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When Josh Reynolds came to Florida in 2005, he was planning on going south for a bit during a bad Ohio winter to do work on homes hit by Hurricane Charley.
By the time he and some friends finished remodeling houses in February, Reynolds kept his family’s Ohio-based construction company going in Florida as a subcontractor for another restoration firm. He also started to take classes to learn about insurance.
In 2009, Reynolds and his parents decided to go out on their own and start up an insurance restoration company, WrightWay Emergency Water Removal. They partnered with a gentleman who was an expert in insurance restoration marketing. For the next five years, Reynolds learned everything about the business firsthand from this partner.
Today, Reynolds is the chief operating officer of the 90-employee company, which earned $10 million in gross revenue in 2015 and is expected to gross $14 million in 2016. Under Reynold’s leadership, the firm has grown 460% over the past five years.
Last year, the company’s biggest job came from rebuilding a YMCA in Sarasota after it was struck by lightning. The company was able to get 60 to 100 guys every day for five days to get the facility back up and running. “It was days before the insurance agency said we were going to,” he says.
Reynolds has become an expert on insurance policies. “We keep the homeowner happy, we document everything,” he says. “We’re better at the game than they are.”
Reynolds’ biggest challenge is keeping up with the growth, and keeping standards up even as the company is approaching 100 employees. “We have to make sure that everyone is doing what we were doing seven years ago,” he says.
— Traci McMillan Beach
Name: Joshua Reynolds
Age: 34
City of residence: Punta Gorda
Twitter handle: @Josh4694
Employer: Reynolds Ventures, Inc. dba WrightWay Emergency Water Removal
Title: COO/Managing Partner
Birthplace: Belton, Texas
Years on the Gulf Coast: 11
Marital status/children: Married to Cara Reynolds, Brady (8), Blake( 5), Brantley (4)
Alma mater: Attended Northern Kentucky University
Best place to network: Conferences
Coolest business experience: The completion of our company’s largest job last year was a YMCA in Sarasota. They had a fire that we remediated and then did the rebuild. It was amazing to have the chance to work with an organization that does so much for our community.
Messy desk or clean workspace: Organized messy desk
Best business lesson ever learned: Shatter expectations and set the bar high
A website that makes your job easier: IICRC.org
Community group you’re most involved with: Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch
Favorite off-hours activity: ATV riding, scuba diving, coaching my son’s baseball team, and relaxing with my family
Two people, dead or alive, you’d like to have dinner with: Elon Musk and Mark Cuban
What you would be doing if you could pick another career: Attorney
Top item on your bucket list: Buying a cabin on a chain of ATV trails in a remote area
Skill you’d like to learn: Master public speaking
Who would play you in a movie about your life: Matt Damon
If I had a magic wand I’d: Duplicate myself so I could spend all the time I want to at work while also spending all the time I want to with my family.
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