Two computers, a box of business cards, and a lot of doors.

We started with nothing

On 1 July 2019 Caprice Cline founded Cypress Roofing with her three children, Joshua Gonzalez, Alexandra Carmouche and Samantha Michel. It was a faith-based company from the start, and it had no premises.

“We had two computers and business cards and were all working out of our homes. We would go door-knocking every single day, and that’s how we built the business.”Caprice Cline, owner

Josh took to sales immediately, door to door. Caprice ran finance, sales and marketing. Josh and Samantha handled sales, and Alex handled operations and administration. Within six months the company had completed more than a million dollars in sales and had been named 2020 New Business of the Year by the Ascension Parish Chamber of Commerce.

The perfect storm

In early 2020 a hailstorm hit the West Baton Rouge area, just as months of door-knocking had finally built local name recognition. Business exploded. Then Louisiana recorded 30 named storms, the most in a season since 1851, including Category 4 Hurricane Laura, the strongest hurricane by wind speed to hit the state in 150 years.

Cypress Roofing worked around the clock, helping storm-affected homeowners and navigating insurance claims directly on their behalf. That is where the insurance fluency on the FORTIFIED roofing page comes from. It was not a service line somebody added; it was the only way to get those roofs replaced.

A whole lot of togetherness

The team grew substantially through that period. The founding four owned the company equally, guided by Joshua 1:9: have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Alex knew nothing about roofing at the start, by her own account, and worked closely with supplier contact Jonah Doucet until she became one of the most knowledgeable people in the business. The four are corporate Rotary Club members and volunteer together at Bethany Church.

Life changes

In September 2022 Joshua fell in love, moved to Florida and relinquished his ownership stake, which made Cypress Roofing a 100% woman-owned business. He is still family, and still part of how the company got here.

Since then the company has been voted Best Roofing Company in Ascension Parish in both 2023 and 2024, and has done roofing, gutters or patio work for more than 2,000 customers.