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Lakota Tidd dropped out of college at 21, started Top Home Improvements in his mom's garage with two lawn chairs and no money, and built it to $20 million in seven years by knocking doors, including the day his pen froze solid in a Michigan blizzard with nothing on the board. No digital marketing, no bought leads: $14 million came from canvassing and events alone, and in March his events team did $1 million in revenue in one week. In this episode he breaks down how he recruits and pays canvassers, why he treats them like kings, the sword and shield mentality that got him through five years as a lone wolf, the scarcity paradigm that kept him stuck at $10 million, why he stopped tracking nothing and built a board, and what he would say to the owner who is spending $40,000 a month on leads that never come.

Top Home Improvements ⟶ https://www.tophomeimprove.com
Follow Top Home Improvements ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/Tophomeimprovements/

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
01:55 - Two Lawn Chairs And A Frozen Pen
04:26 - Lone Wolves Die Alone
06:26 - The Sword And Shield Mentality
08:50 - What You Focus On Grows
10:08 - Treat Your Canvassers Like Kings
11:18 - Fresh Blood Every Single Week
13:32 - Hiring Is Guessing, Firing Is Knowing
16:01 - Competing With The Summer Programs
18:05 - Spending $40K A Month And Waiting For Leads
19:46 - Does Door Knocking Hurt Your Reputation?
21:24 - How Canvassers And Event Reps Get Paid
24:57 - Why $100 Million Is Not The Goal
28:54 - Kids, Leftover Time, And Balance
31:15 - Showers For Soldiers
34:47 - Profit Matters More Than Revenue
35:59 - The Law Of The Lid
38:06 - Build The People, Not The Business
43:20 - The Barbaric Way To $20 Million
45:15 - Enjoy The Bottom While You Have It
48:56 - The Sickness Of Indecision
52:32 - Five Books, Read Many Times
56:31 - Real Confidence Vs Fake Confidence

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com

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🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com

Chau Nguyen sold two tech companies, bought a 1974 Bronco that kept breaking down, and turned that headache into Vintage Modern, a $60 million luxury vehicle company that hand builds classic inspired trucks for LeBron James, Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Lopez, and Tommy himself. He did it with no outside capital and no ad budget: he posted three times a day for seven years, built a following of millions, and made social media his number one sales channel. In this episode he breaks down why organic leads buy at three times the rate of paid leads, why rich customers are tighter with money than most contractors assume, how to market a home service company to the affluent, why the founder has to be the face of the brand now, and the hiring mistake that nearly held his company back.

Vintage Modern ⟶ https://vintagemodern.co
Follow Vintage Modern ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/vintagemodern/

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
01:37 - The Bronco That Made His Wife Smell Like Gas
03:33 - From Coupon Books To A Top 100 App To 40 Cars
06:14 - No Investors: Sales Paid For Everything
07:15 - How Do You Charge For 900 Hours Of Craftsmanship?
10:42 - His Kids Taught Him Instagram
14:23 - Organic Vs Paid: Why Organic Leads Buy 3X More
16:25 - Your Product Probably Has A Hole In It
20:46 - Scarcity, Exclusivity, And Selling To The Elite
26:30 - Why He Has Never Paid An Influencer
29:18 - How A Home Service Company Markets To The Affluent
35:13 - Rich Customers Are Tighter Than You Think
38:12 - The Mark Wahlberg DM And The Tyler Perry Referral
42:16 - Should The Founder Be The Brand?
47:36 - Competing With Ferrari At $60 Million
51:03 - Robotaxis, EVs, And Listening To Paying Customers
54:52 - Productive Paranoia: Why Winning Is The Dangerous Moment
59:07 - The One Piece Of Advice He Has Never Shared
1:03:03 - On His Hands And Knees Under The Car
1:07:36 - The Two Books He Has Listened To 50 Times
1:12:11 - Where To Find Chau
1:13:36 - Grinding From Zero To 5 Million Followers
1:18:00 - What Comes Next For Vintage Modern

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com

Check Out My Social Media:
Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello
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🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com

Sara Nay is the CEO of Duct Tape Marketing and the author of Unchained. In this episode, Sara and Tommy break down why most contractors rent their marketing instead of owning it, which accounts your agency should never control, why referrals alone stall a home service company around $1 million, how to get found in AI search, and the two fixes to make this week if your marketing feels like chaos.

Get Sara's free marketing audit for home service owners ⟶ https://dtm.world/hsep
Duct Tape Marketing ⟶ https://ducttapemarketing.com

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
02:59 - Tommy Spends $5 Million A Month On Marketing
04:34 - Do You Need More Leads Or A Better Journey?
05:58 - What's Broken About The Agency Model
07:47 - The Accounts You Should Own, Not Rent
08:32 - When The Agency Keeps Your Website
11:41 - Random Acts Of Marketing
13:00 - One Person Can't Run Six Marketing Roles
15:33 - Direct Response Or Brand?
16:38 - 87% Of Searches Now Touch AI
19:34 - Should Contractors Publish Prices?
20:38 - The $400 Steakhouse Problem
23:23 - Interview Your Best Clients
23:46 - Record Every Sales Call
28:49 - Nextdoor, Angi, Yelp: Pick Two And Own Them
33:19 - The A Team Sells You, The Interns Run You
34:38 - The Five Questions To Ask Your Best Customers
36:59 - A 91% Booking Rate And The Calls You Still Miss
38:11 - The Money Sitting In Your Old Customer List
39:33 - Why Competition Becomes Irrelevant
41:46 - Why Referrals Alone Are Dangerous
43:14 - The Sign: Pay More Per Lead, Always Win
44:53 - Marketing To The Affluent
47:38 - What Marketers Get Wrong With AI
50:40 - Your Home Page Is What AI Reads First
56:29 - The Founder's Brand Beats The Company's
1:00:06 - Use Your Voice To Pull Stories Out
1:06:30 - Buy Back Your Time
1:09:22 - Delegating Versus Dumping
1:10:24 - Two Fixes To Make This Week
1:13:33 - Sara's Final Advice

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com

Check Out My Social Media:
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