{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Successful Contractor Podcast","title":"$105M Revenue, $18M EBITDA — and the Improbable Road There: Bubba Thurman's Story of Culture and Excellence ","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4093,"description":"Book a free strategy call with CertainPath to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ \nOr call us at: (214) 453-1591 \nHe broke his back chasing pro baseball, spent 22 years in ministry, then helped build a $105M, $18M-EBITDA contractor. This is Bubba Thurman's story. \nBubba Thurman is the president of Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electric in Dallas–Fort Worth — the first non-family president in the company's history, dating back to its founding in 1945. Last year, Baker Brothers did $105 million in revenue and exceeded $18 million in EBITDA — a level of profitability most home services companies only dream about. \nHis path was anything but linear. A Division-I baseball catcher who was certain he'd go pro, Bubba broke his back in a 1991 on-field collision and watched the dream die. “Baseball was a false well,” he says. He spent the next 22 years in ministry — helping build the largest youth ministry in the country and learning leadership under his mentor, Steve Stroop — before burning out and making an improbable leap into the trades. \nRecruited by Jimmie Dale to Baker Brothers, Bubba earned the team's trust the hard way: “I ran calls, I dug trenches, I wore a uniform.” Then he drove the culture transformation that helped take Baker Brothers from roughly $20 million to more than $100 million. \nIn this episode, Bubba walks Bob Houchin through the whole journey — and the playbook beneath it. \nIn this conversation, you'll discover: \nWhy culture is “just a set of norms” — and how to make excellence the normal The $0 cleanliness campaign that started the turnaround: “don't step over a piece of trash” How to layer standards one at a time so they actually stick The three-win strategy that aligns the customer, the employee, and the company What changes when leadership “lands on your desk” — the real weight of the top job His message for a tough market: stop chasing what you can't control — “you are your best marketer” “You earn equity...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/WCyJ3ptH0xXEDqC4S1LIZ73tPiK25vJcQICelfBZHPQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS84MzJh/ZGUzYzE3OTNiM2Nj/YTllNDRjYmY2NWIy/NjY2OS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}