Skilled AF Podcast | Skilled Trades & Construction Careers

In this episode of Skilled AF, we sit down with Bradley Henderson, Operations Leader at Bay Climate Control & Refrigeration and Founder of Plumb Line Operations, to explore one of the most powerful comeback stories in the skilled trades. Brad's path wasn't conventional. After battling opioid addiction, serving time in prison, and losing nearly everything, he made a decision that changed the course of his life. Today, he leads operations for a growing HVAC company while building a mission-driven organization focused on helping people with criminal records rebuild their lives through careers in the skilled trades. This episode explores what it really means to earn a second chance, and why giving someone that opportunity doesn't just change one life – it changes the people around them's life and can strengthen an entire industry.

In This Episode:

>Brad's journey from addiction and incarceration to executive leadership

>How prison became the turning point that changed his life

>The opioid epidemic and addiction in the construction industry

>Why accountability became the foundation of his recovery

>The mentors who helped him rebuild his life

>Why consistency matters more than talent

>Building Plumb Line Operations and creating opportunities for second-chance workers

>Why the skilled trades need to rethink hiring people with criminal records

>The workforce shortage and an overlooked talent pipeline

>Leadership, operational excellence, and creating systems that help people succeed

>What employers can learn about giving people a genuine second chance

Guest info:

Bradley Henderson

Project Manager for Bay Climate Control & Refrigeration | Founder, of Plumb Line Operations

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Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: [email protected]

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In this episode of Skilled AF, we sit down with Devon Havenaar – journeyman carpenter, construction supervisor, TEDx speaker, and founder of Bad Leader – a movement built on a simple premise: to help construction workers become who they were created to be. Devon journeyed out as a carpenter at one of the youngest ages in Canada, moved into supervision at 25, and has spent the years since untangling what good leadership on a jobsite actually looks like when the default is still "tyrannical, push your will on others."

We get into his RISE framework – Respect, Invest, Support, Educate – and why he believes the industry is wrong that workforce investment is too expensive. As Devon puts it: it costs more to do nothing. Devon opens up about his own dark winter a few years back, the suicide rate in the industry, and why psychological safety training belongs on every job site next to fall prevention and hazardous material training.

In This Episode:

>Devon's personal journey and what led him to found Bad Leader

>Why leadership in the trades is broken — and how to fix it

> Why "service" should be interchangeable with "leadership" in the trades

>Devon's own mental health story and why men in this industry are isolated

>How self-doubt shows up for tradespeople and how to move past it

>What being a good leader actually looks like day to day

>Carpenters Union training in Vegas and what the rest of the industry is missing

>Building a life you're proud of on and off the jobsite

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Guest info:

Devon Havenaar, Founder, Bad Leader

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Connect with The Skilled Project:

Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: [email protected]

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In this episode of Skilled AF, we sit down with Brooke Laing, a third-year steamfitter and welder apprentice with UA Local 46 in Toronto, Canada, and Chief Strategy Officer of Sisterhood of the Trades, to explore what it’s really like navigating a career in the skilled trades as a woman. From dropping out of college and spending two years on a union waitlist, to navigating harassment on the job, to building the kind of community the industry has never offered women before.

She also breaks down the rise of Sisterhood of the Trades, the largest global interactive community connecting women across the skilled trades, with nearly 1,200 members across Canada, the US, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand — providing support, shared experiences, and a space to talk about what can't always be said on the job site.

This conversation goes beyond surface-level diversity talk and gets into the real barriers, culture shifts, and opportunities shaping the future of women in the trades.

In this episode:

> What it’s like being a woman in the skilled trades

>The reality of job site culture
> Union apprenticeships and waitlist challenges
> Steepest learning curves as an apprentice
> Why women leave (and stay in) the trades
> How we grow the share of women in construction and the trades

> Sisterhood of the Trades and its global community
> The impact of the Amber Czech murder and the advocacy work they’re involved in
> The moment Brooke almost walked away
> Advice for women entering the trades

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Guest Info:

• Brooke Laing, Steamfitter & Welder Apprentice, CSO, Sisterhood of the Trades

• Follow Brooke on Instagram & TikTok

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: [email protected]

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok & YouTube

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• Leave a kickass review

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*This episode discusses suicide, substance use, addiction, and workplace crisis. Listener discretion is advised.

Construction consistently ranks among the most at-risk industries for suicide and overdose deaths, and Josh Vitale knows this firsthand. A former lineman turned senior superintendent, he navigated two dozen crisis interventions on a single job site before co-founding Project BUILT, a national nonprofit addressing suicide and addiction in the trades. Angelo Suntres, Founder of Human Side of Construction and previous guest on Skilled AF, has spent his career inside large construction companies in Canada, witnessing the same patterns and working to improve culture and the human experience for the trades and broader construction industry.

Together, they bridge the field and office, and get honest about what's really driving the crisis, why the industry keeps falling short, and what it's actually going to take to protect the people who build our world.

In this episode we cover:

>Josh Vitale’s Journey & Starting Project BUILT

>The Reality Behind the Mental Health Crisis

>The Impact of Isolation

>Trauma Coming Into the Industry

>Redefining Mental Toughness

>Psychological vs Physical Safety

>Construction’s “Human Extraction” Problem

>Work-Family Conflict

>Family as the Foundation & Missing Link

>What Systemic Change Looks Like

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or experiencing a mental health crisis, please take one of the following actions:

>Call 911 (or your local emergency number)

>Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the U.S.

>Seek immediate help from a healthcare professional.

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Guests info:

• Josh Vitale, Co-founder & CEO, Project BUILT

• ✉️: [email protected]

• Angelo Suntres, Founder, Human Side of Construction

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

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• Subscribe to the podcast

• Leave a kickass review

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Dustin Crosby is a journeyman carpenter and the voice behind the Blue Collar Poet, an online presence resonating deeply with workers across the trades. With more than two decades of experience in blue-collar work, Dustin’s journey spans industries, job sites, and life chapters shaped by instability, resilience, and reflection.

Raised in rural Florida, Dustin’s path into the trades was driven as much by survival as it was by purpose. After navigating early hardship, dropping out of high school, and earning his GED, he found direction through trade school, building a foundation of skillsets that would carry him through carpentry, tile, solar, and beyond. All during this time, Dustin was quietly developing another craft, writing. What has emerged was not just a creative outlet, but a form of connection and healing for both Dustin and the thousands of workers who now see their own lives reflected in his words.

In this episode we cover:

• Dustin’s Early Life & Path into Trades: Growing up in poverty, falling through the cracks in school, and finding direction through trade work

• Skills as Survival & Mobility: How learning a craft created confidence, opportunity, and resilience across industries

• The Emotional Reality of Blue Collar Work: Exhaustion, instability, grief, identity, and the mental load carried by workers

• Poetry & Vulnerability in the Trades: Writing as processing, reflection, and emotional translation for blue-collar experience

• Mental Health & Industry Culture: Isolation, addiction culture, emotional suppression, and the human cost of the work

• Blue Collar as Identity vs Aesthetic: The tension between social media portrayals and lived reality

• Looking Ahead: Dustin’s book project, creative mission, and long-term vision for building belonging & community

* This episodes discusses job site deaths and deaths by suicide. Listener discretion is advised.

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Guest info:

• Follow Dustin at Blue Collar Poet 633 on TikTok & Instagram

• Facebook: Dustin Crosby

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: [email protected]

• Follow on Instagram & TikTok

• Subscribe to newsletter

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Collin White is the founder and CEO of Blue Gopher, a last-mile delivery service built specifically for the construction industry. With a background in construction management, Collin didn’t set out to start a tech-enabled logistics company. He started Blue Gopher after repeatedly running into the same problem on jobsites: material delays, poor communication, and inefficiencies that cost contractors time, money, and energy. What began as a solution to his own pain point as a construction project manager in Tennessee, has grown into a business serving small to mid-sized contractors in the Columbus, Ohio region with plans to expand across the mid-west USA and beyond.

In this episode we cover:

> Collin’s Path into Construction: Studying construction management and working in the field before entrepreneurship

> The Origin of Blue Gopher: Identifying a broken system on job sites and turning frustration into a business

> Last-Mile Delivery, Explained: Why logistics is one of construction’s biggest bottlenecks
> Labor Shortages & Opportunity: How workforce gaps are creating space for smarter systems and services

> Generational Shifts: Millennial leadership & what younger workers are demanding from the industry

> Representation in Construction: Why visibility, leadership pathways, and who feels they belong in the industry directly impact recruitment, retention, and the future workforce

> Looking Ahead: Collin’s vision for expanding Blue Gopher beyond Ohio

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Guest info:

• Collin White, Founder & CEO @ Blue Gopher

• Download app for IOS

• Phone: +1 (614) 636-4674

• Follow on Instagram

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: [email protected]

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok & YouTube

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• Subscribe to the podcast

• Leave a kickass review

• Know someone Skilled AF? Submit a story here

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Misha Homara is the CEO of TriCore Panels, a vertically integrated architectural paneling company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of the youngest female CEOs in construction, she leads a 30+ person team and is reshaping what modern, people-centered leadership looks like in the industry. Misha never expected to find her career in construction. A temporary role helping her family’s business became a long-term calling, pushing her to learn the trade and the business from the ground up. With a deep commitment to culture, mentorship, and supporting people to be their most authentic self, she’s challenging outdated norms around leadership, retention, and workplace culture, proving that strong construction companies are built by supporting the people behind the work.

In this episode we cover:

> An Unexpected Path: From cosmetology to construction

> What TriCore Panels Does: Exterior facades, vertical integration, and scaling from 7 to 30+ employees

> From Assistant to CEO: How her temp role morphed into a leadership position

> The Systems She Swears By: How she went about implementing EOS® – Entrepreneur Operating System

> Breaking Construction Norms: How she goes about prioritizing rest in an industry that doesn’t

> The Loneliness of Leadership: Imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and carrying the weight as a young CEO

> Investing in People: What they’re doing at TriCore to support their people – ESL classes, financial literacy classes, etc.

> Women in Construction: The advocacy work Misha is doing to build representation

> The Misha Method: what it is, who it’s for and her goal to get people to be the truest version of themselves

> Involvement in Workforce Development: What TriCore is doing to get young people + communities exposed to the industry

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Guest info:

• Misha Homara, CEO @ TriCore Panels

• The Misha Method (Podcast, retreats)

• Plant & Play event

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

• Subscribe to newsletter

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• Subscribe to the podcast

• Leave a kickass review

• Know someone Skilled AF? Submit a story here

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Wilson Betances is a master electrician, contractor, author, and the Founder & CEO of Energize Us – a fast-growing education, media, and professional development platform redefining the future of skilled trades leadership. With 17+ years in the electrical trade, Wilson is now focused on addressing the structural issues holding the industry back. Grounded in his lived experience and the mentors who shaped him, he’s challenging the trades to rethink how we recruit, train, and keep skilled workers. Through Energize Us, he’s building a holistic ecosystem that supports people from their first day on the jobsite through becoming successful contractors.

In this interview we cover:

> Wilson’s Journey: Growing up in NYC and entering the electrical trade young

> Cultural Conditioning: Overcoming scarcity mindset, silence, and conflict avoidance
> What Energize Us is: How the platform began and its three pillars: media, education & professional development
> Fixing the Pipeline: Why every contractor demanding “3–5 years experience” is breaking the system
> Apprenticeship Dropout Rates: The real reasons so many apprentices leave within their first year
> Leadership Development: What the new trades leader actually looks like
> Gatekeeping & Culture Problems: Hazing, knowledge hoarding, outdated masculinity, and other norms pushing people away
> Innovating Around Retention: How Energize Us is eliminating real-life bottlenecks like housing, childcare, and support
> Future Vision: Wilson’s goal to influence workforce systems nationally and help modernize trades education and culture

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Guest info:

• Wilson Betances, Founder & CEO @ Energize Us

• Connect with Energize Us, ✉️: [email protected]; Follow on Instagram

• Connect with Wilson on Instagram & LinkedIn

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: [email protected]

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

• Subscribe to newsletter

Like the podcast? 🎧

• Subscribe to the podcast

• Leave a kickass review

• Know someone Skilled AF? Submit a story here

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* This episode includes discussion of suicide in the construction industry. Listener discretion advised.

Angelo Suntres didn’t choose construction, construction chose him. After earning a mechanical engineering degree, he took a job in the industry simply to pay the bills. What he found instead was purpose and a deep sense of pride in building spaces that serve the community. Now, with 20+ years experience in mechanical and MEP construction in Canada, Angelo is dedicated to improving the human experience in the skilled trades and broader construction industry through his global platform – The Human Side of Construction, two books (The Human Side of Construction and Rebuild Construction), an online course, and coaching the next generation of industry leaders.

In this interview we cover:

> Angelo’s Journey

> How Human Side of Construction started

> Generational divides between talent

> Diversity & inclusion realities

> Construction's leaky workforce pipeline

> Mental health & suicide

> Angelo's vision for the future

Studies Mentioned:

> Building Better 2025

> Mason, L. et al. (2024). Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in adult ADHD
> Behind the High Vis: A Mental Health White Paper

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Guest info:

• Angelo Suntres, Founder, Human Side of Construction

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

• Subscribe to newsletter

Like the podcast? 🎧

• Subscribe to the podcast

• Leave a kickass review

• Know someone Skilled AF? Submit a story here

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Jeremy Mistretta is the founder of New Age Artisans, a plaster contractor and manufacturer based in Bozeman, Montana, and the creator of the Plaster Portal, a global online learning hub preserving and teaching ancient plaster techniques. A self-taught craftsman with an English literature degree, Jeremy has transformed a chance encounter with plaster into a thriving career. His work spans high-end residential projects, historic restorations, and global knowledge exchanges, including a recent restoration and transformation of a 500-year old mosque in Morocco into a women and children’s center. Through New Age Artisans and the Plaster Portal, Jeremy is redefining how traditional craft can thrive in the modern era, while ensuring he gives back to the industry that’s provided so much for him.

In this interview we cover:

> Jeremy’s Journey: From East Coast summer jobs and a literature degree to discovering his plaster passion in Montana

> Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks: The importance of mastering both trade skills and business acumen

> The Clientele: Serving the 1% of the 1% in Montana’s luxury home market, Yellowstone Club, while staying grounded in craft and community

> The Plaster Portal: A global education platform preserving ancient techniques and connecting artisans worldwide

> Manufacturing Plaster: How New Age Artisans has developed its own line of plaster blend from local aggregates in Montana

> Building Company Culture: Creating a circular economy that reinvests in employees, craft, and educating the next wave of plasterers

> Cultural Responsibility: Giving back to the birthplace of Tadelakt through the restoration of a 500-year-old building in Morocco

> Labor Shortage Insights: Firsthand perspective on the urgent need for skilled tradespeople

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Guest info:

• Jeremy Mistretta, Founder & Owner, New Age Artisans; The Plaster Portal

• Follow on Instagram

Connect with The Skilled Project:

• Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: [email protected]

• Follow on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn

• Subscribe to newsletter

Like the podcast? 🎧

• Subscribe to the podcast

• Leave a kickass review

• Know someone Skilled AF? Submit a story here

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