Introducing Darren Schulz, Duro-Last's New President - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Duro-Last President Darren Schulz. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

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.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello, and welcome to Roofing Road Trips. We are live in Saginaw, Michigan at the Duro-Last headquarters, live for Roofing Road Trips and we are so excited to be with Darren Schulz, the president of Duro-Last. Hello.

Darren Schulz: Hi, it's good to see you again.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Again. The last time we talked was in June, and I think it was your fourth day.

Darren Schulz: Fourth day I was down at the FRSA, and I was happy to pop in and say hello. I think we still said I was the new president then, but five months later, I'm not allowed to say I'm new anymore.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: No, and I can't wait to get caught up.

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So let's start with some introductions. This is Heidi Ellsworth and we are live with Roofing Road Trips. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you're doing.

Darren Schulz: Wow. Well, I'm Darren Schulz, the president of Duro-Last and I have been here since early June and I am having a blast. I knew that it was going to be fun joining the Duro-Last family. I've spent most of the last six months, five months traveling, getting to know our people, visiting our sites.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Nice.

Darren Schulz: But more importantly, spending time out in the marketplace, talking to our contractors and our sales folks, just getting to know the people, a little bit of what I described as a listening tour to start with.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. You know what? We just spent the morning with the Gottron family.

Darren Schulz: Oh, yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And I have to tell you, I am really jealous that you got to spend five months going out and meeting all those Duro-Last contractors and sales reps, because across the board, some of the best people in the industry.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. And look, that's part of what attracted me to join Duro-Last to start with, but you really don't understand it until you go and experience it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes. 

Darren Schulz: That's the way I'd describe it. And so it's been one of the favorite parts of my time here in the last few months is riding along, getting to know people, but bringing the history of Duro-Last to life. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: It's an important part of who we are, that we honor the company that we've grown into while keeping the DNA there, that goes all the way back to our founder, John Burt and his vision for what Duro-Last should be. And when you spend time with people that go all the way back, and I met some contractors that go all the way back to where this was a small place and they were like them and their brother and a truck kind of a company, in their first meetings with John Burt. I've heard some great stories around their first jobs together and the first time some of the sales reps when they come on board and their first check they got from Mr. Burt.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes, we heard some of those this morning, too.

Darren Schulz: It was probably some of the folks you were talking to. Yeah. But great stories. But when you weave all that together, it really brings a good foundation for me, being new around the culture, you can read about it, you can talk to people, but talking to more people and being outside of this is a great building we've got here in the Welcome Center, but being out in the marketplace is where it all happens.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's right. And, you know, I was just going to say, we're sitting in here in the Welcome Center and it is spectacular. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And when you look at the timeline, John Burt's desk and kind of a replica of his office, the Gottron family who were here this morning said they found their names in the Rolodex. 

Darren Schulz: Oh, wow.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I was like, "Okay, that is really cool." And so really, the history and just the depth of culture, having been to a couple of your seminars, you have some of the most loyal contractors anywhere.

Darren Schulz: We do, but also we don't take it for granted. Right?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And we see ourselves as partners with our contractors. And so I've learned a lot about what that actually means, spending time with people. And I think as we think about our future, no doubt we'll talk about that today, but the future of the company and our ambitions for growth, it's really important. And we've been saying this since probably my first week, but it's been a really important part of those conversations that it's really important that we hang onto our DNA, which is built around the strength of those relationships with our contractors. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So true. 

Darren Schulz: And so a growth where we lost that culture would be a complete tragedy. So-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. And you wouldn't see the-

Darren Schulz: ... that's not-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... success that you're seeing.

Darren Schulz: No.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Without culture, it just doesn't happen.

Darren Schulz: And look, we all grow together.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Darren Schulz: When we bring new products or we open up a new facility, it's our contractors that get to grow with us.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. So true. Okay, so for everyone listening on this podcast, you have a great accent, if I can say that. And we talked about this a little bit in Florida, but I would love for you to share your story with everyone out there about really, your journey from your native Australia to being now here in Saginaw, Michigan. Tell us a little bit about your story.

Darren Schulz: Yeah, it's funny, because my family thinks that I'm a complete sellout and have an American accent. But to all of your ears, you know-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: No.

Darren Schulz: ... I don't. So yeah, I grew up in Australia. Never would've thought that I'd be sitting here, 50-something years later talking about roofing in Saginaw, Michigan. Grew up in a small, rural dairy farming community. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh.

Darren Schulz: And when I got out of school, I decided that I was good at math, so I should be an accountant. And with all the sophisticated understanding of what that meant, I went off to college and became an accountant. Once I got qualified, I figured out that wasn't for me. And look, I did it for 10 years and I had some fun intellectually, it was, I guess rewarding and challenging, but I like a more tangible work product. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Darren Schulz: And so I was attracted to making a career change and getting into business. And that was how I came to the US. So I came to the US with a view to changing careers, came over here to do an MBA. And out of business school, I joined the world of building products 23 years ago.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Ah, nice. Okay. Oh, excellent.

Darren Schulz: So-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Tell us-

Darren Schulz: That's how a kid from a little dairy farming town in Australia ended up in building products. And you were going to say, "Tell us how you got from there to here?"

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes, but I have to say one thing, there, because you just really hit on a thing. I come from a little ranch in Central Oregon.

Darren Schulz: Okay.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And so I always find it I am always excited when I talk to people who have grown up in other countries on the ranch or on the farm. You know what? We have more in common than not.

Darren Schulz: Right. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: Because of that experience of what that lifestyle is like.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: The lifestyle agriculture, we know what it means.

Darren Schulz: There's nothing harder than dairy farming. My family left the farm when I was a small kid, but we were in and around my mom's family on dairy farming.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Same thing. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. Okay. So MBA.

Darren Schulz: Yeah, MBA.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You go into building products, where did you go?

Darren Schulz: So I moved to Atlanta, Georgia and worked for a company owned out of Australia called Boral. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know them.

Darren Schulz: They since left the US after 46 years, quite recently. But yeah, I joined the world of building products with Boral, initially in clay bricks. And during the time I was there, I learned and worked in projects helping improve the efficiency of production and better customer service and these kinds of things. And after a couple of years of doing that, the guy who was running the quite small roofing business that Boral had at the time, it was traded under the US Tile brand, the clay roof tile business, asked me to go out to Corona, California for a brief visit, which turned into an 18-month assignment that eventually became permanent. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Okay.

Darren Schulz: And so that's how I made my way into roofing. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love that.

Darren Schulz: Started out in clay roof tile.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And US Tile, I mean, we're from the West coast, well-known brand. So-

Darren Schulz: Yep, still there. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... really, and once people get into roofing, you never leave roofing.

Darren Schulz: That's a thousand percent true. So it's funny you say that because at the very time that I was invited to go on this project, which initially was for a few weeks and turned into 18 months and then eventually a full-time role when I became full-time, one of the senior guys in that business said to me, "Welcome to roofing. Once you check into the roofing hotel, you never check out."

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So true.

Darren Schulz: And it's a thousand percent true. He said, "You enjoy the people, you enjoy the space. Sometimes you'll get a great room, sometimes you'll have a corner suite, sometimes you'll move to different floors, but you never check out."

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's so true. Oh, it's so true. And, you know, I think that's one of the things that makes this industry so special.

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Because it's like when you go to one of these trade shows, like when we met at Florida, we'll be going to IRE soon, you just see all your friends.

Darren Schulz: Oh, yeah. And for me, I had worked with US Tile down in Florida 2008 to 2012 and I hadn't been back in Florida for an extended period of time before. And just getting to FRSA, all the familiar faces.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes. Oh, yeah.

Darren Schulz: And for me as well on that front, I've spent some time, as I said, traveling around, meeting our contractors. And an important part of my learning curve was understanding the difference between that residential product that I had built most of my experience in, and commercial roofing. And it was great as I got around to discover that the business that I had once worked in also had Duro-Last contractors. And so familiar faces, people, even at FRSA, I met a couple of Florida contractors who had installed the concrete roof tile that I'd once worked with-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. 

Darren Schulz: ... and are loyal contractors of Duro-Last.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And I think that's one of the things that's so special about Duro-Last is it really is a product, the contractors who are out there and I'm just doing this anecdotally because I see it, but they usually do both commercial and residential. 

Darren Schulz: Right.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And so you're able to get this really bigger picture with these contractors.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. We certainly have a lot of folks that operate that way. And so like you said, it was like returning home to family, in some instances.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is. It's better than the high school reunion, I can say that. That's awesome. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Every year we get to do it. So as we're looking at since June, so four months, five months?

Darren Schulz: Yeah, five months.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Somewhere in there. So we're getting ready to go into 2025. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What are some of the things that Duro-Last, you leading Duro-Last are really looking at prioritizing trends going into this new year and maybe some of the experiences you've brought from your travels?

Darren Schulz: Yeah, I mean, that was a primary purpose of those travels, too, was I inherited a great plan. And it was around validating that and then understanding how to help bring that to life. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: But for us, we're continuing to grow. This has been a business that has grown for the 46 years it's been in existence and continues to do that. And with a recent change of ownership last year with Holcim acquiring the business, that was a shot in the arm to move with haste with the ambition that we already had for growth. And so I'm happy to have jumped into the seat when we're set to go. And we do that on a number of fronts. So we are looking at products, expanding our product offering, as well as our geographic footprint. I talked before a little bit about that, and we'll be announcing more, but we'll be opening a couple of facilities next year, which will be a record for us, too, in two in one year.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Darren Schulz: That's all about the service that comes with being physically closer to our contractors and offering that standard of service that's important for them, supporting them for faster delivery, but also being available to get things on short term, when you got caught short, they need something to finish their job. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And so being physically closer. And so we had a couple of important gaps in our geographic footprint that we're moving forward with at the moment.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's exciting, because really and I'm going to say this, because this is what I heard and just what I heard, but during the material shortage, you talked to Duro-Last contractors and they were like, "Duro-Last took care of us."

Darren Schulz: Yeah, I've heard that a lot. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: A lot.

Darren Schulz: When I turned up around my tour and asked people, "So, you know, tell me." 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: "How are we doing?"

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What's it?

Darren Schulz: "How are we doing?"

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Darren Schulz: "I want to hear it all." But that was a constant theme and people don't forget that.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: No.

Darren Schulz: And we were fortunate to be able to do the right thing and take care of people, but the fact that we did that, you know, lives on.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, it does. Well, it's interesting. I always say contractors have the longest memory. So you want to leave them with good memories. Because-

Darren Schulz: Yeah. For sure. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... they'll remember it all. 

Darren Schulz: Exactly, exactly. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And this industry is growing, I think, professionally, with new ways of thinking. And you've been and are a leader in that, especially around sustainability. 

Darren Schulz: Sure.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I would love for you to talk a little bit about some of your sustainability initiatives. You're doing some stuff that nobody else is doing.

Darren Schulz: Yeah, that's true. And look, I mentioned Holcim acquiring Duro-Last as well. I's open with a comment on the topic of sustainability. Easy for me to say. I'll spit that out. Commitment to sustainability is a cornerstone of our parent company's position, an industry leader, global business. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Darren Schulz: But what a great marriage because Duro-Last has been on the forefront with our roof recycling program, bringing PVC off older roofs when re-roof's happening. And we've got a program to turn that material back into new products. And we've recently made an investment to be able to increase our efficiency and our capability for doing that. We've got ambitions to grow the amount of recycling of roofing material we do. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: We take that material up the road here to Oscoda, Michigan and we turn it into concrete joints, walk pads and our commercial flooring product, which is a growing product category for us, too.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love your commercial flooring. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I was just looking at some samples and I mean across the board, what you're doing with your recycled material, but that really and you know it's tangible, Darren, that's one of the-

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... things that I think is hard for a lot of people when you think about recycling and about sustainability, is you dump it. And sometimes I think people wonder, like, "Does this really? What are they really doing with this? Is it really being recycled or not?" You have, "Yeah, look here."

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: "Here. This is what we do- "

Darren Schulz: Here it is. Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: " ... in our own plants."

Darren Schulz: Exactly. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: No one else is doing that vertical.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. And it's worked out great. I think it originated, I think Mr. Burt's first idea was recycling production waste.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. Which makes sense.

Darren Schulz: Right. And then we grew to being able to recycle material that was being ripped off roofs. And the investment we've made is around processing that material faster as well as being able to wash down the material on a greater scale and get-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh.

Darren Schulz: ... all of the things that come with it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. Yeah, because it's been on a-

Darren Schulz: Because we don't want to-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... roof for a while. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah, exactly.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Because those roofs last a long time.

Darren Schulz: They do. If it's been up there 20 plus years, it's going to come with some stuff.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And you're right. I didn't even think about that. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's a whole process on its own.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. And I'm like you, to your comment just a minute ago, I'm a very visual person and so being able to go up there and see the material, how it gets ripped, grinded, the scrim come out and separate, excuse me, the component parts of the membrane and then it all gets extruded back into these products that look like brand new products and great products, every single one of them.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That is just so cool. When it comes to innovation, this is the other area that I'm always, we talked about this morning, but I feel like Duro-Last is really ahead of its time and it always has been. And sometimes it's hard to be that first person who's ahead of the time. But when you talk about prefabrication, right?

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Now, that's a buzzword. You know?

Darren Schulz: Right.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Prefab. 

Darren Schulz: Yep.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Everybody's about prefab. Well, you've been doing it for-

Darren Schulz: A long time.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. I can tell you a story. One of my first Duro-Last roofs that I was on was in Portland, Oregon and Megan Ellsworth, who's our producer, she was a baby in my backpack as I was walking on that Duro-Last roof. Yeah. And so it is a while. And it's still there as far as I know.

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: But to really understand that prefabrication and what that's doing for contractors around labor and the labor shortage. Talk a little bit about that.

Darren Schulz: Yeah, I think, I mean it's the number one issue, not just in roofing, frankly, building materials, access to labor and trained labor to install building products and construction is a critical challenge for the industry. And we've been in the game of trying to support labor savings, labor efficiency since the beginning of Duro-Last and being out front, as you say, in the innovation space with our custom roof systems offerings. More recently in our history, the DLX custom cut-length rolled goods, all of these things are designed to help the roofing contractor get the most efficient results from their labor. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: It's going to be a challenge. It's going to be with us. I hate to say it, but it's a challenge that's not going away.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's not going away.

Darren Schulz: And so we're committed to continuing, as we think about what we do in innovation going forward, a fundamental cornerstone of that is with the view that there's more to do to help contractors make the most of the labor pool that they can access.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And you have the prefabricated roofs, but you also have prefab accessories, that I think are such huge labor savings. And-

Darren Schulz: Without a doubt.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: Without a doubt. And that was another amazing part of my learning of the organization, getting out and meeting our folks that build those accessories and watching what they do with the dedication that they have. And then when you see it on a roof, it's a little bit like the story of seeing things. It's great to see it, but at the same time, such a fundamental part of the value proposition that we have for our roofing contractors. And we're committed to it. We see the possibility to do more in that space. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And so it's a fundamental part of innovation as we go forward. Look, innovation's been an important part of Duro-Last's history, but also, it's fundamental to our future.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Exactly. 

Darren Schulz: So-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's necessary.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. And I think about innovation in a couple of ways, but we're committed to all of it. I talk about it as the little i innovation and the big I innovation, the big capital I innovation. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And we're committed to all of it. So little i innovation is little incremental things that we might do that improve our service, our responsiveness, the experience when someone calls in with a question or a followup, placing an order, et cetera, all the way through to the big I innovation, game changing things. And I would say one of the other pleasing things that I found when I walked through the door here six months ago was the robust pipeline of big I innovation projects. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Whoa, yeah.

Darren Schulz: Can't say too much about them today, Heidi.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know. But we'll be first, right, next year?

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: I think when we've got news to tell. This is where we'll come, for sure. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. That is good. 

Darren Schulz: But I'm really, really pleasing on some of the things that we have in the pipeline that we think qualify for that big I innovation.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And right now is the time. It seems like with what we are dealing with, you know, overall as a planet-

Darren Schulz: Mm-hmm.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... with our labor force and what's happening, we need more innovation now than ever. And when you think about where we're going with technology, it's moving so fast.

Darren Schulz: Yeah, well, exactly. I mean, we've recently started talking about how we can deploy AI inside a company like Duro-Last.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: We are rich with information because of the close relationship we have with our roofing contractors. We have rich data on all of the roofs that our product has been installed on, what the experience has been. And so taking that information and working with our contractors to help build their businesses is something that we'll turn our mind to soon as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Well, and I think one of the things we've seen or I've seen over the years, many years and that roof that I walked on in Portland, Oregon, I was working for a roofing contractor who was a top Duro-Last contractor. 

Darren Schulz: Oh, yeah?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So I got to live and breathe it-

Darren Schulz: Nice.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... from the contractor's standpoint and really how committed and loyal they are within that. But I think one of the things that is so important that we talked about this morning, we've talked about over and over is first of all, warranties and manufacturers backing the contractors with those warranties and with inspections and the whole thing. What are you seeing on the industry through your tour and also just overall with the importance that contractors put on that type of support?

Darren Schulz: Yeah, no doubt, it's very important. And I think this is part of the innovation of the Duro-Last business model as well in terms of the quality of our tech rep group and the partnership that they have with the roofing contractor, not just in the final inspection to make sure that the roof is good to go and the warranty can be activated, but they're there as technical support along the way when even the most seasoned roofer will tell you every now and then, they'll turn up to a job where they confront something they haven't confronted before, right?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Darren Schulz: Or it's a little bit different, or it's not quite as they have planned. And so having that support that a tech rep can drop in and help out is an important part of what we do as well. But at the end of the day, our commitment is to stand behind our product and to stand with our contractors and we're proud of the warranties we have.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. I loved talking to the Gottron family this morning, one of your leading sales rep groups and them talking about from the very beginning, Mr. Burt would stand behind the roofs. And usually if there was a problem, they would fix the problem at no cost and bring two or three more roofs back with it because the owners were so impressed.

Darren Schulz: That was one of the great stories I learned early in my tour. I won't name the contractor, but very early on, one of his first roofs, they had an issue. This is very early in the history of the company. 
Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: They had an issue and he got in his truck, and he was in another state, drove up here to meet with Mr. Burt. And it was a very short conversation, and he had a check in his hand before he left. And he said, "I knew from that minute that I could do business with Duro-Last."

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes. And you know, really, it's about culture. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's about a culture that started 40-plus years ago and has maintained. And so as you were coming in, that's a lot to hold in-

Darren Schulz: It is.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... your hands, that culture and history.

Darren Schulz: Yeah, big shoes to fill.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: But as I said earlier, really important from the day one. And as people see the new guy turn up and he talks kind of funny with that accent-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I think it's great.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. "What's it all about?" And I think as I've got around the country, I've wanted to assure people that I come in with full understanding and recognition of who we are and what's in our DNA, but also as I learn more about it, able to speak more tangibly about the things we'll do to continue to preserve it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, it's embracing the history but also embracing the future. One of the things this morning that I wanted, as we're talking about new construction coming back, we're also talking about building owners, facility managers having to make decisions. One of the things I was struck by in visiting with the Gottron Group this morning was their commitment to a three, really, the contractor, the manufacturer through the manufacturer's rep and the manufacturer together and then the building owner and creating that win-win-win, three wins-

Darren Schulz: Right. The win-win-win-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... right-

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... scenario. You have just an amazing group of sales representatives across the country. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: How is that coming together with really building these long-term national accounts, building owner negotiated work? It just seems to be such a strength.

Darren Schulz: It is. And I think like everything, it comes back to people.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And so when people are committed to being successful with national accounts, and the building owners, as you were talking through and it's a three-way-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is.

Darren Schulz: It's the manufacturer, it's the sales reps and then it's the contractors working together to be successful in that space.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Taking care of that building owner.

Darren Schulz: But we seem to have found a model that works.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Definitely.

Darren Schulz: And so, you know, we will continue to press on.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, I think that means so much to building owners who can trust and trust that their roof is going to be there. And especially one of the things I'm always incredibly intrigued with, too, is over the last decade, this incredible rise of service and maintenance programs with our roofing contractors. And I think that is making such a huge difference.

Darren Schulz: Oh, it does. It makes a huge difference from the building owner's experience all the way through to when it's time for the eventual re-roof, the familiarity with the contractor and knowing what product is on the roof. It certainly helps everybody that's in that space. And we value the relationships we have with the building owners, too. We're sitting here in the Welcome Center. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Darren Schulz: We bring all kinds of building owners in here to see who Duro-Last is and what we do. And this is where the tour always starts. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it.

Darren Schulz: I guess that's why we call it the Welcome Center. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes, it's beautiful. 

Darren Schulz: And tour our manufacturing facility here and see how our product's made. And I'm a very visual person. So then you begin to make sense about how the product's going to perform, why the warranty is what it is, et cetera.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. It all comes together.

Darren Schulz: And see those custom accessories being built and understand what that means, for the building owners, being able to see that I think helps as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Putting it together. I love it. Okay. As you're looking at, you've held some amazing positions with a variety of roofing companies, both residential and commercial. So for aspiring leaders out there, coming up, who are in roofing, but who are thinking, "I want to do what Darren's doing someday."

Darren Schulz: Oh, wow. Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What's some of your advice to this next generation on really positioning themselves to be able to join companies like Duro-Last, and really be a part of it and be a part of leadership.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. Look, I would say to anyone contemplating joining or being in the roofing products and roofing installation industry, jump in with both feet. This is an industry that is here to stay. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is. Everyone needs a roof. 

Darren Schulz: It's not going anywhere.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Everyone needs a roof. 

Darren Schulz: And we talked before about people and the culture of Duro-Last, but that's true everywhere. And that's part of what makes this industry so great. And so I'd say to people that are thinking about their advancement in their career, understanding the importance of developing themselves, but also the people that work for them. Let's face it, a place that people enjoy to work will always have every chance of being a successful business. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And so it's really important. And that starts with that person's direct manager. So if you're going to be a leader of people, getting that right in your head and figuring out how to help people navigate their careers and feel like at the end of the day they've had a great day or a great week, everybody wants that, no-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Fulfilled.

Darren Schulz: ... matter what you do. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes. 

Darren Schulz: But to me, that's at the cornerstone of, you know, building a great culture.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And so I think that's really important. I've got, you know, an accounting background and those-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Mm-hmm.

Darren Schulz: ... kinds of things. So you tend to think about the more technical aspects of the job. Or perhaps you come from a contractor background and you think about actually what goes into installing roofs and taking care of that. But at the end of the day, everything we do is all about people.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. It really is. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And especially as we're looking forward with more technology, more automation, people are more important than ever.

Darren Schulz: Oh, for sure.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right?

Darren Schulz: Exactly. Because the technology doesn't do anything for us without the people that make it work, and get what the technology gives us and turn it into something we can use.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Exactly. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Exactly. That makes it all think. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So I'm going to do the same thing advice wise, especially what, I mean, I really am jealous of the last four or five months that you've spent, because to me that just sounds actually spectacular. But what is some advice that you have for contractors right now as they're looking at 2025 and what they should be thinking about for their business? What are some of the things you would recommend?

Darren Schulz: Wow. I think getting a handle on, we talked before about how the market might work. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: So I think bearing that in mind, being ready as we come into the new season, a firm understanding of we're bringing new things to the market, working with us or others on that and being conscious of this battle, being conscious, they live it every day, but being focused on labor.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: It's just so important. There are things we can do. And look, I think beyond just 2025, I think as an industry, we've got a responsibility both in the contractor space, but also in manufacturers working together around attracting people and understanding all the way back to folks in high school and in colleges, understanding there's a career path here in this industry.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Darren Schulz: So we take that seriously as one of the substantial players in the industry and helping our contractors recruit and think about that as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, that next generation, getting the next generation, because once they're here, they really love it.

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Roofing's fun. 

Darren Schulz: Well, it's fun.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. I love it. Okay. For contractors out there who would like to get more involved with Duro-Last, and who maybe have not done or maybe they're just a little bit, but they really want to be a part, how do they get involved and what's some of your recommendations? 

Darren Schulz: The quickest way would be to call us or go to our website, but you do that with a view to setting up a meeting with one of our reps.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: Make contact with us and we'll get you connected with one of our local reps to sit down with you and talk about what your plans are, where you want to go with your business, so that we can make sure that we're a good fit for you. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Darren Schulz: Because once you join the Duro-Last family, we want you to stay.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: And we're committed to helping you do what you want to do with your business. And whether that's entering a new market or just being a better version of yourself, and I don't mean just, but you know.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Exactly.

Darren Schulz: Being a better version of your business in your local market, we've got things we can do to help you with that. And it all starts with sitting down with that sales rep and having an honest, candid discussion about where you're at, where you think we might be able to help and then give us the chance to also explain it. And it's beyond the things that we talked about, the things that you can see for yourself on the websites and in the industry. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Darren Schulz: You've heard about our custom offerings, our custom accessories, et cetera. But it's a custom service as well. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: The strength of the relationship that we have comes from that engineering support, custom engineering support on jobs. I mentioned before, I call them our army of tech reps that are there to support as well. And so being able to talk that through and help bring that to life is really important.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Really, as you look at getting involved with Duro-Last or as contractor, as contractors look at getting involved with Duro-Last, it is a culture.

Darren Schulz: It is.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And the networking between contractors, the friendships that are made are a lifetime.

Darren Schulz: Yeah. I recently met with a group of contractors that had come in from all around the country, and we actually went to a sporting event together. And the folks that had known each other for some time, and then others that had joined Duro-Last more recently, but they were all together friends sharing the stories of the years that had gone by, but also talking together about the challenges of the moment, too and having fun while they did it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. And helping each other to all rise. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Well, Darren, congratulations.

Darren Schulz: Thank you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We need to do this again in maybe another six months and see-

Darren Schulz: That'd be good.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: How everything's going. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah. And like I said earlier, I made the commitment, now, whenever we've got big news, we'll break it here first.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right here. I love it. That was great. And we will talk at IRE, hopefully, if you aren't- 

Darren Schulz: Oh, yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... too busy. We'll get you over on the soundstage?

Darren Schulz: Oh, for sure. Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Do a little check-in as we're going through. 

Darren Schulz: That'd be great.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I can't tell you how much, first of all, thank you so much for having us here at-

Darren Schulz: Oh, our pleasure.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... your headquarters. It's beautiful. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And this center, your whole office, everything is just amazing.

Darren Schulz: Yeah, it is. I think that's why we like to bring folks in. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: It's a real experience. So no, thank you for coming here and thanks for the chance to sit down again. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Darren Schulz: Looking forward to IRE. It'll be here before we know it. I can't believe it's Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I can't either. 

Darren Schulz: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's kind of nuts. 

Darren Schulz: It is.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: This year's gone so fast. And thank you all for listening. You can find all kinds of information about Duro-Last on our directories, on Roofer's Coffee Shop and just look for the articles, the podcasts, the great things that we have out there from over the years of our excellent relationship with Duro-Last and the Coffee Shops. Thank you so much for watching. Be sure to check out all of our podcasts. Under the RLW navigation, look for 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. We'll be seeing you next time on Roofing Road Trips.

Outro: 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.