By The Coffee Shops™. 

Fields Roof Service earns 2026 Top 3 Roofing Contractor honors, reflecting the company’s consistent service and trusted performance in the local market. 

Fields Roof Service, Inc. has been named a Top 3 Roofing Contractor in Puyallup, Washington, for 2026 by BusinessRate, an honor driven by strong customer feedback and consistently high Google review ratings. The recognition highlights the company’s continued focus on quality workmanship and dependable service in a competitive regional market. 

Serving both residential and commercial clients, Fields Roof Service has built its reputation on reliability, clear communication and attention to detail. Online reviews frequently emphasize professionalism, responsiveness and the ability to deliver projects on time and within scope. This consistent performance has helped the company earn long-term trust throughout the local community. 

The team attributes the recognition to its ongoing commitment to improvement and customer satisfaction. “This recognition reflects the team’s commitment to quality workmanship, reliable service, and earning the trust of homeowners and businesses throughout the community,” the company shared in a Facebook post. That focus has translated into repeat business and strong word-of-mouth referrals, key drivers in today’s service-based economy. 

Fields Roof Service also acknowledged the role its customers play in its success. “Thank you to our amazing customers for your continued support and reviews. Your feedback helps us keep raising the bar every year.” 

As customer expectations continue to rise across the roofing industry, recognitions like this reinforce the importance of delivering consistent, high-quality results backed by strong communication and service. 

Learn more about Fields Roof Service and explore their customer reviews to see why they continue to stand out in the Puyallup market. 

Fields Roof Service, Inc. remains committed to its long-standing partnerships with manufacturers, distributors and suppliers across the Pacific Northwest.

Fields Roof Service, Inc., a trusted roofing contractor serving Western Washington since 1957, is proud to announce a new chapter in its history. Effective September 30, 2025, ownership of the company will officially transfer to Brittany Wimbish, marking the beginning of the fourth generation of family leadership.

After decades of dedication, the prior owners will step away from day-to-day operations, while continuing to support the company through a transition period to ensure continuity of service, stability and long-term growth.

“It’s an honor to continue my family’s legacy and build on the strong foundation that has carried this company for nearly 70 years,” said Brittany Wimbish, incoming owner and president. “My goal is to ensure Fields Roof Service continues to deliver the quality, expertise and reliability our industry partners and customers have come to expect, while also embracing innovation and new opportunities. I want to sincerely thank our customers for trusting us with their homes and properties, and our vendors and distributors for supporting us with the materials, training and partnerships that make our work possible and continue supporting us as we transition.”

Commitment to partners and community

Fields Roof Service, Inc. remains committed to its long-standing partnerships with manufacturers, distributors and suppliers across the Pacific Northwest. These relationships have been instrumental in the company’s success and will continue to play a key role in its growth strategy.

As part of the transition, the company will:

• Maintain established vendor and distributor relationships.
• Continue to meet and exceed manufacturer standards for installation, safety and warranties.
• Invest in workforce training, technology and processes to enhance efficiency and service delivery.

About Fields Roof Service, Inc.

Founded in 1957, Fields Roof Service, Inc. has provided professional roofing solutions to commercial, residential and HOA clients throughout Western Washington. With nearly seven decades of service, the company has built a reputation for integrity, craftsmanship and community involvement. Under its new ownership, Fields Roof Service will continue to serve as a trusted partner to customers, manufacturers and distributors alike.

The project was a part of the She Builds program which aims to provide critical home repairs for women in need.

National Women in Roofing Seattle Council (NWIR) and Fields Roof Service recently came together with GAF, North America’s largest roofing manufacturer, to donate and install a new roof for Kim, a disabled woman in Puyallup, Washington in partnership with Rebuilding Together South Sound.

After suffering numerous health complications and the loss of close family and friends, Kim was unable to replace the aging, leaking roof herself. Given this, she qualified for Rebuilding Together South Sound’s home repair programs, which work to ensure safe and healthy housing for low-income homeowners within the South Puget Sound. From there, NWIR was contacted to assist with the project, with support from GAF and Fields Roof Service. This project was a part of the She Builds program which aims to provide critical home repairs for women in need.

The project included removing the 20+ year old roof and replacing it with new gutters, downspouts and GAF shingles. The crew also assisted with general yard clean up and maintenance, including removing old fencing and shrubbery.

The crew will continue assisting Kim over the coming weeks by replacing a rotten deck with a smaller porch with new steps and railing, providing a new dryer duct and screen door and replacing all smoke detectors to ensure the house is safe and secure.

“Our team at Fields Roof Service are incredibly proud to have partnered with Rebuilding Together South Sound, National Women in Roofing Seattle Council and Stoneway Building Supply for this year’s She Builds project,” said Brittany Wimbish of Fields Roof Service. “Coming together to replace Kim’s entire roof and gutters and then revitalize the yard in Puyallup was a meaningful way to give back to our community. Projects like this show the strength and heart of our industry — especially when we unite to empower women and create safer, healthier homes.”

“This is my fifth year participating in She Builds in partnership with Rebuilding Together South Sound, and third year as House Captain,” said Tracy Wendt of NWIR. “There is no greater reward than seeing a homeowner’s appreciation for the work we have done. Kim was beyond grateful for our help in replacing her roof. I am so fortunate to have met her and am thankful I could play one small part in her life.”

“We are so grateful to partner with the National Women in Roofing Seattle Council each year for She Builds on National Rebuilding Day,” said Rachel Acuña of Rebuilding Together. “Since 2019, the Council has come together to provide a woman-headed household with a new roof. Our partnership leverages the strengths of women – networking, relationship building and collaboration – to help support our neighbors in need. Each year, Rebuilding Together South Sound provides more repairs for our She Builds homeowners because of the generosity of companies like Fields Roof Service, GAF, Stoneway Supply and so many more.”

This collaboration is part of GAF’s social impact initiative, GAF Community Matters, which is focused on making a positive difference as neighbors and partners in the community by leveraging roofing expertise, resources and products to help build resilient communities.

About GAF 

GAF, a Standard Industries company, is North America’s largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer. For more than 130 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 social impact in the communities it serves. Through the GAF Community Matters initiative, GAF leverages its expertise, resources, and products to help build resilient, thriving, and sustainable communities of the future. Learn more at www.GAF.com.   

About Fields Roof Service

Fields Roof Service, based in Washington, is dedicated to delivering top-notch roofing solutions for residential and commercial properties. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, we pride ourselves on our commitment to quality, integrity and customer satisfaction. Our skilled team ensures every project is completed to the highest standards, using the best materials and techniques and we actively participate in initiatives like Rebuilding Together and the She Builds program, aligning with our values of collaboration and community improvement. Fields Roof Service maximizes donations and labor, doubling the impact by turning every dollar into two. Let us help you protect your investment and enhance your property's safety and beauty.

About National Women in Roofing

National Women in Roofing, based in Washington, is committed to supporting and empowering women in the roofing industry. With a focus on mentorship, education, and community involvement, we provide resources and opportunities for professional growth and development. Our initiatives, including the She Builds program, align with our values of collaboration and respect, fostering a supportive network for women in the trades. Join us in building a stronger, more inclusive future for the roofing industry.

About Rebuilding Together South Sound

Rebuilding Together South Sound, based in Lakewood, Washington, is a housing nonprofit and trusted community partner dedicated to repairing homes, revitalizing communities, and rebuilding lives. Since 2001, we’ve provided repairs for 1,435 low income households valued at $10,575,000 with the support of over 11,500 volunteers. Our clients are our neighbors – seniors, people with disabilities and families with children – who own their homes, invested in their communities and need support to live in safe and healthy homes. In 2024, our average project value was $8,895 and the average household income was $20,400. 96% of those homeowners are confident they can stay in their homes longer than they could without the repairs. Your support of our work can make an impact for your neighbors too!

By Lauren White.

Making new connections, meeting new people, having new experiences were all part of our focus for NWIR Days 2025.

Editor’s note: The following is a transcript of a conversation between the Coffee Shop crew about NWIR Days 2025.

Megan Ellsworth: I attended the yoga session for the first day of National Women in Roofing (NWIR) Days 2025, and Mandy McIntyre with Level Up Consultants was the yoga instructor. And it was really nice, because I had been flying that morning, and so it was nice to just stretch and see all my friends and get registered and get our goody bags and get our ribbons for the nametags. I loved the different ribbons you could add to your badge this year, and they had all sorts of fun pins to personalize it. And the yoga was a blast with Jessica, Itzel, Dani and Heidi  

And then I wasn’t able to, but everyone else attended the book club for Katie Goodman’s book Improvisation of the Spirit, and they had a good time. They did a bunch of improv activities and storytelling, and came up with some very creative and interesting stories that we all got to enjoy once the rest of us got in from our travel day. 

Then we went to dinner at the caverns outside of San Antonio, and that was really cool. We were 180 feet under the earth, in the earth, 18 stories down in a cavern, and we ate dinner and we got to ride the magic carpet back up out of the cavern.  

Lauren White: The caverns was very cool. That was the first time doing a type of event like this, which was really fun. Not everyone could make it, unfortunately, but it was a pretty unique experience, and definitely a talking point too, for people at NWIR Days, day two to talk about and share about.  

And then we rolled into day two of NWIR Days, with the theme of Focus.

Karen Edwards: So Katie, the author of the book for book club yesterday was our keynote, and she had a really nice talk that was interactive and had the audience members participating and understanding how you need to be present in the moment and not thinking three steps ahead because you miss things. And I thought that was really interesting. And I really liked the last exercise we did where you had to run and grab a hat, and your table mates had written down five random words, and you had the person who grabbed the hat had one minute to tell the story in one minute using all five of those words. It was so funny.  

Then we went into our breakout sessions. Lauren, Dani and I attended the power networking panel, which Lee Lipniskis with Levello Construction and Casey Troxclair from KPost Company moderated a panel with Kristina Hill with Harness and Heels and Home Shield Roofing & Exteriors, Brittany Wimbish with Fields Roof Services and Wendy Lucas with PB Roofing. And it was really interesting. I loved how they focused on who YOU are. Your name, your job and what you do is not what should define you. It should be more about who you are as a person. And they gave some really great tips on how to talk to people and have those conversations and ways to not be nervous and find success in networking and how it can change your career. And they shared their personal stories. So that was that was really helpful, I think for a lot of people in the room.  

Megan Ellsworth: In the first session I went to, it was about fighting the inferiority complex that was presented by Sarah Lechowich with True North Roofing and Rae Fistonich with Chinook Building Envelope Systems and it was a really, really great class. They had some fun, interactive questions. You could, you could, kind of had to reword to make it more like the some of the statements were, I am a failure. I should have like, why am I here? Whatever. And then you had to reword it and say it with a new way to think about a mistake you made or a feeling that you're having about being inferior to someone at work or whatever. And I really, really enjoyed that class. 

And then Heidi and I gave our class on podcasts, and it was really fun. We had a big turnout, and I got to learn about some podcasts that people are wanting to do, which was cool. Someone chat with me about wanting to start a podcast about Christmas, and the origins of Christmas, which was really cool. It was really fun to just talk about podcasts for an hour. And then the other class I attended was, the panel on the four different generations being in the workforce right now. So those are the Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z. So they had someone from each generation on the panel, and people from the audience were asking questions, and it was kind of fun, and it got a little fiery at the end, with the different generations talking about each other. And my favorite part of that was my friend Lilli Tillman Smith from Principia Consulting was on that panel. 

Lauren White: I also went with several members of our crew to the metal roofing 101 session with John Sheridan of Sheridan Tools, Michelle Kettering of LTD Exteriors and Leanne Slattery with ATAS International stepped in for Renee Ramey from the Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA) for this presentation. And we learned more about the benefits of metal roofing, and then most of it was a demonstration, and it was hands on. So they had a deck, and had some metal panels, and people from the audience were in there, able to drill them into the decking and ask questions. And so that was really fun to actually see it get installed on a fake roof, but see what it would look like.   

And then the last session I went to with Dani was how to engage with the next generation of roofers, concentrating on SkillsUSA, which I think is the first time there's ever been a presentation at NWIR Days about SkillsUSA. So John Esbenshade from the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) presented about that, and people were very interested. And especially for the last session of the day, people were engaged in asking questions, and how can they get more involved, and I'm glad that it was a good turnout for people as well.  

And then we all came back together for the awards and closing ceremony, and they presented the Rising Star and the WORLD Award winners. The Rising Star award winner this year is Sarah Sutton-Shouse of Raincoat Roofing in Chicago, Illinois. And then the WORLD Award, which was pretty special is Rachel Garcia from Malarkey Roofing in Oregon and she’s the chair of the NWIR Oregon Council, and of the five years that they've done the WORLD Award, four of them have been from Oregon and the Oregon Council. That was special. Then we officially welcomed our new NWIR chair Christee Roberson with Graham Roofing.  

They also, for the first time, did council awards for different councils across the states that had submitted either projects or who were just doing new and innovative things, which was really cool, and the first time they ever did that, so that was nice to recognize some of the council work. And then throughout the day, RoofersCoffeeShop was live streaming for people who weren’t able to attend in person. We also did diamond sponsor spotlights, which Megan created all the videos for.  

Megan Ellsworth: Yes, the spotlight videos were for each of the nine diamond sponsors and we made videos to spotlight an employee that's a part of National Women in Roofing that's doing great things. And then that wrapped it up, yeah? And anything else that I did?

Lauren White: Oh, and something else new they did this year was for lunch. They mixed it up because usually we sit with people from our regions, and this year they had different colored cameras because the theme was focus.

So everyone reached into a bucket and picked out a color - red, purple, green, blue - and then you sat at the table with a bunch of other people who picked that color as well, which was a fun way to meet new people and interact with them.

Karen Edwards: It was a long day, but overall, really great and really fun to see people. There were about 580 people in attendance this year, which is pretty amazing. Biggest year yet.

Lauren White: Looking forward to next year!

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with , Rich Carroll or Carroll Consulting, Jeff Suess of Raincoat Roofing and  Brittany Wimbish or Fields Roof Service. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Intro: And good morning. Welcome to Coffee Conversations. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and we are here today to talk about succession planning. This is a topic that is on everyone's mind and that we need to be talking about more and more. So we have brought experts who have not only been through it, but are coaching and helping others through this understanding succession planning.

But first, a couple of housekeeping. This is being recorded and it will be available within the next 24 hours. Be sure to share this out with your other business professionals, your friends, family. This is the kind of information, it's not just about roofing, this is about any business owner and their succession planning.

Also, the chat is open, so please let us know where you're calling from or where you're Zooming in from, your name, your company, what kind of company you have. We want to hear all about it. And please, throughout this conversation, you are a big part of it. So please ask questions, make comments and let's have a great conversation today all about succession planning.

I want to thank Carroll Consulting as our sponsor for today's Coffee Conversation. Talk about expert and really being able to help understand not only succession planning, but every part of growth of your business and what you may need. So we appreciate them for sponsoring this and of course, we have Mr.

Rich Carroll with us here today, so let's get some introductions going for this conversation.

Rich, welcome to Coffee Conversations. Thank you so much for being here today.

Rich Carroll: Thanks for having me, Heidi. Looking forward to today. I think it's an important conversation.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is such an important conversation. So let's start with an induction. If you could introduce yourself, tell us about your business and also your history in roofing.

Rich Carroll: I've been involved in roofing since 1984, so this makes it my 40th year. I've been involved from the very beginning as an apprentice, worked my way up through the field, then back into the office and eventually became an owner. I've also worked for other businesses as a consultant to help them grow their business. A few years ago, I decided to retire. My peer group pulled me back in and asked for some help. So I've been helping some of my peer group members, so that's where Carroll Consulting Group started.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That is excellent. Again, thank you so much for bringing this topic to everyone out there. It is so important.

And we also have with us today Brittany Wimbish. Brittany, welcome to the show.

Brittany Wimbish: Good morning. Hi.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Brittany, so excited to have you here. Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your company and what you do?

Brittany Wimbish: Yeah, sorry, I'm getting over a cold. Those first weeks of school have come and infiltrated our home.

I work for Fields Roof Service. We've been around since 1957. I've been there for about 15 years. I started front-office support work and worked my way up. We're in the midst of our transfer for succession, and when it fully comes over onto my side, I'll be the fourth generation.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That is great. Thank you so much for being here today. That is great.

And I am also really excited to introduce and welcome Jeff Suess to these Coffee Conversations. I've worked with your company a lot, Jeff and we are just thrilled to have you today. Thank you so much.

Jeff Suess: Well, thank you for having me. Again, my name is Jeff Suess. I am the president of Raincoat Roofing in Chicago. I got into the business in 1980, had the opportunity to work for two other roofing companies prior to approaching. At that time, Rich Marubio, who was the owner of Raincoat, which was started in 1981 and I said, "I'd like to buy your business, but I have no money." But I said, "I have an idea."

So we started a maintenance entity, which back then, wasn't really... Service was not as common and talked about as it is today. And so in '97, I started becoming an owner of Raincoat Roofing and now it's all mine. So it's been a very, very good journey that's just not quite over yet.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That is great. Thank you. I'm so excited to hear more of your story and also just the experiences. I mean, there's been so much that has gone on in the industry. It's crazy.

And I am very happy to also welcome Andy Anderson. Andy, thank you so much for joining us today. Please introduce yourself and share information about your company.

Andy Anderson: Yeah, good morning. Now my company is consulting with operational companies, both in the construction industry and non-construction industry. My background is a CPA, but please don't hold that against me. It's not about black and white, it's not about numbers. I've been through a number of transitions, both things that went well and things that did not go well. You learn more from what didn't go well in transitions of businesses.

I was very fortunate to be involved in a roofing company in Portland, Oregon and was part of a team that created opportunities where we grew the business from about $40 million a year up to $100 million a year.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow!

Andy Anderson: And developing personnel, financial stability and a future for the employees of the company. So some very good experience. There's a lot that these kind of transitions cover.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah. So much information. So what we want to do is really start out with everyone's stories. There's nothing better than understanding what people have been through.

So Brittany, I'm going to start with you, just on what's this journey been, fourth generation, what's this journey been for succession for you?

Brittany Wimbish: A lot of hills and valleys. I think especially coming from a family-owned company, you see all the benefits, but again, working for a family-owned business, there's times where you're like, "Why do I do this?" When I go home, I'm still dealing with the same people, but it's a conversation that I've had slowly building over the last five years or so and talking with my father and his partner, with leaders in our company, what it would look like if I became a part of that leadership, talking about it with my husband. How does that work-life balance that kind of doesn't exist, that teeter-tottering effect?

There's a lot of things to consider.

And I think the most interesting thing is it's pick your own adventure, especially with us as a family, like them, they've had an experience of going through that succession before [inaudible 00:07:32] owners and now they're forced to be on the other side and decide what they want their retirement to look like. How do they want to be paid out? Do you want to be a part of a board of directors? Do you want a clean cut? Do you want to be phased out?

There's a lot of questions that you have to ask each other, and then when you have a partnership, making sure that partnership agrees on how that exit will be.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, so much to consider and so many people in the family.

Brittany Wimbish: Right.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So we're going to come back to that too, but Jeff, I'd love it if you could share, you shared a little bit during your induction, but that bigger story of how this is looking for you on succession.

Jeff Suess: Well, that's an interesting question, Heidi, because when Rich asked me to become part of this conversation, I said, "Well, Rich, I'm really the wrong guy to be talking about this because I haven't figured it out yet."

And so I thought I had it figured out. We also are a family business, and my forever thought would be that it would be my son. I think it was about seven years ago, my son-in-Law joined our company. And so, okay, there you go. That's, again, a family business. And then I had always wanted to include our sales manager who's been with us for 25 years. There's sales, there's production, those two are covered and then there's everything else. And so I thought I had this perfect triangle.

My son-in-law left the business to pursue another opportunity and it was very amicable, him leaving. But that, in my mind, left a little bit of a hole in that triangle. So now I'm having to pick up the pieces and try to finalize something with my son and the sales manager.

So it's a journey, but if I'm being 100% honest, I'm a little afraid and a little afraid being that what am I going to do with myself? Yeah, you travel a little bit, you do a little of this, but I have many friends who have retired. I'm 70 years old, and it seems like there's a lot of grandkid babysitting going on and I don't think that's what they saw in their future.

So I'm sitting on the fence but slowly realizing that I need to move forward with this, so maybe I'm going to learn something today, not teach anything.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I have tell you, Jeff, I'm with you and I'm a little scared of all of that, especially when you love what you do so much. It's a big change.

Rich, you've done this a couple times now. Would love for you to share some of your succession stories.

Rich Carroll: Well, I have quite a few, but I want to talk about two in particular. One of them, I was brought in to become an owner of a company. We had an agreement. I thought I did my due diligence, walked into the company, was prepared to take over the company and then quickly realized that no one in the company knew anything about the transaction that had occurred, and there was some family members involved.

So instead of walking away from that situation, I decided to stay and try to fix it and it just got progressively worse. There was no plan in place. The owner didn't want to be transparent with the employees, so it was very difficult. So I quickly realized, with my future ventures, that I was not going to run things that way.

So I had another business that I own that I was not particularly interested in running. I actually ended up helping somebody out and ended up taking over the business. But I brought somebody in and we had a five-year plan, and we had a great succession plan in place and how it was going to happen. And even though it went probably closer to six years before I finally walked away, I'm happy to say we kept all our employees, the growth of the business kept going and to this day, the business is still very successful.
So there's two ends of the spectrum on how to do it properly and not do it properly.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Wow, yeah, very much.

And Andy, it sounds like you've been obviously with the firm in Portland and been involved in some succession. What are some of your stories?

Andy Anderson: Well, I have a number of them and like I said earlier, you do learn a lot more from the ones that didn't go well, but I have one long-term client of mine that I've worked with a number of years. It's a fourth-generation company, similar to what Brittany's going through right now.

At the point that I got involved with the transition from the generation two to generation three, the gentleman that owned the company was a son who he inherited the business from, had run it for a number of years, kind of fiddled along, but it made enough to make a living, decided he was going to either sell the business or close it. His daughter had some interest in buying the business from him and then putting her own stamp on it. He would refuse to sell it to her, said that a female should not be in that industry.

So she ended up hiring somebody to buy it for her on her behalf. Made that happen. There was no planning, there was no transition. When her father found out about it, he wouldn't talk to her for two years. So there was no transition, but she jumped in because she had the desire. She didn't necessarily have the industry experience. She jumped in and engaged the employees and had the desire to learn and really made that company into a nationally, internationally renowned company or awarded company.

Now, following that along, she had a son or has a son and she decided in the early 2000s, after having employed him for a couple years, her personal situation was that her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness, so she wanted to rid herself of running that company. So she told her son that he was buying the business, so he was put in a situation where he stepped in and bought the business. We did a quick planning process, created a board to help counsel him and give him some business experience around him. He was well-capitalized, she made sure of that. The transition went through.

Totally two different situations, same company. And she was very much a success even though she didn't have any planning because she had the desire. He had all the planning and that stuff, but didn't necessarily have the desire, but has still been successful.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow, interesting. So many different scenarios. So as we're looking at this, Rich and we're really thinking about, let's talk amongst us all about where to start, when to start. You mentioned that before and Andy just touched on that.

When do you start really having those conversations and starting to prepare for succession?

Rich Carroll: Well, the easy answer is as soon as possible. I typically hear about succession planning when people start talking about retirement, and I think that's far too late. If you can start your succession planning 20, 25 years and start the plan, you might not know who's going to be the leadership in 25 years.

One of the big things that I see is the financial side of it. So if you start your exit program 20 years, 25 years in advance, you can make sure that the money is there for you to leave and you're not passing that burden on to your family if it's a family-owned business. But regardless of how soon you start, there's a lot of things that are involved with how do you go about doing it after that?

The big thing that I see is that most people don't have a plan. So it typically takes anywhere from, I say five to seven years, some people say four to six years. I've seen it done quicker if a company is strong and the processes and procedure's in place and they have the right people.

So I recommend you start as soon as possible, put a plan together, make sure you don't keep it on the top shelf, bring it down, review it as much as possible and you're going to be much more successful the earlier you can start this process.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Brittany, I saw you nodding, especially at the 20, 25-year. I was like, "Whoa." Yeah.

Brittany Wimbish: Yeah. One of the things that I'm learning as going through this is it is something I need to think about, because you don't know what the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years looks like, once this transition happens, what's my transition? What's that family balance for me as a family-owned company? Who is the leadership either within my company or how do I need to set up those next years, those next handful of buckets for someone to come in and want to purchase me? So there's those two avenues that I'm constantly thinking about as this is going on because my company is aware that this is happening and the leadership is backing me, but this is just the first step because what's the second step when it's time for me to move on and what does that look like and what will the company look like? How diversified will we be?

And one of the important things I know we've talked about before, Andy being a CPA is a big plus because a lot of people within a family-owned business don't get a look at the books every day. So learning the financial side of the company, roofing is one side, but running the business is another side. I don't spend my day out on roofs and looking at things, but I spend a lot of time looking at our accounting and looking at our system and looking at backlog and analyzing things from the number side.

And so I think it's important if you're going to be looking at someone internally, who are you going to, for lack of better term, groom up and share that information with so they can start to get those nuggets and have those open conversations about where the company is going?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, that makes so much sense. And not every family is going to have that next generation who actually wants to be involved, so planning for so many things.

Jeff, I know we've talked a little bit earlier about that and your planning and there's this when do you start and then to Brittany's point, is it something you pass on to your family? With all the mergers and acquisitions that are going on out there, do you prepare for that? What's some of your thoughts around that?

Jeff Suess: Well, that's where it gets a little confusing because there are several opportunities available today. You could be merged or bought by another roofing company. You could do the private equity and talk to those folks, and then you would stay in management for a limited amount of time for however you agree. But I'm finding out that that plan, you make it the way you want it and if that equity company or the people who want to buy you, if they don't like it, well, get in line. There's another 10 people that could be interested.

So there are a lot of avenues, I think, to be able to sell. But I'm fortunate, as I said earlier, my son had always been my exit plan, but with my son-in-law then joining, I thought it was just the perfect recipe and now I'm having to put that back together. But I guess my point with all that being said is I think there's many, many other opportunities and I think I'm getting tangled up in the minutiae of it all, but I'll figure it out.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I'm with you, I'm with you. Like, how does this work? I mean, even though I'm not a roofing company, we're a small company and what's the next steps? And there's a lot that goes into that.

And Andy, as you're looking at it, not only from helping companies go through it, but also from that financial side, just like Brittany said, how soon do you recommend people start planning and thinking about putting that succession plan together, especially from the financial side?

Andy Anderson: Well, I agree with Rich. It's you can't do it too soon. The majority of the time what happens when people decide to retire, it's within two or three years of, "Okay, I want to retire by this day." In order for that to happen or happen well, it really all centers around operations and if operations are going well and if operations are profitable, if you have leadership teams within your operations where it continues on, it makes the succession planning that much easier. It makes the market for, as Jeff said, the market for your company, whether you sell it to the next generation or you sell it to an outside party, it makes that process along with it.

So it's not just about, okay, it's putting together a plan, it's being able to have something to put into a plan as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, as you're going through that. Rich?

Rich Carroll: Yeah. One of the things that the earlier you plan, there's always the proverbial bus. If the owner or operator for some reason is exiting the company unexpectedly, if you start this plan sooner and you're transparent about that, everybody knows what your wishes are, so that helps with a catastrophe if it does happen.

So making sure that you have a plan in place and that you're following and you're discussing it all the time is so important.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What are some of the pitfalls, to that point, that you've seen, Rich, with companies that do not have a plan, that either have that unexpected exit or just one day, "I'm done. I want to retire next week"?

Rich Carroll: Well, the obvious one is leadership. There's a leadership gap. Who's going to fill those? Nobody knows. Do you have a loss of knowledge and expertise if you have no plan and somebody exits on you? There's employee uncertainty. What's going to happen now that we lost our leader? Are we going to find other jobs? There's internal power struggles. Who's now going to take over that position, especially if there's multiple family members or longterm employees? How about your client and vendor concerns, your customers? They're thinking, "Who am I going to deal with?" Because probably your top customers have been dealing with the owner-operator for years.

And it's also a disruption of longterm strategy. All of a sudden, your strategic plan that you have in place comes to a stop and everybody's regrouping. So not having a plan and something happens, it could be catastrophic and in some cases, it is.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Brittany, I mean, I just know from talking to you over the years, this has been in discussions for a long time for you.

Brittany Wimbish: Yeah, it has.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Talk about that.

Brittany Wimbish: It's been an up-and-down conversation because I think there's a lot of emotions that go from when you're dealing with owners that this has been their job, this may have been their first job and they've just worked in this company and then bought in and moved up and now they're owners. There's a security f actor to that and then going into the unknown and having to choose how to be bought out, how to transition out the security of the employees that have been 20-year friends.

Our senior project manager works for us 25, 30 years and so he basically has known me my entire life and him having a lot of conversations about him being okay with me being in charge. He doesn't have the interest to necessarily take over the financial responsibility, but it is very important to him and the families that we employ from both sides, from my father and his partner to our PM to some of our leads that have been here for 20 years, that we continue to take care of their families and continue to now put their kids through college or have them come on board. There's plenty of instances where now I've got sons and daughters coming into the office or into the field, into the warehouse now and following my footsteps to a certain degree and wanting to learn more in different aspects for a summer job or transitioning into after-high-school schooling or whatever.

But it is an emotional thing, and if you are not thinking about it and not talking about it earlier enough, I think it doesn't just make the person that's in charge a little ambivalent, it creates those waves downstream, for sure.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And so Jeff, you said you guys are still working through this. How have you been working? How long has it been since you started this plan? I know you started it and it got a little upset with some changes. What are you looking at from a timeline?

Jeff Suess: Well, that's an interesting question in that I've often thought that, "Well, just start working two days less, three days less, four days less a week," and then at that point, then you haven't really pulled the plug, so to speak and your percentage of ownership as they, my son and the sales manager, Matt, would finish buying me out and then it's a slower process. It's not an immediate cut-the-cord type of a thing.

And Chicago has a long line of family roofing companies. I mean, like Brittany's company, third, fourth generation. So I've seen a number of great, great, old-line roofing companies in Chicago. That's the way that they have transitioned. You would still see the founder, the second-generation guy at the Chicago Roofing Contractor Association meetings and talk to them, but they're not really active to the same extent that they were when the company was thriving. So they're just riding off into the sunset slowly, but still able to go to the office and create a little bit of hell and then leave.

So I don't know, maybe I see that as an avenue to pursue and I know that my son is on board with that, so I'm thinking that's the direction that may be leading, but I haven't decided.

Brittany Wimbish: I just wanted to add one thing. Talking about your son, I think there's a lot of ambivalence when you're having an employee child step up and try to fill those shoes because they're been a lot of conversations like, "I'm not my father, but I would like to be him in so many ways and not at all in other ways." And you have a lot of those conversations where you're... Do you bring on a partner or do you not bring on a partner?

You've talked about that trifecta effect where you can fill some holes. I've voted against that. I don't want to operate that way. I just want to build a team, a strong team around me that can take those leaderships and that initiative and me support them as the owner, but it be their company in face value and support them financially and decision-maker-wise because this has been a part of their lives for so long and they know how things should run and there's a lot of pride in their work, whether they're fields installers or if it's an office employee, all of those people have a lot of pride and want that anonymity to continue to make those decisions and represent your company well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's so true. And Andy, I see you nodding. What's your thoughts on that?

Andy Anderson: Well, Brittany brings out a lot of issues that she's obviously going through that companies go through and one of the biggest thing is who do you bring into the party, so to speak, as far as the next generation? And people who are selling or want to retire are obviously motivated to hand over the keys. They also have a tendency to try to create the team for the new owner that are coming into it, and a lot of times, that's trying to pound a square peg into a round hole to where they should not be in that position, whether it's from the financial standpoint or the operational standpoint. We really need to step back and say, "Okay, really what makes sense for this business?"

And you do that through the long-term strategy of the company, which succession planning isn't a replacement to it, your succession planning is a different process that a business has to go through in order to do that and that's what carries it through the one generation or one owner to the next owner.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So Rich, and I know you've had experience all the way around, let's take this and talk a little bit about this exit strategy that we're talking about and the different types of programs that are out there, whether it's employee-owned, private equity, for the next generation. Can you go through some of the pros and cons on those different types of exit strategies?

Rich Carroll: Absolutely. Employee ownership, or an ESOP, I think the benefits of that is that you're going to have employee engagement. They're going to stay. They're going to want to be involved. You can plan it out. It's a longer process so you can have more influence on how things are going to survive, your culture, you're not making a big change. The pitfalls of that is it's expensive and there's tax ramifications. There's a bunch of other things that are involved. You got to bring a bunch of third-party people in and make sure that you're fulfilling your obligations.

The next one is a private equity buyout. Pretty simple. It's usually a quick exit for an owner. In some cases, they have to stay on and manage. The big pitfall for me is there's not typically going to be a legacy. The private equity firm's going to come in and do what they need to do to make their money. There's going to be changes. There's probably going to be employee turnover. No matter what you do for retention, eventually that typically happens. So that's a pro and con for private equity.

The generational succession is, the benefit of that is that you're keeping the legacy, you're keeping the company going on. Many companies are third, fourth, fifth-generation and it's successful. A lot of people think turning over to the second or third generation, the company's going to go out of business. That's simply not true. The vast majority of businesses stay longer than two or three generations.

The downside is do you have somebody in the family to be able to take over the business? But there's solutions for that. If you're leaving a company, what roles were you doing? So when you leave, what vacuum? So try to fill that vacuum, either by mentoring the family member or family members to fill those spots or bring in a management person. You can give them a slice of the pie or you can give them some kind of compensation to come in and mentor if the person's not ready. So there's a lot of options with generational turnover.

Then there's the management buyout. Me and Andy are familiar with this option. Typically, the managers are going to buy out the owner and that's usually successful because you're keeping your management team together and you're going to be able to stay on your strategic plan. Once again, there could be some financial issues with that option, being able to pay the owner. So that's one of the cons.

The last thing is an external sale, maybe your competitor, maybe some of these conglomerates that are roofing companies. Once again, the benefit of that is a quick exit. You can usually exit pretty quickly. So if you don't have family members to hand it to, or if you don't have employees that you feel like should get a piece of the pie, that might be a strategy for you. Once again, the downside is it's not a legacy plan. The company's going to change.

The number one thing that I run across with owners when they're talking about succession is not the money they're going to get, but the legacy. If you have 50, 70, 90 employees, you literally have 300 people that you're responsible for every week that you're taking care of and that's what the owners are concerned about. They're concerned about those employees. So some of these options just don't fit them. So they're going to have to fight and do some of these other things within ESOP or a generational turnover.

But for us, as we talk to our customers, the number one concern is, "How can I take care of my employees?"

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Brittany, I heard you. You just were like, "Yep, that's it."

Brittany Wimbish: Yeah. It's a big... Again, when you have an owner-operator to a certain degree and they've been in the field before and they're second and third guy and their crews have been around for, like I said, 15, 25 years, it's emotional for them to go, "Okay, how do I know they're going to be okay? They've been relying on me this long. How can I hand off that responsibility and that security be there?"

One of the things my dad's always said that he's most proud of, he's like, "We may not be the biggest roofing company in our area, but you know what? I know I'm taking care of families. I've given opportunities. I've created a community within our company, a family." [inaudible 00:35:26] and pride in that, that when you are handing it off to someone with however many options that Rich has listed out, that emotional tie is still there, especially when you're a small company.

So yeah, that definitely resonates with what we're going through.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, big time. So we just have a question. Thank you so much. What are some ways to finance a manager buyout? So Rich, do you want to start there and then Andy?

Rich Carroll: I'll let Andy go first. I think Andy will have a much better answer than me, but...

Andy Anderson: Well, it depends on the situation, especially the management. Obviously, they need to earn or have some equity going into the actual transaction. It is generally the owner generally has to carry a contract with it. I mean, they have to have some process in which that they get paid out for the value of the business over a period of time. Now, tax-wise, that can work out well for the owner or if they want to be in a situation where they just have their money and they're gone, don't see very many of those kinds of situations.

So a manager buyout is more of almost a partner transitioning from one person or an entrepreneur or a partnership into a multi-level company that has professional managers and managers moving. There's always leveraging the assets of the company as a way of buying out the owner as well. So you get a bank involved in the financing. SBA has programs for those kinds of transactions. There's also secondary mezzanine type of financing companies that can get involved in those, but generally speaking, it's the manager group seeking out ways of financing it, but also involving the owner in the process.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, and working together.

So Jeff, as you've been looking at some of these, I'm sure your phone has been ringing, just like everybody else's phone out there, with private equity companies. Looking at these different solutions, but now really wanting to continue to go down the generational path, what are some of your thoughts on all these different exits?

Jeff Suess: Well, I think you need to pick a lane and stay in it. And in my case, I am really committed to the generational. Eric has worked for our company for 28 years. That's a long time. He runs the maintenance end of the business, taking over the production side of it. I'm sure that he'll be able to do that, so I'm confident that that would be the direction that I'm going to go.

But I do, as you said, yeah, there's so many different... It seems like everybody you talk to has a different opinion of it because everybody's situation is so incredibly unique, and I'm fortunate in that I talk to a lot of different people. As you know, I'm here in a captive insurance meeting right now and so there's 172 people I can talk to get an opinion that are probably sitting in a similar queue to myself.

So you can find out just about any way to do this if you want, but I think the advice would be to pick one and stay in that lane and as Rich had said, do it as early as you can. I said once that or maybe I heard it once, is that the day that you get into the business, you should also be thinking about how you're going to exit the business. That early is how you should probably look at it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I have to tell you, I don't think people, I agree with that 100%, but I don't think people think that way. I mean, I come from a contracting family. My dad and mom had a general contracting company and there was never any talk about it, never even thought. All I kind of knew was I wasn't really interested in moving with their business, and then all of a sudden, here I am in the construction industry doing something different but it kind of keeps you there.

But I think a lot of times, there's no conversation and you don't even know if your children are really that interested and when that's going to happen. So let's talk a little bit-

Brittany Wimbish: Oh, can I, before we move on?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, yeah. Brittany, go, yeah.

Brittany Wimbish: Is it okay if I just finish?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Brittany Wimbish: So one of the things about transferring for the manager buyout, I think the first step, which my guidance has been, do you have even a valuation of where the company's worth? Because based on the revenue, it has nothing to do... I mean, it has something to do with it, but it's not dollar for dollar what the company is going to be worth. So protect both sides of the management side that wants to take over, and the ownership side, they need to find out what the company's actual market value will be.

And I know CPAs can do that. We've had our CPA do it. We've also had third parties look at the company to do that. So for Lewis, if he's considering looking at it that way, the first step to even before starting the financial side is really decide who you're going to use to figure out what the company's worth because it'll protect both sides of this transaction and then move forward, because depending on that price, then your options will open about how that transition will happen and how you'll decide to finance that, whether it's an SBA, whether it's the business itself is financing it, the contract with the ownership, that sort of stuff.

So that would be my suggestion for that first step forward.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And Brittany, from what I've seen, because actually I've been down this too, valuations are not cheap.

Brittany Wimbish: No.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's pretty expensive to get valuations done. So if you're really serious about it, you need to not be scared of that.

Brittany Wimbish: Yeah. And again, having those conversations early, if you're a part of the management group that wants to take over or in part of the owner's family or whatever, those open conversations, so you guys can do it together as a partnership because it will be a partnership depending on how that financial contract works out in the end, you're going to be a partnership for a while. Whether or not the company's transitioned over or not, you're still going to be financially attached to each other.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's great advice and he says, "Thank you. That's awesome."
Please keep the questions coming. Lots of good questions. You have experts here who have been through it, so please keep asking questions or comments. We would love to have that.

I do want to move on to really preparing and executing a plan. So Rich, as companies are coming to you and saying, "We want to do this," where do you start? How do you start even putting together a plan?

Rich Carroll: Well, you got to understand the goals of all the parties involved. What's the owner trying to do? What's the successor trying to do? So getting to learn what they're interested in and how they're going to go about this process. It's important to understand what the owner's goals are and also the successor's goals.

One of the things that we emphasize is that the owner and its successor have a shared vision for the business. That usually relieves the owner's worries about legacy, so you have to have those open conversations about how are you going to succeed? There's also employee and stakeholders' concerns, so you have to address them as well. So you want to talk to those parties and make sure they understand. I believe that the employees, you should be as transparent as possible. You should bring them in as early as you can. Anytime a milestone is met or before any public disclosure is talked about, which is a big one because a lot of times, employees don't like hearing what's happening with their business from a vendor or for somebody else.

Number two, mapping out the transition. How's this going to happen? When's it going to happen? Why is it going to happen? All those questions, mapping it out totally, making sure that there's a timeline, there's a successor development program, maybe the person you're asking to step up is not ready. So if you've got five to seven years, now's the time to start getting them the background and the skillsets they need to be able to do so. Knowledge transfer, how are you transferring the knowledge you have as an owner over to the successor? And then there's the financial and legal considerations as well.

The third thing is ensuring alignment and communication. Once again, transparency with everybody. You should have nothing that you should be talking about behind closed doors. Obviously money issues may not be something that you're talking publicly about, but everything else should be transparent and you want to make sure your internal and external messaging is both the same from the owner and the successor, so that message that's being delivered is exactly the same.

The fourth thing is executing the plan. Once you put it in place and you map it out, now we got to execute. You also got to be flexible because there's going to be things you're going to need to change. You want a step-by-step implementation. You want to monitor what's going on and make adjustments as needed. And then you want to know what the exit strategy is for the owner. Is it going to be a Jeff Suess four-days, three-days, two-days exit? Is it going to be on a drop-dead date? Everybody needs to understand that.

And here's one thing that a lot of people don't think about, but it's very important. It's post-transition support and evaluation, especially if it's a family business. You're going to have to help after you leave. I've heard so many owners say, "No, I want to walk away," but there's Thanksgiving dinners, there's Christmas, there's Easter. Those conversations are going to come up and the owner's going to want to know what's going on, so let's have a plan for that. How are you going to stay involved? How are you going to evaluate what's going on? Do you have a board?

I highly recommend companies that are large enough to have a board and have board members that are not involved in the industry sitting on the board so you get some diversity. I always like to have a board that's responsible for strategic planning, executive compensation and that's about it. I don't want them involved in anything after that, but that leaves the management back to the C-suite instead of having the board run the operation.

So there's the five steps that we try to follow when we walk into an organization and say, "Okay, let's start this plan."

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Brittany, were those some of the steps it happened for you?

Brittany Wimbish: Yeah. You know, thinking back on how the company was transitioned over to my father's buying group, the two owners that were there stayed on it's kind of a board of directors from a looser term than Rich is saying, but there was financial reporting that was given monthly for reviewing. There was always an open discussion because out in Seattle, we're going high and low with our weather and revenue. It's just a big wave all the time.

So constantly talking about that, and the economic status and that the ownership did not have business degrees. So it's one of those things you're operating off of experience, and so if you have the opportunity to have the previous ownership be there for a sounding board from the financial aspect, not decision-making for the management side, like Rich is saying, that's priceless. So if you can have that negotiated into that transition, I think it's valuable for everyone on each side, especially depending on how that contract's written. If you're paying out over X amount of years, their financial vitality is attached to this company is still successful.

So it's mutual to continue to have those conversations, and they'll peter off as your experience grows and you take over more things and you've gone through some economic cycles and whatnot, but I think that's something that's really important if you have that opportunity to do so.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow. And Jeff, you're walking through this right now. Goals for you and Eric working through this process, timelines, is that still in the process?

Jeff Suess: Yes, it's very much so. In fact, next week when we get back to the office, we're going to sit down and discuss timelines and goals. One month, six months, one year, three years. If there is a three or a five, it'll just be part of the conversation because I am not 100% sure. I'm letting Eric and Matt make a proposal and a presentation to me and that's already been started, but when I get back. So yeah, a timeline and we'll see if we're thinking the same way.

What makes it also hard, one thing that I haven't said, is I still like what I do and so maybe that's the part that... But I realize, I realize, I realize that I'm not going to do this forever, but unfortunately, I still like it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Jeff, I was thinking the exact same thing and I have to tell you, I mean, I love what I do so much and people are like, "Well, when are you going to retire?" I've had so many people say that, "When are you going to retire?" I'm like, "I don't know. I don't really want to."

But I think from this conversation today, it's really given me a thought of, "You know what? It's okay to have a long timeline, to have that, to be able to look at five, seven, 10 years," and that doesn't seem as scary to me. I don't know why, but it just seems like, "Okay, I have time to get my head, figure out my next step." So I'm just feeling it. I'm just feeling the same thing here.

Jeff Suess: Yeah.

Brittany Wimbish: One thing I wanted to add, especially for back to a manager buyout, I think people who are reaching out to buy into [inaudible 00:50:28] already exists as an employee standpoint, I think if you are serious about it, you need to set your parameters and your drop-dead dates outside of theirs because those times will get drug on longer than you want it to and really make hard lines and communicate those hard lines because as being the younger side of that transaction, I have opportunities. And so if this opportunity is not going to go in the timeline or the way I'd like it to, I need to set a boundary for myself to find an alternative to open up other options, those sorts of things.

So definitely from my side of it, maybe not have the answer about how it's going to happen, but know you want to do it and work together and then set your boundary about when's the next step.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I think that's so smart, Brittany, because look at us. We're dragging our feet, right? "No, we got to go look at this."

Andy, real quick on the financial part of it, really looking at that, according to what Rich was saying about setting goals, putting all that together, where should the financial part of that, what should they be thinking about too?

Andy Anderson: Well, it's a lot of entrepreneurs or singly owned businesses will use their business and run a lot of, say, expenses they wouldn't normally be paying for themselves and have it run through the company. So it changes the profitability that the company really shows in there. That stuff needs to be weeded out and transparent with the proposed new ownership to let that stuff out there so that they know.

The other side to it is usually on a generational changeover, there's not much impact to operations. In a management buyout, there's not much impact to an operations. When you start selling to an outside party, whether it be a private equity, a venture capitalist or just an outsider purchasing it, there's always an impact to operations. And so that needs to be taken into account, and as you financially put together a package, that is, you want to have as an owner or you want to pay as a purchaser in there

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And to that point, and Rich said it at the very beginning, what do your customers think? What do your vendors think? What's happening out there? So I do want to go back, Rich, because I want to bring all this together. I can't believe this hour's gone so fast, but I would like to bring what are some of the common mistakes to avoid? I would love for you to take us through that, share some of your thoughts overall.

Rich Carroll: Sure. I think the number one mistake that's made besides not having a plan is people being impatient. They're impatient for the successor to step up or the successor's impatient about taking over. So you have to be patient and you have to have the timeline. If you have the timeline, stick to it.
Right after that, which is contradictory to what I just said, is I call it spots. A lot of consultants call it spots. It's succession planning on the top shelf. You put a succession plan together and then you stick it on the top shelf. It has to be active. I see that a lot as a mistake. Some people do strategic plans the same way they call those spots, put it in a strategic plan, but that's for another story.

I see that people don't focus on the hard issues, they focus on the soft issues. Soft issues as far as I'm concerned are taxes, P&L, operational stuff. They don't talk about the relationship within the family. So I recommend that families meet on a regular basis once a month, every family member, not just the ones involved in the business. You probably have an estate plan in place, but you don't have a company plan in place. So if you talk about that on a monthly basis, it's so much easier to follow through.

Most people don't have a conflict-issue strategy. How are they going to resolve conflicts if there's multiple children involved or multiple employees involved that are going to be taking over?

We talked about the shared vision. It's very key that everybody's on the same page with that.
No management selection process. I know a lot of companies that don't have job descriptions, so how are you going to have someone fulfill a CEO or president's role if you don't have a job description? And now, if the person that you think is going to succeed for you, do they fit that metric? If they don't, what do you need to do to correct it? So have a management selection process in place.
Conflicting assumptions. Obviously, if you don't talk, everybody has their own idea how things are going to end up.

We talked about a development program for your employees, not just your family members.
Working outside the business. I hear a lot of owners say, "I want my child to start right out of high school or college to come work for me." I highly encourage that you allow them to work outside the business. They're going to bring more information back. If their passion is to work for you, they'll be back, so don't force the issue.

Ownership versus management. Two different things. People that are owners are not managers. And if you want to know an example of that, look at all your corporations. I own a lot of parts of corporations and I have nothing to do with their management. So you can be an owner of a company or hand off ownership to your children and they're not involved in the management side. So there's a way to go about doing that. So that should be talked about.

I believe, depending on your family structure, that everybody should get a part of the company. That's my belief if someone asks me what I think, and I think it should be split equally. There's ways to do stock options that people have shares that are non-voting. So if you have somebody working in the business, they have voting shares. Someone out, they don't.

We talked about a realistic timeline, contingency measures if something happens, transparency with employees, making sure that the knowledge transfer happens and employee turnover and transition plan, what's going to happen? So there's some of the mistakes, common mistakes that we see when we come in and we start talking to a company.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's so, "Been down this road." So thank you all. I want to just a few last thoughts. Jeff, last thoughts of advice for everyone out there?

Jeff Suess: No. Yes, I used that phrase a minute ago. Pick a lane and you got to drive it to the end. Otherwise, you'll just be spinning in circles.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So good. Brittany?

Brittany Wimbish: My advice would be have conversations. You don't know what avenue you can take or what your options are, especially from Lewis's side. You need to have conversations and talk to people that have done it before so they can give you some insight and some options to what might work for you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Terrific. Andy?

Andy Anderson: It's to surround yourself with knowledgeable people that are all on board with what your plan is, whether it's outside consultants, internally with your management, but get yourself surrounded by good people.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, that's great. And Rich, we have your information in the chat right now. So just real quick, you are doing this for companies all over the nation?

Rich Carroll: Yes. I've been outside the country as well, so we're an international firm.
Once again, if you're stuck on something, don't guess. Reach out for help. If it's financial, if it's you need an attorney or you need tax help, reach out. There's people there. There's a lot of resources. Obviously, Carroll Consulting would be happy to help anybody that needs that help. Just get in contact with us and we'll reach out and do a free consultation and we'll go from there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And we have those on the site, both in the directory and on the site. You can find it in the R-Club. You can also find under our consulting where you can some free time with Rich to have a short consultation to see where you're at and where you want to go.
Everyone, thank you so much. This has been absolutely amazing. Thank you all so much for your time today.

Andy Anderson: Thank you, Heidi.

Rich Carroll: Thank you.

Outro: Thank you. And for everyone out there, again, I want to say thank you to Carroll Consulting. Thank you, Rich, so much for such an important topic.

I also want to invite everyone next week. So we have two in a row, very exciting. Next week, we're going to have the experts from GAF here talking about storms. And it's the season, I think it's the season year round now, but it's the season. So these are some amazing people who can really bring, if you're doing retail, if you're doing storms, whatever you're doing, they're going to bring the resources that you need, so join us next week.

And I want to say thank you all. This will be available in 24 hours. Thank you for a great conversation. Thank you to our great panelists and thank you for all being on here. We'll see you next week on Coffee Conversations.
 

By Fields Roof Service.  

Protecting your business assets.  

Keeping a commercial roof in optimal condition is vital for protecting your business assets and maintaining a safe workplace. A well-maintained roof prevents expensive repairs and avoids disruptions to your operations. Understanding the primary factors that cause roofing damage can help you spot problems early and take proactive measures to prevent them. Fields Roof Service highlights the top eight causes of commercial roof damage and offers tips on how to avoid these common issues. 

1 - Weather exposure 

Commercial roofs are constantly exposed to the elements, including the sun, rain, wind and snow. Over time, UV rays can degrade roofing materials, while severe weather events like storms and hail can cause physical damage such as cracks, punctures or loosened shingles. 

2 - Poor maintenance 

Neglecting regular roof inspections and maintenance can lead to minor issues escalating into major problems. Blocked drains, debris buildup and unchecked leaks can compromise the integrity of the roof membrane and underlying structure. 

3 - Age of roofing materials 

The age of roofing materials significantly impacts their durability and performance. As roofing materials age, they become more susceptible to wear and tear, deterioration and potential failure. Regular inspections can help determine when it’s time for repairs or replacements. 

4 - Improper installation 

Faulty installation techniques or using inappropriate materials can compromise the effectiveness of the roof. It’s crucial to hire experienced roofing contractors who follow manufacturer guidelines and industry best practices to ensure proper installation. 

5 - Ponding water 

Flat or low-slope commercial roofs are prone to ponding water, where water collects and remains stagnant for more than 48 hours after precipitation. Ponding water can lead to roof membrane deterioration, leaks and structural damage if not addressed promptly. 

6 - Mechanical damage 

Activities such as rooftop HVAC installations, maintenance work or foot traffic can inadvertently damage roofing materials if precautions aren’t taken. Implementing protective measures and ensuring contractors are aware of roof access protocols can minimize risks. 

7 - Vegetation and debris 

Overhanging trees or vegetation near the roof can deposit debris, leaves and branches that clog gutters and drainage systems. This debris can retain moisture and accelerate roof deterioration. Regularly clearing vegetation and debris can prevent these issues. 

8 - Poor ventilation 

Inadequate roof ventilation can lead to moisture buildup in the attic or roof deck, promoting mold growth, wood rot and premature deterioration of roofing materials. Proper ventilation design and maintenance are essential for preserving roof integrity. 

Original article and photo source: Fields Roof Service  

By Dani Sheehan. 

She Build provides critical repairs for women-headed households and women-focused community spaces to empower women to maintain safe and healthy homes, make a difference in their communities and build a supportive community network. 

On April 27, 2024, the National Women in Roofing (NWIR) Seattle Council got together with Rebuilding Together South Sound, Owens Corning, Beacon Building Products, Fields Roof Service and Guardian Roofing, Gutters and Insulation to provide a new roof for a local homeowner. The homeowner had inherited the home in 2018 from her mother who had lived there since 1981 – a single, senior woman of color unable to manage the roof concerns herself due to disabilities from a workplace injury. Thanks to the efforts of the above team, and coordination by Tracy Wendt from Beacon, this homeowner received a brand-new roof on She Build Day. We caught up with Tracy in a recent interview to learn more about the rainy-day endeavor and how NWIR is changing lives through their partnership with Rebuilding Together South Sound. 

In her everyday work at Beacon, Tracy supports the North Central region which includes Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, but she lives in Tacoma, Washington. She explained, “For me, being involved with the Seattle chapter of NWIR is really important. I spent a good ten years of my roofing career in the Pacific Northwest and, while I know the Beacon community here, understand the contractor base, and our customers, it’s not a region I support. Being involved in giving back helps tie me to the local community.” 

This year was her second year stepping in as lead for the project. Even though she doesn’t feel like the time commitment is particularly overwhelming, the payoff is immense. When she thinks about the importance of this project each year and what it means for women specifically in the construction industry, she immediately highlighted the network of women in NWIR and how amazing it is to talk to others with similar backgrounds. But above that, she added, “Working for a company who allows me to go do these things is really unique and it truly reflects the culture [at Beacon]. Beacon is championing women and encouraging me to participate, helping me solidify the female network within my community.” 

Despite the rain, the project went off without a hitch again this year. Currently working in a finance role, she really appreciates getting to be reminded of the operational process and how each company comes together to facilitate the installation. It gives the NWIR Seattle Chapter more exposure and time to come together, but mostly, it’s the joy she sees from the homeowner at the end. She shared, “Seeing the homeowner and their happiness about the community coming together and helping them. That’s the best part.” 

By Anna Lockhart.  

This year’s She Builds project brought together an amazing crew of volunteers and businesses to gift a Tacoma resident new life for her home’s roof and lawn.  

She Builds, a National Women in Roofing (NWiR) group, is an inspiring group of women who come together to aid in alleviating the home repair crises in their community. For the 2023 She Builds event, the assembled group of volunteers worked with Rebuilding Together South Sound, a local organization that aids in funding free home repairs, to help repair the roof and landscaping of a Tacoma, Washington resident, Alma.  

The repairs needed to restore life to Alma’s home and lawn cost over $20,000, and through the kindness of strangers, the She Builds and Rebuilding Together volunteers were able to bring together the funds, supplies and labor needed to get the job done. A team of twenty eager volunteers and eight companies willing to dedicate their time and resources showed up on April 29, 2023, at Alma’s home to begin repairs.  

The volunteer event provided attendees with the opportunity to learn about roof installation and repair, as well as the opportunity to build community with one another. The event was a success, thanks to the amazing group of volunteers and local businesses lending a hand in supplying labor, materials and funding that made the event possible.  

Brenda Littau, Coffee Shop account manager, attended the event as a member of the local chapter of NWiR to capture and partake in the event. She described her experience attending the event, “This was my first experience with She Build and the NWiR Seattle Council. It was amazing to see all the teams come together for the good of the community. Teams from Beacon and PABCO, companies I've worked with in the past, just showed up and worked side by side in this woman's yard to help." 

Brenda continued, “It was like nothing I had ever experienced in my career, and I immediately joined NWiR because we need more of this in the world, and I want to be a part of it.” 

This project wouldn’t have been possible without the organizational efforts of the NWiR She Builds and Rebuilding Together organizers, the volunteers and the following companies: Fields Roof Service, Guardian Roofing & Gutters, Chinook Building Envelope Services, McKay Wealth Management, Beacon, Malarkey Roofing Products, PABCO Roofing Products and Harbor Drone Service.  

Learn more about the She Builds NWiR group.

By Lauren White. 

The first-ever PNWIR event did not disappoint! 

Amidst power poses, product demos, networking opportunities and expert advice from industry professionals, the first-ever Pacific Northwest National Women in Roofing Day (PNWIR) was something else.  

The kickoff to PNWIR Day was a networking event and dinner. McKay Daniels, the CEO for the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) joined us as a guest speaker to talk about the state of the industry, share info about CTE funding and chat with everyone who made it to this inaugural event. The networking and catching up continued after dinner with everyone looking forward to what the next day held. 

Greeted with a full breakfast buffet, coffee and tea, attendees found their seats to get the day started. RoofersCoffeeShop was happy to share a table with the Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC). Three women from the CRRC journeyed north from Portland to be with us in Tukwila, Washington – Sarah Schneider, deputy director; Beth James-Bourgeois, program manager; Audrey McGarrell, project manager.  

It was a full day of amazing speakers, demos and topics. Lee Lipniskis, founder and CEO of Levello Construction, started off the day with her talk of “Leading Like a Lady.” After a quick outfit change from her regular black blazer to a sequin jacket, in order to be her authentic self, she shared her journey of deciding to start her own company. She talked about what it means to not only be your authentic self, “like a disco ball” today in her sequin jacket, but also what it means to be an authentic leader – innovative and creative, empowering others, self-motivated, self-knowledge, purpose, let go of control, love.  

Four elements of what she has identified are critical to leading like a lady are: 

1. Self-awareness – Be introspective with your core values, identity, emotions and motives 
2. Strong moral code – Create a process to consistently self-regulate between your core principles and the judgements you express 
3. Balanced processing – Objectively analyze the information from all angles before making a decision 
4. Relational transparency – Be open and honest in presenting your true self to  

Her parting message to everyone, “You have the capacity to become an authentic leader. It is a life-long process, but you have been sculpted by critical life events that lead to growth and greater authenticity.” 

Part of being an authentic leader and your authentic self is taking care of your own mental health and that of your crews. Mandy McIntyre, owner of Level Up Consultants, talked about mental health first aid and the crucial role it has in the roofing industry. According to Mandy,  

more construction workers die from suicide and overdoes each year than every workplace-related fatality combined. Mental health is the silent safety hazard; it takes more than a hard hat to keep a head safe.  

She has identified a mental health action plan for companies to implement:  

1. Leadership engagement – Create a culture of support 
2. Awareness – Recognize mental health as a safety and wellness initiative and have mental health toolbox talks, offer free screening tools and support employees’ efforts to get help and promote self-care. 
3. Communicate – Reduce the stigma. Don’t be afraid to bring up issues related to stress, depression, anxiety or suicide. It could be the difference between life and death just by talking to someone and listening to them. 
4. Education and support – Provide information about free screenings from Mental Health America, mental health first aid for roofing through Level Up Consultants, and having the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline number accessible. 

Then we got our hands dirty! Multiple rooms were set up with different products from KARNAK, and Viking Products Group for us to work with. 

After lunch, the rest of the day was filled with panels and financial advice. A male panel spoke about what it means to be an ally and an advocate for women in the roofing industry. That was followed by a women’s panel of powerhouse leaders in the PNW roofing industry – Wendy Marvin, owner of Matrix Home Solutions; Rae Fistonich, director of steep-slope operations of Chinook Building Envelope Services; Lori Swanson, owner of Guardian Roofing & Gutters; Kendall Ekerson, director of marketing and events of SA Roofing. Moderated by Brittany Wimbish, CEO of Fields Roof Service, the panel covered what it means to be a leader versus a boss, how hard it is to maintain work/life balance and the importance of finding balance and setting goals for yourself.  

“A leader versus a boss is we before me,” Wendy 

“Being a leader means you’re inspiring people to want to work with you,” Rae 

In a male-dominated industry, women often feel pressured to have to do it all and prove themselves day after day. This leads to burnout. No matter what industry you work in, work/life balance is vital for: your overall health, your mental health, the health of your company and the health of your employees.   

In terms of work/life balance, the panel had these nuggets to share:  

1. Work/life balance is different for everyone 
2. Define it for you and make that balance work for you 
3. A healthy mind is a healthy body 
4. Your mental health matters more than the company 

That being said, they brought up the concept of “garbage hours.” Meaning, if you don’t take the time you need for yourself, your output will be garbage. Make time for yourself and set goals for yourself, like you normally do for your business. Those goals could be leaving your work phone in your car at the end of your workday so your attention is on your family, taking a walk, scheduling a massage for yourself, eating lunch away from your desk or something else that benefits you and helps you fill your cup. 

After some raffle prizes (I won a tool set!) and final words, the day came to a close. Being a regional event, many people drove home, but a few of us were either flying or driving out the next day or lived close enough to stay and have dinner together. Picture this, business owners, contractors, distributors and manufacturers all based in the PNW sitting at the same table and literally breaking bread – no competition, no jealousy, just kindness, support and love for each other and the industry we call our own.  

As Lee put it, “Empowered women empower women.”  

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

From cold asphalt and torch downs to re-roofing and a modern maintenance program, Fields Roof Service continues to serve the evolving needs of the industry.  

RoofersCoffeeShop® is proud to present the honor of R-Club Roofer of the Month to Brittany Wimbish and Garry Gilmer of Fields Roof Service! 

Founded in 1957 by Larry Fields, Fields Roof Service was designed to provide customers with long-lasting roof systems, especially within the extreme temperature ranges of Washington state. In particular, the company focused on prolonging the lifespan of existing roofs for school districts and industrial facilities.  

In the late 1970s, Larry passed the business down to Scott Pepper and Tom Gilmer, educators from the Fife, Federal Way and Franklin Pierce school districts. Together they took the company into the 21st Century by expanding their services and developing a dedicated team.  

Garry Gilmer is the third-generation owner of Fields Roof Service and Brittany Wimbish is on track to be part of the fourth generation of ownership. Currently, Brittany oversees operations and administrative tasks for the company, which does a little bit of everything: re-roofing, maintenance systems, roof removals and even torch downs for both residential and commercial properties. 

"Over the past 5 or 10 years we have dedicated a team to doing residential, which has helped us keep more laborers in the summer when we're doing larger commercial projects and that type of thing,” said Garry. 

Garry and Brittany continued by discussing their company’s values, like open communication and a commitment to promoting within the organization. They want every employee to feel that they have a career they own and can cultivate alongside their personal and family life.  

"A lot of our core members and team members have been around anywhere from 10 to 20 years, up to 30 years. We have people that started off roofing in high school and college and now run operations or head up a sales department and work with really great property managers,” said Brittany. “It’s that whole career mindset that this is not just a job, and that we can grow in all aspects of life as well.” 

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more from Garry and Brittany and why Fields Roof Service was the R-Club November Roofer of the Month.