Kirt Linington

Kirt Linington was born in South Africa. He recalled living in different parts of the country and attending 17 schools, later finding an outlet in running, swimming and rugby.⁠[1][2]

He described compulsory service in the South African Army as his first job. It preceded his move to the United States.⁠[3]

His public professional profile lists studies at the Institute of Marketing and Management in Johannesburg from 1994 to 1996.⁠[4]

He said he won a South African fitness award in 1997 and became a South African Gladiators participant. In a separate interview, he dated his International Gladiators appearance to 1999.⁠[2][3]

He moved from South Africa to the United States in 1999, saying he arrived with $700 and initially worked as a personal trainer at LA Fitness. He later rose to executive vice president of sales and contributed to the chain’s expansion.⁠[5]

He and Neil Palmer co-founded Linear Roofing & General Contractors in the Dallas area. Palmer initially ran daily operations while Linington retained his fitness-industry job and helped develop the business.⁠[6][7]

He studied roofing for about a year before starting, seeing opportunity in Texas hail-damage repairs. As the business developed, he ended roughly two decades in fitness and joined Linear full-time.⁠[8][9][6]

Linear Roofing & General Contractors ranked 15th on the SMU Cox School of Business Dallas 100 list. This recognized the company’s growth; it was not a personal academic qualification or wealth ranking.⁠[10]

He recalled recruiting salespeople displaced from their jobs and using existing contacts to find roofing projects when the pandemic disrupted door-to-door sales.⁠[8]

In spring 2021, Linear opened a Florida division. He said stricter building codes and higher installation costs presented challenges, and the team began in central Florida, where he had contacts and saw hail-repair demand.⁠[8]

O2 Investment Partners announced that its portfolio company Capital Construction Holdings had partnered with Linear. Linear then had Dallas headquarters and six additional Texas and Florida locations. Solomon Partners was its exclusive financial adviser. The announcement did not disclose a transaction value.⁠[7]

In the fall, he joined Forbes Business Council and contributed to discussions of leadership, teams and business operations. Council membership is distinct from inclusion in a Forbes wealth ranking.⁠[6][5]

Capital Construction Holdings changed its name to Stronghouse Solutions. Linear was one of its five brands, alongside Capital Construction, Irish Roofing & Exteriors, Options Exteriors, and Marshall Building & Remodeling.⁠[11]

At Linear, he emphasized sales training and team development alongside sales executive Tony Taveras and operations executive Bob Vandercook. He also described involvement in NRCA, the North Texas Roofing Contractors Association and Roofing Contractors Association of Texas.⁠[6][3]

Stronghouse announced that Russ Reynolds would succeed him as CEO in a planned transition. Linington remained on the board and retained a leadership role.⁠[12][13]

He appeared on Omar Elattar’s The Passionate Few, discussing the business sale, competing offers, closing and executive recruitment. The title described a sale exceeding $100 million; that interview framing does not establish his personal net worth.⁠[14]

School of Hard Knocks Podcast released an approximately 68-minute interview covering door-to-door sales beginning at 42, developing roofing alongside his job, and his views on rejection, sales and private equity. Its description cited $62 million in revenue and a nine-figure 2022 exit; these figures were presented by the program.⁠[15]

He hosts Above The Roof, interviewing guests about roofing, entrepreneurship, leadership and business operations. Episodes include conversations with Tony Taveras and Steve Badger. Videos appear at https://www.youtube.com/@AboveTheRoofShow (opens in a new window), the program’s YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel.⁠[16][17]

He participates in industry events such as Best of Success, whose speaker biography lists him as Stronghouse Solutions’ chief strategy officer. His presentation The Road to $100 Million: Good and Bad discusses relationships, practical judgment, communication, trust, care, collective responsibility and pride.⁠[1][18]

In interviews, he identifies his Instagram as https://www.instagram.com/kirtsting/ (opens in a new window) and LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry as https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirt-linington/ (opens in a new window). He has also spoken about interests in cars, fitness and rock climbing.⁠[2][5][3]