Roofing Road Trip with Heidi- Marianne Sumter- PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an interview with Marianne Sumter, owner of Wil-Mar Products. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast here.

Heidi Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips with Heidi.

Marianne Sumter: Hi, Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth: Hi, Marianne. I am so excited to be here today with you. Marianne Sumter is the owner of Wil-Mar Products, and you've seen the Wil-Mar pipe collar on our website, and in Roofers Exchange Newspaper, from almost the very beginning. So Marianne, welcome to the podcast.

Marianne Sumter: Thank you. Thank you. Nice to be here.

Heidi Ellsworth: I've really been looking forward to this, because I was so lucky to be introduced to Marianne when I started in 2015 working with Vicky. But Vicky and Marianne have been friends for a very long time. You know what, Marianne? Tell everybody a little bit about yourself, and about your history and experience in the roofing industry.

Marianne Sumter: Okay. Well, I got into this whole thing way back in 1995 when my husband passed away, and I had to make a decision as to what I should do, continue working at GE Nuclear in San Jose, or take over what he had started. And it was only five years new, so there was a lot to do and to learn, but it worked out really good. He had a roofing company that I had to close down and dispense all that stuff, equipment and whatever. And then I had to learn the computer program for Wil-Mar. I also learned that he never did anything with the checking account as far as at the end of the month, the typical-

Heidi Ellsworth: Balancing it.

Marianne Sumter: Balancing it. Yeah, never.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, no.

Marianne Sumter: Yeah. So I did all that. Got all that organized. But it's really important to enlist the help of your friends too. I had a lot of friends that were very helpful and helped me with a lot of things that got to be a bit overwhelming, because I had a lot of things to do as far as closing down the roofing company, and then getting really going with Wil-Mar. And they were really great. And the first thing that I did is I enlisted a fulfillment company, because at that point, I was shipping product, I was packaging it, I was doing all that stuff, and that got to be a bit much, because it was just me. So I enlisted a fulfillment company and they do everything for you. They handle your product. They warehouse it and ship your orders. And it makes life a lot easier. It also makes it easier in that you can travel and you can work from any place because you don't have to be where your stuff is.

Heidi Ellsworth: Nice. I like that.

Marianne Sumter: I know. So that was good. And just learn all you can and give it a try. As you mentioned, I met Vicky way back in the late '90s. I had gone to some kind of a show in San Jose, I believe it was, some roofing thing that I don't even know how, I didn't even know where it was. But she was there, and that's where I met her. And we've been friends ever since. So it's really cool.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. It is cool.

Marianne Sumter: I know.

Heidi Ellsworth: Karen Edwards interviewed you for what I thought was a really great article on women supporting women.

Marianne Sumter: Right.

Heidi Ellsworth: And I'm really involved with National Women in Roofing, but I truly learned this from the relationships that women have with each other, like you and Vicky.

Marianne Sumter: They're really special. They're different, yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. You've really supported each other throughout the years.

Marianne Sumter: Right.

Heidi Ellsworth: I know it's made a difference in our business. And I think it's made a difference in your business.

Marianne Sumter: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, I've had a lot of good experiences with women also in the roofing distributorships that have placed orders with me. That's been a lot of fun too, but a lot of men too. A lot of men are ... I mean, they're receptive of the good customer service that we provide, and so it's just fun talking to a lot of them from time to time.

Heidi Ellsworth: It is. I love roofing industry. I know you do too. The people in it are special. There's just something about it that-

Marianne Sumter: That is for sure.

Heidi Ellsworth: So your story, I think, is so powerful having to ... and I've known other men and women who have taken over the businesses and had to get everything in line and figured out. And you said how important friends are. What is some of your advice to other men and women who maybe are finding themselves in the same position of taking over a roofing business or manufacturing, or trying to understand that transition?

Marianne Sumter: Well, manufacturing, I really couldn't speak to it. I don't know. I think it's just being open, and if you need some help, reach out to your friends. There's a lot of people that are willing to help you with whatever you might need. So that was always important to me, and being organized. Organized helps too a lot.

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, getting your fulfillment company and then really organizing it and putting everything together, that helps you get your arms around it.

Marianne Sumter: That was a big, big step. That made a big difference. It gave me so much more freedom to do the things that I needed to do.

Heidi Ellsworth: To run the business and grow it.

Marianne Sumter: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: Exactly. So tell the audience. I've heard this story, but I love this. Tell the audience a little bit about how the pipe collars, how Bill invented, put together his idea of what needed to be for the Wil-Mar pipe collars. How did that all come into-

Marianne Sumter: Well, he was a roofing contractor. So he had a company and he had guys working for him. And he knew that how they were flushing that pipe that came out the roof was not a good thing. It was with mastic and tape, and then it would deteriorate, and then they have to go back. They get leaks and whatever. So he came up with this idea, and he started using it on his own roofs. And then, of course, he had contacts with roofing distributors that he had purchased roofing material from for his jobs, and he got some of them to carry his product. And it just went on from there. Some of them still carry it.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. I know we did a couple of articles on it.

Marianne Sumter: [inaudible 00:06:47] Roofing Supply is one of them that I think was one of the initial people that carried his product, and they're still carrying it 'til this day. It's just amazing.

Heidi Ellsworth: It's the smallest little thing that makes the biggest difference.

Marianne Sumter: Makes a big difference. Yep. It sure does. It sure does.

Heidi Ellsworth: So Bill was somewhat of an inventor across a couple of things, right?

Marianne Sumter: He was. He had a mounting system for ... well later it became really popular with the solar industry. But he created it so that he could mount things off of the roof, so that they weren't laying on the roof itself, and you can get [inaudible 00:07:26] things, so that's where that started. So we still have some product, but not that much, because there's other solar mounting companies that do things way different than his vision was at the time. And then he also invented a roofer's saw for doing roof repair work. And there was one product, I don't even want to mention it, but there was one product that deteriorated terribly, one roofing product, and there was a lot of repair work that had to be done. So this saw would go in under the shingle, and it would cut off the fastener, and then you could just take away the bad product and put new in. But a lot of the guys still use that saw. We still provide it. We don't have that many sales, but we still provide it. We used to provide a device that would hook it up to an electric saw. But right now they have to use the saw manually, 'cause we don't have that item any longer.

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, I love the fact that roofing contractors, they see what's happening on the roof. And when they start inventing, some of the best products come from that.

Marianne Sumter: Well sure. Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: And yeah. I don't think we celebrate that enough, on how smart and ingenious a lot of our roofing contractors are.

Marianne Sumter: Exactly, exactly.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is very cool. So I know we talked a little bit about you meeting Vicki. Share a little bit more just about how your involvement within the roofing industry and with the distributors, 'cause now it's since '95. So what, were 25 years?

Marianne Sumter: I know, I know. Believe that? I know.

Heidi Ellsworth: What have you seen in the roofing industry, and what are some of the changes that you've seen over the last couple of years with your business?

Marianne Sumter: Well, unfortunately I don't get out there really much, out there with the people. My contacts are mostly with folks like you. So I don't really get to talk to roofing contractors that much. I deal with the distributors. So I don't really hear too many of the stories from them. I just try to keep my distributors happy and stocked with the product, so they have to have it handy when the guys need it. So I don't-

Heidi Ellsworth: Are you seeing some changes with distribution, or with how they're [crosstalk 00:10:02]?

Marianne Sumter: I am, because about a year ago, I started working with a manufacturer's rep. See, I have no salespeople, it's only me. So he goes out selling the products that he represents, one of which is ours, and it's brought in a lot of business for us. I'm really pleased with that. I really am.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great.

Marianne Sumter: He's been in the business for years. So it's been a really, really good thing for me.

Heidi Ellsworth: Manufacturer's reps, I think, are another part of our industry that we don't celebrate enough.

Marianne Sumter: That's right.

Heidi Ellsworth: They are hardworking. They are the ones with the information on what's happening in the industry and-

Marianne Sumter: Right. They're seeing it all. That's right. Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. And they're the ones who also have a lot of these solutions, that understanding how important pipe collars are.

Marianne Sumter: That's correct.

Heidi Ellsworth: Understanding some of these different types of tools that they can be using.

Marianne Sumter: That's correct. Absolutely. I totally agree with that, yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. So as you're looking at the industry today, there's all this technology that's happening, and you and I are on a Zoom call thing right now. And you've been right there on the forefront of the RoofersCoffeeShop, with all the digital technology and stuff. I would just love to hear some of your thoughts on what you're seeing, and from a technology end, you've just done such a great job staying right there with it. So can you give some advice to some of the folks out there who maybe aren't adapting as quickly?

Marianne Sumter: Well, you probably would get somebody that's a lot younger than me that has a lot of better advice, because I mean, I'm learning as I'm going along. When I was working on my other job at GE, we had just basically gotten computers given to us to use as a tool, and now look. Now we're Zooming and we're doing whatever we do. It's just crazy. So you have to be open to whatever is out there and just work with it, because if you don't, they're going to pass you by.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's what I've seen too. And I've also seen both individuals and companies who don't keep up with it, and they do. It's just people, this next generation isn't waiting.

Marianne Sumter: They're not waiting. They're not waiting. And they're going online, and they're looking online, and everything is online. Everything they want to see they know is there, right there, definitely.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, that's it. And so you need to keep it there. I know I've really loved on being able to connect. We've done a couple of fun things where right now you've been talking to Mandy at First Choice, and they're taking the pipe collars and doing some videos, and really starting to get down into that detail work of how important these type of things are. So it's been fun to be able to introduce you to some of our influencers on RoofersCoffeeShop too. It's become a lot of a network.

Marianne Sumter: That's right. That's right, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Because without you guys, I would never have met her. That's right, absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's the fun part of it really.

Marianne Sumter: Right.

Heidi Ellsworth: I know. I love it. So as you are looking to the future and where things are going, what's some of the advice that you would give to young people, and I'm going to say, I'd love to have your advice to young women who are coming into the market, coming into roofing. What's some of your advice to them on a career in roofing?

Marianne Sumter: Well, that's a good question. I've always thought of roofing as a man's world. And so I've always been cautious not to overstep my boundaries, let's put it, when dealing with people. Because some women, I don't know, when they start, when they have conversations, or they're on sales calls or whatever, maybe might rub them the wrong way. Maybe it's just not a comfortable thing to do. So I just find that just having a good comfortable conversation with people, and sometimes they like to open up and then you have the next thing you know, you got yourself a nice new friend, or somebody that's comfortable to talk to. And you just have to stay on top of all the new things that are out there, and be open to using these new tools on the computer, and really that's kind of where it's at.

Heidi Ellsworth: You know what I love about what you're saying there too, is that no matter what we do, it's still all about the relationship.

Marianne Sumter: That's right, totally. And I enjoy that. When I see somebody's name come up on my phone, that's calling me from ABC or wherever they're calling from, and I know them, it just gives a little special spark to that phone call.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. And you [crosstalk 00:15:13]-

Marianne Sumter: And they love it also when you remember them, because I'm sure they talk to a lot of people. They're just an order giver and whatever. But I don't feel that way.

Heidi Ellsworth: No. And I know your customer service has been, that's part of your brand.

Marianne Sumter: Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: The ability to get out there. And I love that. I love that. Because I think with all the technology that we have going, we still have to be aware of building relationships, whether that's on the phone, whether it's on a Zoom meeting, like we're doing now, or hopefully soon in person again.

Marianne Sumter: Yeah. Hopefully, yeah. I don't know when that's going to be, but it might be.

Heidi Ellsworth: I know. And just for those listeners, today is July 9th, 2020. So Marianne, how have you been dealing with the pandemic, and business, have you made any changes? What are you seeing coming out? Hopefully we're all coming out of COVID right now.

Marianne Sumter: Well, fortunately for me, my fulfillment company is still up and running. So nothing has stopped for us. And actually, I was really surprised that business was pretty good, because simply roofs have to go on, and that's something that's always going to happen, and it's just not going to go away.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. No, it's not going to go away.

Marianne Sumter: You have fires and things happen, and buildings get burned or whatever, and things get rebuilt. And so it's always, always going, always. It just doesn't stop.

Heidi Ellsworth: Some big hailstorms, like you said, some wildfires that are already happening in Arizona.

Marianne Sumter: Yeah, we get wildfires here in Tucson, yeah, terrible. Just terrible. They have been going on for four weeks, yeah, in Catalina Mountains. It was terrible. It was terrible.

Heidi Ellsworth: One of the things that you shared with me, that I just think it'd be fun to share with everybody listening, is your fulfillment company, one of the reasons it stayed open, is because it did something special for all of us. Can you tell me that?

Marianne Sumter: They have a government contract to make the COVID testing kits. And so they were doing that. And that's why they were open, fortunately for me.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah.

Marianne Sumter: Yeah. They employ a lot of folks that are veterans, and some people are disabled and whatever. And so they do a lot. They make the American flag. That's another thing that they manufacture. Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's essential. That's awesome.

Marianne Sumter: Yeah. I know. I think it's just awesome.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is cool.

Marianne Sumter: Yeah, they're a really good group of people to work with. They really are.

Heidi Ellsworth: So along with relationships, really those business, picking your good partners.

Marianne Sumter: That's right. Good partners.

Heidi Ellsworth: Your fulfillment company, how we feel about you as a partner with us.

Marianne Sumter: Absolutely. Totally agree.

Heidi Ellsworth: Got it. Very cool.

Marianne Sumter: It's so different now from the days when I first met Vicky, and you guys were just a newspaper, a newspaper, just print. I mean, it was unbelievable.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, we've changed a lot, a lot's going on.

Marianne Sumter: Absolutely. I love it.

Heidi Ellsworth: So as we go through this, I would really like to end with just a little bit more on your pipe collars, 'cause I want people to know that this is something you can go onto the RoofersCoffeeShop website, you can find out the information about it. You can contact Marianne so that you can order them, find out where they're, through distribution. If you don't have distribution in your area, you can work with Marianne directly, or she'll find distribution for you.

Marianne Sumter: That's correct, uh-huh (affirmative).

Heidi Ellsworth: So maybe talk just a little bit about how people can get the pipe collars, and really how important they are on the roof.

Marianne Sumter: They're really important on the roof. I mean, they're a very simple part of the roof and not very costly. Well, first of all, go to RoofersCoffeeShop and request a free sample. That's just the biggest thing, get yourself a free sample of this pipe collar from us, and then you'll have it in your hands, and you can see what it's all about. And then a distributor in your area, if they don't have it in stock, we can help with that. We can help hooking you up with a distributor that does have them, that will even ship directly to you. It doesn't matter that they may not be in your hometown, but that's-

Heidi Ellsworth: Like you said, you work with ABC. ABC is everywhere.

Marianne Sumter: ABC is everywhere. Yeah. We work with ABC. We work with all the big companies. Yeah. They're pretty amazing folks. They really are.

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. That is cool. Well, good. Well, I think, I just want to say thank you so much, first of all, for doing this podcast. And most of all for being our friend and partner on the RoofersCoffeeShop. Vicki and I just think you are it on a stick. We love working with you.

Marianne Sumter: Oh, thank you. That's really sweet.

Heidi Ellsworth: You're very inspirational on how you've run this business and been so successful, so-

Marianne Sumter: Great. Thank you. Well, it was good talking to you also, Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth: Good talking to you. Good luck with the heat in Arizona. And everybody who's listening, please go to the Wil-Mar directory on RoofersCoffeeShop. You'll find all the information there. You can get your free pipe collar, which is very cool.

Marianne Sumter: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: You can watch some videos. You can read some articles, and as you know, this is on all channels across podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, all different places you can listen to it, along with all of our podcasts, which are on the podcast section under information of Read Listen Watch. So thank you so much for being here today, and have a wonderful rest of the week.