Today we’d like to introduce you to Ami Feller.
Hi Ami, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
It’s getting less and less unusual for women to be in roofing, but it’s still uncommon enough to turn heads. I never dreamed I would be a roofing contractor or business owner. When my oldest brother Scott and I were simultaneously attending Iowa State University in 1994, he decided to start a roofing business in the summers to make money. I went to work for him, picking up the ground at job sites, and eventually worked my way up to crew lead. While we did make excellent money roofing steep, two-story farmhouses no one else wanted to roof, after 3 seasons, we both graduated in our respective degree fields and went on to get “real jobs.” Neither of us was enamored with our jobs, and after two years, Scott called and asked if I’d like to move to Austin, TX, to start a general contracting company, and I agreed. We did that for about two years, and it was way more difficult than I’d ever imagined – the Texas labor market was different, our tools got stolen a lot, and we struggled to make ends meet. In 2002, I went back to work in logistics at Airborne Express, then DHL Express, and finally at Coca-Cola. In 2012, I was a single mom, working 12-hour shifts 5 days a week with no room for promotion or advancement in Corporate America. I felt like life was passing me by – I was missing my child growing up, and it broke my heart. I felt trapped. My brother and his wife encouraged me to return to the roofing industry, and they promised to pay me consistently every two weeks if I did! We gave it another go, and we were successful this time. We doubled our revenue each year for 4 years. In 2016, we got a little sideways (as families often do), and I split off from them and opened my own roofing company. It’s been anything but easy, but it’s also been gratifying. And I haven’t missed any choir concerts or theatre performances since!
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Having my own roofing contracting company has been the most difficult thing ever, and I have done some complex things. Cash flow has been a monster for me to learn about and control – I would put that at the top of my list. I have had to walk through a lot of fear (primarily financial insecurity) and look it straight in the eye. I have had to learn to put one foot before the other and do the next right thing. All we can do in hard times is walk through it. Some of my big hitter struggles include being embezzled by one of my employees, having a remote location that my local manager tried to take, a CPA error of $500k, and a frivolous lawsuit – not to mention the typical challenges of managing people and customers, legal issues, supplier problems, Covid, etc. I often think to myself, if I had to do it all over again, I am not sure I would do it, but I am so glad that I did and that we are where we are today. I’ve grown up a lot as a person and business owner.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us more about your business.
Roofer Chicks is a roofing contracting company – we are primarily residential but also do commercial work. Our primary business is residential reroofs – composition shingles, standing seam metal, concrete and clay tile, and flat work (TPO, modified bitumen). We do both replacements and repairs -if it is a roof, we do it. In 2022, we added a handyman division, and in 2023, we started doing windows and doors. My company’s backbone has been doing the right thing, even when it hurts. We bend backward to provide the best contracting experience our customers have ever had, and we genuinely care about their well-being. Every company says it seems like, but we truly live and breathe it.
In 2016, I started as Feller Roofing of New Braunfels, and in 2021, we rebranded to Roofer Chicks. I wanted to rebrand for many reasons, but the primary reasons were market differentiation and my strong belief in empowering women in the roofing industry (or any trade). Every roofing company out there is someone’s first or last name with a little rooftop over the top for a logo, and I wanted to stand out. And we were different – we have a solid reputation and a high percentage of female employees when compared with the industry average – women in the US in the roofing industry represent approximately 8% of the workforce; when you look at those who do the physical labor aspect of roofing, that number plummets to a shocking 0.5%.
In 2020, I started trying to organize an entirely female shingle roof crew. While this is common, it is scarce (there is an all-female crew in Canada). That has had quite a few challenges – finding the right woman for the job is key. Currently, my crew has 4 amazing, hard-working, motivated, skilled women on it. We are not a 100% female company, nor do I ever want to be (I love men, and they provide a lot of value of knowledge) – I want the demographics of my company to match better the demographics of the customers I serve. I also want to show women they can do this and succeed. As women, we often think that we lack the skills, courage, or strength to do specific jobs, and we become our self-fulfilling prophecy, painting ourselves into a box that doesn’t exist.
Not only is encouraging women in roofing good for the women themselves, but it’s also suitable for my company. In an industry and economy where we are struggling to find labor, most of my peers immediately dismiss 50% of the eligible workforce by not considering women. Also, women generally bring some vital attributes to the table: they generally have strong customer service aptitude, focused attention to detail, and leave a cleaner work site when the job is finished.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Oh, that’s a good question. My short answer is that I don’t believe in luck. Life presents us with good and bad opportunities, and it is what you make of it and what you do with it. I have had some tough knocks, and according to many, I should have hung up the towel a long time ago. According to some, I have had some terrible luck, but I see where I had responsibility in those things that happened to me and where I can learn and do better. Some might see it as a strength that I kept persevering in the face of adversity, but some, also quite honestly, was fear – fear of failure and financial ruin, fear of not being able to pay my debts and have it loom over me for the rest of my life. I recently heard that successful people are not successful per se; they have a higher tolerance for failure and continue to walk through their trials until they are successful. There is a lot of truth in that, at least for me. I would still classify myself as successful, but that’s my goal! I’m just walking through it.
Pricing:
- Every job is different, but we provide free estimates for homeowners (we charge minimal fees for real estate and investment properties).
- Our repair minimum is $450.
- We can present several options and find a solution that fits your budget.
- We offer financing.
- We understand insurance claims and are happy to share our knowledge and experience with you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.RooferChicks.com
- Instagram: @RooferChicks
- Facebook: @RooferChicks
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ami-feller-a31aaa128/
- Youtube: @RooferChicks
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/feller-roofing-of-new-braunfels-new-braunfels-2
Image Credits
Patrick Tiseth
