An Unfortunate Acronym for a Trade Association

Jim Thompson shares a funny story about the early days of the Restoration Industry Association (RIA) when it had the unfortunate acronym of AIDS (Association of Interior Design Specialists).  

Large loss specialist and trainer Jim Thompson sat down with Jon Isaacson to discuss his life experiences and the content of his new book, “My Life Is One Disaster After Another.” Jim started from the ground up as a public adjuster, moved into cleaning and property restoration, before taking some time away to work with NASA (yes, THAT NASA).

Jim didn’t think he would return to the industry but found something he enjoyed training local contractors to market, win, and complete large losses. Projects for commercial, residential, industrial, and catastrophic disaster response, Mr. Thompson has done it all. He has compiled his 40 plus years of experience and is sharing it in written form with those willing to listen.

Our conversation also touches on:

• Property Restoration History - interactions with Lloyd Weaver and Cliff Zlotnik
• The early days of local, regional, and national associations
• Seeing an opportunity and taking a chance the right way
• What it takes to start a restoration company

Guest appearances and shoutouts for:

• Cliff Zlotnik
• IAQ Radio
• Lloyd Weaver
• Pete Consigli
• Marty King
• Restoration Industry Association (RIA)
• Restoration & Remediation Magazine (R&R) - Prior article “A History of Collaboration, A Future of Advocacy”
• Cleaning & Restoration Magazine (C&R) - Upcoming article “The Restoration Zoombie Apocolypse”
• Kelly Dolan
• Mat Allen
• Brian Austin