Growing your business through impactful change

RCS Influencer Charles Antis says that by helping out their community, his roofing company has seen incredible growth.

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a video from Charles Antis, CEO and founder of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing. You can watch the video or read the transcript below. 

Charles Antis: I'm Charles Antis, the founder and chief people awakener here at Antis Roofing in Irvine, California. I'm super excited to talk about what strategies helped us stay competitive while still profitable, that we're planning on bringing into the new year in 2024. I always love talking about things that make us successful. What makes an successful year in and year out is this.

We don't chase growth for growth sake. From the top, we chase impact and the only way we can create impact is through people. And so we do what this thing that we like to say, our insides match our outsides. And I'm gonna talk about the outsides first 'cause I discovered that first. But if you know, and you follow us, you see us that we're involved in community all the time and we're involved in old programs like donating the roofs for Habitat for Humanity, Orange County, where we've donated the last 93 families roofs in a row. 

If you've watched us over the last couple years, you've seen that we've started blood drives because we needed it, cause clinics were closed down. And today, I think today is our 117th blood drive. I haven't even gone over to look at it yet. A 117th blood drive, which is incredible. We've raised 8,000 lifesaving treatments of blood. So that's exciting. And that's with an old program, but there's a new strategy.

So what are we doing now? Well, right now we're super excited because in 2023, carrying over the 2024, we're starting a new program to build tradesmen, those that protect homes. Roofing professionals from an earlier age, Savannah High schools, partnering with Antis Roofing and the National Roofing Contractors Association, where we're gonna build in roofing into their, into their curriculum. And they're gonna compete this year, next year in the SkillsUSA competition. 

And the reason that matters is because if we do things in our own markets that work, that are repeatable, that are re-tellable, they become scalable. What we do in California, you can try in Florida and Texas, and we share these ideas like we have in blood recovery, like we have in donating roofs for habitat like we have all together in donating all of the roofs for all of the Ronald McDonald houses across the country. We imagine we can do something big for bringing youth to the trade and also protecting all these families and helping keep the kids safe and dry while they're at the Boys and Girls clubs. So this is what we're dreaming, we're carrying over the into the new year.

But it's not just the outsides, like I said, it's the insides. It's what do we do for our people. If you hear me talk about being the chief people awakener, you'll all hear me say every day that I have the best CEO seat in Orange County. I really believe that. But I can only keep that if I'm willing to build the best seats for any other position in the country, in the company. And so I make that claim, come to Antti and, and we'll invest in you. Do you want to go to a national event every year that that builds something in our trade? We'll send you. Do you want to join a class? Do you want to go to college? We'll help pay for it because if invest in you, you'll be stronger.

And one of the things I'm most excited about that we plan on carrying over in the 2024 is this huge investment we've made. Not just in the office personnel, but we're a construction company and most of our employees are immigrants or first gen from Latin American countries. And now we're investing in them not just being understood and being heard, but really in understanding themselves with, with Latin American tutors, teaching them eq, teaching them things like Myers-Briggs, things that help to understand how to communicate, understand who we are so we can, we can fit better into the world. And what we found is all of us are growing, all of us are growing, and we're growing together and we're growing stronger again. We are chasing impact, not growth and profit. Yet last year we had our most profitable year ever in 2023. Now that had a lot to do with the rain, but let me tell you, through rain or shine, our giving on the outside, starting from the inside will keep occurring because that is powerful in this trade that protects.