After four years of chasing down old coworkers, safety pros, and fellow survivors of corporate nonsense, I finally got one of the greats on the mic — my boss, mentor, and Director of Safety for Evans General Contractors, Chad Smith.

In this episode, Chad and I cut through the fluff and talk about the real side of safety leadership — the mistakes that made us better, the culture gaps that never go away, and what it actually means to build a team that has each other’s backs.

From firefighting and med runs to multi-million-dollar projects, Chad’s seen it all — and still somehow manages to keep his sense of humor and sanity (mostly). He talks about:

• The evolution of onboarding and what real leadership looks like

• Why safety is a career of zeroes — success you can’t always measure, but sure as hell feel

• How the next generation is changing safety before they even hit the field

• The hard truth about communication gaps between GCs, subs, and the boots doing the work

• And the best piece of advice I’ve ever heard: “When life hits hard, you can resign, you can whine, or you can shine.”

If you’ve ever wondered what keeps a true safety leader grounded after decades in the grind — this one’s for you.