Dirt Talk Podcast

Garrett Moss is the President of Moss Utilities, a utility contractor in the DFW area that he began three years ago in his early 30's. Even though he's the fifth generation, he's built his own business from the ground up after his father's business closed during the recession in 2008.

The growth of Moss Utilities has been wild over the past few years as they went from nothing to hundreds of employees seemingly overnight. While Moss's "success" looks fantastic from the outside, it's come with struggles that Garrett and the business have had overcome.

Garrett and I talk about what cash flow struggles he's faced, why it pays to treat his people exceptionally well, why customer service matters in the utility world, and how he's kept his mind straight during tough times.

You can follow along with Moss at @mossutilities on Instagram and connect with Garrett on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettmoss/

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BuildWitt VP Dan Briscoe and I talk about how we met, why he joined BuildWitt, and how it’s worked out so far.

Dan’s been with me since day one and has had an enormous impact on our business. That said, he’s typically behind the scenes, so everyone online thinks all this BuildWitt stuff is just me. If it was just me, it would be a disaster.

The nice thing about the podcast is that we have a new avenue to show everyone how we make the sausage at BuildWitt. Stay tuned for more episodes from Dan and me talking about how we’ve structured our company, how we do sales and marketing, and all the screw ups we’ve made so far.

To follow along with Dan, connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dfbriscoe/

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The world's in a crazy place, and business owners are scrambling to ensure the future of their companies. With so much uncertainty, I thought I'd interview someone who's lead a successful business through many troubled times. While I don't know what to do, Herb Sargent, President of Sargent Corp, might have a better idea.

First, we briefly touch on his response to the crisis and what new policies Sargent Corp has enacted over the past few weeks to keep their people safe while continuing to work.

Next, rather than COVID itself, we focused a majority of our conversation on preparing a business for a downturn. There's no doubt that there are troubling economic times here and on the horizon, and I wanted to dig into what Herb's doing to prepare.

There's tons of incredible information in this interview for both business owners and anyone in society. It's an excellent glimpse behind the scenes of what leaders are facing, and I left the conversation feeling inspired. Hopefully, you do too!

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While the podcast is titled Dirt Talk, we barely touched on dirt in this episode and instead discussed life, religion, marriage, painful lessons, and leadership.

Many people know Mikel Bowman as an extremely upbeat and inspirational mining industry leader, but it took a lot of pain and work to get to where he is today. We dive into his past only a few minutes in to talk about his mistakes early on, how he met his wife, and how he eventually found his way into Bible college.

From there, he went on to become a counselor, and after a number of difficulties both personally and professionally, he knew he needed a major change. That's when he found the mining industry, which is where he's been ever since. He started by doing anything and everything he could, worked his way up to a driller, and today he's Turner Mining Group's, Chief Culture Guru.

"Yes, there was the motivation of wanting to be home with my wife and kids. Two, the stress of what had previously happened over the past seven years had deteriorated our marriage, and I knew and felt in my heart that I was going to lose my wife. And she was literally my best friend. I think on my deathbed, that would've been my biggest, most glaring mistake. That if I lost her, I lost everything.

My drive is to want to do better and make me better. I don't get up in the morning and think, 'gee, my boss isn't looking at me this way, or I'll never progress because of my race or religion.' I think about, 'how do I punch yesterday's Mike Bowman in the gut and defeat him? How do I do better every day? How do I beat my own records?' Because I'm not competing against anyone but me."

Learn more about Mikel and follow along with him at @mikelbowman243 on Instagram and @Mikel Bowman on LinkedIn!

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Odds are you've heard of Keaton Turner if you're on social media in the dirt world. He's made a whole lot of noise online when it comes to recruiting the next generation and has used it to his advantage to build a nationwide mining company.

While most everyone's heard Keaton's philosophy on hiring and seen Turner Mining's culture online, most don't understand what it takes to build such a large business in only a few short years.

Keaton and I dive into the struggles of starting a business, how he's financing his growth, why he rents most his iron, some of the mistakes he's made, and the growing pains involved. We cover a lot of ground, and Keaton responds to every question in a sincere manner.

Follow Keaton on Instagram @keatonsturner or LinkedIn!

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Due to much good fortune, I had the chance to speak with Dave at this year's Conexpo on the differences between our generations. Since not everyone who'd like to hear our talk could be there, we made it a podcast!

Dave and I talk about our frustrations with our generations and each other's, how Dave is training and hiring, and we get into Dave's new show, Dave Turin's Lost Mine.

Despite Dave being over twice my age and me lacking a majority of his real-world experience, we're both on the same page when it comes to inspiring and recruiting the next generation of miners and blue-collar workers. It's time to put our egos and insecurities aside and begin to invest in the future before it's too late.

Since I spend high school and college watching Dave on TV, I'm pretty damn excited about this one. Hopefully, you enjoy it too!

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Herb R. Sargent, President and CEO of Maine-based Sargent Corp, has an incredibly unique story because he's third-generation construction while also being a first-generation business owner.

In 1926, Herb Sargent's grandfather started a heavy construction business called H. E Sargent with a dump truck and steam shovel. The company expanded and changed over the decades as Herb's dad and Herb himself joined the family business to build airports, interstates, and dams.

In 1988, a large French company purchased H. E Sargent. After a few years of working for the changing business, Herb R. Sargent thought he could start his own business. So he did.

He not only started a new business, called Sargent and Sargent, but grew it so fast that in 2005, they purchased H. E Sargent back from the French when the company was over four times the size of his own. The best part about this was that his grandfather was alive to see the company back in the Sargent family.

The two companies merged to become what's now Sargent Corporation -- a heavy civil construction company with over 400 people and work in seven states across the Northeast.

Sargent represents the other group of companies BuildWitt's proud to serve, beyond younger companies with younger owners. Those who have decades of experience and decorated history but also understand that they need to do business differently if they are to succeed in the future.

Herb's experience, combined with his young mindset, makes him an extraordinary leader who's built an exceptional business. Sargent Corp is not only now employee-owned, but they have their academy in which they recruit, train, and pay kids fresh out of high school to give a career in construction a shot.

Find out more about Herb and Sargent Corp at https://sargent-corp.com/, or you can follow him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/herb-r-sargent-29a791152/.

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Most everyone in the heavy equipment world has dealt with a Caterpillar dealer at one point or another, but most don't understand how much goes on behind the scenes to support every machine. There's an enormous effort that goes into selling, maintaining, renting, financing, and everything else machines require.

Craig Kahoun is the Executive Vice President of Carter Machinery, a world-class equipment dealer based out of Virginia with over 90 years of history. You'd think that many years of hitting home runs would create an air of arrogance, but it's the complete opposite with Carter.

Despite their dominance (they have over 750 technicians and recently acquired Alban Caterpillar), they're always on the lookout for better ways to serve their customers and their people. Instead of complaining about technology and the lack of trained people in the workforce, they're transforming and investing in their business to do things differently and create the future workforce they know they need.

Craig and I dive into technician training, how much they do for their customers, and how they're digitally transforming their entire business. It's awesome to hear about and is so much more than selling tractors!

You can connect with Craig at https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-kahoun-b600aa5a/ and learn more about Carter at https://cartermachinery.com/.

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This episode follows my first interview with Missy Scherber, where we discussed what she does daily and what it's like to be a woman in construction. While I thought the conversation went great at first, she was frustrated about having to defend herself for being a business owner. Initially, we thought it was best to delete it and start over.

I set aside my excitement for releasing the episode, and we dove into why she was bothered by the original interview. After talking through the unintentional biases and other frustrations, we decided to leave the episode as is and record a follow-up episode talking it all through in an incredibly authentic manner.

I'm even more excited about this interview than I was the first, and I think it's a conversation that everyone in construction needs to hear. We talk about what being a woman in construction is like, the judgment and biases that exist, and what men and women can do to create a better environment for everyone.

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Five years ago, Missy Scherber dropped what she thought was her dream job in the nonprofit world to become co-owner of her husband's dumpster company so they could also focus on starting an excavation company. How bananas is that?

Missy is a passionate person who, when she sees a gap, she immediately fills it. When I say she dove into the dirt life, I mean it. She's spent the last few years building a massive community on Instagram where not only does she show the daily work of the T. Scherber equipment operators, but also the behind the scenes of running the business. She's even added a newborn to the mix and was back to work only four days later.

My goal with this episode was to shed light on Missy's daily work and get the scoop on what it's like being a woman in construction.

Missy is arguably one of the best sources of inspiration for workforce development and women in construction with her social posts and overall philosophies. We discuss the struggles of running a business, how construction needs to change to inspire more women to join the industry, and why this industry is such a great place to work in the first place.

To find much more about Missy, follow her @missyscherber on Instagram or her website thescherberreport.com.

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