The Mobilization Mindset
Mobilization Mindset is the podcast for construction and manufacturing leaders who are building smarter, leading stronger, and growing with intention. Hosted by Mobilization Funding CEO Scott Peper, each episode features insightful conversations with founders, operators, and changemakers who are rewriting the rules and doing the work.
From workforce challenges to mental health, communication to cash flow, culture to leadership - this is where grit meets strategy, and strategy meets action. No fluff. No filters. Just real insights for the MF’ers moving their businesses forward.
The Mobilization Mindset
Episode 147 | Rebuilding Yourself While Building Everything Else with Richard Chaussart
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In this episode of The Mobilization Mindset, Scott Peper sits down with Richard Chaussart, Regional Manager at Coastal Painting & Concrete Restoration, to discuss leadership, communication, and navigating change in construction.
They discuss:
• Why preparation and communication determine project success
• The importance of alignment between the field and back office
• What contractors should know before taking on government work
• Why documentation protects both relationships and profitability
• How construction creates opportunity for the next generation
Richard also shares how leaving stability behind helped him find greater fulfillment, growth, and purpose in the industry.
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Coastal Painting Website: https://www.coastalpaintingfl.com/
A lot of young people have not yet moved into construction. And as you have an aging workforce leaving the industry, creating a lot of opportunity in positions, you have a huge contributing factor in an industry that's measured in the trillions a year spent with little competition. That fact is lost a lot on the younger generation.
SPEAKER_00Well, I would encourage any young person out there who's looking for an opportunity or an avenue to consider the construction industry. The opportunity and avenues are not only ever changing, uh they're limitless. You gotta get in, you gotta spend your time, you need to put in the diligence and effort to learn your craft. And once you do that, the doors and avenues will just continue to open.
SPEAKER_01How to get properly contracted with city and state municipal governments, a little inside peek on what they look at, how do you get paid, how do you shrink the time to get paid? And we're going to also learn from someone who's been on many, many construction sites on things to do, things not to do, finishing a job well, starting it well, and bringing in your team and your employees and your back office to communicate properly together. Richard Chaucer is here with me today, and he is the regional manager of coastal painting and restoration here in South Florida, and he's got lots of experience. Welcome.
SPEAKER_00Yes, thank you, Scott.
SPEAKER_01You're welcome, man. So Boulder, Colorado to Miami, Florida, two totally different areas in demographics. Uh construction is big in both areas. What's the biggest difference? What brought you from one place to the next?
SPEAKER_00Um, just a passion for change, you know, in Colorado. I spent a lot of time with on the government side of things. And uh when I realized that there was more out there, uh Florida was the place for me and uh had to spread my wings.
SPEAKER_01When now when did you make that move? How long ago? 2020. 2020, yeah. So that's a big difference. Yeah. So let's talk about the state government side that you spent in Boulder. Tell everybody a little bit about your background in Boulder, what you did there, how you worked in and around that municipality.
SPEAKER_00So while I was with the city of Boulder from let's March of 2022 to March of 2011, um, in various different departments, uh underground infrastructure, utility work, water treatment, uh, and then towards the end, parks and planning, which got into revitalization of areas, including the downtown area, which was very insightful and how uh mega projects and larger infrastructure ties in with project planning, state funding, as well as federal aid. Yeah. So that was kind of the pinnacle of that work, and um decided from that point on I was gonna branch into some other areas and explore personal growth.
SPEAKER_01If you're in the private sector trying to get work for those municipalities and you're thinking, like you just said, I mean, you mentioned you hit the nail head too, you got big project money coming in from all different places, many buckets, federal, state level, local level, tax basis, yeah, private placement sometimes. What is the thing for a subcontractor that's trying to get into a state or city government job like that to execute on it? What are the best things they could be doing? How should they be thinking about it? What what what does winning look like in that?
SPEAKER_00I would recommend to anyone is know your trade, be good at what you do. And that way, when you're going to that level, you're confident to speak on all aspects of it because you will be dealing with people who are not as passionate or as competent in those areas. Um, and they could drive you towards improper approaches, um, negative starts. So, really knowing your trade and what you want to do is gonna be a key aspect, and then be prepared for the longevity of the project, the complexity. Um, again, these larger projects, uh they're slow paying. Uh, there's a lot of administrative work, there's a lot of paperwork to be going through, and if all of that is in synced, you're gonna have trouble and you're gonna get slowed down, and any sort of delays are gonna be compounded by other trades right behind you. These projects move quick and you you need to be prepared to deliver results or you're gonna get penalized.
SPEAKER_01Is there anything that you see like a common theme that trade partners make that causes them to fail most often? Things that they could put maybe do a lot better right out of the gate, they may not be anticipating?
SPEAKER_00Uh poor start. Poor start. I think uh it's a lot easier to make up time on the project in the beginning and in your planning stage than you know, if you get off to a bad start, you're gonna be chasing yourself the whole time. So be prepared. Be prepared.
SPEAKER_01All right. So everyone knows that government entities are notoriously slow to pay, at least the perception. What causes that? If it's true, what causes that?
SPEAKER_00Uh again, it's the paperwork and the amount of levels that the invoicing is being looked at, right? It's clearing multiple levels, uh, whether the funding's coming from the tax base, state, federal. Sometimes it's a mixture of those three. And typically you're dealing with people who are employee-based. Um, they're there for their job, their pension. Um, they're not there to get you paid. So I'm gonna tell you that right now. So you need to make sure that all your paperwork's in line and uh your administrative side of your company is as strong as your field production.
SPEAKER_01See, I think you touched on something interesting there. Like a lot of it, I've had a guy say to me one time if a T is not crossed or an I is not dotted, they'll reject the entire submission for everyone, oftentimes, and it goes back to the starting line.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01How can you best be prepared to make sure that works? And you started to talk about the back office. You mean like the back office of your own company and the field and and communicating back and forth? What's what does great look like there?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you need to have a liaison in between those to make sure whoever your foremans or superintendents are are getting the proper communication to your controller side and that everything's happening as accorded as it's written out in the project manual. So each project is gonna be outlined. I would reach out early and find out who the key players are, who the lead dogs are that are gonna be pulling the sled of that project, and uh solidify your relationship with them and make sure that there's a good communication avenue happening, and that's gonna be your first line of success. And then moving on into that, you'll be able to gauge if it's the right project for you. Um the payments are slow and everything could be delayed by a single vendor, which the project's not gonna stop, just your payments are going to. So you need to have the cash resources, the financing in place to make sure that you can uh stay with the attrition of the project because they'll supplement you and you won't get paid, and that funding will just go towards the project on the whoever's been so you've been supplemented with.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh that's how how who usually makes that supplement decision?
SPEAKER_00Uh, usually the general on-site, and it's being dictated again by uh their client, which is typically a variety of people depending on the scale of the project. Again, um, in the areas I was, you had state, federal, and a tax base overseeing. Then you have uh government, uh, environmental agencies stepping in. Uh it they can be really convoluted.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a mess. So, what is the best way to have you mentioned liaison between the back office and the and the actual field? And I think that can apply to private projects too, because the more communication and the better communication between the field and the back office, the more successful typically a construction company can be. And certainly, without a doubt, the more efficient they are. What is the best setup scenario that you've seen for that person or vehicle, I should say, to com that communicates from the field level stuff to the back office stuff? What is a good, what is best practice in your mind?
SPEAKER_00I find it most beneficial that your foreman spend time with your accounting team, foremens, superintendents, supervisors, as well as your accounting team making it to the job site. And this is doesn't happen enough in today's industry. And I think most companies would gain from that simple uh adjustment. Uh, and it could be as little as uh team building environment, uh, bringing the office staff actually onto the job site uh so that they can gauge in what's actually happening and what they're billing, as well as uh getting your foreman and superintendents in with your controller occasionally so that they can see what's going on and the detail that's being put into the invoicing side. Too often there's a complete disconnect between those. And I think that that's a big room for improvement that people can make, and it'll reduce the amount of errors and invoicing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm always surprised at how many companies, even sizable construction companies, really don't have a formal communication between the the field level and the accounting team or controller. And oftentimes, even the field is actually the ones drafting the pay application.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then the accounting team is just taking that in kind of rubber space. Yeah, it's already been submitted in this case.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so um, without any thought to like what materials or where we are, cost to spend and et cetera, et cetera. So that's just not a process that you've seen successful whatsoever.
SPEAKER_00Uh I would say that that's pretty much the industry standard, but I think that that companies that are successful do it the best. And companies who want to be successful, I think that that's the area that they could make the most improvement to their company.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I we've had lots of um accounting firms, large-scale construction consultants. And one of the things they focus on right away, aside from labor cost and the management of labor cost, which has a lot to do with the field and accounting communication, is creating pathways for the field to communicate with the back office, particularly accounting. And then that way you can then start to create systems for that manage labor cost and manage profitability, profitability per day per week, and you can really start to track your efficiency of scale to your schedule, but also to like, is there anywhere I can start to catch up some margin here? If I'm gonna have an overrun, if there's a delay, um, how do I make sure we're getting paid the best possible way? Where are we to the actual job? Is there anything going on in the job too that is outside of scope that we should be tracking, documenting better for future change orders, et cetera, all that stuff, and even bonding capacity. Have you seen those type of things a lot?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and uh obviously technology is changing the industry constantly. Um, over the last 10 years, different softwares and things have really changed the industry on the production side and what can be done with technology as far as efficiencies, and then we're gonna see a new uh era of that as AI enters the workforce. So I think we're right on the cusp of another big change. But a good operating software as well as uh a competent person behind that software, using it to its uh fullest ability is also gonna be a big aid for most people.
SPEAKER_01So you you mentioned AI and technology coming into play, and one of your passions is trying to figure out ways to attract the younger generation into construction, into the workforce. Why do you think that's such an important thing to do? And how can we go about getting this younger generation to look at construction as a top two, three, four-level opportunity for them as they're coming out of school or into to create their own personal dreams?
SPEAKER_00Well, I would encourage any young person out there who's looking for an opportunity or an avenue to consider the construct construction industry. Um, the opportunity and avenues are not only ever-changing, uh, they're limitless. Their projects only grow in size, and it's something you can do till you no longer wish to do it. Uh on the project management side, I've seen men and women both in their 80s and 90s still providing a great deal of value, whether it's on the planning side, um cost evaluation, punch list, again, just so many avenues. Um you got to get in, you got to spend your time, you need to put in the diligence and effort to learn your craft. And once you do that, uh the doors and avenues will just continue to open. Uh, there's so many different angles to go. Um, whether it's design, planning, production, closeout, uh, drafting, uh, again, it's so many options. So uh I encourage everybody to just take the ball and run with it. And uh doors will start opening, build relationships, reach out to people. The industry would love to have you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know what I you make some great points there. And what I would add to that too is a lot of a lot of younger folks don't understand the size and scale and contribution of the construction industry to our actual GDP, the actual economy, how big of a mover it actually is. You know, social media and tech platforms are also a huge contributor, data centers, a huge contributor. But what I think folks miss sometimes is all of that infrastructure is built by construction. And as goes construction, as goes our economy as well. And so consumer spending is a huge driver of our economy, but it has to be spent on things that people are buying, building, using, seeing, and all of that leads to construction. And so I think sometimes the message for younger folks are hey, if you're if you can be great, be great in a big industry, and then be great in an industry where you have maybe a lot of opportunity, but also maybe less competition. Yeah, you know, if you get into the tech space as a young hard driver with a lot of spunk and smart and skill, you're gonna have a lot of competition there too. A lot of people have moved that direction. But a lot of young people have not yet moved into construction. And as you have an aging workforce leaving the industry, creating a lot of opportunity and positions, you have a huge contributing factor in an industry that's measured in the trillions a year spent. Yep. And now you're an absolute killer assassin with a bunch of spunk, high energy, and you're ready to come out and make a lot of money and figure out how to do it with little competition. Yeah. And positions constantly opening. I think that that fact is lost a lot on the younger generation.
SPEAKER_00And it's amazing how much on a project uh we do what we have to so that we have the time to do what we want to, right? And that could be applied into your career also. Uh, don't be afraid to work hard or get dirty. Uh, doing so is gonna open a lot of doors where you're gonna be able to implement your passions into what you have to do, and that's when you're gonna know you've really made it, and you're gonna just see a lot of opportunity open up, and you're gonna be the driving your own ship at that point, uh, dictating your career paths rather than being a passenger kind of along for the ride. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you made a big shift from city of col city of Boulder in a in a state like Colorado to leaving the city, state, municipality world and the type of climate and environment in Colorado versus Florida is vastly different. Yeah. And so you come all the way to Florida, get involved in coastal painting, and now you're in South Florida. What made you want to make that move?
SPEAKER_00So being again, being in large-scale projects with multiple entities, um, you'll find that uh a lot of what's produced is a compromise uh rather than a goal. So that's can be frustrating if you're one of the team members who's passionate about the final product. And uh especially when you're delivering it to a community, not just a private, a private person, but the actual community that's involved in there, right? Um, and that can be frustrating for sure for some people. So uh one thing that attracted me to the private sector more was seeing that impact and that passion be more applicable across the board.
SPEAKER_01That's cool. Yeah, I like it.
SPEAKER_00Uh, and then obviously two very different environments and climates, um, which again is just challenge. If you know, if you know your trade and you know your craft, then you should be able to survive in any any avenue. Um, there's gonna be change, there's gonna be modifications, there's definitely gonna be learning, which is part of the funnest. You know, that's what makes it all worth it, keeps everybody going. Um, so yeah, that's what I would I love it.
SPEAKER_01So thinking about being on a project itself, I'll pose a scenario to you that I think a lot of subcontractors get themselves into, or they find themselves in, I should say. You have a jet you have a general contractor operating, you're you're one of the trades, and you're working in and around other trades. And depending on what your trade is, you're sort of at the mercy of how some of the other trades may have or may not have done certain things around the way, or the design of the overall project. What are the best ways in your experience to identify ways that something could be done better or the way something's done wrong that maybe was by design from another subcontractor, or maybe the subcontractor executed the design perfectly, but it's just going to make your trade now that much more difficult and that much more cumbersome. What are the best ways to handle that when you are now on site, five months into construction? It's not the early design phase. You were never consulted during the early design phase, but yet here you are with the problem.
SPEAKER_00Uh, and this ties into what we were talking about earlier on the bigger project. So, again, the larger the project, the more opportunity for this. And uh all you can do is uh speak up and stand up. And sooner you do, the easier it's gonna be for you. And what you're gonna have to do is have the documentation to support what you're communicating, and that's gonna tie it right into your field, being in line with your back office. Uh, you're gonna have to have your markups and uh changes on your plans submitted with documentation and communication, and then from there it's gonna be how you conduct yourself with the GC and the project, but make sure that your statements are documented, you know, pen to paper, email chains, uh, because uh these projects live forever.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, one thing we've seen a lot is if it's not written, yeah, it never happened and doesn't exist.
SPEAKER_00100%.
SPEAKER_01And too often you're relying on this. Hey, we had this conversation, and it's just everyone all of a sudden has amnesia. So even if you have it, document the conversation, flip over an email, say, hey, this is what we just met, we just talked about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, all my form and no. The first thing after a conversation is follow up with that email per ho conversation, and let's get a recap so it's documented. This is gonna be your saving grace uh down the road. It's gonna keep your payments from being delayed, it's gonna reduce your liability, it's gonna keep you from being back charged at six months down the road at the end of the project on things you had no idea about. You know, you'll you you'll be amazed at how many times you go six months back looking through your email chain uh for that one communication that didn't make it into the project file that you know you had, but uh you're missing. And so just doing your due diligence on the administrative and electronic side is gonna help the whole project along.
SPEAKER_01So so so how do you do that with your team so that they either are incentivized or they're aware or they know that that's your standard? Like, how do you implement that? Especially if you're you know, if you switch companies or you go to a different project or you get a different crew and that's not the standard, how do you go about implementing that on a construction site and and follow?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think for any leader or company owner, uh it's on you to set the tone for the culture of the company, right? So how you conduct yourself, uh you're gonna be watched constantly. And so lead by example. Um, make sure that the people under you are getting a good glimpse of how things should be done and what your expectations are, and then clear communication from the top down, whether it's uh an entry level position or a senior position, uh standards and expectations should be clear. And when they're not being met, you need to have a conversation with them, not necessarily in the disciplinary, but more in the training factor. Make sure you're bringing them along. It's a team effort out there. And one person isn't going to make or save a project. It's going to be a collective.
SPEAKER_01When do you feel it's appropriate to go from your project manager speaking to the project manager of the general contractor, but they're just not getting anywhere? And when do you feel it's appropriate to take that next step above the project manager of a general contractor or their next their boss?
SPEAKER_00Um I do so pretty quickly. If you know we're reaching a stalemate, I'm not afraid to go to the next level because again, difficult situations are easiest the sooner you're facing them. That problem's only gonna grow or exacerbate itself more. Uh it's gonna metastasize throughout the project. And so if you're running in with some personality conflicts, uh production, whatever the case is, I think the sooner you address it is gonna be healthier for everyone. And occasionally uh things don't line up. And every now and then it is best to come to an agreement and an understanding that you do have to part ways. Yes. Um, hopefully that's the last resort, but that that does exist out there for various different reasons. So having the difficult communication early on is going to be a you know a saving grace.
SPEAKER_01You know, it's is as you say that I was thinking about um contract clauses and negotiating your subcontract agreement up front. Is there anything specific that you think is important to be added into that subcontract agreement that gives you, in that scenario, four or five months down the road, the power and ability to do things that you otherwise might not have been able to do to put yourself in the best situation?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I think owners uh as well as just senior level employees rely too much on the legal side of things to format those, and you get a lot of jargon in there where um if you just go ahead and take that step forward and not be intimidated by the legal side of it, and go ahead and implement the language you want to see. Even if it's not accepted, you're gonna get some pushback. Open that door of communication, make sure that the field has an input in that contract and how it's gonna play out. Uh, your lawyers don't know the project, your legal side doesn't, and they're gonna give you a lot of jargon that could be better stated.
SPEAKER_01Is there anything specific that you think is really important to know or have in that agreement, in an agreement in general, to help the field the best possible way?
SPEAKER_00Um payment terms and are gonna be huge as well as penalty clauses are the two most important areas you want to focus on. And then always check your scopes of work and make sure nothing's being snuck in on you. Um that does exist out there, so always spend the time to go back through your scopes of work on that.
SPEAKER_01The other thing I think is most penalizing, too, in a contract that's often in there is the subcontractor has no ability to quit if they're not paid, no ability to quit if they're being asked to do work that's not part of their scope. They can't leave the job, otherwise, it's considered immediate termination. So you're forced to have to do all the extra scope or all the extra work without being paid, even if you're not being paid for work that everyone agrees on, and you have no recourse in the moment because if you were the if you were to do the only thing you could do, which is not come to work, you then are terminated for cause and you trigger a list of everything else. Something in there has to be managed properly in the subcontract agreement, I believe, to give your field the best possible opportunity to handle a situation that might be rather rather tough. Now, I'm not talking about a situation where they screw something up and you want to leave. I'm talking about a scenario where like there is a design flaw, there's a big, huge payment delay, uh, and you're absorbing that to the to the detriment of your own company.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and this is something you want to be prepared for on any project. And so uh don't get ahead of yourself. Uh small projects in and out are often the most profitable and they gain a lot of experience. And as you do those more efficiently, you can grow into longer and bigger, bigger projects, but be competent and confident in the small ones because those skills are gonna be implemented on the larger ones, and getting ahead of your documentation, uh, speaking up early so that you have everything documented is gonna be your what saves you down the road. Because in the moment you have no choice. You the fastest and uh most efficient path is gonna be production. So document everything well so you have what's needed for when you it comes time to have the conversations and you're well positioned to win. I love it.
SPEAKER_01All right, so the podcast is called The Mobilization Mindset. So I got a question for you around mindset. What is the one I have actually two? What is the one thing a project manager can have in their mind at all times to give them the best possible success on a site?
SPEAKER_00For me, your greatest tool on a job site is your personnel and what they can deliver for you. So that's gonna be exploited with the relationships you build as well as how you communicate and make those people feel. So have a strong team, make sure they know they're appreciated, and then trust in them to deliver what you hire them to. Obviously, you want to make sure you're hiring competent people, training them and giving them their tools to perform. But at the end of the day, uh our people are our greatest resource.
SPEAKER_01Couldn't agree more. Yeah. All right, second one. There's a young person on the other end listening, watching or listening, watching and listening, and they're considering they either 18 to 25. They've either coming out of high school and looking what to do, they're going into college and trying to figure out what to do, or they've come out of college, used that degree they got, realized this really sucks, and they're gonna make a change. What do you want them to hear from you that you think they could hear now and that would drive them towards construction or at least considering it?
SPEAKER_00Uh construction has no discrimination. So if you can provide value to a project, there is a project that wants you on board. Um, it doesn't matter if you're male, female, large, small, extremely smart, maybe a little slow, uh, there's a project that wants your help. Uh the one thing that we can't do anything with is motivation. So if if you're hungry, you're motivated, and you want to grow as an individual, find a construction site, find a GC, uh, start asking questions. These people will put you in contact with who you need to be in touch with.
SPEAKER_01I love it. That's sound advice. Well, Richard, man, I really appreciate you coming in, sharing this wisdom. Thank you for some insight to everybody. Yeah. And until next time, everyone, you can find us at mobilizationfunding.com. Of course, like, follow, share all the different things you've seen here today. If you like any of them, give my man Richard here a follow. Where you can find him, of course, at Coastal Painting and Restoration. They're out of South Florida. And of course, you can see us at Mobilization Funding on our YouTube channel, me on LinkedIn, and the rest of our team. Until next time, have a great week and may God bless you.