Downtime is not a mechanic problem, it is a profit leak that can wipe out a week of work in two days. We sit down with Matt Gillett, founder of Gillett Excavating in Michigan, to tell the truth about what it takes to grow an excavation company from a $500 start into a full service heavy civil construction and underground utilities contractor. The stories are raw because the lessons are expensive, and we want you to steal the learning without paying the same tuition.

We get into the real-world tech debate around GPS machine control and total station guided grading: when it boosts production, when it creates another failure point, and why operator skill still has to come first. Matt breaks down his switch back to Trimble after trying Topcon, plus how he thinks about automated dozers, 3D excavators, and “indicate only” setups for tighter sites and faster decision making. If you are bidding commercial work, expanding into mass grading, or trying to decide whether to invest in GPS guided equipment, this will help you ask better questions.

Then we go where most podcasts avoid: equipment payments, cash flow, and the brutal moments that force clarity. Matt shares what late pay can do to a growing contractor, the hard cuts he made when life changed, and why the real mission is family, not a never-ending business fire drill. We close with leadership that scales: core values you can hire and fire by, and the “first 30 last 30” system that sets expectations, improves safety, and keeps crews productive.

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If you’ve ever said, “We can’t find good people,” this conversation challenges the real problem: we’re not building a place good people want to belong. I’m joined by Jonathan Whistman, CEO of WhoHire and founding partner of The Sales Boss, to talk about how blue collar business owners can build a team competitors can’t beat or steal by focusing on identity, standards, and the full human experience at work. 

We dig into why hiring is more than filling seats, it’s a responsibility. Jonathan shares how repeated actions create evidence, and evidence creates identity. That idea shows up everywhere: your company culture, your onboarding process, your leadership habits, and even how your shop looks and feels the first time a candidate walks in. We also hit the traps that crush growth, like chasing revenue with prices that are too low, settling for B and C players, and pretending a quick interview is enough to predict performance. 

Then we go straight at the future: AI in construction, AI in recruiting, AI in sales follow-up, and why leaders can’t delegate learning it. Jonathan explains a simple “Lego block” framework for AI tools so you can implement what matters without getting lost in the hype. If you want better hiring, stronger retention, and a more profitable trade business, this one is packed with practical ideas and hard truth. 

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A competitor ten times bigger rolls into town, undercuts your price, and takes your market share nearly overnight. Most owners panic, cut margins, and burn out. Ed Katz did something different: he listened to what customers kept asking for, built a system to deliver it, and turned adversity into a breakthrough that transformed commercial moving. 

We talk through Ed’s path from Wall Street to entrepreneurship, why “identifying a need” puts you most of the way to the goal line, and how one ugly Friday-night breakdown taught him the real value of processes and contingency planning. Then we get practical about estimating: why accurate man-hours and a repeatable formula beat gut feel every time, whether you run office relocations, excavation, concrete, electrical, or any other service business where one bad bid can wipe out months of profit. 

The story takes a wild turn with Ed’s “boxless move” innovation: space gobblers that let teams move desks without emptying drawers and the spider crane that safely lifts loaded file cabinets. That differentiation didn’t just win jobs, it let him charge premium pricing while delivering a better customer experience. We also get into leadership lessons every blue collar business owner needs, including the moment Ed realized he had built an upside-down org chart and the seven words that started creating real decision-makers on his team. 

If you want better estimating, stronger systems and processes, and a clearer way to stand out in a crowded market, press play. Subscribe to the Blue Collar Business Podcast, share this with a friend in the trades, and leave a review so more owners can find it.

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If your crews are working hard but the money still disappears, the leak might be communication, not effort.

We sit down with Ron Nussbaum, a Marine veteran and the founder behind BuilderComms and Builder Labs, to talk about the messy truth of construction operations and the myth that software fixes everything. Ron breaks down why the tool is only a small slice of the solution and why the real work is process, discipline, and leadership buy-in during implementation. We get practical about the three buckets most blue-collar businesses live in every day: sales and estimating, project management and daily logs, and accounting as the foundation for job costing and WIP.

From change order handoffs to “go backs” that torch profit, we dig into how fragmented texts, scattered emails, and siloed departments create money burn and reputation damage. Ron shares the moment that pushed him to build a centralized communication hub by project, so owners can walk into tough client conversations with the full story in minutes. We also go straight at the culture side: the office versus field war, the ego that blocks listening, and why transparency creates accountability that can either grow the company or expose what needs to change.

To close, Ron offers a mindset tool for anyone who feels stuck or burned out: 75 Hard as a mental discipline framework built for high-stress industries like construction. If you want better systems, better handoffs, and a team that actually follows the playbook, this one will give you a clear place to start.

Subscribe for more real-world construction business strategy, share this with a contractor who’s drowning in communication chaos, and leave a review so more blue-collar leaders can find the show.

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This episode was filmed live at Con Expo in Las Vegas! Join us for this special episode with Chuck Harris!

A lot of construction tech looks great in a demo and then dies on the jobsite. So we recorded this one live from ConExpo 2026 in the CHC Nav booth to talk about what actually sticks when crews are tired, the schedule is tight, and the boss wants ROI now.

Chuck Harris from Benchmark Tool and Supply breaks down what’s new with CHC Nav across GPS rovers, surveying, layout, and machine control. We get into the “visual stakeout” rover that uses forward and down-facing cameras to show a real-time image with your points and lines layered on top, making it easier for operators who don’t want to interpret a plan view all day. We also talk correction options, from UHF radio to cellular and RTK network workflows that can remove the need for an on-site base station on many jobs.

Then we jump to the LiDAR rover conversation: fast point cloud collection for stockpile volumes, safer measurement around demolition materials, and why that kind of speed changes decisions for project managers and owners. We also cover the TD73 dozer platform updates, better CAD performance, scalable system options, and a practical feature contractors love: the ability to move a display between machines without a license fee when something breaks or needs to be swapped quickly.

If you’re running excavation, grading, utilities, concrete, or even smaller residential crews and you’ve been burned by complicated GPS systems before, this talk is for you. Subscribe for more blue-collar business reality, share this with your foreman, and leave a review with the one feature you wish every piece of jobsite tech had.

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This episode was filmed live at Con Expo in Las Vegas! Join us for this special episode with Khrysanne Kerr!

A locate mark that’s a few feet off can wreck a schedule. A utility strike can change a life. That’s why we sat down with Khrysanne Kerr from the Common Ground Alliance, one of the leaders behind the nationwide 811 Call Before You Dig campaign, to talk through what’s actually happening inside the locate system and what contractors can do to make it work better.

We get into the real numbers that most people never think about: at any given time there can be more than one million active 811 locate requests across the country, but the locating workforce doesn’t magically scale with your deadline. Khrysanne explains why ticket volume keeps rising as more infrastructure goes underground and funding expands projects, and we share the simplest way to reduce waste: only request locates for the work you’re truly ready to dig. If you’ve ever wondered why marks show up late, incomplete, or rushed, this part connects the dots.

From there we go practical. We talk about white lining with white paint or flags, why professional locators overwhelmingly say it’s the biggest damage prevention lever, and how it protects both the locator and the excavator through clearer communication and better documentation. Khrysanne also points you to free online excavation training from the Common Ground Alliance with 30+ modules in English and Spanish, built for crews who need training that fits real job-site life. We wrap with the hard truth about mis-marks, aging records, and why better mapping, GIS data, and new technology (from drones to smarter excavation equipment) will shape the future of underground utility locating and excavator safety.

If you get value from this, subscribe to the show, share it with your crew, and leave a review so more contractors find the info that keeps people safe.

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Want a blueprint for selling your contracting business without losing your identity or your team? We sit down with Kory Mitchell, founder of Iconic Founders Group and former CEO of a 200M environmental firm, to unpack how blue-collar owners can scale with intention, de-risk the books, and exit with clarity and control. Kory shares how he grew from a family asbestos shop to 37 locations through a mix of organic expansion and 13 acquisitions, and why the best deals hinge on people diligence, not just financials.

We get practical fast: why job costing, WIP reporting, and real-time dashboards transform chaos into predictable profit; how small and recurring jobs often beat flashy mega-projects when it comes to valuation; and the simple margin habits that make buyers pay more. Kory breaks down rollovers, earn outs, and the reality of staying post-transaction, plus how private equity and large family offices think about multiples, leverage, and risk. We also dig into equipment strategy, when leasing can lift uptime and reduce deferred maintenance, and the hidden valuation hits from heavy CapEx, client concentration, bonding exposure, and weak safety culture.

This is a candid look at the human side of exits, too. Burnout, replacing yourself before a sale, surrounding yourself with smarter peers, and getting an executive coach who has actually done deals, these steps create space to think and move on your terms. If you want to protect your people, preserve your brand, and still get paid for the value you’ve built, this conversation maps the path: clean data, safer operations, recurring revenue, and a buyer who matches your goals.

If this helped you see your next step, grow, sell, or both, follow the show, share it with a friend who runs a crew, and leave a quick review so more blue-collar owners can find it.

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Ready to stop letting software and insurers set your prices? We sit down with restoration veteran and industry advocate Ben Justesen to map out a practical blueprint for blue-collar profit: building your own labor rates, managing WIP with confidence, and turning real culture into a recruiting edge. Ben’s story moves from a $400k patent lawsuit and five years of survival mode to leading markets in pricing by feeding data back into estimating platforms and, more importantly, engineering his own defensible rates from labor burden, overhead, and targeted margins.

We break down how to translate takeoffs into true budgets, why material margins are thin and labor must carry the difference, and how production rates, sourced from your historical job data, make estimates faster and more accurate. Cash flow gets a no-fluff treatment: progress billing tied to visible milestones, staying over-billed instead of being the bank, and aligning estimating, production, and accounting around a single WIP report so red flags show up while there’s still time to act.

Culture is the force multiplier. Ben details the shift from lip service to lived values like humility, initiative, ownership, and hunger, then shows how to hire for them with a recruiter’s route, structured interviews, and paid working days across departments. We also explore documentation tech, 360 job captures that let estimators scope remotely, lock down supplements, and eliminate disputes by showing before, during, and after in exact detail. That same documentation powers people-first marketing: celebrating crews and subs, earning name-specific reviews, and attracting talent who want to be part of a winning team.

If you’re a contractor who’s tired of thin margins, late cash, and chaotic hiring, this conversation hands you a clear playbook: build rates from your numbers, bill from visual milestones, track production relentlessly, and let your values drive every process. Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe, share it with a fellow builder, and leave a review with your biggest pricing or WIP breakthrough.

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A good pour rewards speed and precision, but building a company takes a different mix. We sit down with Kyle Harris, president of Harris Company Concrete Construction, to trace how a young finisher who loved the rush of pour days became a leader who runs on systems, coaching, and clear numbers, while navigating California’s maze of regulations without losing his edge.

Kyle walks us through the early wins and the 2008 gut punch that forced him to learn business the hard way: licensing scrutiny, cash flow shocks, and contracts that bite. The breakthrough came with a coach who pushed him to replace heroics with policies and procedures, install checklists for everything from demo prep to payroll, and fit people into roles where they actually excel. He explains how reading financial statements, understanding true overhead, and pricing the real cost of trucks, iron, and time changed his bids and protected margins.

Then we get real about California. Low-carbon mix mandates, VOC restrictions, CARB compliance, and multi-layer inspections make structural work slower and riskier, yet the climate and markets in wine country, custom residential, and commercial builds offer year-round volume and rates that can offset overhead. Kyle shares practical tactics for RFIs, inspections, scheduling pours a month out, and why paying experts; CPAs, safety consultants and attorneys, buys back the only asset that scales revenue: your time.

This conversation is a playbook for any builder who’s great at the trade but stuck in the business. You’ll hear how to let go of the tools without losing respect, lead crews with clarity instead of speed talking, and build a peer circle that keeps you honest and moving. If you’ve felt alone, underbid, or buried in red tape, Kyle’s hard-won lessons will help you reset the formwork and pour a stronger foundation for your company.

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Some stories start with luck. Ours starts with sweat, a $20 bill, and a phone camera. Marvin went from picking shingles in small-town Wisconsin to building a trusted asphalt brand and a media engine that opened doors to stages, sponsors, and a wider mission: make blue-collar work visible, respected, and easier to win.

We dig into how simple, consistent documentation; tank fills, applications, cured results, and two-week check-backs, creates social proof that outperforms any sales script. Marvin shares the exact playbook that 4–6x’d his revenue: show the process, show the people, and keep showing up. When online critics argued methods across climates, he didn’t fight; he educated through trade articles and talks, turning confusion into context. That credibility unlocked a podcast, partnerships with major brands, and live hosting at ConExpo, all while the crew kept paving, sealing, and striping.

There’s a real talk undercurrent here: posting is uncomfortable. The early videos were rough. Family and locals raised eyebrows. Anxiety hit. The cure wasn’t ego; it was purpose. If you want more leads, better applicants, and stronger community ties, you can’t stay invisible. We map out a practical path for owners; what to film, where to post, and how to balance personal and professional stories, so your feed becomes a trust engine and a recruiting magnet. You’ll hear how employer brand grows when safety, training, and crew wins are out front, and why omnichannel visibility beats one-and-done ads.

If you’re three days from the lights going off or just ready to lead your market, this conversation hands you a toolkit: start now, post daily, educate through context, and let your work speak on camera. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs the push, and leave a review with the first video you plan to make, what will you show tomorrow?

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Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up.

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