Dom Caminata - The Spartan Path to Remodeling Success - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Dom Caminata of Grosso University. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Intro: Welcome to MetalCast, the podcast where we're turning up the heat on all things metal roofing. On this show, we'll explore the world of metal roofing from its durability to design expert insights and more. Join us as we bang out the details on the toughest roofs in the game. Get ready to unleash the power of metal roofing.

Karen Edwards: Hello, and welcome to another episode of MetalCast from MetalCoffeeShop. I'm your host, Karen Edwards and we've got a really exciting topic lined up for you today. I am here with Dominic Caminata from Grosso University and we're going to find out all about the AGOGE Growth and Profitability Summit. Dominic, welcome.

Dom Caminata: Yeah, thanks for having me, Karen. It's always a pleasure to be on your show.

Karen Edwards: Well, before we dive into the summit itself, let's just give people a little bit of framework about what Grosso University is and a little bit of that history.

Dom Caminata: Yeah, so thank you for the opportunity and a lot of exciting things going on at Grosso University. I actually founded Grosso University in 2019, and I had the honor and privilege of taking on the legendary legacy of Rick Grosso. So those who have never heard of Rick Grosso before, he was my mentor when I first got into the industry in 2010 and he was one of those legendary consultants and trainers, kind of like Dave Yoho. It was kind of like Dave Yoho and Rick Grosso were the two big titans in the industry, but was able to influence literally thousands of people, hundreds and hundreds of companies and left quite the legacy on the industry. And without getting too deep in the weeds on the story, I made up my mind early in my sales career that I didn't just want to learn Grosso's training and his methods, I wanted to be him. So I had that opportunity in 2019 to essentially carrying on the torch for his training and consulting moving forward.

So, Grosso University is essentially a sales training and consulting business and our specialty here is sales training and leadership mentoring. But we also put together an elite team of consultants that can help train companies from phone call to install anywhere in between, exactly how to grow and scale a profitable business. And I'm happy to say that Grosso University since our inception in 2019, fast forward today, we now have more five star reviews than any other training group in the industry and we have a lot of different opportunities where people can get their sales people expertly trained by us.

The big program that we offer today that is absolutely grown like crazy is our Sales Academy Master Class. And essentially the way that works Karen, is the second Monday of every single month, we start a brand new two week comprehensive sales training. And what essentially that does is it allows companies to place salespeople into our training. We take a deep dive into our 11 step sales process and we test them. We certify all these sales warriors, they graduate with that Grosso stamp of approval and then essentially we place them back into that organization to receive more hands-on training, product specific training. And companies all over the country now, and we're training 50 to 60 sales people per month right now through this program. But companies nationwide now are essentially having Grosso University be the official sales training arm of their business so they can have the freedom to work on their business, not in their business.

Karen Edwards: Well, congratulations on five years.

Dom Caminata: Yeah, I know. It goes fast.

Karen Edwards: That's fantastic. And is the sales training that you're doing each month, is that in person or is that virtual?

Dom Caminata: So it's done virtually. So essentially, sales reps have the ability to tune in from the comfort of their home office. Some people do it from the comfort of their home. We prefer that their sales people go to their home base, their office, they put it up on a TV and they go through the training over the two weeks, it's very interactive, a lot of role playing, very hands on, lot of open form Q&A, our sales people are able to get their difficult questions answered. But yeah, we have it structured now where we can deliver world class, very impactful training, 100% virtually so people don't have to uplift their lives and travel across the country for an in-person training for two weeks.

Karen Edwards: That's nice. That's nice. Now tell me about the history of the AGOGE Growth and Profitability Summit?

Dom Caminata: Yeah, so in the theme of carrying on Rick Grosso's legacy, he used to do called owner's camps and we carried on Rick Grosso's closers camps, his sales training events, but we also wanted to carry the legacy of his owner's camps, but we wanted to brand it relative to the Grosso Spartan warrior theme. So, everything at Grosso University is that Spartan warrior, whether it be in sales marketing we want people to truly dominate in their profession, be among the elite in the world at what they do. That's really how we got that Spartan warrior theme.

If you go back to ancient times, the Spartan Warriors had an education system that they were taught how to be the tenacious warriors that they were. It was called the agoge and essentially it was from the point that they were like six or seven years old to the time that they were in their twenties or thirties, it took them through this amazing combat training to show them how to literally be professionals at combat. And of course they went down in history as the most legendary warriors ever. So essentially carrying on that Spartan warrior theme, we have the AGOGE Summit now carrying on that agoge and I want to give kudos to Cody Henson, our marketing director, he's the one that actually came up with that whole name and that theme and how it ties into our brand.

But again, we want people to come to this event to get energized, to get inspired and to get useful, hardcore, tangible information that they can use to grow and scale more profitable businesses and become absolutely dominant in their respective territory. And I'm sure you attend a lot of events, Karen, the thing that I notice about a lot of events is there's a lot of training on sales and marketing, which we love. Okay, we love sales and marketing all day. But what about production? What about operations? What about systems and processes to make sure that I can not just generate a lead and sell it and convert on it, but also install it and collect on it? Because where do you make your money at the end of the day? It's not in sales and marketing it's, "Can I install that and collect that on that job and get paid?"

So we want to make sure we're bringing on what we deem to be the brightest entrepreneurs and business professionals to these events that are active in the business that we also have vetted out, that we know are literally some of the top professionals in production, in sales and marketing, in call center development, in technology, you name it, we're going to lay it all in the field for this event, but that's essentially the reason for the name of AGOGE, a lot of people get confused by the name of AGOGE, but it has to go back to the ancient times and Spartan warrior education.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, it gives you a great story to talk about and it really aligns with the way you think and I'm excited to learn more. This is for the third year, so they just keep getting better every year. I know you're really excited about it, tell me a little bit about what you're excited about?

Dom Caminata: Well, the first thing I'm excited about is that I get to go to Florida in November, so that's the first thing. So I live in Wisconsin, so any chance I get to go to a warm climate in the wintertime is always exciting. But yeah, we're going to be hosting this at the Omni Resort in Amelia Island and those of you watching, if you've never been to Amelia Island in Florida, it's absolutely gorgeous. And the resort is right on the ocean it's got seven miles of uncrowded beaches you can walk. And the resort itself has a spa, you can bring your kids, bring your wife, bring your whole family, make it a really fun little mini vacation if you want.

So I'm really excited about the venue, I'm really pumped about our ballroom space. We have an 11,000 square foot ballroom this is the biggest space we've ever had for an owner's camp, and it's every intention to make it standing room only. We're going to get hopefully between 300, 350 attendees, which will be by far our biggest owner's camp we've ever hosted. And one thing I'm really blessed, and I just want to say thank you to obviously MetalCoffeeShop, but all of our sponsors just for the unwavering support. We're getting a ton of new sponsors coming to the table and as you know, events are not possible unless you have the support of sponsors.

So a lot of new sponsors are coming to the table, which is super exciting. We're super grateful. The venue is absolutely gorgeous. We're getting a lot of energy and buzz and the lineup of speakers that we have this year is going to be the best we've ever had. And that's probably what I'm most excited about is the quality and caliber of speakers. And regardless of where you are in your business, if you're just starting out, if you run a hundred million dollars company or 200, it doesn't matter when you come to this event, you're going to walk away with all kinds of tangible information, possibly even relationships that are going to help you take your business to the next level and get more optimal.

And as you know, profitability is always a headline for Grosso University. It's always profits for sanity. So at the end of the day, volume is great, but how can we make sure that we're optimized, we're efficient and profitable in the coming years? So essentially, we want people Karen, leaving this event ready to go long headed into 2025 with no fear, with all the confidence in the world ready to make it a record smashing year.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, the timing is really great being in November because a lot of people are just finalizing their budgets and looking at their planning and wrapping that up for 2025. So this is going to be really empowering to some of the attendees who are planning for 2025.

Dom Caminata: Yeah, it's like get the education, get the information, you got a little bit of time between mid-November and the end of the year to implement some of these things. And then hopefully by the beginning of 2025, you can actually start taking action and realize the results for yourself on the concepts, the education, you're going to get.

And the thing is, with our events, one thing that's really important for me because I've attended seminars where you feel like you're just going through a timeshare presentation. So one thing that is absolutely important for me, and one thing I make mandatory for anybody that gets on that stage is for educational purposes only. If people want to talk about their product or service around a cocktail or go to a sponsor booth, that's one thing. But when they're on that stage, you're going to hear nothing but world-class education from people that are literally the leaders in the industry that are the brightest minds. So the entire event is going to be packed, two full days full of education. And then also we want this to be an enjoyable and fun experience. So we're going to have elements that make it fun and exciting. The place is going to be absolutely buzzing full of energy.

But yeah, if you're looking to have some fun, get a nice vacation destination, bring your family and also network with some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business professionals, this is what this event is all about.

Karen Edwards: Are there any particular speakers that you're looking forward to that maybe are new this year or maybe they're fan favorites and they come back every year?

Dom Caminata: So without naming any names, just to give you an idea of some of the credentials, I have one guy that's going to be speaking that sold the nine-figure business in about four years. So built and sold the nine-figure business about four years. So anyone that thinks that that sounds interesting, you might want to learn from him. I also have several people that literally are running businesses with a 25% net profit consistently year after year while taking their business from zero to $50 million in about four years, so if you want to learn how to do that. I have people that have opened eight or 10 locations in the last couple of years, they're opening these locations all over the place and a lot of people wonder how exactly do we do that? How do we open new locations?

Of course, we're going to have boatloads of content that speaks to technology, how to take all this crazy information and data and house it in one platform, so it's not like the first hour and a half of my morning is opening up all these tabs and trying to make sure I can look at my numbers and my company from all these different dashboards, right?

How to maximize the power of AI and artificial intelligence, because as most people would agree now it's pretty obvious we're going to have to implement AI somehow, some way, to optimize in order to compete in the rapidly changing dynamic industry we're in. But what AI should I be implementing? How do I implement it? How do I make sure I'm not introducing AI to replace my team, but to enhance and empower what they're doing, to make their lives better not to take their livelihood away from them.

So we're going to have people speaking on all this stuff. If you're looking to build a call center, you're looking to generate more leads, you're looking to build and scale a sales powerhouse, obviously open more locations, get more crews, whatever it is, we're going to have the opportunity for people to get all their questions answered. And that's one thing that's also important for me along with the world-class education that we're going to have from the main stage, we're going to have plenty of opportunity for live Q&A. We're going to have a bunch of panels where people literally can fire any and all questions they want and get them answered live on the spot. And then throughout the networking of the event, you're going to have plenty of times to rub shoulders with some of these bright-minded entrepreneurs.

And I'm sure you've experienced this I know you travel a lot Karen, but the thing I love about this industry is it seems like some of the most successful people I know are very selfless. They're willing to share whether it's just you run into them at the bar and you have a question, "Hey, I got a question on what you talked about there at the main stage."

Or there's another business owner at that event that's running a successful operation and you want to pick his brain. The magic of these events is one part what you get from the main stage, but also what you can get in just a one-on-one conversation with another business owner, the networking. This is what I love about everything that you all do at MetalCoffeeShop and RoofersCoffeeShop, is you really create that community feel, right? It's almost like a big mastermind group in a sense where everyone can learn from each other.

Karen Edwards: Well, thank you. I mean, that's one of the things that we do strive to do and we have a lot of people on the sites that are, like you said, selfless and willing to share. And that's one of the things that I recommend for any event that you're going to, but I'm sure even more so this one is if there's a networking happy hour go, I know lots of people are like, "Oh, I want to go have dinner." Well, you're going to miss the opportunity, like you said, to ask that question. Sometimes the session is over, and the Q&A periods over and you ran out of time and you didn't get to find the answer to your question. So bring that along to the networking event, and I guarantee you'll be able to talk to somebody that's going to help you with that question.

Dom Caminata: Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I just ran into somebody at a cocktail reception or at a networking event and had no idea who they were and it turned out to be a life-changing relationship. It turned out to be such a profound relationship, and maybe it's not them personally, but somehow they connected with somebody or they connected with somebody that connects you with somebody. You never know how it's going to pan out, but the more people you can rub shoulders with and communicate with and build relationships with, ultimately it's going to pay off in dividends in the long run.

Karen Edwards: Nice. So you mentioned, I think you mentioned the dates November 14th and 15th, the Omni Resort in Amelia Island, Florida. I want to make sure people know how to sign up and that's go to your website, grossouniversity.com. We're also doing a special promotion through MetalCoffeeShop where we're giving a ticket for free to the first 10 people who sign up. What is that? A $1,500 value?

Dom Caminata: Yep, absolutely. Yeah. So MetalCast, MetalCoffeeShop has done a phenomenal job supporting us and again, being a part of everything we're doing at Grosso University and our events here. So as you mentioned there, for the first 10 people that reserve their ticket, they're going to be comping those tickets for the first 10 individuals. And you're right, I mean, that's essentially 15 grand worth of tickets that MetalCast is offering up to their audience. And it very much is a first come, first serve.

We definitely recommend people take action on this as quickly as they can, the deadline to book hotel rooms as October 11th, so people know that if you want to get at this event and get the block rate, obviously the discounted rate in your hotel, book that room by October 11th, get your tickets planned out. And I promise this is going to be an absolute wonderful event, it's such an amazing place to vacation and on top of it, you're going to receive a world-class education that can transform your business.

So yeah, I'm more excited about this event than any event we've ever hosted and that's saying a lot, I take pride in the events that we host at Grosso University, but I know that this one is definitely going to go down the history books is one of our best.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it. It's really a lot of great information. So be sure to visit metalcoffeeshop.com. And we have a code that we have on our site that you can use. I would say the code, but I'm not a hundred percent sure I got it right. I think it's MRCS, but go to the website, check that out and you can attend basically for just the cost of getting yourself there and your hotel room and that's a bargain.

Dom Caminata: Yeah, definitely take advantage of that and make sure you book it through their website so you can have the means to get that discount code and apply it. And basically when you're reserving your ticket, it'll show the full face value but then after you put that coupon code in there, it'll basically zero it out where it doesn't cost you one penny. So we're basically paying you to invest in your business, so definitely come down and take advantage of it and we just love the opportunity to educate our audience and of course, make a good impression on them. And of course it goes without saying, if they feel like Grosso University would be a good fit for them in the future, we'd love an opportunity to chat with them more.

But ultimately, we just love giving back to the industry and I just wanted to say publicly on this podcast too, that this is going to be a very important part for me of this event. As many people know, Rick Grosso did pass away this year, so carrying on his legacy has more meaning than ever before. And a big part of this event, we're going to be doing a special tribute to Rick Grosso to honor his life and legacy and I'm flying in a bunch of successful business professional that have been greatly influenced by Rick and his life to share lessons learned and share stories. And again, pay tribute to the amazing job he did on training this industry and helping so many people pursue their American dream.

Karen Edwards: Yeah. Oh, that's really awesome that you're doing that and I'm sure he's going to be looking down on you and very proud of the success that you've found in the last five years.

Dom Caminata: That's the goal, none of us would be here without him.

Karen Edwards: Well, thank you so much, Dominic for being here on the podcast. It's been great to learn more about the AGOGE Growth and Profitability Summit. So please visit the websites, check it out, look for that discount code. Thank you all for listening to this episode of MetalCast. Be sure to follow us on social media so you don't miss a thing, and we hope to see you on a future episode. Take care.

Dom Caminata: Thank you, Karen. And yes, you are a closer.

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