Ty Farmer, senior director of Corporate Safety at Dycom Industries, Inc. could have let being placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) early in his career derail him completely. Instead, he turned a difficult moment into a powerful learning experience and an opportunity for growth.

Ty’s military background led him to his first role at General Electric (GE), where he was quickly thrown into the fire as a regional EHS manager for the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Rather than shutting down in the face of early challenges, Ty leaned into his experiences, using them as opportunities to reflect and grow. After more than a decade at GE, he moved on to a new role where he built an organization’s safety program completely from the ground up.

In this episode of My Big Safety Challenge, Ty shares why building genuine connections across an organization—from the brand-new employee to the c-suite executive—is essential to creating a strong safety culture. He also discusses the importance of a glass-half-full mindset, offers practical insight on gaining leadership buy-in, and explains why it’s a strength, not a weakness, to ask for help.