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Professional Roofing: What is the most unusual roofing project you've performed?
Herlihy: A new building for G.D. Searle with more than 600 penetrations in a 300-square (2700-m) roof system. It has never leaked.

Why did you become a roofing contractor?
Opportunity—what other industry provides a basic human need (shelter), as well as enjoys both ends of a product life cycle (new and reroof) and has the benefit of Mother Nature creating more business on a continual basis?

What was your first roofing experience?
In third grade, I wondered what that stinky trailer was in my friend Tony's backyard. It turns out it was his father's pitch kettle. Twenty years later, Tony and I ran into each other again on a roof. Tony now is a regional roof consultant, and I am a roofing contractor. Kettles don't stink anymore.

What are your favorite items on your desk?
Hershey's chocolate, Double Stuf Oreos and the wedding day photo of my wife, Sandy.

What do you consider your most rewarding experiences?
Watching an employee or peer implement a principle I coached; completing my undergraduate degree in four years on a limited budget and maximum debt; completing my MBA while working to rebuild our company after tumultuous turnover; and building successful project managers, regardless of their backgrounds.

What was your first job?
After the typical newspaper route, I started in the construction industry as a draftsman doing residential design. After college, I started a professional career as a structural engineer working on nuclear power plants and making sure nothing would break in an earthquake even if it was built incorrectly.

What is your favorite vacation?
Sandy and I have been on many wonderful vacations, but the key to a good time is to be adventurous, whether it is a tour in Costa Rica, rock climbing in the Rockies, skiing Jackson Hole or snowmobiling in Montana.

What do you consider a waste of time?
Negative or "can't do" attitudes.

What are your biggest pet peeves?
Roof drains that are not completed and detailed on a daily basis and stupid excuses resulting in mediocrity and laziness.

If you could invite any four people to dinner (dead or alive), whom would you invite and why?
Ronald Reagan to listen to how he had such a profound effect on so many people; Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods to listen to how they handle pressure; and Dennis Hastert, speaker of the House of Representatives, to listen to how a regular guy is able to manage 535 of the most egotistical and unruly people in the United States!

What are your best and worst habits?
My best habit is multitasking. My worst habit is telling my wife I am leaving the office in 10 minutes and actually leaving two hours later.

What is your favorite stress reliever?
Music—classical, jazz, rock, Top 40. Usually loud, crisp and with finesse.

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?
Working to keep so many constituents happy, challenged and satisfied and balancing so many responsibilities in so little time. Also, dealing with each day's surprises can be challenging.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I have been involved as an NRCA director and Low-Slope Committee chairman and have served on NRCA's Government Relations and Manual Update committees.

People would be surprised to know ...
I have saved pocket change every night since I graduated from college, and I really don't know everything!