--:-- JJ Virgin: Hey, JJ Virgin here. On my podcast, Well Beyond 40, we ditch the idea of aging gracefully and go all in on aging powerfully. Every week I host powerful experts who can give you powerful insights on building muscle, boosting your energy, and feeling amazing no matter what your age. This is your one life, and trust me, being smarter and stronger are superpowers that can turn lifespan into strength span. Listen to Well Beyond 40 wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Paul Alex: Welcome to the Level Up Podcast. I'm your host, Paul Alex. I went from being a cop to an eight-figure entrepreneur that helps average people like you and me make money every single day. I created this podcast to help you get motivated and to crush your goals. Let's win together. Remember, I have your six. Get ready to level up right now.
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--:-- Paul Alex: Hey guys, it's Paul Alex with the Level Up Podcast. Guys, we have another great interview for you. Check this out. This is the backstory, okay? My friend right here on the right-hand side, his name is Kason Roberts, okay? Now, this serial entrepreneur at the age of eight got picked up by CPS, guys. Guy got picked up by CPS along with his siblings, didn't know what was going to happen to them, was able to face adversity, was able to go ahead and figure it out. And at the age of 17, left for himself to go ahead and work in the oil fields. And while he was working in the oil fields, he went ahead and figured it out, was able to get into roofing, which then he went ahead and built up a multimillion dollar roofing company. Guys, became a serial entrepreneur and now travels the world, even to Dubai. I love that, dude. Kason, welcome to the show, brother.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Appreciate it, man. Thanks for having me on here.
--:-- Paul Alex: Absolutely, man. Dude, amazing story. Now, guys, as you guys know, I love talking to like-minded individuals, just like Kason. I mean, we were talking for probably like an hour and a half before the podcast.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Oh, yeah, man.
--:-- Paul Alex: Dude, you have such a good vibration, dude. You have a big heart.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I appreciate that. You do, too.
--:-- Paul Alex: Yeah, I appreciate you, man. And I know this is going to be a kick-ass podcast.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Hell, yeah.
--:-- Paul Alex: So to start us off, man, I mean, you already know the get down. Let us know a little bit about you, your humble beginnings, and how you got to where you're at.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Man, it all started in January 16th on Thursday. Me and my seven siblings got taken away from my parents. They came to the school. They were like, "Hey, y'all know how to go to Pizza Hut?" It's like 3 p.m. We're in the bus line. You ready to get on the bus. I'm like, man, something ain't right. You think about to take some black kids to get pizza? I'm like, this don't sound right. I don't even want the pizza because this doesn't feel right.
--:-- Paul Alex: Kason, where were you guys living at at the time?
--:-- Kason Roberts: We were living in Tyler, Texas. Born and raised.
--:-- Paul Alex: Love that. So what happens next?
--:-- Kason Roberts: We get taken away. We're on the way. We just passed pizza. They take us to the CPS office. They put us in a room. My parents show up. My parents start telling us, "We gotta go somewhere for a little bit. It's gonna be okay." Everybody starts crying because we're like, what the heck is going on? So we go to Texas County, Texas. All seven of us, well, actually six. My brother was older. We get there. Everything's going good. I mean, they were older people, but they were cool. We were eating pizza. I never knew what Chick-fil-A was until then, so we were eating good. But the people were just too old, you know. They couldn't take care of that many kids. So we get transferred back to Tyler. We get separated. We all go our separate ways. My little baby brother and sister, youngest of three, they end up going to Ohio with my aunt. And I end up going to an orphanage. My brothers end up going to another school and we just, you know, we get separated.
--:-- So I go to this orphanage and it's freaking wild, bro. Like you got kids fighting other kids. You got the parents paying kids with whole Copenhagen cigarettes to fight you if they didn't like you so they can raise your level and get more money off of you. Man, it was just a whole bunch of bull crap going on, man.
--:-- Paul Alex: It's crazy. It sounds like a straight movie, bro.
--:-- Kason Roberts: It was a movie. Yeah. It was a movie. The fact that they were doing that.
--:-- Paul Alex: And, you know, was that a common thing with orphanages that people would experience that?
--:-- Kason Roberts: It's very common, man. It's been thrown under the rug for many, many years.
--:-- Kason Roberts: But I push the story out there, man. I tell everybody I know. And the way they were doing it is they almost got caught. There's a guy, I can't really say his name, but he was on to them. And what they did is they invited this guy to the four-wheel park, and he was married, so they got him messed up. And guess what he does? They sleep in a camper with him, but he ends up sleeping with another woman. But that was the whole plan the whole time. So they robbed him. So now they got him by the balls. So everything he's about to go take to the system, he can't no more.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Because now he's going to jeopardize his marriage. So now they got him right where they want him. And, man, they just, yeah.
--:-- Paul Alex: So since that time, brother, were you able to actually reconnect with your siblings?
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yes.
--:-- Paul Alex: Okay. All of them?
--:-- Kason Roberts: No, not all of them, man. I still have a little baby sister that I haven't seen since 2007, man.
--:-- Kason Roberts: We talked on the phone last January, you know.
--:-- Kason Roberts: And it was cool. She wanted some money or whatever. I'm fine with that. It was cool to get to talk to her. She's older now. I think she's like 18, 19 years old. Yeah. She was like my little baby sister at the time. She probably was like three at the time, you know. Yeah. And, man, it was just crazy, bro. Yeah. Like how everything happened.
--:-- Paul Alex: No, that's a wild story, man. And what was the reason why CPS took you away from your parents?
--:-- Kason Roberts: My mom and dad were on drugs, man. They were on meth. Looking back now, I've done a lot of research. And when I was born, I was actually born with methamphetamines in my system. So that's the first time that CPS got involved. So I remember CPS coming to the house as a kid. And we didn't have any running water. We had bottled water that we'd fill the sink up to wash dishes with. We had roaches, rats, all this stuff. So when the CPS worker came over, she saw my little brother washing his hands in the sink. She didn't see him turning the water on. She just thought, "Oh, well, they got water" because she didn't see it was all perception. So they end up leaving.
--:-- Well, what ended up happening, my stepdad or whatever ends up cheating on my mom with a woman by the name of Barbara. Barbara, I say her name, she's a nobody or whatever, and she ends up telling, like trying to start a fight because she wanted to be with my stepdad. Well, he didn't want to be with her, so she comes to the house one day and tries to fight my mom and my mom ended up pulling a gun on a woman.
--:-- Kason Roberts: So the woman exposes everything. She calls CPS. CPS comes in, investigates. There's a lot of stuff happening in the school. You know, as many times as I wore the same clothes at school. I remember I had these orange starter shorts that were orange on one side. You remember the ones that flipped?
--:-- Kason Roberts: And baby blue on the other side.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I had three sets of clothes. I mean, three shirts. And I would wear those shorts just about every day. People at school were catching on. They're like, "Man, why is this dude wearing the same clothes?" Yeah. He wouldn't even get to shower every day. That's how poor we were.
--:-- Kason Roberts: You know, there's seven of us staying in a one-bedroom apartment, bro.
--:-- Paul Alex: Wow. Imagine that.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yeah. It was crazy looking back. I'm like, "Bro, how?" Yeah. "How did people not know long before?"
--:-- Paul Alex: So you were living in poverty as a child. Yeah. You go to an orphanage where they're abusing you guys.
--:-- Kason Roberts: They're abusing us, feeding us slop. Yeah. They're feeding us processed food. They're throwing a bunch of seasoning in there. Like, it's old. A lot of it's spoiled. Just, it's like you literally get put into foster care. Yeah. It's not your fault. You're an innocent child. Of course. You go there, and they're running this whole fraud, this whole scam. Yeah. This abuse.
--:-- Paul Alex: Yeah, it's almost like human trafficking, man.
--:-- Kason Roberts: It is human trafficking, bro. Yeah. It is human trafficking. That's what it is. Yeah. And I remember when I first got in, I heard about these twins. I have twins now, so I think about it a certain way now. I'm like, these two twins, you can look it up. It's all on the internet. They literally run away from the orphanage. A's always boys ranch. They get killed. They find these boys literally laying on the railroad tracks, these twin boys. They're thrown under a rug.
--:-- Kason Roberts: A lot of stuff is thrown under the rug. They got all these donations. You know, these companies are doing like $10 or $20 million a year just off kids. Yeah. Just off kids and revenue.
--:-- Paul Alex: That makes a lot of sense, man. I mean, I know there's big money into that, into convalescence. Yeah. I know. And that in itself, you know, I always worried, like, you know, I would never do that to my parents. No way. Because, you know, I've seen what happens over there. I've seen how sometimes these convalescent homes, they take care of people's family, dude. And I'm like, no. Not my mom. You know, she's going to stay with me. My dad's going to stay with me, you know?
--:-- Kason Roberts: Exactly.
--:-- Paul Alex: But all right, man. So you end up leaving. End up leaving at 17 with a black trash bag. Okay. 17, black trash bag. What happens next?
--:-- Kason Roberts: Well, I'm going to tell you this. I go to college for a little bit. Didn't work out, you know, whatever. And like maybe two months of college.
--:-- Paul Alex: So you end up dropping off after two months.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yeah, I'm like, man, I can't do that. I couldn't afford anything. I don't have no car. Okay. You know? I can't play football anymore because, you know, injuries, concussions. I'm like, man, I'm already struggling. So I go get a job in the oil field with one of my buddies, one of my old friends named Zach. He gets me on because his dad owns the company, the oil and gas company. So you're not supposed to be able to get hired on unless you're 21 because you've got to have a CDL. Me and Zach, Zach's already working there. He's 18. He's making like, you know, three grand a week. And I'm like, bro, like, you know.
--:-- Paul Alex: That's big money, especially at that age.
--:-- Kason Roberts: That's 2013. Of course. You know, so.
--:-- Paul Alex: That's big money at that age.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Bro, we're partying. We're going to raves. We got all these girls. I can't play that out of my mind. I'm like, bro, give me a job. So he's like, "Hey, man, all right, let me talk to dad." So he talked to dad. I was like, "Yeah, I'll hire Kason. I know he's a hard worker. He's a go-getter." Because I grew up bailing hay, raking in the orphanage in the summer and putting on roofs. So I get on. I failed my first drug test because I'm doing Molly on the weekends.
--:-- Paul Alex: Of course.
--:-- Kason Roberts: And his dad goes, "Zach, what is MDA? What is that?" And he's like, Zach's like, "I don't know." We're all playing it off because nobody knows what we're doing, you know. So I was like, man, I'll mess it up. Yeah. So give me another chance. Like probably two months later, I get hired on. I go to South Texas, down to like Carrizo Springs, Laredo area, where it's real cartel. Like I'm not really partying in, making money, making like three grand a week. We're coming home, and my birthday's coming up December 22nd. So Zach was like, "Bro, we should throw a big party for your birthday." We've already been throwing parties. But we said we're going to make sure the girl-to-guy ratio is like very like – there's going to be more girls than guys.
--:-- Kason Roberts: And it worked. We manifested it. But what we did not know is it got out of hand, bro. It got out of hand really fast. You know, we had a girl, like, literally, damn near die.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I knew CPR because you got to get CPR training in oil and gas. Yeah. So I'm doing CPR on this girl, white girl, and she starts spitting up blood out of her mouth.
--:-- Kason Roberts: So I freak out. I was like, bro, we're about to go to jail.
--:-- Paul Alex: Oh, man. I mean, it's not funny, guys. You're like, Paul, why are you laughing? No, I'm laughing out of nervousness of the story. I'm just like, wow.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yeah, I'm like, bro, we're about to go to jail. He's like, "Nah, bro, don't even call the cops." He's telling me this. I'm like, bro, we got to call the cops and report this. So we call the cops. EMS gets there. They said I saved her life. They're like, somebody gave her a Coke. Wasn't any of us. What we had there was weed and like vodka and stuff. But at the same time, it's about the perception, dude. Yes. Like, you know, you got to think about it from the cops' point of view. I'm a black guy. I mean, and the cop already had it. One of the cops already had it out for me because I was dating his daughter.
--:-- Paul Alex: I was dating his daughter. Okay, see, we're getting deeper to the story now. You were dating the daughter, man.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yeah. You know?
--:-- Paul Alex: Yeah. I mean, it happens, right? So from that, man, you're living life, I mean, in your early 20s. Okay, so oil fields. When was it that day that you got to think to yourself, man, that day it was just like an epiphany where you were just like, "I've got to work for myself. I've got to make it happen for myself."
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yeah, because after I got in trouble with the whole incident, we go to jail, they're freaking like, and they got us in the back telling us, "Oh, you're going to go to prison." We didn't go to prison. It was a misdemeanor. We got out. So I'm like, bro, what am I doing with my life?
--:-- Paul Alex: What year was that?
--:-- Kason Roberts: This was 2014.
--:-- Paul Alex: Okay, 2014.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I'm like, what am I doing with my life? So I was like, you know what? I'm just going to keep my head down. I'm going to go to work. I'm not going to party no more. So I keep praying. I'm like, I started losing it. I lost a job in the oil field because the oil field went down. I get another job. And then these guys are attacking me because I'm moving up to a higher level. And I'm like, now I'm tired of all this politics stuff. I'm like, God, why? I'm crying to God in my company truck. I'm like, man, this makes no sense. I'm trying to do great. I come from none.
--:-- And it was 2019. I'm talking to my boy Nathan. He lives out here in Miami. We worked in the oil field together. He gets out and starts his cabinetry company. And I'm like, bro, how did you start a company? You're working out here with me. We're working three months straight. He's like, bro, we're going to form your LLC right now. So I create AR Global Inc. 2019. I'm in my company truck. We're on three-way. Talking to the Secretary of State. Setting it up. He's like, you're going to get this thing in the mail. Just, like, keep it when you get it. So I get it in the mail. I go home. I'm like, I got, like, 50 grand saved at the time. I just went through a divorce. So, like, I had to work three months to get that money back because, like, I got drained, you know, whatever, during a divorce.
--:-- Paul Alex: Of course.
--:-- Kason Roberts: So I start the company. My first job I get was, like, a $30,000 job. My first year we do $800,000. Well, it wouldn't have been a whole year. It was, like, six or seven months. I'm just out like beating the pavement, knocking doors. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Because I worked at this company for a little bit, this roofing company. I was there three months. I did it like my first week there. I did 10 deals. All the people in the office are going crazy over me. But literally I know I wasn't going to get paid nothing. I didn't get paid anything. My twins are on the way. I'm freaking out. And I just go out and start selling on my own. So I already got the company formed. So I go out and start selling on my own. The first year we do $800,000. I'm like, okay, I think we know what we're doing. You know, second year we're at $1.5 million. I was like, I think I know what we're doing. The third year, we're like $2 million, $2.5 million. And this is me by myself. This ain't no sales team or anything. It's me hitting the door.
--:-- Paul Alex: Beast mode.
--:-- Kason Roberts: My third year, we're at the $3 million mark. So I'm like, we know what we're doing now, basically.
--:-- Paul Alex: You're increasing, dude.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I wasn't sure, but I wasn't sure. I was like, man, maybe this is like a fluke. And when I start making all this money, I'm going to the bank. They know me at the bank. They're treating me well. I thought I was doing something illegal because we're not taught to go start a business in school. So I see this money coming. I was like, bro, I've got to be doing something illegal. I did $300,000 in one week. Not profit, but gross. I'm like, bro, I've got to be doing something illegal. I started feeling like I was doing something wrong because I didn't realize we could make that kind of money. The only thing I wanted to do when I started the company, I wanted to just take care of my family. And I was happy with making $80,000 to $100,000 a year. I mean, I always wanted to be a multimillionaire, don't get me wrong, but I didn't think it was a multimillionaire business at the time. So I started researching and started seeing the case studies and stuff at other companies. I was like, bro, this is crazy. I hit the jackpot.
--:-- Paul Alex: You know, something very similar that I went through in the very beginning, man, where, you know, sort of you reach a certain level of success that you are not used to.
--:-- Paul Alex: OK. You were the go-to guy for the rest of these companies and corporations. But then once you start doing it on your own and you start reaching a better result, a completely different environment now where you're just relying on your own self-will, dude. A lot of people actually get imposter syndrome.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yes, they do.
--:-- Paul Alex: Imposter syndrome. They're like, "Do I really deserve this?" Yes. "Do I really go ahead and earn this?" I had times that happened to me.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Dude, I used to wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats and be like, "Oh, my God. Is this going to be the day I get taken down?" I'm not doing anything illegal. Literally. I'm not doing anything. I'm just like.
--:-- Paul Alex: "When are you going to knock on my door?" Exactly.
--:-- Kason Roberts: "When are you going to knock on my door?" Yeah. Then we moved to a bigger neighborhood. Yep. And I moved to a neighborhood with like, you know, 50, 55-year-old people, like nice $500,000, $600,000 houses. People that have worked their entire life to be in that neighborhood. And they're like, "What is this kid doing?" I'm the only black person in the neighborhood, bro. Like, for real. Only black guy in the neighborhood. So it was good. It was cool. But I'm young, bro. I'm 24, 25 at the time. Yeah. And they're like, they come up and start, you know, they're suspicious of me. They come up and start bringing me cookies. Bro, I'm not lying, bro. I'm not lying. I'm like, okay, cool. I eat the cookies. I was like, are the cookies good? The cookies are good. Oh, they're fine. Okay, cool. You know, and they were trying to figure me out, like, what does this dude do for a living? So I felt what they were doing. So I was like, you know what? It's time for me to market myself. Yeah. So you know what I do? Yeah. I'm going to put my sign out in the middle of my yard.
--:-- Kason Roberts: My roofing sign.
--:-- Kason Roberts: But I do, like, 10 roofs in the neighborhood. Me and a guy across the street named Daniel, he's a retired plumber. He's always talked trash to me. He's like, "Your brother's with Joe Biden and all this trash." We used to talk trash. Like, he's 60 years old, but we loved each other. That man taught me a lot, you know, along the way. And he was like, "Man, you're making too much money." I'm like, "What do you mean?" He's like, "Man, that's a $100,000 truck you got." Because, like, I kept trying to get a new truck, so I couldn't find the one I wanted. I wanted F250 Platinum. So I was trying to buy a local, but I was like, bro, why am I going to pay $80,000 for a truck with 50,000 miles on it? And the guy at the dealership was like, "You're never going to find a truck cheaper." Sure enough, I bought a truck in San Antonio, 2020 Platinum, with, like, 12,000 miles on it, for, like, 75 Gs. I was like, that's a better deal. Fully loaded. Bought it from my, it was an ex-FBI agent.
--:-- Kason Roberts: So I had to like swipe the little, like, it had a whole bunch of numbers and stuff in there. I was kind of scared to be riding around in it. But San Antonio from Tyler is like three hours. I was good. Yeah. So I pull up that in the neighborhood. They're like, "Yeah, this guy's making some money. He's moving. He's moving. He's moving and shaking."
--:-- Paul Alex: Okay. So you end up moving to that neighborhood. Your life has an abundance. Yes. Of just opportunities, dude. Yes. So what's the next move? How do you scale the company?
--:-- Kason Roberts: Man, I just thought one of my guys, one of my mentors, Rick, he's like, "Hey, as long as you go out and get literally three deals a week, your job's done." I was like, "I want more." So here's what you do. Each of your customers, you tell them you're going to give them $250 per referral if they refer you to another customer. So I started doing that. So when I went to, you know, every city has a gatekeeper. So we had this storm back in 2022. It was crazy, like big hail. I did like 30 jobs in one week. I sold 30 jobs in one week by myself. You probably wondered how I did it by myself. I ran into the gatekeeper, and he was like, "Hey, my mom and dad had 20 houses they own. I know this person. I know this person." When I started telling him I can put $250 in your pocket, bro, he jumped on it. And I had a lady from a church tell me she was retired. She's doing really well on a fixed income, making good money. I gave her $250. She went to a church and got like five people. Then I ended up getting a church. They ended up getting like six churches that same year, like big, big, big churches. Yeah.
--:-- So the way I'm starting making more money is because insurance company, let's say insurance company pay out 15 grand on a job, right? Right. I know in my mind that I'm able to go get like an additional $10,000 to $15,000 from an insurance company that they're holding back. The homeowner don't know that. They tell the homeowner to get bids because they don't want like contractors like me that knows how to go off the policy to what the customers owe.
--:-- Kason Roberts: So I'm marking everything up on every job. It's not illegal. It's ethical. Yeah. But the insurance companies don't want you doing that. But the insurance companies owe that money per policy.
--:-- Kason Roberts: So, dude, I'm making money.
--:-- Paul Alex: Wow. And that's a gem. That's a gem for anybody who's starting in the roofing industry right now is make sure to check the policy to see what's the maximum that you could get for the job. Yeah. I love that.
--:-- Kason Roberts: You got to know the insurance companies, man. It ain't so much selling the customer. It's selling the insurance company at the end of the day. Right. You've got to tell a story in order for them to buy that roof. Right. So what started happening is it was a ripple effect. I started running into all these adjusters. I'm cool like you are as a cop. I'm chill. I'm not yelling at them like all these other contractors. I'm not getting a bad name. So a lot of times, let's just be real, I may be busting on the roof. I ain't even got no hail damage on the roof. Just because I'm cool with the adjuster, I don't give him no trash. He buys the roof. So I started learning, like, man, like, it ain't so much about the hail damage. It's just we find the whole roof. Boom. The right adjuster. He likes you. Boom. Takes it easy.
--:-- Paul Alex: Takes it easy on you. Yeah.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Because the adjuster, it's up to the adjuster. If you're a dick to the adjuster, he ain't going to buy the roof. You got like a $30,000 roof there with a 40% profit margin on it.
--:-- Paul Alex: That makes sense.
--:-- Kason Roberts: You want that roof. Yeah. That's why I try to teach all my guys now. It's like, be cool with the adjuster. Don't badmouth the adjuster because you're going to work with these guys a lot. Yeah. When they get to know you, you build a relationship with them, they know you by name when they pull up. They know you're not giving them trash. Especially when they just deal with like three other inspections with assholes. They're like, "Oh, man, Kason, how's it going?" A lot of times they want them to get on the roof. They say, "Here's my camera. You go get up there and mark it up for me." That's what you want. Yeah. You want that relationship, man.
--:-- Paul Alex: Well, you want that trust.
--:-- Kason Roberts: You want that trust. Which it's very similar to doing sales. Yes. And the best salesmen are the best master communicators.
--:-- Paul Alex: Absolutely. So you became a master communicator. 100%. And what do you think is the best characteristic that you have seen in your industry? What makes a really good leader in the roofing industry? Whether you've seen other CEOs, or even your best characteristic, man, because you're killing it in the roofing industry.
--:-- Kason Roberts: You've got to train your guys. You've got to train your guys. Not only train your guys, train yourself. Train yourself. I don't care if you hire a guy on with 30 years of experience. Yeah. That guy still needs to be trained. The reason why that guy needs to be trained is because he's coming into your organization. He needs to know how you do things. Because a lot of times that dude's got problems that he needs to fix. He may know how to sell, but he could be a lot better if he does training. So I say train him at least 15 minutes every day. And for an hour, one hour a week, you do 45 minutes to an hour worth of sales training.
--:-- Paul Alex: Wow. Okay. Okay. And is it on the sales training portion? Because we get quite a few people here that, you know, they want to get into a sales clique or they want to go ahead and start their own business, but they've never done sales. Okay. So what type of advice would you give as being a veteran serial entrepreneur, like yourself, successful in the roofing industry? What would you give the average person that wants to learn sales, man? What would you do if you were trying to learn sales in 2025?
--:-- Kason Roberts: What would I do? I would find somebody like you. Yeah. And I would ask you to mentor me or follow your business model and learn everything from you and listen. Don't think that I know all. Listen. That's the problem with a lot of people. They don't want to listen. They think they know it all. Yeah. Like, why am I not going to listen to you when you're doing, you know, 18, 25 million? You must know something I don't know. Yeah. I'm broke. You're rich. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's what, that's the problem with a lot of people. They don't want to listen. So you gotta, you gotta be able to be coachable. Yeah. If you're able to be coachable, I can train anybody to sell. Just gotta be coachable.
--:-- Paul Alex: Yeah. No, absolutely, man. There's a saying I always say, man, is you could be prideful or you could be rich.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Absolutely.
--:-- Paul Alex: Especially in business. You could be rich any day.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Yeah, exactly. All day, every day, brother.
--:-- Paul Alex: So with that being said, man, what would you recommend? Self-education to me is key, especially in the game of entrepreneurship. It's a game. It's how well you play it, right? You need more information every day, dude. That's why I stay a student of the game, even now. So with me, what would you recommend your top three favorite books, brother, if you were to go ahead, any books that you've read that led you to this level of success?
--:-- Kason Roberts: Man, one of my first ones that really hit me. Yeah. It was a book created in 1911, 1912. It's called *The Science of Getting Rich*.
--:-- Paul Alex: And what was the background on that one?
--:-- Kason Roberts: Man, just telling you the source of getting, becoming, prospering and having abundance is God. Yeah. The God in you. Yeah. So that was a good book. Napoleon Hill, *Think and Grow Rich*.
--:-- Paul Alex: Oh, dude. That's the gem.
--:-- Kason Roberts: That one really opened my eyes. I read that for like 30 days straight. Yeah. You know? Another book, I would say *The Art of the Deal*. Yeah. By Trump. Yeah. A lot of people don't like Trump. Trump's cool, man. I mean, that book really opened my eyes to like everything. No deal is the same. Yeah. Every deal is different.
--:-- Paul Alex: Oh, absolutely.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I think he did a good job writing that book. I think everybody should read that book.
--:-- Paul Alex: Okay. I like that, man. I like that. And I also have my book. It's called *Surviving a System* by Kason Roberts. I'll talk about my journey and how I got to where I've gotten to.
--:-- Paul Alex: So is it just based on your journey and then do you give insights?
--:-- Kason Roberts: I give gems out in everything, man. Everything. I give the whole like literally recipe.
--:-- Paul Alex: I love that. I love that. Like a mastermind. Okay, okay. So let's dive into real quick, what do you see now for yourself in the future, brother? Like right now you're dominating the roofing industry. What else are you looking to do in, let's say, in the next three years?
--:-- Kason Roberts: We're doing development too. I should have brought that up earlier. We do development. We're doing about five houses this year. We want to get to 20 because a lot of times in roofing in the wintertime, we lose revenue. When it gets too cold, below 45, you're not supposed to put a roof on. A lot of companies do, but I don't. So I want to have constant cash flow. To have constant cash flow, it's the development. It makes sense because it's already construction. So we're building custom homes right now.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I say my biggest goal is to get to the B level, the billionaire level, because I'll be able to give more. I want to get there in three to five years, and I believe it's going to happen.
--:-- Paul Alex: No, absolutely. That makes perfect sense. So what vehicle do you plan on using? Is it just solely development? Is it also roofing? Are you doing multiple businesses?
--:-- Kason Roberts: It's going to have to be multiple streams, man. I'm getting ready to launch Roberts University. I'm going to have my courses. I'm going to have my mentorship where I'm going to be showing people how to start a roofing company, how to do construction, how to get money from lenders, how to get loans and stuff like that. I think it's going to be good to add value for people so they know exactly what to do to get there. A lot of people don't believe they can do it because they don't have somebody to get the information from. I don't believe in being a gatekeeper. A lot of people do, but I believe in giving. The more you give, the more you're going to receive.
--:-- Paul Alex: Absolutely. And what made you — I understand giving — but what opened your eyes to the power of digital marketing, the info space, man? Because it's growing, brother.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Man, I see guys like yourself, like you, Paul. I mean, you're killing it, dude. I see guys like Grant Cardone that I've had the pleasure to talk to and go on stage with. He's a good dude. Real good dude, man. We're actually part of the same organization, The Church of Scientology, so I learned a lot from him. I see all these big guys that are doing it, man. Success leaves clues. When I started seeing it, I was like, I've got to start pushing more content. I've got to get my course out there because I actually have a proven system that works. But I need to be able to give that system out to multiple people. A lot of roofing companies don't want to give that system out. They're scared their competitors are going to kick their ass. I don't worry about that. There's abundance everywhere. Never-ending abundance.
--:-- Paul Alex: No, absolutely. People just got to change their mindset and realize that whatever you think up here, it has an effect on your reality.
--:-- Kason Roberts: No, absolutely, man.
--:-- Paul Alex: Absolutely. So what would you say to the person right now in 2025 who is trying to get into roofing, man? How could they start? Let's do a mini masterclass right now. You as a presenter, you as an authority figure in roofing, you give that person — let's say it's you trying to transition, or you're talking to Kason back when he was in the oil fields. You say, "Yo, this is exactly what you have to do to get into the roofing industry and eventually start a roofing company."
--:-- Kason Roberts: I would say you definitely have to be mentored. I don't think anybody should have to go through what I went through. I pretty much got thrown to the wolves, which is fine. I had to figure it out. I grew up not having a mom or dad, so I knew I had to figure it out on my own. But for me, it would be a very positive impact on somebody's life if somebody like me or anybody else in the roofing space was willing to give out gems and mentor them. Do a six-month mentorship. Show them how to structure the company. Show them how to put a trust around the company. Show them how to protect their assets. Show them how to do everything the right way so they can go farther at the end of the day and not have to hit the hiccups that I've had to hit along the way.
--:-- Paul Alex: And how many employees do you currently have right now?
--:-- Kason Roberts: I have five right now.
--:-- Paul Alex: Okay, you have five employees right now.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I have four crew subs. We have like three different subs on the development side. That's pretty much what we got going, man.
--:-- Paul Alex: So your employees — they're all subs? All 1099?
--:-- Kason Roberts: No, no, 1099.
--:-- Paul Alex: Okay. So your 1099 contractors, you still have to lead them. You've got to lead them. And I'm a big believer in being a leader and leading by example. So what characteristics do you think it takes for someone to become a great leader in business?
--:-- Kason Roberts: I would never ask my guys to do something I wouldn't do.
--:-- Paul Alex: I love that.
--:-- Kason Roberts: A lot of guys — I see a lot of these roofing companies — they don't get out there anymore with the guys. Much as I hate it sometimes, I still get out there and hit the pavement. I still hit doors. It keeps your sword sharp for moments like this, for situations like this, for opportunities like this. The more you get out there and the more you deal with different personalities, the better you master what you do. So be out there on the gridiron with your guys. Show them the way. It makes them trust you more. If your guys can't trust you, they ain't going to like you. You can't just be a cocky asshole with a bunch of money and say, "Oh, man, I already did it." A lot of guys, that's how they are. They're like, "I already did that. I ain't going out there." Money changes you, man. Get out there with your team.
--:-- Kason Roberts: That's what I like to do. I still get out there when I can, when I have the time. And I'm like, man, I kind of miss this sometimes. It just feels good, especially when you've been fasting, you've been praying, and you go out there. You never know who you're going to run into, man. You run into a lot of good people, a lot of good homeowners. Most of my homeowners, we're friends. We talk. They call me up. "Hey, how are you doing? We're cooking over here. You want to come over?" Because I take care of my customers, man. I treat them with respect. I'm not just trying to get a sale from them. I'm trying to educate.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I educate my customers. I let them know, "Hey, listen, another roofing company is going to come up and just try to sell you. They're going to do the work for what the insurance company paid, and they're going to do shitty work because there's not enough money to even do the job. It's not enough money for them to put money in their pocket, so they're going to do it so cheap they can make a profit." No, I'm going to come in. I tell the homeowners, it's all about the experience level. I'm going to find out how your policy is. Me and my team are going to go in. We're going to get everything paid for. We're going to get your roof paid for, your gutters paid for, your downspouts, everything. But we're also going to inflate the claims per your policy to where you get everything you need and you get to pay your deductible. Everybody is going to eat. You're going to get value. I think that's how it should be.
--:-- Kason Roberts: A lot of these companies — that's why roofing companies have a bad name. A lot of them are just ripping off the homeowner and leaving them high and dry. They're working for the insurance company. They're letting the insurance company manipulate them because they don't have the right guy bringing enough value. A lot of guys are just out here selling. Their bosses are saying, "Yeah, just go sell, just go sell." I think everybody needs to be taught the whole insurance process in order to get to the next level.
--:-- Paul Alex: No, and I think that comes with experience, man. You have a lot of experience because you have done the footwork. You've been in the trenches. Knocking on doors, talking to people, engaging with people, getting their feedback, getting market research. And without continuing to be in the trenches, you may not be up to date with information like the rest of these businesses. So that's a good trait, man. I like that as a leader. And also you communicating with your network. I'm a big believer that your network is your net worth, bro. One person can change your life.
--:-- Paul Alex: So that being said, let's say one of those sales guys in the roofing industry is listening to your podcast and they're like, "Dude, we love this guy. This guy is remarkable." What would you tell them they need to focus on to actually get more client acquisition?
--:-- Kason Roberts: Training. Training, training, training, training, training.
--:-- Paul Alex: In what specifically?
--:-- Kason Roberts: You've got to train the sales, man.
--:-- Paul Alex: Any techniques, any strategies? I know I'm not trying to give away your secret sauce.
--:-- Kason Roberts: No, you're good. I'm here to give it out.
--:-- Paul Alex: But like, uncut, man. Anybody that's really looking for that help, if they're like, "Hey man, I'm willing to invest. I'm willing to learn and buy something." Any recommendations you would give?
--:-- Kason Roberts: I have a mentorship. It's very limited or whatever, but because Roberts University is going to launch, what I do is I charge $10,000 a year. I mentor you. You get a couple calls with me a week. I'm going to show you how to scale. I'm taking time out of my day, and my time is valuable. Until I get the big school launched where I have the whole team behind the school, I can only take limited people.
--:-- Paul Alex: So you do one-on-one mentorship?
--:-- Kason Roberts: One-on-one mentorship.
--:-- Paul Alex: That's remarkable, dude. I didn't even know that when we were talking. So there you guys go. You guys learned it the exact same time as me. We just pretty much started that this year. So it's still fresh. It's working, man.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Dude, and $10,000 is extremely reasonable. It's a really good deal. I told my boy Chris about it. He's like, "Bro, what? You need to be charging $25,000, $30,000 a year." I'm like, "No, it's okay." It's okay because what if I train one of those guys and they end up coming to work for me later? If I train them, they're going to make me way more money.
--:-- Paul Alex: That's true. They've got to train them for me.
--:-- Kason Roberts: That's true. I believe I'm the best.
--:-- Paul Alex: No, dude. Your level of confidence, the conviction you have, you can tell, dude. And you've got to have courage. People don't have courage. That's why they don't have money in their bank account, because they have no courage. That's why they don't get any sales, because they have no courage. You've got to have courage. You've got to have good ethics. You've got to have good morals. You can't be doing something to suppress somebody or keep somebody down. You've got to always flow abundantly with an abundant and prosperous mindset.
--:-- Kason Roberts: That's what I'm talking about.
--:-- Paul Alex: Hey, man, you should have gotten into law enforcement, bro.
--:-- Kason Roberts: Oh, man. I had opportunity during COVID, and they said I had to have some kind of degree or something. I was like, man, whatever.
--:-- Paul Alex: You should have come to Oakland, California, man. We would have been partners, bro. We would have been good teammates, man. We would have been kicking in doors.
--:-- Kason Roberts: That's it. Kicking in doors together, brother. Doing good work.
--:-- Paul Alex: 100%. With that being said, man, to wrap this up on the last question for the podcast, brother. As you guys know, this is the Level Up Podcast. We have ranked number one. Thank you guys, okay? Everybody that's been listening on Spotify, YouTube, on Apple Podcasts, thank you guys. We've had this podcast for — Emilio, what has it been now? 15 months? 13 months? February 28th. So about 15 months, guys. Emilio is the producer, the sound engineer. He's the guy that's making it happen right here, guys. I'm just the face. Emilio is the one that made this happen. So thanks to Emilio, you kick ass, brother.
--:-- Kason Roberts: 100%, man. You killed it. You're killing it, bro.
--:-- Paul Alex: So with that being said, what we want from you, Kason, is we want you to tell the hundreds of thousands of people that are going to listen to this podcast, when it comes out, a few words from you, dude, from the heart. To help them, because it's all about self-help. It's about giving back. It's about making them better.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I would say always bet on yourself. Always bet on yourself. Keep people from around you that have negative things to say about you. If they have something negative to say about you starting your business, run from those people really fast. I had a lot of people telling me along the way, "Don't start that business. Don't do that. You don't know anything about this business." Do it. Believe in yourself. Get out of your mind. Get out of your reactive mind. Don't let your reactive mind control you. Get good leaders around you. Get good, successful people around you.
--:-- Kason Roberts: I'm so passionate about this, man, because this means a lot to me. More people need to know that they can win. You look at Bill Gates, look at all these billionaires. There's nothing different between them and you. It's just a lack of knowledge, a lack of something you don't know up here. So, man, you just got to get out there and just win. Just flourish and prosper. Just win, guys. That's it, from Kason Roberts. If he could do it, you could do it too. If I could do it, you could do it too, guys.
--:-- Paul Alex: This is why it's the Level Up Podcast. And Kason, where can they find you?
--:-- Kason Roberts: You can find me on Facebook at Kason Roberts, on Instagram at Kason Roberts, and on YouTube at Kason Roberts.
--:-- Paul Alex: And what's the title of your book, and where can they find your book?
--:-- Kason Roberts: My book's on Amazon. It's called *Surviving the System*.
--:-- Paul Alex: *Surviving the System* by Kason Roberts. I love that. There you guys go. *Surviving the System* by Kason Roberts. Make sure to get your copy today, guys. Is it also on audio?
--:-- Kason Roberts: It's also on audio.
--:-- Paul Alex: Guys, get that audio. Listen to it while you're in the car, while you're at the gym. Let's level up now.
--:-- Paul Alex: All right, guys. That wraps up our interview with Kason Roberts. This is Paul Alex. This is the Level Up Podcast. Make sure to leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We are currently ranked number one because of you guys. Once again, thank you from me and Emilio. And with that being said, we will catch you on the next one.
