Dirt Talk Podcast

Brock Johnson reached out to us and shared his story... and whaddya know, he is now this week's guest on Dirt World. Brock is an interesting combo: not only is he a full-time operator working in northern MN, but he also started Prograde Excavating and spends his weekends building his own business. He certainly works a lot these days, but it's all towards a greater purpose: more freedom and flexibility for himself and his family.

In this episode, host Aaron Witt and Brock talk about the challenges of starting a company while still working full-time for another company, being disciplined enough to always see the big picture, and what it's like to own a skid steer(!).

To follow Prograde Excavating, follow him on IG at @progradeexcavating.

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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Happy Monday, Dirt World. This week, Aaron and Alex sit down to discuss why "lifers" in the Dirt World sometimes discourage their kids from coming into the industry, landfills, and what one of our BuildWitt Partners (Veit) is up to.

If you want to visit the Veit website, go to veitusa.com.

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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The Dirt Talk guest this week is from "across the pond," as it were: Nick Drew of Digger Man Blog fame.

This week, Nick was kind and gracious enough to share his Saturday evening with us and, as Aaron Witt says, "shoot the poop." Aaron and Nick discussed Nick's construction background prior to focusing on writing about the Dirt World, what he misses (and doesn't miss) about the work, and how trolls on the internet don't deserve any recognition at all. Enjoy!

Check out earthmoversmagazine.co.uk/digger-man to read up on what Nick works on.

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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G'day, fellow Dirt World people. Aaron and Alex geek out a little about the BuildWitt Team meeting that happened a few weeks ago. They eventually discuss small ways that teams/organizations can introduce training into their company culture and why some industries rely on migrant workers vs others.

Thanks for the questions - please keep them coming!

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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Marcus Sheridan is a new friend of ours, but boy, are we glad we brought him around! In his words, he's an "International Keynote Speaker on Digital Sales/Marketing, Ranked #1 LinkedIn Voices for Entrepreneurship, Author of They Ask, You Answer...and a Dang Good Follow on LinkedIn"... and sharpened all those tools moving some dirt early on. He is one of the first speakers we brought on to be featured on the BuildWitt Leaders platform, and the more we've gotten to know him and vice versa, the more we realize how helpful and interested he could be to help us make the Dirt World a better place.

This week, Marcus and Aaron connected to discuss how companies in the Dirt World can (and should) be marketing themselves to potential team members, why workers can be the best recruiting tool, and why this all fires Aaron up so g-d much!

To learn more about Marcus Sheridan, you can visit his website marcussheridan.com. OR just follow him on LinkedIn, since, as he says, he's a "Dang Good Follow"!

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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Happy Monday, Dirt World pals. Dirt Talk-erinos? We're working on it.

Alex and Aaron geek out about how BuildWitt Leaders is going, as well as their excitement over the last few episodes of the podcast recordings in Aaron's house.

This week, the guys dig in about how people start a dirt world business without debt (and how debt can be a useful business tool) and when Aaron first started to understand the need for change in Dirt World culture.

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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Molly Abbott of ban•spas Consulting is our guest this week. ban•spas is an organizational consulting + interior design firm based in the Arizona desert, and Molly was kind enough to work on a pretty big BuildWitt project: she designed and planned out the new BuildWitt Offices in Nashville, TN. Since she and Aaron Witt are the 2 people most intimately familiar with the space, it made sense to get them to talk about the entire process! And since we got a handful of requests asking to hear an episode about the new office, we figured we could share the conversation as a podcast!

Molly, along with Aaron and Alex, talk about the long history of the building, why we felt compelled to build out a custom space for a team that is scattered all over the US, and why the space already feels SO special. Thanks for letting us geek out about our new offices.

To keep up with what Molly and ban•spas are up to, check out the links below:

website: banspas.com

Instagram: @banspas.consulting

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mollymargaretabbott/

Pinterest: pinterest.com/banspasconsulting/_saved/

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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Happy Monday! This week, Aaron and Alex chat at Aaron's home "studio"... but this is one of the last times ever, as the new BuildWitt Studios are almost complete! Can't wait to share photos and videos of the new space with the Dirt Talk community.

On this week's episode, Aaron and Alex discuss what it takes to transition from doing landscaping work to excavation, Aaron's interest in owning a warehouse, and the naming rights of the BuildWitt skid steer.

We're SO excited to be sharing the link to BuildWitt Leaders, our new leadership education website. Visit and join at leaders.buildwitt.com and join the movement to help make the Dirt World a better place.

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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As a general rule, we at BuildWitt LOVE to engage with people who love the Dirt World as much as we do. So, when we first started chatting with David Cutler through email, LinkedIn, etc, it was clear immediately that he's got the passion for our industry running through his veins. And as the podcast team was building out the guest list, it just started to make more and more sense to bring David on the show, and we sure are glad we did.

David Cutler is a Senior Estimator/Project Manager with Benchmark Site Development in eastern Pennsylvania, but what stood out is that he's also a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). He's made it a mission to marry his expertise in engineering with his passion for dirt to more effectively build his communities, and you can't go wrong working with someone like that. He had plenty of expertise to share, and we can't wait for y'all to listen.

Link to the Fort McHenry Tunnel video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5R504FolbE0

U Chapter 2 Brainery: https://uchapter2.com/uc2-brainery/

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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This week, Aaron is in Montana, taking some much-needed "time off". As you'll hear, though, he still stays pretty involved. Aaron talks about how he's spending his time alone out in the mountains, and Alex and Aaron commiserate on endless shipping delays.

Aaron and Alex also answer a few listener-submitted questions. They discuss building relationships with new co-workers, being honest with customers, and Aaron's preferred boots and hardhat (we are not advertising, we swear!).

To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and join in on the conversation.

If you have questions/comments/concerns, reach out to [email protected].

Stay Dirty!

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