{"id":36273,"date":"2021-06-17T10:35:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T14:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=36273"},"modified":"2021-06-17T10:35:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T14:35:08","slug":"founder-of-chimney-heroes-takes-business-from-small-operation-to-thriving-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/06\/founder-of-chimney-heroes-takes-business-from-small-operation-to-thriving-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Founder Of \u2018Chimney Heroes\u2019 Takes Business From Small Operation To Thriving Company"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Chimney Heroes, founded by Jamie Wallace, far left, does business from Warrensburg to Albany. The number of staff and range of services has grown steadily since 2010.
\u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Christine Graf<\/p>\n

After graduating\u00a0 <\/span>from University of Albany in 2005 with a degree in business administration, Waterford-native Jamie Wallace applied for a summer youth intern position at Grace Chapel in Jonesville. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would be a fun way to spend my summer before I looked for a full-time career after college,\u201d said Wallace.<\/span><\/p>\n

He enjoyed the job so much that he applied for a permanent position as the church\u2019s youth pastor. Despite his lack of experience in ministry, he was hired with the condition that he agree to be mentored. At the time, he was working on Saturday\u2019s for Clifton Park Chimney Maintenance, a company owned by Andy and Jill Looker. Wallace took the job to earn extra money to supplement his youth pastor\u2019s salary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did not even know chimney sweeps existed, so it was very new to me. But I really enjoyed it,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A year later, with encouragement from the Looker\u2019s, Wallace left his job and started his own chimney sweep business. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to take a big leap of faith,\u201d said Wallace. \u201cA lot of people said I was crazy, but I went out on my own. My goal was to use the biblical principles I had learned and apply them to the business. And I was right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Wallace started Chimney Heroes (originally named Saratoga Chimney Sweeps) in 2010, he relied on word of mouth, networking groups, and what he refers to as guerilla marketing to find \u201ccustomers for life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was waking up at 5 a.m. and doing neighborhood flyers. It was slow going and it was hard, but it worked,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

During that time, Wallace and his wife, Gina, relied heavily on the income she earned working as a nurse for the Shenendehowa School District. After the birth of the first of their three children, she was able to leave her job and become a full-time mom. <\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Wallace has 20 employees and a fleet of nine service vehicles. Pandemic-related supply chain issues have hampered his efforts to add two additional vehicles to the fleet. <\/span><\/p>\n

The growth of Chimney Heroes was brought on in part because of two separate injuries Wallace suffered while on the job. He was out of work for several weeks, and during that time he earned no income.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no worker\u2019s comp when you\u2019re a business owner. There\u2019s nothing that protects you if you get hurt and can\u2019t run your business,\u201d he said. \u201cThat when there was a shift in my focus. I realized I had created a really nice job for myself, but I didn\u2019t have a business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After hearing from customers that they were displeased with the work that chimney repair companies had performed for them, he recognized an opportunity to build his job into a business.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI realized there was no reason I couldn\u2019t do the repair work myself,\u201d said Wallace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, in addition to chimney cleaning, inspection and repairs, Chimney Heroes offers a variety of other services. They perform masonry work, dryer vent cleaning and gas fireplace and stove cleaning and installation. The company also sells wood burning and gas fireplaces as well as wood, gas, and pellet stoves. His service area extends south to Albany and north to Warrensburg.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wallace and his employees regularly attend industry conferences, trainings and certification programs. He and six staff members recently returned from a three-day workshop and training classes in Pennsylvania.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in developing people. You can\u2019t serve the customer well if you don\u2019t take care of your own people,\u201d said Wallace. \u201cI love pouring into my employees and giving them opportunities and helping them grow. Leadership development is one of our core values. When a leader gets better, everybody gets better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the ongoing labor shortage, Wallace has not had trouble hiring employees. He does all of his own hiring and has hired seven people so far this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou really have to put purpose before profit, and you have to give people an opportunity to see what their future could look like,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have people who love to work at Chimney Heroes. Yeah, we have hard days when it\u2019s 90 degrees and you\u2019re rebuilding a chimney, but we have a great culture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As president of a thriving company, Wallace is no longer able to spend time out in the field. Although he misses interacting with customers, he Is focused on growing the company and possibly expanding into other areas of the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy guys at this point are probably better than me, but I\u2019m still the chief problem solver,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite a several month downturn at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was Chimney Heroes\u2019 best year. This year is on track to be even better, and Wallace couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel I was called to this. It was scary, but sometimes you have to be obedient with things that just don\u2019t seem to make sense,\u201d he said. \u201cI love what I do, and it has really blessed my families and I believe the families of those who work at Chimney Heroes. We\u2019re kind of just one big family.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information, visit chimneyheroes.com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christine Graf After graduating\u00a0 from University of Albany in 2005 with a degree in business administration, Waterford-native Jamie Wallace applied for a summer youth intern position at Grace Chapel in Jonesville. \u201cI thought it would be a fun way to spend my summer before I looked for a full-time career after college,\u201d said Wallace. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":36274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nFounder Of \u2018Chimney Heroes\u2019 Takes Business From Small Operation To Thriving Company - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/06\/founder-of-chimney-heroes-takes-business-from-small-operation-to-thriving-company\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Founder Of \u2018Chimney Heroes\u2019 Takes Business From Small Operation To Thriving Company - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Christine Graf After graduating\u00a0 from University of Albany in 2005 with a degree in business administration, Waterford-native Jamie Wallace applied for a summer youth intern position at Grace Chapel in Jonesville. \u201cI thought it would be a fun way to spend my summer before I looked for a full-time career after college,\u201d said Wallace. 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