The story
Three generations of grit, a few thousand miles of road, and one realization that changed the whole game.
I grew up in northern Illinois, in the family business. Almost everything I know, how to manage people, how to manage myself, and most of all how to think, I learned from my dad. The work ethic he built into me and my brother Tony was second to none.
We got dropped into situations young and had to figure it out. Fifteen years old, dropped on the South Side of Chicago at 8am on a Saturday to work Section 8 properties. No hand-holding, no script. That was the classroom, and it taught me more than any of the ones with desks.
I’ll be straight about the rest of it too: for a long stretch, my ego was my toughest competitor. It got in my way, and a few times it got me in trouble. That’s its own story, but it’s part of this one.
Old-school work ethic.
Modern-day execution.
The tire run ended when I was 28. Time to go out on my own. A few jobs in automotive, then direct sales, and finally roofing, where the mix of trade work and sales fit me perfectly. So I did the only thing I knew how to do. I went all in.
I drove from Chicago to California to chase the work, and from there it was state after state. I built teams. I trained crews. I opened offices in Denver and Orlando, and ran storm-response operations across the country when people needed them most. The logo on the contract changed from job to job. The standard never did.
The road finally led to Texas. I came down to support a roofing company and ended up falling for the place: the area, the people, friends who became family. So I planted. Started another business. Made it home.
In 2025, on stage at Win The Storm, it clicked. I was there to talk roofing, but talking to business owner after business owner, I kept seeing the same thing. They didn’t have one problem in one lane. They had a whole system of them, and almost all of it traced back to two things: weak operations, and partnering with the wrong people.
That’s when the job stopped being a job. I made it my business to put the right tools in people’s hands, to help them build companies, systems, and reputations that outlast them. That work is Lavelle Solutions.
I’m going back to Win The Storm again this year.
Experience
Roles I’ve held and projects I’ve led.
Across my career in roofing and restoration, including prior firms.
Opened and scaled roofing sales teams across the country. Built comp structures, recruited, and drove revenue.
Vice President of Operations. Systems, workflows, and accountability for a large organization.
Director of Project Accounting. How money moves through complex projects and how to keep it defensible.
Hurricane response, union facilities, food-grade plants, and active community buildings.
Projects from my roles at roofing companies before I founded Lavelle Solutions.
Hurricane Ian Response
Hurricane Ian ripped the roof off portions of this three-building retirement community, displacing some residents. Nick helped coordinate emergency response, remediation, roofing, and build-back as the sales representative and on-site project manager.
Food-grade
Two plants running 23 hours a day, six days a week. Major roofing work sequenced around production and food-safety requirements.
Union facility
Active industrial plant with strict union requirements. Full roof replacement planned around plant operations.
Community
A complete reroof sequenced around services and ministry events.
What it cost
Nobody builds across a dozen states without a few hard lessons. These are the ones that shape how I work today.
For years my ego was my toughest competitor, louder than any rival and a lot more costly. The work didn’t get good until I stopped needing to be the smartest guy in the room and started being the most useful one. Confidence builds things. Ego breaks them. Learning the difference is the whole game.
Storm work taught me this the hard way: the loudest person in the dispute rarely wins. The one with the paper trail does. Feelings don’t hold up. Records do. Now it’s a reflex, on every job and in every deal.
Handshakes feel good until it’s time to settle up. Clear written agreements protect everyone: the owner, the crew, and the company. Every deal I’m part of now starts in writing, and the people I work with get the same clarity from day one.
What that means for you
Decisions start with documented conditions, numbers, and timelines, so everyone works from the same facts.
Scope, responsibilities, and expectations are written down before work starts.
I bring in the specialists a problem actually needs and stay accountable for keeping it moving.
The shift wasn’t just about business. It was about what all of it is for.
I’m bringing Tony and his family down to Texas to build something new of our own and raise our kids side by side, the same way we came up. The long game is land: a hundred acres, and as much of our bloodline as wants to make the move, all in one place.
Three generations in, and we’re still building the fourth.
Work with Nick
Property, contracting business, or joining the team: it all runs through Lavelle Solutions. Everything else, email me.