Betting on AI Ads with Mike and Jaclyn Venidis
What a decade in home service marketing taught Mike and Jaclyn Venidis about running a lean, AI-enabled garage door business in Phoenix.
About This Episode
Most guests on this podcast come from the field. Mike and Jaclyn Venidis came from the other side of the industry, spending more than a decade running digital marketing for home service companies before deciding to operate one themselves. That switch is what makes this conversation different.
Mike and Jaclyn join Mustafa on the AI in Trades Podcast to talk about what actually carried over from their marketing careers and what ownership required them to figure out from scratch. They used ChatGPT to sort out their own co-founder responsibilities, built automated ServiceTitan reporting through Google Sheets, and have been experimenting with advertising directly inside ChatGPT while the platform is still early.
The conversation also gets into the bigger shifts they are watching. AI is changing how customers arrive at a purchase decision, what reviews will be worth in two years, and whether publishing prices online helps or hurts a contractor's position. Mike and Jaclyn's answer to all of it is the same: measure it, test it, and don't let a fear of disruption become a reason to stand still. They also make the case that human service is not a liability in an AI era but a differentiator, and that the companies building toward that now will be better positioned than the ones waiting to see how things shake out.
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:15 From home service marketing to business ownership
- 03:11 What working with contractors taught them about operations
- 04:03 Using ChatGPT to divide responsibilities as co-founders
- 06:39 Finding the best tasks to automate first
- 07:33 Automating ServiceTitan reporting with Google Sheets
- 10:25 Why convenience is not the same as authentic service
- 11:19 How AI could reshape reviews and contractor marketing
- 13:02 Should contractors publish prices online?
- 17:23 How AI changes customer knowledge and lead quality
- 18:53 Building a brand around teaching instead of selling
- 20:42 Testing ads inside ChatGPT
- 23:17 What an AI-native service business should automate
- 27:24 A practical way to find AI use cases in your business
- 30:29 Why AI experience now matters in hiring
- 31:23 Getting past excuses and making AI useful
- 33:10 Where to find Mike, Jaclyn, and Good Golly
- 34:20 Closing thoughts
About the Guests
Mike and Jaclyn Venidis own and operate Good Golly Garage Doors in Phoenix, Arizona. Before starting the company, they spent over a decade in digital marketing for home service businesses, which gave them an unusually clear picture of what customers do before they ever pick up the phone. Mike leads strategy, storytelling, and outward-facing marketing; Jaclyn runs administration and internal operations. They are building Good Golly around the idea that genuine customer care and smart use of technology are not in tension.
About AI in Trades
AI in Trades is a podcast from Peaka exploring how artificial intelligence is changing home services, field service operations, contractor growth, and the future of work in the trades. Each episode features operators, technology leaders, and business owners discussing practical ways AI is showing up in the field, in the office, and across trade businesses.
