Blog Archives

Becoming an employer of choice with Tammy Birklid

4/29/2021

Benchmarks of Growth - Part 3 of 6
The DYOJO Podcast, Episode 59

Guest: Tammy Birklid, Merit Construction (Tacoma, WA)

SPONSOR
The DYOJO Podcast is sponsored by Enlightened Restoration Solutions (ERS). Ben Justesen and his team have put together a dynamic live class which reviews real world estimates and elevates your ability to master the methodology of Xactware. Including how to determine your own labor rates, create your own price list, and navigate pricing feedback.

Tammy shares insights into her process of growing in the company, with the company, and now as the leader of her company, Merit Construction in Tacoma, Washington. I found it interesting that her background was in finances and yet she placed a high emphasis on culture. Not that these concepts are exclusive, but in my experience the financial minded person has not always been the driver of those efforts.

Tammy shares so many gems for our series, Benchmarks of Growth, this is part 3 of 6 from The DYOJO Podcast.

"Grow in proportion to your ability to maintain your quality and your culture." How many businesses have we observed grow to rapidly and plummet as a result? Tammy shares he vision for sustained growth.
Tammy believes strongly that as a person in a position of leadership and as an organization that you should, "Be who you say you are." She talks about what that has meant, as well as how it has both been tested and proven, coming through the challenges of 2020 as a team.
In a market where good employees are harder to acquire and retain than good clients, Tammy challenges companies to, "Be an employer of choice." Tammy shares how the Merit team achieves this and has developed a culture of accountability.

SPONSOR
The DYOJO Podcast is sponsored by Advocate Claim Service (ACS), "Where you can find solutions to claims that are causing you anxiety." David Princeton and his team are ready to help you navigate doubtful and disputed insurance claims.

The DYOJO Podcast is THE podcast for intentional restorers, helping you shorten your dang learning curve for personal and professional development. Catch us every Thursday on YouTube.com/thedyojo

0 Comments

Developing local partnerships and win-win business relationships with Paul T. Long

4/27/2021

0 Comments

South Sound Connection (SSC) LIVE 017
Season 2 "Made in the South Sound"
Recorded LIVE - Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 9am PST

SSC LIVE is brought to you by The DYOJO Podcast and All American Restoration Services (Tacoma, WA).

Recap of our discussion with Nancy Giacolone, "Recipe of Success" with employee retention through creative benefits and having "The Courage to Change" (SSC LIVE 016).

Local treasure, Tammy Birklid (Merit Construction) will be our guest for The DYOJO Podcast. She presents her thoughts on becoming an employer of choice for Part 3 (of 6) for our series Benchmarks of Growth.

We read from Jon Isaacson's book, Be Intentional: Culture, regarding shifting your mindset from that of being STUCK in the middle to being PLANTED in the middle and using that positive energy to thrive wherever you are in your career. You can purchase a signed copy of the book directly from The DYOJO via the website.
GUEST
Paul Long, South Sound Business Summit (Tacoma, WA)

Business Owners deserve a Commercial Banker that is a strategic advisor…not just a banker - Paul discusses his approach to helping businesses with more than just the money as well as lessons learned from developing strong local partnerships to help each other thrive.
Paul is famous for his local business leader LinkedIn Connection highlights posts, utilizing the power of social media to shout out local standouts. If you need some encouragement on how to approach social media, follow Paul's example. Social media doesn't have to always be about you, learn to harness the power of the win-win.
The 6th Annual South Sound Business Summit, this year the event is remote and 100% FREE - southsoundbusinesssummit.com What is SSBS and why you don't want to miss this years value packed event. There is still time to REGISTER TODAY to receive the daily emails with 5-7 minute presentations from local professionals who will help boost your personal development. The South Sound Business Summit coincides with National Small Business Week, so invest in yourself, build local relationships, and support your community partners.

South Sound Connection (SSC) presented by The DYOJO Podcast and All American Restoration Services (AARES).

All American Restoration Services is a general contractor based in Tacoma, WA that provides insurance repairs services for clients throughout the South Sound.
The DYOJO is a business coaching service based in Tacoma, WA and produces The DYOJO Podcast - helping you shorten your DANG learning curve for professional development.
See our past episodes
See our roster for Season 2

0 Comments

Program (TPA) work for insurance claims

4/26/2021

1 Comment

In business, it is important that you do no allow anyone to tell you whether you can or can’t do something. At the end of the day, only you can identify your vision and develop your strategy for success. In property restoration and insurance claims work, you wouldn't have to search far to find someone who speaks poorly of what is referred to as program work (aka third party administrator (TPA) or preferred vendor program).

For most water and fire damage mitigation and repairs contractors, you are either:

Struggling with the compliance variable in program work
Debating whether to join “the dark side” to increase your claims volume and revenue
Quietly just cashing those checks from consistent work

Common programs in property restoration insurance claims include:

Crawford Contractor Connection (CCC)
Sedgwick
Nexxus
Alacrity
Code Blue

Our guests for The DYOJO Podcast Ep. 58 (PVJ 012) shared some of their tips and tricks for playing to win the TPA game.

You Play to Win the (TPA) Game
The DYOJO Podcast LIVE, Episode 58 aka Pro vs. Joe 012
Recorded LIVE - Saturday, April 17, 2021 - 8pm PST

SPONSOR
The DYOJO Podcast is sponsored by Enlightened Restoration Solutions (ERS). Ben Justesen and his team have put together a dynamic live class which reviews real world estimates and elevates your ability to master the methodology of Xactware. Including how to determine your own labor rates, create your own price list, and navigate pricing feedback.

CO-HOST
Bryan Close All American Restoration Services (Tacoma, WA)

GUEST 1
Tye Panzone (Bonney Lake, WA)
TPA Repairs

Taking a "no name" local contractor from the "back woods" of the PNW to a perennial Contractor Connection Top Contender
Can you make money doing program work?
Leveraging your TPA connections to build your book of business
Attracting a national brand to help repeat "success"

GUEST 2
David Smith (Eugene, OR)
TPA Mitigation

Currently recovering from TPA work
The best compliance person I have ever worked with

Join us live - youtube.com/thedyojo

1 Comment

Simple changes to elevate employee retention

4/23/2021

0 Comments

In an era where business owners are having increasing difficulty attracting and retaining good employees, our guest for SSC LIVE 016, Nancy Giacolone, discusses what she has learned about becoming an "all star" by mastering employee benefits. Setting yourself apart from your competition in the fight for top talent doesn't have to be difficult. Nancy prides herself in helping her clients "find the courage to change" by cooking with her Recipe for Success.

South Sound Connection (SSC) LIVE 016
Season 2 "Made in the South Sound"
Recorded LIVE - Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 9am PST

SSC LIVE is brought to you by

The DYOJO Podcast (Tacoma, WA)
All American Restoration Services (Tacoma, WA)

GUEST
Nancy Giacolone, Olympic Crest Insurance, Inc. (Gig Harbor, WA)

Nancy hosts The Recipe for Success Podcast, her motto is "find the courage to change," we will discuss starting a podcast
In an era where business owners are having increasing difficulty attracting and retaining good employees, we will discuss what Nancy has learned about becoming "all stars"

South Sound Connection (SSC) presented by The DYOJO Podcast and All American Restoration Services (AARES).

All American Restoration Services is a general contractor based in Tacoma, WA that provides insurance repairs services for clients throughout the South Sound.
The DYOJO is a business coaching service based in Tacoma, WA and produces The DYOJO Podcast - helping you shorten your DANG learning curve for professional development.

See our past episodes
See our roster for Season 2

0 Comments

Is there a secret sauce for keeping good employees?

4/16/2021

0 Comments

South Sound Connection (SSC) LIVE launched Season 2 on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 9am PST

SSC LIVE is brought to you by:

The DYOJO Podcast (Tacoma, WA)
All American Restoration Services (Tacoma, WA)

Secret Sauce for Keeping Good Employees - Made in Tacoma, Rite in the Rain - SSC LIVE 015

GUEST
Ryan McDonald, Rite in the Rain (Tacoma, WA)

Ryan joins us to discuss:

What it means to be "Made in the South Sound"
How Rite in the Rain (RITR) has grown a thriving local business in Tacoma, WA
The value of taking care of your employees - RITR has several employees with 20-30 plus years of service in the organization
Taking on new challenges and adapting to the market. As we discussed with Lisa Lavender in part 1 of 6 of our series Benchmarks in Growth, "More is not always more." Rapid growth can be dangerous for a company if the right mindset and habits are not implemented.
Lessons learned from 2020 that the RITR team is applying moving forward.

READ MORE on the history of Rite in the Rain in an article published by The DYOJO following a tour of the RITR facility and an interview in early 2020 with Ryan.

South Sound Connection (SSC) presented by The DYOJO Podcast and All American Restoration Services (AARES).

All American Restoration Services is a general contractor based in Tacoma, WA that provides insurance repairs services for clients throughout the South Sound.
The DYOJO is a business coaching service based in Tacoma, WA and produces The DYOJO Podcast - helping you shorten your DANG learning curve for professional development.

See our past episodes as well as our roster of local guests for SSC LIVE Season 2 "Made in the South Sound".

0 Comments

Being honest with yourself in business

4/15/2021

0 Comments

Benchmarks of Growth - Part 2 of 6
The DYOJO Podcast, Episode 57
Guest: Gordy Powell, Georgia Clean (Atlanta, GA)

At the beginning of 2020 I set out to interview a broad swath of people in a position of leadership to compile their insights on various benchmarks of growth. Our motto for The DYOJO Podcast is, “Helping you shorten your DANG learning curve,” and the best way to achieve this is to learn from the trials and errors of your fellow entrepreneurs.

Gordy shared several gems for those in a position of leadership to take into account for the personal and professional development:

"You gotta put a team together." Understanding that you don't have to do it alone is a key evolution for any entrepreneur. For Mr. Powell this started with having someone dedicated to tracking and collecting the money.
"Don't be afraid to divide your responsibilities." Gordy realized the importance of being honest with yourself and seeking out people who can supplement your areas of weakness.
Mr. Powell shares a funny story about his first partner, walking up to him and saying, "I'm going to tell you where I suck at business at and where you suck at business at." With complimentary skill sets they were able to help each other grow as professionals and as an organization.
Gordy closes with a great encouragement to, "Romance the employees," in a platonic sense of valuing their contributions and engaging with them on a personal level.

This is the second discussion in a six part series on the benchmarks of growth. We will be discussing this topic in upcoming episodes of The DYOJO Podcast with dynamic industry leaders Lisa Lavender, Tammy Birklid, Whitney Wiseman, O.P. Almarez, and Andrew Golkin.

If you would like to hear more of Gordy’s story and perspectives:

Listen to the Biocast 411 podcast
Watch/listen her appearance on The DYOJO Podcast, Episode 29

SPONSOR
The DYOJO Podcast is sponsored by Enlightened Restoration Solutions (ERS). Ben Justesen and his team have put together a dynamic live class which reviews real world estimates and elevates your ability to master the methodology of Xactware. Including how to determine your own labor rates, create your own price list, and navigate pricing feedback. -

thedyojo.com/listen
#growthmindset #propertyrestoration