Dan Cougar - From Roof Fall to Innovation - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Dan Cougar of Cougar Paws. 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.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello, and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from RoofersCoffeeShop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth, and today, I am so excited because I get to chat and visit with one of my dear friends who I have been working with over 20 years, for sure, off and on and that is Dan Cougar with Cougar Paws. Dan, welcome.

Dan Cougar: It's a pleasure, Heidi, it really is.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is such a pleasure. We worked together back in the day, I was able to do a little marketing for Cougar Paws and watched you as you grew the business. What a great, great company you've grown.

Dan Cougar: Yeah, it's been an adventure, to say the least. It really has.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It has.

Dan Cougar: I mean, people don't realize how many issues you have with manufacturing. There's too many moving parts, and one little thing just crashes it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Does the whole thing, I tell you what. So, okay, let's start with an introduction. If you could introduce yourself, tell us what you do with Cougar Paws as the owner and then, also, let's talk a little bit about what is Cougar Paws. Give us a little bit of what it is and your story.

Dan Cougar: Okay. My name is Dan Cougar, I'm the CEO and founder of Cougar Paws. We make the number one roofing boot in the country. It's been truly just the greatest adventure of a lifetime. It's the American dream, you think of something, you go from theory to patent, the patent to production and then, all of a sudden, you're the number one boot in the country. It's just been absolutely amazing, it really has.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It has been so fun to watch, and watch the growth and the innovation that has come [inaudible 00:02:04]. So tell everybody a little bit ... Let's start at the beginning, how did it all start?

Dan Cougar: Well, I started to roof when I was 12 years old, and I was really good at it. I worked for a guy who was a little bit of a drunk, and he'd hire nothing but drunks from the bar, so by the time I was 16, I ran his crews. In 1977, I was a senior in high school. I made 75 bucks a day cash then, which was a lot of money back then, a serious lot of money. My first fall was in my senior year in high school, I went to pick up my football equipment and I fell two stories.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, man.

Dan Cougar: And actually broke my neck, I didn't know until I was 30 years old, which is crazy.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, actually, I've heard this story, and every time I hear it, I still go, oh.

Dan Cougar: Yeah, how am I alive? That's the [inaudible 00:02:53]. But in saying that, I've been in the roofing industry my whole life, again, since I was 12, so when I got through college, I started my own company with a friend of mine, him and I were partners. He's deceased now. But I was out and about going around and driving to the Home Depot, I had to pick up some supplies and I just had that sweet little thought in my mind that came from God, [inaudible 00:03:21] to my mind, put a piece of foam on the bottom of the shoe. And we were making all kinds of tools with foam cushions, I mean, you see all the Spanish guys, they had their foam cushions they'd take from behind that upholstery place and couch cushions and they'd throw them out there. So I knew how well they stuck.

So my first pair of Cougar Paws, which is a great story, I buy a homeowner [inaudible 00:03:43] trowel, I cut the bottom of it off, I staple it and glue it to the bottom of my Nike shoes. I get out to this house, and it's a little Cape Cod, 12x12 front, 4x12 back. And it's only one story, so I tie off the ladder and I'm going to climb up and climb back without worrying about it. So climbing up was easy, so get up there, walk around, look around. Start to come back down, I'm thinking, wow, that's pretty steep. Anyway, I mean, I'm not afraid of high by no means, plus I pole vaulted in high school. I'm thinking, this is only 10 foot off the ground. I have the ladder tied off, I'll just walk down towards it.

So I start with like a crawl, like a crab crawl. I have my hands on my side and just run slow, thinking I could reach down and grab the tabs. Usually, you can grab the tabs and pick them up and just hold onto them. But they're all glued down, so they're all burnt to the roof, so I can't grab anything. So I get about a third of the way down, and I [inaudible 00:04:39] slipped once. Next thing you know, I'm standing. Before I got to the ladder, I'm standing on one foot. So it was amazing.

And I went from that idea to, okay, how can I bring this to market? What is the best way? So I started looking at ... I went to every foam manufacturer in the country that made anything close to what I could use, and sponge rubber was the ultimate. I mean, it was incredible, it had more coefficient of friction than anything else in the market. But it wore out, which was also a Godsend. [inaudible 00:05:19] buy my boot, they buy a pair of pads at least once a week. And the boots pay for themselves the first time they buy them because their production will double [inaudible 00:05:28].

They can do things they could never do before. So I mean, that's what we really designed it for, is production. And there is a great safety feature to it, unless you're stupid and you do things like ...

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Not tie it off, those things, yeah.

Dan Cougar: ... Yeah, roofers, we're not the brightest bunch of the pack. But anyway, that's how our first pair ... And I should've kept that first pair.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes, you should've, and had it bronzed.

Dan Cougar: But anyway, so we started manufacturing back in the day. We started with a tennis shoe. I had a [inaudible 00:06:05] group who was making them for us in the US, so they bring them in, they bring the uppers and lowers. And meeting with them and some attorneys, there was one thing that I didn't have, they said I'd be liable if I didn't have it. I didn't have a wear bar on it to show you where you can wear it to safely, and I needed a template in order to put it on so they couldn't put it on wrong and slip and stumble and fall. So I came up with a lip on the outside of the shoe, which we know now, you stick the insert into it. But at that point, I said to them, why don't we make some prototypes? Oh, the molds are already made, we can't. We can just make one change, we can't change anything else. Have fun.

I took their advice, which was bad. So I have a half a million dollars worth of shoes getting made, and I start to run out of the starting blocks. I sent it to some other friends of mine that own roofing companies, my son played soccer with his kid, so great guy. Calls me, and he's so excited about the product, he wants to sell his roofing boots, buy into my company and sell them across the country. So calls me the next day and says, listen, we have a problem. I said, what's happening? He goes, well, I'm on a 12x12 roof and my one shoe's on the ground. I said, what do you mean? He said, the heel just popped right out of the back, because we had no flex points at that point. [inaudible 00:07:27], all these shoes made.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, no.

Dan Cougar: Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, [inaudible 00:07:33].

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, man.

Dan Cougar: The money that I had saved my whole life just went down the toilet. I had to raise more cash, so I sold part of the company just to raise the money just because of that one minor error.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Dan Cougar: And then, we came to the plate and we had everything. I mean, my first show, I'll never forget it, Ken Hendricks came up to my booth, him and Diane and he talked to me, he told me I should be in catalog. It was like a few, three weeks after the show, my secretary said, hey, this is Ken Hendricks from ABC Supplies on the phone. So I answered the phone, hello, sir, how are you? Hi, he introduces himself again. I said, I remember you, sir, I buy product from you. He said, well, listen, he goes, you have a patent on your product? I said, I do, sir. He goes, well, you want to sell it?
And I started to laugh, I said, well, I really appreciate it, I take that a compliment. He goes, if you want to buy it, I know I have a winner. I said, in 10 years from now, you'll probably still want to buy it from me and I'll sell it to you for 10 times as much and go on my merry way. And he laughed and said, yeah, you're probably right, but you need to [inaudible 00:08:46]. I said, fine, have this guy call me, I'd be happy to be at [inaudible 00:08:50]. So that was the beginning of my process ...

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Dan Cougar: ... after just one show in Vegas. Yeah, it was amazing.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's amazing, really, to have Ken Hendricks calling you after one show.

Dan Cougar: Yeah, after one show, buying it, right?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah, that's huge.

Dan Cougar: Yeah, and it's funny, too, because he was so nonchalant, oh, I want to buy it, I want to buy it, [inaudible 00:09:12], yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow. And so, since then, since those first ones that went so well and I mean, I was there with you as you were marketing them and it was going out and they were just selling crazy. One of the things that I don't know if a lot of people know, is that it wasn't just for the production and the roofing contractors, it was also adjusters. You did really well with adjusters.

Dan Cougar: Oh, this is a greater story. So I had all these boots, so I have thousands of them, tens of thousands. So anyway, so I go out ... there was, in 1999, was a hailstorm hit Fairfax, Virginia. It was golf ball sized hail. I'll never forget it, I'm sitting there and I had downsized the construction part, I was upsizing the boot manufacturing part. So I look outside and it's black, and you can see it's just letting loose and the phone starts ringing off the wall. So I'm out there doing ... I mean, it broke deluxe skylights, it broke everything. It just totally trashed all northern Virginia. So all of a sudden, the adjuster starts coming to town and so, there was an adjuster that met me on a job and he looked at me and said, I'm not walking up there. I said, what size you wear, 13s? He goes, yeah. It was almost lunchtime, I said, go to lunch, come back, I said, I have something special for you.

So I meet him back, I gave him a pair of boots and of course, I had cut the lip off of it because I had ... Flexible. So I stuck it on, and he walks around on the roof and he just can't even believe it. And most of these adjusters stay at like an Extended Stay where they can cook and they could do whatever. So there must have been 40 or 50 adjusters in the same complex he was in, and I said to him before he left, gave him some of my cards, I said, you have anyone that needs help with their estimate or they need help with their work to get done, just get my cards out. So I said, if you have any adjusters that are interested in the product, let me know, I'll bring them to the hotel. I gave away 40 pairs of boots.

Meanwhile, it's so funny because they all called me and I told them all the same thing. Look, I don't want any money from you, just give my cards out, refer me, send me their estimate if they want to use me and we're good to go. Honey, I sold five million in two months of work. Yeah, and back then, I didn't even do siding, I'm [inaudible 00:11:52]. So it worked out perfect. So I was made whole, and I was able to buy more boots. And the crazy part was, they took it across the country, because it went wild with them. Even Corporate, State Farm, Travelers, they're all buying direct from us.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, I mean, and this is still ... This is the main ... Yeah.

Dan Cougar: [inaudible 00:12:17] today. So one of my favorite insurance stories is, I'm at an insurance show in Florida and a guy walks up and there's probably like, 20 people around the booth. He goes, dude, I have to tell you the story of the first time I ever saw your product. He said, I pull up on this job site and this woman adjuster's on this roof. It's like a 10x12 pitched roof. She's got a ladder up, she's walking around, she's got her squares marked off. And she's yelling at me from the time I get out of the truck, you're late, I have a appointments, get your ass up here, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I'm looking at her thinking, how's she doing that? I can't do that. How is she walking around? He said, finally, I climb up the ladder, she's bitching the whole time. And I get to the top, and I finally said to her, how can you walk around? What kind of roofer are you, you don't have a pair of Cougar Paws? Because that was our line. Oh, yeah, he bought a pair that day and overnighted it. Anyway, he's telling this story at the booth. I mean, I couldn't have paid him for better advertisement.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know. Word of mouth.

Dan Cougar: The adjusters of the world have really helped me go across the country, because every storm, boom. We're getting ready for an onslaught, with all the tornadoes this year, we'll be [inaudible 00:13:35].

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, and you constantly think about the turnover with adjusters. There's always turnover, there's always new people coming in, they're always going to need it. And then, of course, you are super strong, obviously, within the roofing industry and within the restoration contractors who are working all these storms.

Dan Cougar: Yeah, we sell it to everyone, I mean, even personal people are now just buying it to clean their gutters out or [inaudible 00:14:01] up and do whatever, any kind of maintenance on the roof. So it's been wonderful, we've improved the product, we've tried to improve it every year.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Speaking of innovation, this isn't just for asphalt roofs anymore, you have done a lot with metal roofs lately and magnetic boots. Tell that story.

Dan Cougar: Well, there's a guy named Ben Donaldson, he's from Australia. Good guy, really a character, truly. He was like, Man of the Year in Australia for saving a bunch of people's lives on a jet ski, going out and getting them out of the ocean. But anyway, saying that, he called me, I don't know, five years ago or so, he went to ABC Supply first and they sent him to me. So talked to him on the phone, he had a patent on a magnetic boot. So he sends me all the information and I said, listen, he goes, listen, mate, I want to come over and talk to you face-to-face. I mean, he was on a plane in two days. Him and his wife spent a week at my house, took him all around Virginia, took him to the office in [inaudible 00:15:07] and we cut a deal. I mean, I'm his only distributor for the product around the country.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That is amazing. Okay, so I was at the trade show where you and I connected last year, and was watching what you do in your booth with the boots, throwing them to see if they hit the metal and they stick. It's amazing, it's such a great ... I mean, you look at that and you go, you're not going anywhere. I mean, you can walk it, but you're not going to fall ...

Dan Cougar: Exactly.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... unless you do something stupid, like we talked about before.

Dan Cougar: Yeah, [inaudible 00:15:40] put that in. Now, originally, when we started showing shoes, everyone in shows, they just walk by, they don't see everything. You have to catch their eye somehow. When we started, we hired very classy girls, we put them in Cougar Paw's golf shirts and with khaki shorts and we had them walking up and down that 10x12 pitched roof all day. And they stood above everybody else, we had 5D [inaudible 00:16:09]. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't rocket science. After that, the industry started getting a little sleazy with their clothing. Yeah, we're talking Vegas. But anyway, so after we did that part of it, when we came back, I came up with the idea of making a little [inaudible 00:16:26] kind of thing, where you'd throw the boot and stick it on there and if you touch the bullseye, you would win a free pair of boots. And we give away probably 40 a year, 40 [inaudible 00:16:39] every time ... And again, that's perfect, because you pack them in, they want [inaudible 00:16:45] prize, even though some of the people don't even want it, they just want to throw the boot.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, and see how it sticks.

Dan Cougar: See how it sticks. And it's amazing, because once they stick and they push down on it, they're sold. Because like a refrigerator magnet, it holds weight straight down, but you can pull it off very easily. That's just [inaudible 00:17:03] our boot.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, that makes so much sense.

Dan Cougar: And yeah, it's perfect.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What's the feedback you're hearing from contractors and adjusters on the metallic boot? Or magnetic?

Dan Cougar: It's all been very positive. We made some huge strides since Benny invented it. We changed the outsole. So if you remember touching it, it's really soft, really sticky. It's very cool. And I love that part of my job, I love the job of inventing and doing the whole market thing and the day-to-day, not so much. [inaudible 00:17:42] is smarter than I am, I have to do that.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You're a visionary, that's it, every company needs a visionary and really bringing that to the market. So as you're looking at today ... And what year was it again, Dan, that you started?

Dan Cougar: 1999, we started.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: 1999. Man, I remember that so well.

Dan Cougar: [inaudible 00:18:04], yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, 1999, and then, to today, when you see the growth of your company and just the growth of the acceptance of the boots, both the traditional Cougar Paws and then, the SteelWalker, I mean, tell me a little bit about how that feels. And I know you have your son working in the business, it's another roofing success story.

Dan Cougar: Yeah, it's been wonderful. We're all here for a short period of time. I've always believed in making a difference in the world, so I have increased people's paychecks and yet, let them come home in a safer way. I mean, I've [inaudible 00:18:50] off the roof three times, one was, I walked off of one story, which is not really a good story to tell, but I did, I walked right off it. I hit, rolled and again, I [inaudible 00:19:00], so it was not a big deal. Then I fell off a porch, the two-story fall was the big one. But no one wants that for anyone, you know what I mean? And if they're sensible and they're not stupid, our product can bring them home every day.

When I first started, there was a adjuster I met out on a job in [inaudible 00:19:19], Virginia and he gets out of the truck and he has a pair of Cougar Paws on his feet. I said, how do you like them? He's ranting and raving and he's going, well, the guy lives around here. I hear the guy lives around here. I said, I am the guy. No, you're kidding me. You wouldn't be working. I said, what do you mean, I wouldn't be working? I'm still working. [inaudible 00:19:36], but I remember, I had some friends in my manufacturer's room from Mexico and we went to this restaurant and I give the girl my business card, it says Cougar Paws on my American Express card. She goes, you're Dan Cougar. I said, well, yeah, what do you mean? What do you mean? She goes, I have Cougar Paws, I was an adjuster for a while. I says, does that mean I get a free dinner? She goes, no.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: But it's really exciting meeting you. Thank you so much, this has been so much fun. The past, the future, we're getting a little bit of everything, but you know what? Let's talk about right now. What is the best way for everyone listening out there to get their own pair of Cougar Paws?

Dan Cougar: Well, there's two ways. I mean, we're in every distributor of the country. You can go to any place. You have two options, obviously, you go to the distributor, you're not going to pay shipping. You come to me, you're going to pay shipping. And you need it in a hurry, and the store don't have it, you call us, we ship with them usually with a day or two.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. I love it. Everybody needs Cougar Paws, I'm just saying.

Dan Cougar: When you buy Cougar Paws, they pay for themselves the first day you buy them. It's no different than the nail gun. Do you remember back in the day, no one would buy the nail gun?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Dan Cougar: They gave away the nail guns, and just so you'd buy the nails.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. And now, that's all we have. That's all we use.

Dan Cougar: That's all we have.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. I love it. Dan, thank you, thank you so much.

Dan Cougar: [inaudible 00:21:15].

Heidi J. Ellsworth: This has just been the highlight of my week, my month.

Dan Cougar: [inaudible 00:21:19].

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And we'll have you back again. I want to hear how everything goes, we'll do it again towards the end of the year.

Dan Cougar: I'm here, I'm always available, [inaudible 00:21:27].

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Always great. Thank you, and thank you all for listening. I mean, you have to get your own set of Cougar Paws. Visit the directory on RoofersCoffeeShop to get all the information. Look for them in your local distributor. This is what really, productivity and just going home at night ...

Dan Cougar: Amen.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... the right way. That's the right way. So check it all out, check out all of our podcasts under the read, listen and watch navigation of RoofersCoffeeShop, under Roofing Road Trips or on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe and set those notifications so you don't miss a single episode. And we'll be seeing you next time on Roofing Road Trips.

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