Anthony Carrier on Trades, Community, and Leaving Things Better

[00:00:03] Matthew Elban: Hey there, and welcome back to Under the Roof, the podcast where
we explore what makes Baker Roofing Company and the industry as a whole tick. I’m Matt
Elvin. Every episode, we sit down to people that are doing the work, whether it’s the crews, the
leaders, the partners, even our customers for honest conversations about this industry.
[00:00:22] Todd Kavanaugh: And I’m Todd Cavanagh, and we look at where it’s been, where it’s
going, and the stories you don’t typically hear from a roofing company. Today, we’re gonna be
talking with Anthony Carrier, our general manager over our Bristol and Asheville markets.
[00:00:36] Matthew Elban: Anthony’s building something special, uh, in these markets, not just
a strong operation. Obviously, we’re doing that, but a real presence in the community beginning
in his first market, Bristol, especially when it comes to introducing the next generation to the
trades.
[00:00:51] Todd Kavanaugh: That’s where we wanna spend a lot of time today, how a roofing
company shows up in a community. We talked a little bit about that last time with Daryl Bailey,
um, but why that matters and what it looks like when you actually take it seriously as a company.
We’ll also get into Anthony’s own path into roofing because if you’ve been around this industry
long enough, you know nobody’s typical first answer to what do you wanna do when you grow
up is I wanna be a commercial roofer. Anthony, welcome,
[00:01:20] Matthew Elban: and we’re glad to have you with us.
[00:01:22] Anthony Carrier: Yeah. I’m excited to be here. I feel like I’m on on a celebrity show
here with you too.
[00:01:29] Todd Kavanaugh: Far from it, but thank you, Anthony.
[00:01:30] Matthew Elban: Yeah. For real. Um, Anthony, first question. We always like to start
out the same way. If you if you’ve listened to the podcast at all, you you anticipated this
question. What is the last book you read, and what stuck with you from it?
[00:01:43] Anthony Carrier: So, um, I didn’t know this was gonna be the first question. I I almost
went to the store to buy a book just so that I could say you know, just this awesome book that
says, this is this is the book that I’m reading, and here’s what I took away. Uh, but then I figured
honesty’s best policy. Right? One of our, uh, fundamentals. And so I was supposed to say I don’t
read a lot. And, um, if if I physically read a book, um, it’s been the bible, and that’s just, uh, not
near as much as I need to, to be honest with you. That’s my physical reading. So I’m gonna go a
little different and go with audiobooks because I’m addicted to those. So audiobooks, I’m gonna
give you a couple authors that I really enjoy and listen to a lot of their books. There’s, uh,
Charles Martin and Mark Goodwin are two authors that are probably my favorite ones. And, uh,
as far as a book goes that I’ve listed recently and I really enjoy is, uh, called What If It’s True by
Charles Martin. And, um, probably one of my favorites.
[00:02:39] Matthew Elban: What’s the genre of those kind of books?
[00:02:42] Anthony Carrier: Um, so so they’re a little all over the place Okay. For a little bit. So
you you see, you might laugh at me. Charles Martin is a very Christian author type type guy, but,
uh, also has some, uh, romance kind of, uh, the good guy wins, the good guy gets the girl kind
of book. And, uh, that’s kinda been the story of my life. So I I I’m, uh, I I I read into it, and I’m
like, hey. I can I can relate? So, uh, there’s a lot of romance stuff in there too that I enjoy
listening to.
[00:03:09] Matthew Elban: Well, I I appreciate your first answer of, uh, the Bible. I think there’s
a lot of great things, obviously, in the Bible that we can use, whether it’s our personal lives or our

business lives. Um, so I certainly appreciate you answering that. Um, but, yeah, that’s
awesome.
[00:03:24] Anthony Carrier: Well, thank yeah.
[00:03:25] Todd Kavanaugh: Thank you, Anthony. And, um, appreciate the honesty too. You
know? Honestly, I think when I consider when I listen to a book that I’ve read it, and maybe
that’s like and I don’t think I’m being dishonest necessarily. Like, I listen to a lot of books, have
[00:03:41] Anthony Carrier: a lot
[00:03:41] Todd Kavanaugh: of insealed time. Probably a lot of us, uh, do that. So it’s a great
way to do it. So, um, to to use your time. So I I
[00:03:49] Matthew Elban: I think Maybe I need to change my question to what’s the last book
you’ve read or listened to? Right. A book, not not a song. Yes.
[00:03:58] Anthony Carrier: Well, um,
[00:03:59] Todd Kavanaugh: Anthony, let’s go back a bit and tell us the story about how you
found your way into roofing. What was your path? Because everybody’s got a path.
[00:04:12] Anthony Carrier: I was four years old and just wanted to be a roofer in here. No. I’m
joking. I was
[00:04:17] Matthew Elban: like, what? That’s the best answer ever.
[00:04:23] Anthony Carrier: So, uh, I I was working in engineering in the engineering field. I
went to a school at Virginia Tech and worked for an engineering firm there and continued to
work with them. Part of my duties, um, was inspections and inspects inspecting roofs. And, um, I
didn’t, uh, as much find my way to Baker as, uh, I think that, uh, you know, God used some
special people and brought Baker to me. It’s the only thing that made me leave is, uh, I’m I’m a
very loyal person, uh, obviously, because I’ve been here a long time. So it kinda was a we’re
going to uproot you and bring you into Baker whether you like it or not, and I was very
appreciative of that. And, um, so that was kind of the start. I was just on a roof at about 10:00 at
night doing an infrared roof scan. And, uh, the next day, I ended up having some conversations,
uh, with with, uh, different people at Baker and, uh, ended up signing on.
[00:05:28] Matthew Elban: So so you mentioned something a minute ago. You said when you
were four, you just woke up and said, I wanna be a roofer. I’m actually curious. What did you
wanna be when you were four or when you were when you were little? What what did was it that
you wanted to do?
[00:05:40] Anthony Carrier: So, uh, sports has been ingrained into me, um, since, uh,
apparently, I was born, and it’s something that’s never left. Uh, I I guess the story goes, I don’t
remember it, obviously, but, uh, when when I was born and, uh, I’m I’m the oldest of my family,
my dad went out and bought a bat and ball. It’s like, I got a ball player now. So I can’t believe it.
So, uh, that that, uh, that’s kinda stuck with me. So I did growing up on, you know, all I ever
knew that I wanted to be was a ball player and, uh, got to do that for a really long time and
enjoyed that. And, um, then after that, there was the idea. Uh, I went to military school for a
short time, and the idea there was gonna be I was gonna be a fighter pilot. So, uh, that didn’t
work out due to an injury. And, uh, so here I am now at, uh, Baker Roofing.
[00:06:27] Matthew Elban: Yeah. I think a lot of us, uh, may have thought sports would have
been the future. What it was for me, uh, for a long time. But, uh, as one of three boys in my
family, my dad got three buddies to throw a ball with or kick a ball with or or whatever. But yeah.
[00:06:42] Todd Kavanaugh: I’ve seen

[00:06:43] Anthony Carrier: a lot of World Series championships in my front yard. Just there
was
[00:06:46] Matthew Elban: a lot of but not my front. But, yeah, my backyard for sure. Yeah. I
also struck out quite a few times in the backyard. So
[00:06:54] Todd Kavanaugh: Yeah. The, uh, base is loaded, you know
[00:06:57] Matthew Elban: That’s right.
[00:06:59] Todd Kavanaugh: And the whatever inning that you’re you’re hitting in with the with
the ball bat, you know
[00:07:03] Matthew Elban: Yep.
[00:07:04] Todd Kavanaugh: Swinging for the, uh, for the World Series. I I
[00:07:06] Matthew Elban: I still do that with my boys in my backyard, and they’re they’re 19
and 17. And, uh, I I still feel like I could throw a nasty curveball with the wiffle ball. They did
[00:07:15] Anthony Carrier: with the wiffle ball. Yeah. That was a lot of fun.
[00:07:17] Matthew Elban: I could strike them out pretty good with that.
[00:07:20] Todd Kavanaugh: Um, Yeah. And you touched on, like, the top three, right, that that,
like, four year olds wanna be or close to it. Fighter pilot, you know, sports, uh, professional, or
astronaut. That was the only other one.
[00:07:32] Matthew Elban: Yeah. Get out of this world. Right?
[00:07:35] Todd Kavanaugh: Yeah. So, uh, Anthony, a lot of people in this industry describe it
as something they fell into, kinda like, you know, you were you were grafted into, um, after that
infrared scan, then something they actually chose. Uh, looking back, uh, what is it about the
work, about Baker, I guess, in particular? Um, is it the work? Is it the people? What made you
stay? You came here. What made you stay here?
[00:08:03] Anthony Carrier: Sure. It it it’s really definitely not so much the work, but but the
people. Um, I’ve just been blessed with so many mentors over my career and how they touched
my lives. And hopefully, they’re they’ll, at some point, be some people that say that I that I
helped touch their lives. And, um, just the crews that I’ve gotta work with, uh, comes to mind
and, uh, just building that relationship. Uh, in in earlier in my career, I spent a ton of time on the
roofs getting to know the the guys actually doing the roof work every single day and, uh, how
hard that is. And it it brings a different level of respect from me for what they do, um, every
single day. And just those relationships over time, continuing to grow that. And just, uh, you
know, more than anything, feeling like this is what I’m supposed to do. I can honestly say that
that I feel like I’m supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be with these people. Um, there’s been
a lot of change in my career and where I worked and where my office was or not having an
office or, uh, all those kind of things. But, um, I I I honestly feel that this was, uh, the plan for me,
uh, was to be here.
[00:09:14] Matthew Elban: So you you bring up change in in your career and kinda going from
this office to that office or whatever. Right? And so you you’re running two markets now, if I’m
not mistaken. Sure. Uh, Bristol, uh, and and I’m curious. I gotta ask. Yeah. It’s Bristol,
Tennessee or is it Bristol, Virginia?
[00:09:30] Anthony Carrier: What what is that? It’s, uh, Bristol, Virginia. So we’re on the Virginia
side. We can out my office window here, I can, uh, I can see into Tennessee almost, uh, just a
couple miles out. But, uh, there there

[00:09:44] Matthew Elban: is a street in Bristol, Virginia and in Bristol, Tennessee that the
dividing line of the state is the yellow line. And it’s called State Street, and it goes right down the
main the main street of the of the town of Bristol. And there is a GEICO commercial where
there’s the little placards in the row where they reflect. One side stamped Virginia, one side
stamped Tennessee. Um, so I I I had to ask the question. But you’re running a few offices,
Bristol and Nashville.
[00:10:13] Anthony Carrier: Yes.
[00:10:13] Matthew Elban: And those are different places. They’re different communities, uh,
probably different rhythms, definitely different people. What have you learned about what it
takes to lead in places like those?
[00:10:24] Anthony Carrier: It it is. It’s it it takes learning the people. It takes, um, conversations,
um, and how how different people are in just different areas, including not only internally, but
external to customers and how they buy and what they’re looking for. Um, it’s one of the,
probably, biggest challenges, not so much inside internally, but externally that I had to learn in in
moving from Roanoke when, uh, Bristol was open, and I was able to come down here and start,
um, trying to set work here was, uh, so different. And then and then approaching Asheville, I
don’t I I don’t claim to, uh, have the right recipe or my finger on it. But I know involved in that is
learning the customers and learning the people is what it takes to figure out how to get it done.
And just getting the, I think, the right people in the right place, um, in those positions is what can
help it grow. And, uh, I’m certainly in in all all the steps that I’ve made, um, just been fortunate to
be able to have the right people to help, uh, achieve some pretty big things in the company.
[00:11:34] Matthew Elban: That’s awesome.
[00:11:35] Todd Kavanaugh: I love, Anthony, there is a there is a theme being established here.
When we asked you about why you stayed, it’s people. And how you are successful and build a
market, it’s baker people and customer people. It’s all people. Right? We’re in a people
business. Um, and so I really, uh, I really appreciate that theme. Um, so when you when you
think about people and this specifically your team, what are some of the things that you’re
proudest of and what’s being done in these markets? And I don’t mean just like the actual roofs
because there’s some beautiful roofs that are being installed in both those markets. Um, but
what are some of the things that you’re proud of that your people are doing there in those
markets?
[00:12:21] Anthony Carrier: Sure. So, um, I I think go going back to when I was in Roanoke and
how how things played out there was the hard work and dedication of those teams. We did I can
remember one year. I think it was 13 or $14,000,000 worth of work. I think there was five people
that were in the office, you know, office staff. Just a crazy low number and and a lot of work, and
it came from the dedication of the people doing the work, uh, both in the office, but especially
outside the office, uh, in getting that work done. And, um, so so I’m pretty proud of that that year,
um, moving down to Bristol and and what we’ve had going on there. I had such a good team,
and it it and it’s taken a lot of growth, a lot of learning on my part, um, a lot of mistakes. Um, I I I
tell the teams that I deal with all the time, like, if if you wanna come talk to me about something,
I’ve probably messed it up worse than you already. Uh, let’s just be honest and talk about it and
work it out because I can probably tell you a a story. I’m I’m a storyteller. Love telling stories,
and, uh, I can tell you a story about how I messed it up works probably. So, um, uh, getting the
opportunity to to mess things up has been good for my growth, those kind of things. Yeah. Um,

but that’s been able to develop helped me develop and see good talent and who they are. Um,
the team in Bristol, um, just a phenomenal group that we’ve been able to develop over time
through sales. Um, when I came down here, it was only me and was able to get, uh, on working
with onboarding, uh, just a wonderful sales team here and, uh, that was able to grow the
company because I’m I’m not the best, uh, in the room when it comes to sales. Uh, I like being
in front of a customer, but getting to the point of being in front of a customer is hard for me. And
having someone that was really good at it helped me, uh, to be able to grow the area. So it it
has more to do with, uh, being able to have those people come beside me and and help me get
there. Um, my wife works with me now, um, and she’s been able to help me grow the business
so that I have that person I can always count on and call. And, uh, she she kinda runs things a
lot in Bristol, and that’s helped me be able to transition to Asheville and get to spend more time
there. Um, and, um, overall, I would say, uh, just the moments that I’m most proud of is seeing
all those pieces come together and those piece people succeed even in times of you may not
think of it as a success when we have been able to prove the always good work, um, has meant
a lot to me to say, okay. We realized we made a problem here. That was our fault. We have to
go fix it. Let’s go fix it. Let’s go make it right. The team come together. We’re honest. We got it
done. Mhmm. Hope that answered your question.
[00:15:24] Matthew Elban: It it certainly it sounds like it does to me. I I I think one of the things
that’s neat, um, you know, each one of us is probably really good at at at one or two or three
things that that we do in our job. And maybe we’re we’re okay at the other things, but we’re not
really good at them. But we surround ourselves with people, and I think that’s an underlying
theme at Baker Roofing and probably a lot of businesses. But if you’re listening to this and you
hear that, there find the thing you’re really good at, hone in on that, and then surround yourself
on your team with people that are really good, the other things that are needed. And that that
sounds like what you’re saying. Uh, I I know that I’ve got a great team that I work with on a
regular basis. I know Todd does as well, but if I was in charge of marketing at Baker, things
would be vastly different than they are. They would not be done nearly as well as they as they
are. Um, but we have people in the different roles here that do really good job in in the role that
they’re in and have great teams that work with them, but this isn’t an individual business. It is
about the people, like Todd said. Yeah. So
[00:16:23] Todd Kavanaugh: And I’ll I’ll say this too, Anthony. I really appreciate, um, your
vulnerability in leadership. I think, uh, as leaders to learn from that, that we make it okay for our
team to fail. You know? Um, obviously, there are some guardrails on that, but we make it safe,
uh, for them to to make a mistake and learn. Um, that’s the important part of the failures is
learning, uh, how to grow and get better from that. Um, and I appreciate that. That probably
pays dividends for you, um, especially when you surround yourself with the right people. Um,
so, uh, yeah, I I like that theme.
[00:17:02] Matthew Elban: Anthony, one of the things that we we wanted to spend some real
time on today, uh, is some of the work that your team’s doing with local high schools. So maybe
you could just tell us a little bit about that, maybe how it started, what does it really look like, and
and what are the things that you’re doing, uh, or your group is doing on the ground with those
groups?
[00:17:20] Anthony Carrier: Sure. Um, it’s something we’re we’re really excited about, and, um,
it it’s primarily in Bristol’s where we’ve been doing that. We hope to grow it, uh, into other areas.

But I was I don’t know. It’s been probably three or four years ago, I was in Raleigh and meeting
with Mark. And, uh, when I when I was meeting with him or anytime I get the opportunity to sit in
front of him, I I kinda, like, try not to talk and just listen, uh, because he’s got so much that he
can, uh, pour out into you. And, uh, sometimes I may I may even make that awkward for him
because I just wanna wait till he’s gonna say something, and we’ll listen what he’s gonna say.
And, um, so, uh, he he had talked about community and and schools and those kind of things
and and always asked me, you know, what are you doing here? What are you doing there? How
are you having fun? Those kinda questions that Mark likes to ask. And, uh, it it it just sank in a
little bit. I was like, I’m really not doing anything. Um, I’m I’m I could do better in this. And, uh, so
I started asking some other people and other other leaders in the company what they were
doing, and, um, a lot of stuff, it sounded great, and and I’m sure it worked wonderful to them. It
just wasn’t for me. Um, we have, uh, a lot of kids, and I I started thinking about kids and and
pouring into kids’ lives and what that can look like from working at a roofing company and, um,
um, just had having conversations, uh, with different folks. And I I’m a I’m a believer that things
kinda happen for a reason, you know, uh, that there there’s a higher power there that makes
things happen. And, uh, really interesting story, a local trade school here, um, that the, uh, high
school kids get to go to. They they they build houses. They do some, uh, different kinds of work
there, um, on, uh, electrical kind of platforms that those kind of things. Um, there was a teacher
there, and it was in the local uh, county that I grew up in that I was raised in, the school that my
wife and I graduated from, uh, it was involved, and the teacher there passed away. Uh,
suddenly, it was unfortunate. Uh, a friend of mine called me and was talking to me and said,
hey. I’d like you to pray for me, and and I’m thinking about taking on this job. I was like, wow. Uh,
this is a guy that owned his own, uh, HVAC company, uh, and sold it, and, uh, he was gonna go
in and take over and teach. Um, he ended up going down that road. We we stayed in touch. We
kept communicating. Um, they were sharing. Uh, they had 10 to 15 kids in the classes there,
and they were sharing, like, one tool belt, one hammer, one tape measure. And just in, uh,
having those conversations, uh, with him, uh, I was able to go to Lowe’s and partner up with
Lowe’s and and have a conversation with Lowe’s and tell him, listen. Here’s here’s what I wanna
do. I wanna buy a bunch of tool belts. I wanna buy a bunch of tape measures and hammers,
and I wanna go and and give them to a school. Will you help me out? If you don’t take 1p off. I’m
gonna do it, but I’d love to have you help. And I’d love to be able to buy more with my money if
you lower it. So we’ve been able to do that for over the last several years and just pour into the
students there, um, and be able to give them that way that, uh, they all have their own tool belt
now. They all have their own tape measure. They all have their own hammer. I don’t have to
borrow anything. Um, I think I thought that was really cool, um, to, uh, do that. And then we’ve
gotten into doing, uh, uh, you you we keep going on my answering your question. Yeah.
[00:21:16] Todd Kavanaugh: Keep going, Anthony. We love the stories. I’m talking all
[00:21:20] Anthony Carrier: the time. I’m a storyteller. I tell you.
[00:21:22] Todd Kavanaugh: We love it.
[00:21:22] Anthony Carrier: You gotta interrupt me. Uh, so, uh, that’s how it kinda got started.
And then, um, the idea of the, uh, kind of the boot camps that we do and the trainings that we
do, and then there’s the mobile training. And I was like, why why can’t we take this and go? Like,
why can’t we do it? Um, so we we take our entire team. Sales team, office manager here,
myself, all the crews, we all go. We we we take our, uh, vans. We set up inside their, um,

school, and we put on a TPO class. Uh, spend a few hours with the kids. We get them some
donuts. We have conversations. We talk to them about trades in the future. And, uh, I’m a big
believer in if you if you’re doing what you’re meant to do and you’re meant to go to college,
great. Um, I also think that there is a trade out there for you if that’s the role you wanna go in,
and I think you can build a good life and make a career out of it. Uh, I think I’m an example of
that. Even though I did go to college, I I could have done all this without doing that. I just I I pour
into those kids that, hey. There there’s a future here. Um, bring examples of our team that that
chose that future of trades and where they are now and what’s what that looks like. And, uh, so
we get to talk to them. They they get to learn how to do some welding with TPO. Um, at the end
of it, we judge who who makes the best welds, and we give away some really cool prizes.
[00:23:00] Matthew Elban: That’s awesome. Yeah. I love hearing that.
[00:23:06] Todd Kavanaugh: Um, Matt, I think we’ll skip these next two questions
[00:23:09] Matthew Elban: Yeah.
[00:23:10] Todd Kavanaugh: Because I think we hit those. Yep. Then I’ll go to my question, and
then we’ll go into the stability.
[00:23:15] Anthony Carrier: And I do I don’t know how do you feel me go I do have another
school that we get involved in that I can tell you about, but I don’t have to either way. Oh. You
might be able
[00:23:25] Todd Kavanaugh: to work it into this one. Let’s see if we can maybe come back to
[00:23:27] Anthony Carrier: that. Okay.
[00:23:30] Todd Kavanaugh: I’m gonna give it some dead air. So, you know, Anthony, we we
talk a lot in the industry about labor sort shortage, um, but sometimes it feels bigger than that.
It’s oftentimes a perception problem. You know, we, um, boy, it was months and months ago, but
we interviewed Reid Rivel. And he had said to us, uh, we can’t expect people to respect what
we do until we respect what we do. Um, and it kinda hit me a little bit, and I think, um, he said
that roofers are typically the most self deprecating, um, lot of them. And, you know, oh, I’m just a
roofer. And but what do you think, like, knowing that, and I think that there’s probably some truth
to that, what do you think most people get wrong about the trades? And how do you start to
change that with a sixteen year old sitting in front of you?
[00:24:33] Anthony Carrier: Sure. Uh, that that that’s a great question. Thank you for asking
that. Um, it is, uh, it it is a challenge. Right? It’s the it’s the challenge that we all face each day in
this, um, not even only in roofing, but, uh, just in construction in general. Is getting through that,
uh, barricade, um, that’s there. It’s it’s not even a roadblock. It’s a real barricade that’s in front of
us that that we’ve gotta overcome. And, uh, recently, my wife and I went over to we we also
sponsor a a different school, and we work with them with their sports. We’re we’re right in the
shadow of a school, and we we wanna pour into the community here as well in Bristol. And so
we go into Bristol, and we’re able to communicate to the students there. We go in for eight
hours, and they bring different different classes in front of us, so we get to communicate this, uh,
exactly what you’re asking. And, um, I put together a little slideshow of here’s what the average
college debt is coming out of school.
[00:25:35] Matthew Elban: Here
[00:25:35] Anthony Carrier: is how much you’re gonna get paid as an average salary, and here
is if you start. I’d I’d make it very realistic of what your average salary could be in the trades
going through. And where did we’re at ten years down the road, what does that look like? And

what might that look like at twenty years down the road? And we take different scenarios. I’ll let
them ask questions, and and we bring in, hey. If it’s, uh, they’re gonna be a doctor. They’re
gonna be a lot I’ll let them pick. Right? And and we need those, and there’s nothing wrong with
that. And and that’s wonderful. But I wanna show the students that maybe don’t want that, that,
like me, they want to work with their hands. I I I did school, and I got out. I was like, I don’t
wanna sit behind the computer all day, um, designing stuff. I wanna be out doing working with
my hands and doing things. Um, and, uh, and then getting into management, how that works
and what that looks like, um, transitioning from once you once you get to spend all that time in
the field and you learn what you’re doing, then you transition into a role that you’d be able may
be able to manage a team and, uh, how you can make that turn and what that career looks like
and what that money can look like and what your future can look like. I think it’s just a huge
uphill battle that has to be done through facts and education of what it looks like. And it’s not
perfect. It’s not for everybody. Um, but it is for some people. Um, after those classes and every
single one that we’ve been a part of, there’s been at least one student that came up and said,
hey. We appreciate that. We appreciate getting to hear this. And that’s meant the world to me, to
get getting the those students to be able to hear that, uh, feedback from them that it meant
something to them. Um, and and I think when you pour into them and you show that, then it’s
gonna pay off for us in the long run. They may not be a part of Baker Roofing, but we need this
as an industry. You know? If we have people that that are that are doing better HVAC work that
we get a partner with, They could be our partners ten years down the road. Um, so I think we
have to pour into these people that we want good people to work with, and we want to help train
them with whatever their, uh, role may be in the future. Yeah.
[00:27:52] Matthew Elban: That’s a great answer. And I I think for most of us, we as as old as
we are, the the the comment was, yeah, you go to college after high school. That’s the thing to
do. Or you join the workforce. And it wasn’t really as much of a trade as it was join the
workforce. What did that mean? Any job? Like, no real direction in in life per se, and that that
might not be fair, but that that that was my experience. And so going to college was the thing to
do. Um, and there’s been different revolutions in in in American history. And we’re kind of in that
phase right now where maybe we’re in something that we could call the AI revolution. Um, and
AI is reshaping the industry. A lot of industries, not just the roofing industry, although it is. So I
guess industries that used to feel rock solid, like a desk job, like you mentioned, or, uh,
professional service, uh, even some creative work are now no longer quite as solid. And so my
question is this, you can’t AI your way through a 30,000 square foot re roof. You you might use a
robot to install that TPO and do the the welding of the seams, but you’re not gonna use AI to do
it. So when you’re talking to these young people about their futures, how do you start to factor in
some of the AI things and some of the, you know, roofing, doing it with your hands is a way to
somewhat proof, uh, the industry?
[00:29:19] Anthony Carrier: Great question, Matt. Uh, it’s funny. I just had this exact
conversation yesterday with the manufacturers right up, uh, at lunch, and we’re talking about
that that’s the future. Right? We’re just gonna ask them. It’s gonna spit out the information. And I
I don’t think that it’s ever gonna replace the hands on experience that that we can gain. Um, so I
I think it has its place. I think you can use it. I think you can, um, trust a little bit, but you gotta do
the verification on the backside of it. Um, hey. Use it to get you part of the way there or use it to
check and see if what you’re thinking is right. Um, I I I’m old and set in my ways, but I’m starting

to grow into it. I’m starting to see some things, and I did some trainings last week with our
banker team on it. I’m like, oh, wow. This is really cool. So I think it has a place. Right? I think it I
think it absolutely is gonna help us be more efficient at our job, which is I love efficiency. And,
uh, it’s what helps me be able to do what I do and, uh, manage different things is being able to
find something that makes it more efficient. And I think that AI can do that. I think we just have
to, um, be able to show that the need for a hands on experience is equally, if not more
important, so that we can verify what we’re being told is actually factual and not just something
made up. Because the information that’s being put in can be incorrect, and it can be going and
grabbing incorrect information and giving it to you. And you have to have the intelligence, um, to
know that the artificial intelligence is wrong. Yeah.
[00:30:59] Todd Kavanaugh: Yeah. So, you know, Anthony, for a a parent, uh, watching their
child trying to figure out what’s next, um, worried maybe about what the world might look like in
ten years. You know? My daughter, she used to wanna be a graphic designer, and that sounded
legit three or four years ago, and now it’s not. You know? And it’s probably not a field that’s
gonna continue to grow, um, but probably contract, um, with the advent of AI innovation and and
how that’s shaking things up. In light of that, you know, what would you want them to understand
about a career in the trades?
[00:31:50] Anthony Carrier: I think with the the again, I’m I’m gonna go back to the the people.
Um, it’s it’s almost my answer on everything here today, I guess. And, uh, but there there is such
a bond. You get a bill with, uh, the people. It, it sounds cliche, I guess, that, uh, that your work,
uh, people become your family, but they truly do. Once you once you invest at such a high level,
um, with the people around you, that takes years to get there. And once you get through those
years, um, then the the people that surround you become become like family. And I think it’s
important for the younger generation to not view it as, hey. This is just a job. But being able to
find a career that they can grow in, they can, uh, um, get better each day at, um, is important.
And I think you get to do that in trades more so, uh, maybe than just sitting behind a desk in a
queue where you don’t get to talk to a lot of people or you’re just dealing with the computer
screen. Um, you know, it it maybe you could have some teams meetings again. Some of those
things may be for some of those people, and that’s okay. We’re different, and that’s what makes
it great. Um, but I think there’s a lot to offer from a trades perspective that we can go out, we
can meet people, we can have interaction. Um, I’m big on one on one selling direct to the
customer in in in their face. And, uh, having those that personal interaction is important. And I
think that there’s a lot of people that are going away from that, and a lot of companies that are
going away from that. And trades is one of the biggest ways that you can develop that personal
relationships again. Um, I think the phones and those kind of things have hurt that personal
relationships, uh, that that we need to have just to function properly.
[00:33:53] Todd Kavanaugh: Yeah. And I I think, Anthony, you hit on a chord too. We keep
hearing you say it. Like, our industry, it requires people. You know? And in some ways, it’s
insulated, uh, from a lot of what we may be seeing in other industries. You know, it’s really hard
to probably sell, estimate, um, you know, load a 30,000 square foot reroof as we mentioned
before as a team of one. You know? It takes people, and it takes a good number of people to
see that done successfully. Um, and I think that’s probably true in most of the trades. It’s gonna
continue to take people. And if you like working with your hands and you like working with
people, um, it’s a really, really good career path for you. So

[00:34:38] Matthew Elban: yep.
[00:34:39] Anthony Carrier: Absolutely. It it’s, uh, I couldn’t choose anything that I would rather
be doing, to be honest with you, uh, just because I get to be wrong people all the time. And, uh,
I need people to keep me straight. So, uh, it’s good good. I’ve I’ve been able to surround myself
with so many good people, uh, and get to see them live their lives and get them to, uh, be able
to sit I’m sorry. Let’s stop. Let let that dinner. Yeah. You gotta turn back. No. It’s good, Ian. Look.
Go ahead. No. Go ahead.
[00:35:17] Matthew Elban: Oh, go ahead.
[00:35:19] Anthony Carrier: I was just gonna say, just to be able to see people meet their own
goals, it it it helps me, uh, want to keep doing what I’m doing to see see those goals being met
by others.
[00:35:32] Todd Kavanaugh: Yeah. Matt, why don’t you go to my question, I think, for natural
flow and ask that one, the next one, when you look?
[00:35:44] Matthew Elban: Anthony, when you look five or ten years out, what do you hope that
this work adds up to? Not just for your team or for Baker, but for the towns themselves that
you’re investing in?
[00:35:58] Anthony Carrier: Wow. That’s a good one.
[00:36:01] Matthew Elban: Uh, it’s
[00:36:01] Anthony Carrier: a really good question, Matt.
[00:36:05] Matthew Elban: I
[00:36:09] Anthony Carrier: we’ll take a second to think on that one. That that’s deep. I I wanna
create that dead space again. Can you ask that one again just so I make sure I understand it?
That was really good.
[00:36:21] Matthew Elban: Um, I mean, when you look five or ten years out, what do you hope
that this work adds up to? Not just for your team or just for Baker, but for the towns themselves
that you’re investing in.
[00:36:35] Anthony Carrier: Yeah. Again, great question. Uh, I feel like I’m saying the same
thing over and over again, but it it it it’s truly just about the people and the communities that we
live in and then being better, um, than when we left it. Just like the work that we do and the
always good work slogan, we wanna come in and leave whatever we find. It’s it’s gonna be
better when we leave than when we got there. Um, whether we walk into a a meeting, um,
whether we walk into an issue on the roof, whether we walk into a community, um, whether I
walk into my home or with my family. I want it to be better after I left than before I got there. Um,
do I always do that? I I do not. Um, I feel at it often. Uh, but that’s my goal. That’s what I wanna
see. I wanna see in five or ten years down the route down the road that, um, we are leaving
things better than we found them and that that we have pushed the mall that much farther. And,
uh, we have better communities that we’re surrounding ourselves in, and we have better
company. And I think that, uh, with all that we’re doing with the ESOP and those kind of things,
our company is doing that way. And, uh, I think we have the opportunity, um, as employee
owners to pour into our community and help our communities get there as well.
[00:38:06] Todd Kavanaugh: You know, I I love what you said too, Anthony. Um, you kinda sort
of pre answered this question a little bit too earlier where you talked about maybe one of those
high schoolers making the decision to become to go into HVAC and becoming a strong partner
for us in ten years. And so I think what would be really cool in five or ten years down the road

that some of those kids that you spoke to, you’re seeing out on the job site now. And they have
good, stable careers where they’re growing and doing meaningful work. Um, and so seeing that
kind of scale, um, out from this time that you’re spending in the classroom with these kids too,
you know, alongside what you described of of the impact that that your your teams are having in
the communities and the job sites that they’re working on. So
[00:39:01] Anthony Carrier: Sure. Right. I mean, how amazing would it be that that ten years
down the road, we get to see that, uh, kid come out, and he’s helping us on a job. He’s like, hey.
That’s a crazy old man that I remember came and talked to. Yeah.
[00:39:14] Matthew Elban: Well, I’m gonna give that crazy old man one more chance to say
something to to a group of people. So for a younger person listening, uh, maybe somebody two
years out of high school, maybe someone’s in a job that they don’t like, uh, or that they don’t
love. Wondering if the trades might be for them. Anthony, what would you say to them? What’s
one or two comments that you would use to encourage them to to look into it?
[00:39:39] Anthony Carrier: Well, you you all are full of, uh, some good questions. This is, uh,
this is a lot of pressure here to come up with some answers that, uh, I I was again, are you
happy where you are? You said that in your question. If if not, um, what would make you happy?
And and if you wanna consider trades, let’s sit and talk about it. Let’s take some time. What are
your questions? I think you have to dig into each person individually and find out what questions
they have, what are their goals, where do they wanna be, and how do we help them get there.
Um, we we have to set realistic expectations. Uh, oftentimes, it’s, you know, I wanted to run the
company in a year from now. And, uh, that may not be realistic, but we can we can get there
eventually. We got we have to work through the steps and educate. Um, sorry. We’ll pause.
Educate them on how do how do we get from point a to point b all the way to z. Um, we can’t
get to z if we don’t go from a to b. Um, and I think that’s critical is the education process. Helping
them get there is the second part of it. So we need to understand it. We need to educate them
and then see how can we come alongside them. Um, I think as leaders, we have to lead as
servant leaders. We have to help people, uh, get there. Um, with their helper.
[00:41:12] Matthew Elban: Yeah. I’ll I’ll say this real quick. I I might have been a great question,
but it was even better answer. And I’ll also offer up that if anybody out there that is listening is
interested in having a conversation with us at Baker Roofing, we’re in the Southeast, Mid
Atlantic, from Pennsylvania to Florida, out to Tennessee and Alabama, and you wanna talk
about getting involved in the roofing industry, reach out to us on the website. We have an entire
department that does recruiting and can place you in different places in our company, different
positions, different states. Uh, we’d be happy to talk to you. And I’m sure we could even get
Anthony on the phone if you want if you wanna talk to him directly.
[00:41:52] Anthony Carrier: Absolutely. I’d love to talk to anybody. We and we’ve got a lot of
partners in all the markets as well if they’re interested in HVAC or or any of the other things,
plumbing, um, you know, building houses. We’ve got connections, and and I’d I’d love to see
people pour into the trades. Uh, yeah, I think I think it’d be amazing.
[00:42:12] Todd Kavanaugh: Well, Anthony, I think, um, the work that you’re doing, um, there’s
others at Baker that are doing similar work, uh, in promoting the trades, and I know that there is
a lot of partners, um, um, that are not part of Baker Roofing, but are doing similar, like, really,
really good work to promote that. This is a viable career. Um, it’s a great industry, the
construction industry, to be a part of. And, you know, I actually see, like, fruit being born from a

kind of concerted effort to promote roofing in the trades. And even in my own household, my son
decided to go into electrical work. He didn’t decided that, you know, college wasn’t for him, and
he wanted to go do electrical work. Um, and he’s on that path now, and he’s loving it. He loves,
uh, um, doing a lot of things that I have no idea what to do myself now. So I really appreciate
that, Anthony. I appreciate your work here at Baker and your work in the communities. And, um,
we have one way that we, uh, we typically wrap this up, and you kinda already answered it. So
I’m not gonna say the audiobook part. I’m gonna Okay. The music. Um, and I wanna know
what’s on heavy rotation for you, for music, um, in your car, in your office, at home. Uh, who are
you listening to right now?
[00:43:33] Anthony Carrier: Yeah. So, um, I listen to this podcast. I can say it’s the only podcast
that I listen to. Right? So that so I think that that is an honest answer too as well, just so just so
you know, it’s the only podcast. Uh, I gotta start finding more podcasts, I guess, at this point. But
this this is my number one. Uh, but, uh, no. Yes. We grew up in a great music generation, didn’t
we? So so I’m I’m a big, uh, music fan and and support music. And so right now, I’d have to
answer that with, uh, probably my favorite artist right now is Cody Johnson. Uh, listen to Cody
Johnson a lot. Um, probably the most, uh, repeated song that that I’ll just sit there and, uh, put
on repeat and drive my kids crazy is, uh, by a band called the Red Clay Strays. It’s caught on
my knees. Um, so if you haven’t listened to that, it’s it’s a pretty good one. Oh, I’d
[00:44:27] Todd Kavanaugh: listen to it. See, Matt’s right. I guess, I’ll write it down too. Although
I have a feeling I’ll I’ll I’ll admit, Anthony, I’m not much of a country music fan. I I mean,
[00:44:39] Anthony Carrier: I can I’m I’m gonna we’re we’re gonna get you there. We’re we’re
gonna get you there.
[00:44:45] Matthew Elban: It’s about an effort that you might try, but I’m not sure if you’re gonna
get in there as fast as he might turn you on to something that’s not country as well. So
[00:44:54] Anthony Carrier: I I I’ll listen to it all. So so I I can go listen to whatever he’s got, and
then we can put some boots and a cowboy hat on and take him down to State Street, let him put
one foot in Tennessee and one Virginia and listen to a little country music. I know there are
[00:45:07] Todd Kavanaugh: people that would pay good money to see that happen.
[00:45:10] Matthew Elban: There are. If you were in a fundraising mode, we can do that. But
well, um, Anthony, that’s it for this episode of Under the Roof. Uh, big thanks to you and for the
conversation, for the hard work that you and your team is doing, uh, in your community every
single day.
[00:45:28] Todd Kavanaugh: And if you know that, uh, and I know that Matt already said this,
um, but if somebody could use a different perspective on what a career in the trades might look
like, uh, share this episode with them. Or like Matt said, give us a call. Give Anthony a call. You
can find his number on our website. Uh, just go to Bristol and call the office, and I wanna speak
to Anthony about roofing, and he will be there for the most part, I think, or he will get back to
you. So, um, yeah, that’s how this conversation grows.
[00:45:57] Matthew Elban: Thanks for listening, and don’t forget to follow the podcast so that
you don’t miss an episode.
[00:46:02] Todd Kavanaugh: And remember, um, we shall do good work at a profit if we can, at
a loss if we must, but always good work. See you next time.