Justin Woodard
Woodard Cleaning & Restoration
Title: CEO & President
Website: www.woodard247.com
Industry: Cleaning and Property Damage Restoration and Repair
What is your mission?
Woodard helps people get back to their lives after fires, floods, and many other types of property damage, we also help people get back to their lives by cleaning carpets, rugs and furniture that needs regular maintenance or special attention after family comes in for a holiday.
What was your first job?
First job was going to the neighbors’ houses to pitch my combined babysitting and lawn mowing services. Very informal, but lucrative for a middle schooler.
My first job at Woodard was working in our Rug Cleaning Plant. I helped brush rugs and carry them to and from customer’s cars.
What was your worst job?
I remember disliking the large numbers of trash cans and toilets I have had to empty and clean, but I’m super lucky to not have had a specific role that I disliked as a whole.
What led you to your industry?
The family business and the wonderful folks that created and grew our business before me.
What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?
We joined a new industry peer group with 7 other companies who are like-minded (looking to learn and grow), independently owned and willing to share best practices and financial results. This has allowed us to be exposed to new ideas to try, compare our performance to others so we know more objectively where we can improve our results, and make new friends in the industry.
Who is your industry role model?
Ben Looper, CEO of Southeast Restoration Group, comes to mind. Ben is a servant leader who invests in his people, gives them room to grow, all while encouraging and supporting them like a great coach.
How do you try to differentiate your business from others in your industry?
We invest heavily in training our people. There is no trade school or university you can go to learn how to clean up water or fire damage or become high skilled carpet cleaner, so we have used our decades of experience to create our own programs. By training our people at the highest level, we can put more experienced, more capable people in our customer’s homes and business. We believe and promise that we have the most capable people in the industries we are in.n