Building a $300M Company by Putting People First featuring Tommy Mello

Tommy Mello [: 00:00:00

I'll tell you, our experience at The Dream Manager program has been nothing less like it'll be a program we do forever. And any company that I get involved in in a big way, that's something I'm going to mandate. So it works for us. It's amazing. It changes lives. It really puts the people that are doing the hard work first.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:00:19

Hi, this is Tony Ferraro, the director of coaching at Floyd Consulting, and I'm excited today to introduce a special episode of the Lead with Culture podcast. For this episode, we took the show on the road and traveled to Austin, Texas for the National Air Conditioning Contractors of America conference, where my guest was a keynote speaker. My guest on this episode is Tommy Mello. Tommy's the owner of A1 Garage Door, a company that he built from basically $50,000 in debt to over $300 million. Evaluation today in our episode today, we're going to discuss one of the pillars of growing a company, the that Tommy discusses in his book Elevate, which is to grow your culture and to do.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:00:58

So by growing your people.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:01:00

We're going to talk in particular today about how The Dream Manager program was.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:01:03

A big part of this phenomenal growth.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:01:06

So if you're in the home service industry or whether you just have people in your organization, I think you're going to appreciate today's episode.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:01:15

Welcome to Lead with Culture podcast. I'm Tony Ferraro, the director of coaching at Floyd Consulting, and we are on the road today. We're actually at the Air Conditioner Contractors of America conference in Austin, Texas. And today I've got a very, very special guest with me today. I am so stoked. And if you are in the service industry and you don't know our guest today or use his stuff, then you're not winning. So I'm really excited today to have with me Tommy Mello. Tommy is the the owner of A1 Garage, a soon to be $200 million company.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:01:48

300.

Tommy Mello [: 00:01:49

300 million.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:01:50

All right. I was prolific author this book here. Elevate if you don't have it. Again, if you're in the service industry, that doesn't need to be on your shelf. It needs to be on your desk. And I am just excited today to talk to Tommy. So, Tommy, thanks for taking time to do it.

Tommy Mello [: 00:02:04

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:02:05

My pleasure. Absolutely.

Tommy Mello [: 00:02:05

Looking forward to it.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:02:06

So the title of the podcast is Lead with Culture, so let's just jump right into it. You know, I think the idea of culture is at best misunderstood today. I saw you wrote about it in in elevate, how do you define a winning culture?

Tommy Mello [: 00:02:19

Yeah, well, listen, I think it's setting the right vision. Me as the founder, the CEO, is to paint the right vision and everybody should be running towards that vision. And that involves changing people's lives. We're not a family. We're a winning team. And winning teams do not allow family. If my mom screws up, it's okay. She's still my mom, my sister, she can screw up as much as she wants.

Tommy Mello [: 00:02:42

She's still part of my family. I'm going to love her unconditionally. People say family and that word gets thrown around. A high performance team is completely different. Nick Saban would say, if you embarrass yourself in public and really made a mockery of the team, you might not be on the team. We are winners. We strive to be the best versions of ourselves. And I think there's this opportunity to lead from up front.

Tommy Mello [: 00:03:06

Leaders eat last. Simon Sinek talks a lot about this. To be selfless and to lead with dignity and don't do anything. Don't ask anybody to do something you wouldn't do. And I think that that's important. And, you know, what can we do to change everybody's life? When I wrote this book, elevate, build a business where everybody wins. That means my vendors win, that means my clients win. Most of all, my internal clients get to win.

Tommy Mello [: 00:03:29

When they're winning big, everything kind of seems to happen easy, you know, everything. Goals. I'm out of town right now and today's going to most likely be a record day. Tuesdays typically are, and it seems like every Tuesday is a bigger and bigger number. And that's what's important to me, is that we're winning. I was always taught you don't get a partisan participation trophy. The harder you work, the luckier you get. And that's what we believe.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:03:52

Okay, so 300 million get that corrected. But if I, if I remember correctly, when you were 30k in debt, you weren't always a culture advocate or at least didn't see the value of culture. Is that accurate?

Tommy Mello [: 00:04:03

Well, I'd walk into work and there was eight people smoking out front. Phones were ringing off the hook, trucks were damaged. Culture seemed like a four letter word. It was like, you don't even know what I'm going through. What do you mean? Culture smaller. I'm like being a solo entrepreneur, started to build from the ground up. Not having a bunch of experience, you're like, it's tough. You get knocked in the face.

Tommy Mello [: 00:04:25

All the time. And I believe if you don't build your culture from the intention of building it, it'll build a cell. And sometimes it turns out very, very negative. And it can be very hard for a lot of the people involved, especially if the owner's always gone and they don't show up, or they park in the handicap spot or their desk is a mess, or they don't show up to meetings on time because you're saying that's okay. If you're out of shape, you're basically telling everybody it's okay to be out of shape. Especially when you look at the fridge, fridges at a, at a place and you allow them to just have all junk food and nachos and, and, you know, Doritos and other things and energy drinks. I think it's okay to have a coffee machine for sure. But lead from up front and show your people what it is like to lead.

Tommy Mello [: 00:05:06

And that means success, future, self. Well, you're learning all the time. You're reading, you're going to these different events, you're listening to a podcast. It means having fun. It means faith, family, finance and fitness. And I believe if you could show all those six things, the people started to show it too.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:05:25

So most of what I do, I'm an executive coach for some fairly high profile CEOs across the country. And people always ask me, so, so what are the problems that CEOs have? And I say, look, you can categorize the programs for CEOs, business owners. What I found is that most of the problems for business owners are who problems and not what problems. Would you agree with that?

Tommy Mello [: 00:05:48

Yeah, absolutely.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:05:49

And, and so the, the better we make our people, then like you said, the friction starts to go away. Because most of the friction is typically related to somewhere people down the line, right?

Tommy Mello [: 00:06:00

Yeah, it is. And I think a lot of times there's really no template to follow. I think a lot of people, they're reading different books, they're getting different consulting and, you know, the idea of meetings. There's a good book by Cameron Herald called Meetings Suck. There's a good book by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, a good buddy of mine, and Dan Sullivan called who Not How. I think a lot of us tolerate poor performance, poor leadership, because you don't know what's better. Considering how many people I have, what was good to me five years ago is a failure because the company's grown and what you might think is top performer till you meet the next thing.

Tommy Mello [: 00:06:36

And then it's crazy when a new guy comes up or a new gal comes up and shows you what's really possible. Everyone seems to gravitate towards that. It's like a magnet. So really making sure you understand what great is. And a lot of times we say that's just good. And. And a lot of people get stagnant. They don't want to grow.

Tommy Mello [: 00:06:54

Yeah.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:06:54

And. And, you know, as part of that assumption is you have A players on your team. I mean, a players want to be around other A players elevated by other A players. You know, our. Our company mission statements, real simple. We grow people. And I have been impressed that it seems like you sincerely want your people to be great and accomplish their dreams. Dylan.

Tommy Mello [: 00:07:15

Well, like, look, you know, one day I will die, unfortunately. You know, I hope it's outside with my funeral. I hope there's a rainbow. People are not dressed in black. I hope that they can celebrate a legacy that said I was better off knowing that man, that he cared a little bit more and he wanted us to be successful. Selfishly, I do want everybody that I'm associated with to accomplish more than they did previously. I don't know. That's just the way I'm wired.

Tommy Mello [: 00:07:41

Is. Is if. But. But you got to want it. I can't do the work for you. I can help. Help kind of help you visualize the path, but you got to take the first step.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:07:50

Yeah, absolutely. And so that's. That's a great segue here. So. So part of that commitment to people being the best version of themselves is. Is the implementation of The Dream Manager program, right?

Tommy Mello [: 00:07:59

Yeah, we use The Dream Manager program, but it started with Kelly. Now Travis is leading us up. And the two individuals I've had in my dream as a dream manager, they. They care so much deeper than I've ever seen anybody care about anybody like they are. So they're almost like Wendy in this. It's a show called Billions, and it's Axel. And this gal Wendy is kind of like the psychologist. Psychiatrist.

Tommy Mello [: 00:08:25

Yeah. And that's what I feel like The Dream Manager is like, we gotta get. If they're a woman in the company, we gotta get the husbands on the phone. It's almost like counseling and deep soul searching. And a lot of people. When's the last time you dreamed? I mean, a lot of people are like, man, my dream died when I turned 16, and I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted more. I wanted this, I wanted that.

Tommy Mello [: 00:08:45

And then all of a sudden, life smacks you in the face, and you really don't start thinking about what do I want, let me reverse engineer my life. Stephen Covey talks about what are people going to say when you die? And it's a tough question to think about and what are your kids going to say? Did you leave them in a better spot? I mean these are things that a lot of people don't want to think about, but it's inevitable.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:09:06

Yeah, absolutely. So my wife and I, we even wrestle with seven children, so. And my youngest is a freshman in high school. So yeah, those thoughts about, you know, what's this legacy going to be with these, with these kids is really hitting home with me now. So I get it, I get it completely. What I think also separates you is that, you know, you're not only incredibly motivated, but you deeply believe in systems. Whether it's the right CRM, marketing system, sales script, whatever. Simple, effective systems are key.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:09:34

Yeah, and so I think, you know, some people are surprised you talked about that. You talked a little bit about The Dream Manager program. I think some business owners are surprised that, that it's actually a system. So, you know, when you have someone certified, there's a curriculum, there's a system to it, just like a CRM. Just have you found that to be the case and that's helpful in moving people along?

Tommy Mello [: 00:09:54

Well, I'll tell you, I think it was a little north of 60 people the first Dream Manager program. 47 of them bought a house within six months. Some of them could have never afforded, afforded in the beginning. So there was a little bit of sacrifice. And we talk. No one really taught us about money, compound interest, internal rate of return, how money multiplies, how debt could literally bury you. Einstein said compound interest is the most powerful thing in the universe. So it's an education piece.

Tommy Mello [: 00:10:20

But they gotta want to learn so it's, I can't force them to come into it. A few people, I said, I'd really like to get you into this program. And they did it because of me. And within two months they were so bought in.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:10:31

It's crazy, isn't it?

Tommy Mello [: 00:10:32

And it's crazy because a lot of them quit drinking, a lot of them quit whatever their bad habits were and they replaced them with great things. Spending more time with family, not just watching a movie with family, but, but it takes, like I said earlier, soul searching and understanding what you want. I have a guy that just wanted to take his nine year old kid to Africa on a safari with the family of four. And every day that guy would look at the picture of his kid and it was next to a zebra and he's like, I'm going to make this happen. It was 14 grand per person, so that's, it's 56 grand. It's not a cheap trip, but he made it happen because before every job he envisioned that trip.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:11:05

Yep.

Tommy Mello [: 00:11:05

And that's what's important is just being able to envision yourself and what it would be like. It's not always money. Money is a tool. But we don't praise money. We look at it as an opportunity to get ahead. And money does afford you options, right?

Tony Ferraro [: 00:11:18

Absolutely. And so, you know, a lot of we'll talk to business owners and they'll think they get trapped in this idea that, that people's lives between eight and five is really the only thing that matters. But, but like you're saying, I mean, we found that, look, if people's, the rest of their lives is better, they're better for the team. Also, somebody who has a, you know, is having a relationship issue. It's naive to think that's not, not coming to work. I just saw an email the other day I got from, you know, Dave Ramsey about how to stop people from chasing dollar or two more an hour. And what we found is that, you know, you can't pay someone enough who can't manage their money. Which is why I think folks start chasing, chasing, I'll go to this place for two more dollars.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:11:56

And that doesn't work out, you know, and financially, or financially, but also physically. Granted, people don't have to be. I mean, not everybody can be as jacked as you and I. But when you think about people's physical health, you know, someone, obviously they're going to be able to do their job better if they're in better physical condition. But also like they're going to be able to do something outside of work.

Tommy Mello [: 00:12:15

Yeah.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:12:16

And they're going to be. And they're not going to have all the, the trauma that goes along with, with help. So the whole person really is important and you really seem committed to that.

Tommy Mello [: 00:12:23

Yeah, Well, I say if you can't save money at 40,000 a year, 100,000 is not going to solve the situation. What Dave Ramsey talks about what I love the most, everyday millionaires, the opportunity of you look at a. So I was fortunate enough to take finite math when I was 19 and there was tables in the back of this book and it showed 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. When you hit that 40 year mark, it's like, it's doubt. You're talking about millions and millions and millions and millions and millions. Of dollars. It's just taking a little bit of discipline from the beginning. And the same thing with working out is it doesn't need to be this crazy curriculum, but it's just like, make sure your sleep's a little bit better.

Tommy Mello [: 00:12:57

We spend so much time in bed. Make sure you got a comfortable bed, a good pillow, good sheets, and you're not distracted and you like. It's a habit. And I do believe in eight hours of sleep. I mean, I track it with this aura ring. That's where I think the foundation is. And then just recovery. Some of us are low testosterone.

Tommy Mello [: 00:13:13

Some of us need a peptide to get some of us, you know, a little less alcohol or sugar. And all of a sudden, you come home from work and it's almost like you've got a part two of your day to spend with family, committed, focused time. And if you could give that to somebody, it's better than any raise would ever give them.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:13:30

Yeah, 100%, absolutely. You know, another thing I've noticed, I'm sure your team would notice this also about you is, is your decisiveness. So I think you and I had a conversation about The Dream Manager, and then it was maybe two texts later, I was like, we got to get this in. Send somebody a certification, you know, and when people come to certification, they're ready to go the next Monday. And you just implemented the program. When I'm talking to business owners will often hear, yeah, it's a great idea. I really want to invest in my people, but I've got this going on, and I'll take it back to my team, and it is a financial investment. And all the different reasons and excuses, you know, what's your message for business owners about being decisive? It's a program that works to just pull the trigger and get after it.

Tommy Mello [: 00:14:11

Well, a lot of people, they're afraid of failure. They're afraid of improper implementation. I would say there's a pretty good often amount of times that we fail at something, but we get back up. I think so many people are waiting to that perfect timing. They're like, you know, we got so much going on right now. There's so many things coming at us is, I'm pretty good. The team's large enough now to take on a lot more. And I'm pushing them all the time.

Tommy Mello [: 00:14:40

I mean, they're not happy necessarily, but I'm like, we're going to do this now. We might fall down when we get back up. I think we're a compilation of failures in business. Jeff Bezos. Said home runs are just more than four RBIs because in business if you hit a home run, you could hit a thousand RBIs or 10,000. And so we're always trying things and figuring out is this going to work in our culture, in our business, in our atmosphere of the business. And I think so many people, they're just, they're so afraid to get started now. There's often people that read a new book every week and they bring in all these new things.

Tommy Mello [: 00:15:15

It's always like now what? It's a flavor of the week. So it's happy not to go. It's a good thing not to go the other way.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:15:20

Right.

Tommy Mello [: 00:15:21

But I would say when it matters the most is when it's going to impact their lives. And I'd say if it's implemented correctly, The Dream Manager program really, really kicks butt. And I love the foundation of it because it all started. And I know it's a fiction story, but you know, why isn't it, why aren't these people showing up to work? Well, it turns out they needed, they couldn't get to work. They just needed a carpool.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:15:41

That's right.

Tommy Mello [: 00:15:41

And then it turns out they wanted to learn how to speak English better. And that turnover cost. A business like it probably costs 200% of what the person makes in a year. I think there's all these hidden KPIs. How much does it cost to let a truck that you're paying fourteen hundred dollars a month just sit there or have to lower your marketing spend or retrain somebody. There's just all these things. And I think people should just go after things hardcore. The Dream Manager program, you know, we were private equity backed and they were like, Dream Manager, Manager, what is this? And I said this is, this is part of the deal.

Tommy Mello [: 00:16:14

We're doing it. And I had to find the right person because if you, unless you got the right person doing the program, it's, it's like the wrong CFO or the cpa.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:16:22

Right.

Tommy Mello [: 00:16:22

You're not going to pay your taxes. Right. You're not going to pay and collect your ar. You, you got to have the right person doing it.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:16:27

Absolutely. And we, I think you have picked the right people. That's also what, you know, our certification is a pretty intense. The two day program where we teach people not only the curriculum of The Dream Manager but also how to be a great coach.

Tommy Mello [: 00:16:37

Yep.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:16:38

Which is so important because one of the things we tell them is that we really harp home and I do this with our coaches too. Is that you can't want the dream more than the person does.

Tommy Mello [: 00:16:47

Yeah.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:16:47

And it's a trap that people fall into. So it really is about empowering people. It's not soft, it's not a fluffy. When you talk about turnover and, you know, frontline worker, 100, 105% of their. Of their salary to replace somebody.

Tommy Mello [: 00:17:01

Yeah.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:17:02

With all opportunity costs and things you mentioned, program starts to pay for itself really quickly. And I think what we found and see if you agree with this is that, you know, the. The truth is because business owners think they try to understand why people work for them. What we found is that the universal truth is that people work for you because they believe that they hitched their wagon to you. They'll be able to accomplish their dreams, big or small.

Tommy Mello [: 00:17:26

I like that. Yeah. I think that's important. That should be the goal, is that helping dreams come true. You're helping goals come true. And I've been studying a lot of Robert Cialdini's teachings on influence and this idea of commitment and staying committed and understanding what discipline is. Because a lot of people get motivated, they lose motivation. You don't lose discipline.

Tommy Mello [: 00:17:45

Something. It's my buzzword of the year, discipline.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:17:48

And, you know, lastly with the program, one of the goals, and this is what we talk to people at certification about, is, is to help people be a little more strategic about their lives. I was reading a study the other day about generational poverty. And the number one cause according to the study of generational poverty was chaos in people's lives. So, you know, if you can get people to think just a little more strategically about their lives, who wouldn't want a more strategic employee? You know, when a tech is out there and he's trying to figure, you know, so. So that's a really. The underlying principle is, can we get people to be a little more strategic in your life?

Tommy Mello [: 00:18:25

Yeah. So no, it makes sense. I think. I'm adhd, and by having Bri, Ashley, Bridget, people around me that are super organized that help me maintain my calendar. Stuff's put in a certain file. The house is taken care of a certain way. I mean, the dogs get washed on a certain day. There's so many good things.

Tommy Mello [: 00:18:46

I'm able to get 10 times more done in a day. But take it opposite, throw chaos. I can't get anything done. I'm like 1 10th. I almost seem like unable to learn or get anything done. So I've learned like my Achilles heel and what it takes and to have somebody help the people in the company because a lot of the people in the blue collar industry are dyslexic or adhd. And if you give them the foundation to not be in that chaos, they'll get a lot further.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:19:13

Yeah, absolutely. So, well, time out. I appreciate the time. So the last question, and I asked this of everybody that, that we interview. So, Tommy Mello, what's the big dream you're working on now?

Tommy Mello [: 00:19:25

Oh, man, my big dream. So we obviously have an equity incentive program. You know, we're going to make a lot, a lot, a lot of people, a lot of money. But the real deal is this next business venture we're jumping into. It'll be a new partner, new sponsor, new private equity company. The question is, how many people can we change? What's really cool? Personally, I'm getting married. We want kids. In our future, we're building two dream houses.

Tommy Mello [: 00:19:50

And those dream houses are built in a way to have people come share our. We can share our lives with them.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:19:57

Right?

Tommy Mello [: 00:19:58

Like my mom's 70th birthday, Bree's niece, her third birthday. We had at the house. Like, I don't think you could put a dollar figure quality time under a roof with, with family, friends, and people that you love. So there's a lot. If I had to tell you all my dreams, you'd be like, man, this guy really dreams a lot. But I just. I want to be a positive impact with people around me. I want them to say that he challenges me and he holds me accountable.

Tommy Mello [: 00:20:22

My real friends tend to ask more of me. They tend to hold me accountable. They tend, maybe I'm not having a good time with somebody on the team, and they'll say, but this is a true player of your team. He didn't do anything wrong. You got to look past that. It's like they. They challenge me to become the best version of myself. They expect me when I say I'm going to do something, to come through with it.

Tommy Mello [: 00:20:42

And they remind me of what I said I was going to do. I think a lot of times it's so easy to let people off the hook and say, it's no problem, go ahead, you can cheat, go ahead, you can miss the workout. I understand, you know, and that's not what real people that are behind me do. So I think my dreams are. Are confess to everybody. They know. Most people in the company know what I'm going after, and they hold me. They hold me responsible.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:21:06

Well, no doubt, I'm sure you're going to accomplish that dream. It was. It was fantastic to talk with you today. I know we're getting together on some other things, and I hope today, you know, we'll. We'll help some of those, you know, folks in the service industry who need The Dream Manager program can help them out. And I hope today the success you're having with it kind of moves them along. But thanks for your time, Tommy.

Tommy Mello [: 00:21:26

Yeah, you bet. Listen, read the book. It's a quick, easy book to read. If it doesn't really impact you, you don't have to do anything. But I'll tell you, our experience at The Dream Manager program has been nothing less like it'll be a program we do forever. And any company that I get involved in in a big way, that's something I'm going to mandate. So it works for us. It's amazing.

Tommy Mello [: 00:21:47

It changes lives. It really puts the people that are doing the hard work first. And it's going to impact the community, it's going to impact the school system, it's going to impact people. Generational curse of not being able to get ahead in life, that's what The Dream Manager is about. So I highly recommend at least reading the book. Listen to the audible, do what you need to do to get access to that, and then you'll decide what you want to do.

Tony Ferraro [: 00:22:10

Awesome.

Tommy Mello [: 00:22:10

Thank you. Appreciate you. Thanks, Tony.