S1:E10 Sherri Miles - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an interview with Sherri Miles of Miles Roofing. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast here.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Good morning and welcome to Stories from the Roof. This is a Roofers Coffee Shop podcast, that is all about the people of roofing. And today I'm with a very good friend and an amazing roofing professional Sherri Miles, president of Miles Roofing. Good morning, Sherri.

Sherri Miles:
Good morning.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I am so happy you're on the show. You and I have sat on so many different committees together, and I feel like now doing this podcast, I'm going to get to know things about you that I probably have never known before. I'm really looking forward to hearing your experiences and your thoughts on the 12 questions.

Sherri Miles:
Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Perfect. Okay, so here we go. We're going to just get started. So number one, who taught you to roof?

Sherri Miles:
Well, I'm still not sure I know a whole lot about how exactly to install a roof, but I had some great teachers along the way. I thought it was really important when I did start that I was out on the roof. My story is a little bit different that I started in the office and wanted to learn what the guys did day in and day out. And so a couple of the foremen that we had put me on their crew and treated me just like anybody else that was learning. And I will tell you third day on a really hard, hot, modified bitumen hot put down I was praying for rain. It was so hard. And I had such a different respect for the guys that do this every single day and learning tricks of the trade that made their jobs easier. And really, it was so much better to understand how they even estimate a job. So I'm very thankful for the format that we've had over the years that taught me everything they've known.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great. I love those stories. And I hear that a lot. If you don't start there, you have to get there at some point to be able to understand what's all going on.

Sherri Miles:
You do. It's really hard to appreciate it reading in a manual or to appreciate it when you're trying to sell to a client who's really savvy unless you've done it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right. 

Sherri Miles:
And understand the whole process and why it takes so long and why you want to get paid a premium dollar for the premium job that you're doing. So it helps in lots of ways.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is cool. So following up on that, question number two, what was the most valuable lessons you learned about roofing?

Sherri Miles:
I know that it's the first point of protection, that it's easy. It's not something that you see every day, but it's something that will protect your family in a case of a home or in case of a business, it protects what is underneath. And one little slip up, one mistake, one little void can cause huge problems. And so the devil is in the details. Guys like to talk about football is a game of inches. Well, roofing is a game of inches. Even if you have hundreds of squares of roofing, it only takes one little mistake, one little place and you could be flooded. So it really is a game of precision.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes. That's a great lesson. That is great. And so along that line, what was the most valuable lesson you learned about being in business?

Sherri Miles:
It's about people. It's about people. And I say these stories that ... My guys, a lot of them come from Mexico and they have perhaps an eighth grade education. They are smarter than me in ways that I can never be smart. They are just really good at seeing things and solving problems. They're amazing critical thinkers, our foreman and they know how to handle both a business owner and the laborers that come underneath them. And so my appreciation is being able to treat people with high respect is the name of the game in business. And certainly in roofing.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yeah. Taking care of your people and taking care of your customers, which are all people. I mean, I know that sounds silly, but people forget that. It's so much more than just the business.

Sherri Miles:
For sure.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. Okay. So what is the best thing you ever did for your business?

Sherri Miles:
Diversify. And it seems counterintuitive, but when we as a nation, we were going through the Great Recession 10 years ago, or even longer. We were able to diversify our offerings from not just commercial roofing, but residential roofing and residential exteriors. And that horse pulled our cart through that recession. And it was counterintuitive, but it was a gut feeling that we needed to do this and that we needed to make sure that we came out the other end. So I'm very thankful. And we always look for new ways and new lines of business to diversify without losing that main stable of commercial roofing.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love hearing that back from you because, I hear people talk about it all the time. We talk about it, how important diversification is, but to really hear that it was the key point to get you through that Great Recession that makes a big ... And diversification was with the exteriors on residential. Okay.

Sherri Miles:
Right. And so it wasn't completely out of the scope of the main work that we did, but it was just something different. And I will tell you again, counterintuitively, we've spent a lot of money in advertising at that point. And it was a very hard thing because that's really the first thing you want to cut back. Right?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right.

Sherri Miles:
People after that didn't even know we did commercial roofing because they're seeing all this advertising that we did windows and doors and sun rooms and decks and whatever. And they're like, "Oh, you do commercial roofing." So we kind of swung the pendulum the other way, but it was so necessary. And when we did that, we helped the small businesses in our community. We helped the paper, we helped the media companies around us. I would just say that, that was a huge business lesson for me. You always want to look at your cost, but look at the residual cost of what's happening in the community.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, and that's especially true now more than ever. So once, again.

Sherri Miles:
For sure.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. So what are your biggest concerns being in business today?

Sherri Miles:
Boy, I have a lot of them, but like the broken record that we all are, it's the next gen. It's the people who are going to be able to learn these skills and be paid well for these skills and to be able to earn a great living and have a good standard of living in this country. So we need to do a better job, as I would say even a society thing. It is making sure that people feel like they are living into a purpose filled life. For roofing contractors, we have had a reputation of kind of being on the lower end of the scale in the trade world, we need to change that. We need to show that this is a highly skilled job, not all of it, but it can be a highly skilled job. We talk back to that one little void in a roof that can cause millions of dollars of damage.
It's a highly skilled job. It's highly sought after, it is hard, honorable work. And that when you can give people purpose for working, for showing up every day that will help self perpetuate the next generation. They're going to be proud, their children are going to be proud and their children will want to follow them. Right?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Sherri Miles:
It needs to be aspirational and so we have a job now to make roofing aspirational.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right. I love that. I love that. I truly believe because I've seen so many young people come into the industry and within a couple of years, I love roofing. I love this community. So once they're here, they don't really leave. It's just getting in front of them in the first place.

Sherri Miles:
Right. It's changing mindsets of people who are already here, who thought this was the only thing I could do. And so I think if we can lift the people who were already here up and have them as an example, I think that it will just ... The rising tide raises all ships kind of thing, it elevates all of us.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I agree, a 100%. And we've talked about that so much in all the meetings we've been in and social gatherings. So I love how this kind of goes on to that, especially when you're talking about the next generation, but in one word describe the most important trait in an employee.

Sherri Miles:
It's going to be a hyphenated word, critical thinking.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love that. Wow. Okay. Now I'm going to break my rules. Expand on that a little bit.

Sherri Miles:
We often hire for the person, not for the skill, and if I can find someone who can think beyond just the task that they're doing, they're prescribed for the day. If they can think about the bigger picture and how to get to that goal, that's the person I want on my team.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes. I agree. That's no matter what business you're in.

Sherri Miles:
Critical thinking is very important.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I love that. I hope everybody's listening to that. I mean, I think that's just a yes, that's a yes moment. One of those ahas, I love that. Okay. This is going to change course just a little bit. But do you belong to any associations related to your business? And I'm going to say, tell us about that.

Sherri Miles:
Yeah. How much time do you have? Just in the roofing arena, I'm involved highly in our Virginia Association of Roofing Professionals for many years and kind of been in and out of that. But now I'm like in the weeds with them on some training and some ways of getting people into our industry. And then of course, with the National Roofing Contractors and have learned a ton. I felt like I've kept my finger on the pulse of what's happening internationally and nationally and best practices in business and best practices in roofing. And made some fabulous friendships along the way, because that's what life is about and making memories and having good relationships. And then I'm involved with a ton of nonprofits in my area, because I believe it's important to give back to your community.
And as I tell my children all the time, when it takes two hours to go get a gallon of milk at the store, which is five minutes away, I'm always working. I'm always building relationships. I'm always trying to figure out how to help someone, even if it's not in roofing, because it'll pay dividends later. When you have trust with your community, people will call you when they need you. And roofing, hopefully you won't need somebody for 20 years, but when you're ready, I'll be here. And I'll help.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I love that. And that's what associations are all about learning, continuing education and building that network and relationship. 

Sherri Miles:
I've met the most interesting people, and it's not even with what they do with roofing. It's how they just live life and embrace life and all these interesting, fabulous things. I've been so inspired by so many people over the years because of what they've done with their lives. They just happened to be in the roofing industry.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. There's some great people in the movie industry.

Sherri Miles:
Sure. Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
[crosstalk 00:14:25] everyday.

Sherri Miles:
So good.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. Okay. We are on question number eight and it is the best boss you ever had taught you what?

Sherri Miles:
I got some really good bosses. This is so hard. Okay. Can I give two answers? 

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes, you can. 

Sherri Miles:
Okay. So I'll start with Steve Krueger. I worked for LA Schwartz in the '90s and he was so fabulous and I kind of did a six or eight month internship with him and worked in different departments. And he would often sit me down and just talk about business and about life. He always had little pearls of wisdom. And so, one of the things that has stuck with me for many years and in many parts of my life is, it's not the people you fire that give you the heart attack, it's the people you should've fired.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. That's good. Yes.

Sherri Miles:
If you have people who are on your team, who aren't living into the values of your company, even if they're really good at what they do, they would be best served somewhere else.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Sherri Miles:
And keeping them on too long is not good for them or for you. I think about that often, when I think, am I just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, whatever. And then the next one, and I still have this on my desk. My grandfather who was one of the greatest men I've ever known. And so kind, but so very ethical and full of ... He lived his values on his sleeves and he was really good at what he did. And he had a plaque on his desk, like a name plaque, and I think it says, "Third assistant to the eighth vice president." Who do you think you are? Even when you're ruling the world, you're not, come on. Have some humble pie.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love that. And you still have that plaque on your desk. 

Sherri Miles:
I do. I still have it. Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it.

Sherri Miles:
No, matter how high and mighty you think you are, you still ... Put other people ahead of you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, and when you are a good leader and you are a good business owner, you should be putting everybody else in front of you. 

Sherri Miles:
Yes, yes.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great. I love it, a wise man.

Sherri Miles:
Right. And it's all about the people, it doesn't matter if it's the lowest paid laborer you have. You think about what this job means for him and what you're asking them to do.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right. Yeah.

Sherri Miles:
You would never ask anybody to do anything that you won't do. 

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Sherri Miles:
So I've had some pitch tear-offs, let me tell you. [crosstalk 00:17:49] and I've learned a lot of tricks.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Sherri Miles:
I got some good stories.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. Wow. See, that's always been one of mine. I don't ask anybody to do anything that I wouldn't do myself or can do, if I can't do it, I want to learn how to do it. And so, yeah. That's excellent. Wow. Okay. What makes you smile when you think about your job?

Sherri Miles:
Affecting change in people's lives. Really. We were going through ... We're constantly going through iterations of our mission, vision, and values at our company. We're getting to where this is going to be one of our statements. We build great people to do extraordinary things.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Ooh, I like that. That's awesome.

Sherri Miles:
That's what gets me up in the morning is making sure people live into their best lives.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I love that.

Sherri Miles:
We build great people to do extraordinary things.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is great Sherri. That's inspiring. And I think that's also something that really will appeal to that next generation because it shows you truly believe into it and you believe in the extraordinary-ness of roofing and you believe in their greatness and that's cool. Yeah. Wow. Okay. It's hard to go to the next question after that, that was so good. If you were going to do it all again, what would you do differently?

Sherri Miles:
It all, meaning this career?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Sure. We'll go with that.

Sherri Miles:
Or life, or what?

Heidi Ellsworth:
You can pick whatever you want.

Sherri Miles:
I would tell myself to slow down, to enjoy every moment and not be worried or thinking about what's coming next. I have a tendency to run at a really high rate and high speed and the past year, the blessing of this pandemic even has forced me to slow down. 

Heidi Ellsworth:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yes.

Sherri Miles:
And to be in the now and to be in this moment, not in the past, you can't do anything about it. Not in the future, what you're thinking about can affect the future, but you're not there yet. You can't worry about it but you can be completely here now. I'm going to be with Heidi, right this minute and I'm going to put my all and I will receive all of Heidi because of that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right.

Sherri Miles:
It really is, it's been a powerful thing and I kind of wish I had been living like that a little more intentional, [crosstalk 00:21:06], so that's a good thing.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I mean, whenever we're talking, you always are doing things for self-improvement. I know you and I talked about meditation and you talked about ... So you've really been doing these things and I'm sorry, and for everybody out there who's listening. I am seeing these pictures of Sherri on the wall of China and just awesome pictures and awesome moments. And so the fact that you're still like, "I want to make that top of mind and make sure I'm always doing that." And when we're younger, we don't always think that way. That's great.

Sherri Miles:
This life is a gift.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. 

Sherri Miles:
I'm not saying, I'm not going to completely do feats of endurance and feats of whatever. I'm still like that but to enjoy not just that destination, but the journey, right?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Sherri Miles:
It's enjoying the training to get to that marathon. It's enjoying the training to do that three-day desert race, which was, I mean, one of the highlights of my life, but what's up next, what's coming up next. So enjoying the transition time.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Sherri Miles:
Enjoying the transition time of not just going from one thing to the next.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And it's hard to enjoy transition times. It's probably one of my biggest challenges.

Sherri Miles:
It is, it's hard to describe because we are used to doing and it's hard to just be.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, exactly. Especially for business owners, because it's everyday, it's on your mind. And you're thinking through and what are you doing?

Sherri Miles:
That's where the magic is.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Sherri Miles:
That's where the magic is. And by listening and being quiet and still, I have learned so much more about myself and about others and about how to make the decisions that need to be made in our business.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, and for success. I love that. That's awesome. Okay. Some of the things you said earlier is going to feed just perfect into this question. This is number 11. So we're almost there, any tips for the new guy or gal starting out?

Sherri Miles:
So this has always been my standard answer for the kids that I've mentored along the way. Say yes, when someone asks you to do something, say yes. That doesn't mean you're going to do it for the rest of your life. That just means you're going to try it. That means that you've tried it. And you know you don't like it or that you've tried it and want more, but say yes.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is so true. Yeah. Don't be scared. Don't think it's not for you because you don't know until you try.

Sherri Miles:
You don't know.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Sherri Miles:
You don't know. And you build that wisdom along the way, but that's hard to explain to an 18, 20 year old.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right.

Sherri Miles:
Like I've told my kids even, say yes, try it, try it. It's not beneath you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Say yes.

Sherri Miles:
It's not too aspirational. Try it. 

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yeah.

Sherri Miles:
Say yes.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. Okay. Here is the number 12. How do you stay motivated to keep moving forward?

Sherri Miles:
That is a good question ... I don't know, I think motivation comes from within. I don't know. I've always been a very driven person and not necessarily to attain something, but just to do my best. I just want to give it my all and leave everything out on the field. NRCA the other day asked for definitions of success and my answer now is different than it was probably 20, 30 years ago, because every day that I'm alive and that I learn something it's a success. It is, it's just a success to ... And I swear every single day I learn something new.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yes.

Sherri Miles:
I am so grateful. And I think that to me has been, when you talk about motivation, like no, you'd be grateful for all the gifts. 

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. 

Sherri Miles:
I'm so thankful. And I know that I have been given gifts and then I need to live fully into them because otherwise I'm not living the best life that I can.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And I know a lot of your earlier questions, all feed into this too. Your answers, I should say, all your early answers just feed into this is that, you love helping others and you love giving back. And that's part of gratitude, but also being able to do that. So I love that. That's beautiful.

Sherri Miles:
Yeah. And I think that we are all given different gifts. Right?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sherri Miles:
It's not fear-based, I just want to live fully into them.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yes. Me too. I feel exactly the same way. And in fact, right before this conversation, something just wasn't done as much as I wanted it to. And I said, "I'm not disappointing anybody, but myself and I'm going to keep going until this is the way I want it to be." And it's no one telling me to do that. It's just because I want to, I wanted to be the best, at least to the point without being too obsessive.

Sherri Miles:
Right. Right. 

Heidi Ellsworth:
So those were awesome, awesome answers but Sherri, before I let you go and I should have probably done this at the first, but I would love it, if you would just share a little bit about your company, a little bit about you just kind of give the listeners out there, who you are, what your company is, the history. And maybe some of the really cool initiatives you have working right now.

Sherri Miles:
Sure. So I'm a fourth generation roofing contractor. My companies were started in 1910 by my great-grandfather and we have a large, complicated family as most families are. But our business has survived and thrived through Great Depression and World Wars and recessions and now a pandemic. And it's because we've stayed true to the values that we hold dear, which are the people who we surround ourselves with. So it was mostly commercial roofing and we have a residential division as well. My brother and I, as entrepreneurs, we also want to make our mark. And so we're trying to figure out how to make our mark. He is really technology driven. We have gone completely solar and are doing ... Yeah. So we're off the grid at our shop. And we're trying to promote solar energy throughout, especially rooftop solar. So we can install it and electric vehicles and moving away from coal-based because his values are really about technology, enhancing life on earth and protecting the earth and sustainability. And my focus, I believe in that too but my focus has also been ... I have been given a gift of being a woman in the roofing industry, less than one percent of roofing firms are owned by women, less than one percent. We have some work to do so.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). 

Sherri Miles:
And it's one thing to say it, it's another thing to do it. So a couple of other fantastic, fabulous women who are also owners of roofing companies, we banded together and in January we launched Meta Team, which is a woman owned roofing contracting firm that has a national presence because there is a need for national clients that care about diversity in their spending.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Sherri Miles:
So we are very safety conscious. We have high expectations and high skills. We pay our people well. We have a set of values that we believe in as a group and we believe we can sell that to owners.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. That's great.

Sherri Miles:
[crosstalk 00:30:48] they're going to help women owned businesses and these businesses help people in their community in real tangible ways. By education and skills, by paying people well, by making sure they're safe and healthy. So we're able to sell, elevating our communities, which is a huge goal for a lot of these Fortune 500 companies.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Sherri Miles:
It's not going to be the cheapest product, but we're going to give you a really good product at a fair price and then our communities are going to benefit because you've gone with us.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. Sherri, as you well know, that diversity and women in roofing is a huge passion of mine. And I just think Meta Team is amazing. For other women roofing company owners, just get in touch with you, if they want to hear about what's going on here. I mean, when you start looking, there's a lot of women out there who own their own businesses, and they're going to want to hear about this and talk about it.

Sherri Miles:
We would like to talk to them.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Okay.

Sherri Miles:
We need high quality partners because that is one of ... Not only do we want business, this is going to help all of our businesses. We also feel an obligation to bring other people along, to help people who are starting out, to help women who are starting out in business to help other women roofing contractors. We want to be that. And like I said at the beginning, we're living into the things that we talk about in this esoteric way.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right.

Sherri Miles:
This is the avenue, this is the gift we've given. We've got to run with it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes, exactly. And women helping women is one of the best things that can ever happen. It's too often in the past, sorry, my little soap box. But women have been pitted against each other, forget that. There is so much room for growth. So reaching out, hand to hand and working together on this, and we have to say the great men in this industry too, who are there. For balance, the big picture.

Sherri Miles:
Well, honestly, and without ... We can talk about buzzwords, but they ally-ship that the men who have mentored me in my career, who have given that to me, I couldn't be here without them.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, yeah.

Sherri Miles:
So I am so thankful to them and for believing in me, not just because of what I was born into or despite the fact that I was a woman. They really just believed in me as a person. 

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. 

Sherri Miles:
I'm so very grateful for that. Something's been bubbling up for a few years and this is it, this is it. As women, we intend to be more collaborative of working together, using best practices of leaving the ego at the door.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sherri Miles:
[crosstalk 00:34:04]. We are a group and we will raise each other up.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is great. You have been, and are so inspirational and your answers to these questions and then this final part about what you're doing now in the now, as we talked about, is just awesome. Sherri, thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for being on Stories from the Roof with Roofers Coffee Shop. I can't tell you how much I've loved this.

Sherri Miles:
Thank you, Heidi. I'm appreciative for you and thankful for you and what you're doing to spread the gospel.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, spread the word of roofing. There we go.

Sherri Miles:
That's great. Right.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, thank you again and thank you everybody for listening. If you want to get ahold of Sherri, Miles Roofing, you can find her on ... Just Google it. You will find Sherri, but of course you can always ask the Roofers Coffee Shop, where she's active there too. So please join us for all the Stories from the Roof, as we learn more about the great professionalism and just the awesome people who are in this industry and sharing their stories. You can find all of them under read, listen, watch on our site. And you can also find some great roofing road trip podcasts. So until the next time, thank you so much and have a great day.