“There are people that need you, and you have a chance to change a life absolutely forever, just like mine was. Young people are going through so much, and all they really need is just, you know, one person to tell them that they’re capable of so much more in life.” -Letitia Hanke, President/CEO of ARS Roofing, Gutters, and Solar and Founder/President of The LIME Foundation.
As a child, Letitia Hanke experienced bullying for her skin color. As an adult, she faced it again, as well as judgment for being a woman in charge of a construction company. Despite the obstacles in her way, she triumphed, creating a thriving business and a vital nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children who experience bullying.
Letitia is a shining example of resilience in the face of discrimination. She not only created a successful career for herself but gives back to her community, including children, teens, and seniors in need of love and guidance. Her LIME Foundation reaches seniors in need of community, disadvantaged youth through music, and students seeking a career in the trades.
Listen as Letitia shares her story, from a musical career to a life in the trades.
Topics discussed in this interview:
- Letitia’s early life and the circumstances that shaped her
- Her experience with bullying
- Transitioning from a career in music to construction
- Overcoming not just sexism, but racism
- ARS Roofing today
- Letitia’s nonprofit, The LIME Foundation
- Training the next generation of tradespeople
- Crafting a team who cares
- Success stories
- The generational gap in skilled labor
- Rapid-fire questions
Email Letitia at letitia@arsroofing.com and visit The LIME Foundation to learn more and get involved.
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Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:They need one person. That's really all it takes and we can do that. Each and every single one of us can just grab one of these young people and change their lives forever. Instead of the pathway going over here to the left, we can help them go over here to the right by just a few words. That's all it takes. It's not this big, you know, elaborate thing.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Welcome to the Construction Disruption podcast, where we uncover the future of building and remodeling. I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, a manufacturer of specialty metal roofing and other building materials. And today my co-host is Seth Heckaman. How are you doing, Seth?
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Doing well, how are you doing?
Todd Miller:
Speaker:I'm doing well. And I you know, we just set our challenge words for this episode, so I'm looking forward to that so our audience knows what's going on. Both Seth and I, plus our guest this episode have a word that we have been challenged to work into the conversation somehow. So I will challenge the audience to see if you can pick up on what our challenge words might be. And then at the end we will say whether we've been successful or not. So that will be fun. So, Seth, I have a couple of questions for you.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Okay.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:What does a lemon say when it answers the phone?
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:I do not know.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Yellow. Yellow.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:There you go.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Okay, here's another one. What kind of car does an egg drive?
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Drawing a blank.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:These are getting easier, so you may get the third one. What kind of car does an egg drive? A Yolkswagen
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Last one, so this is the easiest one. I think you got the best, best chance on this one. I'm believing in you on this one, okay man? What does a bee used to brush its hair?
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Honeycomb.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Ahh, there you go, I knew that.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:You know something that happened to me recently. I don't, I think I forgot to tell you. Did you hear about my peekaboo accident?
Todd Miller:
Speaker:I did not. That sounds rather ominous.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:It was. Yeah, it was pretty traumatic. It landed me in the ICU.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:The peekaboo in the ICU.Oh, my goodness. Okay, maybe we should get on with the show.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Probably.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Okay, So today's guest is Letitia Hanke. Letitia is president and CEO of ARS Roofing and Gutters based in Santa Rosa, California. Standing for Alternative Roofing Solutions, Letitia started ARS in 2004, building it into a large and highly successful contracting company. Letitia, I think has a fascinating history that I look forward to hearing her share, but one of the things she is known for is her philanthropy and giving generously to her community. In fact, I threw the question up on some social media, LinkedIn, I think, and just asked for anyone in the construction space who is a business owner who is known for giving back to their community. Letitia's name actually came up immediately from not one but two people. So that was awesome. Over the years, Letitia has received numerous awards and recognition. She received the 2014 Small Business of the Year award from California Governor Gavin Newsom. She was winner of the 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the National 100 Black Women Council. She received the 2018 Walmart Community Playmaker Award from the Golden State Warriors. She's been featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show and also Mike Rowe's Returning the Favor show. Roofing Contractor recognized her as the 2020 Residential Roofer of the year, and she was also more recently, most recently been named the 2002 Influential Women of the Year recognized by the North Bay Business Journal. And that, honestly, is just a few of her accomplishments. Letitia, thank you so much for joining us today on Construction Disruption. I'm really looking forward to digging into your story of inspiration and encouragement.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Aww, thank you. So happy to be here.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Well, I'm looking forward to learning. So you grew up in a small town or in small town Northern California. I kind of gather you grew up near the shores of Clear Lake and also Mt. Konocti. I knew a gentleman once who wanted to build a tram ride up the side of Mt. Konocti. I often heard how beautiful it was there. Tell us a little bit about your early years growing up, though.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yeah, I grew up in the country. I was born in the Bay Area of California and like near Berkeley. Sometimes people are familiar with Berkeley.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Sure.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:But my parents, my grandfather had given my dad some property up in good old Lake County up in the country with deer and rabbits. And so, you know, it was very exciting for my parents because they were going to have a chance to, you know, become homeowners and, you know, just kind of have a different life for me and my brother. But it was also a little rough as well, because in Lake County is not very known for diversity. So, you know, there weren't very many, you know, black people in general. But in my school, you know, very, very small town school, maybe about 800 kids in a K-12 school. And there were like six black kids in the whole school. So I was bullied, you know, severely bullied for many years. So, you know, I got through it. I learned so much from the experience. And I feel like what I went through as a kid really is why I do what I do today. You know, it gives me a chance to give back to others and help other young people through all the adversities that they face. And so, you know, I wouldn't give that up, that experience, because I feel like it really kind of gave me that drive that I have today. So I'm grateful for my parents wanting to build a better life for me and my brother. And it is a very beautiful place to grow up in, though.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Yeah, I remember one weekend I was out in California and I was out on business and I was I stayed out there over the weekend and so I was just driving around Northern California and I have to admit, I got into a few places like, this is a little strange. It was a little scary at times.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yes, yes, yes.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:So you then went on to college with the intention of being in the music industry and even looked like you'd probably end up being a professional singer and musician. But things took a turn for you in college as you kind of fell into the roofing industry and a career that you really came to love. Tell us a little bit about how that happened.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yeah, so music has been a huge part of my life. You know, part of the getting through all the bullying that I went through. One of my teachers who was a music teacher in school, she put a trumpet in my hands when I was seven years old. And every day at lunch she would teach me how to play the trumpet, so that way I wouldn't get bullied on the playground. So I fell in love with music. I fell in love with how music made me feel. And as I kept growing up, I'm just like, That's what I want to do with my life. I want to be this big rock star and go off doing that. But I was broke in college, because it was not paying the bills, gigging and trying to be a musician. And I was putting myself through college and I realized that it wasn't happening. So I, in my junior year, I started working for a roofing company as the receptionist and really just wanting to meet. And that moment, it was just I needed a job. It was all, it wasn't like, Oh, I'm gonna have a roofing career. It was about a job. And I started working there, I was 19, almost 20 years old when I started working there and then what ended up happening, just over the years, you know, my boss let go our office manager and he promoted me to the office manager. That was a year into it. And then I became the manager of the company about three years later, and then I'm starting to manage the company. Then my boss realized he wanted to retire and he comes to me and says, Hey, I want you to buy my roofing company. I said, I'm not a roofer. What do you what do you mean, you want me to buy your roofing company? Yeah. Did I know how to run a roofing company? Yes, but I was not a roofer. He said, Are you willing to learn? Now, I'm like 20 something years old at that point, I was maybe 22, 23. I'm just like, Sure, why not? And so for another few years I learned how to roof. And once I, once I knew how to roof, there was really nothing stopping me at that point to go and get my own contractor's license. And that's what I did. In 2003, I went to get my license, I passed the test, and then I started my own company instead. In 2004, he went ahead and just retired and then I bought the assets of his company and started my own company in 2004. I hired about 11 of his employees at the time and then just built my company up from there. So yeah, that's how it happened. That's the shorter version, of course, but that's really what happened. I ended up dropping out of college in my senior year because I had this, I got this big promotion, you know, with the roofing company when I went from receptionist up to, you know, the office manager and the manager of the company. I just realized, you know, I had this great opportunity to, you know, run this business. And I've always been very business or I've always been an entrepreneur since I was a little girl, actually. I used to braid hair and make handmade pans. You guys remember those?
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Well, I do. I don't know that Seth does.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:You guys are, I'm just saying. And I was aking those after school, you know, selling them for ten bucks and, you know, making my money. And I knew that I wanted to do something, you know, in business. I wasn't sure exactly what. And, you know, college was great for me, but I just I went because my family in school told me, go to college, go to college as soon as you graduate. So that's just what I did. But I found a great career in the construction trades.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:That is an incredible story, it really is. And back to music for just a moment, didn't realize you started on trumpet. That was my instrument, so. Yeah, so we got that in common. That's awesome. I got to tell you, too. So last night, my wife and I went to a concert by a 11 member acappella singing group called Voctave. And so it's like octave with a V, you need to check these people out.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I will really write them down.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:It was absolutely incredible. It was a neat concert, neat people, but just beautiful, beautiful music. That was cool.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I'm very interested in music. You know, I stopped playing the trumpet when I was about 12 because I again, I got bullied for, you know, like I have big lips and I used to put the trumpet up to my lips and they make fun of me. So I took up piano and drums instead. And I still drum today and I drum at my church. I have a band that I play with. So yeah, music is definitely a big love of mine.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Oh, cool. Seth leads the contemporary worship band at his church, actually.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Yep, yep.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:That is, that's awesome. Yeah, I haven't played trumpet in 30-some years and I tried to pick it up. My chops are completely gone, so.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:You know, it doesn't work.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Just the way it works. So you started your own company based upon the knowledge that you'd obtained from the industry. Curious, as you started out with ARS Roofing and Gutters, any surprises still early on as you started this business and entered the world of it?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yeah, it was an interesting process because, you know, as a female in roofing, there just weren't any I didn't have any.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Sure.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Mentors that were in the industry that could just kind of guide me through what I would deal with. And for me, when I started my company, I kind of went through it. It's funny because I really did go through kind of that bullying all over again. I'll never forget the very first incident. I you know, I was always trying to kind of blend in as a roofer. So I'd always wear my jeans and polo shirts and, you know, and just kind of blend in with the guys, I guess I would say. And I went to this networking function with a bunch of contractors and they were hanging out by the bar and I kind of walked up to get something. And then one of the contractors saw me in my logo and he says, Oh, you're with ARS Roofing? And I'm like, Oh yeah, I'm actually the CEO. And he says, Oh, from the kitchen to the rooftop, huh?
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Oh, my.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Goodness gracious.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:No. Yeah, you kind of gasp when you hear that. And I remember that experience. Now, back then, I'm just like, you know, I just kind of laugh.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Yeah, what would you do?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Remember I said I'm just blending in. That's the kind of experience that I was having when I first got into there because, you know, they just didn't know who. They're like, Who is this person? Like, who is this lady trying to take over the roofing industry? And, you know, and then that's the sexism side. But racism, you know, I had customers that wouldn't shake my hand. They wouldn't open their doors, you know, even though they knew I was coming to present their bids. And it's one of those things where now, after all the experiences that I had in that way, I was hiding a lot. I wasn't putting my name on anything. I used to sign my name LR Henke so they'd think I'm a man when they see it. And then I have one experience that really brought me out of my shell and I had a chance to like put my face on everything, like all of my marketing and everything. You see now that I have my face, my name, my full name, Letitia Hanke is on everything.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Awesome.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:And that really changed my life forever. Because once I kind of came out from that, I was able to really just explode my business because I wasn't in hiding anymore. So that was the one thing that surprised me was just that, you know, I didn't, I wasn't welcomed with open arms. I guess I would say it was it was just an interesting experience. But now I get to do business with people that want to do business with me and they want to support me. And now it's just been really great.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Well, you've been through a lot. I'm thrilled with where you've ended up though, that's fantastic. So today, ARS you know, really is quite sizable. Kind of curious, tell us what areas you cover, what types of projects, materials you work with. Kind of a little bit about the scope of your business today.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Great. So we have 24 employees right now. We are in Northern, so I'm the North Bay, so I'm mainly Sonoma County, Marin County, Napa County, San Francisco area, some of the Bay Area for larger commercial projects. I do specialize in commercial and like condo associations and we only do pretty much residential for referrals. So previous clients or I'm not that competitive in the market when it comes to residential. So it's just all of our referrals is most, most of business that we get is by referral. I don't do that much marketing besides, you know, radio interviews and webinars and things like that, which is always great. I love what I do. I love my team. I have such a great team. They're my family, and I wouldn't be where I am today without them. So just product-wise, I specialize in a lot of products that are, I really only do products that I know that are going to last, that are going to be around. And, you know, I don't really get myself into a lot of new products until they've been on the market a long, long time. So I do a lot of composition shingle. We do single ply for a lot of our flat roof and low sloped roofing and then winter season, which in California we don't get that much rain, but when the winter season we stick to a lot of the maintenance work. That's what gets us through the winter. You know, all my crews work all year-round, so we do a lot of gutter cleaning, roof maintenance, keeping leaves and debris off the roof, screening for people, especially here where we are in California, we've had a lot of fire, huge fires. So people are really adamant about making sure they get better screens and keeping all their roofs clean of debris and such. So we're year-round and it's just always a blessing to know that my crews are always going to be working.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Wow. Very good. Yeah, that's, that's quite sizable. I love the way you kind of do that diversification between the different seasons as far as the type of work you focus on. So, kind of back to what brought your name to me in the first place with your philanthropic side. Seems like much of what you do and how you lead your business and what you do in your community is based on wanting to change the world, to make the world a better place. Tell us a little bit about how that might tell us a lot about your background. And I suspect a lot of that passion kind of sprang forth from that. But I would love to hear a little bit more about that.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Oh, yeah. So I started the LIME Foundation, which is my nonprofit, and it just stemmed from what I said earlier about being bullied because I remember, I'll never actually forget the feeling that I had from my teacher like coming over to me. I was actually hiding behind an oak tree trying to eat my lunch because kids would always steal my lunch and that feeling that I got when she came to my rescue. And that's how I always feel. And I started LIME Foundation for that purpose, just so that way we can come to the rescue of all of these young people that are dealing with, you know, suicidal thoughts, hating themselves, just not feeling like they have a place in this world. And we do that by giving them a great opportunity to see the potential and themselves through different programs. And my son, his name is Emil, is E-M-I-L and LIME is Emil spelled backwards.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Okay.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:People were like, Is that like Lyme disease? No is not about Lyme disease. It's not ike lemons and limes. My son, when he was seven years old, it was the first time he was called the N-word. My son is multiracial. And although I was called the N-word regularly, and when I was younger, my son came home and said, you know, mom, why, why do people hate me? And it was a moment for me. That's the first time I get to tell him my story and what I went through as a kid. And I talked to him about bullying and standing up for himself. And when I went to start my nonprofit, I just really wanted it to be something dear to my heart. And what's more dear than you know, you're your own kiddo, right? So that's why it's called LIME Foundation. And one of our programs stems around construction trades. And I know this story I told you about dropping out of college, because we know that a lot of young people go to college because they just think that's the right thing to do. That's what they've been told all their lives, But it's not really what they want to do. They want to work with their hands or actually have a career or get a job right out of school and we recognize that. And so we go into high schools and different programs like foster programs like for foster youth or probation youth. And we help those youth that want to have an amazing career in the trades. And we teach them and we educate them on how they can have that career and then we get them great jobs in that career. And that's one of our main focus of our line foundation is our NextGen Trades Academy.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Wow, I certainly applaud you on that. That sounds incredible. And not only making a difference in their lives, but making a difference in our industry as well. You know, by obviously, the labor shortage is a major thing in construction and certainly looking for more diversity as well within our industry. So all in all, a win-win on all sides.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:And just thank you for you leveraging your story and using it just to then go out and be loving on more people rather than all sorts of other emotions that could rise up out of that. But Todd touched on it, this crossover of those passions of your business and these, you know, philanthropic efforts. Would love to hear more about how then you've integrated your business and your foundation and what that crossover looks like and, you know, opportunities that you have for your team to serve to. I don't know if you all get together and take kids out mushroom hunting or something on the weekends or what, you know, what that might look like. But what's that integration look like?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Good question, Seth. What I love most about my roofing company is that, you know, number one, we do hire the students. So, you know, when we have graduates through our program, I nab them up as quickly as I can. Whoever says they want to be a roofer, I'm just like, okay, you're hired. You know, like, I don't even know you when you're hired. You know, what I love the most about the program is that we actually bring in different CEOs of local businesses. We bring in roofers and architects. It's great because some of our architects, they help design different projects for our students to be able to build when we're doing it on site. You know, we built a birdhouse. I I'm going to have them do you know, a design of a wagon the next time so we can build something a little more extravagant there. But that part's really great because they're able to, like, have these kids do some hands-on experience, which is really important. And then in our program, we do a lot of education. We really just introduce them to the trades to get them excited about going in painting. Get them excited about being a roofer, and then we help them get that job. So the way I integrate my business with it is that I'm one of the mentors, of course, under roofing. Of course I started the program, but I always come to every class and make sure that I'm in the classes myself so that way they can see that I'm, you know, really invested in their time snd getting them their careers and then just making sure that we're mentoring them and getting them, you know, hired in really good companies. We do a big vetting process through it all. So I'm grateful that my roofing company is always, you know, involved as much as possible. And we don't need like every job that we do, every single job, whether it's a little skylight repair or a giant commercial hotel reroof that we do, we donate up to 5% of our net profit at the end of every job to the LIME Foundation so that way we can keep this program going forever. I really want this program to be, you know going forever. So that's really how I integrate my company.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Hmm.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Awesome.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:You know, I love your vision for the LIME Foundation, and I mean, not just vision, but reality of what you're doing. I mean, it's almost almost like you're running a trade school, a technical school, but yet, you know, it's it's done in a much more private sort of way and I love that. One of our past episodes, we had the person from our, actually our local tech school on, and it was amazing to hear about how they build in their youth and get them connected with employers and all that. And yet you're doing this as a private thing, and that's really cool. I'm kind of curious, so when you look at others in your company, do they share your passion and care and interest and, you know, giving back and building and others? Do they share that for you? And what does that look like?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yeah, my my team on the roofing side, you know, my team knew right away what I was doing. I mean, I talked to them first because I needed a buy-in from everybody, from my field workers all the way from like, office workers. I needed everyone to know that this is my passion. And, you know, I'm going to be out the office a little bit more and I need to make sure you guys can handle it, which they are just miracle workers. And everyone said, Yeah. And then I explained to them the story. It was important for them to understand why I was so passionate about this. And yeah, we have a complete buy-in from everybody. I am very passionate, my team is very passionate and they truly care. You know, I feel like that's one of the things that makes us different in the roofing industry as well, because every single one of my team members, you know, they kind of put themselves in the place of the client. You know, I want my house to be nice and clean with no nails, you know, on the driveway. And, you know, so they really take extra care of people. And we talk about it. You know, we we talk about, you know, helping young people. They train these people. I've hired five NextGen Trades Academy graduates. Two are still with me right now. And they've been trained and learning and they learn from my staff. That's how they're learning how to be in this industry and have these great careers at such a young age and making great money. They make really good money at, you know, really young ages. So I couldn't have done it without the buy-in from my staff and their passion and and their love for what I do. So they're very supportive.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Any particular stories come in mind of individuals, you know, lives you've impacted through your foundation or maybe folks that then came into your business? And yeah, we don't need to give names but yeah, just any any real stories that come to mind of, hey, we really impacted this person?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Oh, man. Okay. I'm glad I'm not going to be on camera for this one. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so I can't even get it out. Just recently, actually, I hear about what my students are going through all the time. They do talk to us about their situations. We know when they come in, you know what's going on. But just recently, in the last month, I found out that one of our graduates who grew up homeless with his mom and his sister and they were living in a car and when he was growing up, his mom had to send him away to a boys school so he could have something stable. And when he graduated, they were living in the car and he saw our trades academy program and he is signed up for it. Came in, graduated pretty much at the top of our class. And we got him this really, really great job at this company, the company is called Bay Alarm. They're a great alarm company, they move a lot of our graduates up, you know up into, you know better positions and he's in this great position making a large amount of money. He was able to move his mom and his sister out of the car into an apartment. And he and his girlfriend just had a baby. And I'll never forget him telling that story in front of about almost 300 people at our, we had our fundraising gala and it was the first time that he had ever, like, read and told his story to a bunch of strangers. And it was the first time that I had learned that. So and he had directly related our program to his success and the success of moving his family out of a car. And that's just one story of so many, so many that we get to hear and know. And that's the whole purpose of this program for me, you know, is knowing that I know these young people are going through so much and all they really need is just, you know, one person to tell them that they're capable of so much more in life. And when I hear those kind of stories, I know that I'm doing the right thing and I'm going to keep doing it.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:That is an incredible story. And I want to be on your list next time you've got a fundraiser or gala or something going on, I want to know about it.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Thank you.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Incredible, incredible. So, you know, I mean, a lot of our audience members out there are other business owners. I think really you just summed it up extremely well. But, you know, why would you encourage them to be involved and giving back in some fashion? And, you know, it may not have to look exactly like what you're doing, but something that they're passionate about that they rally behind. Why would you really encourage them to do that?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I told the story of my dad. I was at an event recently, a roofing convention, and I told the story of my father, how he, at a young age, he dropped out of the high school and the ninth grade was getting in all kind of trouble and drugs. He's been clean now fifty years and he just needed an opportunity. And he had a mentor. He had someone that came. It was his pastor and his, when my father turned 18, his pastor said, You, you need to do something with your life. You are capable of more than you know. And my dad was great with his hands, and he was just great with that type of thing. And he joined a union and became a pipefitter when he was 19 years old. And he built this great life. And that's how he was able to build his own home, move us up to a great area because he had a mentor. Mentoring is the reason and the thing that I would say to people. We have a chance to talk to young people about the things that we've been through, the opportunities that are available to them, but they just need someone. They need one person and that's really all it takes. And we can do that. Each and every single one of us can just grab one of these young people and change their lives forever. Instead of the pathway going over here to the left, we can help them go over here to the right by just a few words. That's all it takes, it's not this big, you know, elaborate thing. And so that's what I would encourage people to just really consider, is just being a mentor and taking out that time. Wherever you are in, you know, the United States, there are high schools and places, foster care, places, there are probation. There's people that need you and you have a chance to change a life absolutely forever, just like mine was.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Wow. That is powerful stuff. And yeah, and you know, you see that so often in effective leaders and I applaud you on what you're doing. But you know, you hit a point in leadership and you realize, part of this mantle I have upon myself is to build into others and to use, you know, my influence or my connections or whatever I can, but really just boils down to loving others, I guess when I get down to it.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yes.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:So it really does. Wow. Well, kind of, okay, so let's look back at really the business side of roofing and so forth. Here on the show, we talk a lot about the future of our industry. I'm curious if anything comes to mind to you when you look out into the future of construction, maybe roofing, maybe solar. I know you get involved cleaning solar panels and such. Anything that really excites you about our industry coming up in the future?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I think the one thing that's exciting me right now is just noticing how contractors are ready to finally train young people. We have this huge gap and I don't know if it exists in every single trade, but I know in roofing, I, you know, I have like the ones that are, you know, between 40 and 60 and then I have, you know, under 30 and there's no one in that middle, you know, that middle gap for when my 40 to 60 are about to retire. And what I'm noticing more and more when I especially talk to roofers is that they're finally getting that mentality that, you know, we're ready to start training these young people, to start filling in those gaps, getting that covered. And that's important if you're going to have this, you know, robots aren't going to be doing our roofing. Come on. You know, I know there's robots out there trying to do stuff, but they're not going to be doing roofing. They're not replacing people. And we need to have people there. And that is the one thing that's been really exciting me lately, is especially going to a couple roofing conventions. They're all just like, Okay, we're ready. You know, we're ready to do this. Let's do this. Let's start training these young people. And that's really great because it took a long, long time for me to, you know, be able to hear that. They're like, Oh, we don't want to train anyone who's green. It just takes too long. It costs us money. And I'm like, Yeah, you're right, it does. But now look where we are. Yeah, look at us now. So, So yeah, that makes me truly happy to see that, you know, they're ready now. So let's do it.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Yeah, I hear you.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:So as a company that was quick to adopt that and be on the leading edge, you know, kind of ahead of the rest of the industry. What are some things you've learned along the way of the best way to incorporate these younger folks into our industry and organizations? Best ways to train maybe how we need to train and lead differently. What are some of those lessons?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:The lessons have been that they learned the way I learned. There was no roofing school that I went to. There was no, you know, roofing apprentice-type school. They learn on the job. And so having an internal training program step by step for these people, they'll pick up on it. If you just, you know, let them do it on the job, let them actually do the work and be there on site. And that's why I mean, they're thrown in there. So it's not like I mean, we teach them ladder safety and everything. But, you know, we don't just get up on the roof. But that's been the greatest thing that I've learned is just that, you know, it's not about going to some school and learning how to roof, it's really about being there, seeing it and doing it with your own hands. And because we have a program for them for training, that's been the best thing that I've seen so far for my roofers. I had a roofer, one of my graduates who worked for me for about two, two and a half years. He trained with us, got really good, and he came to me. He says, You know, my dream is I, I want to work for Tesla. That's my dream. I've always wanted to work for Tesla. I love Tesla. I said, okay, if that's your dream, let's make it happen. And he's currently doing installing Tesla solar roofs right now. He's running his own crew. He's been there now for two years. And you know, I'm proud to have been that stepping stone for him. You know, we threw him in there, we got him trained and now he's doing some higher-level things. So that's what I would say is just, you know, get them in that training, throw them in, be willing to take that extra time to just train them because they'll learn it just like we did. You know, it took us a long time or, you know, to grasp it, we have to give them that same courtesy, you know. And that's how I truly feel.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:You know, when you mention that sort of generation age gap that's kind of that middle place. And yeah, that's pretty universal in our industry. And I, we've talked about it before and, you know, I think that every generation has always complained about the younger generation. And in particular, it seems like, you know, we've seen a lot with boomers complaining about millennials and stuff. But, you know, one of the things that came up, I was talking to someone the other day, I said, you know, the problem isn't with the younger generation. The problem is the older generation hasn't been building into them. And that's a problem.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:That really is the problem. You know, everything, things change. So we still have to, we have to be adaptable to that. You know, the the millennials are different from baby boomers. That's just it is what it is. You know, I mean, we just have to realize that we have to be adaptable as well, and we have to kind of adapt to the changing of the times and who we're training and just be willing to adapt to that. And if you are, you're going to be very successful in getting these, you know, younger people into your your companies and they are extravagant. I'm telling you right now, we've been training young people that are, you know, 19 to 22. They are just, you know, really into it and excited. I remember one of my latest hires from my graduate program. He says I sat down with him his first 30 days and I had his evaluation. I'm like, you know, how are things going? And he says. I love tearing off.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Wow.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Like, who says that? Do you know any roofers right now that'll tell you they love tearing off? Like he's like, Oh, that's my favorite thing. So now all the crews want him on their crew. He's like excited about tearing off. And I'm like, Oh, my goodness. You know, so, you know, we just, we love that. You know, that's that's an exciting thing for me, of course, because I'm just like, oh, great, let's get a few more of those, you know? But it's just been nice to just see the young people excited. They want to work with their hands. We're working with a very different generation now that, you know, they're like, I don't have to go to college. I could be making $25 an hour right out of high school, which they're doing, by the way. Contractors are, because they're such a huge competition. I was just talking to one of my graduates who was working for a company and he's like, I really, really, really want to go into electrical. And now he's got several electricians offering him sign-up bonuses to work for them or, you know, this rate of pay, and then he's negotiating them. What about my benefits? And about these He's going to be starting with the company at like $24 an hour with a $1,000 sign on bonus and like benefits. Just, you know, that's exciting for young people to know that they can step right into that right out of high school. So it makes me excited if you can't tell.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:That's awesome.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:That is great stuff. Great stuff. Well, so you're going through all this career and all all the rigamarole of the roofing industry and everything. I have to ask, though, is music still a part of your life? You mentioned playing drums in your church. Is that right?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yes, it is 100% part of my life.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Awesome.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I have a concert coming up this coming Sunday, a Christmas concert with my church. We're putting on a big outdoor concert. And, you know, I'm the drummer, so I, I love it. I just was in a Battle of the Bands back in August. My band won the Battle of the Bands. That was very exciting as well and...
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Congratulations.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:So yeah, I love music. It's really my chance, you know, with everything that I do work-wise because running a nonprofit is a business as well. So, you know, it's just insane. Music is my self-care is being able to, you know, write music and, you know, play my drums. So, yeah, I still do it.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Very cool.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Very neat. Well, good for you, I'm glad to hear that. Well, we're close to wrapping up the business end of things, and your enthusiasm is just so infectious, I love it. Is there anything we haven't covered today that you would like to share with our audience?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I just would love the audience to just, you know, check out our LIME Foundation and so you can just kind of see the things that we're doing in our community. And if you've always wanted to have a chance to start your own nonprofit or just do something for your community, I am a wide open book. I would love to talk to anyone to to tell them how they can do it and, you know, follow your dreams. You know, a lot of people have these ideas and they just kind of, you know, sit around on a shelf and whatever. That's how my idea was. You know, I had a long-time idea of this and finally had a chance to just kind of bring it to life. And it's been not only life-changing for me, but of course, for others. So I just encourage you to reach out to me. And I would love to just kind of tell you how you could do it, too and that's really about it for me.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Fantastic. Well, we're gonna give you a chance in a moment here to say how folks can reach out to you and we'll also have that in the show notes. But before we close out, I have to ask you if you'd like to participate in something we call our rapid-fire questions. So these are seven questions, they may be silly, may be serious. Just give a quick answer. Our audience needs to understand if Leticia agrees to this, she has no idea what we're going to ask. So are you up to the challenge of rapid-fire?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yes, I'm going to do it. Yep.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Awesome.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I'm ready.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:It's pretty painless, I promise. We will alternate asking questions. Seth, would you like to lead off?
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Sure, rapid-fire question number one. What is your bucket list vacation?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Tahiti, I want to be in one of those little huts on top of the water.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Oh, yeah. Yeah, that would be cool. We actually had an opportunity where we were bidding roofing for the Shangri-La Resort. It was kind of like those that you're envisioning. And I don't know what's happened to that. It came up during COVID and then got delayed by COVID, and I thought that would be awesome. Okay, question number two, What is your favorite meal?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Pizza.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Pizza?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I'm a cheese-aholic.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:That would probably be mine too, actually. There's a particular type of pizza around here or restaurant that I really like.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Awesome. Next question, which I feel like we've talked about this and but hearing you state it succinctly will be great. So what would you most like to be remembered for?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:My passion. My passion.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Wonderful.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Beautiful. Question number four, this is a fun one, this is one of our favorites. If you had to eat a crayon, what color of crayon would you choose to eat?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:It would probably be red, because I, for whatever reason, when I think of a red crayon, I think of strawberries. So I think if I imagine that while I'm eating it, it will taste like a strawberry.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Mind over matter.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Oh, anyway. From a kid that ate paste when she was in kindergarten.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Yeah, we all did that.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Don't judge me when I say that.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:I think we all had our paste-eating days probably.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:it was so delicious.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about the roofing or construction industry, what would you change?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I would love to have more women in the roofing and construction industry.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Absolutely.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Yeah, us too.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Amen. Next to last question, What is? You get, this is, you get a choice. What is either a weird fact that you know or an unusual talent that you have?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Oh, my goodness. Ooh, you're stumping me on this one. I don't think I know any weird facts and a weird talent. Uh-oh.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:It's okay.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:You guys got me on that one. Do I have, like, 20 minutes to think about that one?
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Well, if you think of it before the end of the show, we'll throw it in.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Okay, I'll let Seth do the last question.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:This will be an easier one. So who is one person you would want on your team in the zombie apocalypse?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Okay, so it would have to be my husband. Because we're like, we watch all the zombie shows. And so we, literally when we're watching zombie shows, we're always talking about, well, if we were in this situation, we wouldn't be doing something. I really think he and he always has great ideas of like, okay, next time this happens, babe, we're going to make sure we have the robe. So a hundred percent, my husband, I think he would definitely make sure that we survive it.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:There you go. Sounds like a good team for sure. Yeah, and Todd does not look like it maybe, but he is a fellow Walking Dead fan, so you guys can talk about that when we wrap up.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:I've watched my episodes of Walking Dead, I have to admit. And my wife and I did kind of the same thing, "Oh why are they doing that?"
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yes. Oh, it drives me insane. I'm like, Run! Why are you standing there? My husband says, Honey, honey, are you yelling at the TV again? I'm like, Oops, yes. This has been fun.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:This has been, what a pleasure. I've enjoyed this so far. For folks who would like to get in touch with you, how can they most easily do that?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I would love for you to make contact with me by email. My email address is my first name Letitia spelled L-E-T-I-T-I-A @arsroofing.com. Because once you send me an email, I'm able to kind of throw out some dates so we can chat and then my website for my nonprofit if you go there, there's also contact information and that's just thelimefoundation.org. That is L-I-M-E, not like Lyme disease and just, you know, check it out. There's all kinds of information and student stories and stuff like that on there so you can just kind of see what we're doing.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Awesome. Well, I encourage folks to do that. Very good. So, I have to recap our success on our challenge words, and I think we were all successful. I was, I was panicking, though. I didn't know if I was going to figure it out. Seth, you had the word?
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:I had the word mushroom. That one had to be pretty obvious.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:It had to be.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Yeah, everyone takes kids mushroom hunting.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Mushroom hunting! That was so hard to hold in.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:And Letitia, you had the word?
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Wagon, I had wagon.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:You worked it in well.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Yeah, my architect's gonna design a wagon. I didn't know where else to put it.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Fine job, fine job. And I had the word rigamarole, which I was, I was smooth.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:That one was pretty smooth, I have to say. It was natural. I wouldn't be surprised, if you know, people didn't guess that one. Because you really just kind of had that in there.
Seth Heckaman:
Speaker:Worked well.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Yeah, I was worried.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I don't know about your's Seth. I mean, seriously mushroom hunting.
Todd Miller:
Speaker:Oh, this has been a riot. Thank you very much. And thank you so much for what you're doing, not only for our industry, but for the world and for California and for those youth who you touch. And thank you sincerely.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:I had a great time. Thank you both.
Letitia Hanke:
Speaker:Todd Miller: Thank you. Well, thank you to our audience for tuning into this episode of Construction Disruption, where our special guest has been Letitia Hanke of ARS Roofing and Gutters. Again, her contact information will be below in the show notes. So I encourage you, please watch for future episodes of our podcast. We always have great guests here. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. Until the next episode though, just like we talked about today. Change the world for someone, make them smile, encourage them. Powerful things but yet simple things we can do to change the world. In the meanwhile, God bless, take care. This is Isaiah Industries signing off until the next episode of Construction Disruption.
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