Book a free strategy call to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ or call us at: (214)-453-1591

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This father-and-son electric shop was doing $600K with almost no profit. Three years later: $1.6 million. The difference wasn’t luck — it was how they sell.

Erwin Carrasquillo taught himself the electrical trade after coming to the United States — before he could even speak English. He and his son Owen built Jeoah Electric in Slatington, Pennsylvania on grit: borrowed crews, work that never turned into money in the bank, and a $15,000 payroll due against $200 in the account. The turning point came in a Home Depot aisle, when Owen asked a more successful electrician one question — "what are you doing that I’m not?"

That question led them to a sales process they now run on every call. In this conversation, Erwin and Owen walk host Bob Houchin through it step by step — selling the diagnostic first, asking questions instead of pitching, building three options instead of ultimatums, and reframing price as safety. It’s the system that took them from $600,000 to $1.6 million in three years, both earning Crown Champion honors.

They’re just as candid about the hard parts — the night Owen broke down finding his ’why,’ the leap of faith that put the whole thing on a credit card, and the faith and family culture that held it all together.

In this conversation, you'll discover:

• The questions that get customers to sell themselves
• Why you sell the diagnostic before you touch the panel
• How to present three options without giving ultimatums
• The "medicine analogy" that makes safety urgent
• How to handle "I need to think about it" in a single move
• Reframing price as monthly safety, not cost
• The mindset shift that turned survival into $1.6M

Whether you’re an electrician, a plumber, or an HVAC owner trying to get off the truck, Erwin and Owen’s process shows how a small shop can sell with confidence and character.

Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don’t forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle.

About the Show
The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company.

Meet the Host
Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he's interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others.

About CertainPath

CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain.

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainpath

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#electrician #electricalcontractor #salestraining #homeservices #certainpath #skilledtrades #contractorbusiness #fatherandson

Book a free strategy call with CertainPath to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ

Or call us at: (214) 453-1591

He broke his back chasing pro baseball, spent 22 years in ministry, then helped build a $105M, $18M-EBITDA contractor. This is Bubba Thurman's story.

Bubba Thurman is the president of Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electric in Dallas–Fort Worth — the first non-family president in the company's history, dating back to its founding in 1945. Last year, Baker Brothers did $105 million in revenue and exceeded $18 million in EBITDA — a level of profitability most home services companies only dream about.

His path was anything but linear. A Division-I baseball catcher who was certain he'd go pro, Bubba broke his back in a 1991 on-field collision and watched the dream die. “Baseball was a false well,” he says. He spent the next 22 years in ministry — helping build the largest youth ministry in the country and learning leadership under his mentor, Steve Stroop — before burning out and making an improbable leap into the trades.

Recruited by Jimmie Dale to Baker Brothers, Bubba earned the team's trust the hard way: “I ran calls, I dug trenches, I wore a uniform.” Then he drove the culture transformation that helped take Baker Brothers from roughly $20 million to more than $100 million.

In this episode, Bubba walks Bob Houchin through the whole journey — and the playbook beneath it.

In this conversation, you'll discover:

• Why culture is “just a set of norms” — and how to make excellence the normal
• The $0 cleanliness campaign that started the turnaround: “don't step over a piece of trash”
• How to layer standards one at a time so they actually stick
• The three-win strategy that aligns the customer, the employee, and the company
• What changes when leadership “lands on your desk” — the real weight of the top job
• His message for a tough market: stop chasing what you can't control — “you are your best marketer”
• “You earn equity when you do things above and beyond” — and the Miss Johnson light-bulb test
• Why “when you roll up, the clock starts” — and how micro-changes compound across 700 jobs a day

Whether you lead an HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or roofing company — or you're building toward your first leadership seat — Bubba's story is a masterclass in building a culture of excellence that scales.

Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle.

About the Show

The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company.

Meet the Host

Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he's interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others.

About CertainPath

CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Visit www.mycertainpath.com for more information.

Book a free strategy call with CertainPath to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ

Or call us at: (214) 453-1591

He started plumbing at 19. Last year he sold $800,000 in residential plumbing — and installed every job himself. This is his exact playbook.

Payton Sword is a plumbing technician at Steve Huff Plumbing, Heating & Air in Kingsport, Tennessee — and a 4x Crown Champion at CertainPath, the program's top sales tier. Last year he sold roughly $800,000 in residential plumbing. No sales/install split, no handing the job off: every technician at Steve Huff sells the work and does the work.

Payton was hired at 19 — at the same shop his dad worked for back in 1996. The company put him through 15 months of ride-alongs, trainings, and schools before he ever got his own truck. Today the shop's 12 plumbing technicians train four days every month: full service-call roleplays with homeowner personalities, DISC profiles, and a "switch method" that swaps techs mid-roleplay to keep everyone sharp.

In this episode, Payton walks Bob Houchin through his entire service call, start to finish — from the drive-time research to the same-day install.

In this conversation, you'll discover:

• The $800K reveal — and why he installs every job he sells

• The at-the-door credibility statement he delivers on every single call

• Why he never asks permission to run the whole-house safety inspection — "it's a value creator"

• Builder-grade vs. professional fixtures — and the restaurant question that sells Totos

• The four-option presentation with everything on the top option

• Present the top option, ask for the business — then go silent

• "Is it only the money?" — his answer to "I should get another bid"

• The authority close: "What were you expecting to spend today?"

• Why the shop trains four days a month — and why it produces Crown Champions

Whether you run a plumbing company, manage a service team, or you're a tech chasing Crown Champion numbers — Payton's process is a masterclass in trust-first, education-driven selling.

Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle.

About the Show

The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company.

Meet the Host

Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he's interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others.

About CertainPath

CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Visit www.mycertainpath.com for more information.