ICEBREAKER Podcast

In Episode 9 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down with Chris Franks, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Omaha/Valley. Chris is a South Omaha kid, Creighton undergrad, master's in meteorology, and a 20-year NWS lifer: Milwaukee (100 inches of snow his first year), seven winters in Minneapolis (including the Metrodome collapse storm), seven years in Kansas City, then home to Nebraska. He does science, warnings, and forecasts with one mission: public safety. If you run snow ops, this episode is the decoder ring for the forecasts you build crews and budgets around. What you will learn in this episode: • Life at the NWS: Quiet training days vs. all-hands severe shifts, media chat during wall-to-wall coverage, and who is actually calling when the phones blow up (EMs, schools, Friday night lights). • How far out you can see a major winter storm: Big-pattern signals 7-9 days out, why they do not cry wolf on every model spike, and how they "land the forecast" as track, temps, and snow-vs-ice wobble. • American vs. European models: Why physics and data processing differ, why picking a favorite model is a bust waiting to happen, and why ensembles and model averages beat team loyalty. • Biggest forecast misconceptions: No, they do not control the weather. No, it is not a coin flip. Skill is night-and-day better than 20 years ago thanks to satellites, computing, and human expertise. • Probabilities contractors can use: Chance of 2"+ or 6"+ (or 10"+) for trigger planning, high/low-end potential, and what big probability numbers 2-3 days out actually signal. • What 30% / 60% / 80% means: Coverage and confidence, not "how much." NWS point forecasts are for your location, not "60% of Nebraska." • Weather that flies below the radar: Freezing drizzle and freezing rain as the worst impact events (Minneapolis metro nightmare: hundreds of accidents, early-season, hard to see on radar). Give Chris snow over ice every time. • Underrated hazard: Blowing snow and true blizzard conditions outside the city, open country, and I-80 exposure where you lose the road. • Bonus color: Aviation forecasting most people never see, Cold War-era alert tones and outdoor sirens that did not start as tornado sirens, and if the office is on fire Chris is saving the radar (Hulk strength optional). Rapid fire includes underrated hazards, misused weather terms (El Niño is ocean temps, not a storm headed for Omaha), perfect snow amount (give him six), and why he will talk to a contractor any day: their people and their business are on the line. If you plow, treat, dispatch, or bid winter work, this one will change how you read the next model run. Connect with the National Weather Service Omaha/Valley for local forecasts and warnings. Learn more about Ice Solutions & Arctic Armor: myicesolutions.com Guest ideas or questions? Email [email protected]

In Episode 8 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down with Doug Knoerdel, Operations Manager at Ice Solutions. Doug has about 20 years in snow and ice. He grew up in his parents' residential landscape and snow business on the New Jersey shore, started riding along as a kid, and by roughly 12 years old was left in the machine on a commercial lot with one rule: don't leave the parking lot. By 17 he ran his own residential route of 100+ driveways. Around 2015-2016 he stepped away from the family business to protect the relationship with his parents, went fully commercial, and on day one of a new ops role got handed a brand-new 550 with a 1,000-gallon brine sprayer he had never run. That night started a liquids path that still shapes how he thinks about snow ops today. What you will learn in this episode: • Growing up in a family snow business: From gopher and shoveler to machine operator to residential routes, Christmas in the truck with Dad, and why stepping away from Mom and Dad's company saved the relationship. • Residential vs. commercial: Why Mrs. Smith's Friday 4 p.m. call is a different animal than high-risk facility work, and how residential built his customer skills and tough skin. • Day-one brine: Interview in January, snow that night, only truck left was a long-frame 550 with a SnowEx 1,000-gallon sprayer and a big V-plow. Learning fill, pump, controller, and rate control on the fly. • What made him a believer: Immediate reaction. Side-by-side with a salt lot still sitting while the brine lot was already wet blacktop, using a fraction of the material. • Customer conversation: Cutting salt spend from roughly $500K to about $100K (brine manufacturing) on a full production year, changing the invoice line from "salting" to "deicing," and sometimes showing results before over-explaining the product. • Biggest misconception: "It's just water." Why residual granular salt keeps rotting concrete and feeding watersheds, and why liquids leave less residual once the job is done. • Where liquids hit ops hardest: Fleet and logistics. Silo or brine tank vs. tarped salt bins, loaders, unsafe pile climbs, and lost production time. • Sidewalk ROI: Bagged CMA at $13–$19 vs. a couple gallons of brine, plus labor saved when anti-icing covers the early inch so crews are not scrambling at 6 a.m. • Mistakes Doug owns: Backing into things with a spray bar, driving off with the fill hose still connected, and the curb rule every plow guy knows. • Advice for contractors on the fence: Start small. One tote or 55-gallon drum on sidewalks beats buying ten sprayers and ten trucks and falling on your face. • Rapid fire: Pre-treat over react, stream nozzles, reaction time as the underrated benefit, salt savings as the conversion driver, "it's only water" as the biggest myth, and one word for the future of liquids: innovative. If you grew up in this industry, run commercial snow, or are thinking about liquids, this episode is the unfiltered New Jersey style version.

In Episode 7 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down with Jack Kobes, co-owner of Owen's Mowing out of Omaha, Nebraska.

What started with Jack pushing a neighbor's lawn mower as a kid became a full-time landscape and snow operation in 2019. Today Jack and his brother run local strip malls and smaller lots at home, then load up for travel snow on massive distribution centers and big-box sites, including multi-day Bentonville and Houston runs. This episode is honest operator talk: the good, the messy, and the parts nobody puts on a highlight reel. What you will learn in this episode: • Building from a side hustle: How Owen's Mowing went from school-year mowing to full-time commercial work, subcontracting, and owning their own lots. • Travel snow vs. local lots: Why a 1.2-mile windrow on a distribution center is a different beast than bouncing between Omaha strip malls, and what it takes to keep crews motivated on multi-state pivots (including an Arkansas-to-Houston stretch that turned into nearly a week on the road). • Bentonville chaos: Coordinating out-of-town properties by store number, picking up 12 extra-large commercial sites mid-storm when another provider failed, and running 37-39 hour stretches with group phone calls lasting 14-16 hours. • De-icing reality: Why most of their book still runs salt (plus Ice Slicer / treated salt), why a few accounts still want sand, and why Jack is interested in liquids to simplify truck setups and cut corrosion concerns. • Operator truth: Staying focused after hour 30, why almost everyone who plows long enough has backed into a pole, and why safety (pull over and sleep) matters more than bragging about marathon shifts. • Family business leadership: The hard part of employing your brother and close friends when you hate confrontation but still have to run the business. • Local storm prep: Halloween equipment deadlines, day-before plow and salter mounts, True Weather for start times and post-storm inch reports, prioritizing bread-and-butter contracts before travel, and the nap-at-home mistake you only make once. • Rapid fire: Night storms, small events over one giant blizzard, energy drinks, wheel loaders, and the thousand alarms on a snow guy's phone. If you push snow, manage crews, bid commercial work, or are thinking about travel snow, this one will feel familiar in the best way. Connect with Owen's Mowing: owensmowing.com Learn more about Ice Solutions & Arctic Armor: myicesolutions.com Guest ideas or questions? Email [email protected]

In Episode 6 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down live at the SIMA Snow & Ice Symposium with Scott Scharaldi, Director of Operations at East Coast Facilities. With over 30 years of experience managing regional snow operations for industry giants like Brickman, BrightView, and LandCare, Scott breaks down why East Coast Facilities pivoted to a self-perform model and how operational visibility changes everything when severe weather hits. What you will learn in this episode: • Self-Perform vs. The Broker Model: Why relying solely on subcontractors leaves you "handcuffed to a cell phone," and how self-performing gives you total operational control, real-time accountability, and better execution. • Tech on the Front Lines: How live GPS tracking (monitoring everything from fuel levels to machine speed) and internal operator dashboards allow operations managers to fill labor gaps and shift regional crews across state lines seamlessly. • Pre-Storm and Post-Storm Execution: The critical steps East Coast Facilities takes before, during, and after a storm, including shift planning for 24+ hour events and restocking logistics to handle back-to-back blizzards. • The #1 Operational Mistake in Snow Removal: Why planning for a "dusting" can ruin your season. Scott shares his cardinal rule: "Plan for a foot of snow, everything else is gravy." Advice for Growing Snow Contractors: How up-and-coming entrepreneurs can scale from one truck and a shovel by building a network of industry "frenemies," embracing new technology, and constantly learning from peers. Whether you run a single pickup truck or oversee multi-state commercial properties, this episode is packed with practical strategies to help you stay ahead of the storm. Connect with East Coast Facilities: EastCoastFacilities.com Learn more about Ice Solutions & Arctic Armor: MyIceSolutions.com Got questions or topic requests? Email [email protected]

How does an iconic brand stay at the top of the snow and ice industry for 40+ years? It comes down to one thing: listening to the customers in the trenches and taking care of the teams who support them. In this episode of ICEBREAKER, recorded live at the SIMA Symposium, Amanda sits down with Mike Mindok, Director of Sales at BOSS Snowplow. Mike shares his journey from hands-on service technician to sales executive, giving listeners an inside look at how BOSS evaluates new product ideas, tests equipment before it hits the market, and maintains 40-year relationships with its dealer network. Amanda and Mike also dive into the new partnership between BOSS Snowplow and Ice Solutions, the industry-wide resurgence of liquid de-icing, the dangerous bidding mistakes sinking contractors, and what the next decade holds for snow operations. In this episode, you'll hear: • The BOSS Product Pipeline, How ideas move from field feedback to engineering, testing, and eventual market launch (and why over-engineering is the enemy). • 40 Years of Dealer Loyalty, Why BOSS's dealer network is the backbone of the brand and how "treating dealers like family" keeps contractors supported when a storm hits. • The BOSS x Ice Solutions Partnership, Why BOSS aligned with Ice Solutions and how liquids fit into the modern contractor's fleet. • The #1 Bidding Mistake Sinking Contractors, Why new operators underprice their work in years 1 and 2, and how lack of cost education leads to burnout. • The Resurgence of Liquid De-Icing, How better education, VSI equipment, and property owner awareness are bringing liquids back to the forefront. • Plus, a rapid-fire round covering 5-foot snowstorms, day vs. night plowing, Red Wing boots, and the best advice Mike ever received: "Every service is a sale." STAY AHEAD OF THE STORM Subscribe to ICEBREAKER on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Got a guest suggestion? Email us at [email protected].

From drilling holes in a piece of PVC pipe on a fertilizer tank to building VSI. One of the most recognized liquid de-icing equipment manufacturers in North America. Jordan Smith's journey is the ultimate blueprint for the modern snow contractor. In this episode of ICEBREAKER, live from the SIMA Symposium, Amanda sits down with Jordan Smith (founder of Smith Lawn and Landscape, creator of VSI Liquid De-Icing Equipment, and CEO of Storm Equipment). Jordan shares the raw, unfiltered story of how a college kid running a lawn and dog-waste cleanup business grew a 60-person operation, pioneered all-liquid de-icing in Minnesota, and built an equipment empire that caught the attention of Toro and BOSS. In this episode, you'll hear: • The Birth of VSI. How a fertilizer tank, a farm-kid employee named David Voigt, and an egg sprayer proportioning valve became the first VSI liquid applicator. • "We Turned 100 Acres into Pure Ice". The painful 5:20 AM call that taught Jordan a critical lesson about hot brine, trial and error, and why cheaper isn't always better. • Going All-Liquid in 2012. Why Jordan abandoned spreading dry salt over a decade ago, how he educated clients (starting with Rolls-Royce), and why spraying liquid at 0°F makes sense once you understand the science. • The Ego Trap & 8 Streams of Income. Jordan's candid advice to young entrepreneurs on starting too many businesses at once, losing cash flow, and why "overnight success" usually takes ten years of getting your butt kicked. • Selling VSI to BOSS & Toro. What it really takes to scale a manufacturing brand and why staying true to the contractor mindset made VSI an acquisition target. • Plus, a rapid-fire round covering energy drinks, Red Wing boots, why "Chaos" describes the snow industry, and the one hill Jordan is willing to die on. Take the chance. Enjoy the moment. Learn from every decision. Subscribe to ICEBREAKER on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Got a guest suggestion? Email us at [email protected].

That two to four inch forecast on your phone? It's not telling you the whole story. It is costing you time, money, and exhausted crews.

In this episode of Ice Breaker, Amanda sits down with Mark Shanaberger, meteorologist and weather intelligence specialist at trueWeather. Mark spent 16 years in broadcast television, went back to school for a master's degree in software engineering, and made the jump to trueWeather in 2020 to build something the industry actually needed: actionable, operations-focused weather intelligence built specifically for snow and ice contractors.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why Mark got into meteorology — it wasn't a lightning bolt moment, it was probability, statistics, and a refusal to take no for an answer

• What "actionable weather" actually means — pavement accumulation, first and second inch timing, de-icing application windows, and why two to four inches of falling snow is never two to four inches on every surface

• Salt vs. brine guidance, pushed to your dashboard — how trueWeather worked to build real-time recommendations on what to apply, when, and in what blend based on your specific zip code conditions

• The sleep argument — how a more precise forecast keeps crews rested, safe, and ready to push when it actually matters

• Climatology reports and budgeting — how one trueWeather client came within 2% of their projections using historical event data to build smarter bids

• What's coming next — pre-storm webinars, longer-range seasonal risk forecasting, and what that means for buying salt before the shortage hits

Plus, what's the difference between a weather app and a paid service? Mark breaks it down in plain language every operator needs to hear.

TrueWeather is nationwide across the US and Canada. Find them at truewx.com/contact or on all major social platforms.

Subscribe to Ice Breaker on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Got a guest suggestion? Email us at [email protected].

He calls himself the outsider of the industry. No lawn care, no landscaping, just snow, dust control, and disaster response, anywhere in the country, on short notice.

In this episode of ICEBREAKER, Amanda sits down with Wes, third-generation owner of Zimmerman Sales and Service and founder of ASM (Advanced Situation Mitigation) out of Iowa. Wes and his wife run a family business that started with skid loaders and grew into a full-scale emergency response operation, deploying crews to storms across Texas, the Carolinas, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and beyond, sometimes with a two-hour heads-up before a 14-hour drive.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The ASM story — how a rebrand turned "snow removal on the side" into Advanced Situation Mitigation, a business built on solving other people's problems

• Emergency response on the road — what it really takes to deploy a crew out of state, the logistics nobody talks about, and the time a guy drove to Dallas without his plow remote

• The 10-year partnership — how Wes and Austin built trust long before either business looked the way it does today

• Salt to liquid — why Wes made the switch, what it's saved him in maintenance headaches, and the biggest misconception customers still have about brine

• Night shift culture — how ASM keeps crews safe and motivated through the long overnight pushes

Plus, a rapid-fire round covering energy drinks, Reese's, work boots, and the one word Wes uses to describe his company.

Take the chance. Enjoy the moment. Learn from every decision.

Subscribe to Ice Breaker on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Got a guest suggestion? Email us at [email protected] or find us on LinkedIn.

He was six years old, riding shotgun in a Dodge Dakota, running the plow controller while his dad pushed snow at 2 a.m. By 22, he was buying 30 skid loaders, signing bank loans, and managing 10 major box store locations in a city he'd barely lived in for a year.

In the first episode of ICEBREAKER, host Amanda sits down with Austin Alff of Alf Construction, a 33-year-old who has never had a W-2 job in his life and built a multi-state snow and ice operation almost entirely without marketing or social media. Just grit, risk tolerance, and a relentless commitment to doing what he says he's going to do.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The origin story — how a firefighter's side hustle in Atlantic, Iowa turned into a family legacy that's still servicing the same locations 20+ years later

• The big jump — what it felt like going from 2 sites to 15 overnight, and what it really takes to fund that kind of growth

• Growing without marketing — how Austin scaled across Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and beyond on reputation alone

• The liquid de-icing conversation — misconceptions, misapplication, and why Austin believes education is the biggest opportunity in the industry right now

• Advice for the 20-year-old in a Dodge Dakota — the two things Austin says he wishes he'd learned sooner

This one's packed. Whether you're in year one or year twenty, there's something in Austin's story that's going to hit home.

Don't give up. Ask for help. Keep pushing.

Subscribe to ICEBREAKER on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Got a guest suggestion? Email us at [email protected] or find us on LinkedIn.

Before episode one, there's this.

Welcome to ICEBREAKER, the podcast built for the people pushing snow at 3 a.m., making decisions in the dark, and figuring it out one storm at a time. We're talking about the snow and ice industry the way it deserves to be talked about: honestly, directly, and without the fluff.

In this intro episode, host Amanda, brand ambassador for Ice Solutions and a 18-year law enforcement veteran turned Director of Operations for 400+ snow removal locations, introduces herself, the show, and why she decided it was time someone finally said the quiet parts out loud.

This podcast is for the operators, managers, business owners, and everyone else we call our winter's first responders. The ones who've had calls at 2 a.m. because equipment broke, someone didn't show up, or the storm just kept going. You've been there. So has Amanda.

Here's what you can expect from Ice Breaker:

• Raw, in-depth conversations with the people who've been in it for decades

• Stories from operators grinding through 12, 15, 20-hour shifts

• Real talk from new business owners who are building it from scratch

• The mistakes, the wins, and the stuff nobody talks about at the conference, only in the parking lot

Short episodes. Real value. Zero time wasted.

Hit subscribe, leave us a review, and if you've got someone we should have on the show, reach out at [email protected].

The ice is officially broken. Let's go.

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