The Kitchen Table
From Pro Racer to Million-Dollar Roofing Rep: Ryan Wells’ Story
Episode Summary
Ken Baden talks with Ryan Wells, a former pro flat track racer who had never held a traditional job before joining Potomac Custom Remodeling a year ago. After about 14 years of professional racing, injuries and a capped earning ceiling pushed Ryan into a new chapter. He moved to Salisbury, Delaware, applied to about 35 jobs on Indeed, and Potomac was the only company that responded. With no sales experience, Ryan is now on pace to top $1 million in sales this year, even after a rough September of declines. The conversation is also a case for growing your own talent. Ken argues that poaching top reps from competitors builds no culture and doesn’t scale. He explains why he looks for athletic backgrounds, discipline, competitiveness, and a willingness to learn. They close with the company’s shift to a hybrid model that blends retail and insurance restoration, and with Ryan’s excitement about door knocking and new on-the-doorstep measurement technology.
Episode Notes
Guest: Ryan Wells, sales rep, Potomac Custom Remodeling. Former pro flat track racer who competed in the X Games twice. Originally from between Buffalo and Rochester, New York; now based in Salisbury, Delaware.
Key takeaways
- Hire for traits, not résumés. Athletic backgrounds signal competitiveness and discipline, and good attitude and work ethic can be trained into the rest.
- Poaching isn’t a strategy. Recruiting only from competitors imports other companies’ subcultures, so you never build your own identity, and those reps tend to leave for the next offer.
- Self-driven reps do their own homework. Ryan’s examples include watching YouTube videos, asking to see installs, and role-playing sales pitches to his dog.
- Stay sharp between leads. Two weeks without a lead means a long gap between paychecks, so be ready when the next one comes.
- Use a post-loss checklist. Review what you did and what you could do better, and don’t carry a lost sale home.
- Selling systems build on themselves. One missed step can throw off the whole presentation, especially for system-dependent reps.
- More tools in the toolbox. Learning to knock doors adds income options in slow seasons.
- Retail and insurance restoration are being combined. Running them as two separate companies made it hard to focus on one main thing. The new hybrid, options-close format is still a beta.
Mentioned in the episode
- Ken’s best closing percentage: 79% in a quarter
- Ryan’s closing rate without declines: estimated at 80%+
- Roughly $250K in financial declines in September
- Indeed reportedly listing the company as the second-biggest provider of sales jobs in Delaware
- Adam Larson, another rep Ken is mentoring, who is not yet on camera
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