RUPERT — When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of a roofing sales and insurance office, two Mini-Cassia men turned the loss into opportunity and launched their own business.

Omega Roofing, owned by Zachary Sayles of Rupert and Dylan Winmill of Burley, was one of four businesses chosen to have their stories told in a Grit & Greenlights video series by Homebase, a national organization that helps small businesses manage their teams.

Sayles learned the roofing trade from his father and uncles.

“My dad was a roofer and I was around the business as a little lad,” Sayles said. “I would go and help clean up the shingles and the ground.”

As he got older, he never thought roofing would become his career.

As a boy, Sayles asked his parents what the difference was between hourly, salaried and commissioned employees — and he liked the idea of not having a cap on commission earnings.

As an adult, he began working in sales positions and learned the art of a deal, but selling an alarm or satellite system, he said, was much different than closing the deal on a $20,000 roofing job.

Sayles went to work for a Salt Lake City roofing company that started a Twin Falls office, and he and his partner learned how to sell retail roofs and insurance.

During the pandemic in August 2020, the company they worked for decided to close the office and they were given the option of working out of Salt Lake City.

Sayles and Winmill had both recently learned their wives were expecting babies, Sayles said. They were born three weeks apart.

“I was like, ‘We can’t stay in Salt Lake City. Let’s quit and start our own company,’” Sayles said. “We quit the next day.”

He has never been afraid to take risks.

“Having my own business makes me feel more in control and it actually feels like less risk to me,” Sayles said.

The pair temporarily worked a sales blitz for a company to raise some quick capital to start Omega Roofing and while doing that they started incorporating the business and getting the required licensing.

“I didn’t want to rely on anyone else,” Sayles said.

They contacted four customers that their prior company had not served.

“After those first four, we started knocking on doors and haven’t stopped,” Sayles said. “We’ve been going roof to roof ever since.”

One of the biggest challenges, Sayles said, was getting a good crew in place, which has now been accomplished.

The company has six employees, including the two partners, and also uses subcontractors.

Sayles wanted to make sure everything in the business was done properly, so he signed up for the Homebase small-business services.

After completing a customer satisfaction survey he was contacted by the company about interviewing for the “Grit & Greenlights” video series, which features conversations with Matthew McConaughey and small businesses that thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winmill said at first they did not know the interview would be with McConaughey.

“When I heard it would be with him I was ecstatic,” he said. “It was really cool that it was with someone we looked up to.”

The interview was filmed in September over Zoom and a production crew came and spent three days with them.

“What I liked most about it was that they just let us be natural. I was afraid it would be staged,” Winmill said.

“Small businesses are the heart and soul of our communities,” McConaughey, a Homebase investor, said in a press release. “And behind every one are people taking risks, overcoming challenges, and staying true to themselves in the process. In my book Greenlights, I talk a lot about red lights, those moments of strife that stop us in our tracks — like the pandemic did to thousands of main street business owners and workers. In my experience it’s how we choose to adapt or persist through these challenges, the kinds of challenges every small business owner faces every day, that we turn red lights into green. These are stories of hard work and resilience. These stories need to be told.”

The three other businesses chosen for the series include Fuzzy Goat yarn and knitting boutique, owned by Cadence Kidwell in Thomasville, Georgia, Antique Taco restaurants, owned by Ashley and Rick Ortiz in Chicago’s wicker Park and Bridgeport neighborhoods, and The Blind Goat and Xin Chao restaurants, owned by Christine Ha in Houston, Texas.

The series can be viewed online at joinhomebase.com/stories.

“We’re proud to support over 100,000 local businesses and their teams who overcome incredible challenges to serve their communities every day,” John Waldmann, founder and CEO of Homebase said. “Small businesses touch the lives of everyone. It’s the reason I started Homebase. And every single one has a unique story to tell. We’re excited to work with Matthew to highlight the owners of four of those businesses who can be a true inspiration to us all.”