Women in AEC: Wine After Work

Growth is supposed to feel like winning. For a lot of contractors, it feels like drowning. Derek Isaac, founder of Rapid Result Creators, spent more than 20 years in construction and real estate before turning that experience into a systems coaching practice for general contractors and home builders. In this episode, he breaks down why a growing business quietly becomes harder to run, and what to do about it.

We get into the real mechanics. How to spot the frog-in-boiling-water moment before something breaks. Why owners revert to the tools or start micromanaging instead of leading. How to make new systems actually stick when enthusiasm gets diluted at every level below you. And the difference between growth that builds a business and growth that breaks it.

This one is for GCs, home builders, and any AEC owner who feels like the business runs through them. It's a straight, practical conversation about structure, margins, boundaries, and building a company that doesn't need you in the room to function.

About Derek Isaac

Derek Isaac is a business systems coach who works with general contractors and home builders to bring structure and control to growing businesses. With more than 20 years in construction contracting and real estate investing, he understands how quickly growth creates complexity, reduces visibility, and increases reliance on the owner. Through coaching, training programs, and live education, Derek helps builders strengthen operations, improve margins, and run businesses that are easier to manage as they scale. He's the founder of Rapid Result Creators.

What We Cover

• Introduction and Derek's path from contractor to business systems coach

• Why technically great builders struggle the moment they become business owners

• The frog-in-boiling-water problem and the early warning signs owners miss

• Leadership catching up to growth, and why reverting to the tools is a trap

• Making systems stick: buy-in, enthusiasm, and the implementation period

• Finding the bottleneck when the bottleneck is the owner, using the org chart

• Healthy growth versus growth that breaks the business, and why margin beats revenue

• Setting client boundaries with a clear "what to expect" approach

• Hiring as a system problem first, the Ideal Employee Profile, and why good people stay with good businesses

• The one thing every contractor should fix: their numbers

• Where to find Derek and closing thoughts

Key Takeaways

• Systems are the foundation that lets your people do their jobs well. They are not bureaucracy, they are what makes a business feel professional and easier to run.

• When the bottleneck is you, fill the org chart from the bottom up. Document and delegate the lowest rungs first, then build management layers as your finances allow.

• Margin beats revenue. A 2 million dollar business at a healthy margin has more room and more resilience than a 5 million dollar business running on 5 percent.

• Boundaries protect the business, not just the owner. A clear "what to expect" conversation earns respect and still earns the referrals and the reviews.

• Hire like it's a six or seven figure decision. Build the Ideal Employee Profile, go find passive candidates, and keep a database of everyone who ever applied.

Resources + Links

• Rapid Result Creators: https://rapidresultcreators.com

• Derek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-isaac

• Career Collective: https://www.mycareercollective.com

Lauren Weinbaum didn't leave a job she hated. She left one she loved, because a client offered to hire her company before she'd even started one. In this episode, the founder and president of Weinbaum Management Group walks through how a one-way flight to LAX and a single conversation turned into a 13-year run in aviation and large commercial construction.

We get into the decisions most founders don't talk about. How Lauren watched the 2008 crash freeze high-rises mid-skyline and used it to redesign her career around bond-funded public work. Why she grows slowly and refuses debt. How she thinks about A, B, and C players on a small team. And the mindset shift that comes with trading "am I going to make it" for "do we have the right culture and the right clients."

This one is for AEC firm leaders, women building careers in construction, and anyone weighing the jump from a stable seat to running their own thing. It's honest about the mental load, the guilt, and what it actually takes to keep a firm healthy.

About Lauren Weinbaum

Lauren is the founder and president of Weinbaum Management Group (WMG, Inc.), an owner's representation and construction management firm specializing in aviation and large commercial projects. She leads all business development, program and project management, estimating, scheduling, and bidding for the firm. With more than 18 years in the industry, Lauren built her foundation on major capital programs including the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. She grew up on a working pig and cattle farm in Illinois and started working for her dad at nine.

What We Cover

• Introduction and Lauren's path from a Midwest farm to aviation construction

• Watching the 2008 crash halt private projects, and pivoting to bond-funded work for stability

• The one-way flight to LAX and the client conversation that started WMG

• Leading under pressure on a billion-dollar airport program with competing interests

• Being a working mom as a productivity edge, and guarding against distraction and mental load

• Building a small team: A, B, and C players, and why "10 percent of the work" still matters

• Growing without debt, managing cash flow strictly, and learning to say no to the wrong work

• Why the right life partner is a business decision

• What's next for WMG: LAWA with Paslay Management Group, the Centurion Lounge at LAX, and expansion beyond California

• Where to find Lauren and closing thoughts

Key Takeaways

• Stability is a strategy you can design. Lauren deliberately moved toward bond-funded public projects because that money rarely defaults, and it insulated her from the private-market swings that wiped out her peers in 2008.

• Gamble on yourself. If you're going to take a risk, take it on your own effort and judgment rather than betting on someone else's company or timing.

• Grow at the speed of your cash, not your ambition. Waiting until you can cover a new hire before you make it is slower, but it keeps you out of debt and off the payroll cliff.

• Saying no protects your brand. Taking work you don't have the competent staff to execute costs more than the revenue is worth.

• Never be too good to call people back. In a distracted industry, basic follow-through is a competitive advantage.

Resources + Links

• WMG website: https://wmgconsult.com

• Lauren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-weinbaum-wmg/

• WMG on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wmgconsult/

Growth sounds good — until it's actually crushing you. More projects, more staff, more stress, and somehow less profit. Award-winning contractor and business scaling expert Shena Marie White has seen it happen to too many firms, and she's made it her mission to change the pattern.

In this episode, Shena breaks down the strategic mindset, operational systems, and wealth-building habits that separate businesses that scale sustainably from ones that grow themselves into the ground.

Key takeaways:

• What scaling actually means for contractors — and what it doesn't
• The most common profitability mistakes and how to fix them now
• How to build systems that free up your time and increase efficiency
• The wealth-building mindset shift that successful contractors share

Your Pocket CFO — yourpocketcfo.com

Rima Nasser founded TEW Design Studio in 2015 because she wanted to design at the level of care she actually believed in, not the level a typical firm structure allowed. That drive for autonomy eventually led her to launch her own furniture collection, TEWlines, in 2024. In this episode, she talks with Bryce about what real ownership over your work looks like, and why "being your own boss" was never really the point.

We also get into something Rima has been thinking about a lot lately: her own ADHD and likely dyslexia diagnosis, and how understanding the way her brain processes space, sensory input, and creative flow changed everything about how she designs and how she leads her studio. She's now pursuing a science in design certification to back up what years of lived experience already taught her. We talk about choosing the right clients, protecting your standards, and what it means to finally understand why you've always worked the way you work.

This one is for designers and creatives thinking about going independent, anyone navigating a late-in-career neurodivergent diagnosis, and leaders rethinking how they build teams and choose collaborators.

About Rima Nasser:

Rima Nasser is the founder and principal designer of TEW Design Studio, a full-service residential and boutique commercial interior design firm based in Raleigh, NC. Since founding TEW in 2015, she's built her practice around designing spaces that fit the people who live in them. Her own neurodivergent diagnosis (ADHD and likely dyslexia) reshaped how she works, leads, and listens to clients, and she's currently pursuing a science in design certification. She holds a master's degree in interior design, has received multiple industry awards, and her work has been published in Kitchen & Bath Business and other trade outlets. In 2024 she launched TEWlines, a curated furniture collection extending TEW's design philosophy beyond individual projects. Originally from Palestine, Rima has been rooted in Raleigh for 15 years.

What We Cover:

• Introduction and Rima's path to founding TEW Design Studio in 2015

• What autonomy actually meant to her beyond "being the boss"

• The decision to launch TEWlines and what it represents

• How Rima chooses clients, and why fit goes both ways

• The hard lessons it took to protect her standards

• Her ADHD and likely dyslexia diagnosis, and how it reshaped her work

• How understanding her brain changed the questions she asks about every space

• Pursuing a science in design certification

• Where to find Rima and closing thoughts

Key Takeaways:

• Real autonomy isn't just ownership of a business, it's ownership of your creative voice, your relationships, and your standards

• Choosing the right client relationship is a skill, and protecting that standard takes time and real boundaries

• A neurodivergent diagnosis later in life can reframe years of how you work, not as something to fix but as information

• Understanding how your own brain processes space and sensory input can directly shape better design decisions for clients

• Lived experience and formal research aren't in competition. Rima is pursuing both

Resources + Links:

• TEW Design Studio: https://tewdesignstudio.com/

• TEWlines: https://tewdesignstudio.com/introducing-tewlines/

• Rima Nasser LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rimanasser/

Every firm competing for talent is saying the same things. Great culture. Exciting projects. Competitive benefits. And candidates can't tell any of you apart. That's the problem James Ellis has built a career solving.

In this episode, James breaks down what employer brand actually is (hint: not a campaign, not a vibe, not a careers page redesign) and how midsized companies can build a brand that wins talent without outspending bigger competitors. We get into why most employer brand work is theater, what candidates actually believe about your firm, and how to change what recruiters say and hiring managers reinforce.

This one is for AEC firm leaders, TA and HR professionals, and anyone tired of posting jobs into the void and wondering why the right people never apply.

About James Ellis:

James Ellis is the founder of Employer Brand Labs, where he builds choosable employer brands for mid-market companies in 3 to 5 weeks. He's built employer brands at Webflow, Roku, ASICS, and Telecare over more than 13 years, and he's the bestselling author of Becoming Choosable and Talent Chooses You. Based in Chicago, James describes his stage presence as equal parts strategist and friendly arsonist. Find him at employerbrandlabs.com and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/thewarfortalent.

What We Cover:

• Introduction and James's background building employer brands at Webflow, Roku, and ASICS

• Why most companies don't have a hiring problem, they have a differentiation problem

• What "employer brand theater" looks like and why it fails

• How midsized firms can compete for talent without outspending the giants

• What it means to be a "choosable" employer

• How employer brand shows up in job posts, outreach, career sites, and interviews

• Why you can rent attention but you can't rent trust

• Where to find James + closing thoughts

Key Takeaways:

• Employer brand is a system, not a campaign. It changes what candidates believe, what recruiters say, and what hiring managers reinforce.

• If your job posts could belong to any of your competitors, candidates have no reason to choose you.

• Midsized firms win talent through clarity and differentiation, not budget.

• You can't scale a business faster than you can hire the right people.

• Employer brand work should be usable Monday morning, not next quarter.

Resources + Links:

• Employer Brand Labs: https://www.employerbrandlabs.com

• James on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/thewarfortalent

• Newsletter: https://employerbrandheadlines.com

• Books, videos, podcasts, and articles: http://www.EB-AF.com

• Becoming Choosable and Talent Chooses You by James Ellis

Cintia Arnhoffer is a Hungarian entrepreneur, real estate investor, and business consultant based in Dubai. At 21, she moved to Denmark, where she spent 13 years building her career across diverse international environments. She later relocated to Dubai alone, without contacts or an existing network, and built a new life and business from scratch. Today she is Co-Owner and General Manager of FullComm Real Estate Brokerage, where she helps international clients invest in Dubai real estate and navigate the UAE property market. She also helps entrepreneurs and firms with Dubai company formation, licensing, residency visas, and banking.

What We Cover:

• Introduction and Cintia's path from Hungary to Denmark to Dubai

• Moving to Dubai alone with no network, and what the first year actually looked like

• Misconceptions about life for women in Dubai, and what's actually true

• The cultural differences that took the longest to adjust to

• The mindset shift required to go from employee to business owner in the Middle East

• Why AEC firms are looking at Dubai as an expansion market

• What's actually involved in setting up: company formation, licensing, residency visas, and banking

• Where to find Cintia and closing thoughts

Key Takeaways:

• The biggest barriers to building a career or business in Dubai as a woman are mostly perception, not reality, but the real barriers (cultural, logistical, financial) are different than people expect

• Building a business in a new country without a network is possible, but it requires a deliberate mindset shift, not just hard work

• AEC firms considering Dubai have a real, accessible path to entry: company formation, licensing, residency, and banking are all navigable with the right guidance

• Tax-efficient structuring through Dubai is a legitimate option for firms and individuals, not just a rumor

• Adaptability matters more than ambition when relocating a business internationally

The women who thrive in the next decade of AEC won't just be technically excellent they'll know how to leverage AI as a tool for growth, income, and creative problem-solving. Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek is the CEO of Clarity AI, ranked the #4 Voice AI Influencer globally by Voicebot.ai, and author of the Amazon bestseller Your AI Roadmap: Expand Your Career, Money, and Joy (Wiley, 2025).

In this episode, Joan breaks down what AI really means for your career trajectory not in abstract terms, but in concrete, actionable strategy.

What you'll learn:

• How to build custom AI solutions even if you're not a coder
• - Why resilience, networking, and financial freedom are central to the AI era
• - What Fortune 500 companies are actually using AI for right now
• - How to position yourself as an AI-forward leader in your firm

Connect: LinkedIn — Joan Palmiter Bajorek | Website: clarityai.co

The right fit doesn't always show up first. Sometimes it shows up after you've tried the wrong things, learned what you're actually made of, and gotten honest about what you're uniquely positioned to build. Lindsay Friedman is a four-time founder who failed twice before finding the work that was hers to do and she built it directly from her experience as a caregiver.

Lindsay joins Bryce to talk about entrepreneurship, purpose-driven work, and what it looks like to stop chasing the right opportunity and start building from the right foundation. She works at the intersection of technology, advocacy, and eldercare an industry that touches almost every family and gets very little attention until a crisis hits. This conversation is about finding your lane, building inside it with everything you have, and why the work that comes from lived experience hits differently than the work that comes from a business plan.

This episode is for anyone navigating a career pivot, sitting with a business idea they can't shake, or trying to figure out whether what they're building is actually the right fit or just the next thing.

About Lindsay Friedman: Lindsay Friedman is a four-time founder, lifelong multigenerational caregiver, and former nursing assistant with hands-on experience in memory care and eldercare. She is the founder of CareBloom and LTCareNav, a platform that connects families with vetted long-term care experts to make quality care more accessible and affordable. Lindsay combines technology, personal experience, and advocacy to empower families navigating complex care decisions and is committed to transforming how society cares for seniors.

What We Cover:

• Lindsay's background as a caregiver, nursing assistant, and multigenerational care advocate

• What her first two failed companies taught her that success couldn't

• How CareBloom and LTCareNav came directly from personal experience, not a market gap analysis

• What the long-term care space actually looks like for families trying to navigate it

• Building a platform at the intersection of technology and human advocacy

• The right fit question how passion and lived experience together create a different kind of business foundation

• What workplace autonomy looks like when you're the founder and the mission is personal

• Where to find Lindsay and how to connect with her work

Key Takeaways:

• Failure is not the opposite of the right fit sometimes it's the path to it

• The businesses that come from lived experience have a staying power that market-driven ideas often don't

• Passion alone isn't enough, but passion plus experience is a legitimate competitive advantage

• The long-term care space affects nearly every family and most people don't engage with it until they're already in crisis

• Workplace autonomy as a founder means you get to decide what problem is worth your career

Resources + Links:

• CareBloom: https://carebloom.com/

• LTCareNav: https://ltcarenav.com/

• Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lfriedman1/

Leaving a career you're good at is harder than leaving one that isn't working. Ryan Sullivan was a successful mechanical engineer who built a department from scratch — and then chose to walk away and start over. This episode is about that decision, what it took, and what he's built on the other side.

Ryan joins Bryce to talk about career transitions, financial autonomy, and what it looks like to build a life by design instead of by default. He works exclusively with architects and engineers, which means he understands the mindset of someone who's been trained to solve complex problems — and he applies that same precision to financial and business planning. This is not a generic money conversation. It's about using financial clarity as a tool for making better career and life decisions.

This episode is for AEC professionals at any stage who are wondering whether their financial position is actually giving them options — or quietly taking them away.

About Ryan Sullivan: Ryan Sullivan, PE is the founder and principal wealth engineer of Off the Beaten Path Financial. He began his career as a mechanical engineer, built an engineering department from the ground up, and transitioned into financial and business planning to serve architects and engineers specifically. Ryan combines engineering precision with dynamic investment strategy to help clients build resilient financial plans that give them freedom and flexibility to live life on their terms. Learn more at [Off the Beaten Path Financial URL — confirm with Ryan].

What We Cover:

• Ryan's background in mechanical engineering and what led him to leave

• The decision to become a financial advisor and what that transition actually looked like

• Why he chose to focus exclusively on architects and engineers

• Cash flow as the foundation of financial health — what that means in practice

• Aligning money with purpose — and why that's different from standard financial planning

• How engineering precision translates into dynamic, adaptive investment strategy

• What financial autonomy actually looks like for AEC professionals

• The right fit question — how to know when to stay on a path and when to leave it

• Where to find Ryan and how to work with him

Key Takeaways:

• Leaving a career that works is a different kind of hard — it requires clarity about what you're moving toward, not just what you're leaving

• Cash flow is the foundation; everything else — freedom, flexibility, options — gets built on top of it

• A financial plan that doesn't account for what you want your life to look like isn't a plan, it's a spreadsheet

• AEC professionals are well-positioned to think in systems — applying that to personal finance changes outcomes

• True financial autonomy means money stops making your decisions for you

Resources + Links:

• Off the Beaten Path Financial: https://www.obpfinancial.com/

• Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-sullivan-pe/

High performance and burnout are not opposites. For a lot of people, they're the same thing wearing different clothes. This episode is for the professional who is achieving by every external measure and still feeling like something is off — because that feeling is data, not weakness.

Nancy Gentle Boudrie joins Bryce to talk about the inside-out approach to career alignment: what it means to make regulated, values-driven decisions about your work instead of just reacting to demands and hoping things improve. Nancy brings neuroscience and mindfulness together in a way that's practical and direct — no meditation retreat required.

This episode is for high-achievers who are tired of running on autopilot and ready to make intentional choices about where their energy actually goes.

About Nancy Gentle Boudrie: Nancy Gentle Boudrie is a mindset coach, corporate wellness speaker, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of coaching experience and more than three decades of business leadership. She is the creator of the Pathway to Inner Peace — Featuring the 4R Method®, an evidence-based framework blending neuroscience, mindfulness, and energy mastery. She is also the founder of the Awaken with Light App, a digital platform offering mindfulness tools and live emotional resilience practices.

What We Cover:

• Nancy's background and what led her to build a framework around inner peace for high performers

• What "living on autopilot" actually looks like in a demanding career

• The inside-out approach — why regulation and values alignment have to come before strategy

• Burnout as a signal, not a failure — what it's telling you and how to listen

• The 4R Method and how it works in real professional contexts

• How to evaluate whether you're in the right fit — job, role, or career path

• Finding the right fit through entrepreneurship vs. staying and building from within

• Where to find Nancy and how to work with her

Key Takeaways:

• Autopilot isn't neutral — it's a slow drift away from what you actually want from your career

• Burnout in high performers often looks like more output, not less — it hides well

• Regulation comes before decision-making — you cannot make good career choices from a dysregulated state

• Values alignment is not a soft concept; it's a performance variable that shows up in your work, energy, and retention

• The question isn't always "should I leave" — sometimes it's "am I showing up as myself here"

Resources + Links:

• Awaken with Light: https://www.awakenwithlight.com/

• Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyboudrie/