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Successful Life Podcast
Self-Improvement Podcast for Contractors that want to learn about how to grow their business through management and marketing. Develop business ideas to improve your business experience and be successful. Real stories from real business owners.
Successful Life Podcast
Overcoming Addiction and Business Challenges with Adam Bensman
In this episode of the Successful Life Podcast, host Corey Berrier interviews Adam Bensman, founder of the Roofing and Solar Reform Alliance and host of a YouTube channel and podcast under his name. Adam shares his journey from struggling in various jobs, including massage therapy, to finding success in roofing sales and eventually building a membership organization to improve the industry. They delve into the stigmas and challenges within the roofing industry and discuss Adam's unique sales strategies. The conversation takes a personal turn as both Corey and Adam open up about their struggles with addiction and the impact of sobriety on their lives and careers. They also touch on Adam's recent decision to overhaul his business model to focus more on community and value-driven engagement. The episode wraps up with Adam discussing his new business endeavors and offering resources for those interested in learning more about sales and the roofing industry.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:42 Adam Bensman's Background and Career Journey
02:00 Challenges and Realities of Roofing Sales
04:16 Changing the Roofing Industry's Reputation
07:15 Effective Sales Techniques and Strategies
18:19 Transition to a Membership Business Model
25:58 Personal Stories of Sobriety
29:45 The Importance of Community in Recovery
30:20 Overcoming Shame and Sharing Your Story
31:37 The Struggles and Realizations of Addiction
32:43 The Journey to Sobriety and Its Challenges
35:14 Reflections on Substance Use and Personal Growth
38:04 The Role of Community and Support in Recovery
44:40 The Value of Honest Conversations and Partnerships
51:21 Upcoming Events and How to Get Involved
55:05 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
https://youtube.com/@theroofstrategist?si=NoyZP5qx_b0NFChB
https://www.audible.com/pd/9-Simple-Steps-to-Sell-More-ht-Audiobook/B0D4SJYD4Q?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=library_overflow
https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Steps-Sell-More-Stereotypes-ebook/dp/B0BRNSFYG6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1OSB7HX6FQMHS&keywords=corey+berrier&qid=1674232549&sprefix=%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-1
https://bit.ly/4bFz4yc https://www.housecallpro.com/successullife
https://www.facebook.com/corey.berrier
https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreysalescoach/
Welcome to the Successful Life Podcast. I'm your host, Corey Barrier, and I'm here with my man, Adam Binsman. What's up, brother?
Speaker 2:Dude, thanks for having me on. I've been looking forward to this one all week yeah dude me too.
Speaker 1:You know you and I, adam, met. I guess we met maybe a month or so ago I don't remember how long ago it's been and I've been watching some of your content and I think's you know obviously by your numbers and the downloads you get. It's pretty, pretty amazing. But for those of you, or those of them people I screwed that up those of people that don't know who you are, could you give us just a quick overview of who you are and what? Yeah?
Speaker 2:yeah, dude, it's all good man. Uh, my name is Adam Benzman and I am the founder of an organization called the Roofing and Solar Reform Alliance and host of a YouTube channel and podcast under my name. Adam Benzman and I help great roofing companies make a bigger impact together, and I fell into this business back in 2011 because no one grows up wanting to be a roofer. I mean, no one says hey, I want to sell the single most boring thing in the entire world that no one grows up wanting to be a roofer. I mean, no one says hey, I want to sell the single most boring thing in the entire world that no one wants to spend their money on. That sounds great.
Speaker 2:I was doing the thing that people tell you to do, which is follow your passion in life and you'll be happy, which is the biggest crock of garbage that we're feeding our children. So I drank that Kool-Aid. Natural medicine was my thing. I started a business. I had no clients. I had to make ends meet. I had to get a job as a massage therapist, which was not my favorite modality, but, being newer out of school, you get hired by a franchise and I was required to be on site for a six-hour shift only paid when I was booked and I had multiple eight-hour days where I made 30, 30 bucks and do the math, that's like not good money. So I was living below the poverty line and couldn't afford gas to go visit family on Easter and I had to ask my mom for money and she said she gave me some cash and then I called her to say thanks.
Speaker 2:My stepdad says hey, you should check out a career in roofing sales because he is in the business. I didn't know much about his working life because my parents divorced later in life. And I said he says you can make six figures on roof door to door. And I said that sounds terrible. No, thank you. Door to door sales sounded terrible, roof sounded boring. And that night I was on Craigslist searching for roofing sales jobs. So found it, worked my way up through my first eight months after little to no training, made my first six figures, which was life-changing for me at the time, and then filled virtually every role in the business to COO of a company operating in five states and six cities. One thing led to the next, realized my passion was helping develop people and talent. So here I am on this side now running a membership organization really striving to make a difference in the industry, united with values, on a mission to stomp the scum out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome dude. That's interesting you bring up. I was never a massage therapist personally, but I ran. It might even be the same franchise that you're referring to. I was the clinic administrator at a massage.
Speaker 2:I don't know, yeah, it wasn't that it's a different one. But yeah, and I don't want to throw shade at them, even though I do because they're criminal, but but yes, yeah, I know the drill dude and I had therapists that would you know.
Speaker 1:Same grind, right, same grind. And like I know the drill dude and I had therapists that would you know, same grind, right, same grind. And like you know, that's a, that job is a grind. I mean it's. It's a lot of work, dude, and not to mention the fact you're rubbing on people that I mean you know, it just isn't great. I wouldn't want to do it. I can tell you that, yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:But whatever you got to do, so roofing sales, that makes sense and it makes sense why you wouldn't have wanted to get into this industry, because that sounds awful, knocking doors and selling the most boring thing in the world. However, you know there is a lot of money to be made and I'm glad you figured out that. You know helping people was your passion, not just with selling them a roof, because it doesn't feel like you're. You know helping people was your passion, not just with selling them a roof, because it doesn't feel like you're. You know you are helping people when you sell them a roof, but boy, it doesn't start out that way, because they don't feel like you're helping them at all, they feel like you're going to rip them off right now. So there's a lot of people out there that do that. So how do you help people to not cultivate that? You know that mindset. I mean. You know roofers have a tear. You know, lots of times roofers don't have a great name.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a reason. 80% of homeowners don't trust contractors when they show up Roofers in my my. This is anecdotal I could be like according to this research article, but like there is a stat, I have to dig it up. Someone can find it or someone can get mad and fact check me and say it's less. But it's about 80% of homeowners that were surveyed and I got to figure out where this survey came from. They don't. They've reportedly say we don't trust contractors, but roofers. If you search the words roofer news, you will not see anything nice. You will find roofer goes to jail.
Speaker 2:Roofer scam. Roofer violating OSHA laws. Roofer killed after falling from a roof because he violated safety regulations. Roofer scammed homeowners. Roofer took deposits and ran. Elderly preyed upon by roofing scam. Insurance company paid a roofer skipped town before doing work.
Speaker 2:And this is just off memory, you know, and that like I traveled around, I failed. A few things on my intro. I'm an official sales training partner for Owens Corning, which, for those who are not in the roofing place, is one of the largest single manufacturers in the world, and author of a bestselling book called the Roofing Sales Survival Guide. And through traveling the country, I've spoken in many states. I have people using my sales system in every single state in the US, people using my sales system in every single state in the U? S and through that experience, uh, I have uh both witnessed firsthand the sky, scum and grime, and been in market. So like, if I'm in California, like everyone, get your phone out, search roofer news Cool, that's what's showing up here. I'm in Texas, search roofer news on your phone, getting sales reps to realize this is what you are up against when you show up at the house. You're fighting an uphill battle.
Speaker 2:And, to answer your question, how do we help people? One we have to understand where the homeowner's coming from. It's from a defensive position because of what they've seen on the news and they don't want to get conned, they don't want to get scammed. The news picks all this stuff up, as it should, because, sadly, terrible people have ruined this business. All this stuff up as it should because, sadly, terrible people have ruined this business, and I share this story in my book. The very first interview I had in the industry I didn't work for the company, by the way I was taught how to conduct fraud. In the interview they were proud to share with me tactics they used that if there was someone recording would put them in jail. That was my first taste.
Speaker 2:So when we know what homeowners are up against, the first thing is how do we meet them where they are? And the next thing is I only want to teach people who aren't actual scumbags how to do this, not the scumbags that are just going to be what I call sociopaths, where they're like oh I know how to pray on someone and I'm going to just slip into the. I really care and I want to make a difference. That's all garbage. That's not true. It's not all garbage. There are people that do that and when they do that, it's all garbage.
Speaker 2:So, meeting people head on and having a difficult conversation with homeowners to say, hey, I'm going to guess as you get started, you're searching for a contractor that you like and that you trust, who's going to do a great job at a fair price and stand behind what they do at all costs.
Speaker 2:But you don't want to be featured on the latest news scam, because you have seen what's happened out there and you've probably had friends or family that have had terrible experiences. And I could sit here till I'm blue in the face telling you I'm better and I'm different, but you probably heard that spiel from every other person. So why don't we start this thing off? Because I have a mission and purpose here, and it's three things To understand your roof and your needs. Number two is to show you your options. And number three is to help you make a decision, even if it's not with me. Can we get started by me asking, with a meaningful conversation, to deeply understand where they're at so we can fulfill upon that mission and purpose. And then, obviously, there's a lot more that goes into it that you know we can't squeeze in in a 30 minute, 40 minute interview, but that's the premise of how we, how you, teach people to do that.
Speaker 1:Is this I shouldn't say that's safe to assume, but really what you did there and I bet I'm sure you've realized this at this point, but I bet you didn't get the idea of saying all that stuff up front. But I know you've read Chris Voss's book Never Split the Difference. I'm a huge fan of Chris Voss, but he talks about very clearly in that book I can't remember what audit it is, I want to say accusations all. You're probably thinking this. You're probably thinking that List out all the reasons they're going to give you an objection, which is really what you did at the beginning of that. You took away all the reasons why they want to tell you to get off the lawn. They don't have anything left.
Speaker 2:It's funny you mentioned that Chris Voss does teach that. That's not where I learned it, though this is a very common technique. My greatest influence in sales actually came from studying direct response copywriters, because I think that they are the most intelligent salespeople that walk the face of this earth. They're usually ghostwriters, their names aren't well-known and they have mastered the art of sales without the ability. They've literally been cut off at the knees. So when I went because I was a direct response copywriter after I was in in-home sales and I'm sitting here thinking, oh, I'm fantastic at sales, so if I start a business online, I'm going to kill it because I know sales and my business flopped, and the reason it flopped is because selling online and selling in writing, you lose the ability to read or send body language signals. You lose the ability to use nonverbals. You lose the ability to have fluctuations in your voice, to draw people's attention back in, to realize that they looked off, to be like hey, something looks off. Did I upset you about something? You lose all of that, and through studying direct response copy, you learn the right message to put in in the right order and how to. And what's scary is this stuff is so powerful that in the wrong hands it's evil. In the wrong hands it's evil. And I'm always I always in the back of my mind have this, this underlying fear of sharing this for falling in the wrong hands Cause my stuff has. That's why I run an application only membership organization now. So the minute a scumbag starts using my stuff in a way that they shouldn't be, I can just pull it from them and you can't use it anymore. Um so, uh. Anyway, my point is, by airing out the downsides up front, you build trust and even, like within our organization, on our application calls we share out of the gate.
Speaker 2:There are three hurdles or three complaints about our organization. Here they are Number one it's an annual membership yes, annual a commitment. Number one it's an annual membership yes, Annual, a commitment. Number two there's no admin dashboard. It's by design, by the way, because you don't need to go in and log in and it'd be like saying you want your whole NFL team to get fit, so you're just going to check the gym log to see who logged in. That's a great way to manage.
Speaker 2:And then number three that's so funny. I should know this. It's in my own sales process. I don't do our sales anymore. Oh, there we go. No basic roof training. It's funny, you can tell I'm not fresh because I haven't gone through them, but anyway, there's no basic roof training. And why? Because that stuff is available everywhere. But a lot of people are like, oh, I want basic training for my team. So we aired out right now, because what I don't want to do is get to the end. And then I know that when the homeowner has a question and whatever sale you do, I don't care if you're selling HVAC, window cleaning, pest control, solar when someone has a question they're not listening. So the sooner we answer that question, the sooner they're paying attention.
Speaker 2:And the best way to think about this. I want to ask you a question, Corey, were you good in school? Negative, I was going to guess not, because you're in sales now and most people weren't. But I wasn't going to be like hey, Corey, you probably struggled in school. But I could have made that assumption. I struggled too.
Speaker 2:I joke when I tell salespeople like, close your eyes, I'm going to bring you back to high school. Why high school? Because you probably struggled in high school. That's why you're a roofer now. So go back to high school. And I want you to think of that time. By the way, I was in the same math class three years in a row this is not an exaggeration Three years. So I go back to math class and I want you to go back to the class.
Speaker 2:You struggled with your teacher's lecturing. You have a question because you're like I don't know what the hell she's talking about. So you raise your hand because that's what you were taught to do. The teacher keeps lecturing for five more minutes because the rest of the class is nowhere near as special as Corey is. Then she says all right, Corey, what's your question? She calls on you. Do you remember anything that happened in that last five minutes? Nope, Hell. No, Because you're stuck here.
Speaker 2:So our homeowners have the same phenomenon If they're sitting there thinking whatever it is, they are not paying attention, which is why it is so important to have a sales process that addresses the questions, as they would naturally come up in the prospect's mind to say things like you're probably wondering this If I say hey, we have the best product and the best service ever, which every roofer is saying and I know I'm being facetious not everyone, but most do. Their next question is why is that? Or how come you can say that? And if you can't back it up, you're just blowing smoke as a salesperson. If I say, hey, we have an immaculate cleanup process, they're going to say, well, what does it look like? Well, here's a picture. We're going to use this system, we're going to use tarps here, plywood, here, we have these magnets. We sweep over the yard.
Speaker 2:So our job is to again address the questions as early as we can and at the sequence that they come up, so the prospect is engaged, and throughout the process, ask questions like do you have any questions for me? Is everything making sense, so I can knock down those questions, so I don't rattle on for an hour. And then all these questions stacked up and they're stuck on the one thing about how their dog's not going to get a nail in its paw because it's a puppy and he's out in the yard all the time. And you didn't address that and they weren't listening for the 45 minutes and they ignored all your tie down questions and your trial closed and then you leave the house empty handed. Right, yeah, Cause you went out a bit of a tangent there.
Speaker 1:But that's okay, but but you're right, You're a hundred percent right, and that's really. You know, especially inexperienced salespeople just throw up. You know they just want to tell them about all the things and most of the stuff they could care less about, especially if it's about what kind of shingles you're putting on. They don't give a shit, they don't care. They could care less. They don't care how many nails you're putting in it, because they don't even know how many nails should go in it. Right? They don't care. What they care about is are you going to do it right? Am I going to have to call you back? What's the price? Do I feel like it's worth that value? That's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and will you be here for me in a year if something goes wrong?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's amazing. What's funny, I was actually just having another conversation earlier today, the I don't remember the exact number. And now you see why when I say I don't remember the exact number I was in the same math class three years in a row. I just don't have that part of my brain wired in. But I believe it was around 80% of homeowners who were surveyed within 90 days of their roof getting installed had no idea what company of shingles, what manufacturer of shingles, were on their roof. Isn't that crazy? Within 90 days of spending $20,000, $15,000 of their hard-earned money, I don't know what's up there.
Speaker 2:Imagine like buying a car and being like well, what kind of car do you buy? I don't remember what kind of dealership I was in. Like that's the point that. The reason I share that is that people get so obsessed. Well, I need to sell the best roof system. It's like. I understand there's value in that, for sure, but you have to think at what people are buying based on what they care about, and what they care about is the experience, because no one wants to go through and again substitute your trade disruption in the house, crap getting torn apart, muddy footprints everywhere, debris all over the place in noise for eight hours on your roof, like you're selling the experience. How am I going to take care of you and your home through this process that you do not want to go through? And there's no sexy gratification Right, I'll find a watch or a car behind the roof.
Speaker 1:That's it Right, I agree with you. I totally agree with you. So let's so. And yeah, I sucked in math. I was terrible. Just curious. What a moment of truth here. I don't think I got past. I don't even think I got to algebra too.
Speaker 2:Oh, I didn't either. The class I was in four times in a row it was intro to algebra, pre-algebra and then algebra and I by the way, the reason they were different names because I was at three different schools. So I was in four schools, four separate years and their ranking system was different. So I was in pre-algebra at the first school and then they went to the next one. Like you really sucked at that one, we're going to stick you in our equivalent, which was intro to algebra.
Speaker 2:So I guess you could say I moved up to algebra on the third year and it technically wasn't maybe the same, but for all intents and purposes it was pretty darn close, uh, being in that struggle bus. And as soon as I, uh, I ended up at a private school, um, and and when I, when I ended up in college which I did not want to go to college, college, the college I went to is the furthest thing from college that you can get with an accredited university and it didn't even have a math program. And they're like this kid, just let him out, don't make him struggle anymore, you don't need to do math anymore. Kid, senior year, no math, you're set free. Well, it's wild.
Speaker 1:I mean, a lot of that stuff even now is so. I mean, we don't have to go down a road about math, but it is entirely different how they teach how to do it now, and I have a whole you know, I have a whole reason why I think that is, that's beside the point and that go down to probably conspiracy theories and all kinds of shit. But yeah, so all right, so let's talk about you. Know you, when you made the shift from knocking doors, selling roofs, to what you're doing now? You know, in your right you mentioned this earlier you said you know, selling in person is vastly different than selling online.
Speaker 1:Just even having a Zoom call, it is a completely different sales process entirely. Zoom call, it is a completely different sales process entirely. But you've built this membership group and it's not easy to do. A lot of people try to do it and it's very, very challenging to do. So how did you make that shift and what would you say was kind of a I don't know if a defining moment, but when did it click for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it clicked in December of 23. And originally my brand was the roof strategist and I developed my sales system and it was for sale. I was. I had a transaction business model. Come by my system with your check clears. I know it was on credit card, but you get the idea. If your check clears. I know it was on credit card, but you get the idea. If your check clears, you got it right. Like that's business. I get leads, I sell my system and we developed a really great reputation in the industry and I was spending all of my time selling my system.
Speaker 2:I started to hear it's funny because I never expected to be where I'm at, even though when my YouTube channel had like a thousand subscribers, I remember writing on my little whiteboard in my home office we will become the number one, most followed in the industry, and I was so afraid to even tell anybody. It sat there on my whiteboard as this like moonshot right and then fast forward. We are. But like I didn't think it'd happen, and when I built my system I didn't think that we'd have thousands of users. I didn't think that we'd have thousands of users. I didn't think that we'd be in every state Canada, australia, sweden, used by tiny companies to some of the largest private equity portfolio groups in the industry and through that you generate buzz. And then I started to find out from owners that would say, hey, the salesman, who is scummy, ended up starting his own business and stole contracts and flip deals and they're using my system, or the owner that that I hear from his salespeople. This guy's not paying me, he's. We're getting liens placed on homeowners, properties and then worse stuff and people and, by the way, this is all like there's three sides to every story. Salesperson says says they're not getting paid. Is there a chance they're not? Sadly, yes, because it happens a lot. You just don't know right. You can't just say someone accused you of this, right the alleged. So I had a lot of alleged information coming my way, but it started to stack up and you know when things become a bit more serious.
Speaker 2:If I have like three or four people from a company sharing something and I was like man, I am spending all of my time literally. Can I curse on this or no? Oh, absolutely Okay, for lack of a better word hocking my shit. Right. Like I make content, I get leads. I sell my program. I get content. Sell my leads, get leads, sell my program, and then I'm finding it's falling in the wrong hands. I'm like this stopped being fun. It is not rewarding. I love working with people.
Speaker 2:And next, I don't want scumbags to use my stuff. I do not want to be arming people with the power of a very effective system to be used for evil if they will not take care of their homeowners. And I started thinking to myself, because my mission statement at that point was to help you smash your income goal and give every customer an amazing experience. And in December I'm like I have to make a bigger impact. I already achieved the goal of being the number one most followed, and it's not about me, it's about the community and I want to. How can I impact more homeowners? Then I'm sitting there thinking how do I keep my sales system out of the wrong hands? And I started thinking what do I do to shift from a transaction business model to a relationship business model? And the way that I process information is I ask myself specific questions so I can find the answer. So I always articulate the problem into a question and it activates my subconscious.
Speaker 2:So I'm laying in bed. I have an Owens Corning training event or speaking event the next day. It's like one in the morning and very frequently when I'm traveling, I don't sleep because I was doing two to three events a week. I'm bouncing from East coast to West coast. My body clock is screwed. I'm working at all hours. I'm laying in bed.
Speaker 2:I'm like man and this name hit me the reform Alliance. It's a membership organization. It's application only. We're going to get featured in the news. We're going to bring valuable educational material to our homeowners. Holy crap, that's it. And by I think it was like 8 am the next day or I guess that same day, technically, I called a quick emergency meeting with my team. I'm like guys, I know you're going to call me crazy, but I think I want to completely reinvent our business. We're going to throw out this brand. We're going to never sell this thing again. We're going to go to an application only. We're going to have a pledge that they have to abide by in a membership agreement and if they violate it, we kick them out. We're going to create content that's available for homeowners so they can make an actual, informed decision. And instead of me doing transaction, we're going to work on a relationship. We're going to provide ongoing training. We're going to build a kickback community people collaborating and helping each other.
Speaker 2:The team went all in and I kid you, not three months, three and a half months ish later, march 1st, when we launched I don't remember what date in December that this idea came, but by March 1st we had launched a private app, rebuilt an entire website for our contractors, rebuilt a website consumer facing for our homeowners, got featured in Fox, abc, nbc, cbs and USA today about our new mission and completely rebuilt an entirely new business. Like everything you know leads, sales process, application process, onboarding everything from scratch had a strong push for our like transition. Like this is your last chance. If you want our system, get it. And beyond this, it's gone.
Speaker 2:And our last push was the best month in the history of my business and you know what I did the next month. I shut it down and started from zero and some people say it was the dumbest business decision that you could ever make and it was my proudest moment I ever had because I went all in on what I believe in and despite the fact and by the way we were building, it was like record month, record month, record month. And of course, there's the FOMO and you know it is what it is. But my system is evolving now and to invest my time now on my community and creating kick butt coaching, bringing people together, putting on an annual event for our members and being in the trenches answering questions through our app, you know, connecting great people with great people, bringing in kick butt vendors Uh, I've I've hand selected who I believe to be the best in the industry to support our members folks like Deshaun Bryant and John Cenac and Cody Lanels and Jim Maline.
Speaker 2:It's just, it's incredibly fulfilling and I couldn't ask for cooler people I get to work with now. And, yes, I've kicked people out and yes, I've denied entry and sadly, I even had to kick out someone that was close to me, but that's what defines's who. What defines you as a person, right, not what you do when you, not what you say you're going to do, but what you do when you're in a hard. When you're in a hard situation. You know doing the right thing and making hard calls. So sucks, but you got to do what you got to do.
Speaker 1:So when was maybe another time that you can think of where you had to make a decision, and I'll just give you a quick example. Like I'm a recovering alcoholic, I'm pretty open about it. Yeah, me too, are you? Yes, sir, all right, so let's just go down that road then, because this is just to open all kinds of shit up. Yeah, okay, so how long have you?
Speaker 2:been sober, coming on six years alcohol free. I went fully sober and then I tried the California sober thing. For those that don't know what that means, that's lying to yourself and pretending that weed doesn't count as a substance when you're an addict. So I dabbled in in that and I was very I feel stupid now, but I realized my job's to share my story, right, that's, our responsibility is to help other people heal and get sober. And so, anyway, I went sober, sober, sober.
Speaker 2:And then I started dabbling in marijuana recreationally. And then I started using it medicinal quote unquote medicinally, justifying my sense of anxiety which is very clear of why I was drinking which. It was being used medicinally for the day and then recreationally at night. And then I realized I just substituted one substance for another, so that that like sober, sober. You know it's funny when I actually quit weed I don't remember the date, it was like second sobriety, right, and it was a little over a year ago, if my memory's right, but my official date is actually coming up this month, holy crap, it's September. So, yeah, this will be six years, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I have a very similar story.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Almost identical story. I haven't had a drink in 15 years. However, I've only been sober for 18 months because I recreation recreationally dabbled in it. It's not a dis or here but then it became. It came to substitute for my recovery program and really what that did. I did that for seven years and here's my experience with that. My life over that seven years slowly but surely got worse and worse and worse.
Speaker 1:And I've heard people say in the past and I thought they were just total idiots that there's something called weed psychosis. But I actually had that experience where, very much so like alcohol, you start, you know, I, you know I would smoke weed for 20 minutes, I'd be good and then about 20 minutes in, I would just the negative thoughts would just I mean it would overcome everything and I just couldn't, I couldn't stop it at that point. And so it really got to the point to where the the complete lack of control. Um, by trying to control everything in my life and squeezing the life out of the people around me and everything that I try to touch, I just couldn't do it anymore. Yeah, I just couldn't do it and I just I just broke down like I just couldn't. You know, some things happen with my she's not my stepdaughter anymore, but she was my stepdaughter at the time and I just, you know, I I try to do everything in my power to get answers and what I realize is I have zero power over anything. I can't control anything outside of where I'm sitting and where my arms reach. I don't have any control over it. And it's been one of the most freeing things that's ever happened to me because through this process and I've started on a book, I got almost done with it, which is going to be alcohol as a solution.
Speaker 1:I got almost done with it, which is going to be alcohol as a solution. But you know our friend, mutual friend, jonathan, who has been read it, and said I just think that you haven't really put it all on the table. He was like there's so much more to your story than this. This wasn't about the book, but the point is is I can't do this alone. I can't do this without a community. I can't do this without helping other people. I just can't do it. So I wonder if your experience with now working with these other guys there's a level of fulfillment that money can't buy to help somebody else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had a lot of shame around it, a tremendous amount of shame. I, I, uh, it took me my family. I didn't even tell until like a year or two ago. I, they knew I quit drinking, but they didn't like I didn't say why or anything. I didn't share my story. I didn't like, even now, like both my parents are incredibly loving and I'm I'm very close with with both I'm uh, I'm extra close with my mom and always have been, and she had no idea that, like at family events when I was in high school, that I was lit, like, completely lit, and I'm like you didn't know, she's like, no, I'm like geez. Like I remember seeing like three of you at times, like, and she just didn't know, she's like you hit it. Well, I was like I know I did.
Speaker 2:But I also lied to myself for many years thinking every, I mean dude, this is like straight from the book, the justification. You know, I'm going to drink to celebrate. I'm going to drink because it was this crappy day. I'm going to drink because I'm stressed. Hey, listen, this is just to sleep. I got to drink to sleep.
Speaker 2:If I just, I just I just need to have a few drinks, I'll sleep better, um, and and for me, just anyway, after kind of getting past the shame, the more that I've shared my story and everyone's got a story, I was like man, but I wasn't like that bad of an alcoholic, like I didn't beat my, my wife and I didn't end up in jail. Uh, I almost did one time, um, which I'm really up in jail. I almost did one time, which I'm really that was a fortunate thing. But my point is like I was like, oh, you know, it's like. You know what do they call it? Like a functioning alcoholic versus like a dysfunctional alcoholic. And and I was like I'm not alcoholic enough to talk about it, you know, like I don't have a real, I just was like a kind of alcoholic. And then I was like, oh shit, drinking every night and waking up hungover every day and making stupid decisions and having your wife carry you home from a festival at two in the afternoon, oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and then and then, oh yeah, okay, yeah, maybe that's problematic, uh, but yeah, sharing, sharing it has been empowering, it's helped, uh, it's helped provide meaning and accountability. And I like to talk about it because the more I do, it's like you can't go back. I have no desire to go back. By the way, like at all. I I was watching a reality show last night with my wife, see these drunk people stumbling around and turn to her and I'm like I don't miss that shit at all, like I don't miss that at all. Um, but there there's times it's funny. I say you don't miss it, but I was in Vegas and I'm like man, I loved scotch and I'm like I'm in Vegas and I'm seeing it and I'm smelling it. And I turned to my wife and it was. It was actually emotional for me. I was like this is the first time, like I'm fricking, I am triggered, I'm like, oh, but yeah, so talking about it helps. I do feel like it's our responsibility to do and I look at where I was and I wish that more people were open about it, cause I, you and I both know I think, correct me if I'm speaking for you that there's a boatload of people who are on the journey to this place.
Speaker 2:And alcohol, when used with justification, gets nothing but worse. And if you're someone listening who's questioning it, look back one year from now. Engage your drinking behavior then versus now. And if it's worse, just ask yourself some questions, because for most of us it just gets worse and it's slow. It's like when you put on weight. You don't realize it and you're like how the hell did I get 40 pounds heavier? That's what happens. So I like to share that story because I don't think everybody's an alcoholic and it's not my job to say they are or aren't. There's one person that can, and that's you. But what I can do is share my story because I've had some impact on people that, without having a problem, have realized that it's just not healthy for them. I don't have an agenda. I mean when the drinks has a problem, or as an alcoholic, or that alcohol is evil, I just I don't see it doing many people any favors in general, um, so yeah anyway. So now I now I'm very, very open about it.
Speaker 1:So I wonder, uh, looking back and maybe you've, maybe you've looked at this or maybe you haven't, I don't know Um, but 23,. The end of 23 is when this thing came to you, unsedated, not high, not obviously free of alcohol, yeah, and then to have done, you know, to have taken this thing full, like you know, completely to the top of where it was at when you shut it down, and now to rebuild what you've got, I don't believe any of that could have happened if you were still California sober, so to speak. I just don't believe it would have happened.
Speaker 2:I don't, I don't know. It'd be hard for me to say yes or no, um, but I will tell you that I, I have a functioning brain, that you know. I used to think that I was totally fine and my wife was like what the fuck is going wrong? Are you tracking this? Are you here? And I was like I, you know, um, I, I, I I'm probably going to piss some people off. I'll just share my own experience.
Speaker 2:I don't think weed's good for people Like I know that there's medicinal value. I do. You know, I struggled with with, with anxiety, really like it's funny. People like, oh, I had anxiety, so I smoke weed Very common reason to smoke weed. Right, I know I had anxiety. It's one of the reasons I drank um, deeper than that crippling sense of loneliness and not belonging. Um, deeper than that crippling sense of loneliness and not belonging.
Speaker 2:And one of the reasons that I was doing medical when I, when I say medical, I was using RSO. For those that are not familiar, it's Rick Simpson or Rich Simpson. Basically, it's like a concentrate. You can make them into tablets. It's more controlled than smoking and and, and it was in a micro or low doses. Um, your body ends up developing tolerance. But my point is, through all of that I realized that it was just a Band-Aid. And then every time I'd I only used to need If I had two and a half milligrams for those, because I live in Colorado, so everything that I was getting was legal and regulated and whatever. Which is how I justified it, because because, like I said, I was sober for a couple of years, I think, and I don't remember exactly how long, but I'm pretty sure it was a couple of years before I was like okay, introducing this idea recreationally, and then I'd have like two and a half milligrams, like oh man, I'm like a little high actually, but like anxiety's down, but then to get that same effect, then it would take five and it would take 10.
Speaker 2:And then, like for me, like my medicinal, I was at 50 milligrams a day. Dude, if I took 50 milligrams a day when I first got started, I would be sent to Pluto, like it wouldn't have so like the amount needed to create the effect. And then what would happen is, when I didn't have it, my anxiety levels were elevated and then, when I thought I had this mental clarity and focus, and like, oh, you're just on, you know you're in this, another wavelength man. Like I realized I was just delusionally, egotistically stoned.
Speaker 2:And then I would look at my like there's people now that I don't hang out with as much Like I have. I had a really good friend and like he just smokes weed all the time and then, being sober and being around it, I'm like dude, are you even on planet earth? And then I noticed that people that smoke a lot of weed just like freaking talk at you and think they got all this stuff figured out, and I'm like you're psychic, you're psycho dude, like and and now I have a bit more like I don't even want to be around it because I feel like people just go down this path of I don't know, yeah, kind of be it.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, yeah, I, that makes total sense and I don't really come into contact. You know it's not legal here, uh, in north carolina, but I don't, I don't, as far as I know, I don't really come into contact with anybody. That really smokes a lot of weed at this point, but also surround myself here with people in recovery. Like, I'm just really knee deep in making sure that I don't go down that path again and I go to whatever length I have to go to to make sure that I don't. And and I know, you know, I know that at any time anything could happen.
Speaker 1:But I do feel, like you know, I keep God at the center of my life, I keep recovery at the center of my life. I keep recovery at the center of my life. I need, I need to be around people in recovery. And you know I do attend a Zoom meeting every morning and I'm not saying this is the recipe for everybody, but I do attend a Zoom meeting every morning, which is, you know it's not in a meeting, but I have to go to two in-person meetings a week or by the end of the week. I'm thinking well, I'm making, I'm hearing things differently and I'm assuming things that are not really not. Like I'm crazy, like I don't mean I might be, but we are all like you could say something and I'm offended because I haven't had that human connection with people that are like me.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, you got to reprogram years of band-aid behavior. You know, like when you look at what an addict is, there's a lot of different elements that make up an addict. When you start doing recovery work, you start to uncover why you've done the things you've did, what you're masking, what those behaviors mean. But think of the crutch of, you know, anxious drink, smoke, stressed drink, smoke, party drink, smoke. You know it's like the first go-to, how? I mean, for me it was the symbol, literally the ritual of ending the day. And then when I worked from home, like when I was a copywriter for a while, I would drink while I worked. I'd be like, oh, just like I got, I don't have to go anywhere, and like, hey, I just get creative and loose. Like I literally would work in my garage and I had a beer fridge in there and it was like I'd stand up at my desk out in the garage jamming, drinking beer and and anyway, my point is like you don't develop coping skills to deal with yourself and looking back, I look at myself and I'm like God, you freaking coward, you couldn't even be with yourself. You couldn't be with yourself. That's what you learn to do is get away from yourself.
Speaker 2:And now I realized that from you know, for many of us, like to me, the end of the day it was like have four glasses of scotch or crack open my first beer and that was, oh, stress relief is the ritual. And to have to rewire new rituals and to learn how to be with yourself, like now, I really love it. Like I'm like, oh, I get to have quiet time by myself. Like I couldn't ask for anything more fulfilling.
Speaker 2:But in the past it was like my wife went out of town and just drink during the day, smoke, weed all day. Like now I'm like my wife's gone and I got all day to do the things that calm my mind and be present. And I like go four wheeling or go for a run, take my dogs out. And I like go four wheeling or go for a run, take my dogs out, work out, read a book, bop around. I'm like present. I go see my friends Like I don't know. So I think I think being being sober is more courageous because of how uncomfortable it is and learning to lean into that discomfort and the growth that comes from facing your shit is like really it sucks, but it's awesome.
Speaker 1:It sucks, it really sucks. And then starting out, you know I'm getting ready to start with a guy here in about you know 15 minutes that in the same boat. We agree.
Speaker 1:And he's drank for a little while but he started using THC, blah, blah, blah. And so you know we're starting over. Like we're starting over, because until you get honest with yourself and say, look, I haven't been totally sober, you can't say you can't say you're sober, yeah, and I can tell you you can do what you want. But guess what? I know what worked for me, which was I did, you know I did. I didn't feel like I've been kicked between the legs and embarrassed as hell and drag my ass up to the front of that meeting and pick up, you know the surrender and it sucked, and it really sucked to have to tell people like and you know, and it is what it is, like, it is what it is. But if I hadn't have done that, I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't have, you know, I wouldn't be working with Jonathan, I wouldn't have the things that I have and things are, you know, things are going pretty damn good, dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Going pretty damn good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know anyone that's sober. That says life like the one of the mantras. When you run into people who are, who are sober and, by the way, I used to say I was alcohol free Cause I was I was also ashamed I'm like, I can't say I'm sober, I'm like I'm not. You know, even when it was just I was dabbling recreationally a little bit, it was the same trend right, a little dabble, a little consistent. Now it's regular. But anyway, I would just say I was alcohol free. And now it's really exciting to say I'm sober, like, and I have no interest whatsoever in in going back to that life Now, do I have temptations here and there? The answer is, of course you do, of course I do. Do I want to go back to that? The answer is resoundingly hell. No. But, like I said, vegas was a bit of a trigger, but it's an amazing life.
Speaker 2:You talk to people that are sober and they say life is better. That's like the mantra Life is better, isn't it? I don't know, do you? Do you hear people say that, yeah, 100, life is better? It's like, yeah, because you're freaking here, man. Yeah, have you read the power of? Now I know of the book.
Speaker 1:I have not read it well you mentioned presence, and and that book is something is really helped me to really understand how not present I've been for like 45 and a half out of my 46 years of service, and there's so many things that I've missed. I talk about this a lot because I think it's really important. You know, it's really hard to be present when you've got, you know, substances in your body or you're thinking about going to get them, and that was really the thing. Right, you're thinking about the end of the day or you think, whatever it is, yeah, when do I get to go online? Yeah, and it's unfair to to you, it's unfair to the people that you're talking to, at least for me. Yeah, um, all right. So let's shift gears, though, because we could talk about this for days yeah, we probably we're gonna like to start a meeting.
Speaker 1:So I want to ask you you, you don't partner with a lot of people because of your experience with it, and we obviously don't need to name names, not that I know, but you've had some experiences where things have not gone great, and recently I met you through WhoHire and we became partners, and I'm just curious what's been your experience with that and why did you decide that this would be a good idea?
Speaker 2:Yeah, a couple of things. One, the reason to answer the first part is the thing that leads into the second part. I protect my community at all costs, and so many people if you look at quote unquote the influencer world, which I do not consider myself an influencer, by the way, because the definition of an influencer is someone who has audiences, an audience whose attention they're willing to sell to make money. While you're watching this video, let me tell you about this new great app. Use this app. I use it every day and because of it, my life is better. Use the coupon code in the description below. Like you know, or there's the description below, or they're funneled affiliate deals like oh man, I'm going to pay all this money to go do this and the one. I just don't believe in that at all. I am not here to sell the attention of my people. I run an education channel. If you spend your time with me, my job is to help you have a breakthrough, so you believe in yourself. That's it. Nine out of 10 videos are designed to make you money. One out of 10 videos is designed to help you have a mental breakthrough or mindset breakthrough that will help you live a richer life and therefore make more money. It's that simple.
Speaker 2:I've been burned by people who I put in front of my audience who don't fulfill. I've watched companies go under. I've had burned by people who I put in front of my audience who don't fulfill. I've watched companies go under. I've had people like in the past I got tempted like oh, we'll do this, like a failure kickback thing, and I was like sure, let's do it, that sounds great. And then they don't pay and I'm like screw you. And then I've had people that um, which is like say, hey, I spent $150,000 with this vendor and I made $14,000 back. Well, guess what? Who referred them? I did. Now, here's the good news. By the way, that situation got resolved in a way where the party was happy. But was I happy when I heard that? No. And then my time is involved doing this and I don't want to babysit this stuff. So I bring in like my event has four sponsors.
Speaker 2:Our community has very select members who believe in the cause and when I met Jonathan back to who hire, I met Jonathan because him and I are part of the same mastermind groups called genius network. There's a conversation going on. It's about comp plans. I share my two cents. Jonathan shares his. He didn't agree with me. He's like you're stupid. He didn't say that, by the way, but that's the message. It's like you're wrong and and, by the way, I'm totally like, challenging people in a healthy way you should do. He's like we should talk. So I was like let's do it. And if I can bring solutions to them like this is great. And I said I am, I am, will cautiously approach this under a few conditions, but one let's test the water. So I brought Jonathan in to RSRA to run a guest presentation and he ran one on cracking the human code and people's minds were like blown, like holy smokes, like disqualitative analysis of who's going to be a good fit was really eyeopening to them and I was like let's keep this going. Let's run another session on a live hiring ad critique. So we tag team that one.
Speaker 2:We had our members post their hiring ads live in a zoom call in a zoom session and we're breaking them down and him and I are riffing on it. I'm putting it in Hemingway app to show, like, how to reduce the reading level. He's chiming in his stuff, I'm chiming in my stuff and and people were like, uh, we just need. Can we just have you guys do this? So you know we've been um people that that found value. That's the difference is that it's led with value.
Speaker 2:Jonathan is super active in our community. He's helping people, he's giving answers. He doesn't spam the group. I have to remind people. I'm like, by the way, jonathan's answer like if you want to work with him, they can do it for you. And I appreciate that level of discretion where it's not like hi, I'm Jonathan and I'm in this group and I run who hirecom and you can hire me to handle all of your recruiting needs. Like he doesn't say that it's a lead with value.
Speaker 2:So if you're, if, if and there are a couple of people in our community who have things that other people can buy, but it's not allowed to go hawk your stuff it's like come solve problems for people whether they work with you or not, and if they want to work with you, they will, and that's how life works.
Speaker 2:You help enough people solve the problem, they may hire you to continually solve it for them. So, and Jonathan's been very responsive on on all things. So I've really enjoyed working together and I know that we've sent quite a few folks over your way. In fact, right before you and I got on, I literally had a text message from someone who I talked to last night and he's like man, what I'm really struggling with is hiring. And I was like pause, he's a member, by the way, of RSRA as well, and I'm like I'm like Ryan, have you been on a session with Jonathan yet? Who's Jonathan? You've been under a rock. Let me tell you about him. So I texted him last night and this is under 24 hours and he met with you today and got set up. So yeah, and there's his text from me right there.
Speaker 1:He was, like you know, from soup to nuts. The problem that we solve was your as you said is was Ryan's Achilles heel, which is most business owners. Achilles heel is you can't manage everything. You can't, you're not expected to manage everything and know how to do every single thing. You're a human being and things are going to slip through the crack, but more so like there's no way a human being could even give you the thing that we have, because it's taken thousands of human beings to put this together in the field, and so I think it's, you know, I think it's it's going to be a really powerful thing for the industry.
Speaker 1:And I don't say this because I work. I went to work for Jonathan because I believe in the product and I know the trades. I've been in the trades for five years.
Speaker 1:I'm working with trades people for five years, I know this is a huge problem and it solves it. So, yeah, I appreciate you throwing that in there, and Jonathan is a good dude and he will always leave the value. It's just the way he is. Yeah, yeah, that was great. So what would you say? All right. So you, you said you got an event coming up. Is that a private event? Is that something public? How does that?
Speaker 2:work. It's a members only event. Members only event, yeah, members only. I am peeling back my engagements. I just live life on the road and I realized that it just takes away from my people when I'm out doing things to get more people. I just want to focus on my people and if that's at expense of growth, so be it. But it means I get to do what my heart's where my heart's at. So the event's October 10th and 11th. It's in Colorado Two day event. It's really fun.
Speaker 2:This is our second year doing it. I know that this organization started March 1st. We had another organization that we kind of evolved into this. So we did have some people in a group that was under a different name. We had a different kind of delivery and product, so those folks kind of migrated into our platform, so to speak.
Speaker 2:But our event this is year two it's a workshop where you're not going to sit and listen. Is there some presentation? Yes, but this is not like bringing in keynotes and sitting here and jumping to this and breakout sessions. You come to this event to create a roadmap, to create a future-proof business. We have dedicated time to journal and map out what that means for you to identify your who, identify your what, and then sit down in small groups, share with people that are in your role for salespeople, for leaders, for owners, and that sets the tone for the event for salespeople, for leaders, for owners, and that sets the tone for the event. And then we have a variety of deep dive topics and roundtables to foster community engagement, member contribution, collaboration and challenging each other.
Speaker 2:And then we wrap it up on Saturday by doing some fun stuff outdoors, like I'm renting. We're renting a four by four Jeeps with 37 inch tires and going to rip around the mountains. I'm actually building up my own vehicle before it, which I was pretty. It's funny. It was the guy texting me. He's like hey, got your parts in. So anyway, we're going to go just rip around, have some fun, spend the day in the woods, be on radios heckling each other, so I'm really excited for it.
Speaker 1:How many? So if someone wanted somebody, obviously people are going to hear this and probably going to want to reach out to you and maybe you know if they're a real shit bag, join the. They're really. You know. I'm sure there's people that are going to hear this. They're going to want to understand how to get in touch with you or the community. What's the process of how they do that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, go to rsraorg slash, join rsraorg slash, join. Um, all the information is there to connect and to fill out a brief application. Uh, matt or Kennedy and our team we have a small lean team Um, they'll review it and you can get your application call booked. Uh, they'll talk through it and talk through everything with you. If it's a good fit, then we'll move on to touring you through the community and all that. And then if you want free stuff and you just maybe you say, hey, adam, this was cool stuff, maybe you got some things for me.
Speaker 2:And if you're not in roofing sales, a lot of my content, in fact a ton of it, is applicable to all trades and you can go to adamsfreestuffcom. So, adamsfreestuffcom, and I'll get you into my free training center. I've got oodles of content in there training videos and sales checklist, pay plan checklist, hiring checklist, recruiting checklist. What else have we got in there? My recommended reading list? I've got like masterclasses on closing and a whole my, anyway, I can't even remember how much. Oh, and a copy of my book is in there. There's a lot, uh, but that's totally free at adamsfreestuffcom. And, um, yeah, no catch, if it helps you out, that's my, that's my goal? Uh, my goal is to help you make a bunch of money and then, if it's a good fit, and then we can help you make even more money working together, love it.
Speaker 1:Well, adam, thanks so much for the time today. Really appreciate the conversation. Didn't really know it was going to go the direction it did, but very great, here we go.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it. Corey man, thanks for having me on, thanks for a rich combo and I'm sure we'll be seeing you soon.
Speaker 1:You got it, my friend. Thank you, take it easy.
