🎙️ Mental Health, Construction, and the Fight to Stay 

This is not your typical construction podcast.

In one of the most vulnerable and important episodes ever recorded, Jason Schroeder sits down with his close friend and co-host Jake Smaellie to talk about mental health in construction, openly, honestly, and without filters.

Jake shares his personal story of battling depression, the loss of his father to suicide, and the quiet weight many in our industry carry every single day. Together, they unpack why construction workers have one of the highest suicide rates in the U.S. even higher than military veterans and what we can actually do about it.

This conversation dives deep into:

• The pressure to “man up” and why it’s killing us.

• How planning chaos and jobsite stress quietly destroy mental health.

• The critical difference between committing suicide and dying by suicide.

• Small, life-saving ways to support our teams and ourselves.

• Jake’s own tools for navigating depression, and how service might just save your life.

This isn’t just for leaders. It’s for every human in a hard hat.

If you or someone you love has struggled with mental health or if you want to be part of real change in construction please press play. This episode could be the one that helps someone stay.

 

If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you’ll never miss an episode.  And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I’d appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊).

 

Also, here are links to our YouTube Channels:

· Jason Schroeder YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xpRYvrW5Op5Ckxs4vDGDg

· LeanTakt YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/leanTakt

· LeanSuper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQDevqQP19L4LePuqma3Fg/featured

· LeanSurvey YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ztn3okFhyB_3p5nmMKnsw