Restoration Transformation

Hayden Lee

Welcome, everyone, to the Success Elevated podcast. As always, I’m your host, Hayden Lee, and I am joined this week by two very special guests. I’ll start with the host guy, Bryce Johnson, VP of sales over at Spot on Solutions. Bryce, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Bryce Johnson

Thanks for having me on, Hayden. I don’t know if I would have lead with me. I don’t think I’m quite as special.

Hayden Lee

So you’re very special. and also joined by Claire Carreras who is the operations manager over at ATEX restoration. Claire. Thanks for coming on the podcast.

Claire Carreras

I’m super stoked to be here, Bryce and Hayden, fabulous, my first, podcast experience. So we’ll see how this goes.

Hayden Lee

We’ll hope. I’m hoping this doesn’t ruin podcasts for you, but hey, it’s going to be great.

Bryce Johnson

He’s a great host, I was on the podcast last year, my first time, right? And I was nervous, but he does a really good job.

Hayden Lee

So this would be fun. , this would be cool because we get to talk about, all things Claire and ATEX, which would be awesome. So let’s, let’s start first. And this is kind of something we’ve been doing for everybody we’ve interviewed is let’s talk about your background, like how you got into restoration. Where did your career start? I would assume you probably haven’t been doing restoration your whole life.

Claire Carreras

No. You know, surprisingly, I have not been doing restoration my whole life. So I guess quick capsule here. I’m. I’m from Canada originally, so I immigrated down here. Unfortunately, right as Covid was breaking out. and that did a tremendous terror to my immigration and all this kind of stuff. So, long story short, I actually wasn’t able to work, until about 2022.

Hayden Lee

Oh, Gotcha

Claire Carreras

I was landlocked here Unable to, you know, be employed within America. And. . so that did a lot of damage to my resume. Of course, now I have this big gap, and everything previous was from another country. So when I was ready to rejoin the, the workforce, had a really hard time getting anybody to look at me seriously because I just looked like a foreigner who hadn’t been working for several years at that point. Gotcha. I was very, very fortunate, to get my foot in the door with a restoration company. and I’ll be perfectly honest, at that point, I was frantically just putting resumes everywhere and anywhere because.

Hayden Lee

Someone hire me.

Claire Carreras

like I’m dying. I need I need to go back to work. and I was able to get an interview. and we did, you know, a zoom interview, with, with, and it was a Paul Davis, in Austin. And I thought the interview went okay. I kind of had a feeling that maybe they weren’t going to go with me.

But then a couple weeks later, I got a call to come in and do an in-person. I crushed the in person, and I ended it with, like, you know, I would like to leave here today with a job. And he kind of said, oh, no, you know, we need to we need to talk about it. We just think.

But I’m like, oh no, it’s like they’re not going to go with me. but they ended up they ended up giving me a shot and I was So grateful and so thankful for that because, you know, obviously, I, I knew nothing about this industry. I never heard the word mitigation before in my life. but I come from an operations management background. Management has been my thing, I love business, I went to business school. Like, that’s my whole jam. and I think I was able to communicate that well enough for them to feel like. Well, let’s give her a shot and see what what she can do. And they put me in a more entry level position. and I was excited to just get get in there and get going. and I think that really paid off for me within, I think, three months, I was promoted to, emergency mitigation manager. so I kind of had a division to look over and things just kind of kept escalating from there. So, that was my introduction into emergency mitigation and restoration. and I’ve just kind of been in and around it ever since. I did do some time with a serv pro. I deviated for about a year to, I was, operating a pool repair and cleaning business just for something a little different. and, that employer had, a restoration company that he was also running. so once I got the pool business, you know, tidied up and cleaned and nicely ended up selling it. And then he brought me over to the restoration side, and. I’ve been sitting ever since.

Hayden Lee

I love it. I got involved in ATEX so there’s a couple of things I think we could a couple of different directions we could go. And so I want to put a pin in a couple of things because I want to learn a little bit more about, like your management style. And obviously you’re a great leader and I think that you know it like you were promoted super fast. People recognize those qualities within you. So I want to talk about that. But first, I think it would be good to talk a little bit about this guy over here and how you two connected, how you two connected last year course. So, Bryce, why don’t you talk a little bit about how you first connected with Claire?

Bryce Johnson

I think, Claire and I. Right. We got, in touch after CORE last year, so we we bumped into each other here. and, you know, initiated the conversation. I don’t know, specific details off the top of my head. I don’t know if you remember exactly the context of, you know, some some you remember some going and evaluating the performance of how that went.

But that’s that’s usually how it goes.

Claire Carreras

It was it was like on my, on my hunting list, so to speak. When I came to the conference, Last.

Hayden Lee

Need Marketing.

Claire Carreras

I was like, okay, this is a this is an area that I need help. I need to find some assistance with this. At that time, we had, a very old, outdated, like landing page website. It was horrible. I don’t even think the phone number is listed on there. Worked anymore. Like it was. It was really quite, quite bad. and there just wasn’t a lot of value or thought really put into our marketing and how we were facing the market. And in that sense, so one of the first things that I did when I came on was kind of evaluate, like, all right, like, what is our presence online? What does that look like? and is there room for improvement? And the answer was like, absolutely. In fact, we need to scratch this whole thing and basically start over. And in realizing how much of an undertaking that was going to be, I started looking for resources, you know, professionals who could kind of Plug in and run with it. and I met you at the booth last year, and I was just like, oh my goodness. Okay, this sounds like exactly what I’m looking for.

Hayden Lee

This is what we need.

Claire Carreras

And we had, a nice little one on one, kind of, you know, discussion about where we are, where we’re trying to get to and, what they offer and how, you know, what that would all look like. It was a really great presentation, actually, like beautiful slides

Bryce Johnson

I think she’s been extremely generous.

Hayden Lee

I’ve seen some of the slides they’re okay, no.

Claire Carreras

It was amazing, So you guys did all of that. and then, my employer, actually, I guess he didn’t realize that I was so hot on the trail of getting it all handled, and he actually went in and hired somebody else. and I was a little upset about that because I was so stoked. I want you guys to present it, but I was like, okay, you know, this is what the boss wants. So we went in this other direction, and I can see pretty quickly that they were going to Fumble the ball.

Bryce Johnson

And you did a really good job of, you know, letting me know what was going on. I think that’s one of the biggest frustrations about someone in my position is doing any sort of consulting is when you’re talking with someone and things all by appearances, check boxes looks good like it goes to, and then all of a sudden, no, no response. Right. And then you got to walk the line of okay, how persistent do I be without becoming like a pest and being annoying. So I did a good job of just. You know, eliminating any of that questions. Absoulutely we just like, okay. . You guys made another decision. That’s fine. Hope it does go well for you.

Claire Carreras

And it didn’t. So then I was like.

Bryce Johnson

Okay yes I got I got a call on a voicemail from you. one morning, I think before I was even in the office because of the time difference. And I was like, all right, it looks like,

Claire Carreras

You’re back on!

Bryce Johnson

Good. All right. That’s great. Is a great way to start the day.

Hayden Lee

That’s awesome.

Claire Carreras

So I mean, it kind of, you know, we went all around and, you know, kind of explored a different route. And I was like, oh, this is this is not this is not going to go well for us. for a number of different reasons. So came back and said, hey, you know, can we, can we revisit, can we revisit this? Because I think, I really think that you guys are the right fit for this. and they, you know, jumped on it. We got everything going. it was a huge project. I know in terms of what you’re used to, but for us, I mean, we’re talking website SEO, the whole like, right. The Google business profile, like everything, the whole shebang. We needed like, pretty much a turnkey, almost like having an in-house marketing team at our disposal to get to get going as quickly as possible. So, , and that’s been what almost, I want to say almost a year since like initiation.

Bryce Johnson

yeah we connected a year ago

Claire Carreras

I mean I feel like maybe.

Bryce Johnson

Because you know, someone for a couple months and, and then it would have been what was it October. You reached out September. October. And then our typical timeframe on the website, I think we were right there about 45, 60 days.

Hayden Lee

So right. End of the year, first of the year, kind of got everything kicked off.

Well I think it would be a good time right now to shout out, Santi and his team back home. So Santi loves working with you. You’re one of his favorite clients, and he’s one of our account managers. And he’s. He does an awesome job in his team back home. they’re kicking butt, so it’s been really cool. you know, Santi worked with us in office for a couple of years and then recently moved to Utah, and he’s engaged in, like, getting ready to be married here in the next month or so. and it’s so fun. Like, we’ve we’ve kept up that great relationship and we have we have team members that work remotely all over the country. And it’s super fun to like, we get we get to work with some really awesome people at spot on solutions, both internally guys like Santi and people like you. So, that’s I appreciate you guys kind of bouncing off each other and talking about that story because, I think it’s eye opening from both perspectives, like from a sales perspective. Like it’s nice to have some communication to be like, hey, this is what’s going on. And then from your perspective, like you recognize very early on this, you needed something like an all encompassing to help with what was going on. And, that’s what we can provide, which, I don’t want to turn this into a sales conversation, but that’s but that’s what it is like. We we want to we know there are a lot of companies out there and we work with a lot of companies. It’s a huge undertaking for you, and it’s a big task for us. But we we do it a lot because we have lots of people that come to us and be like, I have a 30 year old website, I have ads that aren’t working. I don’t know if I’m getting any money. And so, like, it’s a great way for us to be like, hey, let’s just let’s fix all of this all at once. Let’s get it all done at once, you know?

Bryce Johnson

Month in, month out. we’re we’re working with, you know, couple people at least that we’re, we’re going full service with basically just like, just like you. So it feels like a lot. We’ve it’s not our first rodeo. Right. And that’s where I think we do really come in helpful there. I think I’ll just mention from it. I think Hayden is, you know, I don’t want to be that stereotypical sales guy I hope that I’m not in a, that I have broken, that mold and reputation

Hayden Lee

I don’t want to send in. Like, several emails a day

Bryce Johnson

I don’t think any sales person Really, really, though, wants to be the guy calling, you know, and and really being needy and emailing right for communication. And so I, I think just, you know, a little thing that I’ve actually done is when someone reaches out to me, I am very prompt to tell them yes or no and not leave them on the line or make them, you know, reach out however many times they get through to me. I find that it keeps my phone actually quieter. . with emails and calls and then, you know, I’m, I’m doing a favor to those people letting them know. Yes, no, or now’s not the right time, whatever that is. . And that’s the last thing I want to spend time doing. You know, hunting people down, so to speak.

Hayden Lee

That’s a good tip for people that are getting, you know, any business owners getting sold to all the time buy this software, by, you know, buy this program or whatever, buy this coaching. And if you really don’t need it or don’t want it, like it’s best to just communicate about it, get it over with.

Claire Carreras

So the person can check that box and get it off that list. Like I’m very sensitive to that because I’ve, you know, I’m I’m familiar with what that looks like. And you have to like, you have to follow up basically until you get that hard no or like there’s a timeline and post you. That’s the job, right? You have to you have to keep following up. So, you know, I always take it like very seriously to let people know what’s happening and what’s going on just so that they can continue on with their day. Maybe there’s somebody else that they can focus on in the meantime and not leave people hanging.

Hayden Lee

Well, it or in your case where you can you could be like, hey, you know, now is not the right like call me in a couple of months or whatever you ended up calling Bryce. But like if for whatever reason, you could just be like, hey, this happened, call me back in a couple months. We’ll see how it’s going. Or, you know, and then and then Bryce can put it. Okay. Hey, I won’t bug you until this day, like. And you don’t have to worry about me harassing you all the time, because I don’t know what’s going on, you know? So, Okay, we’re going to come back to the thing I put a pin in because I think it’s really awesome that you got promoted so quickly at that first restoration company operations management is a big part of like, what you’ve done over your career. It sounds like obviously it’s what you’re doing here at ATEX. Talk a little bit about, your leadership style, I guess. Is that something like with management or is it just something you’re naturally good at? I would assume you’ve probably had some practice over the years. Talk a little bit about that.

Claire Carreras

Yes. I’m pretty good at okay. . I mean, I guess I’ve always been naturally inclined towards management. I’m the oldest of seven. So like our household was very much like, all right, Claire Like you got to you got to run this.

Hayden Lee

You’re like a third parent or whatever.

Claire Carreras

Exactly I think, you know, organizing everybody and getting getting things done. Like it’s I’m very, you know, get get things done. . I’m Claire Lil’ miss execution. Right. Like I . Get the things done. So, that’s been a skill that I’ve always had. And as I got older, I started to recognize that that could be applied in, in my career.

And then, you know, kind of developed from there. And all my jobs have been in different industries, which has been really interesting. And I think it’s given me like a really interesting perspective, I think, to bring to the table wherever I go. having had so much experience in so many different industries and different sized companies and a lot of independent companies, a lot of startups, things like that. So, you know, it kind of gives me a, an interesting pool of knowledge and sort of like a wealth of knowledge to bring now to to restoration.

Hayden Lee

What’s so with, with regards to restoration, are there some different leadership or management challenges that are unique to restoration, you feel like versus like other companies? Obviously there’s the stressors, stress of like emergency situations for sure. but are there any other like unique challenges you feel like when it comes to the restoration world?

Claire Carreras

I mean, you have to interact with so many different entities, right? And you’ve got. , homeowners. . And, you know, or renters or, you know, sort of on the loss side, then you’ve got the carriers and the TPs, is, you know, the third party programs that that were involved with in restoration. then you’ve got all of your subs and the different vendors and, and people that you’re interacting with, and then you’ve got your own team. And depending on the size of your restoration business, you might have multiple divisions. Right? We at Apex Restoration are full service. So we have the emergency medication, we have contents and we also have the reconstructions. There’s just that’s a lot of people and a lot of different skill sets and, and a lot of, you know, different lingo and languages. You know, we obviously here in Austin, we have a lot of Spanish speaking. Right. labor. So, there’s a lot of a lot of things to, to dial in and, and, kind of continually be practicing and getting better at speaking to all of these different people you have to speak to for one common goal.

Hayden Lee

I love that stuff because it’s it really is a unique thing when it comes to restoration that like, you have to navigate this many different entities all at one time. and especially like there, I mean, there are companies like it’s awesome that you guys are that large. There’s even companies that because they just do mitigation, also have to bring in the reconstruction side. Do they like I got to hire subs that can do all the reconstruction. I can get a coordinate with them and just ends up being, it’s very unique. I feel like to the restoration world.

Claire Carreras

It really is, I’m trying to think of, like anything else adjacent that I’ve done. And I just, I really can’t think of another industry that has that many moving parts in an emergency. Kind of a.

Hayden Lee

The emergency adds another level because it’s like like if you’re a general contractor, yes, you have to deal with a lot of subs, but just generally you’re not dealing with like an emergency.

Claire Carreras

Right now.

Hayden Lee

It’s like there’s actively a flood in my basement, you know what I mean? Like, that’s not what’s happening when it comes to like general contracting. So it’s a little bit different, right. Bryce you gonna say something?

Bryce Johnson

I was just gonna think of a little perspective that I could share and just. , you know what I saw here at the event? I mean, obviously, you know, we’re here in Austin at the Collective, you know, my core, but it’s home base for them. But Claire and a lot of your team is here with you right at.

And I think that’s really impressive. They they talk to one of the keynotes. You know, yesterday it was talking about different things with your team and what you could do.

Hayden Lee

And mentorship.

Bryce Johnson

mentorship, the leadership and bringing them to events and stuff like this. . And I think for me at least, I’ve had a lot of moments where I’ve been at events like this and seeing, okay, now I understand things a little better. Now I get to meet people in person. What’s that like for your team? Because your team was here.

I was like, oh, hey, how’s it going guys? And just recognize, you know, the the branding, the shirts they’re wearing.

Hayden Lee

Everybody’s got a ATEX shirt on.

Bryce Johnson

You know, some of your mitigation managers and techs that are here, not just, you know, the management of it.

Claire Carreras

We made that choice this year. And you know, in the previous year. And, you know, I tend to be the one that goes to these kind of networking events. . You know, Trace Davis our GM sometimes he comes as well. But I find, you know, I’d get so pumped up and so energized and so stoked on all this stuff. And then I come back to the office like, all right guys, we’re going to do all. And they’re and they’re just, they’re not there. Right. Because they’re like, where’s all this? Where’s all this coming from?

Hayden Lee

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Claire Carreras

You gotta work on your soft skills and blah blah. And they’re just like, what are you talking about? Like, you know, so I wanted them to have the experience of, coming here not only to, to kind of catch the energy and kind of see, how big the industry is and how much support there is, and meet the vendors that they’re working with face to face and kind of have that, that face time.

but also to let them know how valuable they are to us and that it matters and that we we want them to be meeting all these people and networking and being kind of on that same level of, , you know, it’s not just for me and trace to, to be at these things like, hey, this is a resource for them and I want them to see it and feel it and, and be as much of a part of it as, as I was, because it really does. Like, it just gets you like it.

Hayden Lee

Get you fired up

Claire Carreras

gets you fired up, man.

Hayden Lee

You come to events like this and you just. If there was nothing else other than just, like, talking to other great people in the industry, like that would be enough in and of itself. But then there’s also all the trainings and the keynotes and all the cool vendors you can see, oh, maybe I can implement something from spot on solutions or something from, you know, core logic or something from Violand

Claire Carreras

and then to Kind of see what like the opportunities are in the future. That’s a big thing is we, we hire pretty green. That’s, that’s, that’s a choice that we made intentionally. And we want to bring people in kind of from, from the beginning and build them up and also let them see, like, hey, there’s a future here for you. You know, you might start out as an assistant tech or, you know, what have you. But look, these are the steps. This is where you can go. And I want you to see that and meet other people who have worked their way up and kind of see this organism that is restoration. And, you know, all these moving pieces and like, hey, look, there’s opportunities for you in all of these places. Maybe you’re cool here with us for a couple of years, and then maybe you transcend and you move into, you know, a another kind of realm within the same industry.

But I think it’s important that these young people see that there is a future for them here. And there’s a career path, and there’s opportunities even beyond that.

Bryce Johnson

It’s I think that’s super smart. And I saw them here. And I think that absolutely. Is there a lot of like a just a big shout out for the and I think

Claire Carreras

They’re awesome Such a great team

And they look so good in their uniform. . And it’s and.

Bryce Johnson

They have a presence.

And I think it’s a sign of a really good culture right. That what you said about you know their future here in the industry and what that looks like. And maybe in a few years, maybe they’re not with you at ATEX anymore. Maybe they’ve moved off and there’s opportunity there, like you said. But I think it’s a sign of really good culture that you have someone that does a really good job, that grows and develops and ends up going somewhere else, whether it’s with the company or elsewhere, and you’re celebrating that and helping them get there, rather than just leaving them, kind of feel like they’re just stuck as a cog in the machine. You know, someone that’s hired green and just going through a lot of churn. I’m guessing you guys probably don’t have as much turnover with your techs. And because of that.

Claire Carreras

Low turnover, I mean, we prior to my arrival, eight has been in operation for ten years now. . so prior to my arrival, it was, you know, kind of core team, you know, they were doing it. They were doing really, really great, but there wasn’t any growth. So, you know, one of the big things that I was in charge of was like, all right, we need to we need to scale this thing, right. Like, how do we do that? So, you know, we did a lot of hiring. We started really growing and developing and, you know, kind of refining like what each role looks like and building out those teams and, you know, having a plan so that we could scale it and grow it. And it’s been going really, really well. Still really low turnover. I like to think, I’m doing a good job of bringing in the right people. we hired a young lady, about three months ago. totally green, very new to the restoration space. but during our interview, she was kind of telling me about her experience interviewing with these different companies. And just, like, nobody will give me a chance. And of course, that really resonated with me because I was like, I, I’ve been in that position. , I know my worth, I know my value. But getting somebody else to see that can be really challenging. . you know, if you’re not from here, if you speak another language, if you’re a woman or a minority, it can just be, you know, that extra challenge. And So, you know, I give her an opportunity. She’s been crushing it. And it’s been one of the best. That’s cool man. She’s so smart and she does a tiny little thing, but she is so capable. I mean, I’ve seen her pull cabinets off by herself like she’s crushing it.

Hayden Lee

So that’s if there could ever be a sales pitch for the restoration industry. That’s it right there. Like, that’s so, so cool. And that’s what the restoration industry and that’s what, like, what’s so cool about what we get to do is we get to like, be a part of this huge it feels like a, like a family almost. And, and restoration really is that way that like, we can come together. There are opportunities out there for everybody, no matter what walk of life you come from. and it’s cool that you’re able to kind of like, hey, I’m going to I was given this opportunity. Let me help somebody else also get the same.

Claire Carreras

Pass it forward.

Hayden Lee

Which is which is awesome. So, Claire, this is an awesome conversation. Seriously. Thank you so much for coming on. I want to give you the opportunity. I know you guys are obviously here locally in Austin, but if someone maybe wants to learn a little bit more about you guys and is interested in maybe getting some some tips or some help, is there a way that maybe they could connect with you, social media, LinkedIn maybe, or something like that.

Claire Carreras

I am on LinkedIn. Claire Carreras. you can also reach me. We have a, web forum on our website, which is Austin Water damage.com. Love it. feel free to reach out. happy to help share. You know, point people in in a direction if they’re looking for feedback or. , anything like that. I’m really all about kind of kind of giving it forward because again, I mean, I, I was in a rough spot and if somebody hadn’t given me that opportunity, I mean, I wouldn’t be here, right?

Hayden Lee

That’s great. Claire. Thank you so much, Bryce. Thanks for coming on and telling your part of the story a little bit, too. really appreciate you guys. And, we’ll chat with you later, so.

Claire Carreras

All right. Thanks Hayden!

Hayden Lee

Thank you.

Bryce Johnson

Thanks.