From College Dropout to $3.7M in Fencing | How Nate Austin Grew a Premium Fence Brand in Texas

From Sailing the Pacific to $5M | How Matthew Mahoney Rebuilt Limestone Moving

Matthew Mahoney is the owner of Limestone Moving in Austin, Texas — a company he's on track to grow to roughly $5 million in revenue this year. But the path here wasn't a straight line. Matthew started Limestone moving people in and out of dorm rooms while he was a student at UT. After building it past seven figures, he walked away — leaving the business with a buddy, buying a 42-foot sailboat, and sailing it from San Francisco to Australia over a year and a half. By the time he came back in 2024, the business had nosedived to under $400K. So he sold the boat in Sydney, flew home, and started rebuilding from the ground up. In this episode, Matthew breaks down how he rebuilt Limestone back to $5M — and why he did it without buying a single ad: * Why he "nosedived" a seven-figure business to sail the Pacific, and the lesson that pulled him home * How he grew from under $400K to ~$5M by betting on being the best product in Austin, not the cheapest * The community-and-partnerships growth engine that replaced paid ads — and his referral program math * Why realtor and leasing-manager relationships became his most valuable lead source * How he staffs every role to a scorecard (and runs the business EOS-style with the right people in the right seats) * His framework for offshore hiring — why he'd rather pay $40K for someone who managed 200 people than $60K stateside If you're a home service operator stuck around the million-dollar mark and wondering what actually unlocks the next stage of growth, this one's a masterclass in building a category-of-one business on relationships instead of ad spend.

$1M Cleaning Business and Never Met a Cleaner or Client | Patrick Murphy on Building Cascade Home Cleaning 100% Remotely

Patrick Murphy is the owner of Cascade Home Cleaning, a residential cleaning business in Bellingham, Washington that he's built to $1M in annual recurring revenue — entirely remote. He's never met a cleaner. He's never met a client. He started the company as a side hustle while working as a product manager at Amazon in Seattle, and now runs it from Chicago, 2,000 miles away from the market it serves. Cascade operates in a town of 100,000 people, with a total addressable market under 250,000 across the surrounding county. Patrick built it over four years on the back of a Big Four accounting career and a decade in product at Nordstrom and Amazon — and he's importing the operating discipline of trillion-dollar companies into a blue collar service business. In this episode, Patrick breaks down the internal hiring playbook he wrote himself — a recruiting system any home service operator can run, whether they're hiring cleaners, technicians, or office staff. We get into: * The tenets for hiring he adapted from Amazon's doc-driven culture, and why writing them down is what makes them stick * Why "always be hiring" is non-negotiable — and how to run an evergreen job post and a bench of candidates before you need them * The 50% rule for every new hire, and how it constantly raises the talent ceiling on your crew * How he sponsors Indeed posts for $5–$7 a day and what he spends in total on recruiting per year * The W-2 transition from 1099 contractors and what it changed about retention and quality * Why most operators don't find good people — and what they're actually doing wrong If you've ever told yourself you can't find good people in your market, this episode will challenge you. Patrick isn't in a hot labor market. He's in a small town in Washington, running it from Chicago, and his recruiting bench is deeper than most operators' active rosters. Chapters 00:00 — Intro03:43 — Meet Patrick: $1M cleaning business, built 100% remote06:54 — From Big Four accounting to Amazon to cleaning08:04 — How he started Cascade as a side hustle17:15 — The tenets for hiring (stolen from Amazon)19:28 — Tenet #1: Always be hiring22:21 — What "always be hiring" actually looks like day-to-day24:01 — Recruiting spend: $5–$7/day on Indeed26:09 — The 50% rule: every new hire raises the average Visit: Qualified Hires [https://www.qualifiedhires.com/]

From $1.2M to $30M in 9 Years | Trey McWilliams on Scaling His Family HVAC Business in East Texas

Trey McWilliams is a third-generation HVAC operator from East Texas and the founder of Blue Cardinal Home Services, a platform group now operating in over 20 locations across the home service trades. Trey grew up riding shotgun with his grandfather — a Navy retiree who started the family business because he loved taking care of customers and didn't want to deal with employees or back-office work. Trey started drawing a paycheck at 14, ran a truck by 16, and by 22 he made the call that would change everything: he told his dad the lifestyle business needed to become a scaled business, and he'd pay the price to make it happen. From 2010 to 2019, he took McWilliams & Son Heating and Cooling from $1.2M to nearly $30M in revenue — then built Blue Cardinal Group on top of it to give other operators a home to take chips off the table without selling out to private equity. In this episode, Trey breaks down the exact playbook he ran to scale: * The first hire that broke his $1M ceiling — and why it had to be a salesperson, not an operator * The math teacher who built his entire ops backbone from the call center up * The "rule of four" that governs every new market and trade he enters * Why he runs the business in groups of four crews so techs never miss their kids' baseball games * How he added plumbing without compromising the HVAC standard — including the academy model for homegrown technicians (95% of his field staff) * The mindset shift from "I'm in HVAC" to "I'm in the people-building business" * Why he built Blue Cardinal as the anti-private-equity platform for operators who care about culture and the long game If you're an operator stuck between $1M and $5M and you can feel the ceiling — or if you're a second or third-generation owner wrestling with whether to scale past what your dad built — this one's for you. Chapters 00:00 Intro00:40 Growing up in the family business — riding with grandpa at 1404:30 The 2010 turning point: "If not me, then who?"06:38 The exact playbook from $1.2M to $30M16:35 Hire #1: Why sales had to come before operations20:15 The math teacher who built the ops backbone23:30 The rule of four: how Trey enters new markets and trades27:00 Scaling is a journey of personal evolution30:00 Why he built Blue Cardinal Home Services36:00 Going from operator to capital allocator1:02:00 What's next for Blue Cardinal — and the operators he's looking for

$0 to $11.5M in Four Years | How Philip Crutchfield Is Scaling Three Home Service Franchises Under One Roof

In this episode, I sit down with Philip Crutchfield, co-owner and founder of Camber Brands in Sarasota, Florida — a portfolio of three home service franchises doing $11.5M in 2025, with a target of $17–18M in 2026. Camber houses Mighty Dog Roofing (where Philip was the very first franchisee), Blingle holiday and landscape lighting, and Varsity Zone HVAC — which he founded from a dead acquisition with zero employees and built into what is now the founding location of a 30+ unit franchise system under Horsepower Brands. Philip breaks down: * How he cross-promotes three trades to one customer and wins commercial work his competitors can't * Why he acquired an HVAC business with zero employees — and how it became a nationwide franchise * The 500-person annual "Camber Party" that started as a one-off thank-you and became his best marketing channel * How he hit $1.4M in his first 7 months by hiring heavy early when most franchisees bootstrap * Why his salespeople are called "relationship managers" and are never on straight commission * The mistake of "drowning an opportunity" — and the gutter line that cost him money * The biggest transition moving from B2B software to trades * What he'd tell any first-year home service franchisee who wants to make money faster * If you're an operator thinking about a second service line, a portfolio play, or just wondering how to stand out in a crowded home service market — this one's for you. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:30 Meet Philip Crutchfield and Camber Brands 05:00 Why acquire an HVAC business with zero employees 08:00 The cross-promotion mechanic — how 3 brands win 1 customer 11:00 The condo complex story: 40 HVAC units, one flat roof, one contractor 13:30 The Camber name story and the 500-person annual party 18:00 How the party pays for itself through supplier sponsorship 20:30 $1.4M in 7 months — why Philip hired heavy early 23:30 Tennis vs. golf: which builds a better network 25:00 The residential-to-commercial split and why you have to earn commercial 27:00 Working with Horsepower Brands as the founding franchisee 35:00 Working on the business vs. in the business 40:00 Why his sales team is called "relationship managers" 43:00 From B2B software to home services — the biggest personal evolution46:00 The path from $11.5M to $18M — pricing and process 47:30 "You can drown an opportunity" — the gutter service mistake 52:30 Advice to first-year franchisees: throw out your KPIs54:00 The "just ask" philosophy 55:30 Best dinner spot in Sarasota + where to find Philip Meet the Guest: Philip Crutchfield [https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-crutchfield-9673451a/] Visit: Camber Brands [https://camberbrands.com/] Meet the Host: Faiez Rana [https://www.linkedin.com/in/faiez-rana-198162120/] Brought to you by Offshore Launch [https://www.notion.so/Ep-36-Philip-Crutchfield-3361dc96cc7e80888748f96303fe6bba?pvs=21] Your shop is leaking profit. In 14 days, we'll show you exactly where, then put a full‑time operator in place to run the fix inside your tools.

From College Dropout to $3.7M in Fencing | How Nate Austin Grew a Premium Fence Brand in Texas

In this episode of Blue Collar Ballers, Nate Austin, founder of Austin Brothers Fence Company in Austin, Texas, shares how he and his brother started a fence company with $2,500, a financed truck, and zero experience installing wood fences — YouTubing their first 10 builds. Fourteen years later, Austin Brothers is one of the most recognized residential fence brands in the Austin market, peaking at $3.7 million in revenue with a reputation for white glove service that clients say feels more like a design firm than a fence contractor. Nate was a college dropout who spent seven years gaming his way through school with no degree to show for it. After bouncing through jobs — AT&T retail, door-to-door pest control, vacuum sales — he realized he was a terrible employee and moved to Austin to start something of his own. Nate breaks down: * How he built a consultative, online-first sales process in an industry where everyone just shows up and measures * Why he intentionally filters leads through an upfront qualification process — and still can't keep up with demand * The real story behind growing to 30+ people three separate times and deliberately downsizing each time * How 40% of his revenue comes from referrals and repeat clients without paying for ads for nine straight years * What a $78,000 historic home fence project looks like from estimate to completion * Why he's launching a budget sister brand to serve first-time homeowners who can't afford premium fencing — without sacrificing the service model Whether you're a trades owner trying to figure out how to sell without being a salesperson, or you've hit a growth ceiling and can't figure out why scaling feels like suffocating, this one's for you. 00:00 Intro 02:46 From college dropout to starting a fence company 06:15 Getting the first customers with $7.50/day Google Ads 10:23 YouTubing how to build the first 10 fences 15:34 Building a premium sales process around self-awareness 19:47 Why the customer journey feels like a design firm 23:19 Managing lead volume without a sales team 26:23 Nine years of growth without an ad budget 29:11 The $78K historic home fence job 34:25 Growing and downsizing three times on purpose 39:51 Launching a budget sister brand 41:40 The one restaurant you have to hit in Austin Meet the Guest: Nate Austin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-austin-451b6b23b/] Visit: Austin Brothers Fence Company [https://www.fence4atx.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22263570396&gbraid=0AAAAADm4vy3V_wigkXqe9e2bEUBFE3GZZ&gclid=CjwKCAjwnN3OBhA8EiwAfpTYegy6xlTTZswx157Z6YTrqnhVm3Vrr_pafCEZyuXylubKNvtzC-YDZRoCyE8QAvD_BwE] Meet the Host: Faiez Rana [https://www.linkedin.com/in/faiez-rana-198162120/] Brought to you by OsL [https://www.notion.so/Ep-35-Nate-Austin-3001dc96cc7e80cb9d33edffbca9acd0?pvs=21]: Your shop is leaking profit in the office. We’ll show you where and how to fix it in 14 days.