Podcast Summary: To The Point - Home Services Podcast

Episode: The Turning Point: The Moments That Changed My Business Forever

Date: September 16, 2025
Host(s): Chris (RYNO Strategic Solutions)
Guest(s): Chad Peterman (Peterman Brothers), Aaron Gainer (Eco Plumbers)

Overview

This episode is a roundtable with three seasoned home services leaders reflecting candidly on the pivotal moments that defined their business journeys. With real talk about turning points, leadership struggles, hiring challenges, and personal development, Chris, Chad, and Aaron share vulnerable insights and actionable strategies. The episode is a masterclass in home services growth mindset—covering how major mindset shifts, written visions, operations systems, and self-leadership enable companies to scale through adversity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining the Turning Point in Business Growth

• [08:58–17:55]
  • All three discuss not having a clear “big picture” when starting out but simply grinding day-to-day.
  • Writers block: early years are “just showing up”; major momentum comes when formally planning for growth.
  • Chad: Turning point was joining NextStar (2015) — seeing what a true home services business looks like, writing a 5-year plan, and seeing that vision manifest (09:33–12:21).
    • “I have a picture... from the first NextStar event... and looked at it in 2019 and was like, holy— we actually did what I wrote down.” (10:38)
  • Aaron: Similar arc—serious growth began after writing down a 10-year, $100M vision (2015). Hosting a peer group at $12M, giving back to the community, and jumping from $12M to $21M marked a pivotal momentum shift (13:47–16:48).
• Lesson: The clear inflection point came with writing down ambitious goals and building systems to get there, rather than relying on hustle alone.

2. The Power of Vision, Planning, and Sharing Goals

• [20:26–25:59]
  • Vivid Vision is critical. Both Chad and Aaron stress the importance of not just writing down multi-year goals, but articulating them to their teams (23:04–23:49).
    • Chad: Inspired by Cameron Herold’s "Double Double," shares a new vivid vision with staff annually.
    • Aaron: Breaks massive goals down into 3-year and 1-year plans (EOS system), communicating granular targets (calls, revenue per department, trucks, etc).
  • Quote:
    • Chad: “For me, sharing it with the team… almost got them, like, on my team. Like, all right, yeah, this sounds fun. Let's go chase this.” (22:14)

3. Daily Self-Talk, Affirmations, & Personal Leadership

• [25:59–32:11]
  • Aaron: Shares that for 10 years he’s said the same affirmation daily, keeping himself focused and persistent.
    • “My rewards in life are in exact proportion to my contribution, my service, what I give is what I get. My goal is to achieve a $100 million business by the end of 2025.” (26:02–26:38)
  • Discussion of the critical importance of self-reflection, self-talk, and consistency in personal disciplines.
  • All agree: Leaders need to work on themselves, not just the business, especially through challenges.
    • Chad: “If you’re not in the right mindset to help others as a leader, you’re not in a good spot.” (27:00)

4. Handling Adversity, Chapters of the Book, & Perspective

• [32:11–36:32]
  • Chris shares how even on hard days, gratitude and self-talk are what steer him through.
    • “If that’s the worst thing to happen to me today, big deal.” (33:36)
  • The guys analogize tough times as “just a chapter in the book”—the ending is still unwritten and can be positive.

5. Hiring and Leadership: Lessons from Bad Hires

• [36:32–46:10]
  • Chad: “A lot of the wrong hires are not the person’s fault. Most of the time, they’re our fault.” (37:11)
    • KPIs, clear expectations, and feedback are often missing in failed hires—leaders must own this.
  • Aaron: “You got to recognize the things you hired them for, and then hired them not for... now their weakness is driving me insane, but I knew it when I hired them.” (41:00–42:31)
  • Both emphasize the evolution of the leadership team as the company grows—people who fit at $5M may not fit at $20M or $100M: “That’s OK, be grateful for the ones who got you to that level.” (44:32–46:10)

6. Sales Leadership, Accountability, and Coaching

• [46:10–65:56]
  • Chris digs into sales team management—when is failure on the individual vs. the leader? How much should leaders own salesperson underperformance? (46:10–50:05)
  • Chad introduces the “Effort vs Execution” framework: judge not just on results, but on effort-based behaviors (yard signs, reviews, etc). “If you do all the things, I’ll work with you.” (54:08)
    • “Most salespeople want to be coached, challenged, inspired… if you don’t challenge your sales team, they’ll end up running the business and it gets dangerous.” —Aaron (54:31)
  • The best managers show the team how to succeed, not just tell them. “Let me show you the way, not tell you the way.” —Aaron (62:47)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Chad, on Vision:
  “You get a lot of energy from writing it all down. That's the first step.” [20:47]
• Aaron, on The Power of Commitment:
  “For 10 years, every single morning I have said the same thing to myself.” [25:59]
• Chris, on Adversity:
  “If something gets to me or Anna, it's gone through some layers of shit before it’s gotten to me. I’m only getting the nastiest stuff.” [32:38]
• Chad, on Rethinking Bad Hires:
  “The biggest piece... where we've gotten better is when you don't set expectations and have KPIs... Most of the time, they're our fault.” [37:11–37:53]
• Aaron, on Hiring Weaknesses:
  “I already knew their weaknesses when I hired them... now their weakness is driving me insane… that’s on me.” [41:00–42:31]
• Chad, on Leadership Evolution:
  “My leadership team doesn’t look like it did at $5 or $10 million. And that’s okay.” [44:32]
• Aaron, on Sales Coaching:
  “Most salespeople want to be coached, challenged, inspired. …it’s fine to challenge them; otherwise, the sales team will run your business, and that gets dangerous.” [54:31]
• Chad, on Judging Managers:
  “Part of our bonus plan should be: How did they fare on the quarterly survey? Do your people like you?” [60:47]
• Aaron, on Leading by Example:
  “My goal this year is to show them the way, not tell them the way.” [62:47]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic Summary | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | | 08:58–12:21 | Joining NextStar: Defining Turning Points, Vision & Growth | | 13:47–16:48 | Aaron’s $100M Vision, Peer Group Momentum, Writing Down Big Goals | | 20:26–23:49 | Vision Planning, Communicating Goals, Vivid Vision/Double Double | | 25:59–26:38 | Aaron’s Affirmations and Self-Talk Practices | | 37:11–42:31 | Mis-hires: Leadership Accountability, Setting Expectations | | 46:10–54:31 | Sales Team Management; Ownership, Coaching, Metrics (“Effort vs Execution”)| | 62:47–65:56 | Modeling Success: Showing vs. Telling as Leadership Practice |

Actionable Takeaways

• For Owners/Leaders: Write down big, specific, tangible goals. Share these with your whole team and recap often.
• On Growth: Expect to outgrow roles and relationships—show gratitude for those who helped you reach each level.
• On Accountability: Most “bad hires” are due to unclear expectations and lack of process—fix the process, not just the person.
• On Sales Management: Coach on both execution (results) and effort (behaviors). Regular training and clear, shared scoreboards are key.
• On Leadership Development: Personal reflection and self-talk are essential; invest in yourself so you can pour into your team.
• On Leading by Example: Don’t just instruct—demonstrate. Get into the trenches and “show the way.”

This episode delivers candid, concrete insight on leadership inflection points in the blue-collar trades, emphasizing clarity of vision, transparent communication, humility, and coachable systems as the foundational levers for real growth.