Recorded live at the 2024 Huge Convention, host Sid Graef sits down with Tommy Mello, founder of A1 Garage Doors, who scaled his home service business from zero to over $250 million in annual revenue. Tommy breaks down how he went from “chief firefighter” constantly putting out day-to-day fires to a visionary leader who hires specialists, builds airtight systems, and never stops learning. He explains why he shifted from doing “all the work” himself to empowering high-level executives, adopting performance pay and equity incentives, and using data and AI to dominate his market. If you want to move from seven figures to eight—and beyond—Tommy’s insights on leadership, team-building, and relentless focus will show you the path. SHOW NOTES The Leadership Shift Killing the “hustler” mentality so the real leader can emergeDelegate all but what you love or do best Building a High-Performance Team Performance-based pay outperforms hourlyEquity incentives create real buy-in for leadership; celebrate milestones to reduce turnover Systems & Process Mastery SOPs prevent repeated mistakesRole-plays for sales and service, calibrated repeatedly Continuous Learning Tommy routinely visits peers (HVAC, plumbing) to see best practicesSurround yourself with coaches and mentors (Al Levy, Ken Goodrich, Dan Martell) Data & AI Advantage Predictive analytics can forecast close rates and lifetime valueSmaller operators ignoring automation may struggle to compete Tools & Resources Mentioned CRM Systems (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Service Fusion, Jobber)Chirp (missed-call text-back & automation): https://getchirp.com/Pin Parrot (photo geotagging for local SEO): https://pinparrot.com/Elevate by Tommy Mello (book)Upwork / Fiverr (outsourcing admin & marketing tasks) Additional References & Sources Al Levy (consultant for SOPs)Ken Goodrich (HVAC mentor to Tommy)Dan Martell (business coach; “Buy Back Your Time”): https://www.buybackyourtime.com/ The Huge Convention & Freedom Path Huge Insider (Free Newsletter)Huge Foundations Education Platform (120+ hours of training)The Huge Convention (August 20–22, 2025, in Nashville) https://www.thehugeconvention.com/ The Huge Mastermind (for $750K+ revenue businesses) https://www.thehugeconvention.com/mastermind Action Steps Optimize First, Then Scale Improve booking rates, conversion rates, and average ticket before chasing new leads Document & Delegate Create SOPs for recurring tasks; offload email, errands, and routine calls Invest in Team Success Use performance-based pay and celebrate achievements to lower churn Keep Learning Visit high-performing shops, replicate what works Leverage AI & Automation Tools like Chirp and Pin Parrot can give even a smaller team “big company” muscle TRANSCRIPT Sid (Host): Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Huge Transformations Podcast. I’m Sid Graef out here in Montana. Gabe (Co-Host): And I’m Gabe Torres here in Nashville, Tennessee. We are your hosts and guides through the landscape of growing a successful home service business. We do this by interviewing the best home service business builders and owners in the industry—folks that have already built seven- and eight-figure home service businesses, and they want to help you succeed. You have no fake gurus on this show, just real life owners that have been in the trenches and can help show you the way to grow profit. We get insights and truths from successful business builders, and every episode is 100 percent experience, zero percent theory. We are going to dig deep and reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. Our guests will share with you the pitfalls to avoid and the keys to winning. In short, our guests will show you how to transform your home service business into a masterpiece. Thanks for joining us on the wild journey of entrepreneurship. Let’s dive in. Sid (Host): Hello, my friend. It’s Sid again with the Huge Transformations Podcast, and today’s interview actually took place in person at the Huge Convention in the summer of 2024. I had the opportunity to sit down with Tommy Mello, Tommy Mello with A1 Garage Doors. If you don’t know who Tommy is—like, it’s not every day you get to sit down with someone who has built a business from zero all the way to a quarter of a billion dollars in annual revenue. And I said “billion” with a B. Interesting and fun fact: he got to about $17 million in annual revenue, which seems huge, and then he said he felt like it was just getting started. Took off like a rocket ship. In the next five years, they went from $17 million to $250 million in revenue. But here’s some things you need to know about Tommy: Tommy is driven, Tommy is focused, Tommy is charismatic, and Tommy’s got a vision and a mission, and he’s not going to slow down for anyone. Rather than tell you the story behind Tommy and how he built it, I’m going to let you dive into this wide-ranging conversation with one of the unicorns of the home ...
