From Military to Millions: How Emily Shetterly Built a Scalable Home Services Business From Scratch

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Show Summary

In this conversation, Emily Shetterly shares her journey from a challenging upbringing in Baltimore to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the HVAC industry. She discusses the importance of personal development, innovative business strategies, and her vision for the future, including plans for growth and community empowerment. Emily emphasizes the significance of mindset in business success and the need for continuous self-improvement.

Resources and Links from this show:

• • • Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
    • Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
    • Mike on Facebook
    • Mike on Instagram
    • Mike on LinkedIn
    • Emily Shetterly’s Phone Number: (801) 200-6060

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Emily Shetterly (00:00)
  And that day I decided to do that was the day after I got put on medical leave. was May 1st, 2024. And between May 1st and December 31st of 2024.

  I did $125,000 in revenue, just me and my husband. He would get off of work and go to work for me. He would do two or three service calls at night after 6 PM until, so from May until July 15th. And July 15th, he quit his full-time job and I was able to generate enough revenue for us for him to work full-time for us basically.

  Quentin Edmonds (02:06)
  Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds and I am here again with another fantastic guest. We’ve been talking a little bit and something she said stuck out and I really think this is what’s going to make her stand apart from other people and the way they run their business, specifically the business she’s in. She’s looking to educate and provide leadership.

  You know, she’s not looking just to rip and run. She’s not looking just to just be another business serving the, you know, the real estate professional. She’s really looking to educate and provide leadership. And so I’m going to her tell you all what she do, but I am so happy to introduce you all to Ms. Emily Shetterly. Did I say that right, Shetterly? Hey, Shetterly, got you.

  Emily Shetterly (02:59)
  Yes, yes, generally you did.

  Quentin Edmonds (03:03)
  So ma’am, Ms. Emily, how are you doing today? Welcome to the Real Estate Podcast. How you feeling, maam?

  Emily Shetterly (03:07)
  Thank you. Yeah, I’m doing great. just want to say thank you for having me. I think what you’re doing is really great and it’s an amazing resource for all of your listeners. I can’t wait for this episode to go live so I can share it with everyone. It’s going to be amazing. I’m just really excited to be here. So thanks.

  Quentin Edmonds (03:24)
  Absolutely. Well, definitely excited to have you here. Like I said, we’ve been talking a little bit, so I want to dive right in. I would love for you to tell the people what your main focus is these days, know, what you mainly focus on. If you want to give a little bit of an origin story, you know, of how you got started, how you got to where you are now, we love origin stories. And then if you want to tell them a part of the world, you win. We love that too. So main focus, origin story and where you are. So Ms. Emily, you have the floor, man.

  Emily Shetterly (03:52)
  Okay, so I’ll just take two minutes or so. I think I should start with the origin to put kind of things in to frame for everyone. I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. grew up in, ⁓ yep, that’s the best place to be from, but I grew up in poverty and like surrounded by crime. And I knew that I didn’t want the rest of my life to look like things that I saw around me. And so,

  I joined the Air Force at 19. I was an aircraft mechanic for 11 years on F-16s and F-35s. So I was the one out on the flight line in the weather turning wrenches, fixing airplanes, and helping support the mission to get warheads on foreheads, basically. ⁓ When I got pregnant with my second child, the Air Force denied my request to read up and reenlist. ⁓

  that is definitely against some sort of equal opportunity laws and everything. And I did try to fight that, but I didn’t really win. They kind of squashed me like a little bug. So I got out unexpectedly. I was planning to do a 20 year stint and retire at the end.

  And that just didn’t happen. And so in March, 2024, there I was with no job and pregnant.

  And so I thought, well, I’m a mechanic, so I’ll go get another mechanic job. And I went to go work at the elevator union as an elevator mechanic apprentice. And things were going good. Like I was learning how to work on elevators. I was still lifting and using tools and doing everything that I, I know I can’t how to do. And I told them after two months, like, Hey, just so you guys know, I’m pregnant. So once I get kind of

  bigger, I won’t be able to climb on ladders. And but that’s not until like five or so months down the road. And they were like, well, you can’t really work here. If you’re pregnant, we have to put you on medical leave. And I was like, but I’m only 10 weeks pregnant. I want to still work to provide for my family. And they were like, well, we don’t have a job for you. If you’re pregnant, you need to go on medical leave and you can come back when you’re not pregnant anymore. And so there I was pregnant and I had just lost

  to career opportunities and my only skills were leadership from the military and like being a mechanic and fixing stuff. And so I thought, well, let me figure out how to make a job for myself that no one else can ever take from me, that I can have as many babies as I want and control my own income. And so I turned to my husband’s skillset. He is an HVAC technician.

  And he has 13 years experience. Now a year before I had gotten out of the air force, we did buy him his own van and put a logo on the side and like started our own company because he has always wanted to have his own company. But we never really like focused on it because we both had a full-time job and we had a little child already. So we had no customers and we didn’t know how to get customers. didn’t understand marketing lead generation, anything like that. And so.

  When push came to shove and I lost two jobs back to back, I was home alone pregnant while my husband was at work. And I thought, well, let me figure out how to get some jobs. And so I started networking and meeting people. And,

  that day I decided to do that was the day after I got put on medical leave. was May 1st, 2024. And between May 1st and December 31st of 2024.

  I did $125,000 in revenue, just me and my husband. He would get off of work and go to work for me. He would do two or three service calls at night after 6 PM until, so from May until July 15th. And July 15th, he quit his full-time job and I was able to generate enough revenue for us for him to work full-time for us basically.

  So my main focus has been figuring out.

  how do I run a business? How do I serve the community? How do I create value for people? Like where is my lane? Where’s my niche? And this year, well now it’s 2026, but in 2025, ⁓ we did 900,000 in revenue. And that is a huge jump and almost unheard of for people within their first 18 months of owning a contracting business. So I’m sort of like a special case, I guess.

  ⁓ I’m just doing what comes naturally to me, but we have four vans. Now we have technicians in three of them. One of them is a backup. found out very early on, you need a backup because if your van goes down, you don’t make any money. ⁓ so now we have three technicians full time and we have three admin people full time. Plus a virtual assistant. So, ⁓ my main focus is figuring out.

  how to serve as many people as I can in the valley and uplift them with education on home services in general and and educating people on how to not get taken advantage by a contractor as well as

  raising the industry standard because there’s a lot of bad practices and like shady stuff happening and I’m shining a light on on that I’m pissing off a lot of other contractors to be honest but I don’t think it’s fair that

  homeowners are like powerless and scared when it comes time to make like decisions about replacing a furnace or like getting electrical work done at their house or you know something with their pipes and plumbing. So we opened up our plumbing department six months ago and we are working with other partners to open up electrical soon and ⁓ we’re building out a homeowner educational program and courses with videos and everything. So that’s my main focus for

  2026 as well as Teletech, which is going to be a national live HVAC remote support. And ⁓ what’s the other thing? our affiliate program. It’s not a basic affiliate program. It’s going to be a monster.

  Quentin Edmonds (11:37)
  Yeah. Yeah. Well, let me just say you don’t Baltimore proud. Like Baltimore stand down. I gotta say to a Baltimore proud. Absolutely. Thank you for taking me through your journey. I mean, so many different things that stood out. again, like I said, I’m so happy we’re doing this podcast together. So I want to, I want to talk about personal strategies for a little bit, right? Because obviously

  you found success. mean, one of the things you relocated from, you know, kind of environment that you was in, we both know, you know, how that is. I’m West Baltimore born and raised. So we know getting out of the environment, sometimes it’s one of the most important things. And so I have this saying where I say destiny has no wasted moments. Meaning like, as we go through our life, there are different things that we pick up that just help us be who we are today. Like every stop is going to destination makes us kind of

  who we are today. And so if you can identify what are some personal strategies that you’ve picked up that is helping you in business and in life. And when I say that, some people, no, you got it. Nope, got it. Nope. You don’t need me no explanation. You got it. Yes, ma’am.

  Emily Shetterly (12:53)
  I think people from Baltimore are special because I have actually met a couple of real estate investors out here from Baltimore and their portfolios outperform almost anyone else. I’m, and I’m like, you just got it. Like you just got the grit. Like you got what it takes. Like you’re people smart. You know what to do. Like you can see the writing on the wall. I think a lot of that, like survival, like mentality you have growing up in Baltimore is like, makes me successful in business and other people will say the same thing if they’re from Baltimore. Like,

  ⁓ a personal strategy, probably the biggest shift for me is like fully embracing my belief in God or like even just like defining that because I don’t know when I was younger, we went to church. My mom took me to church and I was a little kid and I was like, I would dread it. I’m like, whatever, like it’s church. Like they played the organ, like we eat the wafer, ⁓ whatever. And then I got, I got older, I got busy and I’m like, yeah, like I believe in God or whatever.

  And I always thought like people that bring God into like everything they talk about. I’m like, why are they like, why are they making such a big deal? Like it’s, they look goofy. And then I, and then when I lost my job and I was like, I need to figure this out. I was by myself. I’m like, who do I turn to? And I was like, please, please God just show me something. Just like I’m, I’m ready. Like I’m ready for the next step. Like whatever you have for me.

  just show me something and like I have chills right now because this is like a pivotal moment was like just realizing like I need to get over myself and like focus on like what is what am I actually supposed to do in life? Like what is my calling? And like he God didn’t say it like in a sentence. It was just like daily little like paths that would get lit up and like it took me like a year and a half to figure out like, okay, my job is to empower people.

  Like this is what I was put here to do because like I’m a direct communicator. I learned things very quickly. can communicate the things that like, like complex things that I learned.

  can communicate that to people on like a very basic level. And like, I can see people’s eyes light up. They’re like, Oh, I get it now. Like now I understand like that’s how a furnace works. Like I feel like that’s just been like a huge thing for me is just getting over myself.

  and realizing like I have to do the work on myself to get better so that I can help the people I’m supposed to help. And I think a lot of that is just, it just comes from God, like just showing me every day, like little stuff like, okay, Emily, today you need to work on communication. Today you need to go do hard things. You need to talk to people even if you’re nervous.

  So I think that’s really it, is just like getting out of my own way. And like, I saw a lot of that, like when I did my home birth too. So, which was another challenging thing that I did in 2024.

  Quentin Edmonds (16:48)
  Yeah.

  assembly.

  You said so many powerful things that just align with my core belief, ⁓ really align kind of where I am today, like presently. I mean, you got me so, you said so many things. I’m stuck. don’t, nobody had my next question ready. I’m like stuck. Like, where do I go from here? ⁓

  Emily Shetterly (17:18)
  I can do it. can name another personal like development thing or like, like something that I cling to is like when you’re building a business or you’re meeting people or you’re engaging with the community, you’re visible. You’re maybe you share stuff online or you’re given a commercial at a networking group or you’re in like in a group of people. There’s always, I kind of figured this out. very analytical. There’s always three camps of people. There’s going to be.

  People that don’t like what you say, they totally disagree. They hate everything about you, whatever. They’re going to be saying troll stuff in the comments. They’re going to be thinking it in their head. If they’re meeting you in person, there’s going to be people that are like dazed and confused. have no idea. They’re like, I don’t know what she’s talking about. I don’t care. It doesn’t pertain to me. They’re completely neutral. They usually don’t say anything. They’re just like off in their own head. And then there’s people that will absolutely love you. They will like, they will walk.

  on glass to come and support you. Like they love you. Anything you say is like rainbows. They worship you. And so when I post online and it’s not even controversial things, like, one time I posted, when you’re door knocking and you see a no soliciting sign, how do you react? And I got three types of comments, people that are like, it doesn’t matter. Do whatever. And some people were like threatening me with one star Google reviews.

  And then other people were like, just knock anyway. It doesn’t matter. Like whatever, just find out what’s going to happen. Life’s a mystery. And so it was like three different types of responses. And I’ve noticed this recurring theme. And the reason why I bring that up is because it’s comforting because a lot of people wait until something is perfect, until something feels right, until they know enough about a certain topic or like until they have approval from somebody else. And like you can’t do that. You just have to

  find comfort in the fact that like one third of people is going to hate what you do and the other third is going to love you. And then the people in the middle, whatever, but you can’t just wait like, my dad doesn’t approve of like, get a real job. Like how is investing in real estate, a real job or how is, you know, starting a business, a real job. Like you can’t wait around for that. And I, just find comfort in that even when I get the negative comments, it’s just confirmation that my belief is correct. Like.

  People are gonna hate you, people are gonna love you, you have to be okay with yourself and like be okay with God like to make decisions.

  Quentin Edmonds (19:53)
  ⁓ Miss Emily, I don’t even know where to go with you, dear. I’m going go here. I’m going go with Phil Natural. So, you know, we from Baltimore, right? So my parents, my dad’s a pastor and him and my mom adopted five kids at one time when I was younger, right? ⁓ Huge in Baltimore City, right? Yeah. And so I’ve had a chance of watching people

  Emily Shetterly (20:12)
  wow.

  Quentin Edmonds (20:22)
  just lives kind of unfold and develop like right in front of my eyes. And you you and I coming from Baltimore, when you watch people overcome obstacles, overcome things stacked against them, it’s phenomenal. I mean, it’s like, it lets you know really like that you can do anything. And so when I just, even some of the figures that you gave you and your husband, 900K in 2025.

  Emily Shetterly (20:50)
  We’re gonna hit 2 million at the end of 2016, which is a huge jump. ⁓

  Quentin Edmonds (20:57)
  ⁓ So when I hear you talk, ⁓ you remind me of two books that I absolutely love. One is called Atomic Habits. Have you ever heard of that book?

  Emily Shetterly (21:08)
  Yep, I’ve been meaning to read it.

  Quentin Edmonds (21:10)
  Listen

  So I can’t force you to do anything, but I’m going to humbly submit That that book look your life has already changed that book is gonna add the most three time 3x your productivity You already said you’re analytical the way you think it’s gonna put so many things into Into the framework for you like that makes sense that you will be able to take so many nuggets from it

  that you won’t be able to apply and just would just watch it. Just just absolutely change your productivity effect. You know, being effective and all that stuff. Another book that I just got turned on, I’m finishing reading, it’s called Gradually Then Suddenly is by Mark Badison. And he talks about how success happened two ways. It happens gradually and then it happens suddenly. And yeah, yeah, yeah. I think this book you’re not absolutely those two books you’re going to absolutely love. This one I definitely think you’re going to love.

  just from your spiritual perspective, but also you are willing to do whatever work it takes to be successful. You are willing to do whatever work it takes to watch yourself transform from who you are now to where you’re going to be. Like Atomic Havoc talks about changing your identity. We’re like setting goals. We’re talking about changing like who we are at our core. But it’s like one step at a time, just 1 % each day. Nothing, no heavy lifting, just these gradual changes.

  But when I think about graduating and suddenly when it comes to you, you know, there’s things that you have been gradually changing and then you and your husband are watching things happen just suddenly, like just, you know, just right off the bat. And so when I just think about what you’re doing is very, very encouraging. I thank you for sharing. And I know the sky is just like the limit on, you know, what you know, what you and your husband is doing. And so, ⁓ I mean, you literally got me stuck, right? I’m normally like,

  Real quick on what I want to ask, but I was like, man, what you’re saying is just so good. So I will ask you this because you talked about what your goal is, but I want to put it out there again and ask you, what is the next real goal? Yes, I know you want to serve as many people as you can in the Valley. I understand that, but what is the next business goal for you and your husband?

  Emily Shetterly (23:27)
  ⁓ really just getting him out of the van so that he can step more into a leadership role. And then once we’re there, him and I can start filming our educational series. And so we will have different, chapters or different like course, like paths you can go down. One will be for homeowners. One will be for general contractors. One will be for investors and like they will be geared like differently, like.

  The one for investors, which I think is relevant for your audience is we’re going to teach investors like, Hey, this is how you know when you really need to replace something. And when you can get by with just some repairs and at a certain point when it’s diminishing returns and like teaching them how to do basic repairs themselves, or like just having the videos there, maybe they have a handyman or a maintenance man or like a property management company can do simple tasks. They don’t have to pay 200 or $300 an hour for an HVAC guy to come out.

  And like that is going to really shake up my competition because in their eyes I’m taking work out of their mouths, but it’s not. It’s gaining the trust of the people that we serve. And when they really do need us, they will call us and they will be happy to pay because they know like, I can trust these people. They’re going to do it right. Like they have given me so much value for free. Why would I not trust them to do the hard stuff that I don’t want to do?

  And some investors are like, they don’t really care how much it costs just as long as they don’t have to do it. They’re all about time. Like, Hey, my is more valuable than the $300. It’s going to cost you to fix the furnace. Like I trust you just get it over with. Some investors are just starting out and like their budgets and their cashflow are a lot tighter and they have to kind of do some sweat equity and do it themselves. And so.

  That’s a really big thing is like, we’re going to set up a studio and start filming. like him and I are going to actually be doing like furnace and AC repairs together, like on camera and like just teaching people about the, the biggest system in their home. Like the HVAC is responsible for 50 % of your energy use and people have no idea what it does. They don’t even know that a part of the air conditioner is actually inside the house near the furnace. think the air conditioner is outside.

  And like just educating people like there’s a part that’s outside and a part that’s inside. And people are like, wow, they’re like, really? Like, yep, it’s right here on top of the furnace. And some people don’t even know where their furnace is in their house.

  Quentin Edmonds (25:58)
  So true. So true. So true. But I mean, that’s the thing. We all have been ignorant and are ignorant of different things, right? And ignorant is not necessary. I’m not saying in a derogatory way, but the actual definition of ignorant, you just, don’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know. You know what I’m saying? So absolutely. Emily, when I told you I could do this easily in over 30 minutes, I easily could.

  I don’t have the time, structure to do it because the way I’ve structured different things in my appointments, but I easily could do this for another 30 minutes. But I just want to thank you. I want to thank you for coming on. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, learn more about what you’re doing, collaborate higher, all those different things, how can people get in contact with

  Emily Shetterly (26:44)
  They basically can just call our main line ⁓ and Alicia, she can get you on the schedule. ⁓ The only rule is you have to say who you are and what you want to talk to me about. That way we know you’re not a scammer spammer just trying to sneak past her to get onto my calendar. And then if they mention this podcast, then I’ll tell Alicia like, let them through.

  ⁓ And she does my schedule because she knows when I like to do certain types of meetings at certain times of the day, I don’t do my schedule. ⁓ So that number is just 801-200-6060.

  Quentin Edmonds (27:24)
  Beautiful. ⁓ So listen, gotta say first, I thank you for your time because time is absolutely a precious commodity. ⁓ So thank you for your time. Two, thank you for your story. ⁓ I put a high value on people’s story. So thank you for taking control of your own narrative. Thank you for sharing your narrative with us. And definitely thank you for your perspective. Thank you for the way you think and bringing that mindset.

  to this podcast. really appreciate you. This was a great show. I appreciate you for coming through.

  Emily Shetterly (27:57)
  Yeah, thank you for having me. It was really fun.

  Quentin Edmonds (28:00)
  Absolutely.

  So listen, y’all can’t tell me you didn’t get the value from Ms. Emily. cannot tell me you did not get the value from my native Baltimorean, my fellow Baltimorean. So definitely check her out, keep in contact with her. She’s doing great things. She’s going to educate and lead people. So check her out for sure. But definitely make sure you are subscribed here because you do not want to miss out on these amazing conversations that we’re going to continue to have. And so.

  Miss Emily, I thank you again. And to everyone else, we’ll see you on the next time.