Sam DeMaio taught himself construction from a $34.95 Home Depot book. He was working full-time as a correctional officer, then a police officer — and running a side hustle the entire time. Nobody knew. He didn't need them to. Sam is the founder of Showcase Remodels out of New Jersey, a remodeling company he scaled to $17.6 million in gross revenue. He also owns 48 rental properties, has done 17+ house flips using a repeatable buy-for-30-sell-for-125 model, and just launched his own product line — Signature Reflections — after a national brand told him no. He joined Stu at a Startups with Stu retreat and covered the whole road: blue-collar upbringing, Army service, a decade in law enforcement, a divorce that lit a fire, and a business philosophy built on one simple rule: get it, give it. What he covers: → Joining the Army at 17 as a cavalry scout — with a 13-second life expectancy on the battlefield → Getting charged $100/week rent by his dad on his 18th birthday, then going out and buying a duplex at 19 → Running a construction side hustle, a flooring business, and rental properties — all while working full-time as a police officer → Learning construction from scratch using a $34.95 Home Depot book (no YouTube, no ChatGPT) → Leaving the police force with $20,000 to his name and $90K/year walking out the door → Buying a hoarder house in Glendora, NJ for $30,000 — poop stains, broken tools, the whole thing — and flipping it for $125K → Running his flip formula for two years straight: buy for $70K, put in $30K, sell for $170K — 17 houses → Building a portfolio of 48 rental properties that covers every bill he has, including the beach house → Scaling Showcase Remodels to $17.6 million in annual gross revenue → Buying a hotel in North Wildwood for $1 million, putting $700K into it in 12 weeks, converting it to condos, and selling for $3.2 million → Getting rejected by a national bathroom brand — then writing back to tell them they made the biggest mistake of their life, and launching his own competing product line → His employee who made $350,000 in his first year — and the people who used to cheer for him that are now hating → Giving a woman's entire kitchen to a woman who adopted 8 kids with special needs, which turned into a chain of other contractors donating materials for free 🔗 CONNECT WITH STU Instagram: @stu Website: https://startupswithstu.com 📌 CHAPTERS #entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #realestateinvesting #remodeling #contractor #sidehustle #bluecollarbusiness #buildingwealth #smallbusiness