Episode Article
Shelby Brown never planned on working in roofing. But after a long insurance dispute over her Tampa home, she found herself joining the industry. Today, she is a Project Manager at Magnum Roofing and Restoration. On the Rise and Thrive podcast, hosted by Raj from Make It Viral Media, Shelby shared how her journey links a storm-damaged roof, her legal background, a spinal injury, and the launch of a new nonprofit.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Magnum Roofing and Restoration - years in business | 15 |
| Workmanship warranty | Lifetime; covers storms up to 130 mph |
| Standard shingle roof deposit required | $0 (payment due only after job completion) |
| Referral reward, inspection booked | $25 gift card |
| Referral reward, customer signs contract | $250 cash |
| Magnum Foundation, share of proceeds to charity | 2% |
| Recent claim closed by "claims hero" Elijah | Under 127 days |
| Combined roofing experience of Shelby's crew | 60+ years |
| Unpaid training period before her first commission | 3 months |
| Weight lost while trying to avoid back surgery | 70 lbs in 3 months |
| Shelby's post-pregnancy weight before that | 212 lbs |
| Inmates released after her stepfather's DC jail case | 500+ |
| Attorneys who have beaten the federal government (per Shelby) | ~5% |
| Nonprofit Google Ad Grant available to a 501(c)(3) | Up to $10,000/month |
| Shelby's age | 30 |
The Storm That Started It All
Shelby bought her home in 2020, just a street away from where she grew up in Tampa’s Water Chase neighborhood. After her parents’ house in Trinity, Florida, was damaged by flooding in a storm, they moved in with Shelby’s family. Then, a second storm damaged Shelby’s own roof and allowed water into her house.
The fallout, in order:
- Her household lost electricity for 2 to 3 weeks.
- Mold began growing during that outage, appearing in her daughter's bedroom and in the home's front office.
- Shelby had paid her State Farm insurance on time for four years without missing a payment, but when she filed a claim, it stalled for about six months with little progress.
- The household displaced by the damage included her husband, her 9-year-old daughter, her 3-year-old son, a husky, and a French bulldog.
Frustrated by how slowly her claim was moving, Shelby took matters into her own hands and invited several roofing companies to compete for the job.
Shopping Roofers and Getting a Job Offer Backward
Shelby asked several roofing companies to come to her home and give estimates. Most of them didn’t even check the roof and just wanted to know if she had other quotes they could match. But Levi from Magnum took a different approach. He explained:
- Magnum has been in business for 15 years.
- The company carries full licensing and general liability insurance.
- Customers pay only after the roof is installed; no deposit for standard jobs.
- The workmanship warranty is lifetime.
The offer of no upfront payment and a lifetime warranty impressed Shelby so much that she immediately asked Levi if Magnum was hiring. With ten years of experience as a legal assistant at her father’s law firm, she later showed up to her interview dressed in her courtroom clothes.
Magnum hired Shelby. They also gave her a discount on her roof and installed it before her insurance payout arrived, trusting her to pay once she was reimbursed. It was the first time she had ever been on a ladder, especially one as tall as two stories.
What Magnum Offers Customers
Now, as a Project Manager, Shelby oversees roofing projects from start to finish. She helps customers with storm-damage claims and works with real estate agents who need a new roof before a home can pass inspection at closing.
Warranty and payment terms:
| Storm under 130 mph | Covered under the lifetime workmanship warranty |
| Storm over 130 mph | Magnum still assists, helps file the claim and connects the customer with a public adjuster or an attorney |
| Standard shingle roof | No deposit; full payment due after completion (Shelby personally holds invoices until the roof passes inspection, even though the contract allows billing at completion) |
| Larger jobs, e.g. tile roofs | Partial deposit required, paid in installments (roughly a 30% / 40% / 30% split) |
Referral program:
| Referral results in a booked inspection | $25 gift card |
| Referral signs a contract with Magnum | $250 cash, paid once the customer's invoice is settled |
Shelby shared a recent example: Elijah, known as Magnum’s “claims hero,” closed a claim in less than 127 days. The customer got a full roof replacement and didn’t have to pay their insurance deductible.
Magnum’s team has over 60 years of combined roofing experience. Shelby spent three months working without pay before earning her first commission, and she built her client base partly by networking through BNI.
The Magnum Foundation
This year marks the first year Magnum has run its own nonprofit arm, the Magnum Foundation. Its components:
- 2% of Magnum's proceeds go to charity.
- Magnum is running a roof giveaway: any customer who buys a roof in 2026 and pays in full will be entered for a chance to win back the full amount they paid.
- This year’s charity gala will include an auction to raise donations. Attendees can bring a guest, enjoy a free meal, and receive drink tickets. The exact number of tickets will be determined by how many people attend.
- Partner charities are invited to attend the gala.
- There is also a “Dream Center” golf event this year that will help children living in cars or sleeping in bags.
- Shelby personally wants to expand her volunteer work with Big Brother Big Sister.
Magnum hasn’t set a firm sales goal for 2026 yet. Inside the company, estimates for how many roofs they’ll sell this year range from 150 to 1,000.
Before Roofing: Pageants, Medicine, and the Courtroom
Shelby's path to Magnum ran through several other careers.
Pageants: Shelby started competing in pageants at age six, thanks to her stepmother. She describes the program as family-oriented and focused on scholarships. Contestants were judged on personality and interview skills, not appearance, and young participants weren’t allowed to wear makeup.
Medical field: While pregnant with her daughter, Shelby completed 5 certifications at New Horizons Medical Institute in Georgia. She went on to work as a medical assistant performing phlebotomy, EKG technician work, ultrasonic cavitation, and radiofrequency treatments.
Health setback: An accident during her pregnancy caused a back injury. Doctors initially told her she would need medication indefinitely and would not be able to have more children. Rather than move straight to a fusion surgery, Shelby tried to reverse the damage on her own, reaching 212 lbs after her daughter's birth, then losing 70 lbs in 3 months through:
- An hour of elliptical training daily, worn with a waist trainer
- Small, protein-focused portions
- High water intake, plus lemon and salt in her diet
The injury turned out to be a fracture with misalignment, and she ultimately needed minimally invasive low-back surgery through BioSpine, but avoided a spinal fusion. She now trains daily at Burn Boot Camp and Pure Barre and reports no ongoing pain or medication.
Legal career: Shelby spent 10 years as a legal assistant at the law firm of her stepfather, litigator Alex Dabro, who raised her from age 5. Cases she worked on included:
- Six consecutive courtroom wins across different Florida counties
- A case in which her stepfather beat the federal government, something Shelby says only about 5% of attorneys have accomplished
- Litigation that led to the shutdown of a DC jail and the release of over 500 inmates, following findings of a backed-up sewage system and denial of medical treatment to inmates
- A trial in Brooksville, Florida, in which a police officer on the stand, after reviewing two hours of footage, misidentified Shelby as the defense attorney rather than the actual defendant's counsel, apparently because she and the defense team were dressed alike in matching light blue. The defense won the case.
Shelby, who recently turned 30, says that being a woman in a male-dominated trade sometimes leads customers to assume Magnum will "send a guy" for an inspection, a perception that typically shifts once she demonstrates her knowledge of the roofing system during the call.
The Make It Viral Media Connection
Shelby's appearance on Rise and Thrive ties back to a business relationship between Magnum and Make It Viral Media that started after the two connected through BNI roughly four months before this episode was recorded (around the previous October).
Podcast host Raj, founder of Make It Viral Media and Technology, offered marketing support for the new Magnum Foundation, including email marketing, website development, Google ad campaigns, and Facebook event promotion. He also noted a detail relevant to any nonprofit: a registered 501(c)(3) organization can qualify for up to $10,000 per month in free Google Ad Grants advertising budget, plus free Google Workspace tools.