Stories from the Roof: Paige Harvill - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Paige Harvill of Nations Roof LLC. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast!

Megan Ellsworth: Welcome to Stories from the Roof, the podcast that brings you tales from the most unexpected vantage point, rooftops. I'm your host, Megan Ellsworth and on this show, we'll ascend to the top and explore the world through the eyes of those who live and work above. Join us on this unique journey as we uncover the stories, perspectives and histories of roofing contractors. Let's begin our ascent onto the roof.

Hello, everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at rooferscoffeeshop.com and you are listening to Stories from The Roof, a podcast where we share the stories of roofing professionals and roofing contractors across the country. Today I'm with Paige Harvill. Hi, Paige. How are you?

Paige Harvill: I'm good, Megan. How are you today?

Megan Ellsworth: I am great. I'm so excited to learn more about you and hear your story from the roof. So let's dive in and just, I'll have you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you.

Paige Harvill: Paige Harvill. I work for Nations Roof. I'm their Corporate Projects Manager, work here in the corporate office in Mobile, Alabama. I've been in the industry, I think I wrote down, it was 28 years. So yeah, it's been a little minute since I first started, but I love it. Absolutely love it.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. Wow. Congratulations. 28 years. Almost three decades. That's crazy.

Paige Harvill: I'm not supposed to be that old.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. How did that happen?

Paige Harvill: I don't know.

Megan Ellsworth: It goes by so fast, it's crazy.

Paige Harvill: I know. I have a high school grad. I already had one. My children already graduated, she's going to be a senior at Alabama this year. And then I just had one graduate from high school and it's just like, I just feel like I was just there. It's crazy. [inaudible 00:01:47]-

Megan Ellsworth: It is crazy. Time is an illusion, sometimes it feels like. So how did you get into roofing? Go back to day one.

Paige Harvill: So, my father was in the roofing industry when he was in college. He actually, he paid his way through college and he had a little stint where he had to come home and make some money to go to college and he got up on the roof and started shingling and it kind of went from there. And he worked for GAF once he graduated from college. They were in North Carolina, which was where I was born. And then they came back to Mobile and started his own roofing company then. And so I've always been around it, in my blood and everything.

But after I graduated from college, kind of took a job, first job that I had and I went with he and my mother out to San Diego for, which was back then the NRC Convention, which is now the IRE and I was in awe. I was like, this is so much more than just this small company in Mobile, Alabama. So from there, that was in '96 and so I quit my job and started working for him shortly thereafter. I took the summer off and worked at the beach for the summer, made a bunch of money.

Megan Ellsworth: Good for you.

Paige Harvill: And then I went to work for him. So in that, working for him, he didn't let me come straight into the office. He sent me out to work for three other individuals in the industry that he knew through the association. So I was in, my first stint was in Boulder, Colorado with Conrad Kowalik, with V&M Roofing, and I lived with them and learned all kinds of things there. No, actually my first place was, sorry, [inaudible 00:03:49] with Harold. J. Becker and Company in Dayton, Ohio. Was there for a month. And then Colorado was my second stint, and my third and last was with Bennett Hutchinson with Tip Top Roofing in Atlanta, Georgia.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Paige Harvill: Yeah, so it was great-

Megan Ellsworth: That's brilliant-

Paige Harvill: To be not the boss's daughter. That was his big concern about me being the boss's daughter and just coming in and to think I was going to... It was never a cushy job. It was never any special treatment whatsoever. Pretty much the other way around. Like if anything, I was held to a different standard. You know?

Megan Ellsworth: Yep. Yeah. I can definitely relate to that. I'm in Denver and Boulder is beautiful, so gorgeous.

Paige Harvill: Yeah, it was my first time to ski. They took me to ski in Vail. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. I just think that's such a unique experience, getting to go and kind of tutor under these other companies in very different regions too, experiencing different roof styles and damages and repairs and all that stuff. That's brilliant that you did that. That's awesome.

Paige Harvill: Yeah. And there's some people, actually, Sherry Foley. Sherry Miles Foley, her dad did the same thing with her but I can't remember where she was. I think she went with Krueger, Melvin Krueger at the time in Athens, Georgia. That was kind of like their first idea, if I'm not mistaken. So dad kind of followed that suit. But in Ohio, the girl that I had, they put me with, she was in the service and I was so grateful and thankful that it was a woman because I was 23 years old. She would tell the story. She's like, "I just figured you were going to come with these long painted nails, and you're just going to be so prissy." I just got down and did the work. I kept my head down and she just told me what to do, and she's like, "All right, you're going to make it okay. You're going to be okay."

Megan Ellsworth: I love that.

Paige Harvill: Yeah, she was great.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great.

Paige Harvill: She was really great.

Megan Ellsworth: It's so nice also just to have a fellow female mentor you, especially when you're younger, coming into the new industry. I always appreciate that.

Paige Harvill: Yeah. And once I got back home, my dad actually had a woman that had started off at the front office and had moved on to being the head of the service manager. She was head of the service department. And so I got underneath her and she had kind of broken some of the barriers as far as women in the industry in my area. They were used to seeing a woman's face, so that was helpful too. She was great as well.

Megan Ellsworth: That's nice. Yeah. A trailblazer for sure.

Paige Harvill: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: I love it. So who would you say is someone that really sticks out to you, that taught you about roofing?

Paige Harvill: It's going to be my dad and my uncle. They worked side by side together. Dad was the construction and operations and Bruce was the legal aspect. So the contracts I would take to him and he would read over the contracts and then make me sit down and read over with him and watch things to look for, so it was two totally different dynamics as far as not just being in the field, but also what goes on in the office and how to make sure that you don't get yourself in a pickle.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. That's important to do, to know how to do.

Paige Harvill: Absolutely. Absolutely. Got to have the yin and the yang. They worked well together.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Oh, that's so fun too. Especially in a family business when you gel and there isn't any competition-

Paige Harvill: Yeah. Oh we had our moments. Don't get me wrong, we had some moments, but in general, they were all positive.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Always a learning experience.

Paige Harvill: Yes.

Megan Ellsworth: What are some of those valuable lessons, learning experiences that stick out to you in your career that you still think about?

Paige Harvill: It's funny. The one thing that... I know my dad's going to be named it a lot in this, but he was very inspirational and taught me a ton. But I had gone to look at a roof and I put the ladder up and did my measurements and I came back down and went back to the office and he's like, "Well, where's the test cut?" And I was like, "I didn't get it." And he's like, "We're not going to guess." So it was probably some more choice words because the site was like 45 minutes away, so I had to drive back out and do everything. So getting a test cut, knowing what's there before. You got to know what's there. So that was a big lesson, so it was something that I pushed from then on from anybody else that did any inspections for me. I was like, "Bring me a test cut. Let me know what's there. Take the pictures, measurements and everything." So that was not a big thing, but it just kind of stayed with me for forever.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, one of those learning experiences.

Paige Harvill: It can make or break a job for sure.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, for sure. Oh yeah, man. So this question's kind of interesting because everyone answers it so differently. But what would you do differently, if anything, if you could go back to the beginning of your career?

Paige Harvill: I would probably want to spend more time in the field, honestly.

Megan Ellsworth: Love that.

Paige Harvill: The lessons that I learned from the guys in the field and gaining their respect, especially coming back because while I did it away, once I got home, I was in the office. And so there was a little bit of a struggle there because I was the boss's daughter and I had not been in the field with them, and so I kind of had to coerce my dad, like I need to get up there with them. I need to show them that I've got some sweat equity in it. So I wish I could spend more time in the field, honestly.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, I think that's such valuable advice too for people coming in and starting their career today. Spend that time-

Paige Harvill: And knowing, the people that are in the field, that there's a way up. You don't have to always be in the field. You can, the sky's the limit.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. If you want, that can just be your starting point.

Paige Harvill: Absolutely.

Megan Ellsworth: Exactly. So what would you say is the best thing you've ever done for your business or career?

Paige Harvill: Best thing I've ever done for my business or career?

Megan Ellsworth: This one's a tough one.

Paige Harvill: That is a tough one. That really is. Our original company was [inaudible 00:11:09] Corporation and we were acquired by Nation's Roof. And I would probably say that that was the best thing that happened for us. At the time my dad had stepped out and my uncle was ready to retire, and I wasn't financially able to take over the business at that time. And so it was a blessing in disguise, and it's been great ever since, so that would probably be the best.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. That's a good one.

Paige Harvill: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: That's a great one. Okay, so this one's probably going to be tough for you, or maybe not. Maybe it's going to be super easy, but who's the best boss you've ever had and what did they teach you?

Paige Harvill: You can't ask me that question.

Megan Ellsworth: I know.

Paige Harvill: Yeah. It would have to be my father. Like I said, there was no preferential treatment just because I was his daughter and I had to learn it all and he wanted me to learn every aspect of it. And after I did a job, we'd come back in and we'd go over the job, we'd go over the estimate and there was a time that I was low on this one job and I was sweating. I knew I'd left something out. I knew I did. So when I get into the office, he's like, "I need you to come in here." And I was like, "Nope, I can't." And I went straight to my computer and pulled out my estimate and I was like, oh, there it is. There it is looking at me. And so we figured it out. Luckily it all came out. That job came out okay but yeah, he was the most influential for sure.

Megan Ellsworth: That's so sweet. I love it. Okay, so in a word or a small sentence, I'll take a few words. Describe the most important trait in an employee or a coworker.

Paige Harvill: Just honesty. That's probably the key thing. Whether it be your guys in the field just coming back and being honest and in the office, that's the one word that sticks out. That goes across the board, I guess, for anybody and everybody.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of the golden rule. One of the top three.

Paige Harvill: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: What makes you smile when you think about your job?

Paige Harvill: The way that our industry gives back to the community. I love doing philanthropy. Here at this office, we do Toys for Tots and we collect the toys during the Christmastime for the kids. They got the Ronald McDonald houses that the NRCA does. We are happy to be a part of all that. And just, it's also making a difference in other people's lives that are starting out in the field and realizing how they can make some great money and provide for their families. That's truly a good blessing as well.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. I love that about this industry, how much we give back. And all the associations always have some sort of cause they're working on constantly and everyone's just so involved in their local, regional and national communities and the industry as a whole. I think it's so great. So yeah, I would totally agree. Do you have any tips for new people starting in roofing? Or maybe someone's listening to this and they're looking for a job and they're realizing maybe roofing is for them. Do you have any advice?

Paige Harvill: It's not as dirty as it used to be.

Megan Ellsworth: That's true.

Paige Harvill: It is really true. I think about the first time I did a tear off. It was a pitch tear off, and it was live, and it was with fiberglass insulation and it was just disgusting. It was so messy. It's just cleaner and it's prettier. It's just all the negative connotations that used to go with roofing just aren't there. Just give it a chance, put your nose down, keep working at it. It'll all shake out how it's supposed to, but it's a great industry.

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely agreed. Man, fiberglass insulation. Brutal. Brutal.

Paige Harvill: It was awful. All the guys told me, they were like, "Do not go home and take a cold shower." And that's all you want to do, right? Because you get the pitch and the fiberglass and they're like, "Just don't do it. You're going to take a hot shower to open your pores and get it all out." And so, what I did.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Paige Harvill: It was awesome.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh man.

Paige Harvill: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: So how long have you been following RoofersCoffeeShop and what's one of your favorite things about RCS?

Paige Harvill: I love... I'm new to the Coffee Shop if I'm being honest.

Megan Ellsworth: Love that.

Paige Harvill: But it is great. I love hearing the stories of everybody. That's really fun to me. It's really interesting, and just to hear everybody's different steps that they took to get into the industry. It's really neat.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Thank you for saying that. I'm so glad because I completely agree and it's so funny how everyone's paths are so different and winding, but you know how they say, "Once you're in, you're in."

Paige Harvill: Yeah, you can't get out-

Megan Ellsworth: The roofing industry. You cannot leave. You're stuck.

Paige Harvill: Exactly.

Megan Ellsworth: But in a great way. Well, Paige, thank you so much for sharing your story and coming onto the podcast with me.

Paige Harvill: Thank you for having me, Megan. I appreciate it.

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. For everyone out there listening, you can find more stories like Paige's all over Roofers Coffee Shop, as well as other episodes of Stories from the Roof. Make sure you are subscribed and ring the bell so you get notifications every time we post a new episode. This has been Stories from the Roof and we'll see you next time.

If you've enjoyed these unique rooftop stories, be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss a single episode. Go to rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more. Thanks for soaring with us on Stories from the Roof. We'll catch you on the next one.