Mighty Dog Roofing: Choosing the Right Roofer, Insights from Mighty Dog's Jon Stephens

Get ready to uncover the secrets of identifying top-notch roofing companies and learn valuable tips for maintaining your home’s exterior, as we chat with Jon Stephens, co-owner of Mighty Dog Roofing in Hoover and Huntsville. This episode promises to clear up common misconceptions about roofing, while offering practical advice for homeowners on how to choose reputable contractors, especially after storms and natural disasters. Discover how the unique blend of local ownership and the reliability of a national brand can benefit your home improvement projects.

Jon also shares his inspiring personal journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a successful business owner. This conversation sheds light on the balancing act of running a company while parenting three daughters with diverse interests. Learn how perseverance and community support have played pivotal roles in his life. Whether you're looking for expert home improvement tips or an inspiring story of success and resilience, this episode has something special for everyone. Don’t miss out on the insights and heartwarming moments that make this episode a must-listen. #GNPBirmingham #MightyDogRoofing #MightyDogRoofingBham #BirminghamRoofers #BirminghamRoofs #Birmingham #HooverRoofers #HuntsvilleRoofers #RoofRepairs #RoofLeaks #BirminghamGutters #HuntsvilleGutters #BirminghamSiding #HuntvilleSiding 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.

Speaker 2: 0:14

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, patricia Blondheim, and today we have good neighbor John Stevens, and John and his wife are owners of Mighty Dog, roofing out of Hoover and Huntsville. John, how are you today?

Speaker 3: 0:30

I'm doing great, Patricia. How are you?

Speaker 2: 0:32

I'm doing wonderfully. Thank you for coming by. I want to know all about Mighty Dog Roofing.

Speaker 3: 0:38

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having me. It's really my honor to be here and very excited to kind of speak with the community about what we're doing. So Mighty Dog Roofing it's obviously roofing, so we're a roofing contractor. We do roofing services, but we do a lot of other things too. We get into windows and gutters and siding, really anything on the exterior.

Speaker 3: 0:59

I think one of the more interesting things I guess that separates us from a lot of roofers too is that we are a franchise company, which means that there are Mighty Dogs in other locations but we are locally owned, which is great. It means you get the benefit of a local owner, you get the benefit of somebody living in the community, working in the community, engaging with everybody, but you also get that backing of a national entity which it gives us. That means that we have a certain standard we have to hold to. It means that we're you know we're not a a chuck in a truck, just kind of out there, you know, pitching what they can. We're here to, we're here to help and um, and we have a level that we have to hold to, and I think it's it's one of the things that separates us out and um, uh, you know it's been, it's been great, I say we gives gives us a lot of ability to work with insurance and material suppliers too because of that sort of national backing.

Speaker 2: 1:49

So yeah, Well, now you must meet a lot of people I mean in a day, in a week who don't know a lot about roofs, for sure they don't know a lot about what it is that they need. Do any of these things sort of rise to the surface for you as common misconceptions?

Speaker 3: 2:15

You know, it's what's most interesting about I guess what I would call a common misconception on the roofing space is. You know, I guess a lot of people don't know a ton about it. I mean, before I got into this industry I didn't know anything. I mean, they're up there, their shingles are doing what they're supposed to, but I think the biggest misconceptions that come aren't just about the roofing material, it's really about the way a roofing company might operate. And so, you know, one of the things I'd really love to kind of touch on is not every person, because we've all had a weather event and then pretty soon you've got like 15 people knocking on your door trying to sell you a roof and you're like, oh my gosh, just go away, leave me alone. But in all honesty, whether it's from a weather event or not, not everyone that knocks is just out there trying to make a dollar off your roof, and I think it's.

Speaker 3: 3:04

You know, we live here, we work here, and when we come to your house, whether it's you called us or where we happen to be in the community, we're serving another customer, helping out another neighbor. If we're there, we're there to serve, we're there to help. You know we bring leaf blowers or you know, we show up with capes for the kids, things like that, like just stuff, to try to be part of that community. And I think a lot of people just immediately get a bad taste in their mouth around roofers just because there are a lot that come in from out of town when things happen and so it becomes overwhelming. But just try to give everybody the benefit of the doubt, give everybody a chance to look positive.

Speaker 3: 3:44

And I mean, you know, a lot of times, you know, in our case, our employees are salaried as well. You know they're getting paid whether they sell you a roof or not, or whether they participate, and so I think it's helpful for people to know that hear out the people that come, you know, don't just slam a door in their face, because they may actually be there trying to help you. And I think a lot of good, reputable companies are going to do that, and I think it's our duty to try to help. And so that's one area that I see a lot, a lot of people. You know I run into that every day and you know, just try to have a little goodwill and I think it goes a long way.

Speaker 2: 4:23

I think most roofing companies, after a weather event like the one you're referencing, they do go out and they pound the pavement that's what we call it and go from door to door and introduce themselves with the intent that they'll be able to create a connection with the homeowner and deliver a service that's needed like we are here in your neighborhood to help you, but there's other people there that don't have the same intent, john. So how do you? How do you know which roofer that comes to your door is reputable?

Speaker 3: 4:52

That's a great question. I think it's really about the questions you ask them and it's about how they present themselves. When you start talking to them, ask them questions, say hey, where your office is located, where's your office, and confirm that there's someone that's from town that is present. Ask them about who does your installs, who actually does the work that's going to put the roof on from town, that is present, you know. Ask them about. You know who does your installs. Are you? You know who, who actually does the work that's going to put the roof on. You know what's, what's the name of the people that are going to do that.

Speaker 3: 5:20

When you start kind of diving in a little bit, getting that detail, you're going to find out if this is someone who is.

Speaker 3: 5:24

You know they're, they're engaged, they really understand what theyor crew that is that you know they've never even met before.

Speaker 3: 5:28

They just hired it locally because they they're operating out of, you know, another state, and so I think when that happens, turn it, you know, make it into a dialogue, because at the end of the day, you should go with someone you trust and whether that's Mighty Dog Roofing or someone else, you know it's find someone that you can feel a sense of comfort with, and when you start asking them a couple of questions about their process, you start to see just how much they know about it, whether they're just some salesperson that's that's out there going, or whether they're a specialist, you know.

Speaker 3: 6:03

Do they actually get on your roof? Or they just say, hey, you had hail last night, let's file an insurance claim. You know, if they don't actually get up on your roof, if they don't do those extra steps, you know this is someone who's just trying to scoop up as much as they can and your roof. You deserve better than that, because there are many good contractors out there and I think the good ones are very easy to start, you know, pulling out when you start having those conversations with them.

Speaker 2: 6:29

I think also, you need to look at where are well, like you said, where are the roofers located? And for this reason, because roofing is not complicated, it's not brain surgery, but it's also not perfect, right. Nothing in life is perfect, so there's a chance that something may cause that roof not to be perfect, in which case you'll want to get a hold of the person who installed your roof 100%.

Speaker 2: 6:58

And they will come out happily and they will fix what they know is not a perfect process to your standards and you'll be held safely inside of your home with an intact roof. That's not generally what happens we're talking about after a weather event, sure inside of your home with an intact roof.

Speaker 2: 7:17

That's not generally what happens we're talking about after a weather event. A lot of people come in from out of state or they create ad hoc companies together to come in and to work on your. You will never be able to get a hold of them again.

Speaker 3: 7:28

Yeah, no, they're going to be gone and there's some that are less reputable, that will even just take the deposit and disappear. But I think if you, you find out where the offices are, you know, is it an office you can walk into? Is it someone who you know? They, they know their team, they basically are plugged in, they're going to be present during the install you start getting all of these details about how the process will go, you'll start to figure out. I think that local office thing is going to be your quickest, easiest way to eliminate people Like, hey, can I come down to your office? And if they go, uh well, uh, um, you know, maybe, maybe that might not be someone who's going to be here tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 8:05

It's good to have an established relationship with a roofer as a as a homeowner and we're talking outside of a weather event, because if something happens and you do need something, it doesn't necessarily have to be weather related. A tree falls through your roof. God forbid, something happens that if you have an established relationship with your roofer, like a doctor, that roofer will come to you more quickly. They'll place you in a more advantageous position because you're already an existing customer. That's not to say you don't take new customers, that's not to say it at all. But it's good to have that continued relationship.

Speaker 3: 8:43

Yep, and we actually take that approach a lot. Like, you know, when we come out and look at it, if it's something small, you know something, oh, we can just put a little bit of silicone up there, like we'll take care of that without charging a customer. Because for us it's about the relationship. You know we're already out there to do an inspection. If it's something I can knock out in five minutes, we're just going to do that for you, because I'm not trying to make a quick buck off anybody.

Speaker 3: 9:02

Like the whole goal here is to build a relationship so that when a person has a need, they're going to trust you enough to call you. They're going to trust you enough, and that's what we aim to do with every person we work with. And I think that's really, in all honesty, it's resonated far more in the community than anything else. It's just what can we do to help, and so it's having that servant's heart, and there are other good companies that will do similar items. So I think it's whoever it is that you trust and you build that relationship with, that's going to be your primary person, and sometimes you don't know them before they get to your door, but once you get to know them, you know, give them, you know, once you you hear them out and you you decided someone that you feel comfortable with, that's someone you're going to want to be able to work with for for you know, years to come on on this house, the next house and whatever may happen after that.

Speaker 2: 9:48

Yeah, that relationship benefits both sides.

Speaker 3: 9:51

Yep 100%.

Speaker 2: 9:52

But how did you get here? I mean, this is I don't know a single entrepreneur that didn't have an interesting journey. Tell me.

Speaker 3: 10:02

Mine was a little different. I started in legal technology and so you know you make the natural step from you know computers and digital forensics to roofing Kind of very, very similar there. No, to roofing kind of very, very similar there. No, you know, my wife is actually the more you know engineering background, structural, you know the blueprints, like she's really into all of that and gets it. I am.

Speaker 3: 10:22

You know, my focus is really around service and you know, making processes run smoothly to make sure things happen, and it was kind of interesting getting here. It started with many years ago I don't know about many, but enough we started doing some real estate investing and finding contractors was so hard. Like you start talking to a contractor and you just it's, it's really hard to get good service out of people or they they don't show up, or if they show up, they don't do the job, and so when you find someone, you're like man, this is great, this is the person I want. I am super excited to have this person that's actually there and you're like well, what else can you do? Can you take care of this, can you take care of this?

Speaker 3: 11:06

And and so I realized in that moment I'm like you know there is a need here. There is a need to be someone different, to be someone who can come into the space, be that trusted advisor, that trusted resource for people and, you know, be the person that they can call. And then, when we come out there and it's like, oh OK, you need, you need also some work on your deck. Well, great, Well, we'll help you with that too. You don't have to hunt around to 15 different people. You know we build a relationship, you trust us, you know we're going to put in the right effort and now we're going to be able to stay with it, and that's that's really what. You know. I saw a need in the space, um, just from having worked from the other side of it. And then at that point I said you know what I think?

Speaker 2: 11:44

my question for a second so Mighty Dog Roofing does anything, almost anything. Exterior, you mentioned windows, gutters, decks.

Speaker 3: 12:09

Siding, yeah, and in all honesty we do some interior. I've done several drywall jobs. We've done concrete work before. You know, when you've got a store. You know we had a. We had tornadoes in December and then we had a. You know, in Huntsville we had tornadoes just last month and you know we showed up on site. We were chopping limbs, trying to help people get their yards cleaned up and things like that.

Speaker 3: 12:30

But when trees start breaking and falling, you know it goes right through the house, there's damage all kinds of places and it tears up your driveway, you know, crashes through your walls. You know we want to be able to help you with all of those things. You know we're not, we're not just looking for sort of the easy, let me throw a roof on there Like we're. We're here to help and we're here to help people through in many ways, a lot of times, the most terrifying or stressful home items that they're ever going to face in their lives. And if we can give you comfort, if we can be there for you to help you through that, to let you know that there's somebody kind of riding right along with you that's helping drive that process to to until you are absolutely satisfied with, with where you end up and you're like, oh my gosh, now I've got to figure out how to find a drywall person. I've got to go, you know, find this.

Speaker 3: 13:18

Some of the things you know. We handle quite a bit of it and, in all honesty, even things that we don't. We have partners. We have other people we've built relationships with that we're like this person is going to work to our level of satisfaction and you know we'll still try to. We'll be part of that equation. You know we'll make sure. You know we'll take accountability for their work as well, just to make sure you're still getting that Mighty Dog experience for everyone. And so, yeah, we cover it all.

Speaker 2: 13:45

John, what do you? What do you do for fun? What floats your boat? What floats your boat?

Speaker 3: 13:50

You know it's funny. You ask that because usually when people ask me it's. You know, well, I'm into piano, horseback, riding, gymnastics, soccer, because I have three daughters, ages 12, 10, and 7. And my hobbies in life revolve around their hobbies in life, and so I just love, you know, my oldest. You know she gets into the horses and you know just different Every kid unfortunately has different things they're into.

Speaker 3: 14:20

They couldn't do me the favor of all being into the same thing, but, you know, go into their various events and activities. It's a full-time job all by itself, but I love it and it's it's amazing watching who they're all growing into. Well, I was a horsey girl, so I know where all your money's going. Yeah, oh, you'd be surprised. So my one of my daughters is into music and so she plays four instruments at this point and that starts adding up Um, it just, you know, hey, it's, it's, it's great, and I I love doing this, cause I didn't get a whole lot of opportunity to chase passions as a child and so giving them, giving them this opportunity, it's, it's amazing to watch.

Speaker 2: 14:56

Well, what about a challenge in your life? I mean, that's your joy, clearly, but every entrepreneur that I know has had to go over a hurdle or two to get where they're at. Do you ever have an experience like that?

Speaker 3: 15:09

Uh, you know, that's I guess it's a hard question. So I think everybody has hardships and challenges in life. Like everybody goes through something that gets them where they are. And and you know, when you look back on it, you know sometimes we we see it as oh my gosh, this has been the most you know rough period of my life. And other times we look back on it and it was just how life was at that time. And when you tell people that are're like oh my gosh, but it's just you were living your life. Like I mean, I grew up in poverty.

Speaker 3: 15:35

You know I grew up in Atlanta. You know my parents were addicts. My parents both died young and you know I had to walk to work to save enough money to buy a car. And you know I kind of broke free of that. I went away to college and it actually was almost like a betrayal of my family. They all took it very hard because I wasn't going to kind of stay and continue sort of the life that had been going on there.

Speaker 3: 16:04

And so you know, breaking out of that and it's it's hard, because then you end up you don't have a tribe, you don't have a support system and you're just trying to figure out how you're going to win, and I mean, but in all honesty, what it did teach me was if you want something, you work for it, and if you work for it you can get it. And you know, I went to Georgia Tech and a lot of the people there you know they came from very wealthy backgrounds and there was a period of time in life where I resented people who kind of started a leg ahead of me. But in all honesty, it doesn't really matter. It's if you push yourself, if you engage yourself, if you work for it, you will be able to get to where you want to go. You just have to keep that sort of singular focus on on your goal and say this is what we're going to try to do and this is who we're going to be. And you keep putting one foot in front of the other and pretty soon you look around and your world is dramatically different than it was, you know, before you started. You know it's. It's just, it's a chance to change your life and change, change your family tree.

Speaker 3: 17:07

You know, with my children, you know, knowing that they don't have to walk to work to buy a car at some point in their lives. You know they'll, they'll. You know I may make them walk to pay for half of it or something, just to make sure they get the right values Right, but yeah, but the fact that they will have opportunities, that I didn't. But if they continue to take the same approach, though, they can use that to go even further in life with where they want to be. I would love to see, if my daughter decides she wants to be a rancher, to have that as an option for her, because it wouldn't have even been something considered for my life.

Speaker 2: 17:42

I think that's great, and they're getting the benefit, at the same time, of your mindset right? You're raising them with your mindset, which you developed through your upbringing, and so they're. They're in a win, win situation.

Speaker 3: 17:56

That's the hope. Well, I say, and then they all, they all take it well. So you know they're, they're they're very respectful of kind of where, where we're going, and you know the opportunities they have. So I think it's amazing.

Speaker 2: 18:10

Well, John, what would you like our listeners to take away about Mighty Dog Roofing?

Speaker 3: 18:15

Really just that. We're here for you, and you know, don't be afraid to. If you need something, give us a call. We're going to come out. We're not going to call damage from the street. We have adjusters on staff. You know people who work for the insurance companies. They know, they know what's going to get bought or not.

Speaker 3: 18:30

I'm not going to sell anybody something we're not going to. We're not going there just to try to put a roof on your house immediately. You know we're going there to figure out what's going on, hear what you need and then come up with solutions that make sense for you and your family. You know we that make sense for you and your family. We're here to help you protect what is usually your largest asset in your life, and so that's our job. And so whether it's hey, we're going to do a quick, we're going to tighten these gutters for you for free because we're here, or whether that's a oh my gosh, we just had a tree come through the house and we don't know what to do, we're here for you for that too, and so just just don't hesitate to call us.

Speaker 2: 19:11

We're we're we're here for you and we're going to try to find something that'll work for you to to get you where you need to be.

Speaker 3: 19:16

Well, let's get our listeners in touch with you, john. How can they contact Mighty Dog Roofing? So if you're you're in the Birmingham area, mighty Dog Roofing Birmingham Facebook we do have a separate Facebook for our Huntsville family as well. Or you can certainly call, which is Mighty Dog Roofing at Huntsville, or you can call us 205-535-3223. We'll be glad to get in touch with you, talk about what you need and figure out what we need to do to help you out.

Speaker 2: 19:40

John, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for coming by and sharing Mighty Dog Roofing with us.

Speaker 3: 19:46

Thank you. The pleasure has been entirely mine. It's been wonderful. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: 19:50

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbirminghamcom. That's gnpbirminghamcom, or call 205-952-0148.