Best Estimate Rocket Podcasts (2025)

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Bridging Hands-On Experience and Digital Education with Mike Kremsreiter 49:36

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2d ago49:36

49:36

Today’s guest is a trusted voice in the painting industry and a true educator at heart. Mike Kremsreiter, founder of Home Painting Advice, has spent over 25 years helping homeowners and contractors elevate their craft through practical knowledge, honest insights, and real-world experience. From running a successful residential painting business to …

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Efficiency, Accountability, and Growth in the Trades with Ron Nezat 26:21

26d ago26:21

26:21

In this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, Kathy and Tom sit down with Ron Nezat, a seasoned entrepreneur who transformed his hands-on start in decorative concrete into a thriving multi-business empire. Ron shares how his journey began with a simple home project and evolved into a network of successful ventures — including his d…

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From Chaos to Clarity: How Systems Champions Drive Growth with David Jenyns 41:35

2M ago41:35

41:35

In this episode of Rocket Your Business For Trade Contractors, we welcome David Jenyns, founder and CEO at SYSTEMology.com, author of Systemology and The Systems Champion. David has helped countless business owners build scalable systems that free them from key-person dependency and allow their businesses to grow sustainably. Our guest shares why t…

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Brushstrokes of Change: Juan Vasquez on Craft, Culture, and Community 23:42

3M ago23:42

23:42

In this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, we sit down with Juan Vasquez, founder of Illusions Painting and board member of the Painting Contractors Association (PCA). Juan shares his inspiring journey from immigrant painter to industry leader, highlighting how his bicultural background and commitment to education are helping to…

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Effective Social Media Strategies for Service Contractors and Brand Promotion with Alexander Donev 23:37

9M ago23:37

23:37

In this episode, we sit down with Alexander Donev to explore how service contractors can use social media to strengthen their brand and attract more customers. Alex, a marketing and design professional as well as a new dad, shares practical advice on building a strong online presence without feeling overwhelmed. He explains how to choose the right …

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Maximizing Your Brand's Online Presence: Tips for Contractors and Small Business Owners with Alexander Donev 27:14

12M ago27:14

27:14

In this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, we dive into the power of professional online presence and effective marketing strategies with Alexander Donev of Firemind Studios. Alex, a creative marketing expert with years of experience, has helped contractors and service businesses transform their brands, boost their customer enga…

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Scaling Your Painting Business using Proven Strategies with Mike Gore Hickman 30:07

1y ago30:07

30:07

In this episode of Rocket Your Business For Trade Contractors, we explore the essential strategies that help contractors grow their businesses with Mike Gore Hickman. Our guest shares his journey from running a successful painting company to building a business that helps contractors streamline their operations, improve their sales processes, and g…

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Tech and Team Coordination with Company Cam Owner Luke Hansen 38:57

1y ago38:57

38:57

In this episode of Rocket Your Business For Trade Contractors, we're thrilled to welcome Luke Hansen, the founder of CompanyCam, joins us to discuss the intersection of technology and team communication, focusing on the role of AI in simplifying workflows for contractors. Luke shares insights on the exciting AI developments happening at CompanyCam,…

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Improve Company Culture through Performance Pay With David Franco 30:23

1y ago30:23

30:23

In this episode of Rocket Your Business For Trade Contractors, we're thrilled to welcome David, the founder of Protiv, a software company revolutionizing the construction industry. David shares his journey from contractor to tech entrepreneur, developing a platform that helps contractors incentivize their hourly workers to increase productivity whi…

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How HMI's Innovation Elevates the Concrete Lifting Industry with Will Sublette 46:42

1y ago46:42

46:42

In this episode of Rocket Your Business For Trade Contractors, Kathy and Tom welcome Will Sublette, an engineer at HMI, a family-owned company that has been leading the way in concrete lifting and ground improvement for over 50 years. HMI is best known for pioneering the use of polyurethane foam in lifting and stabilizing concrete, but today their …

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Why "Guessing" How Much to Charge Never Works with Brandon Lewis 55:13

1+ y ago55:13

55:13

In this episode of Rocket Your Business For Trade Contractors, we welcome Brandon Lewis, founder of the Academy for Professional Painters and Contractors and publisher of Painters Weekly, to discuss the vital importance of production rates, charge rates, and pricing. Gain insights from Brandon's extensive experience in coaching service contractors …

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Mastering Your Schedule at Peak Times with Jason Paris 50:36

1+ y ago50:36

50:36

In this episode of Rocket Your Business For Trade Contractors, join us as we explore the entrepreneurial journey with Jason Paris, the brain behind Paris Painting and Partnership Developer at Aleph Holdings. Delving into the crucial aspects of growing a painting business, Jason shares invaluable insights on profit reinvestment, strategic decision-m…

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All About the Numbers that Matter with Daniel Honan 25:18

1+ y ago25:18

25:18

Our apologies, this was a duplicate upload. Check out our latest episode with Jason Paris. On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors we are joined by Daniel Honan of Bookkeeping For Painters about being prepared for the taxman, managing overhead, pricing, pricing, pricing and finally profitability. Learn how not to get surprised…

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Adding Services to Your Company with Will Reyes 38:29

2y ago38:29

38:29

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors we are joined by Will Reyes of Battleborn Painting to talk about adding services to your company's repertoire of offerings. Learning what services will be profitable and aligned with your core skills is essential when considering adding something new on the menu for your customers. Will …

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Getting Your Marketing Back on Track with Brandon Pierpont 35:23

2y ago35:23

35:23

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors we are joined by Brandon Pierpont of Painter Marketing Pros to talk about how trades businesses often go off track in their marketing, spending large amounts of money but getting very little in return. Brandon discusses simple steps businesses can take to get marketing back on track and …

1
Training as an Investment with Fred Kulik 25:09

2y ago25:09

25:09

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors we are joined by the Customer Success lead at Estimate Rocket, Fred Kulik, who talks with us about the kind of investment that training ought to be in every company. It takes time, money, and intention to carve out time for the proper amount of training in a company, but that investment …

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Building Winter Backlog with Jim McBrayer 24:53

2y ago24:53

24:53

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors we are joined by Jim McBrayer of McBrayer and Associates to discuss strategies for keeping the winter backlog full and flowing! We discuss ways to creatively plan for slow seasons, and we spend time analyzing sales processes that keep people engaged. "VBR" is a term you should know by th…

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The Every-Contractor's Guide to Estimating (Part 2) 15:12

2y ago15:12

15:12

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, Tom Droste of Estimate Rocket share a presentation in two parts on the fundamentals of proper estimating that every trade contractor should understand to stay efficient and profitable. In this part 2 of the presentation, Tom discusses sales strategies, pricing models, production rates, …

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The Every-Contractor's Guide to Estimating (Part 1) 26:52

2y ago26:52

26:52

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, Tom Droste of Estimate Rocket share a presentation in two parts on the fundamentals of proper estimating that every trade contractor should understand to stay efficient and profitable. Tom discusses production rates, accurate measurements, labor and material tracking, job costing, prici…

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Delegating that Doesn't Blow up in Your Face with Corwin Smith 31:31

2y ago31:31

31:31

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, Corwin Smith of Culture To Cash joins us to talk about why business leaders find delegating so difficult, and why efforts to start delegating often wind up ineffective. If you can't let go of what you're not good at and learn to delegate, you inevitably limit your team's growth, and fru…

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Champion-Level Process for Sales and Job Management with Nick May and Stacia Newton 40:33

2y ago40:33

40:33

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, we are joined by Nick May of Walls By Design and Stacia Newton of Paper Moon Painting. Nick and Stacia are champion sales and job management process creators and we discuss pro tips that empower efficiency and profitability in business, covering topics like client communication, sales f…

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Estimating and Job Management Tech with Nick Slavik and Tom Droste 55:40

2y ago55:40

55:40

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, we re-share a conversation by Nick Slavik, host of Ask A Painter LIVE, and Tom Droste, Founder/CEO of Estimate Rocket. Nick and Tom's conversation originally aired on Ask A Painter LIVE and they covered topics ranging from job management technology and future economic challenges, to sal…

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Finding Bandwidth to Innovate and Elevate Your Industry with Tony Margani 31:32

2y ago31:32

31:32

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors we chat with Tony Margani from Nubilis about the ability of trade contractors to innovate within their company while simultaneously elevating their trade with products and services that make the world a better place. Not everyone is able to create world-changing products while staying pr…

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The Be-Look-Attract Marketing Strategy with Logan Shinholser 38:57

2y ago38:57

38:57

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors we are joined by Logan Shinholser of the Contractor Growth Network to talk about what trade businesses can do to build a more cohesive and compelling marketing plan. Many companies want to jump straight to the "attraction" phase of marketing strategy, but Logan discusses reasons why serv…

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The ONE DOOR to Customer Service with David Lord 35:31

2y ago35:31

35:31

On this episode of Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors, David Lord from Nexa joins us to talk about how phone calls can be the most important step--and the first!--to a positive customer experience. We talk about why some businesses don't value call services, how affordable call companies have become, and how call services can help a company…

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Project Performance Reviews with Nick Slavik 27:26

2y ago27:26

27:26

On this episode of Rocket Your Business, Nick Slavik from Ask A Painter joins us to talk about the types of project and performance reviews that reveal trends and improvement opportunities. Every project review is inevitably impacted by employee performance, and Nick talks about how his company, Nick Slavik Painting and Restoration, schedules proje…

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Complex but not Complicated with Splash 47:47

2y ago47:47

47:47

We are celebrating the launch of our new podcast name and logo, Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors! New name, same great business growth education! On this episode of Rocket Your Business we are joined by Splash from Blue Collar Tribe to talk about how businesses can scale without alienating their employees, dipping in customer service, or …

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Phone Answering for Pros with Tom Droste 30:48

2y ago30:48

30:48

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio--soon to be Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors!--Tom Droste, CEO/Founder of Estimate Rocket, joins us to talk about the importance of professional phone answering services. How your company answers the phone--or doesn't!--can reveal a lot about your sales process efficiency and growth potential. This…

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The Right Way to Grow with Nick May 56:18

2y ago56:18

56:18

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio (soon to be rebranded as Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors!) we are joined by Nick May of Walls By Design to talk about industry influence on every trade contractor to scale their business at all costs. But is this the right way to grow your company? Nick discusses ways business owners can target ne…

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5 Years is the New 10 with Jason Paris 35:38

2y ago35:38

35:38

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Jason Paris of Paris Painting and Aleph Holdings joins us to talk about business growth and leveraging leadership skills to realize new expansion. Trade businesses can experience accelerated change in the current economy, and long-range goals that used to take 10 years to actualize can now often be reached …

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Getting Into Commercial with Scott Lollar 31:27

2y ago31:27

31:27

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Scott Lollar of Consulting 4 Contractors talks with us about how businesses can start taking on more commercial work to get bigger projects and to even out the peaks and valleys of cash flow. Thinking about getting into commercial but you're not sure of the steps you need to take to get your feet wet? Scott…

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Pros and Cons of Sign-on-the-Spot with Tom Droste 30:09

2y ago30:09

30:09

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio (soon to be Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors!), we are joined by the CEO and Founder of Estimate Rocket, Tom Droste who shares ways a sign-on-the-spot option can help sales people close more sales. This may not be an option for every business, but if your company has the tools and opportunity for s…

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Sales Process for Pros with David Reed 45:24

2y ago45:24

45:24

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, David Reed from Sales Transformation Group (STG) joins us to talk about the systems that the best professionals use to generate more leads and to train their team on sales processes that close more deals. We discuss generate more qualified leads, challenges contractors face the sales process, standards lead…

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Bringing on an Operations Director with Zach Kenney 20:51

2y ago20:51

20:51

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we talk with Zach Kenney of ZK Painting to talk about how he hired an Operations Director at his company so he could get out of the business and work ON the business as the president. We discuss how business owners can know when it's the right time to hand operations over to someone else, and methods to hire…

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Team Meetings that Improve Accountability with Tom Droste 25:53

2y ago25:53

25:53

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste joins us to discuss how company team meetings can be structure in a way that supports great accountability without killing motivation. Are your team meetings viewed by your team as helpful, efficient, and empowering? It may take some time to get there, but your meetings can positively define your…

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Hiring Sales Teams with Ryan Groth 31:03

2y ago31:03

31:03

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Ryan Groth of Sales Transformation Group (STG) to talk about hiring and training sales teams. We discuss the type of company culture that is designed to attract and retain the best sales people, and incentives that keep everyone achieving their best and staying sharp. We are excited to be a …

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Increasing Profit During Challenging Times with Brandon Lewis 41:25

2+ y ago41:25

41:25

On this episode of Estimate Rocket radio we talk with Brandon Lewis of The Painters Academy about what contractors should be doing during challenging economic times that will not only save their business, but also bring them profitable growth. Hint: it does NOT involve lowering your prices! Brandon gives tips on how to find more leads, how to close…

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Getting to $5MM with Tom Reber and Neil Kristianson 47:29

2+ y ago47:29

47:29

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Tom Reber and Neil Kristianson of The Contractor Fight to discuss how contractors in any trade can break through the barriers of making $5MM in revenue. We learn that the questions of "how can I get to $5MM" is often premature and could even be destructive if your business has not mastered t…

1
Getting Through the Slog with Tom Droste 26:22

2+ y ago26:22

26:22

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste--CEO of Estimate Rocket--joins us to talk about that stage in the life of a business that everyone dreads: The Slog. Every business journey reaches plateaus that are long and tiring to cross. These are times when growth is slow, work is tedious, and company goals still seem miles away even after …

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Sales Planning and Course Correction with Brandon Lewis 40:22

2+ y ago40:22

40:22

Estimate Rocket is celebrating 100 podcasts! For June, we're replaying some of our top episodes from the last 100...in case you missed them. Here's #4. On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we talk with the always thought-provoking Brandon Lewis of the Painters Academy. Brandon helps his clients build sales and marketing systems that plug in the…

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The Evolution of Commercial Painting with Mike Stanley and Aaron Moore 24:22

2+ y ago24:22

24:22

Estimate Rocket is celebrating 100 podcasts! For June, we're replaying some of our top episodes from the last 100...in case you missed them. Here's #3. On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we talk with Mike Stanley and Aaron Moore about the state of Commercial Painting and how commercial contractors are pushing the industry forward. Mike and Aa…

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Selling Wonder over Work with Torlando Hakes 40:22

2+ y ago40:22

40:22

Estimate Rocket is celebrating 100 podcasts! For June, we're replaying some of our top episodes from the last 100...in case you missed them. Here's #2. On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Torlando "The Economist" Hakes and we discuss a point system that he developed to help contractors estimate accurately and quickly without w…

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Fearless Bidding and Job-Costing with Nick Slavik 25:17

2+ y ago25:17

25:17

Estimate Rocket is celebrating 100 podcasts! For June, we're replaying some of our top episodes from the last 100...in case you missed them. Here's #1. On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Nick Slavik of Ask A Painter and Nick Slavik Painting and Restoration joins us to talk about new revelations about estimating and job costing that can help …

1
Adapting to Tech Change with Fred Kulik 21:09

2+ y ago21:09

21:09

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Fred Kulik, the head of Customer Success at ER, to talk about technology changes that every company must navigate, and best practices for fast team adoption and adaptation. As AI moves in to almost every sphere of business, it is becoming more and more imperative that teams learn to adopt an…

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100th Episode: Managing Backlog, Numbers, Uncertainty, and Chaos 39:37

2+ y ago39:37

39:37

Celebrate 100 episodes of Estimate Rocket Radio with us! On this episode we discuss insights gathered from 100 episodes of discussion on business management and growth. We look back on some of the most profound moments of podcasting and chat about the BIG FOUR themes that kept emerging: Backlog, Knowing Your Numbers, Managing Uncertainty, and Manag…

1
"Okay to Grow" Using Advanced Project Management with Tom Droste 24:32

2+ y ago24:32

24:32

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by CEO and Founder of Estimate Rocket, Tom Droste, to talk about a subject every good contractor wrestles with at some stage in their business growth--advanced project management. With more money and more people come more problems, but problem-solving tools and processes should also evolve to b…

1
Backlog that Powers Growth with Jim McBrayer 26:38

2+ y ago26:38

26:38

On this episdode of Estimate Rocket we are joined by Jim McBrayer of McBrayer and Associates to discuss the importance of backlog in business business. Jim says that backlog is the best predictor of the near future in profit and sales, and that backlog should be 70% of a company's annual volume! We chat about the differences between backlog and pip…

1
Communication Into Documentation with Tom Droste 19:08

2+ y ago19:08

19:08

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we talk with Tom Droste about the necessity of good communication and documentation in growing companies. Tom gives insight into a process that makes documentation easier and a daily activity that doesn't become a mountain of "task debt" to be accomplished at the end of weeks and months. The first step to go…

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Confidence to the Core with Manny Navarrete 33:58

2+ y ago33:58

33:58

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we talk with Manny Navarrete of Priority Painting Services about the mind-body connection that influences confidence, and can ultimately impact sales and management. New research in fat burning and weight loss may help contractors stay healthy, even for those on a very busy schedule that little time for the…

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Scheduling Without Brain-Hurt with Tom Droste 15:40

2+ y ago15:40

15:40

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Tom Droste, Founder and CEO of Estimate Rocket, to discuss the type of scheduling that doesn't cause neurological pain! How is it that scheduling is such a nightmare for contractors as they grow their business, and why does seem to haunt businesses at every new stage of growth? We chat about…