Learnings and Missteps by Depth Builder

Jesse hosts the Learnings and Missteps podcast and introduces guest Mia McGlynn, a Pennsylvania-based construction influencer, writer, photographer, and fractional support partner who focuses on “the people behind the work.” Jesse gives an LnM Family shout-out to Bryce Ager for reviewing one of Jesse’s construction trainings, and notes his business offers training, coaching, and consulting. Maya explains her passion for blue-collar stories comes from building relationships and bridging gaps between management and shop/field workers, emphasizing retention and the need for leaders to “give a shit,” not just attract more people into the industry. They discuss treating people well as foundational to solving construction’s workforce challenges, rising interest in more human-centered workplaces, and how companies that only rely on pay raises and ignore relationships will be left behind. Jesse shares his view that people should leave poor leaders to find better environments and describes how supportive leadership 

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00:00 Attraction vs. Retention: If Leaders Treat People Like Crap, Nothing Changes

00:21 Meet Maya McGlynn: Showing Up for the People Behind the Work

02:08 LnM Family Shoutout + What Jesse Actually Does (Training/Coaching/Consulting)

04:45 What Fires Maya Up: The People, the Shop Floor, and Bridging the Office–Field Gap

07:32 “Put Some Gas on the Fire”: Caring, Connection, and Why Liaison Roles Matter

14:25 The Human-Centered Shift: Mental Health, Culture Change, and Companies That Will Be Left Behind

19:56 Quit for a Better Leader: Unlocking Talent by Changing Environments

22:47 Zumba to Construction: Maya’s Fitness Journey and Accidental Entrepreneurship

28:07 Entrepreneurship as Survival: Divorce, Single-Mom Resourcefulness, and Building Independence

33:26 Seeing the People Behind the Work: Validation, Imposter Syndrome, and the Power of Humility

37:58 Learning to Accept Compliments: “I Receive That” + Permission to Celebrate

40:21 From Admin to Marketing: Finding the Holes and Creating Value at Work

43:31 Photography to Published Author: Turning Jobsite Photos into a Children’s Book

46:47 Advice for the Windowless-Office Grind: Skill Up, Build Proof, Move On

48:46 Building Workforce Pipelines: Fixing Leadership Gaps & Creating an Internship Program

51:39 Crew Collaborative Explained: Mission, Ambassadors, and How to Get Involved

54:26 Why the Podcast Exists: COVID, Trades Advocacy, and Doing Something About It

58:17 Money vs Meaning: Choosing Purpose, Setting Boundaries, and Mission-Driven Work

01:08:35 The Closing Question: “What Is the Promise You’re Intended to Be?”

01:14:16 Final Takeaways + Free PDF Gift and Send-Off

Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

In this episode of the Learnings and Missteps podcast, Jesse interviews Mike Chiles, a seasoned project director in the construction industry. They discuss the unpredictable challenges of construction, the importance of relationship building, and effective leadership. Mike emphasizes the role of leaders in developing their teams, creating a balanced and supportive work environment, and the value of feedback from those on the ground. They also delve into the importance of character development and the long-term benefits of investing in people-centric approaches. The episode concludes with reflections on the impact of leadership and the legacy one leaves through influence. 

00:00 Introduction and Welcome Back 

00:32 Introducing Mike Chiles: The Construction Influencer 

01:30 LnM Family Shoutout: Gary Martinez 

02:40 Getting to Know Mike Chiles 

03:56 The Role of a Project Director 

05:43 Challenges and Learnings in Leadership 

07:47 Training and Developing Future Leaders 

11:47 The Importance of Relationships in Construction

20:18 Feedback and Continuous Improvement 

23:29 Building a People-Centered Culture 

35:10 Project Assignments and Training Responsibilities 

36:18 Feedback Loops and Execution Challenges 

36:51 Importance of On-Site Feedback 

37:18 Lean Principles for Executives 38:23 Building Relationships and Appreciating Workers 

40:23 Addressing Labor Shortages and Industry Challenges 

44:34 The Role of Old Dogs in Knowledge Sharing 

48:32 Lean Construction and Relationship Building 

01:03:40 The Promise of Influence and Legacy 

01:07:13 Conclusion and Free Book Offer 

Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

The truth landed on us after dozens of job site chats: some folks know our training but not the show, and others love the show but don’t know we train crews for a living. So we’re making it obvious. Learnings and Missteps is now Learnings and Missteps by Depth Builder, a single, honest banner that matches how we work and who we serve. New color, same voice, more clarity.

We walk through what stays rock solid: candid interviews with builders who’ve earned their wisdom the hard way, and solo sessions packed with practical tools you can use tomorrow. We also share the part that made us pause—featuring clients without turning the mic into a megaphone. You’ll hear the guardrails we’re putting in place to keep the spotlight on guests and the lessons they fought for, not on us. If it drifts, we want you to call it out. That’s the pact.

You’ll hear why our deepest impact sits with subcontractors and field leaders—installers, leadmen, foremen, and superintendents—folks who feel the schedule squeeze and still find a way to deliver. We connect the dots between real stories and real training so you can recognize a problem, test a fix, and see it stick. Expect tighter case studies, simpler planning habits, and leadership moves built for crews, not conference rooms.

If you’ve been with us for the stories, stick around for even clearer paths to action. If you’ve worked with us in the field, welcome to a sharper platform for sharing what actually works. Tap play, leave a rating, share with a teammate who leads from the front, and tell us where we should push harder or pull back. Your feedback keeps the signal high and the hype low.

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

What if your calendar isn’t the problem—your priorities are? We walk through the FIRE Box, a clear, practical framework that helps you stop living reactive and start building a week that reflects what you value. Instead of chasing every ping, you’ll learn how to Finish First on the urgent and important, and, more critically, Invest Focus Here on the important and not urgent work that drives real progress.

We start by clarifying urgency and importance in plain terms so you can judge tasks without overthinking. Then we tackle the trap everyone knows too well: staying stuck in constant firefighting. From there, we shift to the growth zone—important but not urgent—and name the areas most people neglect until they explode: exercise, sleep, nutrition, and relationships. These aren’t “nice to haves.” They’re the foundation of sustained performance, and treating them like scheduled work is how you protect your energy and momentum.

You’ll get simple tactics to design your week with intent: build a shortlist of priorities you want to backfill into new space, set recurring blocks you defend like any critical meeting, and start reducing and extinguishing the noise that hijacks your schedule. Along the way, we share a preview of upcoming strategies to deal with urgent-not-important and not-important-not-urgent tasks, plus tools to help you plan, commit, and execute with less stress and more agency.

Ready to decide what you’re optimizing for and make your calendar serve that choice? Listen now, then share one task you’re moving into the Important-Not-Urgent box. If this helped, follow the show, leave a quick review, and send this to a friend who’s tired of being busy without progress.

Get all the templates for mastering your time: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-page

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

Most leaders don’t have a time problem. They have a decision making problem. We break down a self-first framework that turns chaos into clarity by separating planning, commitment, and execution into clean lanes—each with its own tool and purpose—so you can stop spinning and start finishing the work that matters.

We begin with long-term planning across three human buckets: business and professional growth, personal growth, and meaningful connections. By writing goals down and scoring them on impact and effort, you’ll surface quick wins and park the heavy lifts for later. Then we build momentum with a simple plank: sequence your top items, block time for each, and commit to starting in order. No perfection required, just deliberate starts that compound.

Next, we clear space with the Firebox. Finish what’s urgent and important, invest in the vital non-urgent pillars like sleep, exercise, and learning, reduce by optimizing or delegating tasks others can do, and extinguish the non-essential. We audit real life—calendar items plus unlisted chores—to see how overcommitted we are, then make bold cuts. The guiding question stays front and center: what am I optimizing for?

Finally, we move to daily execution with a pre-built board that helps you focus on one day at a time, track distractions, and protect your best energy windows. We pair a planning canvas for ideas, a kanban board for commitments, and the calendar for execution, ensuring each thinking mode has its own home. Along the way, we share templates, simple tactics, and a path to accountability through a live workshop, support calls, and community.

Ready to manage yourself, not time? Tap play, grab the templates, and start building momentum today. If this helped, subscribe, share with a teammate, and leave a review with one change you’re making this week.

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

Ever feel like your calendar is packed but your real life lives off to the side? We dig into a simple, no-fluff system to make every commitment visible, merge the hidden to-dos with the scheduled ones, and carve out protected time for sleep, movement, and deep work—without the guilt. The result isn’t more hustle; it’s a calmer, truer plan that helps us deliver for others while finally honoring the projects and habits that matter to us.

We start with a quick refresher on guilt-free future planning: capture big goals, weigh them with a practical matrix, and set a clear order. Then we hit the wall most of us face—there’s “no room” to schedule priorities because our calendars only show meetings while errands, caregiving, community roles, and recovery time sit invisible. That’s where strategically selfish scheduling comes in. We do a one-week extraction of every commitment, including the off-calendar certainties like grocery runs, bedtime, workouts, and drive time. Seeing it all at once breaks the mental negotiation that keeps us stressed and behind.

From there, we run a joy vs obligation scan to expose energy leaks and choose the right lever: eliminate what no longer serves, delegate to someone better suited, automate with tools or templates, or optimize through batching and tighter boundaries. We also make the case for a single master view—overlaying personal and work—so conflicts stop ambushing the day. Finally, we place self-first blocks on the calendar before meetings, naming them clearly and protecting transitions. It’s not selfish to do this; it’s the maintenance schedule for a life that actually works and a career that compounds.

If this hits home, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s stretched thin, and leave a quick review to help more people find the show. Want the time management for construction templates and workshop dates? Drop “double D” in the comments and we’ll send the link.

Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

Planning feels great until reality shows up. We’ve all sketched beautiful lists, only to watch them dissolve under meetings, family needs, and the next urgent fire. Today we turn planning into progress by committing to a simple, visual flow that respects your bandwidth and fuels momentum: brain dump, weigh impact vs effort with the DAMN Matrix, then sequence one big rock at a time.

We start by pulling every idea out of your head and onto a surface—career moves, skills you want to learn, health goals, neglected projects, and relationship investments. Once the fog becomes visible, we score each item for impact and effort so the real priorities stand out. High impact and low effort rise to the top for fast wins; high impact and high effort follow to channel that momentum into meaningful outcomes. Low impact items get an honest review, so time‑sinks don’t quietly steal your focus.

From there, we make the critical shift from options to order. Instead of juggling five priorities and delivering average results, we pick a single next move and “walk the plank” one task at a time. We cap Month One at eight items—two per week—to match real capacity and protect existing commitments. No date‑drama yet: sequence first, schedule later. This self‑first framework isn’t selfish for its own sake; it’s how you refill your energy and show up stronger for your team, your clients, and your family. Progress becomes visible, resentment fades, and your calendar starts reflecting what you value, not just what’s loud.

If you want the Daily Domination Board and templates, drop “DD” or scan the QR to grab them. Want a deeper dive? Comment “webinar” and we’ll send the invite. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a momentum reset, and leave a review with the one high‑impact, low‑effort win you’ll start this week.

Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

In this episode of the Learnings and Missteps podcast, host Jesse Hernandez converses with Stephanie Wood, co-founder and CEO of Coal Build Construction. Stephanie, with a background in organizational leadership and trauma-informed neuroscience, shares her journey from English literature major to a construction industry leader. The discussion covers the challenges and innovations in fostering a collaborative and human-centered approach within construction, debunking the myth of toughness, and promoting grit and resilience. They introduce Builders Grit, an initiative designed to improve workplace culture and performance by addressing trauma and developing leadership skills. Stephanie also highlights the importance of creating environments for flourishing and the transformative impact her company's philosophy has on the industry's future.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview
02:45 The Meaning Behind Co Build
04:35 Challenges and Pushback in the Industry
06:33 The Importance of Respect and Collaboration
09:41 Shoutout to LnM Family Member
11:21 Building a Collaborative Construction Business
13:31 Hiring and Leadership Development
24:09 Personal Journey and Neuroscience of Trauma
30:35 Neglect and Abuse in Subcontracting
31:11 Falling into Leadership Roles
32:45 Learning Leadership Skills
33:50 Embracing Leadership and Overcoming Resistance
38:09 The Myth of Toughness in Construction
41:37 Understanding Trauma and Recovery
45:52 Introducing Grit and Resilience Cohorts
53:58 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

In this episode of the Learnings and Missteps podcast, host Jesse Hernandez sits down with Liberty Kogen, a construction social media expert with an impressive background in musical theater and business. Liberty shares her journey from performing in Legally Blonde to launching a successful babysitting agency in Atlanta and eventually transitioning into social media marketing for construction companies. Throughout the conversation, they discuss themes of vulnerability, the importance of human connection, and finding fulfillment in one's career and life. Liberty emphasizes the significance of doing what makes you happy, the challenges she faced, and how she rediscovered her passion for theater under different conditions. The episode is filled with insightful and heartfelt advice, making it a must-listen for anyone seeking to navigate their own career and personal growth.

Get in touch with Liberty:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/libertycogen/

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
01:29 Getting to Know Liberty Kogen
01:57 The Power of Vulnerability on Social Media
09:00 Liberty's Journey in Theater
17:57 Transitioning from Theater to Business
19:21 Starting a Babysitting Agency
31:40 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
39:46 Auditioning for Kiss of the Spider Woman
41:52 The Importance of Human Connection
43:09 Returning to Atlanta and Facing an Existential Crisis
44:28 Realistic View of Pursuing Arts
50:27 Transition to Social Media for Concrete Companies
54:01 The Power of Authentic Social Media
58:37 Encouraging Vulnerability and Storytelling
01:11:37 The Promise You Are Intended to Be

Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be 

Want a year that actually changes your life? We break down a practical system to stop chasing busywork and start stacking wins that matter. It starts with a guilt-free brain dump to pull every idea, project, and half-finished goal out of your head so you can judge them by outcome, not overwhelm. From there, we introduce the Damn Matrix, a four-quadrant method that ranks your work by impact and effort. High impact, low effort goes first. High impact, high effort gets planned next. Low impact items wait their turn. The real twist: we score by the value of starting, not the fantasy of finishing, so momentum arrives early and fuels the bigger climbs.

Curveballs still happen, and we name them: rabid squirrels. Instead of letting emergencies swallow your day, we use the Daily Domination board to label, log, and move them through Done, then review weekly to spot patterns. When the same sources trigger fire drills, you design guardrails—clear expectations, calendar buffers, and ready-made responses. We also get honest about what overcommitment costs: sleep, exercise, and nutrition. The fix is counterintuitive and effective—shrink the number of daily targets so you stay calm, kind, and focused, even when plans shift.

All of this lives inside a self-first framework: plan, commit, execute. We plan across a year, then break it into thirds and months to see where impact compounds. We commit on the calendar to protect deep work and life habits. We execute daily with a simple workflow that tracks progress and interruptions without guilt. You’ll leave with a repeatable way to prioritize for impact, start sooner, and sustain energy so results stack without burning you out.

If this helps, share it with a friend who’s drowning in to-dos, hit follow for more practical tools, and leave a review telling us one high-impact, low-effort move you’ll start this week. Your next breakthrough begins with what you choose to start today.

Lets leave the Construction Industry Better than We Found It https://www.depthbuilder.com/construction-leadership-lab

Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be