In this episode, Ken Baden sits down with Jason Nemes, Founder and CEO of Summit Solutions Roofing and Construction in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Jason brings an unusual origin story — he came from network marketing, where he built massive teams and earned multi-five-figure monthly residuals before a single phone call in December 2023 pivoted him into roofing. With no construction background, Jason leaned on his strengths: culture-building, recruiting, leadership, and social media branding. His company did $5.1 million in its first year. The conversation covers business partnerships gone wrong, getting burned by reps, how to recruit and train in a hyper-competitive market, multi-state expansion strategy, the private equity exit game, and the real correlation between high-performing salespeople and addiction recovery. Honest, entertaining, and packed with practical insight.
Ken Baden and Jason Nemes first connected at the Blue Collar Ballers event in February of last year, and this episode is the payoff of several scheduling attempts that almost didn't happen. It's worth the wait.
Jason's background is anything but conventional for a roofing CEO. He spent years building a 4,500-person downline in the health and wellness network marketing space, and still draws a six-figure annual residual from that work today. When a friend called him to start a roofing company, Jason flew to Oklahoma to learn the basics — door knocking, inspections, filing claims — and dove in headfirst.
His first official company, Summit Solutions Roofing and Construction, launched at the end of June 2024 after a business partnership dissolved over equity disagreements. He's candid about the split, the half-million-dollar back-door he experienced from a rep he trusted, and how those hard lessons reshaped the way he moves in business today.
Jason talks about the DFW market — one of the most saturated roofing markets in the country with roughly 8,000 companies — and how he managed to cut through by staying true to who he is on social media, paying people on time, and building a culture where team members feel seen, valued, and enrolled in the vision.
Ken and Jason also get into the business side of growth: insurance vs. retail revenue, multi-state licensing in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and soon Florida and Arizona, goals of $20-30 million this year, the EBITDA benchmarks that make a PE exit viable, and what a real private equity deal looks like for a roofing company in today's market.
The conversation closes on a personal and powerful note — Jason's recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, and how the same intensity and discipline that nearly cost him everything is now the fuel behind one of the fastest-growing roofing startups in Texas.
Follow Jason: Instagram & TikTok: @TattedPrez Facebook: Jason Nemes Company Page: Summit Solutions Roofing and Construction
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