Restoration Pros Unplugged

Most episodes of this show feature a single guest sharing their unique path through the industry, but today we are completely flipping the script. In this special roundtable edition of Restoration Pros Unplugged, host Clinton James brings together two of the sharpest tactical minds in the home services space: Chris Nordyke of Floodlight Consulting Group and Nikole Mackenzie of Momentum Accounting....

Most restoration owners have a crazy story about how they got into the business, but very few have survived a first job so brutal it almost drove them out of the industry forever. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, host Clinton James sits down with Andrew Rickabaugh, co-owner of Rick and Ball Restoration and a One Tom Plumber franchise in Huntsville, Alabama. Andrew pulls back the curt...

In this follow-up episode, Clinton James sits down again with Toby Clem of Restoration Advisers to dive deeper into what it really takes to grow a restoration company that doesn’t depend on the owner. If your business still runs off memory, gut decisions, and “just figuring it out,” this episode is for you. Clinton and Toby break down: Why running your business from memory will eventually hold you...

If your field techs are juggling four, five, even eleven different apps on a single water mitigation job — you've got a data problem. And that data problem is going to follow you everywhere: estimating, compliance, team performance, and especially AI. In this episode, Clinton James sits down with Andrew Wirick, VP of Product at DocuSketch, to talk about one of the most overlooked challenges i...

You're landing jobs. Revenue is climbing. But somehow, cash is always tight — and when you need financing to grow, the doors keep closing. You're not alone. And the problem probably isn't your sales numbers. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with Paul Childers of Blue Sky Biz Solutions to expose the financial blind spot that quietly strangles gro...

What if your restoration company could deliver a Disney-level experience—even on a customer’s worst day? In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with Vance Morris, former Disney leader, founder of Deliver Service Now, and owner of Maryland Mold Busters—to break down how service-based businesses can transform customer experience into their ultimate competitive advanta...

Most restoration companies don’t struggle to find work—they struggle to build a business that doesn’t depend entirely on the owner. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged , Clinton James sits down with Toby Clem of Restoration Advisers to unpack why so many restoration companies hit a growth ceiling—and what it actually takes to scale beyond it. From the “owner bottleneck” problem to buildi...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with Erik Peterson, General Manager of Arko Restoration, to unpack a game-changing leadership exercise that’s helping restoration companies break through growth ceilings. If you’ve ever felt like your business can’t run without you… this episode is going to hit home. Erik shares how a simple but powerful task audit categorizing...

Most restoration companies are sitting on thousands of past customers and doing absolutely nothing with them. In this episode, Clinton sits down with Alex Nghiem, Chief Revenue Officer at Epic180, to break down a simple but powerful idea: Your CRM is either a gold mine or a graveyard. If you’ve been in business for 5+ years, you already have a built-in revenue source. Past water losses. Mold jobs....

What does it really take to scale a restoration business and expand into a new market without making expensive mistakes? In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with John Gabriele, owner of 911 Restoration of Des Moines and 1 Tom Plumber of Des Moines, to break down how he grew his company from under one million dollars to nearly three million and why he is now expan...

Real growth in the trades doesn’t come from chasing trends or jumping on the latest tactic. It comes from systems, strategy, and partnering with people who understand how contractors actually operate. In this episode, Clinton James — CMO of Water Restoration Marketing and host of Restoration Pros Unplugged — joins Paul Sanneman, founder of Contractor Staffing Source, for a powerful crossover conve...

Missed calls, slow follow-up, and storm surges can quietly kill your revenue. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with Nick D’Urbano, Co-Founder and CRO of Distance, to break down how restoration companies are using AI to capture more leads, handle overflow calls, and generate more jobs — without replacing their people. Nick walks through real-world use cases for...

This isn’t just a recap, it’s a celebration of the moments that made Restoration Pros Unplugged the go-to podcast for growth-minded restoration entrepreneurs. In this special Rewind episode, we look back at the top interviews, biggest takeaways, and most replayed clips from our most impactful conversations. From leadership breakthroughs to sales strategies, hiring systems to franchise growth these...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton sits down with Phil DePaul, the powerhouse owner behind United Water Restoration Group Long Island and 1-Tom-Plumber Long Island. Known for his bold “BoomZeal” leadership style, Phil breaks down how he built two thriving service brands by bringing a white-collar approach to a blue-collar industry and why professionalism, extreme ownership, and...

Struggling to find and keep good people in your restoration business? You’re not alone. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, host Clinton James (CMO, Water Restoration Marketing) sits down with Paul Sanneman, founder of Contractor Staffing Source, to talk about why the “labor shortage” in restoration is often a self-created problem and what you can do about it. Paul breaks down the bigge...

AI is changing the way restoration companies operate, and WonderBuilt Restoration is already putting it to work. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James talks with Raul Gonzalez, owner of WonderBuilt in Tucson, AZ, about how AI tools and remote oversight are helping him streamline operations as the company grows. Raul explains how he listened to our interview with James Hatfie...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with Claire Carreras an entrepreneur known for taking broken home-service teams and turning them into high-performing operations. Claire shares her unusual path into restoration, her experiences at Paul Davis and Servpro, and the leadership lessons she learned while rebuilding departments, launching new service divisions, and n...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton sits down with Ben Justesen, one of the restoration industry’s top minds in estimating and pricing strategy. Ben’s journey, from growing his family’s company, Just Right Cleaning & Construction (JRCC), into an award-winning restoration firm to leading national training programs and now shaping technology at DocuSketch offers lessons every...

When every minute counts in restoration, getting eyes on the loss fast can make or break a job. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with James Hatfield, CRO of LiveSwitch, to explore how simple, app-free video links are transforming how restoration companies handle intake, documentation, and customer communication. James shares how LiveSwitch—originally built for...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged , host Clinton James sits down with Scott Miller, founder of The Growth League, to unpack his incredible journey from rookie franchisee to independent restoration owner and now successful business coach. Scott shares how he built a top-performing restoration business, scaled it, and sold it, all while learning the hard lessons that most owners don’t fi...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with Jeff Carrier, Co-Founder and CEO of Restoration ERP, to talk about how restoration companies can use technology to win more commercial work and how the new ERP Copilot AI is changing the game. Jeff breaks down how most restorers have handled commercial disaster planning in the past, why ERPs are key to landing “first call”...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, host Clinton James (CMO, Water Restoration Marketing) sits down with Chris Nordyke, President & Co-Owner of Floodlight Consulting Group, to unpack the sales and marketing KPIs that separate thriving restoration companies from those just getting by. Pulled from a powerful live session hosted by WRM and Floodlight, this episode breaks down how to tr...

Finding and keeping the right people can make or break a restoration business. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, host Clinton James sits down with Mitchell Riley, Recruiter and Partner at OPS Staffing, to unpack what works and what doesn’t when it comes to hiring in the restoration industry. Mitchell shares practical recruiting strategies that restoration company owners can use right...

Cash flow is one of the biggest challenges restoration companies face. Insurance claims can take weeks or even months to pay out, leaving contractors scrambling to cover payroll, materials, and overhead. For many, this delay means turning down jobs, slowing growth, or dipping into personal funds just to stay afloat. In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James sits down with Ilana...

In this episode of Restoration Pros Unplugged, Clinton James (CMO, Water Restoration Marketing) sits down with Leah Hanlon (Franchise Sales & Business Development, 1-Tom-Plumber & Icon Property Rescue) to unpack exactly how restoration companies can land more commercial contracts in 2025. If you’ve struggled to break into the commercial market or you’re ready to scale past residential feas...