One 11-inch rain event cost Tyler Hendrix and his partners an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 in a single day, because they weren't built to handle the volume.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with Tyler Hendrix, co-owner of Voda South Kansas City and incoming general manager of 1-Tom-Plumber Kansas City. Tyler came out of construction project management, building municipal water plants across five states. A ski trip with two friends turned into a business, and they opened their doors in April 2025.

You'll walk away with:

• Why a year of trying to buy an existing business never worked out
• How carpet cleaning gives them a non-emergency touchpoint and a steadier cash flow
• The first hire they held onto too long, and what it cost them
• What the storm taught them about paying for capacity before you need it
• What a fractional CFO and a 13-week cash flow forecast changed
• Why the plumber referral war pushed them into 1-Tom-Plumber
• Why Tyler says restoration's low barrier to entry is just deferred

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Want to connect with Tyler? Find him on LinkedIn or on Instagram at @TylerHendrix360.

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Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

At 20, Caleb Owens took over a $525K mitigation department that had bad hires, heavy churn, and stolen equipment. Fifteen months later it was running at $1.5M with 37% profit.

Then he left, liquidated his Roth IRA at 23, and started his own company.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with Caleb Owens, owner of Kern Water Damage Restoration in Bakersfield, California. Caleb is 24, came up through demo and containment work, and is now building AI systems most restoration companies twice his size don't have.

You'll walk away with:

• How he grew a small mitigation department more than 3x in profit in 15 months
• Why his first AI build wasted four hours on a 20-minute email, and what he changed
• How he connects calls, texts, email, and documentation so AI can actually help
• How his system drafts carrier responses overnight
• Why most owners let their inbox decide their priorities
• How he answers the premium-increase objection with real numbers
• Why he gives his whole SOP library away for free

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Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit restorationprosunplugged.com

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Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Rick McGuigan asked Larry Braun to join his company for ten years. Larry kept saying "you can't afford me." They finally settled it on a napkin.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with Rick McGuigan and Larry Braun of Pine Ridge Cleaning and Restoration in Cleveland, Ohio. Rick bought a small carpet cleaning business in 2003 and grew it to $3.5M largely on his own. Larry came out of 30 years in steel. Together they've taken Pine Ridge into mitigation, reconstruction, and contents.

You'll walk away with:

• Why the visionary and integrator split works, and why two visionaries would have sunk them
• Why Larry spent a year learning the business before changing any of it
• How they built a contents division in eight weeks after avoiding it for years
• Why they hired a department manager with no restoration experience at all
• Why Pine Ridge doesn't use job titles, and what that does for the culture
• How they handle disagreements without letting them fester

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Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit https://restorationprosunplugged.com

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Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Malik Stevens believed what everyone says about TPAs. Then he ran five fire claims in six weeks, and the first one billed almost $60,000.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with Bobby Thomas, CEO of Extreme Services, and Malik Stevens, a Louisiana owner converting his independent company into an Extreme franchise. Bobby came up from carpet cleaning to technician to owner and runs corporately across five states. Malik covers Lafayette, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge.

You'll walk away with:

• Why the margin vs. volume argument doesn't hold up once you run the numbers
• How to find margin on a job when the obvious line item isn't billable
• Why getting approvals before work starts ends billing fights before they start
• How tighter documentation on program work improved every job they run
• What the independent side actually costs you in waiting, guessing, and unpaid work
• Why Bobby caps his franchise growth on purpose

Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit restorationprosunplugged.com.

Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Most restorers think contents is easy. Put stuff in a box. Kristen Stein says the box was never the hard part.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with Kristen Stein, owner of Blue Kangaroo Packouts in Randolph, New Jersey. Kristen came out of international trade, bought a restoration franchise three years ago, and now runs 20,000 square feet of storage serving New Jersey, New York, and parts of Pennsylvania.

You'll walk away with:

• Why contents is an owner-operator business, not a passive one
• How to set homeowner expectations when a job runs three to six months instead of three weeks
• Where contents companies quietly lose money on box sizing and inventory
• How to push back on carrier guidelines with documentation instead of arguments
• How she uses video and AI estimating to size crews and trucks before anyone rolls out
• What restorers should ask before handing a contents company a client's entire home

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Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit restorationprosunplugged.com

Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Michael Harrison told his insurance agent he'd do $250,000 his first year in business. He finished at $1.6 million.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with Michael Harrison, owner of Mid-South Restoration Services and 1-Tom-Plumber Memphis. Michael started in the trade at 14 as his brother's helper and spent 20 years learning it at franchises and independents before two phone calls on one drive home pushed him to go out on his own.

You'll walk away with:

• How he built a 100% referral business on insurance agents and adjusters
• Why he tells agents straight when a loss isn't worth filing a claim on
• Why his $6M year was less profitable than his smaller years
• Why he turned down a TPA that wanted a cut of referrals he already earned
• How he cash funded a 1-Tom-Plumber franchise to be the first call when a building floods
• The culture decision he sat on too long, and what it cost him

Want to connect with Michael or learn more about Mid-South Restoration Services and 1-Tom-Plumber Memphis?
www.1tomplumber.com/memphis-tn
www.midsouthrestoration.com

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Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit restorationprosunplugged.com

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Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Most restoration business owners only show you the highlight reel. Not this episode.

Raul Gonzalez of WonderBuilt Restoration and Construction gets real with Clinton James about the two times his business almost didn't make it — bad hires, a cash crunch, a lawsuit that blocked his SBA funding, and high-interest loans just to cover payroll. He shares exactly what it felt like, what he got wrong, and how he turned it around by finally asking for help instead of trying to do it all himself.

If you've ever laid awake worrying about making payroll, this episode is for you. Raul's story is proof that the struggle isn't a sign you're failing — it might just be the price of building something real.

Sales SOPs. KPI tracking. Job profitability. Getting financing-ready. These are the exact things that almost sank Raul's business — and they're the exact sessions at the Restore Scale Dominate Summit, Aug 27–28 in San Diego. Apply now at RestoreScaleDominate.com

 Seats are almost gone.

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Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Tunde and Moji Adefolaju opened their SERVPRO one week before COVID shut everything down. Six years later they're running six territories and 15 service vehicles in Northern California.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with the husband-and-wife team behind SERVPRO of East Concord / Brentwood. Neither came from restoration — Tunde managed construction projects, Moji came out of banking and oil and gas. One 40-minute phone call with a franchisee they'd never met sent them into the industry.

You'll walk away with:

- How they survived a launch that landed on top of a global shutdown

- Why they built SOPs and culture early, before they had the crews to run them

- The collections fight every restorer has, and how they shortened their payment windows

- How they split residential and commercial: Google for one, relationships for the other

- Why they added a 1-Tom-Plumber franchise, and how the two brands feed each other

- Moji's advice for women getting into restoration

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Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit restorationprosunplugged.com

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Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Nine months into business, Dwayne West landed a $100,000 job off his second lead. In this episode, he tells host Clinton James how he did it.

Dwayne owns Firehawk Restoration in Jasper, Georgia. He's a Navy veteran who grew up working construction with his dad, then built a career flipping houses and running a general contracting business before jumping into restoration.

You'll walk away with:

• How a $875 pay-per-lead buy turned into a six-figure mitigation and rebuild job
• Why Dwayne skipped third-party administrators from the start
• How his construction background let him launch offering full mitigation and reconstruction
• Why he invested in a 1-Tom-Plumber franchise to build commercial relationships
• His advice for anyone thinking about starting a restoration company

Want to connect with Dwayne or learn more about Firehawk Restoration? Visit firehawkrestoration.com

Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit restorationprosunplugged.com.

Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/

Running your restoration company on gut feeling and bank balances is a quiet way to stay stuck. Real growth comes from installing hard numbers and accountability into every job.

In this episode, host Clinton James sits down with Larry Braun, VP and Co-owner of Pine Ridge Restoration in Cleveland, Ohio, and a featured speaker at the Restore Scale Dominate Summit in San Diego. Larry spent 30 years running an industrial steel plant before joining the restoration business just two and a half years ago. He brought a manufacturing mindset with him — and it worked. Pine Ridge had been stuck at $3M since 2005. Larry helped push them past a $6.3M forecast, chasing an $8M stretch goal.

You'll walk away with:

• How Pine Ridge ties technician bonuses directly to job-level profit margin
• A field accountability system that catches costly mistakes before they become callbacks
• How to get clean financial visibility between your emergency response and reconstruction teams
• Why niche-focused BDRs are outperforming generalists in insurance and senior living verticals
• Why ranking on Google isn't enough anymore, and what AEO means for your next lead

Want to see Larry break down these exact systems live? He's leading a hands-on session called “Behind the Dashboard” at the Restore Scale Dominate live event in San Diego, August 27–28. Early bird pricing expires tomorrow, July 18th, and saves you $150. Apply now at https://restorescaledominate.com

Subscribe to Restoration Pros Unplugged and visit restorationprosunplugged.com.

Running a restoration company and want to get more jobs from your online marketing? Book a free discovery call with Water Restoration Marketing at https://waterrestorationmarketing.com/discovery-call/