Meet Rich Williams | President, Western AeroBarrier

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rich Williams and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rich, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
One of the most important requirements of building a Passive House is to meet a very stringent building airtightness requirement to achieve minimum air leakage. Air leakage in buildings represents poor energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality.

In building the first Passive House in Southern California we found that meeting the air tightness requirement was extremely costly, time consuming, and difficult. We did it, but when we heard word of a new and likely easier way to achieve the same thing our ears pricked up.

We were at a Passive House conference and got word from a company exhibiting there, AeroSeal, that they were working to develop their technology towards air sealing entire buildings. They succeeded and announced the launch of AeroBarrier at the 2018 International Builders Show, with the product winning “Best in Show” that year as well as “Most Innovative Building Product.”

Later that year we decided to jump in and purchase an AeroBarrier rig, but when we got news of the high cost of the rig we realized we could not justify the purchase for our own building projects alone. We contemplated needing to sell the technology to other builders to justify the expenditure, and suddenly the light bulb went on in our heads.

Eventually California was going to adopt an air tightness mandate into the building and energy code, and if we were to position ourselves to be ready for that moment we could have an extremely successful and valuable business. And so we launched Western AeroBarrier with the intent of opening up locations throughout California. We knew it was going to take some time before the phone starting ringing off the hook, but we knew it eventually would do so.

From 2019 through 2021 we were at low volumes for work but slowly we were making a presence for ourselves around California. Then 2022 came along and suddenly found ourselves needing to grow very quickly, training new employees and purchasing new rigs. This year we anticipate that we will generate $1million in revenue. Within another 3-years we should easily be able to achieve $5million in annual revenue. Our 5-year goal is to be generating $20-million in annual revenue.

So many of us long to be at the right place at the right time to grab the brass ring of a lucrative opportunity. We got lucky because our specialization in the building industry (for the construction of high performance homes) allowed us to see AeroBarrier coming along.

What should our readers know about your business?
I see myself as being an optimist and I believe it is the most important trait I have for achieving success, but it’s not an easy thing to always be optimistic. Staying positive requires hard work when there are so many potholes in the road. I once heard that it’s not how many times you fall that counts, it’s how many times you get back up again. We all fall down and encounter failures, afterall there are only a few ways of doing things right but a lot of ways to do things wrong so the odds are stacked against us, but only those with fortitude to keep on going can get to where they really want to go.

I think that a lot of things that happened to me in my life helped me be a more positive person. I’ve used up more than my allocation of a cat’s nine lives, and being so close to dying so many times makes one feel a lot better about being alive. In fact, I would say that everyone should have a near-death experience, it’s one of the best things a person can experience to teach them how to truly appreciate their lives and be happier.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would want to take my friend on a long, hard, and sometimes scary hike to the top of a high mountain peak in the Sierras, like Mount Langley just south of Mount Whitney. I would want my friend to have the experience to test himself and learn what he can actually achieve by facing an incredibly daunting task. Hiking/Climbing mountains is a metaphor for me for what is possible in life, and I would want my best friend to experience what I frequently get to.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My son, Atticus Williams, for inspiring me to have him see me as part of the solution and not part of the problem in achieving sustainability on our big blue ball.

To my wife, Allison Renshaw, for her unconditional love, undying support, and for making me see myself as being greater than I otherwise would see myself.

And my father, Gwynn Williams, for his mentorship in teaching me to go big.

Website: WesternAeroBarrier.com

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