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The HVAC CEO Podcast

Grow Your HVAC Business by Learning From the Owners Who Already Have

A show for HVAC owners who want to grow. We sit down with contractors who built it, broke it, and figured it out.

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Watch Episode 1 Pitch Yourself as a Guest
Sarah Gonzales, Founder of RS Gonzales and host of The HVAC CEO Hosted by Sarah GonzalesFounder, RS Gonzales HVAC & Home Services Only
Episode 01 · Where HVAC Profit Leaks HideAustin Wendel · Accounting 4 Trades About 45 min
Sarah Gonzales, host of The HVAC CEO Austin Wendel of Accounting 4 Trades, guest on Episode 01
Sarah GonzalesHost Austin WendelGuest
The Show

What Is The HVAC CEO Podcast

The HVAC CEO is a podcast for owners who want more than a full schedule. We sit down with HVAC owners who have grown it, broken it, and figured it out, so you can hear how they did it in their own words. Watch the full conversations, take what fits your shop, and skip the guesswork.

We named it “The HVAC CEO” because that is how we see you. Not a technician who happens to own a truck, but the CEO of a business you are building on purpose.

Inside Every Episode
Top of the episode page

The Video

The whole conversation, start to finish. No chopped-up highlight reel standing in for the real thing.

The HVAC CEO
Directly under the player

The Show Notes

What came up, who the guest is, and anything they pointed us to that is worth your time.

Guest links
Below the notes, in full

The Full Transcript

Read it instead of watching, or search it for the one part you actually needed.

Search transcript
Sarah
Guest
Watch It, Read It, Or Skim The Notes
Episode 01

Where HVAC Profit Leaks Hide, With Austin Wendel

Austin Wendel owns Accounting 4 Trades, a bookkeeping practice built only for HVAC, plumbing and electrical contractors. He spends his days inside contractors’ books, which is exactly why Sarah wanted him first.

See The Resources
Host Sarah Gonzales during the recording of Episode 1 Guest Austin Wendel, owner of Accounting 4 Trades
About 45 min The HVAC CEOEpisode 01
Sarah GonzalesHost Austin WendelAccounting 4 Trades
Publishing the week of August 10 The player goes live with the episode. Preview opened from disk The player needs a web address. On rsgonzales.com this plays here in the box.
Austin Wendel, owner of Accounting 4 Trades
The Guest

Austin Wendel

Owner, Accounting 4 Trades — specialized accounting for HVAC, plumbing and electrical

Bookkeeping Cash Flow Profit Leaks Job Costing

Why a busy shop can still run out of cash — and the numbers that show it early

  • Runtime About 45 min
  • Publishing Week of Aug 10, 2026
  • Guest Company Accounting 4 Trades
Listen On
YouTube Pending Apple Podcasts Pending Spotify Pending
Show Notes
Fill from the recording Final keyword-led episode title, the three-line summary, and the chapter list with timestamps. Draft the summary from the transcript so nothing here is guessed. Full transcript Sarah asked for the transcript on the website and on YouTube. Paste it below the player once the edit is locked. Video ID Swap the placeholder on both players for the real YouTube ID. Everything else about the player is already wired.
From The Show Notes

The Two Resources Austin Sent Us

After we stopped recording, Austin sent over two things he built for contractors. Both are his, and both are worth the read if the money side of your shop is the part you have been avoiding.

Both resources were written by Austin Wendel and belong to Accounting 4 Trades. He is publishing them on his own site as blog posts — we will point straight at his posts as soon as they are live. Summaries below, so you know whether they are for you.

Managing the Books at Every Stage

How an HVAC owner should think about the numbers, and the systems behind them, as the business grows.

  • Four stages, from getting ready to go solo up to a 5 to 15 truck fleet
  • What hurts and where owners get it wrong at each stage
  • The numbers that matter at each stage, with target ranges
  • The system to run at each point — banking, field service software, job costing, payroll, books
  • A straight answer on why job costing has no clean off-the-shelf fix below ServiceTitan size
What Turns On, Stage by StageHis own system list
Before The LeapBusiness checking + EINGoogle CalendarChart of accounts
Solo And RunningProfit First accountsJobber or Housecall ProOwner payroll
First HiresJob costing, the cruxCards with spend controlsMonthly close
Small FleetServiceTitan scaleLine of creditDepartmental P&L
Source: Accounting 4 Trades Visit acc4t.com

The Solo HVAC Contractor Financial Checklist

From the bench to the business — what no one tells you before you go out on your own.

  • 22 items across five phases, from protecting the home front to building for longevity
  • Your survival number, your runway, and the conversation with your partner — before you leave the shop
  • Capital target, the wall between personal and business, licensing, bonding, and all three insurance layers
  • Pricing for reality, sales tax on parts and labor, and a Profit First and tax plan
  • When to hire, and who to hire first
Where The Items LandCounted from the checklist
5Protecting the home front
6Capital & separation
4The cash flow engine
4The owner’s math
3Building for longevity
Source: Accounting 4 Trades Visit acc4t.com

The Four Stages, and the One Number for Each

Austin’s point is that the advice that fits a one-truck operator is the wrong advice for a five-truck shop. Each stage adds one sharper number — it does not replace the two you never stop watching.

Accounting 4 Trades
0 Before The Leap $0 – $150K One truck, or about to be
1 Solo And Running $150K – $400K One truck
2 First Hires $400K – $1.2M 2 to 4 trucks
3 Small Fleet $1.2M – $5M 5 to 15 trucks
The One Number Personal survival number
The One Number Gross margin per job
The One Number Burdened gross margin, split service vs. install
The One Number Net profit margin, on a departmental P&L

The two you never stop watching: gross margin, which tells you whether you are underpricing, and net margin, which tells you whether overhead is bloating. Those matter at $200K and at $5M. Stage bands and targets are Austin’s rules of thumb — they move with your market and your mix. Equal step widths here are for reading, not scale.

Sarah Gonzales, founder of RS Gonzales and host of The HVAC CEO Podcast
Sarah GonzalesHost · Founder, RS Gonzales
The Host

Meet the Host: Sarah Gonzales

Sarah Gonzales founded RS Gonzales in 2023 and built it into a marketing agency that works exclusively with HVAC and home services contractors.

Her daily work puts her in constant conversation with HVAC business owners, so the questions she asks on the show are the ones owners are living with right now.

  • Founded RS GonzalesBuilt from the ground up, not bought into 2023
  • HVAC and home services onlyNo other industries, by choice One industry
  • In owners’ conversationsWhich is where the show’s questions come from Daily
Want Sarah’s team looking at your growth?
Get Your Growth Reviewed More About Sarah
Episodes

Every Episode, In One Place

New episodes are on the way. Each one lands here with its video, show notes, and full transcript.

Guest Austin Wendel of Accounting 4 Trades in Episode 1
Ep 01

Where HVAC Profit Leaks Hide

Austin Wendel, guest on Episode 01 With Austin Wendel, Accounting 4 Trades

Week of Aug 10, 2026About 45 minTranscript
Watch The Episode
RS Gonzales
PresentsThe
HVAC
CEOPodcast Recording Next Ep 02

Episode 02 Is Already Booked

Guest not announced yet Sarah has the second guest booked. Hold the name off the public page until it is recorded, then fill in the guest, company and title here.
Week of Aug 17, 2026Scheduled
Get Notified When It Lands
Where To Listen

Watch It Here, Or Take It With You

Every episode goes up on this page with its notes and transcript. If you would rather listen in the truck between calls, it is on the audio platforms too.

YouTube

The full video conversation, with the transcript on the video as well as on this page.

The HVAC CEOEpisode 01 0:00 About 45 min
Austin Wendel of Accounting 4 Trades on where HVAC profit leaks hide RS RS Gonzales Subscribe

Show transcript

Channel link Paste the channel or playlist URL once the first episode is live.

Apple Podcasts
RS GonzalesThe
HVAC
CEO The HVAC CEO Podcast · RS Gonzales Where HVAC Profit Leaks Hide 45 min
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Spotify
RS GonzalesThe
HVAC
CEO The HVAC CEO Podcast · RS Gonzales Where HVAC Profit Leaks Hide 45 min
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Be On The Show

Want To Be on The HVAC CEO Podcast

If you own an HVAC company and you have a growth story worth telling, we would love to have you on. Coming on the show is simple. You spend about 45 minutes talking with Sarah about your business. We handle the recording, the editing, and the promotion.

One Conversation, Fully Produced

A polished episode you can share with your whole network — your story, told well, without you having to produce a thing.

The HVAC CEO
Edited, titled and posted for you

Search and Homeowners Find You

A page that links back to your business, which sends interested homeowners and search signals your way.

rsgonzales.com/podcast/
Your Shop’s Website
A live link from your episode page

Social Posts Without a Camera

Ready-to-post clips you can drop on your own social without filming a thing.

Cut vertical, ready for your feed

Think you’d make a good guest? Tell us about your shop and what you have built. If it is a fit, we will get you on the calendar.

Guest booking link Pending Hareem: the guest booking form or calendar link. Until it exists this button points at the strategy-session calendar.
Pitch Yourself for an Episode
How It Works

What Being a Guest Actually Looks Like

Four steps, and only two of them are yours. Everything after the conversation is on us.

Your PartTwoBoth before the recording ends

You Tell Us About Your Shop

Send us what you have built and where you are trying to take it. If you own an HVAC company and you have a growth story worth telling, that is the whole bar.

You Talk With Sarah for About 45 Minutes

One conversation about your business. You spend about 45 minutes talking with Sarah — no script to memorize, no slides, no prep work.

Handoff
Our PartTwoYou do not touch any of it

We Record and Edit It

We handle the recording and the editing. You do not touch a camera, a microphone setting, or a timeline.

We Publish and Promote It

We handle the promotion. The episode lands on this page with its show notes and full transcript, a page that links back to your business, and clips you can post yourself.

The Programs

When You Want a Team Running It, Not Just Ideas

The show is there to give you something you can use on your own. If you would rather have Sarah’s team running it, every plan is built around where your business is today. Always: 0% markup on ad spend, no setup fees, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

GrowUnder $1M Revenue
$2,200/ month

Contractors under $1M building their first complete marketing setup.

See Everything Included
Accelerate$1M – $3M Revenue
$3,500/ month

Contractors at $1M – $3M ready to scale leads and team.

See Everything Included
Dominate$3M – $15M Revenue
$5,000/ month

$3M – $15M operations going after regional market dominance.

See Everything Included
0%Markup On Ad Spend
$0Setup Fees
30-DayMoney-Back Guarantee

Not sure which tier fits your stage? A strategy session takes 30 minutes and gives you a straight answer — no pressure.

Ad spend is paid directly to the platforms, at cost, with nothing added on top.

Compare what each plan includes before your strategy session — and see exactly what a full marketing program covers.

Explore the Growth Programs
FAQ

What Owners Ask About The Show

Short answers about the podcast, the episodes, and what happens if you come on as a guest.

Can’t Find Your Question?

Book a free 30-minute strategy session and ask Sarah directly — about the show or about your own growth.

Book A Call
01What is The HVAC CEO Podcast?

It is a podcast for HVAC owners who want more than a full schedule. Sarah Gonzales sits down with HVAC owners who have grown it, broken it, and figured it out, so you can hear how they did it in their own words.

02Why is it called The HVAC CEO?

Because that is how we see you: someone running a business on purpose, not a technician who happens to own a truck. The show is built for the owner side of the job, not the tools side.

03What do I get with each episode?

Every episode lands on this page with three things: the video of the full conversation, the show notes, and the full transcript. Watch it, read it, or skim the notes for the part you needed.

04How long is an episode?

About 45 minutes. They are full conversations rather than clips, so you hear the whole thing instead of a highlight reel.

05How do I come on the show as a guest?

If you own an HVAC company and you have a growth story worth telling, tell us about your shop. Coming on is simple: you spend about 45 minutes talking with Sarah about your business, and we handle the recording, the editing, and the promotion.

06What do I walk away with as a guest?

Three things. Your story, told well, in a polished episode you can share with your whole network. A page that links back to your business, which sends interested homeowners and search signals your way. And ready-to-post clips you can drop on your own social without filming a thing.

07Does RS Gonzales work with businesses outside HVAC?

No. Sarah founded RS Gonzales in 2023 and built it into a marketing agency that works exclusively with HVAC and home services contractors. That is the only kind of business we take on, and it is the reason the questions on this show land where they do.

Your Turn

Ready To Grow Like an HVAC CEO?

The owners on this show were not born knowing how to grow. They learned, adjusted, and kept going. You can build the same kind of business, and you do not have to figure it out alone.

Start With a Free Strategy Session Explore the Growth Programs

30 minutes. Free. A plan of your own, before you spend a dollar.