EP240 Run Into the Fire: Curiosity, VRF, and the Rise of Roman Baugh (October 2025)

Quotes from the Episode:

“If it helps one person, then it’s worth its weight in gold.” —Roman

“Stop asking ‘What if I fail?’—ask ‘What if I’m amazing at this?’” —Roman

“I ran into the fire and rescued my future self.” —Roman (riffing with Bill)

Roman Baugh—third-generation tradesman, educator at Kalos Services, and prolific HVAC content creator—joins Bill and Eric for a lively conversation that starts with mustache banter and lands on the deeper stuff: curiosity, service, parenting, and learning in public. Roman traces his path from riding along on service calls with his dad to getting humbled by his first big VRF job—then running into the fire to master the technology instead of avoiding it. That mindset led him to teaching, factory-level troubleshooting, and community building.

He discusses homeschooling four boys and how nurturing their curiosity reshaped his own teaching style. Roman shares why he makes no-frills videos and answers techs’ questions at all hours: if one person benefits, it’s worth it. The crew dives into oscilloscopes for diagnosing modern communicating systems, the VRF Tech Talk podcast and Facebook group, and technician-born tools like the EEVmate. Threaded through it all is a simple thesis: chase passion over titles, be okay with failing forward, and find (and become) the helpers.

The episode closes with practical encouragement: stop asking, “What if I fail?” and start asking, “What if I’m amazing at this?” Curiosity compounds; the work finds you; the money follows the value you provide.

EEV Mate products: https://trutechtools.com/eevmate

Roman’s podcast, VFR Talk: https://open.spotify.com/show/1zVYrStAhjzRzCn3oEHE6M

https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/vrf-tech-talk/id1796450302

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcWMzg9BGLvtXJXDO6Yb2BA

Roman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roman-baugh-311b21b3/

The Three Pillars Video #!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxhqW7quyUs

Kalos Services: https://www.kalosflorida.com/

This episode was recorded in October 2025.