We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ian Davis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ian below.

Hi Ian, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I love this question because I am very legacy focused. I believe the words of Ed Mylett, that “it is not what you leave behind for people that matters, it is what you leave behind in people.” I hope that I’ll be remembered for believing in people and encouraging their growth, whether that be in a relationship sense, business sense, spiritual sense, or any other sense. I believe that the greatest discoveries come from stepping out into the unknown and persevering until the end. We are all faith-based creatures whether or not you believe in religion or spirituality. By the nature of our being we are required to put our faith in many things as we rely on others. I want my legacy to be to encourage others to step into the unknown through faith and dare to try big things. I want my legacy to be that I teach others the power of believing in yourself and taking action.

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 started in the construction industry in college as I pursued a degree in Architecture. I’ve always had a love for design and bringing the beautiful works created in the mind, into the world. However, the prospect of spending decades building a name for myself in Architecture, didn’t encourage me. I decided that my appreciation for the art of Architecture was stronger than my desire to become the artist. After getting an Associate’s degree in Architecture, I pursued business and technology. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Technology Management and I have to admit, the Associate’s is probably used more than the Bachelor’s in my business. After college, I bounced around a couple of different career paths, freight broker and B2B sales, before stepping into the construction industry. I started off as a simple “material runner” for a fully exterior beautification company, and then transitioned into a Project Manager. I quickly excelled in this position as, at the time, I broke the record for the most revenue managed in a single year at $2 million. I was primarily focused on managing paint, siding, windows, roofing and decking projects. I loved this because I could problem solve with my Architecture experience. I wanted more, however, and left that company to become a Project Manager for a new construction and full remodel company. At the new company I spent my time managing pop-tops, basement dig-outs and full scrapes and rebuilds. When labor became scarce, I put on the toolbelt and did a ton of framing on these projects. I genuinely enjoyed the work, but there was still something missing. I was never the kind of person that truly enjoyed working for others. Not that I was bad at it, or hated it by any means, but mainly because I’m more of a lone wolf, and when I see opportunity for improvement, I don’t like the red tape and asking for a whole lot of permission to implement something. Interestingly enough, in order to work for this general contractor, I needed to be a subcontractor, and so I opened Professional Intuition, LLC as a result, even if it was just to cross some t’s and dot some i’s. A friend of mine from the previous company came to me and mentioned that they weren’t doing roofing anymore. As a matter of fact, they scaled their entire operation back to only paint. This presented an opportunity for me to pursue my own company. Considering roofing was my favorite trade, I decided to add a “DBA” to my Professional Intuition, LLC as Cairn Roofing Group. That happened in December of 2017 and I worked at it part time for all of 2018 and part of 2019, which made 2020 the first official full year of business where I was operating Cairn Roofing Group full time. I believe what has contributed to our growth over the past 5 years has been our commitment to be a valuable and reliable resource to our clients. Every decision we make is filtered through 5 key qualifiers, 4 of which are our core values. The first core value is Altruism. We believe that we are called to serve others through actions inspired by selfless motivation. Our second core value is Synergy. We believe it is our duty to facilitate a collaborative environment by encouraging the high value of cooperation. Our third core value is Trusted Leadership. We believe in leading with integrity by upholding high moral standards in all areas of business and life. Our final core value is Lifelong Learning. We commit to pursue growth and development by providing impactful education and training. The fifth qualifier is what we call our purpose, cause and passion. It is to Maximize Impact Through Client Prioritization. These 5 qualifiers have helped us to develop many separators in our industry. One of the those separators is that we don’t have a job size minimum. From the beginning, I have held the belief that although full replacements drive more revenue, it isn’t always what our clients need. Sometimes it is the tiniest of leaks, but to them it is the most important thing in their world at that time. So we don’t shut the door on someone just because their project is small from a revenue standpoint. We also do gladly accept full replacements, and have the ability to creatively and effectively work through insurance claims. This way we open the door further to people who have had their world turned upside down from a storm claim, or to people that are simply looking to upgrade. So from a roofing standpoint, it really doesn’t matter what our clients currently have, want to have, or are dealing with, we treat them all the same and can provide a solution for each of them. We also decided that in order to Maximize Impact Through Client Prioritization in the roofing industry, we need to provide a full array of gutter services. Whether that be replacing gutters, cleaning gutters, preventing gutter clogging with gutter guards, or even preventing ice damming with heat cable. Our goal is to protect the home entirely from the elements. With that being said, we’re excited to announce that in 2024, we’ve officially opened up our siding division. Keeping with the desire to protect our client’s most valuable asset, we decided it would be beneficial for them to have the ability to come to us for their siding needs as well. After all, the whole system works together to keep the rain on the outside, and the heat inside. And finally, to further set ourselves apart and prioritize our clients, we commit to using the best products and the best installation methods, which allow us to provide a Lifetime Workmanship Warranty on all of our services.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I am an avid information gatherer. I am always on the prowl for a new book to read or listen to, or a new podcast to follow. One of my growth strategies is to identify a few key areas of needed improvement in my life and dedicate a year to focusing on improving my understanding of it. I often times have different books for different settings. For example, I am typically reading a leadership or personal development book at night prior to bed. In the morning I am usually reading a financial management, a biblical based book or the Bible itself, and as I drive around I am listening to an audiobook or podcast about business strategies, or physical health. As a result, I’ve exposed myself to many books and there are still a few that dramatically stand out. For business development and planning, any of the EOS based books by Gino Wickman are a must-read. These include “Traction”, “What the Heck is EOS?”, and “Get a Grip”. Another good one is “The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster” by Darren Hardy. For building your business larger and scaling, I recommend “Scale or Fail” by Allison Maslan, or “Blue Ocean Strategy” by Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim. For personal development and mindset, I recommend “The Power of One More” by Ed Mylett, “Relentless” and “W1nning” by Tim Grover and Shari Wenk. For leadership, I recommend “One Minute Manager” series by Ken Blanchard, and “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” by John C. Maxwell. And, I of course cannot round this out without including my favorite book on legacy, “Make It Count” by Hunter Ballew.

I have so many others that I wanted to include in this list, covering topics like marriage, spirituality, finances, people management, physical well-being, the list truly goes on and on.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As a roofing company in Colorado, there are seasons that allow for our kind of work, and seasons that don’t. As a result, we have periods of time where there really isn’t much cash flow because not much work can get done. When I originally started the business, I honestly didn’t know what direction I wanted to go in. One of the first decisions I made to expand my offerings turned out to be a mistake. I attempted to expand into solar, thinking that it was fast becoming popular, and with financing options, I could generate cash flow throughout what would otherwise be our “off-season”. Although solar does synergize well with roofing, it proved to be a completely different game, and not one that we were set up to be successful in. I still believe in solar and think that any opportunity to utilize our sun is beneficial, but it is better to be handled by a different company. I had business cards made, changed our company name and otherwise really committed to it before realizing it was a mistake for us. I had to accept that we weren’t ready for it and take the time to change everything back. A lot of time and money was lost in the experience, but a lot of wisdom was gained. Ultimately, I am happy about the entire experience. I learned that I am not afraid to take a leap, I’m not slow to stand up when I fall, and I will always pivot when needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://CairnRoofing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cairn_roofing_group/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CairnRoofs/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-davis-b818011a0/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs5Bm-fMfBnF166aymoDpAQ