This week, Matt and Trey dive into one of the most underrated growth hacks in business: reaching out to your competitors and learning from the people who are one or two steps ahead of you.

Most founders stay in their bubble — afraid, embarrassed, or too proud to reach out. But the fastest way to level up isn’t guessing… it’s talking to someone who’s already solved the problem you’re facing today.

We break down:

• Why shadowing other businesses accelerates growth

• How early-stage owners can skip mistakes by learning from someone slightly ahead

• Why staying curious keeps you from getting stagnant

• How to reach out the right way (and not be weird about it)

• The real opportunities that come from building relationships with your “competition”

• Stories from our own shadowing experiences — what we learned, what surprised us, and how it changed our operations

Whether you're just starting, acquiring your first company, or scaling a team — this episode will give you a blueprint for learning faster and building a network that pays off for years.

In this episode, Trey and Matt dive into one of the most overlooked skills in the trades: professionalism.

Everyone talks about work ethic. Everyone talks about skill.
But nobody talks about the one thing that actually gets you promoted from the field to the office:

➡️ How you present yourself.

We break down why the way you show up — your communication, your attitude, your appearance, your consistency — says more about your future than how many boards you can cut or pilings you can set.

We cover:

• Why some guys get promoted even if they aren’t the most skilled
• How to represent yourself like a leader (even before you are one)
• The daily habits that make your boss trust you with more
• The mistakes that silently kill promotions
• Why professionalism matters more in the next generation of blue-collar work
• How small improvements create massive opportunities

If you’re in the trades, on a crew, or working your way up and wondering,
“How do I take the next step?”
…this episode lays out the roadmap.

Because in 2025 and beyond, you don’t just need to be good with tools —
you need to carry yourself like someone who can represent a company.

In today’s episode Trey breaks down the hardest situation he’s faced since acquiring Old Florida Docks.

When you buy a business, you inherit the people. That can be a blessing or a challenge. In this case, it was both.

This episode cover:

• What happens when a long-tenured employee resents new ownership• Why talent alone isn’t enough to build a healthy team• The red flags Trey ignored for too long• The moment he knew he had to make a change• How the company actually got stronger after the decision• Lessons for anyone leading in the trades, especially through acquisitions

This story isn’t about calling anyone out.
It’s about growth, leadership, boundaries.
and the decisions every business owner eventually has to face.

If you’ve ever struggled to let someone go because they were “too valuable,” this one will hit home.

The Matt Cone life and business update we have all been waiting for.

Southern Materials is on the move, Matt is balancing his personal life, and he is getting better one load at a time!

This episode is all about posting — why it matters today, and why it will matter even more for the next generation.

The business landscape is shifting.
Younger owners are building brands online instead of waiting for referrals. They’re growing faster, reaching farther, and connecting with people they would’ve never met in the “old” way of doing business.

That’s why we started sharing our journey. It’s why people from all over the country have reached out, and why we’ve hit 1,700 plays across our first 20 episodes.

Our favorite line from this episode sums it all up:

“You can’t operate in the shadows or you’ll lose to someone in the spotlight.”

Thanks for joining us on the first 20. The future is bright.

Running a business forces you to look in the mirror — and sometimes you don’t like what you see.

This week we talk about habits. The good, the bad, and the ones that hold you back.

Matt opens up about quitting drinking, and Trey shares he is creating stronger habits in his life — because as business owners, there's no room to be lazy or lead from the couch.

We cover the habits that make us better leaders and better men:
• Waking up early• Reading• Staying rooted in faith• Limiting social media• Being intentional with our time

If you're building something real, you can't afford to numb out, drift, or live on autopilot.

This is about choosing discipline, purpose, and showing up. Every day.

This week we sat down with someone we met right here on LinkedIn — an engineer from California who spends his weekdays behind a desk and his weekends running excavation jobs.

He’s not just talking about starting a business someday — he’s doing it on the side, building his reputation one job at a time.

We talk about balancing a full-time career with chasing something bigger, when to finally make the leap, and what it actually takes to start from scratch.

🎙️ Dirt to Docks | Real stories from the trades, small business, and the people bold enough to bet on themselves.

If we could start our careers over again… what would we do differently?

Would we go to college?
Would we take more risks?
Would we still end up building businesses — or try to climb the ladder somewhere else first?

This episode is one we both wish existed when we were 18.

We talk about the decisions that actually mattered, the ones that didn’t, and what we’d tell our younger selves before taking that first big leap.

Every business owner knows the lows — the stress, the setbacks, the sleepless nights.

But today, we’re talking about the highs.
The moments that make it all worth it — from closing a big sale to spotting your buddy rocking your company hat across town.

This episode is a reminder that the good days always outweigh the bad ones if you’re building something that matters.

Tune in to Dirt to Docks — where we talk business ownership, blue-collar pride, and finding joy in the grind.

Zachary Schmidt, Assistant Project Manager at Old Florida Docks, joins us for a real conversation about what it’s like working in the blue collar trades.

Matt puts Trey on the spot by asking Zack what it’s like working under Trey’s leadership — and the answers show what happens when a company truly values a winning culture.

We dig into construction culture, team management, and what it takes to build a strong crew in marine construction.

If you’re building a team or running a trades business, this episode will hit home.