Terry Chestnut, of Louisiana, began his transition into the SPF industry 5 years ago. “I was laid off from the oil field trying to figure out what to do with my life. A good friend of mine was in the fiberglass insulation business, so I started researching insulation. I came across spray foam and decided that this would be the way to go because of its high R-value. I bought my first spray rig in a Walmart parking lot and taught myself how to rebuild my spray gun. My first job was a 60 x 60 sq. ft. custom metal building home. Over the years, I’ve done hundreds of them, so I’ve gotten a lot better at doing them over time,” explained Terry.
Terry’s metal building jobs
Terry explained that he struggled a lot in the beginning. “You name it, and I experienced it. I was on my own a lot, and it was hard. Sometimes I felt like giving up, but I never did. In fact, I did all the jobs myself for the first 3 ½ years. I even did a 15,000 sq. ft. job by myself,” said Terry. When asked how he was able to keep moving forward despite his early difficulties, Terry explained, “I grew up tough and experienced a lot of hard lessons. I’ve always been very active in different sports. I come from a family of Golden Glove boxers. I think this, plus my early experience, has helped me develop my mental attitude about never giving up, and it’s paying off. I was also concerned about my family’s well-being and wanted to be able to provide for them.”
Terry on one of his roofing jobs
Terry’s Winning Philosophy is an Inspiration
Terry’s advice to those thinking about getting into the SPF industry is to take advantage of every opportunity to get training and learn from experienced people, make sure you have quality tech support, be humble and open to learning new things, have patience as you become more proficient--it takes time. “You might think about giving up at times, but it’s much less likely if you have the right support system. Keep moving forward and don’t get discouraged. Your body may ache at first, but the feeling you get when you complete a job and know that you did a good job is enormously gratifying. That’s when you know that all your efforts have been worth it. In the long run, having the right tech support is going to save you a lot of money and headaches. Now, people see me as successful and are calling me for advice. I never imagined that I’d be that guy—the one people call for help.”
Terry’s outlook has seen him through the rough times, but he wants to be an inspiration to others. Because Terry has experienced a lot of struggles, he is passionate about helping others. “I love spraying foam, and I don’t mind helping others hang in there. There were days that I wondered how I could keep going, but a job would come in, and I would jump on it. Sometimes the competition gets tough, but I’m still in the game. In fact, I’ve even become friends with some of my competitors. That has worked out great because we’ve helped each other. I don’t want others to struggle like I did. I stay positive, smile every day and try not to let things get me down. It’s important to me not to let my work affect my family, so I have learned to balance my life in a healthy way, “said Terry.