Building Culture and Foundation for Rapid Growth

Jared Arminger shared his remarkable growth story with Southern National Roofing, which pivoted during COVID-19 from a smaller Maryland operation to a $25 million business focused solely on roofing. “We had a much smaller business in Maryland pre-COVID. We were always a canvas-based organization. COVID happened, door knocking in that state was declared non-essential. So we pivoted down to a state that was open for business in North Carolina,” Arminger explained.​

The company opened multiple locations during a nine-month period, going from one location to four, eventually expanding to eight locations. On the importance of culture in canvassing operations, Arminger said: “In a canvassing environment, culture is one of the most important parts of having a cohesive team because when the guys are out there in the field, they are by themselves. If they don’t have that understanding of what it is we’re all doing, if it literally just is knock, knock, knock and they’re not looking at the benefits that come from having a career and breaking into an industry that can be life-changing, they’re focused on the job which can be a grind”.

Process-Driven Success and Scalability

Discussing systems and processes, Arminger highlighted the power of consistency: “The biggest challenge we’ve had going back to day one is always enough good leads. The thing that ultimately drives high quality, high volume leads at a reasonable price is having all of our reps in the field be accountable to a script and a process. We know over at this point millions of interactions, if they do what we teach them to do, the way that we teach them to do it, the results are wildly consistent”.

He added: “It actually becomes easier to manage at scale because the larger the sample size, the more predictable the outcome should be. I can look at one spreadsheet walking into an office I haven’t been in a couple of months and figure out exactly what’s off”.

Leadership as Performance

Cummings shared powerful insights on leadership presence: “You are an actor in your business. When you show empathy, if you show any type of vulnerability, it’s got to be a system. Just like you expect them to sell in the home through relationship, you are doing the same thing. You are on stage every single day at your office. How you approach your day, when you get there, what you do with your time, your people will mirror you. It’s just like our kids. Your kids will never be who you tell them to be. They’re going to be who you are, who they see, who they’re around”.

Industry Leaders Share Key Takeaways

Power100 conducted rapid-fire interviews throughout the event, capturing insights from attendees who traveled to learn from industry legends. Paul Burleson, Senior Accounts Manager at Westlake Royal Building Products, praised the Power100 panel: “Greg Cummings, Power 100, brings some of the top professionals in our industry, giving us insight on what great leaders are about, what it takes to be a great leader and what the future of our industry looks like. Power 100 as always goes that next level to make sure they bring the right people in the right place at the right time to get the next generation in the direction they need to go”.​

Marvin Peachey, CEO of Georgia Door & Gate, discovered the event serendipitously and found immediate value: “The biggest thing that I’ve been kicked in the teeth with is that I’ve got to change my lens and I have to start looking at my business as a business and not a charity. I have got to start realizing the value that my company brings and not be scared to charge for that value”.

Peachey continued: “I’ve just been inspired by so many of the Eagles award winners yesterday and all those guys that have done it, have went down this path already. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I need to just learn the systems, put them in place, and if the employees that I have want to kick back, push back, they’ll either learn, get on board or we have to find some new people”.

Simplify to Scale: A Common Theme

Patrick Readyhough, President at Pond Roofing & Exteriors, and Taylor Carroll, Marketing Director at Pond Roofing & Exteriors, both emphasized the power of simplification. “One big takeaway I’ve gotten so far is just simplify to scale,” Carroll said.​

Readyhough added: “I spent a couple minutes with the legend Brian Elias who said the magic word: simplify. You’re overthinking this, just simplify this. Go solve a bigger problem, not that smaller problem. When you come to these events, you get to hear great speakers up on stage, but it’s the little conversations you have in the hallway and in front of the vendor booths where you get the real extra nugget that makes you walk out of here going, that’s the magic ticket right there”.

Focus and Niche as Growth Drivers

Willie Smith, Roofer at W.J Smith Construction Roofers, captured a critical lesson on specialization: “Got to niche down. Can’t keep doing everything. You can make money doing a little bit of everything, but you can’t scale a major organization doing everything”.

Dustin Steele, General Manager at Pronto Plumbing Heating Air Drains, shared his focus for 2026: “The biggest thing for us right now that we’re trying to really dive down and deeper on is scaling. We have our business, we’ve done really a lot of improvements over the last couple years, but we’re really trying to take that to the next level and try to really scale into a larger operation. Starting at the end goal and working your way back and breaking it down backwards”.​

Andrei Miadzvedzik, Business Owner at Siding & Windows Wizards LLC, also attended the summit, joining other industry leaders seeking growth strategies.

The Power of Relationships and Continuous Learning

Greg Olsen, who presented on stage at the event, reflected on rediscovering the value of industry events: “What I learned yesterday is how much the relationships matter. We really started to lose that not going to conferences for so long. We started to come back going, everyone up there in those Eagles, they all knew each other. They were getting that camaraderie, building each other up. That was something that me and Mark started to lose”.

For 2026, Olsen shared his aggressive plans: “It’s going to be growth. We have a very aggressive marketing plan. We started our hockey stick growth a year ago and after I was talking to Brian Gotlib, Brian Elias, it’s going to be continue to slam the foot on the gas pedal as fast as we can”.