My Story
The journey from the roof to the stage.
I didn't set out to be in roofing sales. I didn't set out to become a stand up comedian. I set out to become a psychologist. Life is funny like that.
I did get a BA in Psychology. Later I would take a job with a finance company and decide to get my MBA and climb the corporate ladder. Half way up the ladder I realized I didn't want to do any of the things I was doing. I needed a change.
A good friend of mine was launching a roofing company and looking for his first sales guy. He asked me if I wanted to do it. I had never worked on a commission only pay plan. I had never knocked a door. But I needed a change and decided to take a chance. I was 44 years old. In a short time, I was making more money than I ever had. I had more job satisfaction than I had ever had. I loved being out in the field all day. I loved meeting people. At one time I would have told you I would never work commission only and never go door to door. Yet here I was doing it. And loving it. And doing well at it. Life is funny like that.
4 years later I would get on stage and try stand up comedy for my first time at 48 years old. I had thought about trying stand up comedy for over 20 years. I finally got the courage to just go for it and I did ok for my first time. I went the next month and did even better. I decided to just keep doing it until I got good at it. And then, the covid shut down started and stand up comedy suddenly didn't exist anymore. I am not sure if you have ever thought about doing something for over 20 years, and right when you decide to go for it the entire world just stops doing that thing, but that's a weird feeling. Life is funny like that.
Fast forward a few years and I had an appointment to give an estimate for a roof. The homeowner used to be a touring comedian but he came off the road and opened a business to stay close to home and raise a family. He was getting back into comedy and putting on a show with himself and another nationally touring comedian. I mentioned that I had done two open mics a few years ago. He not only bought the roof from me, he gave me a shot by telling me I could open that show. I went to sell a roof, and I sold a roof and got my first paid comedy gig that I had no business being on. Life is funny like that.
When my roofing sales collided with my comedy, I began to realize things. If humor was anywhere in the sales process, those deals seemed to go smoother. I closed more of those deals. I began to use some of the skills I was developing in comedy in sales. I then began researching and studying humor in general. I was blown away at what research said about the benefits of humor. Specifically what it said about humor in sales! I studied, I researched, I learned, and I applied these things in my sales process. I began to realize that a script was not a bad thing. It can be. But it was all in the delivery and not the words. And I started to realize that if I could introduce even a little humor into my sales process, it always went better.
And so that's how I got here. I set out to become a psychologist. I got a degree. Then I set out to be a CEO and got an MBA. And somehow I ended up selling roofs and telling jokes. Life is funny like that.