Tom Heaviland bought a one-truck landscape company with his dad in 1985. They each put up $11,000. Thirty-five years later, he sold it to BrightView—the largest player in the industry—for millions. But getting there wasn't linear. He lost his biggest contract overnight when a developer pulled out. His dad died suddenly in 1997. And for seven years, he was stuck splitting everything 50/50 with his stepmom who even didn't work in the business.

The real turn came when Tom stopped asking "how much can I make?" and started asking "what's this worth?" At 57, he got serious about value—not revenue, not profit, but what a buyer would actually pay. He shut down the construction division. He focused on recurring revenue and high-margin enhancement work. He surrounded himself with the right people and stopped being slow to fire. In five years, the business went from $5 million to $15 million, and margins jumped to the mid-50s.

Tom closed in November 2019. Four months later, COVID killed his earnout. But he'd already taken his attorney's advice: be happy with the deal you have, because nothing's guaranteed. He's 68 now, still working, still loving it. His one regret? Not measuring value sooner. Those last five years—when he finally got serious—that's when the real money got made.

Running a blue-collar business? Wondering how to think about value or selling? Iconic Founders Group helps founders like you explore what's next. If you're doing over $2M in profit, check us out at iconicfounders.com or send us a message at [email protected].

Iconic Links:
Learn More: www.iconicfounders.com
Connect: [email protected]
Production: Lower Street www.lowerstreet.co

Kris Birch started working in his dad's lawn and snow business in 2005. Fifteen years later, he sold it to a national brand. The deal looked good on paper, but within a year, most of the team was gone and the business had been absorbed into corporate machinery. When he finally walked away, he discovered something important: he'd already started building his next company.

But Kris’s story is a little different because most founders think you only get one shot at an exit. Kris got two. After the first sale fell apart, he and his business partner Tony built a tree care company from scratch. Six years later, they sold again, this time to private equity. Different buyer, different structure, different outcome. The second time around, Kris knew which questions to ask. Live and learn.

Here's what we discuss in this episode:

• Why working with family requires a third party to navigate the hard conversations

• How Kris transitioned from his dad's lifestyle business to a growth-focused operation

• The moment he realized he wasn't good at operations—and who he brought in to fix it

• What recurring revenue and service diversification did for his business valuation

• Why his first exit to a national brand didn't go as planned

• The difference between selling to corporate acquirers vs. private equity

• How peer groups and EOS transformed the way he ran his businesses

• What due diligence actually feels like (spoiler: everyone hates it)

• Why the second sale was faster, smarter, and more aligned with his values

• His advice to young founders: do hard things, then recover intentionally

Running a blue-collar business? Wondering how to think about value or selling? Iconic Founders Group helps founders like you explore what's next. If you're doing over $2M in profit, check us out at iconicfounders.com or send us a message at [email protected].

Iconic Links:

Learn More: https://www.iconicfounders.com

Connect: [email protected]

Production: Lower Street https://lowerstreet.co

Today’s guest is Adam Mopsick. Adam started a construction business in Miami in 1996. Twenty-five years later, he sold it to private equity for life-changing money. The 2008 recession killed his GC business and forced him to reinvent, building an owner's rep firm from scratch that grew every quarter for six years. When he finally got the exit everyone dreams of, he discovered the hardest part wasn't the deal. It was figuring out who he was without the business.

Most founders think the exit is the finish line. Adam learned it's just the starting gun for a different race. He stayed with the acquirer less than a year before walking away. For 25 years, his business had been his identity—his team, his purpose, his daily mission. When that disappeared, the money didn't fill the void. He tried fishing. He may have become slightly obsessed with padel. But what he needed was another mountain to climb. Two years later, he's sitting on boards, mentoring and coaching founders, and advising a variety of startups. His non-compete is almost up. And he's starting to get the itch again.

Use code ICONIC for 15% OFF your next Salt of the Earth order: https://drinksote.com/ICONIC

Here's what we discuss:

• Why construction's "terrible service" is actually a massive opportunity
• How recurring revenue business models trade at higher multiples than project-based work
• The real difference between running projects and building a business
• What private equity actually looks for in acquisitions (and which ones are founder-friendly)
• Why the hardest part of an exit isn't the deal—it's the identity crisis that comes after
• What it feels like when the business you built becomes someone else's
• How to think about your next chapter when the thing that defined you is gone

Iconic Links:
Learn More: https://www.iconicfounders.com/
Connect: [email protected]
Production: Lower Street https://www.lowerstreet.co/

Welcome to The Turn.

Host Kory Mitchell sits down with blue-collar business owners who've built something real—businesses like HVAC, landscaping, pest control, tree services, roofing, and construction.

These are honest conversations about the challenges, the lessons, and the moments that changed everything. Not M&A theory or deal structures, but the real stories from founders who've scaled and sold. The challenges that nearly broke them. What they wish someone had told them before they sold. And how their lives changed after the exit.

Kory's been there himself. He's built businesses and sold them. He understands the questions blue-collar founders are wrestling with about burnout, empowering others, charging what you're worth, and figuring out what comes next. Because the real story isn't just how you got here, it's about the lessons along the way.

The Turn is a podcast from Iconic Founders. New episodes bi-weekly starting Wednesday, February 11, 2026.

About Iconic Founders

Iconic Founders works with blue-collar business owners who are navigating growth, scale, and exit. To learn more, visit iconicfounders.com.