Tanner Mullen, CEO of DripJobs, shared his journey from painting with his father as a teen, Mullen faced adversity during the 2008 recession, including his parents’ addiction and his mother’s death from cancer in 2015. After working in restaurants, car sales, and banking, he quit a stable $80,000-a-year job to start Premium Painting, inspired by Eric Barstow’s subcontracting course. His father’s ongoing struggles forced Mullen to learn the business independently, overcoming early failures like a poorly executed first job.

Mullen’s sales background and frustration with manual lead management led to DripJobs, a software automating contractor lead follow-ups. He initially created automations for 50 companies using tools like Zapier and Active Campaign, then invested $200,000 to develop DripJobs, funding it through his painting business. Challenges included a problematic co-founder who stole code and customer data, but Mullen recovered with help from a friend and found a reliable co-founder, Jason, on Reddit. DripJobs now serves 2,100 businesses across the US and Canada.

Mullen is launching Routimized, an AI-driven app to optimize contractor schedules by minimizing drive time, aiming to save business owners time—a core value proposition. His story highlights resilience, self-reliance, and the power of micro-iterations, emphasizing that success stems from adversity, preparation, and a focus on personal growth over external competition.