A roofing business can bring in millions and still leave its owner with little to show for it. Lance Bachman built and sold companies by focusing on the leadership, systems, and profit behind the sales. In this conversation with Jay Miller, he challenges the idea that Texas roofers have to depend on storms and explains why staying coachable matters even after the money starts coming in.

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Want to build a career in roofing sales? Miller Storm offers sales training, coaching, and mentorship for people ready to learn and grow.

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Meet Lance Bachman
00:52 Getting Into Buying and Selling Businesses
01:37 Can Retail Roofing Work in Texas?
03:05 Finding Leads Beyond Door Knocking
05:20 What a Business Partnership Brings
07:07 What Lance Looks for in Operators
08:12 Revenue, Profit, and Building to Sell
09:23 Money, Time, and Family
10:19 Staying Out of Industry Drama
12:36 Choosing the Right Growth Partner
13:46 Keeping Cash in the Business
15:07 Why Leadership Matters Across Markets
16:04 Staying Coachable and Setting Standards
17:17 Change One Thing at a Time
19:08 From Hard Work to Better Strategy
20:28 Giving Your Team the Credit
20:59 How Family Keeps Success Grounded
23:01 Handling Money and Personal Growth
23:38 Addiction, Recovery, and Distractions
25:46 Jay’s Growing Faith
27:01 Building a Business That Runs Without You

CONNECT WITH JAY MILLER

📸 Instagram: @roofdoctorjay
📘 Facebook: Jay Miller
🌍 Website: https://millerstorm.com/

Like the video, share one change you’re making in your business, and subscribe for more Hard Knocks conversations. Send this to a roofing owner who’s ready to build beyond the next storm.

More sales won’t fix a roofing business that costs too much to run. Eric Hernandez hit eight figures in roofing and expected another year of growth. Instead, sales slowed, the bills kept coming, and he started selling his watches and gold to keep the office running. Eventually, he had to face what he’d been holding onto and rebuild a business he could afford to run.

JOIN THE MILLER STORM TEAM

Want to build a career in roofing sales? Miller Storm offers sales training, coaching, and mentorship for people ready to learn and grow.

Apply to join the Miller Storm team:
https://millerstorm.com/applynow

CHAPTERS

00:00 Eric Hernandez Returns
02:05 Eight Figures and Hiring Mistakes
03:07 Building Support With Overseas Talent
07:10 Delegating Tasks and Protecting Time
10:59 AI for Roofing Operations
12:03 Dashboards and AI Sales Training
14:50 Why Eric Rejected a Partnership
17:17 Commercial Roofing and Payment Delays
20:32 Cutting Overhead and Rebuilding
23:05 When Growth Outruns Your Systems
25:28 Financial Clarity and Repeatable Training
29:03 How Jay Found His Partner
34:42 Bringing Two Teams Together
36:24 Turning Salespeople Into Leaders
43:10 Leaving the Office, Staying in Business
44:34 Content and Roofing Suppliers
46:30 Rebuilding Around Standards
50:45 Keeping People Too Long
51:21 Selling Assets to Start Over
53:10 The Cost of Pride and Ego
55:00 Cash Reserves and Profit Margins
56:37 Why Selling More Isn’t Enough
57:46 Door Knocking Takes Consistency
1:00:18 Choosing the Right Roofing Mentor
1:02:37 Connecting With Eric and Jay

CONNECT WITH JAY MILLER

📸 Instagram: @roofdoctorjay
📘 Facebook: Jay Miller
🌍 Website: https://millerstorm.com/


Like the video, comment with a business expense you’d rethink, and subscribe for more Hard Knocks conversations. Share this with an owner who keeps saying, “I’ll just sell more.”

In this video, Jay Miller and Brandon Dawson get into what has to change when you can’t keep doing everything yourself. If growing your roofing business keeps costing you more hours, this conversation is worth your time.


JOIN THE MILLER STORM TEAM
Want to build a career in roofing sales? Miller Storm offers sales training, coaching, and mentorship for people ready to learn and grow.


Apply to join the Miller Storm team:
https://millerstorm.com/applynow


CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Brandon Dawson
01:04 From Las Vegas to the Oilfield
04:49 Starting His Own Roofing Business
09:18 Lessons From His First Year
11:28 Investing in Leads and Growth
13:13 Becoming the Leader Growth Requires
14:45 Changing His Circle and Mindset
17:41 Keeping Your Word Matters
20:59 Leading From the Front
23:05 Building Culture Through Standards
26:11 Sales Income and Insurance Delays
28:13 Should Top Sellers Become Managers?
29:56 Costly Mistakes and Customer Communication
31:38 Betrayed by Someone He Helped
38:16 Faith, Giving, and Finding Purpose
41:46 Divorce, Therapy, and Starting Over
44:51 Routine, Mentorship, and Leading by Example
49:45 Learning From Coaches and Masterminds
51:15 Adapting to Insurance Industry Changes
52:19 The Class 4 Shingle Debate
54:16 Growing From $2M to $20M
56:19 Learning to Trust After Betrayal
1:00:33 Connecting With Brandon and Jay


CONNECT WITH JAY MILLER
📸 Instagram: @roofdoctorjay
📘 Facebook: Jay Miller
🌍 Website: https://millerstorm.com/

In this video, Jay Miller sits down with a guest who came to America from Siberia, slept in a car, and started a flooring company after his boss filed for bankruptcy. They talk through his journey into roofing, why he decided to sell his business, and how helping other roofers grew into classes and events.


JOIN THE MILLER STORM TEAM
Want to build a career in roofing sales? Miller Storm offers sales training, coaching, and mentorship for people ready to learn and grow.


CHAPTERS
00:00 The Promise That Started It All
00:39 Jay Introduces His Guest
01:14 From Siberia to Wisconsin
04:48 A Month Sleeping in a Car
05:58 Building a Future for His Family
15:01 Winning His First Flooring Customers
18:01 Choosing His Family Over Ego
19:18 Learning to Be His Own Boss
23:07 Deciding to Sell His Roofing Company
25:11 Walking Away at the Peak
26:16 Opening His Doors to Other Roofers
28:38 How Free Classes Became Events


Apply to join the Miller Storm team:
https://millerstorm.com/applynow


CONNECT WITH JAY MILLER

📸 Instagram: @roofdoctorjay
📘 Facebook: Jay Miller
🌍 Website: https://millerstorm.com/

John Huffman went from addiction and a night in the back of a police car to rebuilding his life through faith. Years later, he found himself a million dollars upside down, working 90-hour weeks, and watching the pressure of his business spill into his family life. In this episode of the Hard Knocks Podcast, John shares what it took to start over and why he now helps other entrepreneurs through the same kind of struggle.

Jay Miller opens up about his own experience: making money while privately wondering how he’d get through the next day. He talks about the help he found through John and Bryce, what he’s learning about his business, and how his priorities at home and his faith are changing.

Watch the conversation, then tell us which part hit home for you.


Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more interviews and stories from leaders in fitness, business, and beyond. No fluff. No filters. Just real stories from the front lines of roofing, sales, and leadership.

© 2026 Miller Storm. All rights reserved. Results may vary. No guarantees.

***Join Our Team Today***
https://www.MillerStorm.com/Team

***Website, Facebook, & Instagram***
https://www.millerstorm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jay.miller.282455
https://www.instagram.com/roofdoctorjay/

In this episode of The Hard Knocks Podcast, Jay Miller sits down with Drew Lazeration, Sales Manager at Florida Roof Advisors, to break down what it really takes to transition from rock bottom to elite sales production and leadership.

Drew opens up about his journey from getting arrested seven times in eighteen months and couch hopping to earning $14,000 in his first 20 days in car sales at age 18. After walking away from dealership burnout, he transitioned into roofing, generating $100,000 in year one, crossing $200,000 in year two, and scaling past $350,000 in year three.

Jay and Drew dive deep into the mechanics of door-to-door sales, outworking the competition by hitting 75 to 100 doors a day, why follow-up is where most reps fail, and how to train reps through live field mock knocks. Drew breaks down the painful lessons of stepping into leadership, the mistake of handing responsibility to people before they are ready, and why true leaders count others more significant than themselves.

We go over: • How Drew went from repeated arrests and couch surfing to high-ticket sales • Leaving the car dealership grind for a $350,000 roofing career • The 1-in-4 success ratio in door knocking and why volume beats talent early • Why top producers fail as managers when they hold onto me-first mindsets • The exact follow-up system and field mock knocks used to build closers

Whether you are in roofing, sales, entrepreneurship, or leading a growing team, this episode is packed with practical advice, mindset shifts, and leadership lessons that can help you sharpen your discipline, master the doors, and lead selflessly. Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more interviews and stories from leaders in fitness, business, and beyond. No fluff. No filters. Just real stories from the front lines of roofing, sales, and leadership.

© 2026 Miller Storm. All rights reserved. Results may vary. No guarantees.

Join Our Team Today
https://www.MillerStorm.com/Team

Website, Facebook, & Instagram
https://www.millerstorm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jay.miller.282455
https://www.instagram.com/roofdoctorjay/

In this episode of The Hard Knocks Podcast, Jay Miller sits down with Cory Cullather, 16+ year digital marketing veteran at WebFX and SEO.com with over 30 years of combined general contracting experience, to expose why most roofing companies burn money on marketing agencies, how to set real expectations, and what it takes to transition from pure door knocking to predictable inbound revenue.

Cory breaks down his origin story growing up in electrical and general contracting with his father before moving into marketing out of frustration with how agencies mistreated tradesmen. Jay shares his own $7,500 monthly burn stories and why he previously gave up on SEO. Together, they discuss the fundamental disconnect between contractors who expect instant results and marketers who fail to set realistic 90 to 120 day ad ramps and 4 to 6 month organic SEO timelines.

Cory explains why companies making under $3M should use a sniper approach with Google Business Profiles and LSAs in specific zip codes, while $5M to $7M+ companies aiming for $20M to $40M must invest at least 4% of gross revenue into multi-channel marketing to build the 30 to 40% inbound deal flow required by Private Equity buyers.

They also tackle the rising battle between AI and real authenticity. From cookie-cutter AI social flyers and automated review responses to sending ChatGPT messages to family members, Jay and Cory discuss why homeowners buy from real humans. Cory shares actionable tips on how door knockers can record raw neighborhood check-in videos on roofs, tag specific locations, and build dominant local presence.

Finally, they dive deep into multi-touch attribution tracking in CRMs like AccuLinks, identifying true customer journeys across yard signs, Google searches, and door knocks, and how rewarding top referral partners with high-end custom gifts (like branded pickleball sets) creates self-sustaining referral loops.

We go over:

• Why roofers burn thousands on marketing agencies due to bad expectation setting and poor tracking.
• The exact timeline for digital returns: 90 to 120 days for PPC/LSA and 4 to 6 months (270 days for peak ROI) for SEO.
• How to scale past $20M without relying solely on door knocking ("looking like the pigeon lady from Home Alone").
• AI vs Authenticity: Why automated review responses harm rankings and why raw video check-ins win homeowners.
• The 4% Rule: How much of gross revenue contractors must re-invest into digital marketing to dominate saturated markets like DFW.
• Customer journey & CRM tracking: Attributing multi-touch leads, tracking referrals in AccuLinks, and rewarding key advocates.

Whether you're in roofing, sales, entrepreneurship, or leading a growing team, this episode is packed with practical advice, mindset shifts, and leadership lessons that can help you hold marketing agencies accountable, build authentic online authority, and scale your contracting business predictably.

Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more interviews and stories from leaders in fitness, business, and beyond. No fluff. No filters. Just real stories from the front lines of roofing, sales, and leadership.

© 2026 Miller Storm. All rights reserved. Results may vary. No guarantees.

Join Our Team Today
https://www.MillerStorm.com/Team

Website, Facebook, & Instagram
https://www.millerstorm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jay.miller.282455
https://www.instagram.com/roofdoctorjay/

In this episode of The Hard Knocks Podcast, Jay Miller sits down with Kimba Garcia to talk about what it really takes to build a roofing company, navigate major life changes, and create a business that gives you more freedom, not less.

Kimba shares her journey from hairstylist to roofing entrepreneur, co-owning and scaling a $16.5M roofing company, navigating divorce, launching a new roofing company, and eventually making a successful exit from ownership.

The conversation goes deep into what it’s like being a woman in the roofing industry, why women can excel in communication, culture, business development, and leadership, and the challenges that come with building in a male-dominated space.

Kimba also opens up about losing her close friend London, how grief changed her definition of success, and why peace, purpose, family, relationships, and impact matter more than money alone.

WHAT WE COVER:

• Why sales and business ownership require completely different skill sets
• What women bring to roofing, leadership, and business development
• Why operating agreements and exit plans matter, even between spouses
• How divorce and financial misalignment can affect a business partnership
• Why the next revenue opportunity is often already sitting inside your CRM
• The E3D rule: touching every active file every three days
• How VAs and sales support roles help prevent missed revenue
• The difference between buying leads and buying qualified appointments
• How micro call centers can help roofing companies build smaller, more productive teams
• Why every appointment can become a referral, review, neighbor conversation, or future opportunity
• Selling the value and importance of a roof instead of simply selling an insurance claim
• Why roofing companies need to prepare for an insurance-retail hybrid model

Whether you’re in roofing, sales, entrepreneurship, leadership, or building a business with your spouse, this episode is packed with practical lessons about systems, partnerships, resilience, purpose, and creating a life beyond the business.

Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more interviews and stories from leaders in roofing, sales, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

No fluff. No filters. Just real stories from the front lines.

© 2026 Miller Storm. All rights reserved. Results may vary. No guarantees.

JOIN OUR TEAM:
https://www.MillerStorm.com/Team

WEBSITE:
https://www.millerstorm.com/

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/jay.miller.282455

INSTAGRAM:
https://www.instagram.com/roofdoctorjay/