Living The Red Life - How Two Contractors Turned a Crazy Idea Into Big-Box Success

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

What happens when an early product falls short but accidentally reveals a much bigger opportunity? Lifelong entrepreneurs Keith Duke and Mike Patrick turn decades of construction experience into Vital Coat, developing environmentally friendly sealers and coatings through relentless trial, error, and innovation. What begins with an unexpected discovery on a garage floor eventually pushes them toward a new approach to roof maintenance and the challenge of convincing a skeptical market. They unpack the persistence required to break into big-box retail, the leadership structure behind a decades-long business partnership, and why daily achievable goals matter more than chasing distant milestones. This episode explores product innovation, entrepreneurship, and the mindset required to keep moving when an idea initially sounds crazy. Key TakeawaysUnexpected failures can reveal entirely new product opportunities when entrepreneurs stay curious enough to test what they discover.Product innovation requires persistence, especially when the market initially considers an unfamiliar idea “crazy.”Breaking into big-box retail means identifying the right sales channel, meeting its requirements, and continuing to push until the opportunity opens.Strong business partnerships work when responsibilities are clearly divided and each partner can step in when the other needs support.Daily, realistic goals create momentum toward larger ambitions and keep entrepreneurs from getting lost in distant outcomes. Notable Quotes“We kept pushing it, kept doing it, showing the results.”“You both have to be leaders.”“Believe in yourself and believe in what you're doing.”“You're going to make mistakes along the way. Just learn from that mistake. Keep going.”“Small things add up all the time.”Connect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

You guys are obviously doing a lot of great things. You're innovating. You've got this new exciting product coming out. When we started doing it, no one really heard of that idea and thought it was kind of crazy. But we kept pushing it, kept doing it, showing the results. People started seeing the benefits of it. And it's just kind of exploded since then. Keith Duke and Mike Patrick are lifelong entrepreneurs, business partners, and the co-owners of Vital Coatsealers and coatings.

Drawing from decades of hard work, resilience, and shared values. They have built a business rooted in lasting relationships, determination, and a commitment to excellence. How's the leadership dynamics with two of you? Well, people say that the only ship that doesn't sell is a partnership, right? But I think when you have a good buddy, you've been doing it with forever and you have an understanding. So I'll have a rough day and not get any sleep one day. He's able to kind of pick up the slack. Someone's starting out. What tips would you give them?

You know, the crazy thing is we probably didn't mention it. My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the Red Life, ditch the Blue Pill, take the Red Pill, join me in Wonderland and change your life. What's up, guys, welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Joining me today is Mike and Keith. We're going to chat about how they've taken their product nationwide. They're in big box stores, Home Depot, brands that you probably shop at, and they're always innovating. And I love this story how they've constantly innovated.

They've got this new product that it's probably going to disrupt the industry. So, yeah, and we're going to talk a lot about the entrepreneur journey to. Guys, welcome to the show. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. So let's talk about it.

You know, you guys are obviously doing a lot of great things. You're innovating. You've got this new exciting product coming out. Do you want to just tell everyone a bit about how you got here and what you're up to? Sure. So we obviously, we started, like we said, with a different. technology and I wouldn't say that it failed but it kind of led us to where we're at now. Yeah. You know, there was a ton of hurdles to to jump and you know everything works out for a

reason, right? So we stumbled across a different type of coating. Yep. And we eventually started putting it on shingles. Well, let's just go a big picture if someone's listening. because you're not the typical maybe supplement business that we might interview, right? So do you want to explain big picture what your company does and the products too? Well, big picture is that once we organized to do this, we started making a coatings in general for concrete or most anything that you will have at your home for home maintenance products. The idea was to produce a product that was environmentally friendly,

yeah easy to use but performed at the highest level possible for the least amount of money without having to hire a professional yeah the typical DIYer which is which is what i've always been my entire life so um that falls right into our niche right there so we we uh created a very unique a product that that we feel performs uh close to the solvent epochs without going into the solvent issues that you bring along with that. And so the homeowner, especially people in areas that are at the deal with the air quality standards, this is a perfect, perfect solution. And so you took that product, obviously, you know, the latest one is, you know, really something you're kind of gun hoe on and you think is going to change the industry. Yeah, well, it actually, we actually started it on it

in 2010. So it was a process to get to there. We noticed that we could use this to preserve shingles and started it and got it in onto market in 2013. And it's massive industry, right? Yeah, it's like $6 billion a year. It's new tech. Well, it's catching on. Yeah. A lot of people are joining in on this on this and it's good for everybody actually. But yeah. So this this is going to extend roof life for how many years? Well, it depends on the shape of your route to begin with, but you could count on a good five-year extension

for people that need it or just don't have the money to replace the roof. They can come in and extend it, do maintenance on it, helps protect it along the way so you can, it keeps your roof looking prettier. And tell us a little about the entrepreneur journey to get there, right? because I had the, you know, started in 2010.

Right. A bit better than that now. We started along before that, as partners are best friends, we've been scrambling since he was 15 and I was 19. So the partnership is always run smooth, as you could probably imagine. That's when it started and we've worked in the construction industries. He worked in wood preservation. I worked in heavy.

civil and work with coatings and concrete, a whole 30-year career just about. We kind of just bonded our experience, you know. I mean, not only being best friends, but then business partners. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We just decided to pivot and become our own company. And what was the moment you had this big idea? Like, was there one moment you remember? For the sealer, when the other failed and we had to clean up.

And what we produced was an incredibly beautiful. coating on our floor that would not come up it was it was it was a wildest thing you know the the solution that we put into our other product leaked on the floor okay and uh the car was pulled into the garage the oil leaked on the concrete the next day went and wiped the concrete clean the oil did not even penetrate so we were like oh well we have a concrete sealer now there you go that started from there and then we went straight to some manufacturers and told manufacturers and worked out the chemistry and they were impressed yeah so he would he would call me and say i got i have this wild idea and uh i guess i'm kind of the loose wheel between the two of us and i would just put it on anything and everything

just to see if it would stick okay so you know no chemistry background for me but yeah yeah you know i was just kind of a trial and error guy yeah yeah and i put it on a a high I had an old 40-year-old shingle outside of my barn, and I coated half of it. And I just left it there for like two months, and I didn't even tell him. And I came back to it, and I just scratched on it with a knife. You know, you touch one side, the granules would come off. And when those come off, that's when your roof starts failing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The side that I sealed, I couldn't get the, that was ripping my fingernail off trying to get them off. This was on a 40-year-old jingle. Wow. So here we are. It's like the accidental success. We started working to perfect that and make it a viable product. We didn't seem to one one then. Yeah, yeah.

Well, and let's talk about that journey, because I mean entrepreneurship, you know, it's sometimes you fall into the next big idea, right? But then there's a big gap to making it reality and selling it. How's that journey been? It was tough to begin with when we started doing it. no one really heard of that idea and thought it was kind of crazy. But we kept pushing it, kept doing it, showing the results. People started seeing the benefits of it.

It started picking up, picking up, and we eventually showcased it in Vegas in 2019, I believe, at the International Builder Show. Created a lot of buzz. And subsequently, we'd already been able to ship through big box stores, prior to that, but then introduced that into the big box stores and it's just kind of exploded since then. And how was it getting going with the big box stores? Like was that when you finally got on there? Were you like, this is a big moment for us? Yeah, that was a big moment for us because it's a lot of exposure.

And a lot of people would love to have that. And it's a great, it's a great tool. So if someone's listening, they have a product and they're selling online direct to consumer. and, you know, that's most of the audience, most of the entrepreneurs, they just best they maybe get it on Amazon, right? They sell on the website, get it on Amazon, right? Their products. How did you go about, like, you know, even just the mindset of looking differently, looking like, hey, I can do wholesale, I can do big box stores, right?

What would you advise someone looking at that expansion? Well, I mean, just try to, for us, that was really the only place that we thought a concrete sealer should be. Yeah. roof sealer as a is at a hardware stores and that's where we targeted at the time Amazon really wasn't they weren't a construction yeah yeah it was a lot different it was different back then and so we just persisted on it and and eventually met all the requirements for that they needed so we were able to get in so great and and and what's next for you guys long

term next few years five years 10 years what's the vision well we're instead of being a provider for home for the big box suppliers we've expanded the product line trying to work with individual contractors develop you to give opportunities for other roofers contractors to bring on this product yeah and add it to their portfolio it's a great way for them to add money to their bottom-e yeah easy up sell right yeah you can actually help people with you know this product did uh It saves people a lot of money. Well, rues aren't cheap. Roofs are not cheap.

Shingles are not cheap. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, the crazy thing is we probably didn't mention it. You can put this down, get your five years, depending on what shape of your roof is, and then you can do it again. So you just kind of keep going. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So it's absolutely time to replace it. Yeah. Yeah. Or you sell the house. Yeah. Love it. So let's talk about the entrepreneur journey outside of that. I always like to ask people on this podcast, it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

So was there a time where you had a big failure or you doubted yourselves or you struggled that you remember and now you look back on? I think it happens every day. If you're not getting it done, then you just have to work harder. So you have to be able to balance the highs and the lows. For me, that's kind of the way I see it. You know, we scream at each other twice a week. But, you know, we always get it done. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But, yeah, it's been rough. You know, we started early. Yeah. As friends right out of high school, we had no idea what we're going to do. And we're like, well, well, now what? And we just started scrambling for anything. We did whatever it would take. We had a wallpaper for years.

Lots of things. I mean, just did anything to make money. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of how it's always been. I guess it's probably struggling along the way, but it was just life, really. And so we didn't let it trouble us. Well, people say that the only ship that doesn't sell is a partnership, right?

But I think when you have a good buddy that you've been doing it with forever and you have an understanding, like, you know, I'll have a kid's. So I'll have a rough day and not get any sleep one day. He's able to kind of pick up the slack. So, you know, if you have a partner, it's good to have somebody in business that can you know, pick you up when you're, you're, you're, well, I was going to ask that. How's the leadership dynamics with two of you? You both have to be leaders. Yeah. So he kind of handles the,

the inside stuff and I handle the operations and manufacture inside of everything. I handle everything else and we don't cross the line. So you guys divide and conquer. Yeah, I mean, he does his thing. I do my thing. We, and you know, sometimes that switches. You know, if he's on vacation or something, but, you know, when you're just getting going in the beginning, there were no vacation. Yeah, yeah. Your vacation was making product, you know. We don't outsource a lot of stuff. Like, we still put the stickers on all the bottles, package everything. We do everything ourselves. It's completely made in the USA, in-house business, and that's kind of what we want to keep.

Yeah, yeah, and that's rare these days, right? So last couple of questions, I always like to ask people, you know you've been doing business a long time right you've had ups and downs you've got this product someone's starting out what tips would you give them you just have to believe in what you're doing believe in yourself believe in yourself and believe in what you're doing and and and you're going to make mistakes along the way just learn for that mistake keep going I know it sounds so typical but it's the truth it's keep it simple and keep always always have a goal to reach at the end of the day every day try to come up with something that you can complete. So Mike breaking it down, daily goals.

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, daily goals. Daily goals are important if you try to set a goal too far ahead with not having the steps in between. You get lost. So just. A realistic goals. Yeah, realistic goals. Daily, realistic, achievable goals.

Yeah, I think the goals, people get so focused on the big ones and they don't do the small ones. And I'm always teaching. It's the small everyday things that equal the big one. Yeah, well, they get in their head. they're like, I'm going to be a millionaire. Well, there's a little bit you got to do. You got to lose some sleep before you get to that point. Yeah, love that.

My whole life would never ever done anything. I always tackle the smaller things first to get a few wins. Yeah. It makes you get the momentum going. Yeah, yeah. Small things add up all the time, whether it's, you know, athletes, they train three, four hours a day, right? Just train, train, train for one moment in a match or, you know,

a hundred meter sprint in Olympics every four years. Yeah. Good. Last question, people, you know, maybe they have a roof and they know how much roofs cost and they don't want to replace any time soon. How do they find the product and learn more about the company? You know, look us up on our website or our Facebook or Instagram account. You can, you see the different product lines. You can find the product that fits what you need. And we have a good portfolio there to handle many different things that you have at your at your house for protection

for beautification for all the way from the roof to your sidewalk and driveway. Love it. And that's at vitalcoat.com. Vitalcoat.com. Guys, that's a wrap. Awesome duo story here. Great partnership. Obviously getting amazing products going in big box retail.

Hopefully took a few lessons not only on the business side, but also the entrepreneurial journey side. That's what this podcast is all about. As always, keep working hard and living the red life. I'll see you guys soon. You know,