LBM Talks

Thom Cafaro is the Director of Marketing and Sales at Arnold Lumber Company. Arnold Lumber Company was named a 2025 Dealer of the Year by LBM Journal for many reasons, one being their knack for innovation.

Take for example their latest YouTube series "Breaking Ground," a show that marries their builders and suppliers by documenting different stages of the homebuilding process.

Sally and Thom discuss the origin of their "Breaking Ground" series, the effort it takes to capture; edit; organize; and publish digital content, how different departments at their company collaborate, and more.

If you're interested in learning how this sort of innovation begins and succeeds, check out this episode.
You can reach out to Thom with questions or comments at [email protected].
All general podcast inquires should go to [email protected].

If you have ever found yourself in a cycle of burnout, this podcast is for you.

Nicole Hicks was a credit manager in the LBM industry for approximately 20 years. Last November, she made a change and is now a Career Ownership Coach at The Entrepreneur's Source.

In this episode, Thea and Nicole discuss how stressful the credit manager profession can be, Nicole's journey out of the industry, how to manage and relieve stress, what a positive work environment looks like, and balancing work and personal life.

If you want to get in touch with Nicole, you can call her at 801-719-0746, email [email protected], or connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hicks-81b83530/.

For any podcast related inquiries, contact Thea at [email protected].

Patrick Kenefick, Marketing Coordinator at Cape Cod Lumber, joins this episode of LBM Talks Social Media.

Sally and Patrick discuss how CCL uses TikTok, the chaos that comes with creating and managing content, ways to get more organized, Instagram's collaboration feature, and more.

If you're interested in learning how social media is useful for businesses, check out this short episode. During their conversation, Sally and Patrick build off of each other's ideas, resulting in an information packed episode.

For podcast related inquires, reach out to sally@lbmjournal.

Connect with Patrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kenefick-a4920962/

There are many factors to consider when making a new hire. Do they understand the job? Do they fit our culture? Are they here to stay or just gain experience?

Rodney Schwab is the Regional Vice President at Professional Alternatives, the nation’s largest recruitment and consulting firm specializing exclusively in commercial credit, collections and risk management.

In this episode, Rodney and Thea discuss reasons employees leave their employers, what qualities to look for in your next hire, characteristics of Generation Z, how businesses can decrease turnover, and more.

Caitlin Stone and Chris Roelandts work together to create content for and manage Big C Lumber's social media accounts. Both have full time jobs with the company, but recognized the opportunity to do more with social media and took on the effort together. 

With 16 locations, these two cover a lot of ground when highlighting their Big C Lumber online. By focusing on their employees, company culture, and the unique aspects of their business, Caitlin and Chris have increased online engagement within their communities and their company. 

Tune into the full conversation to learn what prompted Caitlin and Chris to take on this job, how they work together to create content, tools they use, and how they've seen it affect their business.

https://bigclumber.com

In this episode, Thea urges you to ask yourself what your breaking point is when it comes to filing liens.

Tune into this short episode to get Thea's advice on when and how to go about this process.

For all podcast related inquiries, contact [email protected].

Today, Sally is joined by John Perna, President/CEO, and Jon Jacob, VP of Business Development, from Hamilton Building Supply.

Odds are you've seen Hamilton Building Supply on social media through their humorous vertical videos, which is why we needed to chat with them.

In this episode, John and Jon share when and why Hamilton started utilizing social media, the decisions they made that led them to where they're currently at, networking and hiring opportunities that social media has unlocked, and what's involved in their content creation process. 

You can find Hamilton on Instagram @hamiltonbuilingsupply.

For any podcast related inquires, contact [email protected].

In this episode, Thea is joined by Janet Hammel. Janet and Thea met at LBM Strategies 2024 where she was accompanying her husband who works for Morsches Builders Mart. With Janet's unique connections to both credit and the LBM industry, Thea insisted she join her on the podcast.

Janet shares advice on protecting your business from fraud. She shares that there is not one action you can take, but many proactive measures to make your business difficult to steal from.

Janet and Thea will be taking this subject deeper in an upcoming webinar with LBM Journal on 3/25/25. This webinar is free for qualified LBM pros. Sign up for our enewsletter to receive more information at https://lbmjournal.com

Mentioned resource: https://www.ftc.gov

For all inquiries, contact Thea at [email protected]

In this episode, Sadie Hoyt, Marketing Specialist at Dakota County Lumber located in Farmington MN, shares the story of when and why her company decided to hire someone new to manage their presence on social media.

Sadie also shares who her company targets on social media, what kind of content they make and why, and advice for LBM dealers aspiring to get started.

We hope you enjoy this episode. Be sure to leave us a comment, letting us know what you think and what other topics you would like discussed. For any social media inquiries, contact [email protected].

Connect with Sadie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadie-hoyt-365109113/

Sprout Social Blog (resource): https://sproutsocial.com/insights/

Veteran credit managers are retiring and a lot of companies don’t know what to do.

Join Thea and Jon Flora, CEO of the National Association of Credit Managers (NACM) Business Credit Services (BSC), as they discuss topics like recruiting, networking, and training; all necessary protocol to keeping your back office staffed.

Please send any inquires to [email protected].