Brooke Laizure - Meet Beacon’s 2024 Female Roofing Professional of the Year! - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Brooke Laizure of Beacon Building Products. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts to on-the-road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seat belts and join us as we embark on this exciting Roofing Road Trip.
All right, hello everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at rooferscoffeeshop.com, and I am back for a Roofing Road Trip podcast. I'm so excited because today I am interviewing the 2024 Beacon Female Roofing Professional of the year, Miss Brooke. Hi, Brooke. How are you?

Brooke Laizure: Hi. I am doing so good. So excited to be here.

Megan Ellsworth: Yay! Excited to have you and excited to learn more about your story. Let's just have you start off by introducing yourself.

Brooke Laizure: Okay, great. My name is Brooke Laizure. I'm the owner of Whirlwind Roofing and Construction, out of Bixby, Oklahoma, which is a suburb of Tulsa and I'm also the current chair of the National Women in Roofing Oklahoma Council.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, amazing. Congrats.

Brooke Laizure: Thanks.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. We love National Women in Roofing here.

Brooke Laizure: Same.

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. Can you share a little bit more, just about your history and culture of the company?

Brooke Laizure: Absolutely. So I got into roofing by accident, which I think a lot of people do. I was going to college and basically had a break for summer and my dad was a roofing sales manager for another company and I just started to ride along with him and getting on roofs. And I found it really fun. I really liked talking to the homeowners, and the insurance process was really fun for me and my dad was like, "It shouldn't be fun at all," and was joking around.

And then I also, with the age of social media, got on YouTube and I saw other women like Becca Switzer teaching people how to sell roofs,and then Alina Wilson about the supplementing process. And it just really opened my eyes that women could do this as a career path. And so me and my dad, we had a storm come in with a tornado and we were already planning on starting our company, Whirlwind and saw it as a sign. And we started about eight years ago, and it's just been a whirlwind ever since. It really has.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Yeah, I bet, wow. So how did it feel to win the Beacon Female Roofing Professional of the Year? That's a pretty big accomplishment.

Brooke Laizure: It was shocking and very humbling. I'm so grateful to be the winner. It still hasn't sunk in yet, to be honest. I didn't even know I was nominated until they called me and told me I was a finalist. So that was really exciting and awesome, and you just really don't know how much support you have in your community and your family and your friends until something like this happens to you. And it's just been really awesome the whole time.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, absolutely. That's so funny that you didn't even know. You were just one day working, and you're a finalist, boom!

Brooke Laizure: Yeah, she called me in my office and let me know who nominated me. Deborah in our office nominated me, and then also an independent adjuster also nominated me, which I was really surprised, David Tinney, so it was really awesome.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, it's so nice to have that recognition from your peers and coworkers. That's so rewarding. So how important is it that we recognize and celebrate women-owned roofing businesses, going off of being recognized?

Brooke Laizure: It is extremely important to recognize and celebrate women-owned roofing companies and just women in general in the industry, because I don't think a lot of people think this is a career path for them and so we are really involved. Me and my dad, we really like Build My Future, because it goes for high school kids and we teach them how to nail shingles on and cap nails. And we got our local National Women in Roofing Council involved, and the women just love it. And just seeing those young teenage girls light up when they know that this is a possibility. And that you don't necessarily have to be on the roof to do this job or be in this industry. You can be a supplier rep. You can do supplements. You can work at Beacon. You can do so many different options.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, so true, and just like any industry, there's media, there's marketing, so many different roles. And you can be on the roof if you want to. That's awesome.

Brooke Laizure: Absolutely.

Megan Ellsworth: So many options. Love it.

Brooke Laizure: Yeah, it's fun. It's always different every single day.

Megan Ellsworth: So true. It's always a ride, a whirlwind.

Brooke Laizure: Yes, whirlwind.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, okay, so what would you say to other women who want to get into roofing, besides what we just talked about?

Brooke Laizure: Just go for it. There's so many different areas you can get into, education, there's YouTube videos on how to get in. My biggest thing is if they're interested in roofing specifically, to go to a local National Women in Roofing Council meeting, because there's so many across the entire United States and Canada now, actually which is really cool.

Megan Ellsworth: And New Zealand.

Brooke Laizure: Oh, wow. I had no idea. That's really cool. But there's so many different women that go to those meetings and they're all in different sides of roofing, so I feel like that would probably be the best for someone that's interested in getting involved in our industry.

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. So since this is Beacon's competition and award, how important is that relationship with your distributor?

Brooke Laizure: It is critical. It is the most important part of the build process. I will say that I met my rep, Steve Lightfoot at a National Roofing Oklahoma meeting. He came to that, which was so cool and introduced me to Beacon. And I do like Beacon's customer service. I feel like it goes above and beyond what it should. For instance, if I want a custom ordered attic breeze, they get it delivered to me, to my office within 48 hours, which is crazy. If I want a specialty shingle from Minnesota or somewhere really far from me, I get it in a week and it's never no, that's what I really like about them. They're always like, "Sure, I got it." They're really great. Our local branch manager, Hector, he's amazing. He is literally the best.

Megan Ellsworth: I love that. Shout out to Hector.

Brooke Laizure: Yeah, Hector and Steve. They're the best. And also the drivers are really great too. So sometimes I'll have extra material, they'll come out and pick it up and bring it back for me. The customer service is just out of the world. It's really great.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great. That's great. And it's nice to know that you're taken care of too.

Brooke Laizure: Yes. Every time I don't have to worry at all. And if I need anything extra, it's just a text away and an hour later they're at my job site. It's awesome.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Wow. That is speedy.

Brooke Laizure: It is.

Megan Ellsworth: And also it's nice to see them rewarding their loyal customers and business leaders that are doing great things in the industry like you and winning these awards. So that's sweet. So what is some advice you have for roofing contractors trying to create that bond with their distributor to help their business?

Brooke Laizure: I would go to all the events locally. They put on so many events where you can meet manufacturers directly, you can get those contacts. And then even on a national level, if you go to IRE, you can meet people from all different areas of the country and you can get those contacts, which have come in handy sometimes for me personally. So I would just go to their events, also use their free tools. I just found out about Beacon Pro Plus, which is really awesome online ordering and they're so great. Jace got on a call with me and we did a Zoom and we did our orders through there and then I had a little hiccup and he got on within five minutes of me emailing him and we just rolled with it. And I would say use the tools that they offer.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Yeah, absolutely. Why not? Especially if they're free or easy to use or they're there for you. Absolutely.

Brooke Laizure: There are so many tools too. I didn't even know that they offered Hail Trace as an option for when hailstorms happen, and that was really cool. So they're always getting better. They're always getting better.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, adding different opportunities and things you can use. And like you said, the customer service is great too.

Brooke Laizure: It's amazing.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Well, I'd love to know, what's a goal from here? You've won Female Roofing Professional of the Year. What's next?

Brooke Laizure: I think just honing our systems to get just a little faster. That would be really great. And maybe hiring some more people in our office just so we can work more efficiently. That would probably be the next goal of mine.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Well, Brooke, congratulations again and thank you so much.

Brooke Laizure: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Outro: Absolutely. For everyone out there wanting to know more about this competition, go to Beacon's directory on rooferscoffeeshop.com. You can find out more about Brooke and Whirlwind Roofing and Construction and all sorts of other contestant winners from previous years and just the great work that Beacon is doing for their contractors. So go check that out and we'll be seeing you next time on the next Roofing Road Trip.

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