Roto-Rooter of Savannah owner celebrates life, her 45-year love for plumbing – Business – Savannah Morning News

It was a pretty crappy first date compared to typical standards. No flowers or chocolate, but instead a septic tank pumping. For Sherry Daniels, however, it sparked a love of plumbing that’s still ongoing today, more than 40 years later.

“I sat on a picnic table and watched. There were these huge trucks, pumps, hoses and I thought it was so cool. I’d never seen anything like that,” said Daniels, CEO and owner of Roto-Rooter Plumbers of Savannah.

“I wasn’t put off by it. I loved trucks growing up. I was a Tonka truck girl, loved the sciences, loved everything like that.”

 

Daniels later married and helped to opened the Savannah franchise 45 years ago in 1974 and served as co-owner for decades, but in 2008, in the face of the recession, Daniels came out of semi-retirement to build the business back up and then became the sole owner in 2009.

“I loved the business and I was the one in the family who was willing to sacrifice for it,” Daniels said of becoming owner.

“And I think I’m the luckiest girl in the world to own the rights to a name that’s recognized all over the world like Roto-Rooter is and because of that I’m the one that ended up with it. I was the one who was willing to make the sacrifices and I still to this day do.”

Recession hit hard

Working through the recession wasn’t easy and Daniels said when the recession hit the industry, it hit hard, adding that many older plumbers opted to either retire or take other jobs. Since that time Roto-Rooter has been working to build and train a new workforce.

“Plumbing isn’t easy. You don’t learn by just coming in every weekend; you’ve got to really get in there. It takes a lifetime to know this stuff and get all the licensing,” she said.

To help, the company has a plumbing school that Daniels hopes to expand to add a training center that features every type of plumbing layout you can think of, from residential bathrooms to kitchens.

“We train them in the field now, but I want to be able to train them there and then move them to the field. I think it’ll speed it up and be more thorough because you never know what you’ll run into in the field,” she said.

After surviving the recession, Daniels said her vision for the business was to make it stand out.

“I wanted a business that would be ‘that’ business. One that would be a surprise that everybody is talking about it and everybody wants to work there. And I’m there,” she said.

“This time when I built it back, it’s mine. Nobody can come in and take it away; nobody can change it. It’s mine and everyone here knows that, but it’ll be there. One day, this will be an employee-owned company.”

Building a business and family

The company now has 14 service trucks and 25 employees, including 12 master plumbers with more than 130 years of combined experience. The company also offers career pathways for employees, hiring potential plumbers who are looking to learn the trade, then training them alongside master plumbers.

Daniels said the company is constantly interviewing for new positions and growing fast, both through employee and equipment numbers and new industry products.

“I’m getting ready to get a new thermal locator, which will save our customers money. You see all these products come through, but this could really work. I’m confident of it,” she said of thermal imaging, which uses infrared light and can detect leaks or clogs in pipes without having to open up the wall.

Daniels also tests many of the new products herself.

“If we’re putting something into someone’s house, I want to be sure about it,” she said.

“As a business person, I believe that the products and services we’re putting out are better than anything anybody can get anywhere, and we deliver on that.”

Along with building a successful service company, Daniels has also worked hard to build a family-like atmosphere with her employees that runs deep with trust and respect.

“I’m different as business person. I think most people think their employees owe them, but I think I owe my employees,” she said.

“This is hard work and I feel a sense of obligation and feel like I should have the best insurance, care about them and their families and want them to make money.”

Taking the personal factor a bit further, Daniels also lets employees pick out and customize their work trucks.

“I have my preferences, but they live in it, so why not? Everybody has their own style, their own specialties… I let the guys talk to the dealers and design everything they want on there,” she said.

Giving back to Savannah

Aside from their day-to-day plumbing work, Roto-Rooter’s reach extends into Savannah’s nonprofit community.

The company recently donated more than $4,000 worth of plumbing to Park Place Outreach along with participating in Toys for Tots, annual radiothons for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and organizing and supporting blood drives.

This month to help mark its 45th anniversary, Roto-Rooter is hosting a charity event dubbed The Royal Flush Casino Night, to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of the Coastal Empire. But for Daniels, it’s not just an excuse to party — the meaning behind the event hits close to home.

“My son and I, our bodies don’t make antibodies, so how we’re alive is a miracle,” she said of being immune deficient.

Daniels said for years no one had an answer for why she was constantly sick and often would have procedures that produced no results. Later her son began exhibiting the same symptoms and the pair just grew used to being sick all the time, until he contracted pneumonia and was finally diagnosed. Her diagnosis soon followed.

Daniels gets emotional recalling her son’s journey and said the duo hopes to be able to visit children who are currently fighting the same battle.

“The reason I want to do it, I don’t want to just have a party, I want to make gobs and gobs of money [for Ronald McDonald House],” she said, adding that she hopes to make it an annual event.

“… I just want to be able to send the biggest check in the world.”

Looking at her business, family and everything she’s built, Daniels said she never wants to become a boring adult and her secret is pretty simple.

“If you’re going to do it, make sure you do it all the way and then a little more. Family, friendship, plumbing — it’s the secret to everything,” she said.

“If we all did that, imagine what would happen.”