The Home Service Expert Podcast

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Derek Cornish got laid off, answered a job ad, and became the top salesman at a window company. Then he and his partner Lakota Tidd built Top Home Improvements from a garage to $20 million a year across three Michigan locations on door knocking and 300 events a year. In this episode Derek breaks down the sales system behind it: why close percentage is the first KPI to track, why his Detroit manager did more revenue with fewer reps, the month they raised prices 30% and had their biggest month ever, sweat questions, same day next day, first in last in, the scariest room in the company, and how to fix commission breath before it costs you the sale. If you run a home service or home improvement sales team, this is the playbook. Follow Derek Cornish and Top Home Improvements: https://tophomeimprove.com | [email protected] -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:51 - Laid off, then top salesman 07:35 - Selling to people not looking 09:25 - Why 3 out of 10 wins 10:43 - Bottom line beats top line 14:37 - Never scared of price 16:41 - From texts to a KPI system 18:37 - Fewer reps, more revenue 26:30 - Commitments and accountability 29:45 - The scariest room 33:01 - The first KPI to track 34:26 - Same day, next day 37:27 - Beating the big brand 39:58 - When they ask for a discount 45:46 - Selling out of your own pocket 54:31 - Go for the no 55:37 - Commission breath 59:39 - A million behind, a million ahead 1:03:04 - Pancakes and the Top Home cult 1:09:01 - Raised prices 30%, biggest month 1:11:54 - Fractional CFO and accrual 1:13:14 - Role play, role play, role play 1:21:26 - Predictable Success 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Tommy Mello does $410 million a year and admits he is still chasing the next thing. Tal Ben-Shahar taught the most popular course in Harvard's history, built the world's first master's and PhD in happiness studies, and won Israel's national squash title at 16 only to feel nothing three hours later. Together they break down the arrival fallacy that runs every entrepreneur, why happier companies post better margins, the SPIRE model, minimum viable interventions you can do in 60 seconds, why New Year's resolutions die by January 17, the phone-in-a-box rule, the accountability buddy that raises follow-through by 200 percent, the good enough life, and what it means to give yourself permission to be human. Connect with Tal ⟶ https://talben-shahar.com -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 01:27 - The unhappiness that started 30 years of research 03:23 - National champion at 16, satisfied for three hours 05:40 - What is the arrival fallacy? 06:30 - Unhappy versus depressed and quiet desperation 08:11 - Enough is never enough and the $3 billion regret 09:38 - Two schools of thought and turning goal theory on its head 13:43 - SPIRE: the five elements of wellbeing 17:20 - Minimum viable interventions 18:34 - Five things you can do in the next 60 seconds 22:31 - Vision boards and the environment that primes you 25:04 - The six-week challenge and why resolutions die on January 17 26:51 - Keystone habits and islands of sanity 28:16 - Would you sleep next to a bottle of whiskey? 30:45 - Habits belong on the calendar 31:39 - The age of distraction and being bored with dignity 35:43 - Zero startup cost and the 200 percent accountability buddy 37:54 - Commitment bracelets and the letter N 42:53 - Stress is fine, recovery is what's missing 43:51 - Does happiness lead to success or the other way around? 45:01 - Six Fs, balance and fitting 48 hours into 24 48:59 - Wearables, step counts and building happiness into a blue collar culture 52:49 - Speed round: the biggest misconception high achievers have 53:46 - Live every day as if it's your first 57:27 - Rate it 1 to 10: cold plunge, sauna, sleep and reading 1:00:39 - Permission to be human 1:02:02 - Learn to fail or fail to learn 1:03:47 - Advice for your 20s and the 90-minute sprint 1:05:34 - $10 million and the Happiness Studies Academy 1:06:35 - Five books, one for each SPIRE element 1:08:19 - How to reach Tal and his closing message 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Jason Feifer has run Entrepreneur Magazine for 10 years, and his message to owners is the opposite of what you'd expect: the title you hold is rented, press won't save you, and the only safe ground is something you own. He and Tommy get into being singular instead of interchangeable, the billionaire mentor he walked away from, why he tells businesses to stop chasing coverage, and the arbitrary yes that keeps life interesting. Connect with Jason ⟶ https://www.jasonfeifer.com Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/heyfeifer/ -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 02:05 - Singular or interchangeable 05:33 - Accessible vs available 06:51 - The title you rent 10:37 - Who should actually be an entrepreneur 16:20 - Why he ditched his own framework 18:50 - Ryan Reynolds: willing to be bad 21:05 - The Mailchimp all-hands story 25:43 - The Gary Vee focus debate 28:05 - The billionaire's list 30:46 - An interesting life 31:40 - The Dan Martell exchange 35:28 - How the speaking career started 37:50 - Don't bother with press 39:40 - Google zero 41:57 - What matters most: brand trust 43:01 - Awards, rankings, and recruiting proof 46:00 - The rapid-fire round 47:34 - No meetings before 11 52:40 - The Dave Eggers sellout screed 59:01 - Where to find Jason 1:01:00 - The arbitrary yes 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Jon McNeill ran Tesla as president while revenue went from $2 billion to $20 billion in 30 months. In this episode he hands Tommy Mello the exact formula, The Algorithm: question every requirement, delete what the customer doesn't pay for, simplify, apply speed, and automate last. Then he runs it live on a real home service business, from $350 pay per click leads and 30,000 in-home appointments a month to technician equity and the two-question performance review. Connect with Jon ⟶ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmcneill1/ DVx Ventures ⟶ https://www.dvx.ventures -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 01:04 - From a Nebraska farm town to Tesla 03:02 - The Sheryl Sandberg phone call 05:47 - The growth target that sounded insane 12:38 - Questioning a $100M rocket requirement 16:40 - Circle what the customer pays for 18:12 - A garage door install in under 10 minutes 22:43 - Good, fast, and cheap: pick three 23:07 - The $350 click and 30,000 appointments 24:16 - Why be in the home at all? 27:08 - Automate last 30:19 - Network effects for local business 37:05 - The Jeff Wilke trunk-delivery story 39:19 - Training 200 technicians a month 43:02 - Equity for technicians 46:01 - Watching your money go to work 50:11 - The two-question performance review 53:08 - 168 hours and the six Fs 57:12 - How long will we live? 1:02:05 - The Ottoman Empire's mistake 1:04:23 - Bring your A game every day 1:06:03 - Where to find Jon 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Tommy sits down with Mark C. Winters, co-author of Rocket Fuel and author of the new book Visionary, to name the seat most founders never see: the integrator. They get into why four visionaries exist for every one integrator, why founders who sell rarely last a year, the 2017 hire that set Tommy free, and the one question every owner should answer before they ever think about selling. Get Mark's book Visionary ⟶ https://visionarybook.com Follow Mark C. Winters ⟶ https://markcwinters.com -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:43 - Mark's Origin Story 04:11 - Predictable Visionary Patterns 06:55 - Small Shops To $400M 08:20 - Is "Founder" A Risk? 09:40 - Why Founders Leave After The Sale 12:18 - Who Becomes The Integrator 16:10 - What Getting Stuck Looks Like 20:11 - Five Abilities To Break Ceilings 23:50 - Can Your Spouse Be The Integrator? 27:58 - The Seat Founders Can't See 31:15 - The Thankless Number Two 34:09 - The Three-Piece Puzzle 39:33 - The First Sign It's Failing 42:38 - Four Visionaries, One Integrator 43:34 - The Bottleneck At The Top 46:57 - The Ski Resort CEO 49:00 - How To Find Your Integrator 51:09 - The Hard Truth 55:01 - The One System To Install Now 1:02:40 - Would You Give It All Back? 1:08:48 - Where To Find Mark 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/