Gary Howes, R.J. Radobenko & Steve Little - U.S. Roofers Compete on the World Stage - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with R.J. Radobenko of Global Roofing Group, Gary Howe of Durable Slate Company and Steve Little of Cape Post Roofing and Waterproofing. 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 seatbelts and join us as we embark on this exciting roofing road trip.

My name is Megan Ellsworth here at Rooferscoffeeshop.com. I am so excited. Welcome to Roofing Road Trips. Today we are talking about the 2024 IFD competition, and I have the greats here with me. I have Gary Howes, Steve Little and R.J Radobenko. Hi gentlemen. How are you?

Thank you for being here.

Gary Howes: Hello.

Steve Little: Hello. How are you?

Megan Ellsworth: Good morning. Okay, so Gary, let's dive right in and I'll just have you start with introducing yourself.

Gary Howes: Sure. My name is Gary Howes, the Chief Operating Officer for the Durable Slate Company. We're based in Columbus, Ohio. We specialize in historic slate, clay tile copperwork. Been around since 1986. We work all over the nation and a little bit international.

Megan Ellsworth: Very cool. R.J, welcome. Can you give us a little bit about yourself?

R.J. Radobenko: My name is R.J Radobenko. I'm the CEO of Global Roofing Group and Global Wall Panel Group and Global Waterproofing Group. We service general contractors and owners across the United States. We are founded in 1971 and happy to be here.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Steve Little, tell us about yourself.

Steve Little: I love following these guys. Well, my name is Steve Little. I'm the head coach at Cape Post Roofing and Waterproofing. We're in Dallas, Texas. I'm also the founding partner of National Roofing Partners, also based in Texas. We are a commercial roofing and waterproofing group servicing the North Texas marketplace on the Cape Post side and on the National Roofing partner side, we have 258 contractors that service regional and national clients across the U.S., Hawaii, the Virgin Islands and Alaska.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing, amazing. So Gary, I'm going to pick on you to go first. Can you tell us a little bit about the international Federation for the Roofing Trades and how the U.S. is getting involved this year?

Gary Howes: Sure. So the IFD, we'll call it for short, was founded 70, 72 years ago or something like that. And they have a meeting once a year on the odd-numbered years. They meet sort of as, they call it congress or a seminar-based type meeting with their members. And then the even-based year is a young roofers competition, which is obviously what we're going to discuss today. And that brings their full member companies, full membership organizations together to have their young roofers compete in several different disciplines. And we have a good fortune this year to be the first ones to go and participate in this competition.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. So excited. So Durable Slate, can you tell us what your team is competing in?

Gary Howes: So the category we compete in is what they consider the steep slope category. The host country picks the types of materials from certain manufacturers and they also help guide the installation standards. So we're going to be doing a natural clay tile roof installation. It's from a German based clay tile manufacturer and another product called Eternit, which is a synthetic cementuous based roofing shingle.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Okay. Steve, can you tell us what your team is going to be competing in?

Steve Little: We're going to be competing in the TPO side of the business, the single ply side of the business. Sika Sarnafil is the product line that we're working with on that, and of course adapting all the European standards for that.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, we'll get into that in just a second because I'm sure there's lots of different differences between American and European standards. R.J., what are y'all competing with?

R.J. Radobenko: We're doing metal roofing and metal siding.

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome.

R.J. Radobenko: More European standards, ornamental metal. I would call it more like building statues. Not really roofing in my opinion, but it's amazing work.

Megan Ellsworth: Cool. Yeah, very detailed, I'm sure. So I'm just going to have each of you kind of talk about the challenges in getting the necessary tools and adapting to these European standards. Steve, do you want to go first maybe?

Steve Little: Sure. We've received all of the starting materials and we've had a few practice sessions with that. We started this week, now we're doing two practice sessions a week. We have a backup person for one of the two guys in case one of them back out. Based on some of the stories that Gary shared with us about things that have happened over the years, we wanted to make sure we had a backup. We have one of our trainers in the roofing apprenticeship program that's teaching currently at one of the ABC schools is our trainer and mentor for the guys that'll be traveling with them. And we don't have any of the waterproofing products yet that we should have received at this point. Sarnafil hopes that we should have those sometime in the coming week.

Megan Ellsworth: Nice. R.J., what are the different European standards that you all are having to adapt to?

R.J. Radobenko: On the metal side, well, I would go back just the basics. They have a metric system versus imperial, so that's inches versus centimeters. That's a huge difference for how we measure things in the United States versus Europe. So that's a huge thing. Also on our end, we have different tools. On the metal side, there's tools that we haven't used before in the United States that they use over there. We also have directions on how to install this and the directions are hard to translate.

They're in different languages. They also have different terminology for roofing details too, which is also challenging. We call something a barge and then they call a turnip. So they're all the same detail. They're just completely different names.

So those are some of the things that we're navigating. That's just the basics, just to understand what we're doing. Then we have materials. Materials are completely different. We don't use the metals here very often, if at all. We've got cold manufacturers that manufacture certain type of aluminum and steel and copper that are different thicknesses than ours and different style, different quality and so they can hand bend them. It's different than the US materials here when it comes to metal.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, interesting. I totally forgot about the metric system versus our system. I'm blanking on the name of our system, but that is a huge difference to start out. Wow. So Gary, can you kind of speak to some of the standards that you all are adapting to?

Gary Howes: Yeah, I would kind of echo what R.J. said. I think we're probably running into the same thing. It's all the same challenges. The materials aren't the same materials we're accustomed to using. While we do clay tile here in the US, our clay tile that we use in the US is much harder. It's fired much higher. So the density of the clay tile is hard to cut, usually have to use a grinder or wet saw to cut natural clay tile here in the US. But in Europe they use a much softer clay tile.

And they don't use these grinders. They use a different hand tool. So we've had to order that and get it shipped over, get it expedited, because obviously time is not on our side here. And same with the Eternit. It's a product that has been sold here in the US, but it's got a special tool that they use to cut with. And both these tools will be provided for our guys while they're competing there in Innsbruck.

So we thought it was important that we get the exact same tools that they'll be using over there to use here and sample pieces of the exact same material. So our challenge has been, our materials are a little heavier than the normal material you use. So getting things shipped in an expedited manner has been a little bit of a challenge, but we're working through those challenges. It's first year stuff.

Megan Ellsworth: So you kind of touched on it as well, but I wanted to mention the competition is in Innsbruck, Austria this year, in November. And how are your teams adjusting to these differences? Are they doing well? Is everyone stressed out of their minds? Steve, maybe can you touch a little bit? How is your team doing mentally

Steve Little: Well, candidly, we freaked out a little bit at the beginning because the materials are different. The welder temperatures are different, the materials are different, the tools are different, metrics, we smiled when R.J. said that because when that first came out a month or two ago, it was all just a totally change of thought process. But now they're settling in and they're starting to get excited about this. It's only five weeks away I think, guys, that the competition is happening. And it's becoming a reality. So we're continuing to transition from that freak stage, as you mentioned, to an excitable stage.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, absolutely. So R.J., how did you find participants that fit the age and the experience requirements? What does your team look like?

R.J. Radobenko: I want to add one more thing to the last question. Power. Different voltage of power. If you have hand tools you have to plug in, that's different. We have to have different tools that we have to use here, that's another game.

Megan Ellsworth: And adapters.

R.J. Radobenko: And the tools when they're using 120 versus 210 or imperial versus metric, the tools themselves actually operate differently. So your drill doesn't actually go as fast, or it might go faster based on the power that you's plugged into. So it's very interesting. So we have to learn that too, your tools all over again.

Megan Ellsworth: Really quick follow up on that. Are you using the U.S. tools but with an adapter or are you using completely European tools, like it has already the correct plug?

R.J. Radobenko: Well, luckily on my side I don't have very many plug-in items.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, that's good.

R.J. Radobenko: Yeah, we're all hand tools. But in Steve's scenario, he'll have to plug into a different adapter on the generator or a different plug-in for the bare mat or any welding mat that either welding machine is using. So that's just a different challenge. Just for us, it's more basic, just if we plug in versus hand drills. And also, well, I don't want to go down that road, but hand drills, you have to power them. So you can't bring your own hand drills, you have to power and adapt and you're doing big power conversions. It's a different game of roofing. Power's part of the game a little bit.

Okay. So answer your question then. So what am I doing with my team to prepare or how are we finding-

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, what does your team look like? How did you choose who is participating?

R.J. Radobenko: Well, for us, honestly, I would say that our age group for roofing is a little bit older than they start in Europe, for sure. So to find people that qualified for this was actually very challenging for us. We have just under 700 people that work for our company, and to find the age range, the appetite, the ability to get a passport, the knowledge base to understand how to install metal and then want to go out there and put themselves at risk on behalf of the United States. It's a lot of pressure. So that's hard to go out there. But we had a couple of people that were very interested, one that was very, very interested but didn't qualify, just missed the birthday. But we also as a team talked about having a backup between Gary and Steve and I. So we thought it was a good idea, so we have a backup as well too.

Megan Ellsworth: Nice. And just so everyone out there listening knows the age requirement is 28 or under, correct? So 18 to 28. And, like you said, R.J., a lot of rovers in the U.S. are older than 28, especially if you want them to be experienced. So Steve, Gary, what do your teams look like and was it difficult to find participants?

Steve Little: Gary, go ahead.

Gary Howes: Okay. Yes, it was difficult. We don't have quite as large a pool as R.J. has with his company. They have a very large company, very successful. Ours is much smaller. It's hard in general in this. Everybody that's listening to this understands that finding young folks that want to enter into this industry is a challenge in and of itself. So our two young guys, both of them are 22 years old. Yeah, they're young. A little bit of the same thing that R.J. Found is that not everybody was gung-ho to do this. It's a bit of a daunting task. Most guys have not traveled to Europe like this. And so that was a big thing that they kind of pushed back against just the worry of traveling and it's just intimidating.

So certainly commend not only our few guys that are practicing for this, but also R.J.'s and Steve's guys. It takes a lot of courage to confront all this. I mean, this is a big deal. And so our guys are young, don't have a lot of experience, as R.J. mentioned, but over in Europe, these guys are starting at 15, 16 years old learning the specific trade. And by the time they're entering into this competition, they've been at it for a good 10 years with formal training.

So yeah, I think all these guys that are going and even the company's taking the time and the money and resources it takes to do this, it's commendable to all the companies and people involved.

Megan Ellsworth: What does your team look like?

Steve Little: Well, we have three guys and a mentor. A mentor is in his forties. The three guys are 22, 24 and I think 25, have never traveled outside of the United States before. Much less going to Austria for something like this. So there's a little trepidation on that side of it. Just like what Gary and R.J. said, these guys that we'll be competing against started when they reached puberty and they've been doing this trade and the specialty their entire lives. So it is going to be a challenge, but we're competitive Americans and it's our first competition that we're competing in. And so we're excited about representing, candidly.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, I know. I'm really excited. Heidi and I we're-

Gary Howes: Excited about having you and Roofers Coffee Shop there representing us and taking in all the information and helping us promote the event.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yes. I'm so excited and honored to be joining you all and documenting the whole trip and also to be able to meet all of these young Roofers as well. I'm 26, so getting to interact with people the same age is always very exciting. I'd love to know, maybe Gary, you can start out, what does your training process look like? What are they doing right now to prepare?

Gary Howes: So we have to build a mock-up. There's a very specifically designed mock-up that every competitor is going to practice. We all compete off the same. So the first challenge was getting that built and they're pretty big. I don't know about the other guys' mock-ups exactly, but ours is a pretty big mock-up, we got that finished. And then resourcing or sourcing all the materials or finding materials that are comparable, maybe not the same, but comparable materials for our guys to practice with was the next thing.

And so the one thing that's a little different on our part of the competition is in the United States as roofers, we don't necessarily expected to do a lot of the carpentry work before you put the roof on. Where in Europe they put this batten system down. It's a bunch of wood slats. So our guys are having to learn that trade and technique on top of actually working with those unique materials. So there's like an added step to what we do.

They're just practicing with those things. The layout, using the metric system is a repetition thing. Honestly, metric is simpler than learning fractions, but it's different nonetheless. It doesn't matter if it's simpler, it's still new and it's different and so they have to go through that process. But yeah, we're kind of in the beginning stages of practicing because we just kind of got most of our stuff lined up and in place to use. It's going to be challenging, but like Steve said, we're up for it. We're going to go and give him our best shot.

Megan Ellsworth: R.J., what are your guys doing to prepare?

R.J. Radobenko: Well, first of all, I've had to talk to my guys out of quitting this challenge probably like a dozen times now.

Megan Ellsworth: You're going to do great.

R.J. Radobenko: And then the other thing too, as Gary didn't point out is the rest of the world, they want to beat the crap out of the U.S. So they're ready to attack us and we're sitting here trying to figure out what the heck we're doing. But I think the key thing for us is we're carving the way, we're trying to figure it out so that we can set up the next team to come in and actually have a lot of success with it. So there's a lot of things we're working through that we don't know and it's uncomfortable and we keep on pushing and challenge each other. This is a big task to step up and do this.

So how we're doing it is Friday beer day training day. Friday at noon, everyone shows up on the mock-up that Gary's talking about and we hand out unlimited beers and they can train for as long as they want on this board. The challenge though, honestly, is what Gary said, it's not the same material. So we tried to source the material from Europe and they said it would take about seven, eight weeks to get here and we didn't source it fast enough, so therefore we're practicing with not the exact material. So we'll see when we show up how that's going to work, but that's the best we can do given the timeframe that we got.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Steve, anything to add on how they're training?

Steve Little: We do four-day work weeks, so we're Monday through Thursday except for weather. So these guys are doing Fridays and Saturdays. They started two a week this week, and Thomas said, Thomas Williams, who's our vice president, a part of our education program and works with our fleet and things like that. He's taken this challenge on as the officer of our company. And so their Friday and Saturday work is what they're doing. And we were all given a standard dimensions to work from to build our mock-ups. So the mock-ups are built, we're working with the materials now. We have the right tools.

Converting to the metric system was easier, Gary, but these guys didn't know what the metric system was before. So just that whole concept of a transition them into that. And when the waterproofing materials get here, which it's supposedly on a ship docked in Houston right now and we're supposed to have it within the next two weeks, we'll see what happens. That little dockside strike that went on, held it up for an extra week, we were told. And we'll see.

But I concur with what R.J. said is that everybody wants to take the Americans down. We're late to the game in roofing. These guys started this centuries ahead of us. And we've come back as a pretty strong group in the roofing world across the United States. So I think we'll have a great showing and we will pave the way for others to come behind us.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, absolutely. That's what it's all about, right? Is paving the way, getting it started so others can come up behind. Exactly. I'd love to know, are there any specific skills or knowledge that you're hoping your team will absorb while they're at this competition? R.J., maybe you can start.

R.J. Radobenko: I mean, yeah. Can we figure out what the heck we're doing when we get there? No. Watch somebody else. No, I think there's two things, right? So obviously you've got our team that is going to see some incredible craftsmen, see a dual install that's amazing. I mean, what they're doing out there, in a lot of ways is just abnormal, in my opinion. I think it's a testament to what they've been doing for a while. That's number one. The second thing I'm actually hoping for and will see is actually headhunting. There's people out there that are interested in moving to the United States, project manager-wise, employee-wise and we've been interested in entertaining them to come to the United States and see what kind of skills they got to help us out in a lot of ways.

Megan Ellsworth: I love it.

Steve Little: So you're going to be on a recruiting trip here. You're sending over your recruiter to go with the team.

R.J. Radobenko: Yeah, yeah. Should go with Megan.

Megan Ellsworth: I love it. Gary, what are you hoping your guys take away from this?

Gary Howes: I hope they come back with a sense of pride needs to say in being who they are, which is craftsmen in the roofing industry and that it matters and to get a bigger picture of what the roofing industry looks like. And I hope that becomes contagious with an organization as well as the whole industry in the United States. Like Steve said earlier, we're so excited to have Roofers Coffee shop there because you guys are going to do such a great job of capturing all this. I think in the end... The first time's always tough, the first time we do anything is there's so many unknowns and whatnot.

And it's not the first time for us, but it's the first time for the IFD to try to get this over to a country like ours. Most of the competitors besides the guys from the UK all speak, German or French is kind of the common languages. So their translation process, they're all in the metric system. It's all been kind of easy. So the IFD bringing someone like the United States and has been quite a challenge for them as well. And so they're learning and I think with what you guys capture with us kind of working out the bugs the best we can, we come out the other end. We'll probably compare notes and position the United States to be in a much stronger position going into the next competition two years from now, to compete more confidently and be much better prepared.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah. Start earlier too. Get everything you need and yeah, it's exciting. And maybe some of these, since everyone's teams are so young, maybe some of them can compete again and have that knowledge already. So Steve, what are you hoping your team takes away from this?

Steve Little: We do a lot for our white collar employees involved in the industry. The RCA and the various associations that are out there are always promoting something in reference to education and training. And our fields have a tendency to get left behind in that national or regional look. So we're very excited that we're able to take some of our folks and promote them and have them go out and represent, which is something that doesn't happen enough in our local associations with our field team.
We've announced it at two safety meetings now. They're starting to get a little bit of motion going and a little bit of enthusiasm about the momentum that we're gaining from this. And we hope that it continues on and it has us look for other things we can do locally in the United States for our teams and do something with it. So that's what we want to get out of it. I've been fortunate enough to be around these two guys and they and their companies are always figuring a way to move the industry forward, and we're proud to be part of that. So we hope that these guys bring that back for our field side of the business.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's awesome. I love it. It truly is the Olympics of roofing. It's just amazing how many countries are competing, and it's so cool that you all are bringing teams. I think it's just this is going to be so special. So how do you see, going off of what you said, Steve, how do you see this experience influencing future generations of roofers here in the United States? Maybe you can answer first, Steve.

Steve Little: There's a lot of momentum happening now with the roofing industry. I mean, you see the apprenticeship programs, you see what we're doing with the high schools. You see what we're doing with the Clemson University. The roofing that really wasn't out in front for a number of years, it's now starting to get out in front. I'm a member of ABC and I went to the national event. And there's a lot of chatter about roofing, which is kind of cool that we haven't had that before. So it's a proud industry. The folks that are in it are successful. So I'm hoping that this continues that momentum that's going across the country.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, Gary.

Steve Little: I want to know where the swag is before we get off this call here, because we want to outfit our guys and the trainers, especially the people that are going to stay here that've been working with them. We want to outfit them with something so we can keep this kind of thing momentum happening inside the company. So I'm hoping that R.J. has got his marketing team all over that.

Megan Ellsworth: Ooh, R.J.?

R.J. Radobenko: I got something special worked up. Don't worry.

Megan Ellsworth: I'm so excited.

R.J. Radobenko: I just need sizes. I just need sizes.

Steve Little: Good. We can make that happen.

Megan Ellsworth: Perfect. Either R.J. or Gary, how do you see this influencing future generations of roofing professionals?

Gary Howes: I'll go first guess. Well, to kind of build up what Steve said, the timing couldn't be better, I think. The trades are really making a comeback at the national level for all trades. Not just roofing of course, but it's becoming much more acceptable for someone to go into the trades and work with their hands and be regarded as someone that's succeeding in life and making an honest living. That's a respectable trade.

Along with the SkillsUSA, you know the SkillsUSA is something that the NRC has just tapped into in the last couple of years and that's really getting its legs under it and we're getting more and more traction there and more and more participants from around the United States. So I think with what we do at SkillsUSA as well as what we're doing here with the Young Roofers competition, it's just bringing a lot of awareness to the camaraderie and the spree de corps that the roofing industry is developing. Like Steve said, it's always been that way, I think, for the business owners and the executives of the company, but to bring it into the level of the actual craftspeople, it hasn't really happened at the national level. I think each company probably does its best to make it a thing, but to celebrate it and bring it together as a national thing, I think is terrific. And having the NRC a hundred percent behind this, it'd be incredibly powerful, I think.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. R.J., how do you see this influencing future roofers?

R.J. Radobenko: Well, I think at the core, all the field are craftsmen at their heart and all craftsmen want to stand back and look at their work and feel like they accomplished something and be graded and rated. In roofing, you can have two different roofs installed and both of them function, which means that they both keep the water out of the building, but both of them can look completely different aesthetically. And the one that looks really nice, aesthetically, it was installed by a craftsman, someone that really cared.

And the one that's not installed and looks like crap was not installed by a craftsman or installed by a junior guy. So in the field, the best credit for a field guy, a craftsman, is to get the credit that they deserve on the install that they put the time and energy into. So there's nothing better than being in front of a world stage and doing that, and that'll bring out the best people in the United States that want to go do this. We're just setting the path, but the best people I think they're going to come out. And this will also create an avenue for people to actually practice to become the best, to show up, to show it off. Big deal.

Megan Ellsworth: And to encourage their companies to get involved so they can create a team and go. Or they find a company that's involved and they're like, "I need to be a part of this." That's truly exciting as well. So this is our first year competing, the United States. How do you see our involvement in the IFD evolving in the future? Do you think this could become a regular part of the U.S. roofing industry culture? Maybe, Gary, you can start with that.

Gary Howes: I certainly hope it does. There's a lot of time and effort and energy, and it's not just started this year. I mean, this has been something we've been working towards for a number of years. So we would love for this to be the first of many, but it's got to be successful in many different ways. And I think that's why having Roofers Coffee Shop there is going to be important because you guys will be able to capture things that R.J. and Steve and I aren't going to... We put roofs on.

When you watch the actual Olympics, the sports Olympics, they do all these personal interviews of the athletes and you get to know the athletes and personal level and their struggles and their trials and tribulations through life to maybe work through and get to the world stage. And I think lots of guys and gals out there that are going to see this are going to think, "Wow, that's pretty inspiring. I think that's pretty cool." And it supports what the NRC is about. It's growing the industry, and we can't grow unless we have new folks wanting to enter the industry, especially at the younger age. And so I think we will continue to do this. There's going to be a lot of growing pains. There'll be a lot we learn from this first time through, but I think it's all going to be worth it in the end.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Steve, how do you see our involvement in the IFD continuing?

Steve Little: I see it continuing for a while now as we start to get leaders excited about this and we start to get international recognition for the NRCA and for the U.S. roofing industry, I can tell you that the three of us will be very influential and pushing our mates across the NRCA platform to continue.

Megan Ellsworth: R.J.?

R.J. Radobenko: So Steve and Gary did not mention, but we're all in the NRCA Global Advisory Committee and with that committee, we actually voted to become a member of the IFD as far as the association is concerned. The NRCA is part of the IFD and the IFD is part of the NRCA. What's unique about that is that the European certifications and requirements for installing are way higher then the United States. Also co-regulation, evolution of green roofing, water reclamation or recapturing.

There's a lot of avenues in Europe that we don't traditionally have. So when we start sharing things, books and resources and tools, as well as case studies of what has happened when it comes to failures, that's going to be a huge deal for us, from an association standpoint. And then there's code adoption and install practices and tools. The best tools for install actually come from Europe in my opinion. So to get some of the tools here that would actually help us out and make us better as well.

Steve Little: Megan, do you see why Gary and I hang out with him?

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, he's smart. Smart, smart guy. This is just, I am giddy, honestly. I'm so excited. This is going to be so cool. And truly, Roofers Coffee Shop cannot thank you all enough for having us come with you, being your boots on the ground journalists. We are so excited to cheer your teams on. We will be the loudest ones there, I'm sure. And this has just been amazing. Do you gentlemen have any other pieces of advice for fellow team members or just anything to say in regards to your excitement to be involved with this? Maybe, Gary, go ahead.

Gary Howes: I think I really want to get out of this is that we create interest in this going forward that eventually that the United States would have its own competition, in all the different disciplines and different categories. And that the people that go to these won't be just the brave three that said, "Yeah, what the heck? I'll do it." But it's actually a process where maybe regionally, young roofers can get involved and practice and earn their way up through the ranks and actually be the guys that, who just like you do in the Olympics where you go to the Olympic trials and you do the regionals and the state and national and then you are the best of the best. And I think it would be wonderful one of these days for the United States to get to that point where we can have the level of competitions that bring the absolute best out. And I think that's when we'll definitely leave our mark. I know we are the best Roofers in the world.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, I love it. Steve, do you have anything to add?

Steve Little: I don't have anything to add. I'm really excited that we're breaking the ceiling here and participating in the European event. I'm hopeful that we get to the point that we can have a national event as well. And it is very exciting. It seems like anytime there's an Olympics that's going on, the country gets this USA rah rah feeling going. I'm excited about what your marketing's going to be out for this. Can't wait to get the results. We'll all be at an NRCA fall meeting while this is going on, and so look forward to you reporting back and we can pass that on to our fellow members that are there.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. R.J., any last words?

R.J. Radobenko: I just wanted to say thank you to Steve and Gary because without these two guys willing this together, it's like we're all together as a team. And then also the NRCA with McKay and John and then Roofers Coffee Shop as well as you guys. If we all work together doing this, my team might've convinced me to quit at some point in time. So having everybody pushing forward and giving us resources and tools and helping us and try to get us somewhat comfortable, I think it's been a huge deal for us to try to keep pushing to make the event happen. So I just wanted to say thank you for everybody and their time on that.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, absolutely.

Steve Little: Amen, good team.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, and congratulations. This is huge. You all should be very proud. Your teams should be very proud to be representing our great country and our great industry. This is just absolutely revolutionary and congratulations.

Steve Little: I think if Charles Antis was on this call, he'd be going USA! USA! USA!

Megan Ellsworth: He would be.

Steve Little: So we'll do our best Charles Antis impression.

Megan Ellsworth: I can't tell you how excited Roofer's Coffee Shop is. We will be there, boots on the ground coming to you live on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, all the places. Stay tuned on our TikTok and Instagram as well for updates on how our teams are doing and the whole event as well. Just all the different, the dinners and everything. There's going to be all sorts of great activities. So stay tuned. And also make sure you subscribe and ring the bell for Roofing Road Trips wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm sure we'll be coming doing more podcasts about this in the future months or month until the competition. And gentlemen, thank you so much for chatting with me today.

Steve Little: Thank you.

R.J. Radobenko: You're welcome.

Gary Howes: Thank you, Megan.

Outro: Yes, you're so welcome. Thank you. Everyone out there listening, go to Rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more and we will see you next time on Roofing Road Trips.

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.