What makes someone say, “You won the lottery, don’t ever leave that shop”?

What makes someone say, “You won the lottery, don’t ever leave that shop”? In this episode of Beyond the Tools, Krystal Hobbs sits down with Dan Friesen, owner of Charlton and Hill Home Services and Marvelous Plumbing & Heating, to talk about what actually drives growth in a trades business: the human beings inside it.

Dan shares his full-circle path, from taking a “gap year” helper job in 1993 to eventually buying Charlton and Hill in 2021, a company with roots going back to 1941. Along the way, he spent years traveling with Nexstar, visiting hundreds of shops and teaching programs he later had to implement in his own business. That shift, from teaching to doing, hit him hard: training is one thing, but execution in your own shop is a different game, and it requires humility, support, and coaching.

At the center of Dan’s leadership philosophy is a mission he wrote in a defining moment: support, protect, develop. He explains why customers cannot be “number one” if your team is not first, and how culture always reflects leadership. From the “world is a beautiful mirror” idea to the “Good Ron vs Bad Ron” story, Dan breaks down how a leader’s mindset shapes what they get back from their people.

The episode closes with a challenge that lands: if you want a better team, look in the mirror. Detach from needing approval, genuinely invest in your people’s success, and be willing to push them into discomfort with clear, direct, respectful conversations. That’s how you build a shop people are proud to stay in.

Listen in and learn about:

• Why “the people component” is the real advantage in every trades business
• Dan’s full-circle story of joining Charlton and Hill in 1993 and buying it in 2021
• What changes when you go from teaching leadership to executing it in your own shop
• The two quiet signs Dan looks for when he walks into a contractor’s building
• How “us vs them” language reveals leadership problems fast
• “Support, protect, develop” and what it looks like as a lived mission
• A simple leadership framework: approval, genuine care, and pushing people into discomfort
• How to handle tough conversations with a clear, direct, respectful approach

Mentioned in the episode:

• Charlton and Hill Home Services 
• Marvelous Plumbing Heating 
• Nexstar Network

Connect with Dan:

• Dan’s LinkedIn

Transcript