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PODCAST

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC Business Growth Podcast

The Owned and Operated electrical, HVAC, and plumbing business growth podcast is hosted by John Wilson and Jack Carr. These two Home Service Business owners bring you weekly podcasts and daily content with multiple perspectives, actionable advice, and info on an ever-changing industry revolving around advertising, lead generation, and more.Join us every Tuesday for topical conversations that unlock the potential for your business growth. Covering topics from top-tier talent recruitment to mastering

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

47:17

How to Rebrand Your Company and Add $500K in Revenue

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/11/18

In this episode, John Wilson and guest Rich Jordan dig into one of the scariest (and most valuable) moves you can make in home service: rebranding multiple companies into a single brand. Rich runs three acquired companies across New Hampshire and New Jersey…and he’s in the middle of rolling them all into one new identity: High Ground Service Pros. They walk through why he’s willingly tearing down a strong local brand (Sanford), what’s driving the decision, and how he’s trying to avoid losing ...

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30:53

How to Scale Beyond Yourself and Build a Real Company

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/11/13

In this episode, John Wilson and co-host Jack Carr unpack one of the biggest transitions in home service — going from owner to operator. What does it really take to scale beyond yourself? We dive deep into building layers of leadership, knowing when to delegate, hiring vs. promoting internally, and what the first real leadership hire should look like. From service managers and field supers to accountability systems and EOS, this one’s for owners ready to break through bottlenecks and build r...

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37:59

How to Future-Proof Your Home Service Business in 2025

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/11/11

In this episode, John Wilson and co-host Jack Carr break down how home-service companies can actually future-proof in 2025: flattening org charts, using AI to nuke overhead, building adaptable teams, and keeping a balance sheet that can take a 30% punch. We get into real numbers (gross margin, overhead targets, EBITDA), how to think about “risk on” vs. “risk off,” and why the middle of the market gets squeezed when big operators cut costs with automation. You’ll hear play-by-plays on automat...

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52:43

How This Operator Turned a Viral Laundromat Video...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/11/06

In this episode, John Wilson sits down with Brandon Schlicter—better known as Investment Joy—to unpack how a viral laundromat video turned into a portfolio of laundromats, car washes, rentals, and now a fast-scaling commercial roofing company. Brandon shares the mindset shift from small plays to bigger bets, why he assumes success (and plans for failure), and how social media distribution can attract capital, deal flow, and talent. You’ll hear the real numbers on union commercial roofing (mar...

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39:25

The Consumer Always Wins: Building the Business They...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/11/04

In this episode, John Wilson sits down with Jamie from Modernize to unpack how a consumer-obsessed mindset is reshaping home services—from the first inquiry to the final install. They dig into why “experience always wins,” how answer engine optimization (AE/O) is changing search, and what a true platform approach looks like when lead gen, reputation, financing, and programmatic all work together. You’ll hear how Modernize is building for the full funnel, why smaller, fast-moving operat...

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52:29

$170M in 2 Years: Premier Home Pros’ Playbook for...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/30

In this follow-up to our Premier Home Pros deep dive, John Wilson sits back down with AJ and Noah to unpack how they turned six greenfield locations into a nationwide engine doing $170 M+ run-rate—without outside debt. They break down the playbook for market launches, recruiting, and leadership restructuring that turned chaos into scale. Hear how they rebuilt their org for hypergrowth—cutting the VP layer, adding regional pods, promoting from within, and launching Zoom-based sales training th...

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56:49

Zero to $86M in 24 Months: The Home Service Growth...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/28

In this special re-release of Owned and Operated, John Wilson sits down with AJ and Noah of Premier Home Pros to unpack how they went from a dining-room-table idea to $15M in year one, $86M in year two, and a national rollout—without taking on debt. They break down the sales system, affiliate-led demand gen, installer model, and the ops math behind a ~46-day greenfield payback. If you’re scaling a home service business, this is the blueprint. You’ll hear the real numbers: 91% demo, 82% close ...

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32:40

How Regular People Get Rich Buying Boring Businesses...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/24

Get MORE JackQuisitions HERE Should you stay sector-agnostic in ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition) or plant a flag with a clear buy box brokers, CPAs, and attorneys can remember? After a month sidelined by a home flood, searcher Chris Barr returns to his acquisition entrepreneurship journey—refining a small-business acquisition thesis around B2B services, GovCon janitorial contracts, and Florida/Palm Beach deal sourcing. We dig into search fund tactics, on-market and off-market pipel...

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42:34

How One Inspection Company Scaled to $20M Without...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/23

John sits down with Harmony Brownwood, CEO & founder of GreenWorks Inspections & Engineering, to unpack how she grew from zero connections in 2009 to one of the largest independently owned inspection companies in the U.S.—now operating across six states with 11 locations, 2,500–3,000 services a month, and a runway from ~$15M toward $20M in annual revenue. Harmony shares the mindset work that kept her going for 16 months without a sale, the systems that let her scale beyond herself, an...

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42:05

From $10M to $100M: How Home Service Companies Scale...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/21

John sits down with Zac Dearing (Mantel) to break down how top HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies are moving from “proposal tools” to true shopping experiences that help homeowners buy with confidence—and help teams close more, faster. They dig into hard data from Mantel’s platform and homeowner survey: why Tuesdays are the biggest sales day, how response time and proposal view time (“eyeball time”) predict closes, and why a 10-point jump in proposal strength correlates with ~$960 highe...

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72:39

#251 He Built a $40M Home Service Business (Here’s How)

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/16

John sits down with Christian Rattin, CEO of Five Star Home Services, to unpack how he helped transform a single-family HVAC shop into a $40M+ multi-market powerhouse across Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati. From growing through chaos to professionalizing with purpose, Christian shares Five Star’s evolution — blending faith, strategy, and servant leadership to build a home service company that gives back millions. They go deep on: the “profit on purpose” philosophy, scaling across markets wit...

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58:14

#250 Start From Scratch or Buy? One Founder’s...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/14

John sits down with Tyler Griffin (Swift Pro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing) to unpack how he launched a fast-growing HVAC + Plumbing startup in one of the most competitive markets in America: Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia. From selling his previous exterior business to private equity, taking a six-month reset, and then sprinting from zero to multi-million in year one, Tyler shares the gritty playbook—reviews over revenue early, Angie Ads to jumpstart demand, vendor partnerships (hello,...

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58:40

#249 How to Build a National Septic Pumping Empire...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/09

John sits down with Micah Findley (HomeField) to talk about building a national brand in one of the most overlooked trades: The Septic Pumping Business. From pricing thousand-gallon pumps to dump fees, grease traps, and service agreements, this is the real playbook for scaling a modern Septic Pumping operation. They unpack the entire stack—how a Septic Truck Business goes beyond “just pumping” into repairs, installs, commercial work, and recurring maintenance—plus route density, transfer (fra...

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52:12

Entry & Exit #1 How to Build, Scale & Sell a...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/08

Welcome to Entry & Exit — the new Owned and Operated series for builders in the security & life-safety world. Hosts Stephen Olmon and Collin Trimble share how they grew Alarm Masters from under $2M to ~3× revenue, including +50% RMR growth in Year 1. From recurring revenue (RMR) to acquisitions and organic growth, this episode breaks down what it really takes to scale a security business — and eventually position it for a successful exit. ✨ What You’ll Learn -The 3 revenue pillars (...

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22:04

#248 Can AI Really Help Your Business Grow?

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/07

Live from Pantheon, John sits down with RJ Magee (Sierra) and Tyson Chen (Avoca AI) to talk about the future of technology in home service — from AI call centers to multi-location growth and ServiceTitan integration. RJ shares how Sierra grew to 6 companies across 5 states through strategic acquisitions, while Tyson explains how Avoca’s AI agents are transforming call centers — booking jobs, handling overflow, and integrating directly with CRMs. They unpack what it really takes to expand acro...

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84:56

#247 LEGENDS | The $1.2B Contractor: How Kelso Built...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/10/02

Over the last five years, Steve Carroll scaled Kelso Industries from zero to $1.1–$1.2B top line with 3,500+ employees across mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) — powered by 29 acquisitions and an “empowered, decentralized” operating model. In this wide-ranging conversation, Steve and John unpack the Kelso flywheel (construction ➜ retrofit ➜ maintenance ➜ service), how to choose what to centralize vs. decentralize, why leadership pipelines matter more than playbooks, and the realities...

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23:25

#246 From $700K to $30 Million With Multiple Locations!

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/09/30

In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson sits down with his good friend and fellow operator, Rich Jordan, to unpack how he scaled from $700K to over $30M in just five years — across three branches and two states. Rich shares the unfiltered lessons from going multi-location, from the chaos of centralizing call centers too early, to re-decentralizing and finally recentralizing with the right infrastructure. He and John dive into the cultural challenges of acquisitions, how to win buy-...

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25:42

#245 4 Sales Team Training Secrets Top Businesses Use...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/09/25

In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined by Jack Carr (Jackquisitions) to break down the 4 steps to train your sales team and raise revenue fast. From building a repeatable process to setting metrics, John and Jack share how to treat sales like an order of operations—diagnosing problems step by step so your team can fix weaknesses and improve call over call. They discuss why consistency beats ad-hoc training, how to gamify scoreboards so techs know exactly where they stand...

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20:59

#244 How to Hire the PERFECT Employee Every Time

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/09/23

In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined by Jack Carr from Jackquisitions to break down how to hire the perfect employee—the true A-player who moves your business forward. From defining success to matching personality to role, John and Jack share a 4-step playbook to build an offer A-players want, market the job like a product, scope roles tightly with clear KPIs, and screen for the right behavioral fit. They dive into why you should treat hiring like marketing & sales...

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37:18

#243 Home Service Contractors: Stop Overpaying for...

Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC... ·

2025/09/18

In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined by Jen Laughlin from WeSupplyTrades to break down how contractors can cut material costs without sacrificing quality. From OEM parts to exclusive brands, John and Jen dig into real-world ways to protect margin, get parts fast (even if you’re rural), and build supplier partnerships that actually help you scale. They dive into shipping realities (UPS vs. LTL), why exclusives like Stream33/Breeze33/Bright33 can be margin game-changers...

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294 results

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