Firepreneurs

Jon “Magic” Majak is an Entrepreneur that has seen multiple sides of the home services landscape. First, he built a 7 figure exterior cleaning company. Next, he built a marketing company that supports home services companies all over the country. Now, in addition to continuing the growth of his marketing company Mr. Pipeline, he is also a Certified Conquer Coach with AGS Conquer helping small business owners scale their companies and overcome obstacles.

We had a lot of fun in this episode walking through ways to get ready for your busy season and maintain it once you get there!

March Marketing Madness: Marketing Guru, Business Owner and Conquer Coach

Michael Grigery on strategy and tactics of making quality impressions on your customers and prospects.

For the initial episode of our March Marketing Madness Series, we had the opportunity to bring on Michael Grigery, a Conquer AGS coach, and owner of Click, Call, Sell- a marketing firm focused on helping Home Services and Exterior Cleaning Companies. 

Unsuccessfully, we tried to match Michael's energy in this episode! Michael brings a metric ton, or 3 or 4, of knowledge in both a national franchise perspective, and a local home services perspective, and the marketing tips, tactics, and strategies that have helped his companies gain quality leads to gain market share.

This was great start to our series as Michael shares so many ways we can benefit from data collection, and then how to use that data for effective marketing to your target market to earn quality impressions. Even his company, Click, Call, Sell, is all about earning you quality over quantity when it comes to marketing, as it increases your ROI.

For the final episode of our Industry Pitfall Series, we had the good fortune to track down the one and only Michael Kaplan. Aside from me laughing half the time, we still managed to squeeze in a ton of value for our listeners. He walks us through getting into the Home Services Industry with Carpet Cleaning and a dream of building his company up to $1.5M a year in revenue; however, that quickly escalated when Michael and his team saw an opportunity to go bigger. They built their first location up to a multi-million dollar business and then opened multiple locations eventually passing the $10M mark and kept marching up to $18M a year in revenue. Along the way, they had countless challenges and had to break/rebuild their business multiple times. 

This was the perfect ending to our series as it addresses the pitfalls a Firepreneurs or Entrepreneur would experience going into carpet cleaning but it has SO MANY other lessons for one to consider. We hope you have as much fun listening as we did recording this one!

Want to hear the journey of an Entrepreneur who went from $0 to $5m in Revenue in 5 years? Meet Sam Gembel with Atlas Outdoors. Continuing on with our Industry Pitfall Series from the Firepreneurs podcast, Sam unpacks his journey into becoming an Entrepreneur. Interestingly, he spent the first 10 years in the Landscaping/Hardscaping Industry as an employee of another company before finally taking the leap himself into business ownership. Sam talks about both sides of the equation, while also sprinkling in all of the life that happens in between and influences our decisions. 

True to the series, Sam shares his opinion on potential pitfalls one could face if you are a full time firefighter and thinking about pursuing this industry as your side hustle. Additionally, he recommends some game changing books for him that really unlocked the trajectory that he is on today. Last, but not least, Sam is just Sam and brings a boat load of energy and personality to the episode. ENJOY!

On this episode of the Firepreneurs Podcast we bring on Fire Dawg and Firepreneur, Jason Finney. Joining him is his business partner Jason Humrichous to talk about building a multi-million dollar painting business. Together, they are the JASONS! Jason Finney is a retired NCO and Fire Dawg from the Air Force Reserve. He is also a partner of Heritage Custom Painting, as well as still a full time firefighter at Grissom ARB FD, where Bennett was a firefighter for 10 years. 

These two partners talk about the inner workings of forming a partnership, building a multi-million dollar painting company while also unpacking the wins and losses they experienced along the way. True to the series name, they point out some pitfalls that one could expect should they seek to start a painting business while still a full time firefighter. They also talk about how Faith and Family get them through the tough times of running a business.

Their story is unique, telling of the entrepreneurial journey and still just getting started! 

Continuing with our Industry Pitfall Series, on this episode of the Firepreneurs Podcast, we interview Lee Godbold. Lee is only 31 years old, but is making noise in the junk removal industry by not only running a junk removal business, but also building a company that supports the industry. He shares a number of pitfalls that aspiring Firepreneurs could avoid, and has even worked with a couple firefighter owned junk removal businesses in the past. Here's a Bio on Lee:

With Junk Removal Authority, Lee will tell you that he and his team help junk removal business owners make more money and live a better life through their teachings and back end support services. His companies provide consulting, marketing, and contact center services plus he builds junk removal trucks that get sent all throughout the country. Lee tells us that he has made it his mission to help others avoid the mistakes he made along the way.

Before founding Junk Removal Authority, he and his partner built Junk Doctors. What started as a pickup truck and trailer operation has now grown into a multi million dollar a year business that still operates in 3 metro areas in North Carolina. 

Lee let us know that his companies combined currently work with over 140 business owners in the United States. With no formal business education, Lee's ability to figure it out through trial and error, and then to share those experiences with others, make his story relatable to aspiring Firepreneurs. Aside from his business pursuits, Lee is also an avid pilot and traveler, thereby a great example of someone that can build a great business while having fun along the way.

Ever wondered what haters and naysayers have in common with Monkeys and Buffalo? No? Okay, that’s fair. Most people probably do not now that I think about it. Well, we are going to tell you anyways! 

 

In this episode, we answer a listener suggested topic of how to handle negativity toward Firepreneurs within the firehouse. This happens more often that you think, but is not unique to firehouses alone, it is in all work environments and social circles. To arm you with some tools to deal with these obstacles, Bennett and Jeff discuss two passed down, thought provoking stories about Monkeys and Buffalo. In addition to those stories, they also discuss choosing positivity, choosing your circle, and running through the metaphorical storms faced as a business owner. 

 

Episode Cameos also include Dementors, Coffee Bean Soup/Broth, and our new, albeit lonely, bookshelf!

In this episode of the Firepreneurs Podcast, we introduce Nick Leis. Aside from constantly defeating those nagging "self limiting beliefs" he also tests the limits of what is possible. In his career in the Air Force, he started out as Air Transportation, which is a basic support function. Then, he kicked it in high gear. Over the subsequent years of his Air Force career, he became a Fire Dawg aka Firefighter, a Paramedic, an Air Force Special Warfare airmen known as TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) and then made the transition from Enlisted to Officer as a Fighter Pilot in Training. That isn't enough? Oh yeah, he also had a foray as an Entrepreneur; building, provisionally patenting, and then licensing a product that solved a problem in the TACP career field. This episode is filled with motivational gold nuggets, and a little 80's humor, enjoy!

On this episode of the Firepreneurs Podcast, we interview a fellow Firepreneur, Chris Estridge. Chris is the owner of Edge Fitness & Strength. In addition to owning a gym, he is also a full time firefighter at Indianapolis Fire Department. 

Chris owned Edge Fitness & Strength going into the fire service. Do when he started the grueling 30 week Fire Academy he relied on systems, processes and good people to keep his gym running smoothly. 

We unpack some of those difficulties of running a gym while going through a Fire Academy Monday-Friday; we also unpack what motivated him to own a gym and what motivated him to become a firefighter after having already taken the Entrepreneurial leap. Aside from the tough road of being a Firepreneur, Chris has faced tremendous adversity. He graciously shares those stories, what inspired him during the tough times, and what continues to drive him to this day. There’s something for everyone in this episode.

To get in touch with Chris, checkout the links below!

https://m.facebook.com/EDGEFitnessandStrengthLLC/

https://www.instagram.com/edge_strong/

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCy0tLzIe4A4fUKmLQvNMpaQ

https://edge.fit

https://edge.fit/contact-us