Dereck Jensen with Jensen’s Precision Power Washing

Intro: Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: And welcome to a fabulous Friday. Fearless Formula. I am Sharon Cline and I am your host for the show on Business RadioX. I’m so excited today because I have like a different kind of energy in the studio. I’ve got Derek Jensen of Jensen’s Precision Power Washing. What’s really fun about having him on the show is it’s been almost a year since he’s been well, it’s been about nine months since he’s been here. And it was sort of the beginning of his journey for the show, for even me. I’ve only been was on the show maybe four months or something. So I still felt like I was getting my sea legs. And so we kind of had the same thing, like, let’s talk about where we’ve gone, you know, in that time. So I’m excited to to catch up with you again. And officially you are the owner, manager and CEO at Jensen’s Precision Power Washing.

Derek Jensen: Yes, ma’am.

Sharon Cline: Which sounds so badass. I just want to say.

Derek Jensen: Thank you.

Derek Jensen: It really is badass. We do some badass things.

Yeah, you do.

If it’s dirty or stained, we clean it for that clean time. Holler at the sauce slinger, You hear me?

Sharon Cline: Sorry. Oh, fun. Okay. One of the best things about Derek is that he is from Boston, and that is where I was born, you know, Massachusetts and New England. And so spending time with him is like talking to my family members. And the next thing you know, I start saying wicked. And I don’t know. It’s amazing how all of a sudden I kind of default to my my old school way of speaking, not my very American general, you know, But it’s like wicked awesome. Things like that. Okay. All right, all right, all right. Here we go. Derek, you wanted to come back on the show. We’ve talked a couple of times about this because you’ve got some changes that you’re kind of going through. You’re expanding, but you also have some really valuable information for people to know that I think as as not only a person who is in a small business, but you’re also a consumer out there, you would want to have this information for yourself. So that’s what I like, is that you really are trying to help people here.

Derek Jensen: Yes. Yes. This isn’t just to promote my business or grow my business. It’s yes, it’s part of that. But my main focus here is to bring knowledge and bring understanding to home owners on exactly what position they’re in. With the new changes due to the insurance industry and the way that insurance companies are covering warranties on roofs now.

Sharon Cline: So what? Okay. So what what are some of the major points that you think people don’t know?

Derek Jensen: So a couple of the major points that people don’t know is the difference between shingles. Okay. People just think a shingle roof is a shingle roof and that’s further from the truth. You got some that are absolutely garbage and then you got some that will last a lifetime and arrange in between. It’s very, very important when you’re dealing with a roof that you’re you’re putting quality shingles.

Sharon Cline: Do you find people are wanting to not spend as much so they get a lesser quality shingle?

Derek Jensen: I think what it is, is, you know, and I’m going to give GAF a huge plug here. I am a little biased. I think GAF is a great company. They make a great, great shingle. And, you know, talking to them and talking to their service department, their communication skills are awesome. They’re really proud of their product and they stand behind it. So the big thing that I wanted to get into and I’ll basically give a short little heck yeah, let’s go through it. Intro So you have the major players today in the in the shingle game are Certainteed, GAF, Iko, Atlas Roofing and Owens Corning. Okay. Those are those are the the top manufacturers.

Sharon Cline: Of the different shingles that are out there that generally people are using.

Derek Jensen: 99% of the roofs here in Georgia will have the shingles on. One of these will be on those roofs. Gotcha. And they have all different lines. You know, they have a shingle that’s. You know, low in cost, medium in cost and high in cost. What I want to talk about today and bring light to is the manufacturer’s warranty versus the allergy resistant warranty. Okay. In the past five years, these companies that I just mentioned, Certainteed, GAF, ICAO, Atlas Roofing and Owens Corning, they’ve all used this copper technology. And as we all know, copper will resist allergy. Okay.

Sharon Cline: Oh, okay. I didn’t know that, actually. Yeah.

Derek Jensen: Yeah. Copper is a natural allergy resistant. That’s why. And it comes from the ground. Copper comes from the earth. Okay. Right. So if you ever look at a place where there’s heavy copper deposits, you’re going to see mold and mildew doesn’t grow there.

Sharon Cline: So is that why they use them in air conditioning units and why? Oh, I got you right. Look at me learning today. I just never paid attention to that. So I appreciate the all.

Derek Jensen: Simple no brainer stuff. Yeah, okay. Yeah, but. But it’s stuff that you don’t know until someone kind of exactly puts light on.

Sharon Cline: Why would I know?

Derek Jensen: Right? So these shingle manufacturers, they’re all using a copper based technology and they’re infusing the granules of the shingles with copper so that they become allergy resistant. Oh, that’s.

Sharon Cline: Amazing.

Derek Jensen: It is. It’s a great idea. And. Most of the country it works. But here in Georgia, I mean, it doesn’t. You know, they say allergy resistant. Every single one of them guarantee it for ten years here in Georgia. You’re lucky if you get five. Why? Just because of the humidity, the heat. The climate here. It’s a breeding ground for the bacteria called gloeocapsa magma, which is what the black lines actually is.

Sharon Cline: Oh, no way. So that’s what people ask you to come and clear off the black lines that they have on their roofs.

Derek Jensen: Yeah. You know, and people don’t even really know that they have them up there.

Sharon Cline: Because how do you see. Right. You’re right.

Derek Jensen: You know, people don’t even look. But yeah, that’s what we do. People say, hey, I got some black lines on my roof. Well, hey, can you clean my roof off? And they don’t even realize what’s going on up there. And so I’m here to bring light to it and, you know, let people know, hey, look, there are a few alternatives to this. Another important thing, which is why I’m kind of doing this, is. Over the past two years, you’ve had a lot of insurance companies take a big, big hit on replacing roofs because you’ve got roofing companies going out there and putting in claims saying, Yep, yep, they need a new roof and they don’t. Oh, really? Okay. Right. So insurance companies are like, Well, we’re not a roofing company. We don’t know. We’re trusting them, but we’re losing money left and right here. Like we’re replacing a lot of roofs. And insurance companies, as you know, they’re in the business to make money. They’re not in the business to lose money. So this sparked the insurance company to do a little bit of their own investigation. And what they found is that all these shingle manufacturers, every single one says that, yes, these shingles will last X amount of years if you’re doing the maintenance. So insurance companies says, well, what is the maintenance? And so armor, which stands for the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Shingles Association. They say any shingle, all shingles, every 3 to 5 years, you’re supposed to have your roof soft washed. That’s part of roof maintenance.

Sharon Cline: Well, I had never done that ever. No one does. My houses that I know.

Derek Jensen: This is all new in the past two years. And because of this, insurance companies have now, you know, tooken their list of roofs that they have that they’re insuring, and they’re sending up drones and they’re taking pictures of aerial shots of the roofs. And if you got black lines all over your roof, you’re getting a letter in the mail that says, hey, listen, you’re not keeping up with your roof maintenance, so we’re not going to renew you at the end of the year.

Sharon Cline: Holy cow. How are you supposed to know these things? What letter goes out to explain these things to any homeowner?

Derek Jensen: It doesn’t Just the one saying you’re not getting renewed and then you’ve got to figure it out.

Sharon Cline: That’s awful.

Derek Jensen: And so that’s why I’m here doing this right now. It’s already happened to a few people in Georgia. I’m sure there’s going to be some people that are listening to this that, oh, I got one of those letters. You know, it’s a real thing. It’s happening. And it’s a shame because at that point it puts the homeowner in a real pickle, like a real big pickle.

Sharon Cline: How would you know? You know, of course, if you know something to prevent an issue, you’ll do it as a homeowner, right? Most people. So if you if you have no idea and you’re getting censured because of it, you know, you’re told no denied, well, you would have done it if you knew.

Derek Jensen: Well, here’s the thing. Once you get that letter saying we’re not going to renew you now you’ve got to go find insurance somewhere. And when you go to look for insurance, the insurance company is going to say, well, why do you need an insurance? Well, because my insurance company isn’t going to renew me. Why? Well, because they say, well, you need a new roof before we’ll touch you. And. No, but they don’t need a new roof. They just need a cleaning. They don’t they don’t need a $20,000 new roof. They need a $2,000 soft wash. Let me repeat that. They don’t need a $20,000 new roof. They need a $2,000 soft wash. But because they’re in this situation now, there’s no way out. They’ve got to get a new roof and they don’t need that. It’s it’s a waste. And it’s not covered under insurance either because they’re not keeping up with the maintenance. So homeowners are and I and I and I don’t mean this in a bad way, but homeowners are ignorant to this. Okay. And I’m here to just kind of shed light, bring, bring notice and say, hey, look, you know, it’s important to start looking up every time you walk out of your house or back out of your garage and you’re sitting there and you’re waiting for the door to shut, just look up, you know, just take a good look up at your roof, see if you’ve got some black lines up there. If you do, they’ll be really easy to see. If you do, call me.

Sharon Cline: So this is mostly happening in Georgia that because they don’t even last that long, because our climate and maybe other regionally areas like Florida maybe. Right. Right.

Derek Jensen: Or so. So parts of Florida, Georgia, parts of Alabama.

Sharon Cline: South Carolina.

Derek Jensen: Yeah. This this whole little area right here. Who knew?

Sharon Cline: I had no idea.

Derek Jensen: Yeah, it’s just it’s just the way the climate is, You know, we got gloeocapsa magma, which is a living bacteria, which is what those black lines are. It actually has a name. Okay. Okay. Don’t ask me to spell it. My third grade education ain’t going to handle that. All right.

Sharon Cline: Fine. Mine either. I don’t know how to spell that.

Derek Jensen: But it’s called gloeocapsa magma, and it’s actually a living bacteria. Okay. And as we know, bacteria is probably one of the nastiest things on this. It spreads so fast. Right? Right. So. Because it’s a living bacteria. Its diet is the granules of the shingles. That’s why it’s there.

Sharon Cline: Who knew?

Derek Jensen: Okay. That’s what it eats. That’s what it thrives off of. Now it needs three things in order to thrive. It needs heat. It needs humidity, and it needs moisture. We have that in abundance here. Okay. There’s no other place in this world that has those three levels in such a high level all together. You know, if you think about geographically, the way the United States is set up. Georgia and Florida are really the only two places that have that kind of extreme heat, humidity and moisture all in one all the time. Texas is really close, but they don’t have the moisture. Yeah, they’re dry. If they had the moisture in Texas, oh, it’d be over with. Roofs would be riddled with it out there.

Sharon Cline: So generally speaking, if you’re not in this sort of southeast area, your roof can be expected to last a lifetime. A lifetime. A lifetime to worry. But. But washing it every how often would you have to wash it if you’re in a different area?

Derek Jensen: If you’re in a different area. Maybe five years plus. I was going.

Sharon Cline: To say 5 to 10 years. If you really start to see it not looking great. But here in Georgia, it’s much more critical. Right.

Derek Jensen: It’s extremely critical because what happens is the gloeocapsa magma gets up there, it starts eating, the granules deteriorate in the granules, and then the shingle is wide open. It’s got no protection, it’s got no armor on it. So when the wind comes in, the hail comes in. It’s basically up there naked and it’s taking a beating. And that’s how you get hail damage, wind damage and storm damage. It causes the shingles to lift all that stuff. It’s it’s the beginning of the end of your shingles when you see black lines up there.

Sharon Cline: That and I think about the beginning and the end of any savings that you could potentially have. Right.

Derek Jensen: Because, I mean, if your roof goes, you know, that’s leaking down. So so now we’re not talking just shingles. Okay? Now we’re talking plywood. Yeah, Sheetrock. If it’s really bad and it gets into the wiring, it starts blowing some sockets. You know, you see the little circles on people’s ceilings all the time. Yeah. Okay. That’s that’s. That’s a direct effect of gloeocapsa magma being up on the roof and no one taking care of it. And it’s just doing its thing. Doing its thing. And over time, this is what we get.

Sharon Cline: Do you see when you’re driving around, you just look at roofs and you’re just like, Oh my God, this is a disaster. Like all the time.

Derek Jensen: I got to stop myself because I want to get out of the truck and knock on the door. Yeah, I’ve actually done that a few times.

Sharon Cline: Have you have you been like, Listen, I’m trying to save you? Yeah, it’s.

Derek Jensen: Terrible. And people just don’t know.

Sharon Cline: No, that’s the thing.

Derek Jensen: And the other thing is we live in a world today where people are so like. Afraid of being tooken. You know, when you go to them with something like that, they kind of look at you sideways, like, Are you telling me the truth?

Sharon Cline: Or what’s in it for you?

Derek Jensen: Because they’ve never heard of this before. So they’re like, What are you talking about, Willis? You know?

Sharon Cline: All right. So initially you were Jensen precision power washing, but now you have gone into helping in the roof part. How did that happen?

Derek Jensen: Well, I mean, I’ve always watched roofs, right? That’s one of the services we do. You know, we watch houses, roofs, gutters, driveways. Like I said, if it’s dirty, we clean it, right. And so roof cleaning has always been a part of the soft washing industry, a pressure washing industry which whichever word tickles your fancy. However, there. There’s never been a service in the pressure washing industry. That’s a mandatory service. Everything we do or anything a pressure washer company does, it’s it’s all a want, not a need to request.

Sharon Cline: Right. Right. I want to sell my house. I want it to look nice.

Derek Jensen: Right. So you don’t. If you don’t pay your power bill, you don’t have power, right? Pressure washing isn’t like that. You don’t need somebody to come wash your house. You just want somebody to do it right. So none of our services have really been a need like like homeowners don’t need us. It’s more of a luxury item if they can afford it and or a maintenance item if they can afford it. You know, that’s why you see so many homes that look terrible. You know, you drive by and you’re like, geez, what a nice home, but it’s dirty. It’s got, you know, algae growing on it. They just. You know, they’re living above their means. I mean, every month the bills come in and there’s nothing else. So paying to get the home washed, they can’t because they’re paying too much, you know, So those things happen. But basically what the roof stuff, the way the roof stuff came along for me is that after washing roofs and seeing this change with the insurance companies, that’s what made me go, Hey, a light bulb came on there. And so I started watching the trend. You know, following the trend, because it applied to me, it applied to my business.

Derek Jensen: It’s what I do. And so I said, if there’s going to be some changes going on, I want to make sure that I’m ahead of that curve so that it’s not such a big curve to come around when you try to learn it, right? Like I want to be in those conversations and be in those rooms and be proactive in what I was doing so that I could then protect the homeowners that I’m servicing. Got you. Right. Because good customer service is what really gets your business. I put up a post the other day a little simple saying that that hit me and come up with this all on my own. It was, if you want to be in business, you got to stay in business. And and I put read that twice because I wasn’t just talking about staying in business. I was talking about staying in the business, you know, the roofing company business, the get in their business, you know, if it’s got to do with your business. Make their business your be a part of the business.

Sharon Cline: Are you finding that not all companies are doing that?

Derek Jensen: No, they’re not. No. Here in this general area, there’s there’s maybe. And I don’t want to throw any names out there because we’re not going to do that. But there’s only a handful of us out of the Brazilian that are pressure washing that are actually serious and taking the time to learn these things. There’s not many companies that are authentic in what they do. It’s a hustle.

Sharon Cline: It’s a hustle. Interesting. Well, I mean, it is, right. There’s there’s that element of making money, which totally makes sense. Obviously, it’s a business, but you’re talking about a different level of care.

Derek Jensen: Yeah, this is this is Jensen’s precision power washing is here to stay. You know, we pride ourselves on being the only exterior cleaning solutions company in Cherokee County. That’s a title that we hold. We are a full service exterior cleaning solutions company. If you call us, we’re not going to tell you no. Okay. We do everything wet sandblasting. I mean, we do everything. There’s not another company out there that does what we do.

Sharon Cline: And roofs.

Derek Jensen: Right? So and we get called a lot of times to to go help other companies. You know, a lot of these big wash companies, they’ll call us and say, hey, you know, we need your expertise on this. We got a big one. We need another truck. We need another set of hands. We need somebody that knows what they’re doing. We need someone with chemical knowledge and they’ll call me and I’ll go help them out. Or, for example, and I’ll give him a plug because he’s a good friend of mine, Nick State. And I want to make sure I get that right. Statin I got it right there. Nick and I and.

Sharon Cline: Nick.

Derek Jensen: Yeah, he’s busting my balls all the time because I mispronounce his last name. So. So, yeah, so. So Nick’s a really good guy. He owns Wet and Wild down in the Decatur area. Okay. And, you know, we talk all the time. We’re going to conventions together. We’re sharing knowledge together. And, you know, I’ve helped him out a bunch. He’s helped me out a bunch. And that’s just kind of the way it works. Like I said, there’s there’s a lot of us here in Georgia that do this, but there’s only a real small core group of us that stick together like a band of brothers, you know, And that that’s been that’s been a great help to me, too.

Sharon Cline: Well, how wonderful to be able to to feel like you’ve got a family in this environment. You’re supporting each other and what you learn, you share. Yeah, it’s not.

Derek Jensen: Well, to a degree.

Sharon Cline: Oh, I was going to say there’s room for everyone, right? You want you want there to be people that care as much as you do, so you share what you know. But I imagine you still want to be the one in Cherokee County who’s covering all the bases, right?

Derek Jensen: Like, you can definitely sit down and eat at my table, but I’m not giving you my damn table.

Sharon Cline: But you can come eat.

Derek Jensen: But you can come sit down anytime you want.

Sharon Cline: I’ve heard that there’s that phrase that’s like with friends where, you know, I still want you to eat. I just don’t want you to eat at my table. Like I still want good things for you, but you’re just not going to be in my life kind of thing. So I like how you put a little spin on that. Look at you, Derek.

Derek Jensen: Here we go. Original.

Sharon Cline: Original. So what has it been like for you to expand your business?

Derek Jensen: Very difficult. It’s been very, very difficult and challenging. It’s been a lot of fun, but. This little journey that I’m on. You know, I’ve done a lot of things in life. You know, we talked about this the last time I was on the show. And I mean, I’ve done so much in my life, but I can honestly say that growing this business has been the absolute most hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

Sharon Cline: What is hard about it?

Derek Jensen: Well. First of all, I have no business running a business. Let’s just be honest, okay?

Sharon Cline: But you are running.

Derek Jensen: But here we are in business, so. Hey, man. Right.

Sharon Cline: Well, there are a lot of people who have dreams like you do or want to run a business, and it is daunting. It’s scary. There are so many aspects of it that people don’t know and they don’t do it because so fear. That’s why this is called Fearless formula. So one of the things that you had talked about is how the leap of faith that you took to start this business and and become somebody you never even thought you could ever be. And what I love is that that’s every man’s story. We all have our own hero journey story. You know, we’re trying to save ourselves and be our own heroes. And that’s kind of what you’re doing in your own way. So but that doesn’t mean that you’re just fearlessly out there doing everything and not caring about consequences. But that’s what we’re talking about now is like, what is that like for you? Well, trying to manage.

Derek Jensen: Yeah, it’s see, I’m a little crazy. I got no filter and I’ll just say what I’m thinking. So I’ve had to dial that back. That’s been a little difficult.

Sharon Cline: What have you had somebody say they don’t like something? What?

Derek Jensen: I maybe like the past six months, I’ve really kind of like, put a lot of energy into finding out, like, who my tribe is, you know, where do I what tribe do I belong to? Because. Because you can’t do it by yourself, right? That’s one of the lessons I’ve learned over the past year is as much as I love the the thought of, Hey, look, this is all me, I did this Mr. Big back, you know, it doesn’t it’s only going to get you so far. You definitely need a tribe. Like, if you want to succeed, you definitely need a tribe. Not only do you need a tribe like you need to be part of a tribe, and then you need to have your own tribe that you lead. Got you. Right. So that would be the biggest thing that I could say to people that are that are at that stage where they’re in business and they’re trying to get to that next level, but they’re not really sure and they just can’t seem to get there. Evaluate your tribe are you part of a tribe? Number one? Are you part of a tribe? And what is your position in that tribe? And then the second thing is, do you lead your own tribe? And what does that look like? Once you can kind of put those two things together, you’re going to find that the success ball just rolls.

Sharon Cline: So have you had to change a little bit of who you were before you met your tribe? How did how did you find your tribe? Um, because you said you have to change the way that you relate to people a little bit.

Derek Jensen: Well. Well.

Sharon Cline: You’re like an aw shucks right now. Yeah.

Derek Jensen: So. So, so basically what it is, is, is I’m trying to think of the word that that was said. I can’t. I can’t think of it off the top of my head right now, but. Yeah. So I basically sort out a few people that I realized in the community that I live in that are that are doing things that, that I align with, you know, their visions, their actions, their, their participation to the community. Because I’m a big community guy, you know, precision powerwash and restoration. We’re a community company. You know, this is going to be our second year taking care of the senior center in Canton, you know, taking care of our seniors. I remember you.

Sharon Cline: Mentioning that last.

Derek Jensen: Time. Yeah, we didn’t let that go. Okay. And we still do that. A matter of fact, we got to meet with Tim over there in October. We’re a community driven here. And so I wanted to try to I knew I said, if I’m going to be part of a tribe, it needs to be a community based tribe. It needs to be something that’s doing something within the community because that’s where I align. Right, right, right. The problem is what’s the problem? The problem is, is that I’ll say what I feel and I don’t you know, I don’t hold nothing back. And if you don’t like it.

Sharon Cline: Yeah, but we’re in the South, right? So we sugarcoat and we dance around. Yeah.

Derek Jensen: And the passive aggressive just ain’t me, you know? I mean, I’m just straight aggressive, you know, There’s no passive anything.

Sharon Cline: And how does that go for you? Right?

Derek Jensen: And so I’ve had to adjust that. Right. And so I let’s see, back in I think it was November of last year. Yeah. You know, I had I had caught on to this this little movement that’s happening called the Black Sheep Project.

Sharon Cline: And we talked about this. Yeah, I loved it.

Derek Jensen: And, and so I started kind of like following along that and then realized that that Mr. Gary Lamb is, you know, kind of a really big deal. I mean, he’s doing a lot of things. He’s got the Black Sheep Project podcast that he does, and he’s helping all kinds of people through that. You know, he’s reaching all kinds. He’s mentoring people. He’s helping people grow. He’s doing all kinds of things. They’re having, you know, men be able to hold themselves accountable. You know, it’s really a good thing that he’s doing through that Black Sheep Project podcast. And then he’s got revival events. You know, he does all the events, Guardians of the Jukebox that he just did. I heard about that. Yeah. So he’s he’s all over the place doing that. The barbecue and brews festivals that he does. He just did making bacon down there. I mean, the guy is just, you know, he doesn’t stop. Yeah, right.

Sharon Cline: He’s got his heart in the community and.

Derek Jensen: And then he. And then he’s. And then he’s my pastor as well. Right. He’s. He’s the head of Action Church in Canton. So, you know, Gary is just one of those guys that I just immediately kind of fell in love with no homo or nothing like that. But, you know, Yeah, I just I just immediately attached to the guy and, and I said, this is either going to go really, really good or this is going to go really, really bad. But I’m six three and I ain’t scared of shit, so let’s get it. Gary And, and that’s how it went, right? And so, yeah.

Sharon Cline: He’s on board, though.

Derek Jensen: He’s on board. It took him, but it took him a little bit. You know, I’ll be honest, like, this is what I’m talking about, you know, we’ll go back to the tribe thing, okay? I let it be known. Hey, listen, I want to be a part of your tribe, you know, and. In the beginning it wasn’t really received that well. Right. Interesting. Yeah. Because, you know, he he’s like, listen, this is my tribe. Yes. But, you know, just because I want you here doesn’t mean everyone else wants you here, you know? And you can’t be coming in here disrupting the the vibe, you know. So there was a lot of things that I had to take accountability for, you know, and really take a step back and look at and say, geez, you know. I am I. Am I allowing, you know, my my own. Self love to be toxic in my life, right? Like, am I am I ignoring some things that need to change and and using self love as a way to deflect a negative that I should be looking at?

Sharon Cline: Derek, this is deep. Yeah, Deep thoughts. And you have to be so real with yourself. And not many people like, they can’t. It’s shameful.

Derek Jensen: They can’t. They get in the mirror, they look at themselves and they go, Oh, I don’t like that. So they put on a mask and all that does is fuck everybody else up too, because now no one knows who you really are and what you’re really about. So they, you know, we take people at face value and I start dealing with you for 6 to 8 months and then I find out, wait a minute, this isn’t even this is a mask. This isn’t even this person. And it’s just so upsetting. Yeah, it’s it’s a real letdown. You know, It’s a real letdown.

Sharon Cline: So you have had to kind of ask yourself what you ultimately really want and then change according to that.

Derek Jensen: Yeah. Like what? Where, where? What am I? What are my priorities in life? You know, like, where do I want to be now that I’ve kind of like. Gotten over that hump, you know? You know, we touched on this in the last podcast. People can go on and look at it. It’s on your page with all the changes and all the things I’ve overcome in life and getting my life back after spending 17 years in the federal prison system, you know, and I’m only 47, that’s half my life. So after doing all that and getting it all back and rebuilding everything and doing it on a solid foundation this time, right? Like I had a really, really good empire going, but I didn’t have it on built on a solid foundation, and that’s why I lost it, right? Like God came in and he said, This wasn’t your blessing. You you made this blessing, this wasn’t God made, this was Derrick made. And he took it. Right. And so now that I’m at a point in my life where I’m able to acknowledge that and accept that and heal from that. This company is what he’s given me. This is your blessing.

Sharon Cline: This is the foundation, right?

Derek Jensen: And so, you know, after kind of getting over that hurdle, it took me two and a half years. Right. And then two and a half years of getting over that, I started looking around and I’m like, Yeah, you know, you’re going to have to use a lot more tact and you’re going to have to really, really, really tone this down some because people don’t like the brash so much. You know, it’s a lot to take. I’m a lot I’m a lot of energy and most people have a real hard time with it. So I’ve had to dumb that down for some folks.

Speaker3: Dumb it down.

Derek Jensen: Yeah, Yeah.

Sharon Cline: Which is so counterintuitive because you want to be like a smart person, business owner, and you want to be as aggressive as you feel like you need to for your business, but you don’t want it to be, you know, shooting yourself in the foot, so to speak.

Derek Jensen: Yeah. And you flirt with that line like you always want to be yourself, right? You never want to be something you’re not. Right. And so I find myself struggling with that a lot. Like, am I doing this to appease this person or am I doing this because this is who I really am? And in business, sometimes you have to know how to flirt with that line because. You’re going to have to do some of that if you want success, you know, and that’s part of it. Like you’ve got to know how to flirt that line.

Sharon Cline: How do you know which one you’re playing to, whether or not you’re being authentic to yourself or you’re being appeasing to somebody else?

Derek Jensen: It always starts off as authentic to myself. It always starts that way. But the minute I realize, you know, in dealing with a customer or in dealing with a relationship or a friendship or anything else, as soon as I realized that they don’t appreciate my authentic self, that’s when I have to evaluate, okay, how far do I want to go with this guy to appease them? How important are they to me and where do they align in my success? And that just gives me a level of, you know. Where I’ll go with that person. Right. Because not everyone is is is going to want to get on board the journey.

Sharon Cline: What I like, though, is you’re talking about being very honest with yourself in what you really want. Like, in other words, a lot of business owners, the dollar is the ultimate decision maker. And you’re saying that’s not the case here?

Derek Jensen: Again, you know, I’ve learned to live without money, and I suggest that everyone gets that opportunity. I mean, I know everyone thinks going to prison is a horrible thing, but do some time in a serious institution and you’ll realize that there’s so many things that you can do in life without money. It doesn’t take money to be happy at all. And if that’s if if money is the route to happiness for you, you’ve got life all fucked up.

Sharon Cline: Not only that, but I do believe that there’s never enough money. When you have that mentality, there’s never enough. It’s almost like I saw this person had one. What was it like? $1 billion in the lottery. I can’t remember. It was some crazy number, but like the government took half or whatever, and you’re like, What? I only get 500 million. But when you think about it, like only, only, but because you initially got so much, it doesn’t seem like it’s enough. I don’t think I can ever have enough money or chocolate or sleep or pleasure, you know what I mean? Like, there’s just so many things that I sort of feel is like endless. So when your value system is something like that, you’re never really truly satisfied in your soul. Right. I was being sarcastic. There’s enough money in the world and chocolate. I just want you to know that maybe not chocolate, maybe not chocolate.

Derek Jensen: All right. I should have brought chocolate instead of t.

Sharon Cline: Shirts or t shirts that Derek brings me. Okay, so you’ve had to become very serious about who you are and what you want in your business sense, and that there have been some changes you’ve made. Are there any other moments that you’ve had that have been surprising to you as you’ve expanded in this past year?

Derek Jensen: Yeah.

Speaker4: One.

Derek Jensen: One of the biggest surprises was I never realized. Exactly. How much of a role I was playing within the community.

Sharon Cline: Wow. Really?

Derek Jensen: Yeah, Because. You know, here in Cherokee County, especially this little area, Canton, Woodstock, Holly Springs, this little area, it’s it’s big, but it’s small, if that makes any sense. Yes. Right. It’s not hard to rub shoulders with somebody who knows somebody. Yes. You know, and so somewhere down the line, one of your friends is going to know one of my friends. It’s just that big of a small town, right? It’s just big enough where we have our space, but it’s small enough to where somebody knows somebody. Right. And so that’s that’s where it’s at for me is. Getting to that point to whereas. My name is respected. I don’t necessarily need it to be liked. I need it to be respected. Right. And so that’s kind of where it’s been now. And that’s kind of what we’re doing is we we did make some mistakes in the beginning, you know, and we caused some issues trying to grow, you know, people in the way a couple elbows like people don’t like that but I’m coming through, you know, And so we created a few little issues, right?

Sharon Cline: You ruffled feathers, so to speak.

Derek Jensen: Plucked them more like it. But yeah, not ruffled them. I was hungry. I wanted chicken that night, you know?

Sharon Cline: Oh, my God.

Derek Jensen: So, yeah, so we’ve had to kind of go back and make amends and make amends and mend some fences. Yeah. Interesting. And then. But, but, but then carry that through and then make the changes so that we don’t do that again. Got you. Right. So that’s been kind of the biggest thing with us.

Sharon Cline: Yeah. You haven’t had someone to lead you through this process, though. You’ve had to learn all of this pretty much on your own. All on my own. And so how would you know exactly?

Derek Jensen: You know, make a mistake. That’s how you find out. Yeah. You know, just don’t make it twice. It’s okay to make it once. Just don’t make it twice.

Sharon Cline: But also owning up to it. That’s big because a lot of business owners make the mistakes and then they just blame something else or someone else. But to to take accountability is does create credibility for yourself and a respect.

Derek Jensen: See, that’s a really double edged sword with me because even if I wanted to do something like that, which I never would, but even if I wanted to. Where? Where am I going to put it? This is me.

Sharon Cline: It’s you. It’s all on your shoulder. What?

Derek Jensen: I mean, like. Yeah, it was my secretary. You don’t have one of those? Oh, shit. Right. You know. Yeah. So there’s nowhere else to put it but me. Now, that’s a good thing and a bad thing, right? Because at the end of the day, if it’s good, it’s really good. But if it’s bad, then. Then it’s. It’s me and the truck dealing with me on the way home, and that’s never a good ride.

Sharon Cline: Where do you. Okay, So if you were to say that you do have a fearless formula, what would you say your fearless formula is for your business?

Derek Jensen: Um. It’s a good question.

Sharon Cline: Yeah, I like good questions.

Derek Jensen: We just, you know, we just want to go out and show that we can compete at the highest efficiency level out there. And we want to bring value to everything we do that that’s basically our fearless formula, is making sure that every job we do, every customer we deal with, has an amazing experience. And that’s basically it. You know, we want to let people know that, you know, we’re here, we care, and we’re going to take care of you. We’re not trying to dig in your pockets.

Sharon Cline: Don’t you think that people can feel when you’re not being authentic?

Derek Jensen: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Sharon Cline: Or when you’re nickel and diming them for something that they don’t technically need. But, you know, because you’re the expert. Right.

Derek Jensen: And social media has has brought that to the foreground. Really? Yeah. Because I mean, you know, people people can get to see it now a lot more on social media, you know.

Sharon Cline: And it’s immediate as well.

Derek Jensen: Right. And so you do that enough times to enough people and. You’re done. You know, it’s going to spread like wildfire on social media and. You do that once or twice, man. You can make or break your company. You know.

Sharon Cline: What do you think at the end of the day when you’re driving home, what’s the feeling that you have that you just kind of give yourself a high five? Like, I just did a good I had a good day.

Derek Jensen: So I’ll go a little bit deeper on that. It doesn’t matter if it was a good day or a bad day or anything like that at the end of the day when I’m going home. I give myself a high five because I’m going home and I get to do this again tomorrow. So if it was a great day, we get to do tomorrow even better, right? And if it was a bad day, then that means tomorrow is easy because it can’t get any worse. So we already got the bad one out the way. Let’s get the rest of the good ones going the rest of the week.

Sharon Cline: And you get to go.

Derek Jensen: Home and we get to.

Sharon Cline: Go home and do it again and do it again. And it’s not have to. It’s get to.

Derek Jensen: Right. Because it was a lot of years in my life that I didn’t get to go home. Oh, yeah?

Sharon Cline: Well, Derek, I can’t thank you enough for coming by and sharing more of your story and your journey. And I just have to say candidly, you have such a depth to your spirit that you are willing to share that I don’t always get to access here on Fearless Formula. So I want to thank you for being so willing to share the things that you’re learning and not lead with pride and hubris. And you know this. I’m so great and my business is so great. But you’re like, Here’s my struggle. Because what that does is like, gives permission for everyone else to feel like it’s okay for them to struggle. It is, and we all do. Yeah.

Derek Jensen: And the biggest thing is it’s okay to struggle, but it’s also okay to, you know, hold yourself accountable there too. Like. It. I think we make things a lot more harder than we have to. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: You know, I know I do.

Derek Jensen: And but with that, I want to kind of jump into a couple of things because I know we’re running short on time. I did bring some stuff that I wanted to touch on, you know, please feel free. Yeah. So with the roofing industry again, there’s a lot of changes with the insurance companies, and insurance companies are really starting to take a good long look now at the roofs that they insure. And I just want to talk to all the people that may be listening and the people that are live on my Facebook. Allergy resistant shingles with copper technology is really a thing. It’s not a gimmick. It’s really a thing here in Georgia if you’re not using a copper infused technology shingle. You’re wasting your money. You’re absolutely wasting your money. And here’s why. And I’m going to use, for example, I mean Certainteed, GAF, ICAO, Atlas Roofing and Owens Corning all will do this, but GAF is the most easiest to deal with. Right. So I like them. So GAF has a product called Timberline, HD Z. That’s their allergy resistant line. Okay. And they say that you need to use the proper hips, ridges and everything when installing these shingles that come along with this. Yes. So, yes, it’s at the top of the price point. Okay. However, here’s the beauty of it. If you have the timberline shingles with all the proper hips and ridges on it and you ever get black lines on your roof, you’ll never pay for a soft wash. Interesting. Gaf will cover that cleaning because they stand behind their product. Okay. They say ten years. You’re not getting ten years in Georgia and they know it. You know, I was actually. I probably shouldn’t say this on the air, but I’m going to. Oh. Uh oh.

Sharon Cline: Okay. Okay, We’re going.

Derek Jensen: Yeah. I actually had a phone conversation with the vice president of GAF and was going over a lot of the information. And when I gave it to him and broke it down. Hey, look, you know, you got this product, you advertise ten year warranty, you’re never going to get that here in Georgia. You’re going to get five years at best. And I broke down all the facts to him of what I was doing on my end, you know, And it took him three days, but he finally got back to me and his exact words were. Yeah, you. You kind of got us by the balls because they now realize we’re never going to get ten years out of our shingles down there. They’re always.

Sharon Cline: Going to be having to deal.

Derek Jensen: With. And so and again, this is something that the homeowners don’t realize, okay? They get these algae shingles, they spend all this money, and then they got black lines up there and.

Sharon Cline: They call anybody, you.

Derek Jensen: Know, they call anybody and they’re paying, you know, and they don’t they don’t have their paperwork. Yeah, they don’t need to. And then on the other end of that. You know, because insurance companies are making a big deal out of roof maintenance. Now, whether you have allergy resistant shingles or not, you still have to do roof maintenance. They’re going to cancel you for having black lines on your roof. That’s a fact. So there’s a new tax code this year, 2023. Because of all this, there’s a new tax code out that allows homeowners to. Um, write off a portion of the cleaning up to $3,200 on your taxes. On your taxes? Yes. You can now write off up to $3,200 on your taxes under an energy and efficiency maintenance upgrade. Whoa.

Sharon Cline: Yes. I had no.

Derek Jensen: Idea. Right. And so with doing all that, like I said, we took the time to get recognized through the Asphalt Roofing Shingles Manufacturers Association. We’re recognized for them. We have a certificate of compliance through them. Good for you. Yeah. And so every roof wash we do, we’re issuing homeowners this certificate and we’re putting it doesn’t go to the homeowner. It actually goes to the address. Okay. So if you have a sold your home, it’ll go It transfers.

Sharon Cline: That’s wonderful. Transferable.

Derek Jensen: Right. And that’s the thing. A lot of people that you know. It’s so important to know what you’re getting into, because if you buy a home, the warranty doesn’t transfer. Unless it’s under the home. Truth. Okay. If it’s in a person’s name, it doesn’t transfer. So you buy a home and the real estate agent sells it to you as Yes, it’s got algae resistant shingles on it. It’s guaranteed for life. And you’re like, Oh, great. You get into the home, you have a problem, you call GAF. And they’re like, Well, you’re not the original owner, right? So there are some things that people need to be understanding when they’re buying homes and selling homes. Make sure that if you’re spending this money and you’re investing in your investment this way, make sure it’s transferable.

Sharon Cline: That’s a huge selling point. You know, I would think and I’m.

Derek Jensen: Dealing with a lot of realtors now helping them kind of get get to the bottom of this. But basically how it shakes down is there’s a few different ways that you can you can have coverage on your roof right from the manufacturer. Right. So there’s there’s a standard manufacturer’s warranty which covers the product you purchase. Okay. Okay. So that’s a standard manufacturer’s warranty. Got it. Then there’s a workmanship warranty, which that covers the contractor that comes to do the work. Right? And then there’s the extended manufacturer’s warranty. That’s the one that homeowners want. Okay. The other two, um, this last one, the extended menu. This covers contractors workmanship. Along with extended coverage for the products. So if you get the extended manufacturer’s warranty, you get the other two in with it. On top of all the other benefits. Got it. So it makes no sense to just cheat out on a couple hundred dollars.

Sharon Cline: When you could have it all. You can.

Derek Jensen: Have everything.

Sharon Cline: Yeah, that totally makes sense.

Derek Jensen: Okay, now I just want to get into some breakdowns real quick so people know and can if they hear these words, it might trigger some things for them. Excellent. So Ecco is a roofing shingle company and they’re allergy resistant line is called the Dynasty performance line. And they say that ten years allergy resistant hands down, if you got black lines in less than ten years, we’ll cover it. Perfect. Wow. Okay. So but that’s only on their dynasty performance. Allergy resistant line. Okay. Owings Corning. I don’t really interesting. Care too much for this company. Okay.

Sharon Cline: Interesting you say that because that’s the one I’ve heard of in the roofing industry the most. Yeah.

Derek Jensen: You hear a lot of them. They they got a really big name and and it’s, you know, they’ve reached a point where they’ve gotten too big for their britches and yeah, I just after, after talking to them I just really.

Sharon Cline: Oh okay.

Derek Jensen: And getting them to to back like so they have a street guard that’s their allergy resistant line. Okay. And they. Go into it a little bit deeper. They say that they use products from three M. You know, again, they offer the ten year warranty on it and they have it. You know, they say, okay, well, you need to have the approved hip and ridge products on it. They want pro edge, Razor ridge or Deco ridge, hip and ridges on it. Okay. And so they make you spend a lot of money to get this allergy resistant coverage. And if it does wind up getting allergy on it in ten years, Owings Corning is going to try to find a way out of that before they’ll find before they’ll actually back up their work.

Sharon Cline: That’s terrible. That makes me so frustrated. I know that’s what they’re supposed to do. But at the same, you know, that’s their goal. But at the same time, come on.

Derek Jensen: They’re really hard to deal with when you call them and tell them that their product failed. They act like a little kid. They want to throw a tantrum.

Sharon Cline: It’s terrible. Oh, gosh.

Derek Jensen: Now I will say that Certainteed, ICAO and GAF are not like that. Okay? I’ve had very, very, very good experiences with them. Okay. And so Certainteed, we’ll get into that. Certainteed brand is called Street Fighter. Okay. Okay. You see how they all have these little play on words?

Sharon Cline: Do they do?

Derek Jensen: And again, they say allergy resistant for ten years. Okay. So there’s the common denominator. Everything’s got to do with street fighter or some kind of play on words. But so they all got that going on and then they all got the ten year going on. That’s the common denominator in each. Got it. And what Certainteed basically says is pretty much the same thing allergy resistant properties using copper technology that allow the shingles to release the copper technology over time to combat gloeocapsa magma, which is the black lines that are on your roof. Okay, now. That’s what they all say. Ten years, allergy resistant. But here in Georgia, you can’t you can’t do that. Okay. You’d have to have shingles made of copper. If that was the case.

Sharon Cline: Could you imagine now or. But like. Like a copper roof. I can imagine. Right? You’re all set. But most people don’t have that. No, they’re doing a the combo.

Derek Jensen: But if you look, you know, and that’s the point I want to make. So copper is allergy resistant. Yes. But it tarnishes.

Sharon Cline: Yeah. It’s got patina doesn’t it? Like it turns green or something. Right. I didn’t think about that.

Derek Jensen: Okay. So so so that’s the that’s the that’s the double whammy there. Okay. Yes. They’re using copper because it’s an allergy. It’s a natural allergy resistant. But. It patinas. So. If you’re using copper technology, shingles, it’s going to patina interesting and it’s going to create black lines. And now you don’t know, are you dealing with patina and failure of the copper or are you dealing with gloeocapsa magma? So it’s very, very important that if you’re going the direction of this algae resistant technology, that you really do your homework and know what you’re getting into. Okay. Because is it worth the investment? 1,000,000%. Okay. If you go with any one of these brands, even though. Even though Owens Corning can be a real pain in the ass to deal with, they still make a great product. I don’t want to sound like I’m. Dagenham. Okay. I’m just saying that they’re a little tough to communicate with. You know, some people communicate great, some people don’t. It’s just the way it is, you know? I’m sure married folks will agree with me there. Right, right, right. And so, you know, they make a great product. They’re just really tough to get them to do what they say they’re supposed to do. Right. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of banter.

Sharon Cline: That’s going to go on.

Derek Jensen: There. Right. Yeah. The rest of them are pretty good. But but that’s just it. You know, I would suggest, you know, to to anyone that owns a home or that anyone is thinking about replacing a roof or whatnot, you know, building a home. You know, this this goes out to builders that may be listening to this, contractors that may be listening to this. If you you’re not using one of these companies and you’re not putting allergy resistant shingles, hips and ridges up on these roofs, you’re doing the homeowner and your customer an outrageous disservice. You know, egregious because they’ll never, ever, ever have a roof problem again if they use these products. You know, these products, they say in ten years, allergy resistant, then they’re saying 25 years to lifetime warranty. I mean.

Sharon Cline: It’s the dream.

Derek Jensen: They’re putting. Yeah, they’re putting some really big, big, big claims out there and they. They will stand on them. Right. So if you’re not using these products here in Georgia. I mean, I get it. You know, it’s a little bit more money. Some cases it’s a lot bit more money. But, I mean, this is your home. This is your investment.

Sharon Cline: It’s worth it.

Derek Jensen: You know, if you’re going to stay in that place for the rest of your life, there’s some peace of mind knowing that that roof is good for the rest of its life. If this is just a starter home or, you know, a layover or whatnot, there’s some real peace of mind knowing that you got the right stuff up there. When it comes time to sell that, you’re going to be able to get your value right. And then also for people that are, you know, got into this to to rent and make money off of being a landlord. I mean, it’s a real peace of mind to to rent out a piece of property knowing that the tenants that you have in there are covered by the best stuff possible.

Sharon Cline: They’re not going to call you saying we have a big leak, right? And now all my things are ruined.

Derek Jensen: Yes.

Sharon Cline: You know, and you have peace of mind knowing you don’t have to worry about if anything does happen. Right.

Derek Jensen: And so, you know, that’s that’s the big thing is I want to get it out there that look, you know, the roofing industry is changing. The insurance industry is changing. Roof maintenance has become a requirement. Okay. If you’re not getting your roof maintenance cleaned at a minimum of 3 to 5 years, you’re at risk of being canceled and not renewed. That is a real deal thing. How can people find that out?

Sharon Cline: I was just going to ask you, how can people find out even about you? You know, like if they wanted more information on this, because I’m sure this will inspire people to start investigating their own situations. And if they wanted to talk to you about it, what would be the best way they could get in touch with you?

Derek Jensen: (404) 431-4576. Call me on my shirt. There we go. Jensen’s precision power wash and restoration out of Canton. You can Google us. We’re a five star company on there. And I just gave you the digits, so you got no excuse now.

Sharon Cline: Well, Derek, you’ve just really helped. I think a lot of people have a potential way for them to save themselves, like not only money, but like the mental torture. You know, when you really know that you’re making a good decision, having that peace of mind can be really priceless.

Derek Jensen: Yeah. And I want to give another plug. You know, you asked me that question. So one of the companies that we’ve kind of networked with and kind of like linked up with is is roof advisors out of Canton of Canton. They here local in Cherokee County someplace. Okay. But Naomi over at Roof Advisors has been. An absolute blessing. You know, we got to talk to her a lot and go over some things with her and share with her kind of what we’re doing on our end, because they they’re a they’re a roofing company that exclusively uses GAF products. Got it. And so I brought all this knowledge to her and said, Hey, how much do you know about the products that you’re putting up there? And we sat down and we had a conversation over it, and it turned out that Naomi was actually considering starting to to to add soft washing, roof maintenance to, you know, roofing companies are starting to add this service.

Sharon Cline: That’s amazing because.

Derek Jensen: It’s a necessity.

Sharon Cline: Now. Yes, it is. Okay.

Derek Jensen: So a lot of roofing companies are low key searching out how do I get a roof washing set up? Right. Okay. And I want to say to every single roofing company out there that’s thinking about buying and purchasing and hiring employees to do roof maintenance. Don’t call me.

Speaker3: What a plug.

Sharon Cline: Oh, my gosh. We need to end there. That was perfect. That was, like, the very perfect ending. Good stuff, Derek. Thank you. Very welcome. I’ve had the best time chatting with you. Absolutely.

Derek Jensen: It’s always a good time coming in here. Thank you. And now you get to bring your mom in.

Sharon Cline: My mom’s visiting. Yeah. Yeah, I know.

Derek Jensen: I think Thanksgiving dinner is next.

Sharon Cline: You’re part of the family. All right, Derek, thank you so much. You are Welcome back. Any time. We’ll follow up again, because I’m just so enjoying your journey and really appreciate the time that you get to spend here. And obviously really sharing your heart and caring about people. It’s not about the money. It’s about really helping people.

Derek Jensen: Yeah, it’s really about the community and helping people out. So thank you for doing next year.

Sharon Cline: Hooray! Hooray. All right. All right. Thank you all too, for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Klein reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.