Conklin has transported Jerry and Dorothy Cruise from struggling to feed their family of six and keeping their century-old home standing to owning two dream homes including a vacation retreat in Venice, FL. They’ve participated in extended family vacations to more than ten foreign countries including Czechoslovakia and Singapore. They’ve taken five international missions trips including West Africa and Russia. Jerry even flies his own plane.
What’s most important to the Cruise’s financial prosperity, though, is their increased ability to help others. “We’ll always treasure the security, freedom and travel opportunities that our Conklin business affords us,” acknowledges Dorothy. “But, the greatest reward is the personal growth and stability that we can impart to others by working with them to succeed in their own Conklin business.”
Back in ‘79, Jerry left the stresses of teaching junior high school math, going into business for himself as a home remodeler. He had to continue scratching out a living while the recession hit with a vengeance in the early ‘80s. His dreams were shattered when he had to go back to teaching again.
In ’83, Jerry and Dorothy took out a government loan for essential rehab on their home. They were quite self-sufficient, only needing assistance with their roof. They hired a church friend who applied Conklin roofing products usually reserved for commercial roofs. When they personally witnessed the quality of Conklin products and prayed about the Conklin opportunity that was introduced to them, Jerry once again left his teaching job. On a wing and a prayer, the Cruise’s Armour Roofing was born, exclusively for applying Conklin building products.
“Dorothy, our son Ryan and I were the Armour Roofing crew up on the roofs together,” says Jerry. “Lo and behold, it took us only a few months to make money! In our first full year with our fledgling Conklin business, we tripled the income that we had ever made in our best year prior to Conklin. And in a couple of years after that, our Conklin business got us totally out of debt.”
It didn’t take long for Jerry and Dorothy to get off the roofs all together to focus on building their Conklin organization. Today, they’ve built the largest organization in the Building Products division, spawning countless leaders who in turn are growing their own successful Conklin organizations. The foundation that Jerry set in the early days has set the stage for the surge in the Conklin Roofing Systems today. They are recognized for operating one of the best Conklin business models and are active leaders in training and marketing for the Conklin Roofing Systems division.
“Until Conklin came into our lives, our dream was simply to be able to buy enough groceries to feed our children,” says Dorothy. With their Conklin business, the Cruise’s initial dream has been eclipsed with multiple homes, world travel, building a business dynasty and financing church ministries and missions.
Testimonial
When my warehouse burned, I was worried about my structure. I was sure the heat from the fire would destroy my roof. I walked around on my roof after the fire and was very impressed how it held up. I couldn’t tell you what the temperature was, but it was hot – very hot. The decision to use Rapid Roof III on my surface proved to be a great financial decision for my business.
Conklin has transported Jerry and Dorothy Cruise from struggling to feed their family of six and keeping their century-old home standing to owning two dream homes including a vacation retreat in Venice, FL. They’ve participated in extended family vacations to more than ten foreign countries including Czechoslovakia and Singapore. They’ve taken five international missions trips including West Africa and Russia. Jerry even flies his own plane.
