Building a Business That Doesn’t Need You: Lessons from Tommy Mello | #Success - Ep. 54

The Russell Brunson Show

Russell Brunson

Business, Marketing, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 836 Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of The Russell Brunson Show, I sit down with Tommy Mello, the owner of A1 Garage Door Service, and we unpack how he built one of the most successful service businesses in the country. We get into the nuts and bolts of how Tommy went from $50K in debt to running a company that does over $200 million a year and has 850+ employees. And more importantly, how he replaced himself, built a real leadership team, and trained technicians to deliver a great customer experience without needing him involved in every step. If you’re running a business and feel stuck doing everything yourself, this episode will show you what needs to shift so your company can grow. It will help you make the classic shift from “working IN your business” to “working ON your business”. Key Highlights: Why most entrepreneurs stay stuck: they never replace themselves How Tommy uses a clear org chart and defined roles to scale with structure The leadership traits he looks for when hiring managers and technicians How he built a training center to onboard new employees the right way The importance of weekly one-on-ones for accountability and long-term performance Tommy is a super relatable and down-to-earth guy that has so much wisdom and experience to share. His knowledge will help anyone from an online solopreneur, to a Fortune 500 CEO. His story is packed with practical strategies for growing a service-based business, and leading like an actual CEO. Listen in and take notes! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sellingonline.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://clickfunnels.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Special thanks to our sponsors: NordVPN: EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://nordvpn.com/secrets⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Northwest Registered Agent: Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠northwestregisteredagent.com/russell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to start your business with Northwest Registered Agent. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: Get a $100 credit on your next campaign at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn.com/CLICKS⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Rocket Money: Cancel unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RocketMoney.com/RUSSELL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Indeed: Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job’s visibility at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Indeed.com/clicks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Oh, that's my prime delivery.
0:01.6	What, already?
0:02.7	Only one thing can match the buzz of Prime's fast delivery.
0:06.2	And that's the buzz of Prime's entertainment.
0:09.0	What are we watching?
0:09.7	Heads of state, that new action comedy with Idris Elbert as the Prime Minister,
0:13.3	John Sina as the president, and Prianka Chopra Jonas,
0:15.9	as their only hope.
0:17.0	It looks like a blast.
0:18.3	From fast delivery to explosive entertainment, it's's on prime for only 899 a month
0:24.2	join now content includes limited ads subscription or to renews for more information go to amazon.com.
0:28.8	at uk slash prime this is the russell brunson show what's up everybody welcome back to the show today i'm. One of my friends who I just met the first time like a month ago out at his studios, his offices. We did a podcast over there. And then today he's flying past Boise and just dropped his plane really quick to come hang out with us for 30 minutes, 45 minutes. He's heading back out. But he's named Tommy Mello. And he's someone who I'm really excited to interview because you have a different type of business than most of the people in my world, but you're doing amazing stuff and growing faster than I've seen. And it's really exciting. So excited to have you here, man. How are you feeling so far? I feel great. You know, I got this boot on because I had to get some foot stuff done, but it's not too painful. I'm having a good
1:10.8	time with it. Yeah. I want to make up like a much better story. Like, dude, this guy wanted to fight me and he didn't know what was coming. So I hooked him with a left kick. That happened to me because I don't remember. I got both my biceps tore out. Yeah, 90 days ago. So I got a good story on might at least. Well, okay, so I want to tell people about your business. I have you tell a little bit. So
1:11.6	most of my world are digital marketers who are growing their businesses online. And obviously we have a co-friend, Jeremy Miner, and Jeremy's like, you got to meet Tommy, you got to go out there and hang out with them. And so went out and had a chance to see your facility and all the stuff you're doing. And so your business is garage doors, garage doors, which is
1:46.3	something, if someone came to like, hey, I want to start a business doing garage doors, I'm like,
1:48.9	why would you do that? There's so many easier businesses. And you built this into like a multi,
1:53.2	$100 million year enterprise. So tell us a little about the business and how the whole thing got
1:56.4	started. Yeah, 2005, I was, I wasn't doing much. I was bartending, going to school, and I had a roommate. The house, it was $700 rent. It was a tiny, tiny house. And I was just hustling, man, anything I could do to make a buck. And my roommate was like, do you know how to pay garage doors? He was working as a manager at a garage store company. I'm like, no, but I could figure out how much you're going to pay me.
2:19.5	He's like, a hundred bucks a door. You can pay two or three a day. So I'll learn how to do it. So I ended up being able to paint 10 a day because I called everybody in the yellow book and became their primary painter. And so it was a cool little thing on the weekends. I paint 10 Saturday, 10 to a Sunday.
2:15.0	Knock out about $1,700 profit after
2:17.0	gas, paint, tape, you know,
2:19.5	everything.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 13 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Russell Brunson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Russell Brunson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.