A career built on learning

By Emma Peterson. 

Austin Philips shares how continual learning and embracing challenges helped him build his career at Kodiak Roofing and Waterproofing. 

In our Stories from the Roof podcast, we get to hear all of the incredible paths that led professionals to the roofing industry. And recently, we got to hear the success story of Austin Philips, the estimating manager of Kodiak Roofing and Waterproofing.  

Where Austin’s story starts 

Austin’s journey into the roofing industry started back in high school when he had an uncle invite him out to a cabin renovation project. He recalled, “He was like, ‘Hey, come work at the cabin.’ And so I did, and they would give me something to do, and I would get it done. And they'd give me two more things. I'd get those done.”  

After seeing Austin’s work on the cabin and his drive to learn, that same uncle brought him into his shop – a little company called Kodiak – to work odd jobs. Eventually, that turned into Austin moving into the service department. He shared, “About a year and a half into working at Kodiak, I decided to visit Brazil to do some church work. And after I got back, two years later, I went straight back to Kodiak and started working in the service department.” 

Learning on the job 

Working in the service department was a great opportunity for Austin to continue his on-the-job education. He explained, “It was a lot of fun because we do so many different types of roofing. And in the service, you're trying to fix mistakes. So, I learned how to do single-ply roofing, built-up roofing, metal roofing, all those different types of roofing that we do. So, it was a great learning experience.” 

A few years later, Austin was ready to tackle something else, to learn something new. So, he worked his way into the project management side of Kodiak. He explained: 

I started in the office and at that time we had five project managers. And so basically what they did is, they had me work with whichever manager needed help that day. Each day I was with a different one of those project managers basically doing whatever they wanted me to do, and I learned a ton. Everybody had a different way of doing things, whether it be submittals, how they talked with the crews, how they managed their projects. I was able to see what ways are maybe better than others.  

Next thing Austin knew, he was being handed a small project to run on his own. That project turned into another project and before he knew it, he was a project manager. 

In this role, Austin kept looking for ways to keep learning and grow, which led him to the following realization. He shared, “I realized that coming from a project manager standpoint, we always thought that estimators miss stuff. They never had everything in their bid. I realized I could learn how to do that, to be an estimator and try to fix those discrepancies.” And that is what led him to his current position, as Kodiak’s estimating manager. 

Passing that on 

And if you think Austin is done challenging himself today, you are very wrong. He now has a team of five under him that he is working on passing his knowledge onto. He explained, “I’m training them but I’m also learning, because I struggle with figuring out how to get all the knowledge in my head out, put on paper and passed on.”  

Even though it’s a learning process, it’s one that Austin couldn’t be happier to tackle. As he put it:  

In order to learn, you have to be willing to put yourself in tough situations to understand...And I’ve had a great time doing that here at Kodiak. We are a team, we are a family and we are always helping each other grow. And the great thing is that attitude extends beyond our company. One of the things I've learned about the roofing industry is that there are so many people that are willing to teach, that are willing to talk and help and just help you understand. 

Want to hear more from Austin? Listen to the whole episode!