We caught up with the brilliant and insightful CHRISTOPHER BURKE a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

CHRISTOPHER, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

I started the insulation company with no clients. I drove throughout the city of Houston and wrote down addresses and made a master list. This was in 2004. I then went to my small makeshift office in my living room and began drafting fliers. I typed the fliers and wrote all the addresses on the envelopes and mailed them. I believe that first bunch that I mailed was about 150. It took me 3 days and nights but I was determined. I didn’t know if it was going to work but I had try something. Google was only a few years old so I hit the city with fliers, signs and shaking hands meeting people. 2 days later I got my first call. Within the week I had over 6 calls. I sold 2 of the jobs and I was off to the races. The excitement of the first signature on a quote was unexplainable.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been doing insulation and construction for over 30 years. It wasn’t until about 20 years ago that I realized I wanted to run a business and offer a service. I started, owned and sold S.C.I. Insulation in 2010. I wanted to offer something better, so I started The Insulation Guru. I make it personal. I’ve insulated thousands of attis and have applied radiant barrier – a truly remarkable product to even more. Radiant barrier will lower the temperature of your attic by up to 50 degrees which will lower the temperature below in your house. I take this very seriously, and have a strong passion for what I do. I feel that if you are going to get the job done, then get the job done right.

I’ve taken the time to get certified and re-certified in several energy efficiency courses, as well as enroll and re-enroll in new courses. (Mascoat Ceramic Insulation Certified, LEED Green Associate- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, IECC- International Energy Conservation Code, T.D.H.C.A.-Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs weatherization certified, BPI Building Performance Institute, Envelope and Building Analyst Certified, Polynum U.S.A. Radiant Barrier Certified, Uniflex White Insulated Roof Coating Certified.

I’ve worked with some of the best in energy efficiency, insulation, radiant barrier, weatherization and ventilation. This is my life and this is what I do. I have a passion for the work that I do and I love the fact that I am doing something that brings me happiness and brings more comfort to your home and also helps you save on your energy bills. Not only will we lower utility bills, but we will bring cleaner air quality and less dust to your home.

The Insulation Guru understands that customer satisfaction starts with arriving at your home on time. (If I am running late, I will call) You won’t have to interrupt your day, wasting valuable time waiting on me. My on-time record is second to none, and I arrive ready to work if the call arises. In some cases, a member of my experienced staff will respond to your service needs. My service technicians will apply the same attention to detail and quality workmanship standards that I set to every job, large or small. We want to earn your trust right from start to finish. Whether it’s insulating or applying a good quality radiant barrier, or insulating under a crawl space, choose the professionals qualified to do the job – The Insulation Guru. Your insulation needs and services are performed by highly skilled and certified technicians.

Foaming penetrations on the attic floor that lead to the living space below is often overlooked by most other companies. For the cleaner air quality and less dust this is a must.

The Insulation Guru will also build cat-walks and storage decking in your attic.

For those out there seeing the impact we have on our beautiful planet. The Insulation Guru is what I consider to be an even better Green New Deal. When I received my first email from a customer who told us that we cut his A/C usage by over 6 hours a day we celebrated. It’s getting hotter. Let us cool you down. Chris Insulation Guru.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience. Where do I begin. This answer to this question could cover at least 5 of the questions in the drop down. From the Covid pandemic to almost filing bankruptcy to embezzlement from an ex-CPA, I’ve been there and done that. I am as of today, 20 chapters into my new book I’m writing titled, “Living the Great American Nightmare – Memoirs of a Small Business Owner”. There have been times when I was in parking lots crying to shutting myself in my dark office wondering how to make payroll or even how to go on. There have been some good times, some great and awesome times and there have also been times when I just wanted it all to go away. It’s like being in Hell then finding Hell’s basement. If there was a way to fall even farther down, I did it. When you leave your office and head up 45 North to go home and you pull into your driveway and you don’t even remember the drive, well, you’ve got problems. With the small list of whirlwinds and what I call damage holes I’ve fallen into above there are many more and subcategories from each one that would have some running for the hills. In 2019 I was ready to call it quits. From a partnership gone bad to having roughly $35,000.00 embezzled from my company and a major theft of $18,000.00 I was lost and was loosing faith. I had over $100,000.00 in MCA predatory loans that were taking from my account every day and customers that were losing faith in me and my company. Everything was coming down on me. I wasn’t finishing jobs and I was robbing Peter to pay Paul. But even that came to a screeching halt.
I didn’t give up. I made a list, cleaned house and started fixing one problem and issue at a time. It wasn’t easy but it can be done.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The Pivot. That actually just happened this year. I partnered with a larger company and now we are located in Houston and Austin, Texas. We are about to expand into San Antonio and possibly Dallas if all goes well. I’ve been doing work for this much larger company for the past few years and when we sat down, the Owner and I, we realized that having an insulation company under his umbrella was good thing. I’m now in the first 2 months of joining forces and the expansion has been phenomenal.

Contact Info:

• Website: insulationguru.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insulationguru/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theinsulationguru/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/_insulationguru
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AucxVI8y2HQ

Image Credits
The Insulation Guru