Jack Gottesman, Erin and Matt Weston - A New Look at Roofing - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with Jack Gottesman, Erin and Matt Weston.You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast. 

Speaker 1:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long-term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from Roofer's Coffee Shop. This is Heidi Ellsworth and today we have such a cool podcast. We're actually going to do a little road trip that's going to be very virtual because we're going to head up to Seattle and then we're heading over to West Virginia and we're bringing this all together virtually to talk to some up and comers, some really cool, different business models for the roofing industry. So I'm really excited to introduce Erin and Matt Weston with Calendar Construction in West Virginia. Welcome to the show, Erin and Matt.

Erin Weston:
Hi Heidi. Thank you for having us. We're excited to be here.

Matt Weston:
Yes. Definitely excited.

Erin Weston:
Yes. And we're Matt and Erin [inaudible 00:00:59] Calendar Construction in Charleston, West Virginia.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love Charleston by the way. I think it's one of the coolest cities, besides Seattle and Portland, of course, but I love Charleston.

Erin Weston:
Awe. We're glad to hear that you've been here and can appreciate it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Ah, it's so beautiful. And speaking of beautiful places, we also have Jack Gottesman from the marketing team at IKO out of Seattle and Jack, this isn't your first time. Welcome back to the show.

Jack Gottesman:
Thank you. It's great to be on the road with you again, Heidi, and appreciate the love for the Pacific Northwest. Though I will tell you, I visited Matt and Erin out in West Virginia. Oh my goodness. Take me home West Virginia. The song does not do that place justice. I am already looking for excuses to go back.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know. It's so pretty. Yeah. You're right. I didn't even think about Country Roads. That's great. There you go. Well, this podcast is really talking about how people can get into roofing, can get into construction. So we're going to start with Erin and Matt because they just have such a cool story. I love looking at your website. I love seeing everything that you've done. It's a great story. If you could please share it with everybody who's listening.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks Heidi. So our story is much different than a lot of others, for sure. So we started before we were even married back in 2015. I had just graduated from nursing school and we were kind of homeless. So we started renovating grandparents home for us to live in. And it had been a long time since anyone had lived in it. It had gotten pretty dilapidated. So my family was like, "There's no way you can make that place livable like let alone make it cute." And we were like, "Okay. Well, challenge accepted. Like we always succeed. Like we find a way." So-

Matt Weston:
Sure did.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. So we ended up making it really amazing. Everyone was pretty much in disbelief at the quality of work that we had done. We realized that Matt had amazing carpentry skills and we've never really had any formal construction training. We just are like raw talent. So after we renovated my grandparents house, my dad was like, "Hey. You guys should start a construction company and Matt should be the general contractor."

Matt Weston:
And I was like, "Are you sure about this?"

Erin Weston:
Yeah. We were like, "We know nothing about running a business. We know nothing really formally about construction." But we were young and dumb and we were like, "Sure. That sounds fun. Let's do it." Not really thinking about the logistics. So we literally started with like $0 and we look back on that and laugh because we would never recommend for anyone to start a business with $0.

Matt Weston:
Yeah. Makes it a little bit harder on each other.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. So our humble beginnings were actually funded by ICU Travel Nursing. I was working night shift for the first like three years of our business and it takes a long time to get established in a business and we had a lot of hard times too.

Matt Weston:
Yeah. I would work seven days a week just to stay away from her because she was sleeping [inaudible 00:04:24]. She'd have a list of things that she wanted done during that day and I was just-

Erin Weston:
Yeah.

Matt Weston:
Take this list and I'd be like, "I don't even know how I can accomplish this in 12 hours, but somehow I would either complete it all or just add to the list tomorrow."

Erin Weston:
Yeah. So we would just kind of like see each other in passing at that time because I would be like leaving the door at 5:00 PM and he'd be coming in and we'd be like, "All right. Well, bye." But when you start a business, it's a lot of sacrifice and we kind of jumped in with both feet, not really knowing what to expect and kind of learned that the hard way. And there were like a lot of times that we really struggled and we thought, "What are we even doing anymore? When do we throw in the towel?"

Erin Weston:
At one point I even applied to jobs for Matt [crosstalk 00:05:12] Yeah. [inaudible 00:05:15] cover letters and resumes and I applied to a bunch of jobs he was super overqualified for, but I was just, at that point, when there aren't many jobs rolling in, you're like, "What are we going to do?" But no one ever called to interview him, he never got hired for any other job. So we were like, "Well, I guess we're just going to keep it going," and it seemed like more and more jobs kept rolling in and things got better and better and now we can look back and see all those as just stepping stones to how we got to where we are. And we have now built this company and brand that is now Calendar Construction.

Matt Weston:
Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Wow. You know, having a similar history with my husband and starting our own businesses and kids and figuring out how all this works and sometimes not seeing each other, you just see each other in passing. "Hello. How are you?" As you're going out the door, I totally can relate to it and it makes you strong. It just makes you so strong. And Jack, you have to be able to relate to this too. You come from such a great business family. Don't you see the same things out there that when you kind of have these kind of starts, it really makes a difference in your long-term business?

Jack Gottesman:
Not only do I see it, it's wonderful because I had the privilege of being able to, like I said before, visit them in West Virginia and see their work. And I will tell you, for someone who kind of came into the picture at this stage of their story, which I believe that we're still at the beginning of the Matt and Erin Weston Calendar Construction success story, it's a perfect time for us to come in and really validate the relationship that we have as a roofing manufacturer and the work that they do in roofing. But what I love about them is that it's not just roofing. They're really offering their customers a whole home experience. And what pulls a whole home together better than a beautiful looking high performance roof? Nothing in the world and that is why I can tell you that the fruits of their labor have born out in the country roads of West Virginia.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. And that's one of the things that we see in the roofing industry. There's a lot of companies that only do roofing, right? But you show the roofing, the exteriors, the interiors, it's like Jack said, it's that full home. But yet you do a lot of roofing. How did this happen? Tell us a little bit about that.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. So this is kind of two different things to this question and I'll answer part and Matt will answer part. So basically we started making roofing and exteriors a priority because in the state of West Virginia there are not very strict stipulations on what qualifies someone to be called a contractor. There are a lot of like state contractors in the state that are not licensed, they have no insurance, they're basically just running around scamming people or trying to make the quick buck. So before we got into roofing, we were getting lots of phone calls looking for someone to re-roof their house or Joe Schmo contractor had done such a terrible job. They had water pouring into their house. Who could we recommend? And we didn't really know anyone to recommend. And Matt and I both have very strong moral compasses. That just did not sit right with us.

Erin Weston:
This state has a lot of hard working people. A lot of them don't have the money to redo a roof multiple times while they're living in the home. So we just thought, "Hey. Maybe we should start roofing. So we kind of just started roofing and we never looked back. And one thing that's really important to us is our clients. So we're not only in the business of building amazing custom projects, but we're in the business of building relationships and the word customer indicates a one-time transaction, but we are always looking for clients, which means a long-term lasting relationship. And that is always our goal. And also with COVID, that kind of changed our business model as well as far as working in the home and I'll let Matt talk about this part.

Matt Weston:
Yeah. So when we first started we were doing a lot of interior work, kitchens and baths. Now when COVID hit, we had to kind figure out where we could be without interfering with our customers and clients. With that being said, we kind of shifted into more of the outdoor living areas and roofs.

Erin Weston:
Yeah, which brings in curb appeal, like we've been speaking with Jack about for the last few weeks. Since we do roofing, exteriors, and also custom outdoor living areas, we really can provide a full package for our clients.

Matt Weston:
And when we do these outdoor projects we're always tying a roof line over something, whether it's a patio, a deck, and with IKO products, it really just is the icing on the cake.

Erin Weston:
Absolutely.

Matt Weston:
It makes our work even look better, not from just right there, but if you stand back and look at the whole picture together.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is so cool because we've been doing the same thing on our house, big outdoor living areas and you're right. Because you're seeing the roof, you're seeing the whole picture, and for your clients, how great to be able to tie all that together. The thing that's kind of interesting is you have been internationally recognized by IKO Roofing a whole bunch of times. What does that say to your reputation and everything that you're doing with your clients and with future prospects?

Erin Weston:
Yeah. Absolutely. It's really an honor. And when you go to the IKO website, you can tell that it's just high quality products. When we go to discuss what kind of product we're going to install for a client, we only will sell them a product that we fully believe in. We will not install something that we feel is inferior just to get a job. So when we recommend IKO, we know that we are recommending the best product for our clients and with IKO, it's really been an honor working with them, like I said. We see the quality in them and they have now seen the quality in us.

Matt Weston:
It's not only just the quality of their product. We have Matt Aldridge, which is our rep right out of St. Albans and he's been very helpful. Just from being a new roofing contractor in the business, I've called him multiple times with multiple questions and he always has an answer, which makes me even look better for my clients.

Jack Gottesman:
Thank you Matt and Erin for the kind words and as you know, the feelings are absolutely mutual. And when we talk about performance is king at IKO, that goes into everything, especially our sales rep. So if someone is out there in the world listening to this podcast, I recommend, if you haven't done so yet, getting together with your territory sales rep in order to create a relationship as fruitful as the one that Matt and Erin at Calendar Construction have made with Matt over in West Virginia and performance really goes into everything.

Jack Gottesman:
One of the things that we have really focused on in our relationship with Calendar is curb appeal. And we want your house to perform amazing and look amazing, which is part of performance. And so that's the idea, for a roof to catch someone's eye to say, "Hey. I want to find out who did that roof. I want to find out who's been working on this house," and then to find Calendar to get yourself a new roof and to do a whole home reno also.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So Jack, I mentioned when we first talked to Erin and Matt about that they were internationally recognized by IKO, but there's the 2020. They won. You guys congratulations. You were a 2020s best IKO inspiration. So Jack, can you tell everybody, what is that? ANd I think it's so cool that you do these kind of awards for your contractors.

Jack Gottesman:
Yeah. Well, we are always out there on social media highlighting some of the best products. And that is actually, funny enough, how I connected with them. I admittedly, and this is embarrassing Heidi, but I guess I'm going to say it anyways because this is, when you're on a road trip with people, you just kind of put it out there. I had forgotten about them. I forgot about them. And I'm looking to do this video project about curb appeal. And I'm like, "Man. Who am I going to find to do this?" So I go back and look in the annals of the people who we've given awards to and I stumble onto this post and I'm like, "Oh my God. This house is fantastic. Like if I'm going to have someone talk about curb appeal it needs to be this contractor."

Jack Gottesman:
And so I called them like in a panic, running between gates. I was like, "Guys, we got to get something on the calendar today in terms of finding a time to get together." And hopefully by the time that this podcast releases people will be able to head over to the IKO website and YouTube channel to see the great project that we did together with Matt and Erin highlighting what curb appeal, what beauty and performance really means for homeowners and how it drives their business.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is so cool. That is so cool. And how did it feel, Matt and Erin, to win that award? Was it kind of unexpected a little bit? That's very cool.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. It's definitely like unexpected. Like every time we've been highlighted by IKO, it's always like I'm like scrolling social media and then I get a notification like, "You've been tagged in a post by IKO," and then that's kind of how we usually find out and we're always like, "Yay." Like it's just a little [inaudible 00:14:50] surprise that it's awesome.

Matt Weston:
Yeah. It's definitely a big honor. It's kind of like a bragging piece for me when I'm actually selling products and installing them, I can proudly say, "Hey. We got this award."

Heidi Ellsworth:
It seems, to me, getting those awards, and we talk about this all the time with contractors in all businesses, is to be able to use that in your sales and marketing. It really says a lot to be recognized by manufacturers and by the industry and overall. I can see exactly how that would help. So I'm kind of curious too, you have this on your website and Jack's told me about it, but you have had some conversations with HGTV. And so can you, kind of talk about putting it out there on this road trip, share a little bit about what's going on there.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. Absolutely. So we were contacted by HGTV in June of 2020. We got an email and the subject was, "Matt and Erin Weston HGTV." And there's been like a lot of Apple gift card scams going on recently. So I like literally thought that that's what it was and I almost deleted it because I read it and it's like, "Hey. Found you guys on Instagram. We're casting for a show. We're looking for a couple and we think you guys would be perfect. If you're interested, call this number." So we were like, "It's a little sketchy," but like we talked about it and that night we were like, "Okay. Let's call the numbers."

Matt Weston:
Erin wanted to just like not answer back. She thought it was a scam.

Erin Weston:
I literally thought it was a scam. I was like, "They're going to ask us to buy like $2000 of Apple gift cards."

Matt Weston:
And the next day when I got home, I sat down and she's like, "Well what should we do?" I said, "Well just give me the number. I'm going to call them right now."

Erin Weston:
Yeah. So we did call the number and it kind of went from there. We had multiple interviews, we moved along through the process. We were at the point where they were doing our final video edit for the producers. And then COVID got really bad and all the casting shut down completely in the show, never resurfaced, but it's still an amazing thing that it happened. When we started our business, we didn't necessarily like aspire for TV. That was like not ever something that we would have predicted for us. We were just trying to find a way to pay the bills and we were trying to figure out [inaudible 00:17:14] business, but it's not an opportunity that you can say no to. We're yes people.

Erin Weston:
If there's a good opportunity, even if it's scary, we're going to do it. And also everything happens for a reason and if it's meant to be, it'll come back around. If not, that's okay. We're just going to keep doing our thing. But if they do come back around, we would love to show them that West Virginia is an amazing place, beautiful, with amazing hardworking people. We're not inbred cannibals in the woods. We wear shoes. We're even home to the newest national park, the New River Gorge. So it's an amazing place and we would love to show y'all that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh my gosh. Well, I have to tell you, I can totally see why HGTV reached out to you because I think, for me, it needs to be relatable and you two are so relatable. I can just see, actually my husband and I, when we were starting out and it's so relatable into the hard work that you've done and just saying yes and going after it. And then really taking it to that next step because you don't see too much on HGTV when they really also focus on the outdoor living and the roofing and the siding and the exterior of the home. It's a great package. Really different. Jack, I don't think we've had anybody like Matt and Erin on here before.

Jack Gottesman:
Exactly. And that's really what attracted us to them when I was looking to do a piece on curb appeal. Right? It's that whether they've been on HGTV or not, it's that sentiment, it's that outlook, it's that mantra that they have on the website, HGTV quality and everything that we do. And whether or not they've been featured on television doesn't really matter to us as much as the quality and the performance of their work. And you can really see it and hopefully Heidi will be able to link to some of their projects that they've done and you can really see it and feel it when you're out there in the field.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yeah. And Matt, I would love, because you were talking about when you're talking to clients and as you're selling, how do you take that curb appeal message and work it into that as you're sitting down and I'm not even going to say selling, but as you're having a conversation and creating this long-term relationship with homeowners and building owners, how does curb appeal come into that conversation?

Matt Weston:
Well, I look at the whole picture and I think they need to look at it too. They're not just getting a roof. Okay. They have brick, they have siding, they have gutters, and they have windows. They can all be different styles, different colors. Now that's where a shingle like IKO dynasty or IKO products in general, they have a lot of different colors within the shingles. With that, it gives me a lot more room to play with the way the house can look from the curb.

Erin Weston:
Exactly. And we always tell our clients, "We want your home to flow cohesively," meaning the color of your siding plays off the color of the brick plays off the front door, which is all tied together with a gorgeous roof. Hopefully an IKO roof.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Erin Weston:
But a lot of other things you can do, for example, with siding. It doesn't have to be your normal, run of the mill, horizontal siding. You can switch up a lot of the style, color, and texture with adding a shake, a scallop, board and batten. There's so much you can do to add that curb appeal.

Matt Weston:
Even with your roof. Let's say you have a white fascia, white soffit, and you throw a black drip edge on with a black shingle. It outlines the roof. It like highlights the roof. It's completely different than anything else in the neighborhood and it outlines it.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. Something else I would like to point out, when we were filming with Jack a few weeks ago, we were driving through this really gorgeous community and a lot of the homes have atrocious roofs. Like you look at the home and [inaudible 00:21:03] that home is absolutely stunning, but that roof ruins their entire curb appeal. So the roof is really an important part of curb appeal. It's really the cherry on top of perfect curb appeal.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And-

Matt Weston:
That's where project almost starts because it's from the top down. It's very important.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. It's-

Jack Gottesman:
Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Beauty and performance.

Jack Gottesman:
And so even Heidi, if I can take this a step further. So when we were out there in West Virginia, Matt and Erin were kind enough to introduce me to a homeowner who, I'll start the story and then let Matt finish because he's the one who she credits him with closing the deal. So she had put on a new roof only a couple years earlier. Some hail, weather came through and this new roof, five years old, gets totally damaged by hail. And so she decided that she wanted a new roof, or she didn't decide, she needed a new roof. And so she decided that once she was doing that she wanted a Gable also. And Matt, can you tell us a little bit more about that project and that homeowner and what happened then?

Matt Weston:
Yeah. So she had contacted me and roofing is a competitive market and numbers are everything.

Erin Weston:
Hold on. And Paula Bailey is a tough lady to please. She is picky. We love her. Love you, Paula.

Matt Weston:
So with being a competitive market, we had also had a lot of like storm chasing companies come in because of the amount of roofs that need to be done. So when I sat down and talked with her, we're going through what type of shingle she wants, what insurance is paying, and she also is like, "Well, what else do you do?" I said, "Well we also build. We're not just roofers. We will do kitchens, bath, we'll do additions." And she was like, "Well, I had this drawn up from an architect-

Erin Weston:
Dormer.

Matt Weston:
"Dormer years ago. Can you do it?" And I said, "Of course I can." I said, "But with this dormer, we're going to have to do certain things, get the windows that you have in your house to kind of tie it all together and make it feel like it happened when the house was built." With the shingles we picked out and building this dormer, it turned out really neat. It actually added some curb appeal and just texture to the home. It was really missing it. It was a flat hip roof, but it was a room in there with no window. So it really made no sense not to not have the dormer.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. I love it. I love that ... when you are able to sit down and say, "Sure. We can do that. No problem." That is a differentiator. That's a differentiator for a business. It's not like, "Oh no. You need to go find somebody else to do that. We only do the roof." So I think, as we're looking through that, I would love just, and you kind of started with this at the beginning and you touched on it, but I would love for you to kind of talk about what's your advice to other couples or young people that are looking at starting a business whether it's in roofing or construction or really any business because there's just a lot of pitfalls that can come in that. What's some of your advice for them?

Erin Weston:
Yeah. This is a very loaded question, especially from a couple that started a business with $0. So owning a company is not for the faint of heart. It's not for someone that is lazy or looking to just collect an easy paycheck. No one is going to hand you a paycheck. You have to earn every penny. I would recommend finding a partner that you can trust, finding other local, reputable contractors, even one that could be a mentor to you to help you figure out the market, the prices with your bid, even to create a referral loop. We have a couple contractors in the area that if someone calls us looking for a kitchen or bath and we don't have availability, we have a couple other companies that we can say, "Hey. We know these guys do excellent work. Reach out to them." And vice versa. Those companies don't do roofing.

Erin Weston:
So if they get someone that needs a roof, they will reach out to us. So that community over competition, that is really important to us. And then celebrate the small victories because it all matters and like I said, it's all stepping stones to get you where you want to be. You're not going to build a mega company overnight. You have to start small, you have to find your niche, and kind of go with it. That said, we didn't start with roofing and stuff at the beginning. It's okay to switch gears. It's okay to say, "Hey. This isn't working out. Let's try something out. What else can we do to make it work?"

Matt Weston:
If you're not hungry and flexible and willing to learn other trades within your industry, I feel like you're going to fall behind the competition. Obviously you can be the jack of all trade, master of none. That's what they say. But as long as you understand everything that's going on around you and find out what other people need and meet what your community needs, it helps your business grow. And you got to think outside the box sometimes.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. Absolutely. And don't sweat the small things. I always joke with Matt and say that he's the eye of the construction shit storm. Shit happens in construction every day. If you feel like shit didn't happen that day, then you probably just didn't realize that something happened. It's normal. You just have to roll with it. And also you have to remember to give yourself breaks. The work never stops. Take the weekend off. The work will be there Monday. Go on your vacation. You don't have to work 24/7 or you're going to get burnout. And another thing is that it's okay to say no. Like you don't have to take every job. You don't want to work for everyone. And honestly, I think the only reason that Matt and I have survived is because not only are we an amazing team. For example, his faults are my strengths and vice versa, but we are grade A hustlers. We don't give up and we don't accept failure as an answer.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love that. Jack, what a find. I got to hear your thoughts on this. What a great really example of what, I'm going to say is the future of roofing.

Erin Weston:
Awe. Yay. Thank you.

Jack Gottesman:
I couldn't have said it better myself in terms of what you just said and what a find. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Matt Aldridge and thank you Calendar. You guys have just the work that you guys did and the hustle that you guys have. You put yourselves out there and made it impossible for us not to find you. So thank you really. Thank you for everything and we're excited for what the future holds for our relationship. But like I said earlier, this is just the beginning.

Heidi Ellsworth:
This is.

Matt Weston:
Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well I-

Matt Weston:
Thank you Jack.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know. You two are in the best company with Jack and IKO and I'm just excited to know you now and for us to track and we hope you come to IRE and come to some of the big shows in roofing and stuff because this roofing communities, as you probably already know, is pretty spectacular. It's pretty cool. And you are just such a role model for a lot of young people who want to do exactly the same thing. So thank you. Thank you for sharing your story and for everything you're doing. I think my favorite thing, if I was going to take one thing out of this podcast, is community over competition. I mean, that almost makes me teary. I love that, Erin. Thank you so much. That's very inspirational.

Erin Weston:
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Matt Weston:
Because you definitely can get lost in competition. And that is something that happens and like she said, you have to take days off, you have to take breaks. There comes a point in time where enough's enough.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. And there are a lot of good guys there and it's important to support each other.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. That is it. That is so true across the board. Well, thank you both for being on this Roofing Road Trip. I can't wait to come to Charleston and see you in person someday.

Erin Weston:
Well thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Jack, as always, I just love [crosstalk 00:29:24]

Jack Gottesman:
Used to get out there. I think I just found it. If Heidi's going then I have to go too. So there you go. I just got my excuse. Amazing.

Heidi Ellsworth:
It's a roofing road trip. A real one. Not [crosstalk 00:29:36] Yeah.

Jack Gottesman:
Love it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Okay. I love it. Well, thank you Jack. Again, thank you so much for bringing the Calendar Construction and Matt and Erin to us and to share with the roofing community and Matt and Erin, thank you so much for being a part of today. I appreciate you all.

Erin Weston:
Yeah. Thank you guys so much.

Jack Gottesman:
You're the best.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you. And thank you [crosstalk 00:30:01] Thank you Jack. I just ... always. You just put such a smile on my face, but I want to also say thank you to all of you who are listening to this podcast. We appreciate you and you can see all of the podcast on rooferscoffeeshop.com underneath the read list and watch initiative. But of course, even better, subscribe on your favorite podcast channel and make sure you don't miss a single one. We're also on YouTube so to be sure to subscribe there. Everybody, from this Roofing Road Trip, have a great time and we'll see you on the next trip. Thanks.

Speaker 1:
Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the rooferscoffeeshop.com.