Carrie Kelsch, Founder and CEO of A-Plus Garage Doors in Utah, joins the show to discuss her journey from clandestine business owner to the leader of a $48 million enterprise. Carrie shares the specific tactics her team used to jump from $36 million to $48 million in a single year, including a unique “revenue bell” system that gamifies success for the entire office. She opens up about battling negative belief systems and imposter syndrome, explaining how she finally leaned into her identity as a woman leader in a male-dominated field. From professionalizing the garage door industry to successfully partnering with private equity through Guild Garage Group, Carrie provides a masterclass on balancing high-growth profitability with a thriving company culture.

Join us as we discuss:

• [4:36] How A-Plus accelerated their growth through business-wide revenue goals

• [12:41] Imposter syndrome and embracing the uncomfortable

• [16:24] Carrie’s personal mission to give the garage door business a glow up

• [22:36] The family business dynamic and making tough decisions
  

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• Guild Garage Group
  

You can find this interview and many more by subscribing to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.

Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Stephanie Allen, CEO of Airworks Solutions, and Jennifer Bagley, CEO of CI Web Group, join the show to discuss their collaborative mission: JustStart AI. This online community helps contractors move past the doomsday fear of artificial intelligence and into a world of massive operational leverage. Stephanie shares how she transformed her business after a difficult 2025 by cutting marketing spend by 50% and achieving an unprecedented 25% net profit through AI-enabled processes. Jennifer breaks down the technical math game of the modern web, explaining how AI agents can architect content for visibility in a shifting search landscape. From custom bedtime stories to high-level vibe coding, this episode serves as a roadmap for contractors ready to treat AI as their new superhero cape.

Join us as we discuss:

• [1:35] Confronting the hesitancy to engage with AI tools and leverage them for your business needs

• [14:09] Why the early AI adopters are positioned to win the long game

• [25:26] Curating marketing content for AI bots alongside human consumers

• [35:45] How to future-proof your trades business for an AI-infused workforce
  

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• JustStart AI.io
  

You can find this interview and many more by subscribing to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.

Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Mark Pyrah, President and Director of Client Care at Peak Landscape, shares a deeply personal account of transforming anxiety into a leadership tool. After 20 years in the industry, Mark discusses how he moved from being a “task master” focused on checkmarks to a leader driven by purpose and SOPs. He breaks down the financial shift that saved his sanity, moving focus from top-line revenue to free cash flow, and reveals how Peak Landscape is currently building custom AI assistants to decentralize decision-making and put the company’s collective brain into the hands of field technicians.

Join us as we discuss:

• [6:01] How Mark shaped his anxiety into a leadership strength

• [13:32] Why understanding your finances is critical to mental health

• [20:52] How Peak Landscape is using custom AI assistants to empower their team

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• Aspire

You can find this interview and many more by subscribing to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.

Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.