Irregardless

This week Shep sits down with Scott McMeekan, President and CEO of Ferret Inc., a custom roll forming company based out of Elkhart, Indiana - a city most people know as the worldwide capital of RVs, though fewer know it was also once the band instrument capital of the world.
Scott breaks down what roll forming actually is, what kinds of parts Ferret makes, and why the process is more efficient than traditional fabrication methods.
From there, the conversation gets into what Scott calls the Ferret Experience - the idea that manufacturing companies are actually service companies, and that price, quality, and delivery are just the price of admission. He also opens up about spending years hating the name "Ferret" before one stranger at a trade show completely changed his mind.
They also dig into AI, generational workforce gaps, and an app that's capturing 39 years of institutional knowledge before it walks out the door.
Turns out there's a lot to ferret out when you sit down with Scott McMeekan.

In this episode of Irregardless, Lee Letourneau sits down with Keith Jentsch, VP of Sales at Fabrication Solutions & Technologies (FST) out of Longview, Texas. Keith's path is anything but typical: plant manager at 21, moved his family to Texas on a month of runway with no job lined up, and worked his way from service manager to VP of Sales in just four years at FST.
They get into how FST sells metal forming, cutting, robotics, and automation equipment differently, by going into shops first to understand real problems before ever pitching a solution. The conversation also hits on the labor crisis, how automation is stepping in for retiring skilled workers, the booming data center market, and the legendary FST saloon booth at this week's FABTECH conference. 
Catch it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, and wherever you listen.

In Part 2, Codie opens up about the moment that changed everything. A cancer diagnosis at 39 forced him to rethink what he was doing with his time and who he was doing it for. It's the reason he left the fire department, went all in on metal art, and built Sage Country Customs into what it is today.
Codie talks about how that experience shaped his perspective as an artist and as a person, what it's like balancing a creative career with raising a family in Gunnison, Colorado, and how giving back through his art has put over $118,000 into cancer organizations in his community.

Codie Aljets, metal sculptor and owner of Sage Country Customs out of Gunnison, Colorado, joins Shep to dig into how he got here. Codie grew up in Dorsey, Illinois, a town of about 150 people, where his family ran a mechanic and body shop. He was always drawn to the creative side of that world, but it took years and a lot of detours before that instinct turned into a career. From three-dimensional birthday cakes to cutting shapes out of inherited hand saws with a plasma cutter, to a corporate sales job that landed him in Nashville and laid him off the week before Christmas, Codie spent years chasing the mountains and figuring out what he was actually wired to do.
In Part 1, he walks through how he landed in Colorado and the jobs that shaped him along the way: blacksmithing, sculpting concrete playgrounds, and becoming a firefighter and live fire instructor. He opens up about his cancer diagnosis at 39, the moment he realized building things was what mattered, and why the hardest part of being an artist has nothing to do with the art itself. Stick around to catch Part 2! 

Chad Broyles, Executive Vice President of Majestic Steel USA, sits down with Shep to talk about what it actually means to be a technology-first company in the steel industry. Majestic is a nearly 50-year-old, family-owned service center with nine locations across the U.S., but Chad says what sets them apart is their approach to data, AI, and their proprietary customer platform M-Hub.
Chad shares his 15-year path through the industry, from the plant floor at Precoat Metals to Precision Strip to nearly six years at Nucor. They also get into why tariffs are leveling the playing field for domestic producers and he pulls back the curtain on Quicken Steel and Steel Homes, a business building factory-constructed, hurricane-rated steel homes that look like any house on the block.

Part 2 of Shep's conversation with Philip Bell, President and CEO of the Steel Manufacturers Association. They zoom out from the mill floor and get into the bigger picture: what AI actually threatens, who it threatens first, and where the line is between opportunity and disruption.
Phil shares his unfiltered take on AI and intellectual property, why unfettered growth worries him, and how it's challenging the value of a four-year degree. They make the case for trades, dig into the skills gap, and Phil explains why any young person near a steel mill should go apply today. Then they close out on the industry: the shelf life of tariffs, the critical role of service centers in the U.S. ecosystem, the wave of consolidation reshaping distribution, and why the American steel model is the one the rest of the world is studying.

Shep sits down with Philip Bell, President and CEO of the Steel Manufacturers Association, the largest steel industry trade association in the U.S. Phil's mission is straightforward: fight for domestic steel producers in Washington, advocate for free and fair trade, and make sure a strong country keeps a strong steel industry.
In Part 1, they break down how the U.S. quietly surpassed Japan to become the 3rd largest steel producer in the world, what Section 232 tariffs have actually done at street level, the $30 billion in domestic investment that followed, and why permit reform is the real limiting reagent. They also get into AI's role in the steel mill, covering digital twins, predictive maintenance, and geospatial safety mapping, and why Phil believes "actual intelligence" off the shop floor is the one thing no large language model has figured out yet. Part 2 coming soon! 

Shep sits down with Steve Feamster, owner of Sanitary Welding LLC out of Novi, Michigan. Steve specializes in hygienic, food-grade stainless steel fabrication, the behind-the-scenes work that keeps food processing plants, pharmaceutical facilities, and water filtration systems clean and running. It's one of those industries that quietly touches just about everything.
Steve's road to get there is anything but straight. From growing up in Detroit tinkering with engines pulled off a garbage barge, to a serious angle grinder injury, to packing up and moving to California with nothing but a welder and a Craigslist lead, he built his business the hard way, on his own terms.
They dig into the skills gap in the trades, what shop class disappearing from schools is actually costing us, the tension between union culture and building a workplace people actually want to show up to, and where 3D metal printing is taking manufacturing.

Emme Hughes is 23, owns a 10,000 square foot metal fabrication shop in Enid, Oklahoma, and will tell you straight up: if it's metal, EH Metalworks does it. She started cutting signs on a plasma table at 18 out of pure obsession, landed a competitive USDA grant for a fiber laser cutter, and built a full-service shop from the ground up. But that's only part of the story.
Before the business, there was racing. Dirt track micro sprint cars, starting somewhere around age 6. She flipped cars, got black flagged in her very first race, and eventually became the first female to win at Enid Speedway in 20 years. All of it traces back to one person: her Papa, Ted Shepard.
We get into building on top of a legacy, walking away from racing, running a shop that does literally everything, and whether AI is quietly killing the art of actually connecting with people.

In Pt. 2 of our conversation with Andrew Roberson, owner of Dark Threat Fabrication in Heber Springs, Arkansas, we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to keep a fab shop running and growing.
Andrew gets into the early grind of chasing customers with nothing but a plasma table, the leap of faith into his first laser and press brake, and the late-night LinkedIn message that turned into a flood of POs right when he needed them most. From cash flow battles and surprise tax bills to building a team he can trust, he shares the unfiltered math behind every big decision.
We also dig into the tech shaping the modern shop, from automated sheet and tube lasers to co-bot welders and the role AI is starting to play in quoting and process. And of course, how Bryzos fits into that workflow, giving Andrew fast, transparent steel pricing so he can quote with confidence and keep his customers moving.
Listen now. The second half of a story you don't want to miss.