, I think the real truth is purpose. When there's purpose at work, when our people know why they show up and that's to keep families safe and dry and they stay here and then they go up on that roof, not a factory, the roofs are not... Two companies putting on the same roof, it's not anywhere similar because it's human beings putting all those people up. So up on that roof where no one's looking in that dangerous edge, man, knowing why we exist really shows up there. And that's why roofs don't last 30 years is because 30% of the nails weren't driven properly or because they put the wrong product down because they weren't really paying attention to what was going to keep the family safe and dry for the next 30 years.

You can't be thinking five years, I'm thinking 30. And I think that's the reason why I suggest if you have a homeowner association, please ask Antis Roofing to come in. You're going to see a difference in every stage of the operation. And when we put your roof down, your roof is going to last 30 years and beyond. If we get down a 40-year warranted roof, it's going to last 40 years. We even have up to 30-year guaranteed total systems warranty roofs we can install, which we never had before. It was something that the roofing industry finally corrected itself on all those faulty warranties. We can give a condo association a 40-year warranty on their flat roofing system, which used to be impossible. And so we hope you give us a chance to bid. I promise you won't be turned away.

Alex Tolle: I'm sold. If I was in Southern California, you would've been my first call.

Charles Antis: Well, our salesmen do a great job. We have an incredible company. Our marketing team does a great job. When you ask me that question, I'm like, "God, I don't know what to say to them." I don't talk to homeowner associations. Aaron was here, our chief growth officer, he'd say, "We're the best. We'll keep you safe and dry." And he would get to the point and he would close. But I'm just like, I want to start talking about the blood drive we're having next week, so that's... I got to be careful now. Got to answer the right questions, but-

Alex Tolle: No, that's okay. Do you want to talk a little bit about the blood drive?

Bobby: She's looking it up. Tomorrow.

Charles Antis: Oh, okay.

Alex Tolle: Nice.

Charles Antis: That one behind it? Well, this one won't make tomorrow's blood drive. That's how often we have them. We'll have another one a couple of weeks behind it.

Alex Tolle: Okay.

Charles Antis: We can make sure we post it.

Alex Tolle: Yeah. Do you guys, you share that on your social media, right?

Charles Antis: We do. We sometimes announce them before. Sometimes we'll try to tell what happens. We have the lens, our marketing is, is we try to show it how it's really happening with all its authenticity and vulnerability so it makes it easy for somebody in Florida or Texas to emulate and do the same thing. I think there's this amazing flow in the roofing industry with people that are doing good in the community that are exchanging ideas. And what we're doing is amazing. We only talked about some of it today. Gosh, what we're doing in high school is bringing roofing back. What we're doing in D.C. And the next month going there and marching everybody together, what we're doing, bringing roofing into the colleges. Clemson University, you can major in roofing now.

Alex Tolle: That's amazing. I know.

Charles Antis: It's amazing.

Alex Tolle: I love it. So this might be my favorite question. Why are you an R-Club member, and what are some of your favorite things about RoofersCoffeeShop? I know you and Heidi go way back, so you've been here for a while, but what are your favorite things about it?

Charles Antis: I think roofing is such a beautiful trade. It's just so real. It's that basic need of food and shelter. It's the shelter part that there's a realness to it that when I met Heidi, she was real people. Not only was she real in the way roofer's talk, but she was also real in the way human beings are when they're elevated. She feels it's her job to lift the roofing industry. She feels it's her job to share in community, so we held all that in common. And then as you guys started to develop your brand, I remember it was just like her and Vicki and now there's 30 something of you.

That's what you do. You tell community stories of people coming together uplifting trade and community. And I think that's what I love about RoofersCoffeeShop. We've been able to tell a lot of our stories here, which that's what we've learned the magic is, is talking nationally and locally at the same time. And you'll learn that when you do that, when you find those beautiful national connections that bounce with your local connections, it makes your brand stronger and your culture stronger because there's pride in what we do. And it makes your work better because there's pride in what we do.

Alex Tolle: Absolutely.

Charles Antis: I love what you guys do. I love your energy. When I don't even know one of you, it's like I've already hugged you before. It's like we're drinking Heidi's Kool-Aid. I'll say one more thing about Heidi that's really cool is, I like people that say things in a different way to enlighten our minds. And I have lots of perceptions of God as a lot of people do, but Heidi gave me this perception of God right after I met her. And she said, to me, "God is a forest." And I just like, "Wow, that's beautiful." And it sat with me for six months till the next time I saw her. And I said, "Heidi, you remember when you said that to you God is a forest?" And I go, "Why did you say that?" And Heidi said, "Oh," just like she'd never skipped a beat, she says, "Oh, because in a forest, there's every shape, there's every color, there's every size, even every deformity and yet it's all beautiful." That's what I love about you guys.

Alex Tolle: I love that. I never heard her say that before, so that's awesome.

Charles Antis: Awesome. Well, I might have distorted it, but that was a good version anyways.

Alex Tolle: No. It sounds great. It sounds like something she would probably say, so I love it. Okay. Lastly, what would your walk-up song be?

Charles Antis: Wow. Well, I did look on that one 'cause I just have... I'm thinking, I grew up... I was born in 1962, so give me some Strange Magic or Mr. Blue Sky from Electric Light Orchestra. But lately, I've been obsessed with this walk-up song. It's Rush's number one song, Tom Sawyer.

Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you.

Get by on you.

It's like this rebel. It's made to be a rebel song, but really when I go on stage, it's saying this guy's not a slave to society or company or government. He's saying it like he feels it. That's what the artist was saying when he wrote that, I think and I think that's what I feel when I go on stage. I love that as my walk-up song. It has to be a good stereo to really make it pop, though.

Alex Tolle: All right. Well, Charles, this has been an amazing podcast. We are so excited to celebrate you guys as the February 2025 Roofer of the Month. This is great. We love working with you. We love this relationship. This is amazing. So thank you so much for being here today.

Charles Antis: Thank you, Alex. Thank you, guys. Oh, hey, Heidi. How you doing?

Outro: All right. We'll see you guys on the next one.
 

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how roofing contractors can and do spread holiday cheer year-round in their communities through cause marketing.  

In this new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with her longtime friend and industry leader Charles Antis. Charles is the founder of Antis Roofing and Waterproofing which is over 35-years old now! In that time, they have developed a company culture that focuses on what he called “fearless giving.” He and his team believe that balancing operating as a business and doing good in their community is key to success and have the track record to back it up. This all started 15 years ago when they were first asked to donate a Habitat for Humanity roof. 

Looking ahead at their hundredth donation in 2025, Charles still remembers that first story. He shared, “When I showed up to work, I had a lump in my throat. The home looked really disheveled, and when I knocked on the door, a woman answered the door with this frown, and I smelled a wave of mildew. And I felt a tug of my hand and looked down. This little girl looked like her mom, but she was like six years old.” He recalled that she led him through their crowded living room and crooked hallway to show off her new My Little Pony poster. Her mother also followed them into the room and Charles remembers the look on her face clearly, saying, “She looked at me and I saw that same frown. And now it meant something to me. Her frown said she thought I was going to say, ‘I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm not going to be able to do anything.’ And to me that was like, oh my God.” And that was when Charles knew he had to help.  

When he got to the roof, he realized this wasn’t a simple patch, it needed to be an entire replacement. He shared, “That was the moment things got real. I had to let go of a lot. I got materials, had to get volunteers and even her oldest brother helped. I think he was 16.” And they got that family a new roof. Looking back, Charles laughs a little, because it wasn’t the best roof they’ve ever put on from a looks perspective, but it was everything for that family. 

The professional, marketing term for this kind of project is “cause marketing.” This might sound a little cold, but it is just references what is already happening across the industry. It might not be making news headlines or going viral on social media, but roofing contractors and professionals often are the next ones out after first responders when storms or disasters hit their communities. And even more than that, they are there day-in and day-out for their communities. Charles explained, “I guarantee you in every roofing company there's a roofing professional that has done a free patch job for a family in need and has done it more on his own time, even maybe not even told his boss.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the episode to learn more about Charles, Antis Roofing and how roofers can give back through cause marketing. 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Charles Antis of Antis Roofing. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips. The podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts to on-the-road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seatbelts, and join us as we embark on this exciting Roofing Road Trip.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips. This is Heidi Ellsworth and just out of the blue, I had an opportunity to do a roofing road trips with one of my dearest friends in roofing and that's Charles Antis. So we're grabbing the moment and we are going to have a little catch-up about what's happening in Antis Roofing, and also a little bit about cause marketing, one of my favorite topics. And of course if you're going to talk cause marketing, you're going to talk about giving back. You got to talk to the guru of all times in roofing, and that's Charles Antis. So Charles, welcome to Roofing Road Trips.

Charles Antis: Wow, what a beautiful intro. Can you write that down and I use that next time I speak, Bobbi?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Sure.

Charles Antis: Hi, thank you. I'm so happy to be here with you. I have such a memory with you that goes back. You were the one that connected me, one of the many shepherds that showed up on that one time I was finally ready to receive all of the goodness that's occurring in the roofing industry. It was eight years ago, I was fed up, I'd gone to a convention, it didn't go well. And I go, "I'm going to go to that convention a day early and I'm going to go to that Rebuilding Orlando event." And that's where I met you, and it was a powerful meeting.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It was.

Charles Antis: We somehow connected on a high level. We both knew that we loved this industry, this trade that protects. And so I am just grateful to be here anytime with you and you always, you're one of these people that lifts people. We may not understand how that occurs. And I want to be like you. So I hang around people that I want the traits of and I want to be like you. One day you told me, you were like the forest.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: The forest.

Charles Antis: And you see beautiful. You see it beautiful because no matter what shape, what size, what color and even every deformity, you see it as beautiful. And that type of thinking, that type of letting go of all of the judgment not knowing is... I give you, you're one of my gurus and one of my mentors so thank you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I feel the same. Right back at you all that. I remember that day so well when we met. First of all, we're both from Oregon, so we were like, okay, Oregonians Unite. So let's start with an introduction. Just for those few people who might not know you, can you introduce yourself and tell us about your company?

Charles Antis: I am Charles Antis and I am the founder here at 35-year-old Antis Roofing, but I call myself the chief people. I think though the thing that's most important is the vision that we share in this company along with people like you. It's this model of fearless giving. We believe that the keys to a prosperous and beloved business are through generosity and heart. And that's how I met you and that's what we do here at Antis Roofing. And the reason we're a strong known brand, not only just here in Orange County where we're centered in LA and our counties where we serve all the way to San Diego, but we're known because we're connected to all of those organizations where people have this motto, this feeling that "I got to give as much as I can of my time, of my talents and my treasures back to what has given us so much." Whether it's our parents, our community, and how could we not forget industry.

And that's how we know each other. That's how Antis Roofing is ran today, by purposeful leaders who give back to the community and the trade. My COO, Susan Degrassi, where I used to be on the National Roofing Board not long after we met because I got involved in things, she's now on the national Roofing board and she leads with love. And it sounds insane that a roofing company can have a Disneyland vibe inside and outside. But it's because I think we both belong in this trade as old as time keeping families safe and dry. And when you really follow the principles of that, when you really let go of knowing, like you have to find that leak, following that drop of water, pulling, pulling to find the weakness and then you fix that weakness, it develops the best in humanness. Because not only can you think water, flow without bias to find the weakness, you can actually behave like water in the community.

And I think there's something metaphoric that I try to put words to that I see people doing in this industry. Most of them don't talk about it like we do, but there's a lens through which we talk about our giving. And that is we're trying to do this. We're trying to solve hunger, we're trying to create more blood by you donating it, we're trying to house more homeless people. And then what happens is we end up blowing together, collaborating in this beautiful way. So we start behaving like water and I'm getting too deep. I need you to bail me out. Throw me a life preserver right now. But there's some powerful-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love this stuff. So we're in trouble. Everybody out there is going to be like, what? No, I totally get it. And I love that analogy because I have also heard that it is like you think about the water going down the river and it goes around the rocks. It doesn't try to submerge the rocks. Now it might wear them down a little bit in time, but that flow. I love that. And one of the things you said, Charles, that I always think about is the roofing industry. This is not a new concept. Giving back is not a new concept.

Roofing contractors overall construction have always given back to the industry. They just don't talk about it. But they're always, they're the first ones there after storms to help keep everybody safe and sound. They're the first ones there to help in the community to when people need help for veterans or people homeless and doing all of the things, the give backs that people need. And you really brought to the industry... I hope I say this, okay. What you brought to the industry wasn't about you should be giving back, they already were. But what you brought was you should talk about it, you should talk about it so we can all uplift and we can all celebrate the generosity and the commitment of this industry. Talk a little bit about that.

Charles Antis: Yes. Well, we all have a bias that if we don't let the left hand know what the right hand's doing, if we talk about our good giving to anybody internally, it might make the employees mad that you're giving. I had to learn that it was hard because I never talked about it. Though, when we donated that first Habitat roof... And I would say Antis Roofing was struck with a condition and that I was struck with a condition because I couldn't let a family have a leaky roof just because they didn't have the money to pay. Which meant sometimes that we'd go into a place with the intent to sell, look around and go, "Oh my God, they've got no money." But then you wonder, what if I could just patch their roof? That's the thing that people do all the time, and a lot of times there's a curse word ahead of it. I'll just patch it.

I guarantee you in every roofing company there's a foreman or a roof arrow, a roofing professional out there that has done that and has done it more on his own time, even maybe not even told his boss. And I was the same way. But what happened though is we got asked to donate a Habitat roof like 15 years ago, and Habitat for Humanity. And it was easy for me to say yes to that first roof because I was struck with that condition. I did tell my people about it, but not why. I told them I'm donating a roof, which did upset some. It took more time away, probably some of their bonuses as they might've stopped. But something happened in that in me that when they asked me to donate every roof since because we'll donate the hundredth next year, I couldn't say no, but it was wonky then.

You've heard me say on stage that in the beginning I was happy because I knew why I was doing it, but I wasn't telling everybody. And I remind myself of Will Ferrell in old school when he's streaking by himself and he thinks a whole crowd with him and his wife drives up in the car. I says, "Honey, get in the car? What are you doing?" He goes, "I'm streaking. Everybody's doing it." And then he didn't know it. That's what happened.

But then I finally told this story to my, and it took me a while to find it. I was actually at a Habitat Retreat and I was worried I couldn't meet payroll. I was worried I wouldn't be able to donate roofs again. And their director of marketing said, Gladys said, "Charles, stop telling our story." Which is we believe everyone deserves a save dry home. Which was part of our story. She said, "Tell your story. What happened?" And so that's the story.

Heidi, I know you've also heard, when I showed up to show work, like I said, I had a lump in my throat. The home looked really disheveled, and when I knocked on the door, a woman answered the door with this frown, oh my God. And then I smelled a wave, a mildew. Oh my God, I got to leave. I hadn't even said anything yet. I was thinking what I was going to say when I was going to leave. And I felt the tug out my hand and looked down and this little girl looked like her mom, but she has like six years old and she has this big smile and she's got a visitor in her home. And I saw that there was something going on I didn't quite know. I just had to follow her. She pulled me through this crowded living room into this literally crooked hallway and into her room. And I knew it was her room because she proudly pointed to her new my Little Pony poster on the wall.

And just stood there smiling. But that's when I only had eyes for her feet because that's where the moldy mattress was. And I realized why the house smelled. I realized this little girl was in a really bad place. And you know what I did? I did nothing. I was so scared. I didn't yet know that who else could be in that situation that could help. I didn't yet know it. I wanted to leave. I had a mortgage payment to make. But the mom walked back in that room, must've been only a minute later, but it felt longer. And she looked at me and I saw that same frown. And now it meant something to me. Her frown said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm not going to be able to do anything." And that's what her frown said. And to me that was like, oh my God.

And so something came out of me that I never remember saying before. That moment I said, Ma'am, I'm going to take care of your roof." Not knowing, letting go of knowing somehow maybe that intention, that same intention, I had to solve a leak no matter what. To help this family was just as big. I walked up on that roof praying, "Oh please God, only be a hole in the roof." Instead, it was shambles. They needed a whole new roof.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh wow.

Charles Antis: And so that was the moment that shifted because I had to let go of a lot. I got some materials, I had to get volunteers and even her older brother, her oldest brother helped out. I think he was 16. And that weekend we gave that family a new roof. It wasn't the best roof. Looking back, if I had photos of it, you would giggle. We would also, maybe those giggles might turn to tears because you would know that changed everything for that family. But didn't only change that family, it changed everything here at Antis Roofing, we just didn't it yet.

Because we finally told that story not till 13 years ago, and it made a difference. All of a sudden people started getting it. But I also listened to their stories. And once we started listening to stories, we started getting involved in so many charities like Ronald McDonald House when my kids were born premature, which is why we donated that first roof because we could keep the families just like they did us safe, dry and close when they needed it the most. And that, as you know, I'm very proud of and I'm not saying this to brag, but because of the people I met that day with you and you and yourself pumped it a lot. I remember on those committees, so many other people like Bill Good, we rallied the industry and now 200 companies have adopted every roof on every Ronald McDonald House in the US. And it's the most powerful thing, even though every time one of those gift opportunities come, it's hard for us.

The hospital roof for Ronald McDonald House for San Diego just came up and I actually told Cory, who's on National Women and Roofing, which is-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Charles Antis: And who's also on the Ronald McDonald House board behind me, I told her, "We can't do that roof. It's not part of the commitment. It's attached to a hospital." We just did that roof. And it's because of all of the suppliers, Ivy Roofing, just like they do. Every time we ask them on anything, just like GAF does speak and all these brands, Eagle Tile has donated almost every... Well, they've donated every tile on every Habitat roof that we've installed, which has all been a couple of them. I mean, that's a $2 million give over the last 15 years. And it happens because the industry shows up together because of that thing. We all have that thing in us. It's an opportunity to talk about it because now our culture's great because we talk about it. We listen to each other's stories. Why do we hold blood drives? Last Monday, I loudly proclaimed the 148 blood drive at Antis Roofing where we raised 12,000 life-saving treatments of plasma.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Holy cow.

Charles Antis: Superpowers, soon you can't make. We're changing the way that the word philanthropy, which I never liked and I never call myself a philanthropist, I get why people do. But the root meaning of philanthropy is beautiful. And I'm going to say it, slow down and say it. Philanthropy means the love of mankind, the love of humankind and it's a beautiful thing. But really for us today, we've changed the way we do it and we've been breaking the rules. We were warned by the people a long time, "You're doing it wrong."

But now we're understanding real philanthropy is that the real love of mankind is not only saying yes to housing, it's saying yes to donating food. It's saying yes to getting blood. It's saying yes to do equine therapy for soldiers with PSD and children with autism. It's saying yes to doing so many things I could go on because Antis Roofing listens to all of our employees and we get involved in all these causes. And now it's not just me on all these nonprofit boards getting to have the luckiest CEO seat in Orange County. I have VPs that are on boards, and it's a beautiful thing that I've learned from this trade learning to behave like water. And it's a powerful thing.

And I'm going to say one more thing about that because it's to the roofing pros that are listening. You won't think this is silly, but it's a story I didn't learn to tell until two years ago internally. And it's what happened when I would solve a leak. Back when I started my business, I was so desperate for work. I actually said, "Give me the leak that nobody can solve and I'll fix it for free." And there was nothing benevolent yet. I wasn't donating anything. It was my swagger. I would do anything to solve a leak. I had a huge intention.

But what I would do, because I was smaller by myself, maybe one employee. I would go up on an area of that roof where everyone's saying, you need a new roof near that leak by that chimney on that roof, on that tile roof. And when no one was looking, I would lay down, literally lay down until my head hit the tiles. And then I would do this. I would imagine. I am water. But I would literally see a drop of water falling from the sky in my mind's eye next to that chimney. And I would watch that drop of water that somehow was me in that moment, and it would cling to that chimney and it would flow down and it would drip over that flashing and I would feel it pulling and pulling to find the weakness. And I know that's silly, but I did that literal thing.

But something I can tell you, I always found that leak, whether it was two feet away or 30 feet away, I will pop up that tile to expose that deformity, whether at a rusty nail breaking the flashing. But there was something powerful about that big desire to do something that's so important as keeping a family safe and dry. And this is what I learned that I partially mentioned earlier. And I didn't say this until a couple of years ago, and I don't always say it because it's... Who is this guy? I think he's supposedly a river. And I learned this, and this is true with water to find the weakness. And it's entirely true in the highest form of human behavior.

For where there is failure, water will find it always. It does not pause to preside. It just flows without bias. Again, that's how I found the leak. That's how you find the leak. When I shared a roofing convention, which I recently did about that principle, you can hear a pin drop. And I wouldn't have expected that. I didn't want to tell that story. Somebody made me tell it after I told her, Corey, you and him.

But it's powerful because we all have that big intention. It's not just in finding the leak on the roof. It's in finding the leak in the community. And it's not just the roofing trade. We just get exposed to it up on those roofs and with the importance of these jobs that we have. But it's the highest of human behavior. And can I tell a story that proves it true?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes, please.

Charles Antis: Hey, so I've told you stories that prove about the roofing industry. Literally our habitat builds. It's like literally everyone shows up. I get a yes from all the manufacturers, distributors, people are in line to give, but it's also the highest in human behavior because this just happened three years ago. I'm on an airplane. And so an airplane is isolated. It's like when you're at a ship at sea, the captain is God. When you're up on an airplane, that pilot is in charge and it's an isolated like Lord of the Flies environment. You don't know what's going to [inaudible 00:18:32]. And so I'm on this airplane and all of a sudden there's my wife and family are with me, and we're actually on the way to a roofing alliance meeting in Florida. You were there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Mm-hmm.

Charles Antis: And suddenly we'd only been gone an hour. We hear this noise, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're having a medical emergency. Is there a doctor on board?" When that moment happens, I've been in it more than once. It's a pin drop moment. Nobody stands up right away. It's so weird. Nobody stands up right away. But if you think about it, no different than me in that home with that little girl showed me her moldy mattress. There's only one type of person who can stand up in that situation. It's not me. What I did notice right away when I didn't know what was going to happen was I was pissed. I didn't care. I was hungry. Like, "Oh my God, are you kidding me? Is this going to happen right now? Please, please, please, please, please. I'm starving. I got to get to the alliance because I have meetings in the morning. I might have to speak. I don't know. I'm scared. I need my food and I'm hungry right now."

And I look ahead of me and I see the passengers moving around. There's a man two rows ahead. It's a big gold watch. He's looking at it. He knows he's going to miss his connection and he's upset. I can just see by his body gesture. There's a panic in the plane. And everyone was upset. And then finally this tall British man who was right behind me that I heard talking the whole time. He was loud and maybe I thought a little, I don't know. I was like, wish he'd be quiet. Suddenly that guy stands up. And I swear to God, he had a stethoscope around his neck. And then a woman stood up next to a few rows down and she had a little bag. And all of a sudden something happened on that plane that is monumental, a monumental shift that I experienced.

It was Lord of the Flies a little bit in the beginning. There was no pig head on a stick or whatever, but it was a Lord of the Flies. But when those people stood up in that moment, because they were the only ones who could. They commandeered the plane, the pilot, the flight attendants, every passenger, even a man with the gold watch started rallying. We asked you to pass our ice. It had any ice, we put it. We collected in a bucket. We passed our napkins because there wasn't any more blankets and everybody involved, including that time, seven-year-old twins got involved. We were scared initially. And by the time the pilot turned said, we're going to turn it around. "Oh, we have to make an emergency stop." It was expected. And by the time we landed in Albuquerque, something happened. The whole plane stood up and cheered. When those medical [inaudible 00:21:17] came on. I, we cheered. And I looked at the man with the gold watch.

I think he had tears in his eyes as did I. And then all the way, even though I was going to be five hours late to the roofing alliance means get to bed at 2:00 A.M. all the way there. We were talking about it. We were feeling so lucky to have witnessed the highest form of human behavior. And that's that we're not just for ourselves. We're not just for a family. We're for everybody within our reach of us at any given time. And that was the highest form because it was a beautiful experience. And the cool thing was I found out on the way to Orlando was the tall British man that was loud before. He wasn't a doctor. He was the dive medic in Long Beach at the Aquarium, at the Pacific. He was an animal checker-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: But he knew enough.

Charles Antis: But he [inaudible 00:22:04] qualified in his stethoscope, worked for animals and it worked for humans. And the woman that stood up was a chop nurse to the same hospital that helped Charlie and Gracie when they were little. And we just had this joyous moment that I'll always remember. And that is the highest form of humanity. It's not to pour it up for ourselves. And it's not to overwork your employees and low bid and low ball. It's to let go of knowing, to flow together without bias to find the weakness. It's giving way more than you ever think possible that you could have given and then sleeping better. Not just you, but everybody's sleeping better in your whole chain of connections. And I think that there's something powerful that I'm just so grateful for that I've learned in roofing, because I now have the choice every day. If I meditate and notice nature in trees and listen to people, no matter whether if I agree initially with them or not, I find that I can behave like that. And that's why Antis Roofing is generous. Is because we encourage that type of behavior.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So beautiful, beautiful, beautiful stories. I am as always so inspired. So I want to wrap up this where we started with the stories. But I would love for you to share that journey for Antis Roofing of... Because you said it. As you were talking about it the first time you were scared, you had to make payroll, you had your people, the team wasn't totally behind it. And what was happening. Where are you today? Just talk about where you're at today and what this philosophy, this culture of giving through Antis Roofing, where has it really brought you and what you're doing today? Let's end it there so people can be inspired to see that success story.

Charles Antis: Well, thank you for asking. Yeah, I used to work, be here at 5:00 A.M. and leave at eight o'clock at night and measure everybody by how much they kept up with me. I was a workaholic at times and there could have been sometimes necessary, but a lot of times I didn't yet get, I needed to let go, let other people grow. And I needed to spend time with other things. And so I mentioned, yeah, the company was wonky at times, but I think over time, the more I gave away is the key. The more I gave away, whether it was roofing or authority, I would give responsibilities to people like I'm no longer going to call to make sure the roofs are all dry. Sure there were accidents in the beginning, there were mistakes. And I remember one particular painful place that we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over years to repair because it wasn't adequately protected at night.

But by letting go of that, filling all of these things and now taking the time instead and putting it to building community, that's been the secret. The more I let go of the bigger my gift, whether it's my gift of responsibilities or it's my gift of time and resources out there or internally, which we're very generous in our bonuses and our ag and all those, but we've learned that the more we give away, the better we are. And so it doesn't make sense. It's very counterintuitive, but this is how it's occurred over the last 15 years. I used to spend maybe 5% of my time 15 years ago on the donations on a board, working on donating my time to Habitat for Humanity. But I also started becoming the traits of those leaders I sat next to. I started to see myself higher without knowing it.

Those around me and within me in our company, they probably trusted me more because they knew I was associated with something good, subconsciously even. But the more I gave away... So fast-forward to today when I'm on six or eight boards, I can't honestly tell you up the top of my head, national and local. I sit on a lot of different things like judging awards. And I say yes to every opportunity I can. I hardly spend any time in the business. And that means I weigh in on big decisions, I know where the money flow is, but I let everybody else manage.

And we follow that EOS format that a lot of people like Brackley Ruthling follow. I allow myself to be a visionary wanting to do and see and tell the story better. And then I totally trust all of my people in their leadership positions up under the COO, Susan Degrassi. And in this EOS model, I no longer over people. I often say I was disappointed in my nephew, Aaron Antis, the VP here today. But when he was interning at college, flying here to work weeks at a time, one week before Christmas, he worked 98 and a half hours.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Charles Antis: Think about I do the math. It's sick. He's not getting any sleep hardly. But I remember I didn't even compliment him for a couple of days because I was a tiny bit disappointed he didn't hit the 100, because I was teasing him. I just showed you how much shift I've had. And today I donate almost all my time and I encourage my people to donate their time. And there's something magical that occurs. The more all of us give of our time, telling our true story in the best way we can in that moment to actually be a little bit of help to other people. It's been monumental in the shift of our happiness in the company.

Ask Corey, ask Susan, ask Erin, ask Bobby if they're happy. I'm just mentioning some people you might know. They're so happy. And I don't take credit. It's because somewhere we started in this, letting go of being me and my ego and all the things and letting it be us because they're the ones that are here with me. I just spilled my water. Oh, look at it flow to find the weakness. [inaudible 00:27:48] But I think there's something huge today. And you know what? I got to tell you the story that happened. There's another airplane story that it only takes a minute to tell.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Okay.

Charles Antis: Again, it proves this is the highest of human behavior. I'm on the airplane a year ago, coming back from a vacation. I have a talk about purpose the next day about why I give back to the community. But we're getting on an airplane flying coach, and I'm with my family again and I'm nervous about this talk. So they sit on one side, three rows and I'm on the second set of three rows. Which means I'm going to have somebody sit next to me. And all I'm thinking about is, oh, I have a lot, have a talk to prepare. Please, please, please, please may nobody that talks to me sit next to me. Please, please, please. May they be nice. Please, please, please. All these things.

And all of a sudden as I'm doing that little weird prayer, this man walks in and he's short and he's got one eye kind of going the other way. And I'm just looking at him like this. And he actually made eye contact with me right as he was looking and reading from a tiny little book. And I knew right away, oh my God, if that guy sits next to me, he's going to start talking about whatever's in that tiny little book. And sure enough, he sat it next to me. And within a minute it's like, "Hey bud, I'm Paul." And I'm hearing about what's in that book.

And it wasn't what I wanted to do and I really wanted to get away. I wanted to get away, but I was stuck. And I don't want to be mean that it's kind of a mean story, but I bet this guy had nothing in common with me and it wasn't fair. He's talking to me about all these things. I'm hardly talking to him at all, but I'm being nice. I'm acting nice. It's killing me. And finally I feigned sleep until I went to sleep. And we landed and I was like, "Oh, at least I'm free. I'll be able to go home and figure out what I'm going to say." And I looked it up to my right, and I looked at my wife across the aisle, gave her those big eyes. "I have a story to tell you." And suddenly I hear Paul and he goes, "Hey, Charles, that reminds me. I had a vision."

I have a vision. This guy is going to tell me a vision. It was all I could do to turn around and show him the respect as he deserves as a human being. As I did, I turned around and looked at this man that I had nothing in common with and he said, I go, "What is your dream friend? What is your vision?" And he said, "Charles, I dream of a world where every company takes care of its employees and gives back to the community." I swear to God, this guy, he doesn't know me. I didn't hardly talk to him. I had nothing in common with him. But for somehow in that moment, we channeled something and him and I agreed and the universe gave me a smack on the back and said, "You dude, you're right. This is the highest human behaviors. Keep fighting for it. Keep giving even when everyone else says no."

And that guy nailed it. And it shows you that we all have this human trait in common. And I love those two airplane stories.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I do too.

Charles Antis: Because [inaudible 00:30:36] roofing thing, how we've learned to stop hiding our hands in our pockets, but instead use these hands proudly showing our skill at taking care of community, keeping families safe and dry. But it's a human this thing. And now more than ever, people need to understand that. And that's what I love to talk about fearless giving.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it.

Charles Antis: And that is what we define happy and scrappy philanthropy we call it. So thank you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Happy and scrappy. I love it. Fearless giving. What this I feel is a gift for the holiday seasons for you and I to be able to chat about this, share out some of these thoughts. These are the things that have inspired me and what we do regularly at Roofers Coffee Shop, giving back to the industry. Because we believe in it and we believe in growing it, and we believe in all of our associations and our nonprofits and helping them. And so for everyone out there, here is some amazing thoughts, some direction, some mentorship for 2025. Charles, thank you so much.

Charles Antis: Love you, Heidi.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Love you. This has been so spectacular. Everyone, thank you so much for being-

Charles Antis: Put you up on LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn, Charles Antis on LinkedIn. I love it. That's where we collaborate.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. LinkedIn. Charles, we're always back and forth on that. And I have to tell you, Charles is also an influencer. You're going to be hearing about our influencers going into next year. Antis Roofing has their full directory as part of the R Club on Roofers Coffee Shop. So you can find out, and you can see this amazing culture that they have and what they do every single day. We have so many articles, so much information out there on our directory for Antis. So check it out. Join it. Charles, happy holidays. Thank you so much for being with me today.

Charles Antis: I'm floating again just like I was when we first got on.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know.

Charles Antis: Bobbi, help me. Bye.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. And thank you all. Thank you for being a part of this, listening to this Roofing Road trips and for being a part of the coffee shops all year long. We are so excited. It's going to be a great 2025, so stay with us. Be sure to check out all of our podcasts under the read, listen and watch. Under the navigation on Roofers Coffee Shop, look for Roofing Road Trips or on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe and set those notifications so you don't miss a single episode. We'll be seeing you again on the next Roofing Road Trips.

Charles Antis: Yeah, go on those words.

Outro: If you've enjoyed the ride, don't forget to hit that subscribe button and join us on every roofing adventure. Make sure to visit RoofersCoffeeshop.com to learn more. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll catch you on the next Roofing Road Trip.
 

GAF Roofing Academy is a free, national training program that combines in-classroom and hands-on training.

GAF, North America’s largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer, hosted its largest job training and hiring event in the Greater Los Angeles Area last week. GAF Roofing Academy, the company’s national, tuition-free job training program, was hosted in Santa Ana, Gardena, Orange and Irvine in collaboration with local contractors and roofing businesses, Beacon Building Products, ABC Supply, Celoseal Roofing Inc. and Antis Roofing.

More than 60 SoCal residents attended the multiple trainings throughout the week and approximately half are being placed or will be placed in jobs as a result of participating in the program. Across the trainings, attendees learned residential/steep-slope roofing training, commercial/low-slope roofing training or roofing sales training. Attendees were also able to participate in a job fair at the end of the week and had the chance to meet with local contractors and businesses for immediate, full-time employment opportunities.

GAF Roofing Academy is a free, national training program that combines in-classroom and hands-on training. The course is open to anyone – no previous construction experience is required. Since 2020, more than 3,400 individuals have been trained through GAF Roofing Academy and 2,000 have been placed into jobs.

For more information, visit www.gaf.com/roofingacademy.

About GAF Roofing Academy

Conducted by GAF, the largest roofing manufacturer in North America, the GAF Roofing Academy is designed to help individuals build the necessary skills for an entry-level position in roofing. GAF Roofing Academy is a free, national training program that combines in-classroom and hands-on training to teach students the fundamentals of residential and commercial roofing installation, solar, in-home sales and restoration. The course is open to anyone - no previous construction experience is required - and puts an emphasis on untapped talent pools, including veterans, justice-involved individuals, at-risk youth and women.

Once the week-long training is completed, graduates have access to job opportunities with GAF’s national network of thousands of independent, certified contractors seeking talent. Since the GAF Roofing Academy program started in 2020, it has trained more than 3,400 participants and placed more than 2,000 of them in jobs.

About GAF

GAF, a Standard Industries company, is the leading roofing and waterproofing manufacturer in North America. For more than 135 years, GAF has been trusted to protect what matters most for families, communities and business owners with its innovative solutions and focus on customer service. GAF's leadership extends to its commitment to making a positive impact on its communities, industry and planet. Learn more at www.GAF.com.

Calling for nominations: Tell Antis Roofing & Waterproofing which Southern California 501c3 nonprofit needs a new roof!

The great people running thousands of nonprofits throughout Southern California shouldn’t have to worry about roof leaks. That’s why Antis is donating a roof to one of them in honor of its 35th anniversary.

Starting on August 1, 2024, nominations will be accepted on Antis’ website. Anyone can submit a nomination until October 1, 2024 for a Southern California-based 501c3 nonprofit in need of a new roof. Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges from the roofing industry, as well as the Antis Executive team. A winner will be chosen and announced on November 4, 2024.

Criteria include the following: Candidate must be a nonprofit with 501c3 status, and must be located in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside or San Bernardino counties. More criteria are available on the contest website.

“We’ve spent 35 years keeping families safe and dry, just like all of these nonprofits that are providing food and shelter,” says Founder and CEO Charles Antis. “We salute them, and like them we want to do whatever is needed to build bridges in the community.”

Since its beginning, Antis has operated as a leader in corporate philanthropy, contributing more than $1 million in roof repairs and installations for communities in need. The award-winning company works closely with Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast and many other organizations.

For more information and to nominate a nonprofit, visit their website!

About Antis Roofing & Waterproofing

Founded in 1989, Antis Roofing and Waterproofing is a fully licensed, bonded and insured provider of roofing and waterproofing for homeowner’s associations and multi-family residential communities that operates in operates in Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Utilizing innovative technology, comprehensive photo-documentation systems and the industry’s most experienced technicians, Antis has built its reputable brand on superior workmanship, honesty and transparency. Antis is not only one of the most trusted names in the roofing industry, but also a respected leader in community philanthropy. For more information, visit www.antisroofing.com.

LEGALCon Virtual 2024 invites industry professionals to a comprehensive legal and technical conference.

The National Roofing Contractors Association’s Legal Resource Center is inviting roofing industry professionals to register for its virtual conference, LEGALCon Virtual 2024, which will be held March 26-27.

During the virtual conference, NRCA will provide four sessions about topics related to contract provisions, technical issues, employee retention and safety from legal and technical experts Cheryl Ambrose, NRCA’s vice president of enterprise risk management; Trent Cotney, partner and construction team co-leader at Adams and Reese LLP, Tampa, Fla.; Mark Graham, NRCA’s vice president of technical services; and Philip Siegel, partner and shareholder at Hendrick Phillips Salzman & Siegel, Atlanta. Siegel will be joined by panelists Charles Antis, founder and CEO of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing, Irvine, Calif. and J. Reed Gooding, CEO of GSM Roofing, Ephrata, Pa.

NRCA member and nonmember CEOs, owners, chief operating officers, human resources professionals, safety directors, training directors, on-staff legal counsel, office managers and project managers are encouraged to attend. The cost is $99 for members and $149 for nonmembers. Registration is available at nrca.net/legal/legalcon.

For more information about NRCA’s legal offerings, contact NRCA’s customer service department at (866) ASK-NRCA (275-6722) or info@nrca.net.

Most Valuable Player, Best of the Best and Student Competition award winners are all recognized.

The Roofing Alliance proudly announces this year’s winners of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, Best of the Best Award and 10th Anniversary Construction Management Student Competition winners who were recognized at NRCA’s Awards Ceremony held during the International Roofing Expo in Las Vegas on Feb. 7.

Most Valuable Player Awards

In the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards’ 24th year, six finalists were recognized for their outstanding performance and leadership or outstanding community involvement. This year’s winners are:

• Daniel Gochenauer – Outstanding Community Involvement, Foreman, GSM Roofing, Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Dan is described as the type of person who is always willing to lend a hand. He is very involved in his local community, volunteering with a wildlife rescue where he reconstructed a fox enclosure after securing donated materials and he has an active role in the Ephrata Fair parade, ensuring that the company truck is represented by driving it himself. 
• Obed Hernandez – Outstanding Performance and Leadership, Foreman, Wagner Roofing Company, Hyattsville, Maryland. Obed is described as one of Wagner Roofing Company’s most trusted slate mechanics and crew foreman. His constant eye for safety and project execution along with his outstanding craftsmanship have earned him respect and trust from not only his team, but from customers as well. In 2023, a customer nominated Obed for his work, and he was recognized with the Building Congress & Exchange Craftsmanship Award. 

Best of the Best Award

The MVP Program goes a step further with one of the MVP winners being named the Best of the Best winner. The Best of the Best award is an honor co-sponsored by OMG Roofing Products and Professional Roofing magazine.  

This year’s winner is Luis Villalta, Field Worker, Antis Roofing & Waterproofing, Irvine, California. Luis has been with Antis Roofing for 27 years, and he is well known in the organization for the expertise that he brings to solving complicated roof leak issues and problems. Younger roofers look up to Luis and appreciate his guidance, teaching and patience. 

Outside of work, Luis works on as many Antis Roofing nonprofit roofing projects as he can including a massive roof repair for the local Boy & Girls Club. He and his family participate in the annual charity walk for the Orange County Ronald McDonald House. In his hometown of Pomona, California, Luis looks out for his neighbors, many who are elderly or on limited income who cannot afford to repair their failing roofs. He knocks on their doors to let them know he is willing to help them at no charge. 

The Bennett Award

Now in its third year, the Bennett Award, created in honor of Bennett Judson, a long-time executive director of the Roofing Alliance, recognizes individuals who volunteer and offer notable positive accomplishments on behalf of the Roofing Alliance and the roofing industry overall. 

This year’s winner is Dennis Conway, Principal and Vice President of Commercial Roofers, Inc., Las Vegas. Dennis has left an indelible mark on the Roofing Alliance and has been a champion for the future of the industry, playing an instrumental role in establishing the Construction Management Student Competition which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. His leadership in growing the construction management program for the Roofing Alliance has set the groundwork for future roofing professionals.

Student Competition

The five finalist teams gave oral presentations as the final stage of the 10th Anniversary Roofing Alliance Construction Management Student Competition. This year, the teams were tasked with submitting a qualified bid package for the Formula 1 Paddock Building, Las Vegas. The oral presentation scores were combined with the teams’ written proposal scores to determine the winning team. 

The Roofing Alliance is proud to announce the top three schools and the best individual presenters: 

Top Three Construction Management Schools:

• First place: University of Florida 
• Second place: Colorado State University 
• Third place: TIE – Auburn University, Bradley University

Best Individual Presenters:

• Nick Hanson, University of Florida
• John Falavolito, Texas A&M University

For more information on the Roofing Alliance and all the awards and award winners, contact Executive Director Alison L. LaValley, CAE at alavalley@nrca.net or visit www.roofingalliance.net.

About the Roofing Alliance

The Roofing Alliance is committed to shaping the industry’s future by funding education, research, scholarships and philanthropic initiatives — all for the purpose of securing the industry’s future excellence. Composed of 195 members representing extraordinary leaders from the contracting, manufacturing, distribution and service provider communities, the Roofing Alliance has committed $15 million to enhance the performance and long-term viability of the industry and allocated more than $6 million to fund 54 research, education, technical and philanthropic programs and projects. Serving as the foundation of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), Roofing Alliance members are focused on giving back and supporting high-quality educational programs and ensuring timely and forward-thinking industry responses to major economic and technological issues. For more information about Roofing Alliance initiatives, visit roofingalliance.net.

RCS Influencers celebrates its eighth year of giving back to the industries it serves. 

RoofersCoffeeShop, the award-winning website where the industry meets for technology, information and everyday business, announces the 2024 Coffee Shop Influencers for RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop™ and CoatingsCoffeeShop™.    

Each month these Influencers respond to a topic that is hot in their respective industry such as sustainability practices, AI usage, training and fall protection, recruitment strategies, cause marketing and more. Information is shared through interviews, videos and articles on RCS, MCS and CCS. These Influencers represent all facets of the roofing, metal and coatings industries from contractors and associations to industry manufacturers and service providers. Their contributions are recognized in a special section on each site.   

“We are committed to sharing the thought leadership that each influencer brings to address important issues that affect professionals in each of these industries,” stated RCS President Heidi J. Ellsworth. “We are excited to share their expertise across all Coffee Shops in order to help others find success and are so grateful for their contributions.” 

We are proud to announce the following 2024 Influencers: 

RoofersCoffeeShop  

1. Charles Antis – Antis Roofing & Waterproofing 
2. Rich Carroll – Carroll Consulting Group 
3. Melissa Chapman – Glo Group 
4. Patrick Cochran – Red Dog’s Roofing 
5. Trent Cotney – Adams & Reese 
6. Kendall & Chris Ekerson, Brandon & Nalani Smith – SA Roofing 
7. Tammy Hall – CFS Roofing Services 
8. Peter Horch – Horch Roofing 
9. Rae Fistonich – Chinook Roofing 
10. John Kenney – Cotney Consulting Group 
11. Ro Lewis – Tremco 
12. Lee Lipniskis – Levello Construction 
13. Steve Little – KPost Roofing & Waterproofing 
14. Jake Magalsky – Ace Roofing 
15. Wendy Marvin – Matrix Roofing & Home Solutions 
16. Mandy McIntyre – Level Up Consultants 
17. Ashley and Seth Pietsch – Integrity Insurance & Bonding Inc 
18. Allison Woslager – Integrity PNW 
19. Bill Seibert – Fisher Roofing Company 
20. Jim Ziminski – BZR Advisors 

MetalCoffeeShop 

1. Hayley Bohmer – New Tech Machinery  
2. Kevin Bumstead – Stan's Roofing and Siding 
3. Randy Chaffee – Source One Marketing 
4. Rob Collins – Quarve Contracting 
5. Holly Gotfredson – American Metalcraft, Inc. 
6. Rob Haddock – S-5!® 
7. Jena Jackson – Indiana Metal 
8. John Kenney – Cotney Consulting Group 
9. Ken McLauchlan – MetalForming  
10. Bob Mesmer – RMG Erectors 
11. Kyle Nurminen – The Metal Roof Experts 
12. Lucas Severance – Slate Valley Supply 
13. John Sheridan – Sheridan Metal Resources 
14. Melanie Spaid – Orndorff & Spaid 
15. Bill Stillwell – Hippo Roofing 
16. Erik Trefzger – Orca Roofing 

CoatingsCoffeeShop 

1. John Kenney – Cotney Consulting Group 
2. Johnny Walker – ICP 
3. Chris Huettig – Karnak  
4. Will Lorenz – General Coatings 
5. Greg Hlavaty – Western Colloid 
6. Lisa Irby – Thomas Roofing 
7. Dennis Perry – Commercial Roofers 
8. Jeff Blank – Simon Roofing 
9. Renee Urso – Ohara's Sons Roofing 
10. Ray Coykendall – JD Miles and Sons Roofing 
11. Marc Allen – Shark Roofing 

Find more information on the 2024 RCS Influencers, MCS Influencers and CCS Influencers.  

About RoofersCoffeeShop 

As an award-winning website and online community, RoofersCoffeeShop is committed to being a roofing professional advocate by supplying consistent information, education and communication avenues for all roofing professionals, and especially contractors, while promoting the positive growth, education and success of the roofing industry overall. Visitors to the site continue to find excellent opportunities for sharing information while participating in important ongoing conversations concerning new technologies, safety and the overall roofing trade. From the rooftop to the board room, RoofersCoffeeShop is “Where the Industry Meets!” For more information, visit www.rooferscoffeeshop.com. 

About MetalCoffeeShop 

MetalCoffeeShop is committed to being an advocate and supporter of the metal construction industry.  With Sherwin-Williams and industry thought leader’s contributions, the site supplies consistent information, education and networking avenues for all metal construction professionals. Visitors to the site will not only find education and information but thought-leading editorial, multimedia and Influencer content that elevates the metal construction industry. Like RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop is “Where the Metal Industry Meets!” For more information and involvement opportunities, visit www.metalcoffeeshop.com. 

About CoatingsCoffeeShop 

CoatingsCoffeeShop (CCS), sponsored by APOC, launched in 2023. A sister site to the other Coffee Shops, CCS is committed to delivering the education, training, news and information that helps contractors find success in the coatings industry. This unique online community focuses on all things related to coatings including roofing, construction, infrastructure and below-grade applications.  CCS connects the industry suppliers, manufacturers and associations with coating contractors to ensure the continued success of the contractor as well as the continued growth of this innovative and sustainable construction solution. Learn more at www.coatingscoffeeshop.com.