By Emma Peterson. 

Ashley and Josh Moss share how mentorship, community and connection shaped their paths to MRS Roof Pros.  

If you asked people what the best part of the roofing industry is, you might get answers like craftsmanship, contributing to the built environment or giving homeowners peace of mind. For Ashley and Josh Moss of MRS Roof Pros, the answer is always people. To learn more about the careers and journeys that brought this husband-and-wife duo to this answer, Megan Ellsworth recently sat down with them for an episode of Stories from the Roof. 

Before they started MRS Roof Pros, Ashley and Josh worked in roofing distribution. In fact, they actually met working for the same distribution company! 

Ashley’s story started in 2014 when she was working part time at a roofing distributor. From there, she began working her way up in the company, eventually landing in a training role. Through all this, she saw many different sides of the industry. She explained, “Helping train the new up-and-comers taught me what the different aspects of roofing are, how to actually put on a roofing system and the different products on the market.”  

As for Josh, his story started in 1998 as a knuckle boom truck driver. From there, he worked his way into different positions in the distribution company. He shared, “I went from the knuckle boom truck to dispatch to inside sales, then outside sales and finally into being an actual contractor within that business and installing roofing and siding for planned communities.” 

The throughline of both of their journeys to MRS Roof Pros? The importance of supportive peers and mentors. Ashley explained:  

I’m still in the industry because of the people. Our industry is really good at being supportive with one another; you don't find that in every industry...I really do feel that, as a whole, the roofing industry is really good at helping everyone be successful. The people here, they want to help, encourage, educate and give you the opportunity to go and to do whatever it is that you want to do. 

Josh agreed, adding, "Roofing really is a great business with great people in it. It’s more than just a job, it a community of people that build you up and vice versa so that everyone who’s willing to apply themselves achieves their goals.”  

To hear more from Ashley and Josh about their roofing careers, Listen to the whole episode of Stories from the Roof.

By Emma Peterson. 

Key takeaways from the dynamic Coffee Conversations® panel at IRE.  

In a special Coffee Conversations® sponsored by SRS Distribution and recorded live at the 2026 International Roofing Expo (IRE), Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with Sarah Sutton Shouse of Raincoat Roofing, Jewels DeCorsey of All Craft Exteriors, Tim Garrison of River City Roofing Company, Inc. and Ashley Moss of MRS Roof Pros for a discussion centered around the growth of the roofing industry.  

The first topic the panel highlighted was the technological growth seen across the roofing industry. Ashley pointed to AI specifically, noting, “As homeowners get younger and/or more adept with technology, they’re wanting faster response times. A lot of contractors are trying to meet that by utilizing AI.” An example of how AI can speed up your response time is by having it field phone calls, collecting valuable lead information even if it is outside your office hours.  

And while AI might be one of the most talked-about forms of technology today, it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how roofing professionals can leverage software and other technological innovations to succeed. Jewels explained, “Technology is not going anywhere...There's no pulling back or going back, so I think for companies in the roofing industry, if you are not at least looking into speed to lead, online booking and other digital tools, you’re going to fall behind.” 

The conversation also touched on growth in the realm of physical products. Tim highlighted the expanse of product options, specifically for growing markets like roof coatings, sharing, “Thinking back to 10 years ago, there’s just so many more systems out there for retrofits, restorations and recovers.”  

As for the increased access to products in general, Sarah shared, “One of the challenges is always the availability of the product. Because as a contractor, if I have to pay thousands of dollars in freight, I have to offset that somewhere...Recently, we’ve seen a lot of manufacturers getting into supply houses and working hard to make their product available. That growing network for product availability is huge at the moment.”  

To learn more, check out the full Coffee Conversations on demand!

Dozens of interviews, thousands of steps and countless memories, connections and positive energy at day one of IRE.

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a conversation between The Coffee Shops™ crew about day one of IRE 2026. 

Karen Edwards: Wow, day one of IRE was amazing. It really was. I spent my whole day at IRE; I did not get over to World of Concrete, but the line waiting to get in the show this morning was a fabulous opportunity that James took advantage of to hand out bags, swag and information about R-Club. There were so many contractors there, and everyone was excited to go inside the show, see what's new, talk to their vendors, pick up some swag and just have a great time. Everyone is happy to be here. It could be due to the fact that is 65 degrees and sunny outside, but everyone is just thrilled to be here. This is our Super Bowl, right? This is our biggest event of the year, and to be able to be here and to have our soundstage bring the stories of what's happening at the show to everybody — whether you're here or not — that is a thrill for me.

I'm honored to be able to sit on on that soundstage and talk to our customers, our partners, our friends, our R-Club members, about why they're here, what's new. There are so many new product releases, new initiatives that are being undertaken, and it's so cool to see the industry really advance, progress and move forward into solutions and technologies that help the industry work smarter and do more with less, addressing the labor shortage, and it's just a really exciting, fun time. One of the other things that I like the most about the interviews is that people are very nervous, and being able to be say, "You're going to be great. It's just conversation. It's just you and I talking." And at the end they go, "Wow, that was so fun. I had such a good time." Being able to make them feel at ease is really great.

The Welcome Party, sponsored by ABC Supply was amazing. And then we visited Brava Roof Tile at their hospitality and Polyglass and it was just great to see everyone. People are feeling really positive going into 2026.

James Ellsworth: I had a lot of fun today helping manage the booth and direct traffic. We did about 28 interviews starting at 7:45 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m., and we also did one Coffee Conversations and one podcast. So a lot of skillful interviewing. We had a huge line outside our booth, which is always a lot of fun. I really enjoyed talking to the SkillsUSA teachers and state directors who came by on their SkillsUSA booth challenge where they visit the different sponsors supporting the commercial roofing competition. I had a great time handing out swag for the students around the country.

Drake Porter: Day one. Wow, what a day. I walked 16,000 steps today with Lauren doing booth interviews. Just getting the opportunity to meet partners and customers and getting to hear all the new things that they're doing with their companies and all their different products and services was great. And it was nice to actually see the faces of the people I email all the time. The First-time Attendee event was really good. We were handing out hand sanitizers to all the first-timers, and we didn't have any left. My favorite interview today was about the trash rocket with Rocket Equipment. It was the very first one we did, and I'm just amazed by this giant slide for roofing material debris. I loved it. And then I think the second best one was with Mindy at TRA Snow and Sun. It was just a really good day overall. A lot of great traffic everywhere we went.

Lauren White: Drake and I were on the show floor, and we had a lot of interviews scheduled throughout the day at IRE — we were also just on the IRE side today. And people are really excited to be here, excited to see people, they have great energy and great traffic at their booths. We started interviews before the show floor opened, and even just an hour in, people in the far corners of the floor were saying, "We have so much traffic already." So that was really great to hear, especially since we also have World of Concrete happening at the same time. It's always fun to see our partners and see what they're up to. I got to interview the Owens Corning Panther, which was very fun. It's a very animated interview on The Pink Panther side!

RoofersCoffeeShop sponsors the First-time Attendees reception right before the Welcome Party, and we saw a lot of people coming in and got to welcome them and hand out hand sanitizers to them as their gift. It was a beautiful night. The event was outside on a terrace, and we had a view of the sphere and strip at sunset. Then we went to the Brava hospitality, and I actually saw two people I had on a podcast from MRS Roof Pros. They're an R-Club member, and I just had the podcast with them last week for AskARoofer, and they found me in the crowd and we had a great conversation. They were happy to see us and excited for what else is to come with RoofersCoffeeShop and them. The Polyglass hospitality is always a party and a half. Great food, amazing music, everyone was singing along. Also a beautiful venue at the Paris at the Chele rooftop bar. We got to see the Bellagio water show, which is my favorite thing in Vegas. Overall a great day! Everybody's happy, they're having a good time and we're all looking forward to the Roofing Alliance Student Competition tomorrow morning.