Ty Cobb Backer: 0:02

and we are live. Welcome back everybody to behind the tool belt, episode 275. I am your host, ty cup backer. Thank you for joining us on this wednesday edition. Today we have another special guest. Stay tuned and we will be back after our short intro from our sponsors.

Speaker 2: 0:24

Welcome to Behind the Tool Belt where the stories are bold, the conversations are real and the insights come to you live, raw and uncut. Every week, host Ty Cobb-Backer sits down with game changers, trailblazers and industry leaders who aren't afraid to tell it like it is no filters, no scripts, just the truth. Please welcome your host of Behind the Tool Belt.

Ty Cobb Backer: 1:08

Ty Cobb-Backer. Welcome back everybody to Behind the Tool Belt. Thank you for joining us on this magnificent Wednesday. Hopefully it's sunny and sun shining where you guys are at today. Again, thank you for joining us.

Ty Cobb Backer: 1:23

We have another phenomenal guest, brad Akers, and you know I'm pretty excited about today because, brad, this is your first time on the show and I always get excited. We did. I did have the privilege of meeting you out in Minnesota at Tim Brown's event. I was, however, feeling a little under the weather with the travel arrangements. My head was I don't even know what it was doing from being underwater on a plane and in Minnesota, with different time change and everything going on. But we did get to meet each other and it was a spectacular event.

Ty Cobb Backer: 2:01

Tim always does pretty badass stuff, yeah, so I'm excited to have you on the show and, like we were talking earlier, like you know, this is a good opportunity for us to to kind of spread our knowledge, inspire other people and and just just leave a good mark on on the industry, you know, in general, and us an opportunity for us to get to know each other better. And you know, I know you bring tons of value, especially for the roofing contractors trying to systemize. You know their processes and things and it sounds like you're involved with. You know marketing and sales and a lot of the marketing that you do I think we mimic some of I don't know yet but we're going to find out but it sounds like you're a lot into brand awareness and referrals and things like that. So let's dive into how you went from selling shingles at SRS to helping roofing companies scale to eight figures and what sparked, like that shift from distribution to entrepreneurship.

Brad Akers: 3:12

Yeah, yeah for sure. So I started at SRS I mean about nine years ago now and I tripped my way into the roofing industry completely random. I worked for a custom home builder in the summers and Christmas breaks in college just one that I knew here in Houston and I really loved it. I loved the project. I was kind of like, basically whenever a project manager would go on vacation I would come in and keep production going and so I kind of would like jump around to different subdivisions. It was a lot of fun days with like 150, 200 phone calls to all the trades and it was like action packed. That was my first like foray into construction, but the housing market was kind of down. As I was just leaving college, the owner of that home building company said, brad, I mean I could bring you in, but it wouldn't be a role that I think you'd be that interested in. Um, and he was right. It was like just an office job. Like I had realized I don't want to be in the office because of that and so, to wrap that part up, ended up through a friend at church getting interviews at different roofing suppliers because he worked for a certainty. Rep. Mike Maltby, if you've been around the South in the roofing industry Mike Maltby you probably have met him, heard one of his crazy stories. But you or you might be surprised I met him at church but ended up at SRS and I loved it.

Brad Akers: 5:02

And as I was doing sales which I was manager in training, then sales but as I was doing sales, I was very much thinking like how can me baby faced kid come in and help these contractors legitimately, like grow? And I just thought, like well, they need to learn how this works, like I can partner with some of these other vendors, like the financing companies or the or the like the apps, or there was one called like Pantone, which was before Roofhawk AI, like stuff like that. So I would basically really get clear on best practices with those companies and then bring those like resources to my clients. And one of the things I eventually ended up doing was learning how to do some of the marketing, like how to set up a Facebook ad, and that became my like pitch is hey, I'll set up some Facebook ads for you. If you can get some leads from them, just buy them from me and give us a shot. And that was essentially how I did it.

Brad Akers: 6:16

After a while I, as a sales rep for a roofing company, of a lot of windshield time. That windshield time became filled with podcasts and different things like entrepreneurial books and stuff and I just got the bug. So I just could not stop thinking about what it was going to be like when I started my own business and I actually started my marketing agency and I partnered 50, 50 in a roofing company at the same time Um one of my clients and the roofing company. We did well.

Brad Akers: 6:51

The marketing company kind of took off and I this wasn't oh Brad like the marketing agency was just doing so well and it was. Brad didn't know how to do two things at once because he had never been a business owner before and the day to day of running a marketing agency and running a roofing company are vastly different. So I just went all in on the thing that I had 100% in and that's how I kind of got to the B2B, like service provider side of the roofing industry. And I'll stop there. I have more but we can. I don't want to like monopolize too much.

Ty Cobb Backer: 7:32

No, that's good, that's good. I've had guests come on the show already and I ask them one question and they fill the whole time slot. So it's okay, it really is, and not because I'm a piss poor host, but it's like they were on such a good roll and I know I didn't want to like interrupt and throw them off Not that I didn't get to ask a few other questions or whatever or agree with them, but no, so I can appreciate that. So you were talking about your first introductory into entrepreneurship and stuff. So what was the biggest lesson for you? I mean, obviously you're like, okay, brad, can't do two things at one time because I'm new to the entrepreneurial journey. But outside of that part of it, what was the most valuable lesson that you've learned during that time frame that you may have applied to today?

Brad Akers: 8:29

Yeah, so it's a constant like. It's a game of like mindfulness, I think, is what I've realized. Like, if you get to know me, you'll really go wow, brad's kind of weird. Like I'm very much, like I like to think a lot. At our wedding the priest who knows me well said Brad's a bit of a mystic and a lot of my friends still make fun of me today for it. But the point is, like I really do, like I realized so much.

Brad Akers: 8:59

Like, if you cannot observe the way you're thinking and get clear on how you're making decisions and also start looking and watching the ebbs and flows and getting a better understanding of, like how we impact those or even just how we navigate those, you're going to struggle. I wish I had a much more tactical version of this answer, but my real answer that I use today the best is entrepreneurship's hard. It goes up and down. There's times where you're on an incline and you think, oh, I wish I knew what I know now because I'm doing so great. But there's always going to be an inevitable drop and that doesn't mean that you're going to just be stuck. Hopefully you're going to go up and then up, but you're always going to be on like the right trajectory.

Brad Akers: 9:52

But our emotions, I think, drive us a lot and there's been times where I've been more of a slave to my own emotions than other times. But I think the biggest lesson that I started learning then, that I'm still learning now, is understanding the ebbs and flows. Understanding how to show up consistently either way, how to make sure that I am controlling the inputs as much as possible and also how to make sure that I'm not reacting to everything in such a big way has been the biggest progression. But also like a lesson, I would say I learned a lot when I had those two things going and I just felt like it was all crazy because I was very, like, volatile. It was up and down, I was in such a good mood and then the next day like a client would leave or we wouldn't get a job, and I would just be completely down and like in this survival mode, but like a self inflicted survival mode, but not really in survival mode, just kind of operating that way, yeah no, I can.

Ty Cobb Backer: 11:11

I can completely relate to everything that you just said, and I think one of my valuable lessons and you touched on a little bit was emotions, right, and it's so hard to not allow short emotions get in the way of our long term goals. Yeah, and that is probably one of the biggest lessons that I've learned and even other people's emotions, you know, I've allowed other people's emotions to dictate the trajectory of the goal. Right, and because of that, like it is taking us a lot longer to get where we want to go, because and not I'm not saying that like we don't take other people's feelings into consideration and things like that, but if we know that this is the right thing to do and it might step on a couple of people's toes, you know we need to forge ahead and that's you know, we're not always everybody's number one fan being in a leadership or an entrepreneurial position. You know we're not always going to be the most liked person and it's, like you know, heavy is the head that wears the crown at times. But I think being resilient like we were talking before the show here remaining resilient and consistent, right, and that's, you know, through those painful times is, unfortunately, from my experience is where the real growth happens. Right, like I can choose to stay in bed, and you know, and and let my head down, and you know, and feel defeated and just stay stuck.

Ty Cobb Backer: 12:36

You know, or I can, I can continuously do the work, even though I don't feel like doing it.

Ty Cobb Backer: 12:41

You know, even though I don't want to do it and even though I feel like I like doing it, you know, even though I don't want to do it, and even though I feel like I'm doing it half ass, right it's, it's in those half ass moments of of just doing it and doing it and doing it until it starts to feel better, until I start to feel better and then I start to see light at the end of the tunnel, you know, and then I feel better about it because I at least continue to suit up and show up every single day and continue to just keep pushing back and keep punching back, as as I'm taking the punches right, I'm punching back twice as hard and I feel like I'm not really getting anywhere. But I, you know, I feel better because I, I did it and because I continue to keep doing it, and then I have the motivation to keep going because I've made. I turn, I stop, I turn around and I look back. It's like, well, shit, I have been moving forward.

Brad Akers: 13:29

Yeah, even in those times I felt like baby steps and like that's the thing, that. That's okay, like as long as our emotions will send us backwards a lot of the time. But there's a set of inputs that we all know. Like we all know. It's like when I someone says they have a lead problem, I'm like no, you don't, you have a pride problem. You just don't want to knock doors, that's okay. I'm not. I don't love knocking doors either, and I'm not suggesting that that even needs to be the route that you go to grow your business. But stop living in fairy world. Like stop, like stop.

Brad Akers: 14:10

Just misdiagnosing what the actual root of the issue is, and what I found is there's a line this is just neutral. There's you're on a high, everything's great, and then you're on a low. I would say the thing that I've developed the most and gotten better at and in becoming more aware of is simply how can I make sure that I don't stop, I don't get too comfortable if I'm on an incline, and how can I make sure that I don't have to go to what feels like a rock bottom moment before I snap out of it and then take the action to actually progress again, because that's the cycle that I had been on for years. Honestly, like you know I'm I'm like six years into entrepreneurship now. I've been so blessed to be able I've bought businesses and sold businesses and merged like I have a lot of really cool little accolades. But there's been so many dreadful days and nights that weren't necessary, that were really because I just needed to hit some low before I could finally snap out of it and just do the work again.

Brad Akers: 15:26

And the work is the work, like it doesn't change, it doesn't care how you're feeling, and I think that's kind of part of what you are saying is like, hey, you might be half-assing it, but the work's the work. Like a step forward is a step forward. Just because you're not sprinting doesn't mean that you're not progressing and so it just it. It's been something I'm grateful for. I've worked with leadership and mindset coaches to help me with that. It's not like just some brad wisdom it's borrowed wisdom for sure but it's been really impactful for me and I think that that's one of the things I even try to help my clients with is like hey, what are the inputs, what are the things that we can do? Whether we're feeling great or feeling bad, how can we ensure that they're getting done, no matter how we're feeling, cause we're going to have ups and downs, and that's one of the big things that I like the way I approach things with them, because I just think it's so key because it's hard Like it's, we're in a small percentage of people.

Ty Cobb Backer: 16:34

Isn't that the truth? You know, and I'm my own worst critic, and that's what I mean when I feel like sometimes I'm just half-assing this right, it's and, and, and. Honestly, you know, and I'm not even saying this in an arrogant way, but it's like sometimes my half-ass is still better, you know, than than most people's. You know 100% and I'm not.

Brad Akers: 16:55

You've been in the game longer.

Ty Cobb Backer: 16:57

Yeah, right, you know what I mean and and and. Again, I wasn't saying that arrogantly, and you know, but I I will be so hard on myself at times, you know, and I'll get fixated on the 5% that might not be going well. 95% of everything else is going exactly the way it's supposed to be going. It may not be the way that I think it should be going, but it's, you know, and really, at the end of the day, what it comes down to. And we measure success. A lot of people measure success so differently, right, you know. And today, in the older that I get, it's like, you know, success isn't just always professionally, right, and what I do at work, and the amount of money, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, a lot of people talk about, you know, the it's. It's not the, the amount of money, it's the, it's the amount of people that you've impacted, right, and that's that's cool too, right, to say that kind of thing. And but where I've been, you know, and in this whole work-life balance thing, that everybody, you know, that's that's kind of catchy right now too.

Ty Cobb Backer: 17:55

And I recently read a book. It's called uh, shoot, the one thing I've heard of that. I haven't read it, but I've heard of it. It's good. It's good. And the one thing that I got out of the book was is you know, screw work-life balance. Because anytime I'm trying to balance something, you know, if I'm at work, my home life is suffering, you know. And if I'm spending too much time at home, then work is suffering. And basically the dude sums it up to like if you're at work, work. If you're at home, be at home. If you're going to play, play, right. You know. Even if you're at home for five minutes, be there intentionally for that five minutes, right. But when you're at work, just work. Like, don't bring your your issues or even the good things to work, like, just be at work and work. You know what I mean. Instead of, like, focusing on trying to find balance, because ultimately, at the end of the day, you're going to drive yourself crazy and then everything's going to suffer.

Ty Cobb Backer: 18:48

And I'm not even perfect at this, by no means, and again, that's kind of where I'm measuring my success today is like, if I was at work today, was I actually at work? If I have plans with my wife and children tonight or yesterday, did, was I intentional with that time that I was with or was I on my phone the whole time, was I? And I'm not saying there hasn't been times where at the grocery store, where I have to walk away and have to take that call. You know what I mean, and I think your significant other also plays into a lot of your success too, and how tolerant and patient they are. Right, and thank God for Janet and how patient she is with me, but like I've had to walk away and come back because they don't need to hear the drama or whatever or the frustration, I need to come back and I need to bounce back and be resilient and be there, okay. So it's like, okay, I took the one call, I'm done, phone in the back pocket and be there, right, and I know it's just at the grocery store, but we've had some of the best conversations in line at the grocery store, right, I've watched my children grow up in lines at grocery stores.

Ty Cobb Backer: 19:54

You know what I mean. I've helped them pick out their favorite cereals. I've helped pick out their the coolest new hot wheels or what, whatever you mean in those, those precious moments that that um are so special to them. You know I don't want to lose those little things and now I got the the, the opportunity and pleasure of helping raise three beautiful, wonderful grandchildren. I have three children, I have three grandchildren and where I feel like I've screwed up with my older my kids, you know I get I get um a do over, I get a hall pass with my with my older my kids you know I get I get a um, a do-over, I get a pass with my, with my grandchildren you know what I mean and I get to spend, but I will beat the crap out of myself so much.

Ty Cobb Backer: 20:33

And, um, but yeah, you know, that's good.

Brad Akers: 20:35

So, getting off that topic, unless you want to, um, unless you got something else you want to add the one thing is you mentioned like you get fixated on the five percent when the 95 is going well, yeah, the like. A way to sum up what I think you just said is like be careful, focusing too much on that five percent, because if you do, and when you do, that 95 that was going properly or well will suffer as well. And, like that, 95% might include your family and your home life, and I know I've had to learn that, like I know I struggle putting my phone down. That is something I actively have to be aware of and work on and if you watched me you would not think, oh, brad's a great example of someone that is very perfectly present at home. With that said, like knowing and kind of understanding certain things like that, I think, is just it's so key. Like, look, sometimes there's value in just looking at a business as if it's just a set of zeros and ones and just wanting to organize how we're going to do this. It's just a math problem and in some ways it is, with that said, how you show up what's going on in your head, what's going on at home. It does matter and I think the work and the goal and experience, the more of that we accumulate, the more effective we are at integrating but also at hey, let's.

Brad Akers: 22:21

I expect work to be stressful. I expect building a business to be stressful. It's going to be, there's no way it's not going to be. There's going to be hard days. If that's just the norm, then how can I make sure that I don't bring that home? And vice versa? I expect I have a nine-month-old. It's my first, it's the best. It's exhausting. How can I not start my day later because I was up in the middle of the night with him? That's a simple. Well, obviously you just start, but before that you don't necessarily. Like you might. Oh, I slept bad, but like now that this is the norm, like you, we have to try to find a way to just like, normalize, like, standardize things as much as possible, really, because like, random inputs create random outcomes, like, and if you allow yourself to be random, then you're rolling the dice yeah, yeah, isn't that the truth?

Ty Cobb Backer: 23:28

you know, and and like there's changes in life, you know and this is the thing that I think we need to keep in mind too that this, too, shall pass, and and this is only temporary right even good stuff, good stuff, it's only temporary right, and if we're going through something bad, we got to keep in mind, or if there's some kind of change right, it doesn't even have to be good or bad change, right. And, of course, having a baby is magnificent. It's like one of the greatest gifts that we, as parents, could ever receive, right, and there's a lot of change that comes with that. When we were so used to self. Now, now there's something that is dependent upon us, whether it's a dog or a child or whatever the case might be. Right Now, it's just not about us or our significant other. Now we have, you know, a human being, a person that is reliant upon us to take care of them, and that that can definitely change your world upside down, especially if you're a business owner, because I think a lot of people get into business thinking like, yeah, I'm going to have all this time, you know, on my hands and I'm going to be able to do this and go on these lavishing vacations and all these vehicles and all these things, right? And that's not the case. That's not the case at all, you know. You know you're trying to raise a family and we talked about the ebbs and flows and the different seasons and and things like that and making sure that everything and everyone is taken care of. And then you throw, you know, a child in the mix, right? And? And making sure that everything and everyone is taken care of. And then you throw, you know, a child in the mix, right, and making sure that you're being the best dad that you can possibly be, you know?

Ty Cobb Backer: 25:08

And again, getting back to being my own worst critic, it's like I feel like I'm failing. You know, not today, but I'm just saying there are a lot of times that I have felt where I'm failing and stuff. But you know it's not easy. It's not even easy going to a job every day and raising a family like this. This really could apply to anybody that is just trying to be the best parent or best coworker or employee. You know it's not easy, and I think this is where a lot of us have to have, or have probably got or gained, a lot of our empathy, you know, for those that are around us, especially because, if you wouldn't have told me, I wouldn't have known that you didn't sleep very well last night, because you were up all night with a baby, a baby t well, last night I actually did fine, but right, right, but I think that's where we need to be a little more more understanding too, because you know, people go through things all the time.

Ty Cobb Backer: 26:05

You know that we have no idea what they're going through. We have no idea if they slept or they didn't sleep or or why they're not performing. You know and and you know especially as an entrepreneur it's like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders and our families, and I think we tend to when we get home. I'm going to switch gears here, maybe a little bit, but, like I know, I have been guilty of the family and we talk about this a lot and I talk about it a lot. So it stays on the forefront of my mind to make sure that, when I get home, that my family isn't getting the fumes Right when I've just like, poured into everybody and inspired everybody and, you know, got shit done, and then I get home it's like I don't want to be messed with, I don't want to deal with it I can't handle it.

Ty Cobb Backer: 26:48

There's dinner, dinner's not ready. Why are they crying? Why is their shoes all over the place? Because Chris Baker used to say you know, when daddy gets home he sets the tone. And that is so true. I literally sit out in the parking lot in the driveway of my house and I clear out my inbox. I tried. It Is there. Was there an email that you know I forgot to reply back to?

Ty Cobb Backer: 27:08

And sometimes I'll sit out there for a good 30 minutes. I'll have the music on or my podcast or whatever it is, and I'll clean up my inbox, respond back to messages. Sometimes I'll choose like, okay, that needs to wait till tomorrow morning. And then when I do go in the house you know I'm a little bit better fit to go into the house and be present. You know when I'm there and anybody can use that. You don't have to be an entrepreneur, you can work for somebody else. You know, be in a management position or whatever, it doesn't even matter what you're doing. But it just when daddy gets home he sets the tone.

Ty Cobb Backer: 27:44

And keep that in mind, because I've ruined my family's night all night just because of being a bear and quite honestly, I was kind of a bear last night, like my son, rocket wanted to hang out with me and he did. Thank God he knows me well enough and maybe he didn't notice and maybe again here I'm, I'm picking on myself again, you know, and and we, we, we kind of he got into golf this year or last year and I had to stop golfing for my family, and now I get to golf again because of my family, because Rocket caught the bug, and now he's kicking my ass all over the golf course, um, so I'm kind of envious of that. But so last night he's hitting balls and stuff. We kind of built this simulator type thing and the balls and I'm kind of working out and you know, and not that I was kind of giving him the cold shoulder, but I, I really just needed to to let go before I could kind of like open up, like I just I get guarded, I get, you know, don't? I don't really want to be talked to, um, but he hung around long enough, you know, until I kind of like okay, I'm at home, I need to unwind, I, I, I started lifting heavy weights a couple years ago and, um, and now do some cardio and I love walking on a treadmill because that's where I'll listen to my books on the treadmill and stuff like that.

Ty Cobb Backer: 29:01

And I didn't even turn it on. I started because I can see rocket. I got the garage door open and we built this net thing with the, with the, the um sky tracks or whatever. And I started communicating with him because I could see like he was looking at me out of the corner of my eye, like, did you see that shot? Did you? Did you see how well I'm hitting it? And it was finally I kind of just, you know, it was like I was like dude, I, I know I'm doing it, why am I doing this? And again, I don't know if he noticed it and I'm kind of going off on a tangent here a little bit, but I guess my point is is that I'm, I'm not, I am far from being perfect and perfecting thing and shutting things off before I go in the driveway.

Ty Cobb Backer: 29:39

And you know I really try my damnedest and I think half the battle is just being aware, being aware of what I was doing, who, what. You know what, what I'm creating here. You know the wedge that I'm putting between me and my family because of work that's going to be there tomorrow. You know, and the thing that I've discovered too, is that every single email that I get in my inbox is somebody else's problem. Yeah, do you know what I mean it's like? Why am I like I just I don't know why. How has your problem become my problem? You know what I mean it's like and why am I taking myself so damn serious? You know, at these times where it's like I need to just be home and I tend to forget to like I'm doing this for them at the end of the day, like I'm doing this for my family, and it's like here it's. It's removed me from my family, even when I'm with my family, and I don't know. I kind of went off on a tangent there a little bit and just what.

Ty Cobb Backer: 30:33

I'm at and what I did guilty of last night being a dick.

Brad Akers: 30:37

I love that I, so I think it's a great one of. There's a guy named Jose Bolaños who I've been working one-on-one with. He's a leadership and like presence-based coach, which is something that maybe other like like coaches, coaches will know of, like that are, but not something that like just someone who's a random everyday entrepreneur might know. But he's like formally trained work with billionaires, worked with all kinds of cool people, and I have the opportunity to get to work with him, and one of the things he reminds me of it's like hey, this isn't something to be solved, that's something to be managed, because solved would insinuate that there's a destination, and there's no day, ty, where I expect that you're going to be perfect or settled in this perfect, immaculate work-life balance or work-life integration or whatever we want to call it. It's more something to be aware of and manage it and try to like improve the way that we're managing it. And then, I think, goes for the ebbs and flows that I even that we started this with. It's like it's all the same, like I think one of the secrets or not so secrets is stay in the game. There's no like, there's no destination. The moment you hit 100 million, you're going to want 150 million. The moment you hit 150 million you're going to try to sell. Then, when you try to sell, you're not going to be happy with the first number. And then you're going to get to a number and you're going to sell. And then you're going to be pissed that you had to do a consult back. And then, when you're doing the consult back, you're going to have your new thing and then that new thing's going to start the whole cycle again, like it's. It never stops and if we try to solve everything as if there's some end point or destination, then it doesn't.

Brad Akers: 32:40

There's so much pain, I would say, in that there's a lot of unnecessary suffering, thinking what's my problem for being in this low again? What's my problem for not being present at home? Instead, it's okay, I'm not present. How can I get present? And, kind of, how can I bring myself back to center rather than, oh, I'm further away from the destination than I thought? Because, like a very dangerous thing. The reason I think that the highs, when you said like this too shall pass, goes for the good things too. Goes for the good things too. The reason that the highs are a problem is because you think you've arrived at a destination, which would point to the fact that work to be done still, or that you don't need to keep doing the work that got you there, which is a farce. So I think that's like where a lot of us go wrong, but also like where there's probably more suffering than necessary because we think that we're we're solving for the wrong thing, like yeah, yeah isn't that the truth?

Ty Cobb Backer: 33:51

isn't that the truth? Well, you know, I love how you said that life, life in general, is not. There is no destination. It's a journey that we, that we're on you, and it's got to start somewhere. Some, some, some trails are good trails and some roads are, are are bad, bad roads to travel, you know, and it's through those moments and those ebbs and flows where we really, you know, I think somebody said, I think David Carroll posted something a couple of weeks ago it's not, it's not about the journey, you know, or the goal, it's, it's about who you become, you know, trying to reach your goal. Yeah.

Ty Cobb Backer: 34:26

And it is so true, especially if you're self-aware and and and if you're in the personal development and and things like that which I feel like a lot of us are nowadays, cause it's you know we talk a lot about.

Ty Cobb Backer: 34:37

You know personal development and things like that, and it all really starts in here, right, like you know, whether we're an entrepreneur or whatever, or a thought leader, you know we have to work on ourself first and foremost, and you talked about, you know, getting enough rest, and you know and that's some of it, you know, making sure that you're getting enough rest, and some days you're not, and the thing I've learned about rest is you never get caught up on it. You know, but I need to know myself. I need to know how much rest I need in order to function at a high capacity, right, that I need to eat better. You know I need to exercise and need to take care of myself, and it kind of sounds a little selfish, but if I'm not taking care of myself, I can't take care of anything else, you know, let alone. You know, daily, day-to-day task at work or when things come up, um, so, speaking of which like so, how, how do you handle? You know, uh, you know pressure and stuff like what is like stress, you know.

Brad Akers: 35:34

Yeah, so honestly, like the big the thing that I usually when I'm in those lows that I mentioned and sometimes and I still will probably have what feels like a rock bottom moment in the future. I'm sure what feels like a rock bottom moment in the future, I'm sure. But the point is like, generally I get to the point of trying to control everything to where I realize I can't control anything and then I just like give it just everywhere else and bring me back to center and to being present, and it's really just the Bible is relatively explicit about hey, bring your anxieties to me and bring your stress to me. My, my yoke is light those like the Bible encourages us to think that way. Don't trust in your own ways, like Philippians says something like, says something like. But the point that I'm making is simply I need to ground myself there and in those truths and the words.

Brad Akers: 37:08

And the word because, like when you do, you learn how to listen rather than just ask. Because when you're in that state, when you're freaking out, when you're stressed, you don't know what to ask. You're not good at asking questions. When you're in that state, when you're freaking out, when you're stressed, you don't know what to ask. You're not good at asking questions when you're at like, when you're panicked, when you're like fight or flight is going off, and learning just to listen rather than ask in those moments in prayer for me has been that's been like the only way and that allows me to be a leader in my home in that regard, that allows me to serve my wife like, rather than just expect to have dinner, like all these things.

Brad Akers: 37:57

I want to make sure that I'm giving and when I am able to, just that's what it always says. Like in those moments I hear be still and I hear give, like give, don't take. A version of that which is stop worrying about like, stop worrying like, just give. Whether it can be a million different versions of giving, there's a lot but like, don't be someone that just takes in the conversations. Try to make sure that when you interact with people or when you're working with someone or your team or your clients or prospects or just anyone, how can you give or uplift in that interaction rather than take? And that generally brings me back to center pretty well.

Ty Cobb Backer: 38:51

Right on. No great answer, great answer. And don't ever be afraid to talk about God. Um, you know I we've we've talked about it. You know numerous times on this. You know, and, and many people have different interpretations of it, and that's okay too. But I, I too, you know seek strength. You know through that. So, speaking on which, like, so who have who have been like some of your biggest mentors, and and and or you know where do you get your inspiration from? You know what I mean. Like, are you outside of the Bible? Like, do you follow Craig Grishel, john Maxwell? Like, you know who who has been? You know cause, I know for me, I've had mentors, but they don't know that they're my mentors. You know, like, so is there anybody that that has really been very impactful on this journey for you?

Brad Akers: 39:43

Yeah, so I already mentioned Jose Jose has been incredibly impactful. Jose Bolaños, he I stopped drinking because of, like, as I was working with him and it wasn't like there wasn't. It was in the same light of avoiding a rock bottom moment rather than waiting for one. So, similar to that, um, I and I don't think everyone needs to do that, but I did I um have learned just to think and kind of learned different vocab as a result of working with him and I look up to him so much like he's become such a close friend. Um, and I would say he's been incredibly impactful. My dad is, I mean, I might I'm going to try not to get emotional, but my dad is just one of the best human beings I could even like imagine. He had a hard childhood. I didn't like he didn't bring it with him and as I've gotten older, I've been able to recognize and see and look back on, like, the battles that he was fighting, that I had no idea he was fighting and the fact that he was able to like insulate me from that is just something like I'm incredibly grateful for. And he's just, he serves. He serves almost anyone he interacts with. Uh, he's a lawyer which sometimes like people are like oh, a lawyer, you know, meet my dad. You won't, you won't think of him like you think of all the other lawyers, and he also like. As I've become older, I've had an opportunity to like go to a few events and meet other people that are more peers with my dad and I find out stuff about him like that he donated this, or that he is on the board here, or that he changed this person's life by like meeting with him once a week and I some like, and my dad just didn't talk about it, and I some like and he my dad just didn't talk about it, and that level of humility is just like amazing. And he's also just going back to like he's such a strong christian like he like he's, he lives out loud in that regard and like unashamed and he's been able to do very well in life and that's like it's just been so inspiring.

Brad Akers: 42:24

Um, and then john brose I would say would be within the industry. I mean, he's just I, he's the best. I love john. He's so fun like and he's a lot of what I even work with my clients on are results of like multiple hour long conversations with John, like on a Saturday morning, just like talking through strategy. We have a business idea every other conversation that we have and have to tame ourselves. But I just think he's he's truly just a good person and he's been able to reach some great levels of success as well.

Brad Akers: 43:08

And I've had an inside look because I've had the opportunity to work with MHI when that was what they were running and I worked with them on their marketing and their strategy and I helped some of the initial like setup and branding and stuff with ugly roofs and that was in that. I had the chance to like really get to know John. That's been just that's been really cool. So those would be like the three main ones that like come to mind. Alex Hermosi I love his content, I love his podcasts. If you are a client and you listen to Alex Hermosi, you'll realize a lot of like what we do comes from principles that he teaches. Um, not I'm not stealing it or copying anything or claiming anything as my own Um, but you'll hear me reference him a lot because I think he's wise beyond his years. Um, so those would be some of the big ones. What about you? I, I want to. I want to hear your answer.

Ty Cobb Backer: 44:20

Oh, wow. So, man, that's a that's a great question. So, yeah, no, I agree with you. Alex Ramosi has magnificent content.

Ty Cobb Backer: 44:33

John Broche is an amazing human being and I too, my father, has been a huge impact and influence um on on my life as as well. And then I guess I'll start with my dad. Um, you know, cause I was going to ask you the question like what was your biggest lesson, or something that is you know that your father has had on you. But, um, we I'll ask you that later Um, my dad, my mom and dad have been my biggest cheerleaders, I mean from from day one, obviously, right, but my mom, my mom and dad, my mom had has passed Um and and you know, has probably had a bigger impact on me since she's been gone.

Ty Cobb Backer: 45:17

I know that might sound a little weird, but one of the ways that I grieved with that, after she had passed, we had the opportunity of taking care of her. My wife actually took care of her mostly Up until she passed. She passed away in our house and I've mentioned this a couple of times on the show, but she was very involved with the community, I mean like full-time 10X like she was. She helped start the DARE program at our, at our elementary school she was in the chamber of Congress. She Lions Club, santa's Breakfast, summer Jubilees, red Hat Ladies, scarlet Ladies, and I'm mentioning these, these organizations, because the part that she played in these organizations was the charitable side of things and I can't even list the, the. I mean they. They built, they put a uh, nine, 11, uh memorial up in honor of my mom. Like this is how impactful my mom is and, of course, as a child growing up and she's dragging us all over the place doing these things, it's kind of like dude, what the heck?

Ty Cobb Backer: 46:21

Um, but um, um, you know, and I didn't realize what she was about or what she was doing, I just knew I just, you know, some of the stuff was kind of like you know, kids on saturday mornings don't want to be, you know, feeding people and and stuff like that, but I get it now. But one of the ways that I I had mourned that was is, uh, I went straight to work to the hearse came, picked her up, I went to work and we really started to dive in the community. At that point in time I was like, all right, now I got some big shoes to fill here and and you know, of course we talk a lot about legacy and you know so I've tried to carry that torch. You know we do. There's things that I forget about that we've done and do and still continuously do annually. But our most current one was uh, uh, roofers and recovery, golf outing and raised I don't know, like 17 to 20 000 dollars, yeah, in a matter of like four hours. Um, at that golf outing. This was this past September, october, november, something like that this past year. But we do all kinds of things like that. So my mom has had a huge impact on me for that reason.

Ty Cobb Backer: 47:29

My father I can't forget about my dad because obviously they're co-pilots, right, so if he was there, she was there or something. And you want to talk about humility. There are so many things that my dad probably didn't get credit for as a kid that allowed my mom to be in that position to be able to take care of other people as my mom did, right, and being an older adult today, I understand the behind the scenes things that have to take place in order for people to have an impact on other people's lives and stuff, and my dad also was involved with a lot of those things. But the tenacity and resiliency, because my dad too, and mom and dad both were entrepreneurs, very successful entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry. Okay, my dad is a great carpenter but was a mechanical engineer by trade, and so my dad worked full time but also owned a bar, a restaurant, a catering business and a whole other list of other businesses. So I, too, have gotten that entrepreneurial bug from my parents. So they, first and foremost, would be the biggest influences of where and why I am, you know, in that second chance that my dad had given me 20 plus years ago.

Ty Cobb Backer: 48:48

Um, you know, because I, you know my my childhood. I was just kind of on fire, but not in a good way. Yeah, no, me too, have. But I, I, I do it because I'll never forget. Um, yeah, I had an old van that broke down and, um, like two, three hours away from home I'll share the story and I couldn't even drive.

Ty Cobb Backer: 49:28

I had to have, I had to pay a guy to drive me and I'm, I'm, I'm a mechanic, not an auto mechanic, but you know, roofing, siding. I came from the production side of things and and we were building this deck. I just got out of jail and, uh, had this piece of crap 1980 E350 van that no heat, no air conditioning, no nothing. This thing was on its last leg and um, uh, we, I had to. I tore off a slate roof and didn't, couldn't afford a dump trailer or anything. I tore off a slate roof and couldn't afford a dump trailer or anything, and so I was loading the slate into the empty bed of this van.

Ty Cobb Backer: 50:11

Long story short, we're going up a hill and the tranny went out like literally midway up this hill, and Jesse driving the van just as crazy as I am, or else I don't know why he'd have been there with a freaking drunk like me. But I'm a good salesperson. Convincing was a good idea to come work for me and drive my ass around. So, anyhow, those of you that know Jesse God bless him. He's no longer with us, but worked for us for a long, long time.

Ty Cobb Backer: 50:34

Anyhow, he got us off and literally like when the van, when an older vehicle shuts down, you lose steering, you lose brakes, you lose everything. So Jesse got us in this church parking lot and like, literally like inches away from, like hitting this church, like we coasted and like, for whatever reason, the brakes weren't working, the steering locked up. We couldn't get it restarted again. So, long story short, we got home and when I got back my dad had went and bought me a van. It wasn't a new van, it was a new, used new to me, um E three, 50 van, you know, and I did not deserve it. Yeah.

Ty Cobb Backer: 51:15

But at that point in time he must've saw something different in me. That point in time he must have saw something different in me. And I regret getting rid of that van. And I still got a sign. There was a little sign that I'd found on a job site. It says beware dog. And I still have that sign and I put it in the back of the, in the back of the window, just, you know, for like an alarm system type of thing. But I really felt like it was very relevant to the way my lifestyle was prior to cleaning my act up. Is that just beware of the dog, because scratch the surface at any given time he could veer its ugly head. And it's just a reminder because it was broken and dry, rotted plastic, almost like a for sale or for rent sign but it said where dog?

Ty Cobb Backer: 52:01

Yeah it was red, white and black signs and um, but he gave me that second chance and and I believe in second chances more than anything, more than anybody that you probably ever met and sometimes second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth chances I'll give people because I have been given so many chances over the years. I mean, I know that I'm on borrowed time and that's one of my other motivational, motivational pieces to to why and how I operate is is because I'm on borrowed time. It's like you know how you get those annoying extended warranty, insurance things on. Well, I've been given an extended warranty. Yeah, you know, I picked the phone up when I, when I got the call, I answered and I accepted, you know, the extended warranty and it's like so I have it.

Ty Cobb Backer: 52:52

I have a choice. Do I do nothing with it? Right, do nothing with it right? This, this, this borrowed time that I'm on, or do? Do I accept the challenge and know that I've been still placed here for a reason to to have it a positive impact on people's lives, you know, and take advantage of that and and or waste it. Do I waste it, take advantage of it in a negative way? So my dad, I guess to kind of circle back because I could keep talking about that has played a huge role in how I conduct business today. He's still alive, he's still with us, he's kicking. He's 78 years old and he's like the most hardest working, intelligent person that I know today. Okay, so, immediate family family, that would be my dad.

Ty Cobb Backer: 53:42

Um, over the years I followed, uh, john maxwell oh yeah, a lot um ed mylett you know, and that things are happening for us, not to us that says, go one more, yeah, one more, yeah, one more.

Ty Cobb Backer: 53:57

Right, just more. And I live that way, I, we live. Just one more, um here, um. So again, these are mentors. John Maxwell doesn't know he's my mentor, um, I'm sure there's thousands, probably a million people that John mentors that he doesn't even know, and same with same with, uh, ed Milet, um, but I, I follow a lot of their content. There's probably not a week that doesn't go by that I don't listen or read. I have a daily devotional book by John Maxwell on my desk. I read it every day, um, and apply it to to my life. Somehow some way shape or form personal or professional life. Every single day. They have been. And now it's funny that you brought up Alex Ramosi. I follow Layla, I think, his wife. Yeah, she's fantastic, she is amazing. I listen to her every day on the way to work. I love her content. I love that it's not long and draw it out for an hour like our podcast is.

Ty Cobb Backer: 54:56

But I like it that it's like 12, 23 minutes so I can listen to most of it on the way to work, then listen to the rest of it. But it seems like she's always where I'm at, at least with her content, that I, where I can, I'm struggling with something at work or even at home, and that you just seems like she. I don't know what it is right now Cause I've gone through, you know, different, not ebbs and flows, but where I'll follow. Craig Rochelle love Craig Rochelle, his content about leadership and, again, this is all about personal development stuff.

Ty Cobb Backer: 55:29

So I'm listening to what I'm trying to work on. I'm trying to be a better parent, I'm trying to be a better leader, I'm trying to be a bigger pillar. So I'm listening to non-industry related people coaches, coach Wooden I love his stuff. He's got the pyramid of success. If you're in a leadership position, I highly recommend listening. And he's a basketball coach, um, preachers, pastors and and sports coaches is, you know, the, the. What I follow outside our, outside of our industry, as far as and I'm trying to be, you know, um, uh, an industry. Now I don't even want to say I'm trying to be an industry leader, but I'm just trying to have an impact. I want to. I want to because of this. I want to to to leave it better than it was, the way that we found it, if that makes sense, our industry.

Brad Akers: 56:26

I think your podcast name behind the tool belt is very descriptive. It's like, hey, let's talk about the real stuff, let's talk about what actually goes into running a roofing business, not just tactics, strategies, like let's broaden it up a little bit. So yeah, for sure.

Ty Cobb Backer: 56:45

And that's what.

Brad Akers: 56:45

I wanted to commend you because I think you're at, you're doing it.

Ty Cobb Backer: 56:49

Well, thank you, thank you so much. And I never want to be that self-proclaimed thought leader. You know what I mean. I, I'd rather have you tell me that, and you know you're screaming that from the rooftops. You know cause? I, honestly, I, if you only knew who I am. I still kind of live that way too. You know, I'm just very self-conscious.

Ty Cobb Backer: 57:08

You know, if you only knew who I was you may not want me on your podcast you know, um, but I've also learned that that's very inspiring to other people, like, if he can do it, I can do it, you know, and that's that's really truly what this is about If I, if I can do this, you can do this too. Um, without a PhD, the, you know, and and uh, the roofing industry. I've stumbled across the two. You know what I mean. It found me, really did it found me when I was in the lowest, the lowest place in my life, and uh, you know, and I've been very mechanically inclined. I've been gifted God gifted me that way to be good with my hands, to be good with people, and I've become a builder. You know, I'm a builder of teams, I'm a builder of people, I'm a builder of companies, and and uh, I just like to build stuff, you know, and and uh, and again, I don't want to, I don't want to waste that. I want, I don't want to waste my talent, you know, I want it to apply because I've I've.

Ty Cobb Backer: 58:08

You know, I've always was told in school, if he could just apply himself, yeah, he'd be such a great student, you know, and I just I just wasn't a very good applier, you know, I'd get bored, I'd ants my pants, which is known today as HHDAD or whatever the hell. It is ADHD. What is it ADHD? Adhd, yeah, so I guess back then I was just hyperactive. You know it's what they chalked it up to, even though I didn't have to take anything for it. But I've learned how to use that to my advantage too. You know, being very high, strong and very neurotic, I'm grateful to be a. You know, to suffer from neurosis, I, I, I wouldn't be who I am or where we're at today if I wasn't a sped. You know, and, and, uh, I've learned to to. You know, capitalize on on, you know, I don't even want to call them shortcomings.

Brad Akers: 59:03

They're-.

Ty Cobb Backer: 59:04

Towering strengths. Yeah, they're my assets and I don't let them hold me back. I use them and I've learned how to do that kind of stuff. So, hey, buddy, so yeah, what time is it? Shit, we're at our hour mark here. Ok, before we wrap this thing up here, man, you know you, you gave us a bunch of gold here and thank you so much for for sharing your insight with our audience and anybody that's listening out there, who who wants to learn more about you know built right, contractor, you know program. We're going to post your, your link in the, the comment section and stuff like that. I'm sorry we didn't really get into exactly what. I enjoyed this. This was fun. You know that, what you do, but we will. We will put your, your contact information in the links and stuff like that, and you know anybody out there that could get something from this. Please share this with your crew. We appreciate it. And, brad, is there anything that you want to leave us with before we sign off here?

Brad Akers: 1:00:14

I think just the one thing I will say is try to be kind to yourself. Know that there's always another day and, as you're navigating entrepreneurship, know that everyone's just figuring it out, whether they've been doing it for 10 years or 50 years. Part of it is just whoever's able to stay in that state of figuring it out the longest is the one who is able to evolve and do things that maybe you hope to one day do. So just be kind to yourself and don't take it all too seriously. It can be fun if you decide it is.

Ty Cobb Backer: 1:00:57

Absolutely, absolutely. That's what we're, that we're here to be joyful people. I honestly believe that's why we've been put on this, this planet, right Not to be miserable, you know, especially those of us that have been given a second chance, right.

Ty Cobb Backer: 1:01:10

Not to take ourselves so dang serious. So, but anyhow, thank you so much. We'll have to reconnect after this at some point in time. Let's carve out some time and connect.

Ty Cobb Backer: 1:01:22

I really want to hear more about what you're doing. You know what I mean Because you're involved with so much, and I honestly believe that I personally could probably hear a lot about what it is that you're doing and see how you might be able to help me out personally and professionally. So thank you for what it is that you do for our industry. You are also another, you know, one of one of a few trailblazers that are leaving our industry in a better place than it was when you found it and and the impact that you're having on contractors across the country. So thank you, thank you for for that. Thank you, yeah, and if anybody out there you know got anything out of this, please share it with whoever.

Ty Cobb Backer: 1:02:07

And if you haven't liked, loved or subscribe, please check us out on our YouTube channel. I think we got. We don't have very many subscribers yet. We're kind of late to the show when it comes to that. I think we started a YouTube channel about a year ago, but we are allowed to stream live so you can catch us on our live streams and obviously the replay will be on that and, of course, social media Facebook, ig, spotify, apple play, google play, all that stuff. So if you're just now tuning in, please check us out on the replay, cause Brad definitely dropped some gold and 7 o'clock tonight it will be reposted on Facebook. So until then, stay safe and take care of each other and thank you for joining us. Thank you.