S2:E49 April Hall - How the SRC Summit is Changing the Game - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with April Hall, the founder of Storm Consultants LLC and the SRC Summit.You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast here.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a longterm 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. This is Heidi Ellsworth, Roofer's coffee shop partner, and today I am with my dear friend, April Hall. April, welcome to the show.

April Hall:
Thank you so much, Heidi, for having me. It's an honor to be here, so thank you very much.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, April, you know I am huge about women owned businesses, and I have to tell you, you have a business that is just rocking the roofing world. And just for all of you, April Hall is the president of Storm Consultants and the SRC Summit, which we're going to be talking about today. So April, I'm just so impressed with what you do and the business that you run. Can you tell everybody a little bit about that?

April Hall:
Yeah, so I work with roofing contractors nationwide and I bring them together, live events for learning and networking and fun, do different ones throughout the year but the SRC Summit is the annual event that's coming up next month in January, and it brings roofing contractors from all over. I'm really big about content and giving the best value with the speakers that I put on stage, and we do a full trade show, we have some other networking events. So it's a lot of fun, a lot of great networking opportunities and just a place where you can grow your business and learn from others who have gone before you, and they share their success stories.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is excellent. And before we get really into the Summit, because obviously we want to talk a lot about that. But overall, Storm Consultants, you're doing things year round, right?

April Hall:
Yes. So the annual event's in January, and then I do different events throughout the year. Obviously with COVID this year, we took a little bit of break for a few months, but I do different ones. I always do an annual overhead and profit seminar, that's a real hot button topic in the industry. We have a good process of getting that paid consistently. And then I do other events, depending on what's going on in the industry, sometimes [inaudible 00:02:15] a networking thing, sometimes a commercial roofing panel together. So we do a few different things and it's great.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is cool. So let's talk about the Summit. Can you give everybody a little bit of history on the Summit? How did it start, how long has this been going, just give us a little bit of a feel for that.

April Hall:
Yeah. Well, my background is in construction. So my family before I was born, they started doing custom built homes. So I grew up with that. In college, I ended up meeting a business partner, we opened up our first roofing and construction company. We did that for a few years and then got back into the home building business for a little bit. But roofing is always been an amazing industry, so got back into that. And after a while of just working in different states, we saw that there was a huge need for a standardized training in this industry for storm restoration. And it really hadn't been created yet. So back until 2011, we put our heads together, and we came up with the industry's first insurance restoration sales training and did that hearing in Dallas. And really at the time I thought, "Wow, there's so many roofing contractors here. It's probably just going to be a target market, it's just going to be Dallas, in this area."
Well, it wasn't. I didn't see how big the need was until about four months later, there were contractors flying in from really all over, different states. So starting to scale the company into other things that were needed in the industry. So we created the overhead and profit seminar back in 2013 and then this conference, the SRC summit was born from that too. So talking with roofing contractors on a daily basis, and hearing the pain points and the needs of the industry is really how I created SRC summit. It was IRC summit back in 2013, when it first started, it was a one day event. And then grew into a two to three day event over time. And so rebranded it back in 2019 to the SRC summit, storm restoration contractor summit. And what it does is just the top needs of the industry at the time. So we have several different subjects that we cover over a couple of days. So that's what it is, also a trade show and networking.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's excellent. And you're right, there is such a need for all of the things that go into the restoration, all the different parts, it's so different than more retail roofing. So I want to talk about that a little bit more, in the fact that contractors who are interested in working with insurance companies in doing restoration and making sure this is the place where they can learn how to do it the right way. So maybe talk about what the contractors can learn specifically, maybe just a few examples at this conference and why that's so important.

April Hall:
Yeah. So as I mentioned before, we stay on top of what's happening in the industry. Also, of course, there's a law. So especially even in Texas, over the last year, we've had some different laws that have changed. So a big thing is, I don't want anybody to get in trouble, so I'm very big on keeping the content fresh and keeping everyone informed of what's going on with law in particular. But working with insurance is a little bit more difficult than retail. It is complex and you deal with a lot of things, there are adjusters, there are insurance companies with getting things paid. And so we talk a lot about that, there's a lot of objections that you get just as a sales person, as a business owner in the company. So we have actually, Saint Patrick, he's excellent at that. He's going to be sharing that from the main stages, really how to overcome some of those objections that you get to just help get that get the job done right, get to get it paid.
And so there're other things that we talk about, your roof sale closes. I have a full commercial roofing panel over the last couple of years that contractors have really asked me, they're like, "Hey, April, how do I do more commercial roofs?" Gosh, it was probably a year and a half ago. I was like, "You know what, I need to put a commercial roofing handle together." So this year I'm super excited, we've got some new faces on the panel. It's about a $350 million commercial panel. So it's some of the top roofing contractors in the nation that are going to be on that, just sharing their experiences with how to break into it, how to start your commercial roofing division, and being able to answer those questions. So I like to bring top experts together and it's great because we come together, and contractors, who've been doing it for a while and they've had great success, they don't mind sharing with how they did it. And so it's an awesome feeling to bring everyone together and just help each other succeed.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, that's what's so awesome about this industry, isn't it? They're so willing to help each other, and when you have an event like this where you can bring them together and start sharing best practices, really everybody leaves a winner from that type of environment. Okay. I want to, just before we go on, because I really want to talk about your top speakers, but before we go on, I do want to just comment on, I love that fact about seeing a need, like commercial roofing. And then I'm thinking about that and I'm like, "Wow, that is really complex", in the fact that you have to understand the insurance and then the whole world of commercial roofing, working with building owners and facility managers, it's a whole different world.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So I think a lot of people out there in the roofing industry anyway, would think, "Oh, well, if you're running insurance or doing this, you're just working with homeowners." But that's not the case, obviously. Hill does not discriminate. So what has been some of the experience you've seen? I know you're saying that a lot of people have that interest. Are you seeing the contractors really take on... What is some of that happening there on the commercial side? I think that's really interesting.

April Hall:
Well, commercial, it's a different animal, really, compared to the residential. We're going to go over that, it is quite a bit different. When you're doing commercial roofing, even with your insurances as well, even though you have insurance, you're going to have to bid, and it's about relationship building as well. So I have a lot of friends and associates that I work with in commercial building. So I'm currently working on a project right now, it's 22,000 square feet of TPO. And so what I do is when I get those in, I work with some of the top roofing contractors and really I refer them out. And so I'm working on something right now. But yeah, it is different. We're going to teach you how to break into the commercial industry, but really the ins and outs of it as well. So it's pretty in depth, but it is very different from residential.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. And I don't know of anywhere else that's doing that. And it makes sense, if you understand insurance, of course you're going to want to expand out into commercial. So this is the place to be able to do that. That is so cool.

April Hall:
Well, thanks.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So April, let's talk about the speakers. You always have great keynote, and you have industry, so maybe go over some of your top speakers who are going to be there and what they're going to be talking about.

April Hall:
Okay. Yeah. Let me just look here. So the first one, we have so many. I'm looking at my side too, so we can go from the top. I always like to bring in other speakers outside of the industry. Whether they're a business leader or somebody who's inspirational and motivational, because we cover so many different things, it's industry specific, but it's also a business conference. And so I'm super excited and really honored to have my main keynote as Keith Craft. He's been a business owner, he's a pasture, he does masterminds all over the US.
And so he really helps businesses, he coaches them. I'm in his mastermind group, I go to his church, he's going to open up the SRC summit with just a keynote on mindset, really. And how to get your mind right, because if you want to be successful, you've got to think about success. You have to go forward with that. So he's going to do a whole thing about the growth mindset and I'm super excited because I've heard different things so many times, and it really resonates into business. And so I love that he's going to be opening it up. Jim Johnson's amazing, I love working with him. He coaches roofing contractors to succeed. So he's been in the industry for a very long time, he's going to be talking about leadership and how to be a great leader within your organization, how to lead people.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love Jim Johnson.

April Hall:
He's great.

Heidi Ellsworth:
He's awesome.

April Hall:
I love him too. And somebody asks me to describe Jim Johnson, it was one word, "integrity".

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. He's just such a good man. I don't know if you're always supposed to say that anymore, but that's when I think of Jim, that's what I think. He's just a good man, he's just so cool.

April Hall:
He just really loves helping contractors succeed. So he's passionate about it. And I just really like that about him and his wife is there and they're a great team and they help so many people. So I love that they're going to be there. And Scott Riopelle, Interstate Roofing, I'm so excited to have him be a part of it as well. He has an amazing story, he's consistently been in the top 50 roofing contractors, top 50 out of a hundred, every year. But he's going to talk about overcoming adversity from the bottom to the top. So he has an amazing story of where he came from and who is success today, so he's going to be sharing that. And he's also in the commercial panel too.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. And Scott and Interstate Roofing just won innovator of the year with RT3.

April Hall:
Yes, I just saw that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So cool.

April Hall:
Yeah, so he's got some amazing projects going on as well. So he's a wealth of knowledge, he's going to share a lot with us. So I'm excited about him. Sam Struthers is going to be talking about company culture, how he grew his team. They have an amazing team, all the people who work with them are so happy to be there, and they're always posting about how excited they are to go to work each day. So it's a real cool feeling to be part of that. Oh gosh, who else? We've got so many. So many.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know. And if you're watching this on video or if you're not, if you're obviously a podcast on your favorite channel, you're going to be able to find this on the SRCsummit.com. We're looking at it right now as we're speaking. And April just does an amazing job with this website. All of the speakers are on here and you can see all of them and really go into what they're going to speak about. And April, what a great lineup. This is so great. So from here, and let's talk a little bit about those panels. I know you said you have the commercial panel. What other panels do you have going?

April Hall:
So I'm so excited to bring back the women's leadership panel. I did it for the first time for 2020 SRC. And we have an amazing lineup of speakers on that, and it just brings a different aspect to SRC. For the longest time I've been doing this, the majority of it have been men, so I wanted to change that. And this past year I had the leadership panel and I had record number of women in attendance. So it's great, NWIR was present at the event too, they had a booth. And I'm excited because we're going to start off the event and kick it off with a women's networking lunch.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Nice.

April Hall:
That's going to be Saturday.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love that.

April Hall:
Yeah. So it's going to be Saturday, 11:45 to 12:45, kicks off the event. That same day, we have a ton of breakouts happening. We've got the vendor trade show, we've got a welcome mixer, we've got the roofing Olympics and then all Sunday and half day Monday, we have the main stage speakers.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is excellent. Wow. And again, as I'm going down through here, there's marketing panels, there's industry experts, there're legal panels. It is just everything that you need for your business is going to be there, and such great networking. So let's talk about the networking, because you do some really fun stuff. I know you do your Olympics, so tell us about it. I'm not even going to give it credit. I'm not going to give it enough because it's so cool. Talk to you about what you do for networking for everyone.

April Hall:
Yeah. So I'm always big on feedback and every time I do something, how can I do it better? So when I get feedback from contractors, the top two things they typically tell me is one, and this doesn't matter how long they've been in the business. If they've been in the business three years to 15 plus years. But they always say that they had no idea they were going to gain that much information and knowledge that they can take back and use right away in their business. And so I'm big about value, putting a lot of great value with industry experts on stage to give that expertise. So you're not going to come to the SRC summit and get pitched from stage. We're going to give you as much value in and things that we can give you that can help you be successful.
The second thing that they tell me is the networking. Meeting other contractors, meeting the vendors. And so this past year I did change it up a little bit. Typically we have the first part of the conference, we would do the main speakers and then we've had the networking mixer at the end. I said, "Well, networking is very important, so I'm going to do something to where everybody can meet each other the first day and break the ice." So this year and next year, we're kicking it off on Saturday, we're going to do the women's networking lunch. And that's 11:45 to 12:45. There's a ton of breakouts going on that day, and then we have the vendor trade show. But I did the roofing Olympics this year and it was really, really fun. It was supposed to be the year of the Olympics.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

April Hall:
COVID changed it a little bit. So we did Olympic-like events with a roofing spin on it. We did ping pong, it's an Olympic sport, golf, we did a golf simulator at the longest drive. We had corn hole, obviously not an Olympic sport but everybody loves it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Important.

April Hall:
So it's fun. We did the nail-it competition, and we did the fastest and most accurate to nail shingles. It was just a lot of fun, we played for gold, silver and bronze medals. We're doing that again this year, cash prizes go to the gold medal winner, And then we match that to charity. So it's a win-win, but it breaks the ice. So everybody gets to meet each other right away, and then they know each other throughout the event. So it's great networking just to start off. The next day, we also do a networking mixer at the end of the event. So plenty of opportunity to meet contractors, meet vendors, get to know everybody throughout it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love that. I think that's so smart. First of all, we all know roofing contractors, anybody in roofing seems like we're all competitive. Corn hole or shingle nailing contest, whatever it may be. And then just the chance to be able to sit there and laugh and be together before you're actually sitting in a room learning, gives you this great opportunity to just, like you said, break the ice. I think it's brilliant. And it'll be really fun.

April Hall:
Yeah, it was just a lot of fun. It was laid back, usually I'm running around before the event making sure everything's perfect, but I got to be able to actually enjoy my event.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. I love it. So okay, along with that and that networking part of it and what you're doing is the sponsors, and you have some amazing sponsors and you have the trade show. Let's talk about that a little bit.

April Hall:
Yeah. So if a sponsor [inaudible 00:17:49], we really do 10 by 10 booths and they're there the entire time and they're part of the event, which is cool. So we have the main, it's a big, big area and I got way more space this year, just social distance, everybody out because of COVID. So I'm taking all the necessary precautions, protocols set up by the state to make it a safe event. So with the vendors, they're going to be part of the event. So we have the main stage, the attendees and in the back we have the vendors. And so if they're a gold sponsor, they're actually in the front row and they can see all the speakers, which is pretty cool. So yeah, it's opportunity to get in front of owners of roofing companies by sponsoring the SRC.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And while we're talking about it, because let's just take that elephant in the out of the corner, everybody is worried about COVID and social distances and stuff. But you are doing some really unique things along that. Why don't you tell everybody about that?

April Hall:
Yeah. So with the whole thing that went on this year, we want everybody to be safe. So just to know where everybody stands and let everybody feel more safe, obviously we're social distancing, everybody out doing the state protocols. And I got plenty of room, but what I did back in July is I started a bracelet system. So upon check-in, you'll pick a bracelet. You're either going to pick green, yellow, or red. Green means like, "Hey, you're good to be there. You can shake hands, maybe hug." Yellow's a little bit more cautious, no handshaking, but maybe your elbow or fist.

Heidi Ellsworth:
The elbow bump.

April Hall:
Yeah. And red's social distance, "Hey, we're not going to shake hands." So what it has done is really showed everyone where they stand. You're not going to walk up to somebody and shake their hand if they're wearing a red bracelet. And I didn't know how great it was going to be, but when I first did it everybody kept talking about it. And so they liked it, it shows you where people stand, and I really think it does help people feel a little bit more safe.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, I think it's so smart. I'm sure everyone's going to grab on to that because it makes a lot of sense. Even just in life, because some people are a little bit more susceptible, obviously. And then you also are doing a lot of social distancing in the room where everybody's sitting. You're moving everything far apart.

April Hall:
Yep. Yeah, they're doing all the layout for me and stuff. So it was depending on where the number of people are, we have the state protocols, the six feet apart and so many to a table. And then we have a section for if you're a red bracelet, we're going to get you in another section so that you feel more safe, so you're far away from people.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Good, good.

April Hall:
Have everybody separated out. And yeah, so it's a little bit different, I'm just navigating things with changes of COVID. I do have a few corporate sponsors that typically go to this event, and they're just on lockdown, they're not allowed to be in person. So what I'm doing is a way around that is since I want to be there, I can offer them a virtual booth.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Nice.

April Hall:
So literally they can be there, they can send all their marketing equipment, we can put it up for them or they can drop it off, set it up themselves and leave. But there's a screen, so anybody who visits our booth, they can talk to virtually.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh my gosh, that's awesome. That's great. Yeah. I love it. That's smart. Very cool. So I want to get in a little bit into the tactical and how to sign up and everything. But before we do that, I really want to talk, and I know we talked about earlier you having the women's panel, but I also want to just talk about your involvement with national women in roofing. And the Dallas council and all of the great things you're all doing and how you've all supported each other. Can you just share a little bit about your experiences that way, April, because you guys just are doing amazing things.

April Hall:
Well yeah, I mean this year has been just a little bit different because we've been really set back on meeting in person, but we have a really great group here, a core group of women who are always on Zoom calls, we support each other. One of our [inaudible 00:22:06] members just had a baby, we all sent her presents and gifts. And we come together and we network with each other, we support one another. So I wanted to bring that into SRC. And even for women who aren't part of national women in roofing, they're invited to attend the event and be part of the NWIR brunch, visit us at the booth, sign up for it. Last year, we had a lot of ladies that attended from different parts of the United States and they signed up to be a member.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it.

April Hall:
Yeah, I just really love bringing everybody together. And being a woman in the industry, obviously there's not a lot of us. And so it's great when we can come together and really just help each other grow and learn from one another and just succeed.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And you know what, there's a lot more since we got started. A lot more women are showing up.
I love that. I love that. I love how you said that your conference was traditionally men and now you're just seeing more and more women showing up to your conference. And I just think that brings such great balance too, because we know in the workplace, sales, back office, out on the roof, women can be anywhere in that and they need to be learning everything that your conference teaches.

April Hall:
Exactly. So yeah, I'm excited to do it, we're adding the networking lunch and then obviously the women's leadership panel NWIR is going to be there. So I'm super excited, I can't wait.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great. I love that. Okay, so let's talk about how people can sign up and some of the logistics of hotels, all that kind of stuff. So first of all, how do they sign up?

April Hall:
Yeah. So anyone can go to SRCsummit.com, SRC, S-U-M-M-I-t.com. Just scroll down, there's a couple of different ticket options on there, there's a VIP or general admission. VIP is going to get you in the front rows, the VIP badge, we have a VIP networking breakfast that we do in the VIP room. And then you'll get access to watch the entire summit speakers again, after the fact that summit through our online training portal. So that's a huge value to check it out. And then general admission is access to everything, just not those things. And we have group rates on general admission, so as long as there's three or more, the rates decrease [inaudible 00:24:25]. I have amazing hotel plans, I have anywhere from $79 per night to 157 per night, if you want to stay on site. So if people are traveling, a lot of times you go to conferences. When I typically go to them, hotels are usually like 200 bucks per night. And so I've gone from 79 to 157. And so we do have MSC suites, which is attached to the Frisco convention center. The most expensive one's only 157.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, and talk about the location, about your conference hall and just where it's at in Dallas, because you're just in a cool spot.

April Hall:
Yeah. So it's Frisco, Texas. It's about 20 minutes from DFW international, 30 minutes from Lovefield. And there's a lot of fun stuff to do here. So the Dallas Cowboys headquarters is in Frisco, it's literally two minutes away. And so they have a full field there, that's where the Cowboys work out. There's a whole bunch of different, fun places to visit there with restaurants and things to do. We've got the Andretti racing center, if you want to go race go-karts or check it out. There's top golf, there's malls, there's attractions. There's just a lot of fun stuff to do. And typically in January, you never know, but it's typically around 60 degrees or more outside. So people traveling from up North, it's nice to get away and enjoy decent weather.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I'm ready for that already, it's only November. Or December, sorry, I don't even know what month I'm in anymore.

April Hall:
Yeah, I know. It's like the third year of 2020.

Heidi Ellsworth:
No, go ahead. Go ahead.

April Hall:
Oh I said, I think it's the third year of 2020, so we're good.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, I know. And I've been to that area where the convention is going to be and that Fisco area and the Cowboys and stuff like that, and it's just so fun. It is just such a great place.

April Hall:
[inaudible 00:26:13] to have it there.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, awesome restaurants too. Yeah. Okay. And so they're going to go on to the SRCsummit.com page to register. I love that VIP, I think that's really cool, that just gives a little bit of an edge, and the hotels were there. So when is early-bird registrations? When should they get registered, besides of course right now. But what is the timeline?

April Hall:
Well, the rates do keep going up. Oh gosh, as we get close to the events, we'll have a couple of little rate increases before then. The next one is actually the 12th, December 12th at midnight. So it was coming up pretty quick. But as far as a group rate, you'll always get better rates with a group rate. I do have a very special rate for national women in roofing. So it's SRC summit.com/NWIR and if you're part of NWIR, it's half cost of the tickets.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow, that's great. And I also know you've been kind enough to give a very nice rate to Roofer's Coffee Shop too. So if anyone who's listening goes through the Roofer's Coffee Shop, there're banners, there's a directory, we've got it on the events page, we're going to have it on the podcast page, there's blogs. You can find so much information about the SRC summit. And if you click any of those links, you will also see a discount, an early bird discount for a Roofer's Coffee Shop on anybody who uses that promo code. So that's just RCS. So if you hear this, use that code and you're going to get some good pricing. If you're a lady in roofing, get to the national women in roofing page, because there's just so many. I like how you do that April, it gives people a lot of opportunities.

April Hall:
Well thank you, Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So any last thoughts? I just want to make sure we covered everything, but I think everyone knows what it is, why they should go, how much fun they're going to have, and how to do it. So anything else, April?

April Hall:
I'm just excited to do this. Everybody's moved their events. So really I am the only roofing conference, SRC is for the first quarter of this year. So I would just say take time, if you really want to set yourself up for success in the first quarter, this is really where you can get started with planning out 2021 and doing it right. So I would just encourage everybody to take a look at the site, my information is on there, if you have questions, reach out.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I love it. I love it. And I am so excited for you in this event. And thank you for taking time today to share this with us at Roofer's Coffee Shop, we so appreciate it.

April Hall:
Well, thank you so much for having me, Heidi, I really appreciate it. And this was fun.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know, it is fun, isn't it? And at least we get to see each other.

April Hall:
I know.

Heidi Ellsworth:
This is one of the few we're going to have this on video and on podcast. So if you're listening to it on a podcast and you want to see the sites or you want to see April or myself, you can also go online and see it as a video as always. So April, thank you so much for being here today.

April Hall:
Thank you, Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you. And thank you everybody for listening. Thank you for being a part of Roofer's Coffee Shop, and please listen to all of our podcasts under read, listen, watch, and on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any. And have a great day. Thank you.

April Hall:
Thank you, bye-bye.

Start/end speaker:
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