Itzel Romo is a co-owner of King Roofing in Atlanta, Georgia, but on Instagram she is known as the Queen of Roofs.
But don’t let her name or warm personality fool you. Romo is as tough as they come, especially if an employee or customer crosses a line.
“I have balls. If I need to be pretty, I’m super pretty. I just need to select when I have balls in front of the other guys, or when I need to be pretty,”
Romo says.
Hailing from Mexico, Romo is a motivated entrepreneur who left the TV industry back home for the roofing industry abroad. She’s found success in America by working hard and not letting things like a language barrier or sketchy male customers hinder her success. During a recent Roofing Insights interview at a conference in Atlanta, Romo talks about getting entangled with malevolent homeowners when she visits their front doors.
A surprised Dmitry tells her, “if people are mean to you when you door knock, I don’t want to ever door knock.”
Yet it’s not the actual door knocking that has left Romo vulnerable. In fact, it’s actually people who have already agreed to do business with her that present the most trouble. Romo tells Dmitry of a story where she went over to meet a client and grab a check from him. The client told her to come inside, but Romo refused.
“If you don’t come inside, I won’t write the check for you,” the client threatened.
Romo again denied his advances, so the frustrated client then tried to grab Romo and pull her inside his home. Fortunately, Romo was able to get away and return to her car, but the entire event left her shaken. The police were called, but after talking to everyone involved, the officers told Romo there was nothing they could do. Later, Romo again encountered a creepy man who was trying to secure more than just a new roof. When Romo and two of her associates went to go pick up the check from him, he had made dinner for her. The man tried to convince Romo that the dinner was for his wife, and then said that he actually didn’t have money to write her a check. Romo left, and a short while later, the man phoned her to ask her back to the house, this time without her two associates. People like the two men from these stories are why Romo says she carries a gun, because you just never know what can happen. When she’s not dealing with potentially violent customers, Romo prides herself on maintaining a safe environment on jobsites. In fact, Romo harps on safety so often, it’s gotten to the point where if one of her workers is not wearing a harness, she kicks them off the jobsite.
“Now my rule is if you don’t have a harness, let’s get you home,”
Romo says, briefly recounting a situation where one of her employees got hurt because he didn’t have a harness on.
Luckily, her employee didn’t suffer a serious injury, but if you saw Roofing Insight’s recent interview with Josh Cotner, then you know that sometimes workers die if they don’t follow the correct safety protocols. Romo’s perseverance and desire for success have enabled her to push past the roadblocks thrown her way. Her story should motivate those who have always wondered if they have what it takes to be successful, because the answer is YES, you do have the ability to control the future of your career!
Want to hear more of Itzel Romo’s story?
Stay tuned for more of Dmitry’s interview with Itzel Romo in one of our upcoming videos, and don’t forget to subscribe to all of Roofing Insights’ social media pages.
