Episode Overview
Jennifer Rose-Caudill was trained as a real estate appraiser and had no connection to the family business.
Her father was an expert plumber and her brothers all helped out. When it was time for dad to retire, her brothers asked Rose-Caudill to step in. Today, she’s vice president of HR and finance at Emergency Plumbing Heating & Air–but in the beginning she started at ground zero.
She began working the phones. Since there was no company price sheet, she created one on the fly. And she kept a phone by her bedside for late-night emergency calls.
Rose-Caudill didn’t know the business, but she was all in on customer service.
“Answering the phone and showing up is [already] half the battle,” she says.
She devoted all her time to getting up to speed in the industry.
“I just started listening to people,” Rose-Caudill says. “And that's why I would say the number one thing for me was listening to anybody, whether they're a business owner, whether they're just a person, it didn't matter. That’s how I figured things out.”
As part of a leadership trio with two of her brothers, Rose-Caudill took the business from half a million dollars a year to the $5 million it does in annual sales today.
She says it was a great asset that her dad had such an outstanding reputation in their community of Delaware, Ohio. The family couldn’t rest on those laurels, though.
Rose-Caudill’s advice to others who get into the home-services industry with almost no experience: “Be open to always learning. Don't ever quit learning, and don't be afraid of listening to what people are telling you. Even if you don't agree, [just] take it.”
Jennifer Rose-Caudill recently joined ServiceTitan’s Jackie Aubel on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Rose-Caudill’s thoughts on:
[02:42] How Rose-Caudill got into the trades
[16:12] How the business started to grow
[21:07] Some of the challenges Rose-Caudill faced along the way
[24:42] Adding a new service line to the business
[27:17] Maintaining a good company reputation
To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or anywhere you get podcasts.
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