Adam Torres and Sam Nei discuss entrepreneurship.
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify
Apply to be a guest on our podcast here
Show Notes:
What does it take to leave corporate America and start a new business? In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Sam Nei, CEO at One Stop Roofing, explore One Stop Roofing and Sam’s journey as an entrepreneur.
About Sam Nei
Sam Nei is a highly motivated, goal driven seasoned leader.
About One Stop Roofing
One Stop Roofing, is a trusted partner for top-quality residential and commercial roofing services in Orange County and Los Angeles County. With a commitment to excellence, we specialize in roof repair, replacement, and installation, ensuring durable and reliable solutions for your home or business. Their licensed and insured team
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today on the show, I have Sam Ney, and he’s the CEO over at One Stop Roofing.
Sam, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. I appreciate the invite. All right, Sam. So I understand that you’re going to be at the Mega Mix Expo. That’s going to be taking place March over at the , Santa Anita Park, over in Arcadia, California. I’m going to be there as well.
We’re going to be doing some live interviews and we’re going to be covering the event. So, I’m pretty excited about that. So, first off. Mo. the expo, are you going to be an exhibitor? Are you going to be coming as a participant, a guest? What drew you to it? Let’s go, let’s start there.
Certainly. We will be an exhibitor at the show. , , I’m getting excited for, I know we got a good couple of months there, but have you been to like the venue before? Have you been to that park before or just in general? Not that one. No. Oh, it’s pretty cool. I was there the other day, just checking out not the exhibit, but just the layout and that thing is going to be massive.
Tony and his team over there, man. They’re bringing out all stops on that one, man. I saw the layout for all the different boots and everything else. It’s going to be expansive. So talk to me a bit , about your business. So one stop roofing tell me a little bit more.
Basically as the name indicates where residential and commercial roofing company we’ve been serving orange in 14 years right now somewhat of a boutique type shop you know we don’t do like a large track type housing projects. We specialize in mostly some special construction projects as well as.
Standard residential requirements out there as well as apartment buildings and commercial properties. So, we simply specialize in the roofing portion of these types of projects. did you get into the business? Where did that start for you? It’s interesting. I was in the corporate world for a very, very long time, and the corporate world has changed a lot, and not necessarily a very pleasant place to be working.
And I was always , in the sales side of the world. And my position ended with some new leadership that came in. And then that door was closed, but this door got opened by a, my partner who was in the construction industry. And he basically called me up and like, I’m on the operations.
You can be on the sales and marketing , and I think it will be a good team and at the beginning, you know, weather’s always gorgeous in Orange County. Who needs roofs? Yeah. Like you’d be surprised, you know, and sure enough, I was pleasantly surprised and quickly became partners and we set up the corporation and and yeah.
That’s it’s amazing how they say, you , you know, God closes some doors and open up new ones. And this is a perfect story for that because I am really happy that event happened and ended up in this business. Wow. So just to make sure I understood this properly or correctly you didn’t have any roofing background.
Yeah. You were, you were just, you’re a corporate, right? Go ahead. I was basically corporate sales still on the, on the sales side of things, but obviously now we’ve grown and we have a whole team, but what I think what was successful for us is, was actually my corporate background.
Because that gave me a lot of discipline. It gave me a lot of understanding of how to use technology to better our processes and you know, You know, a lot of problems, , I deal with a lot of contractors are no shows or late or not organized. Then basically I’m like, , this is exactly how we need to separate ourselves is, you know, commit client communication is key.
For us we say, Hey, if you’re going to be late, we just need to let them know. And this way we’re not wasting anybody’s time or, let everybody know when we were starting, when we’re finishing. Every step of the way, it gets communicated and then again, using technology, a lot of software that allows us to stay organized.
So I brought that into the construction world and it really has paid off. So, sticking in those early days a little bit longer, you’re obviously leaving corporate, and now you’re about to be in the roofing business. Like, what did the people around you say?
Like, was the family like, Oh, great. Now you’re going to be in the roofing business. What are you talking about? Like, how did that go? I don’t feel like every, or was there, I know me when I, and I’ll talk about myself for a second. I know when I went into media and this. The, and I left corporate, they’re like, I’m, everybody wasn’t like, Oh, Adam, you’re a genius.
You should go be a podcaster. That is not what took place in my world. What took place in your world, Sam? it’s a funny and good question to ask, because I was that corporate person that suited up and Yeah, me too, me too, so I’m over here behind the microphone, like, are you kidding me?
They thought I went crazy. Yeah, and but I always like people, you know, It’s so nice because it’s so different when you’re dealing with a customer that’s buying something for themselves versus a customer that’s buying. I know that, but what the question was, let me ask the question again.
What did people around you say? I want to know, genuinely. Yeah. Yeah. They were like, you don’t fit that world. You know, you, you like to polish and your shoes are too expensive and this and that, you know, I don’t know about that. I’m like, well, sales is sales, I think I will fit.
The reason I asked that is for our listeners. Cause there’s other people that want to go out there and do things and people are putting them in a box and maybe they need to hear from us about how people put us in a box and we still decided to do what we wanted to do, right?
That’s exactly right. You know, you’ve got to expand, at the end of the day, you’ve got to be flexible, it’s just the world changes, , all the time, , who knows what’s what’s happening down the line. If you’re not flexible out there, you’re not going to grow , and the only way to grow is to put yourself out of the comfort zone.
If I don’t want to grow, I just stick with the same thing because I know it. And, can’t learn anything. The moment I step out , and put myself in discomfort, I’m forced to learn that helps me grow. So. Yeah. That’s basically what happened. It was a field that I was not, I mean, I was in the technology world , and now I’m in the construction and it was a lot of stuff that I had to learn basic stuff, even size of woods.
I didn’t understand what, , what is a two by six. Yeah, no, I get it. Did you have other like entrepreneurs, like family members or things like that, that were kind of guiding you or mentors because you were corporate before I know I didn’t have.
And so were you kind of in the entrepreneurial scene at all? I always call myself an accidental entrepreneur. I didn’t mean to become one. It just kind of happened. What about you? I agree. I did not you know, no, my family members are basically, you know, this, they stayed the straight line and, , we’re, , basically employees and such.
No entrepreneurship, , no guidance. These are the things that you need to pay attention to or anything like that. I was blessed that my partner was an entrepreneur. So, , I learned a lot from him and. Also, , he guided us , to the whole motion. So that part, I know it was scary, starting something new and, and it’s like, okay, I’m, now responsible and then there’s no more, paychecks coming in.
And you got to go sell baby. The good thing is you had the sales skills, right? I had the sales skills. I did have the sales skills , and it worked very well because , If you’re genuine, that’s all I know. You’re true. And, , and I think I always believe in karma. Karma is a big thing for me.
So once you’re in front of the customer and they feel good about you and you feel good about them and , you’re giving the right advice that’s good for them. Then the rest pretty much, , it’s the way you like to be sold. It’s like, Hey, just tell me the truth, cut the fat and be honest.
And many times we’ve been out there and we say, you know what, in our reality. You don’t need to do anything. If you want to do it, we’re here to do it. This thing will last you quite a few more years. But so, and then they appreciate that. And then that’s, we have very good reviews on Google and this and that.
And so I think, , People are super happy. I do, I would like to know some of that information for sure. Like, how does somebody know when they need, you know what I mean? Obviously going to change, but like, how does some people know when they should be considering, like, replacing a roof or any, they’re getting some work done other than obviously their, you know, their living rooms full of water, right?
Yeah, that’s definitely indication. Number one, that’s an indication. But other than that, like, when we’re talking late, It’s a late indication, but but yeah, and that’s, that’s important because a lot of houses there are basically two, two major types of well, there’s three, I should say, but majority of those are, are based into two different materials.
One is what is called the asphalt shingles, basically composition shingles, which majority of the houses have, and the other ones are, the tiles, whether they may be clay or. Concrete type tiles on the shingle side. It’s a lot easier. The easiest way to tell is, you know, you go out in your yard when it’s sunny and you look at your roof and if your roof is glittering, you know, it’s time to change the roof and the reason is glittering is because.
There are these granules that sit on top of the material, which is a protective layer. And these start falling off, basically may be weather or sun or whatever. They start falling off and that’s what really protects your roof. And then what you’re seeing that’s glittering is the fiberglass.
That was the next layer out there and, and that’s when, you know, it’s time because now you have no protection water will seep through the fiberglass and the damages, , it’s kind of stitch in time saves nine type of a thing. Cause if you wait underneath it’ll be damaged , and then of course if it comes in the house, that’s worse, but cost of wood is high and replacement is high.
Okay. So. You want to do that. So it’s a lot easier to Identify that on shingles, asphalt shingles with tiles. Unfortunately, it’s next to impossible other than you getting the, water in the house. But what you need to be mindful if you do own a house with, you know, tile clays, which, a lot of Spanish tiles are out there and such.
So the tiles. They last forever. There’s nothing that will go wrong with a concrete or clay tile. However, there’s a material that is installed underneath the tiles, which is called felt paper. And Typically, that’s the piece that starts going bad. It starts drying up and cracking, and then when it’s exposed to moisture, it will seep through.
So, if you have a house that has those types of roofs clay tiles or concrete tiles, typically the lifespan is about 20 years. So it’s always good to look at it if it’s within about 20 to 25 years, it’s really time. To change just the paper, you don’t need to change the material on the top of this.
So all the tiles are removed, the old paper is removed, and then now things have improved in regards to material. So it’s the last, you know, the next time around, you’re talking 30, 40 years that the other material, the new materials lasting a lot longer than, of course, things that was installed 20 years ago with the qualities that change the materials has improved.
So, that is based really on time. If you own a house that, nothing has happened in regards to your roof upgrade , in about 20 to 25 years, you definitely want to go through that motion and having that material changed, which is not expensive because the bulk of the expense is really the tiles are expensive, but those are saved and it’s just what goes underneath that, is replaced.
So that’s pretty much what it was about 90 percent of the roof. What areas do you work in? You mentioned at the beginning of this, but I want to circle back to that. What areas do you primarily serve? Yeah, sure. So, of course, we serve the entire Orange County. We serve entire LA County , and Riverside are the areas that we concentrate on.
And those are within driving distance, you know, we can get to the clients on time, , anything further, like, , Palm Springs and such, we don’t service just because , of the distance and we can’t provide the services. Proper support that we need to, so it’s anything within about an hour and a half of our office, which is located in Santa Ana.
Fantastic. Well, Sam, this has been a lot of fun having you on the show and hearing more about even your, entrepreneurial journey, man, going from corporate to roofing and glad you made the change and you’re out there making a difference. And it’s fun. It’s fun. I love to hear these stories because I’ll tell you, there’s other people out there that will listen to this.
That maybe they want to do some things. And I feel like sharing these types of stories helps empower others to be able to go live out their dreams and to make a difference too. So thank you for coming on and thank you for sharing. And if somebody is listening to this or watching this, and if they want to if they want to follow up, if they want to learn more , about your company, one stop roofing, how do they do that?
So, obviously, we have a website, they can always, of course, with Google and a type in one stop roofing and we’ll come right up. Our website is the numeric one and then stop roofing. So it’s W. W. one stop roofing. We have a phone numbers nine, four, nine, eight, one, eight roof, which is seven, six, six, three.
So, nine, four, nine, eight, one, eight roof. If you want to call us. If you want to look us up, just type Google, just go One Stop Roofing, sign, you can put in Santa Ana if you want, but we will pop up. Fantastic. And for everybody listening, just so you know we’re going to put the link in the show notes so that you can just click on the link and head right on over.
And if this is your first time listening to the show, then hit that subscribe or follow button because we’d love to have you back. This is a daily show each and every day. We’ll We’re bringing you new content, new ideas, and hopefully new inspiration to, help you along the way in your journey as well.
And don’t forget to come out to the mega mix expo March and it’s going to be mega mix expo. com is the website. So go check that out. And the dates are, I think, March 12th, March 13th. So again, mega mix expo. com, go check that out, grab some tickets. I’m going to be there. I’m going to be doing live interviews and Sam’s going to be there too.
He’s got a booth. So definitely come out and participate in Sam. Really appreciate you coming on, Matt. It’s been a lot of fun. Looking forward to seeing you.