Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.

Get back in it.

My partner gets home from work; I look at her and ask, 

"Do you mind if I take you to work tomorrow?"

"No. What do you need to do?"

"I just need out of the house."

The truth is, I just needed to go for a drive.  

I felt trapped.  

The next morning I pulled out of the parking lot. 

And for whatever reason, I start driving south. 

As I pass the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso, Indiana.

I see on the lighted marquee: 

Looking for show hosts.

I heard the voice again:

"Go in there and ask." 

My negative self talk responds, 

"You don't know anything about that." 

I hear it again, but louder this time:

"Go in there." 

I listen. 

I pull into the Porter County Expo Center and

walk through the front door.

A lady greets me and I ask,

"What does your sign mean?"

She responds with

"This year we don't have a spring show host, would you like a tour?" 

We walk through the buildings and make our way to her office. 

As I sit down, she asks, 

"Would you like to see a map?"

While sitting in her office I learn:

The minimum booth price is $450, there are over 100 booths to sell. 

The cost to rent the building for two days:  

$1,850.00 with a $900 deposit. 

A $45,000.00 profit opportunity costing me only $1,850.00.

I ask, 

"What weekend are you hoping to host this?"

She responds with,

"Memorial Weekend, 6-weeks out." 

I looked at her and said, 

"I am your guy, but I did not bring my check book. 

I have a super busy day tomorrow, 

Can you give me 48-hours?"

I drive back home.

I walk into the office.

I sit in my chair.

Here comes that negative self talk again:

"What the fuck did I just do?

I don't have $900.00 for the deposit.

I've never hosted a big event like this, not even close. 

I'm going to call and cancel and apologize for wasting her time. "

I heard the voice again:

"Place an Ad and find someone who does"

I immediately did:

Looking for sales reps to sell booths for a home show. 50/50 profit split on every sale.

Moments, and I mean moments, after posting this ad 

I get a response: 

"Are you selling for the spring show? If so, I might be able to fill it." 

I call the guy and he asks, 

"Can we meet tomorrow morning?"

So I met him at the Wendy's in Valparaiso the following day. 

"David, I can probably sell this show myself. 

What are the dates?

Did you really mean 50/50 profit split?"

We wrote an agreement on a napkin, 

and 45-minutes later we went our separate ways. 

By 3pm he calls me and asks, 

"David, who do they make the checks out too?"

I think to myself, 

"Oh no... I don't have a bank account."

I told him,

"I know this probably sounds weird, 

but make them out in my partners name." 

We met the next morning, and he hands me $4,500 in deposits.

I drove to her work, 

asked her to sign the checks, 

deposit them on her lunch break, 

and write me a check for $900.00.

I head straight to the Expo Center,

rushing into the sales lady office minutes before the 48-hour deadline.

This gentleman I hired is selling the show. 

There is actually a little money in our bank account. 

It is 2-weeks before the show, he calls up and says,

"David, I had some cancellations, the dates are memorial weekend.

Everyone goes out of town."

In that same moment, 

My partner looks at me and says, 

"My water broke, the baby is on the way." 

The show is a little more than 2-weeks away. 

The Vendors are canceling.

The date is May 11th. 

The baby is here.

The pressure I was facing I wouldn't wish on anyone. 

The Expo was not the best event.

With the show ending up being about 40% filled, 

some Vendors were happy, others not so much. 

As I was helping vendors break down after the show,

one of them looks at me and says, 

"You are a bright young man.

What do you know about storm damage? 

It doesn't take any money to get started,

the insurance companies pay for it all."

The insurance companies pay for it all.

This phrase stuck with me.

Google had just come out,

and by the next morning I had an understanding of storm damage. 

I loved the idea of taking ugly houses and making them beautiful again. 

I call that vendor up and ask, 

"Do you mind if I follow you around. 

I don't want any money, I Just want to learn." 

"I don't mind. Meet me tomorrow," he replies.

My partner had ghost face when I told her about the expo center. 

Yelled at me,

"How can you go offer to work for free?

Our baby needs formula and diapers! 

Can't you just go get a job? 

Enough of these dreams."

Remember I have only one car family and she needs it. 

It was a super hot June day.

She drops me off.

The guy is 3-hours late. 

I had no water, no money, just a nasty sunburn. 

We ran three appointments that day. 

He had a great logo truck, trailer, 

and in my eyes, he was living the dream. 

But I'll never forget how he spoke to the clients. 

He was not kind at all, 

actually he was borderline nasty aggressive. 

And it made me think, "If this guy can be successful in this, I can too." 

I had called up my mentor and asked, 

"Can you lend me $5k? I want to start a new business."

I had shared my experience with him.  

He said no, but asked me come look at his roof.

I didn't have a ladder, 

so I borrowed his. 

He and I climbed up on his roof

and pulled up google images. 

His roof showed signs of hail damage! 

I couldn't believe it. 

I looked at him and said, 

"Please don't do anything.

I'll be back in touch." 

I went back home, walked in the office, sat in the chair.

I asked myself: 

"What do I do now?"

I hear the voice again.

"Place an ad to find someone who does."

I listened and placed the ad.

I got a response.

She said, 

"I do claim work processing and looking for something part-time. 

Do you mind if we meet at Wendy's during my lunch break?"

This is the same Wendy's I met the gentleman that sold the booths. 

My partner has a work meeting that she can't miss,

so I have to take the baby. 

I drop her off at her meeting,

and the baby and I go to Wendy's.

I walked into Wendy's carrying the baby in the car seat.

I said,

"I am so sorry, but my name is David Allen Roy and this is Kaiden." 

Then I share my story.

She kindly said to me, 

"David, I don't want any money from you.

Why don't you give me a percentage.

I can provide you a contract.

All you have to do is fill it out and give it to me. 

I will handle the insurance companies and the payouts." 

I call up my mentor to tell him I am ready.

I had him fill out the contract.

Then I turned it in to her. 

I then met with the adjuster. 

His insurance company buys him a roof, gutters, and an exterior door. 

The adjuster cuts a check right there on the spot. 

This pays for all the material and labor. 

There is one problem 

I don't have anyone to install it. 

I call an old friend and ask him, 

"Do you need work?

Its an easy job, find me an installer 

and get these materials on the ground." 

He tells me he doesn't have the contacts anymore,

but maybe the supply company does. 

He calls them up.

Said they want to meet. 

With me only having one family car, 

I needed to meet after hours. 

They were kind enough to wait until 6pm.

This gave me enough time for her to get home from work 

and allow for drive time. 

I'll never forget this meeting. 

The suppliers had a defensive posture,

like "Who is this dude" vibes.

But at the end of sharing my story of why I was there, 

They asked me to give them 48-hours and come back.

48-hours later I went back 

and they had brochures, samples, colors.

They had everything I needed from a product perspective 

and even had an installer. 

The job starts, 

and the client signs-off. 

I go back to paperwork lady.

The check comes in the mail. 

That first deal, I made $4,200.00 after all was said and done. 

From the "Guiding Voice" moment to check was less than 90-days. 

With creditors coming after every dollar,

and I mean every dollar, 

I couldn't get a job.

How do I protect myself and possible future earnings?

Voice said, 

"File an LLC."

All I have is $87 left. 

On July 28, 2011 I went on to the State of Indiana Website 

and I formed America's Construction Experts, LLC

The cost: $85.00 plus $2.00 fee. 

Since then I have turned $87.00 into 800 clients and counting

servicing Millions of Dollars by following my guiding voice.

I have no idea what your internal voice is telling you to do.

I do know this, it probably seems scary as fuck. 

Walking in to the Porter County Expo Center was scary. 

Telling my partner who is stressed and 8 months pregnant, 

"Hey, I signed a contract to host a spring show." was even more scary. 

Telling her I was going to work for free 

and the baby is weeks old scared me even more.  

Taking the courage to call my mentor to ask for $5k.

Overcoming the disappoint when he said no. 

Feeling hope when he said, "Come check out my roof." 

Having faith when meeting the adjuster and completely winging it. 

Sensing nerves when meeting the lady at Wendy's with the baby. 

Discerning whether or not this woman would honor her word.

Meeting with the supply store and them providing everything I needed to be successful.

Hiring our first installer. 

Seeing how happy the client was. 

Showing my partner a $4,200 profit check and her look of absolute disbelief. 

Becoming a stay-at-home dad and built this business while

she went back to work early for the baby to have health insurance. 

I put all my faith in my guiding voice.

Every day I walk in 100% Faith. 

Even though I was scared I kept hearing, 

"Just do it, all is going to be okay." 

Are you feeling scared right now?

Not sure where to turn?

Wondering if your Dream is even possible?

People telling you to give up on your dreams?

Feeling like you are stuck with nowhere to turn?

I felt the exact same way. 

Whomever your God is, think we both can agree:

God doesn't want you feeling like crap about yourself, 

tossing and turning at night pondering your next move. 

God doesn't want you broke and destitute.

God didn't give you a challenge so big that you can't overcome it.

God put you on this Earth to challenge you, make you grow, and help you flourish.

God put you on this Earth to break generational cycles.

God put you on this Earth to live your dreams!

If you are stuck in a absolute crap storm, 

have faith God has big plans for you. 

The bigger the obstacles the higher the rewards.

Whatever situation you find yourself in this moment, 

God put you on this Earth to overcome it. 

I could keep writing and share incredible faith stories about my experiences:

Stories of how I was doing roof installs 2,000 miles away. 

Stories of snot bubbles. 

Stories of traveling to Bristol, VA to hand a last check to a team that did $600,000 in volume in 6-months.

Stories of separation.

Stories of suicide attempt.

Stories of how I paid off all my debt and rebuilt my credit score.

Stories of what I had to do to stay in my boys lives. 

Stories of my journey as a volunteer coach for my kids sports. 

Stories of how I learned which clients to sign and who to avoid. 

Stories of how a homeless, carless, no means to a meal dude took $87.00 and made a million dollars. 

Stories of me living my dreams that just a few short years felt so unattainable in that dark corridor of hell. 

But until you let go of everything you've been taught,

these are just stories.

To get rid of the generational curses,

the self-imposing negative self-talk, 

and the victimization mindset

you must muster up the courage to listen 

and follow your internal guiding voice with 100% authenticity. 

The next job isn't going to make it better, 

neither is the next Partner. 

A sideline move is just another backwards step. 

But if you are ready, truly ready, 

and to the point you have absolutely nothing to lose. 

Walk your truth and follow your authentic guiding voice. 

I will keep listening to my guiding voice, my calling. 

This is a life long journey. 

My Guiding Voice is sending me down a new path 

filled with many challenges and obstacles.

But all I keep hearing is, 

"Don't you dare give up.

The Best is Yet to Come."

Chapter 4: