Leading the Next Generation of Millwork with Madison Fuzzell

In this episode of Verify In Field, host Jacob Edmond sits down with Madison Fuzzell, Chief Operating Officer of Integrity Architectural Millwork, to explore what it looks like to step into leadership within a second generation millwork business.

Madison shares her unconventional path into the industry, beginning with a corporate career in international supply chain and operations before joining her family’s millwork company. Together, they discuss the realities of succession planning, earning trust in a legacy shop, and introducing modern systems into an established operation. This conversation offers a candid look at leadership transitions, industry change, and the future of millwork from the perspective of a new generation of leaders.

About Our Guest

Madison Fuzzell is the Chief Operating Officer at Integrity Architectural Millwork, a Nashville based millwork company founded by her father more than 40 years ago. Although she grew up around the business, Madison initially pursued a career outside the construction industry, studying business and working in international grocery supply chain operations in Germany and the United States.

After years of experience building systems, managing logistics, and driving operational efficiency, Madison joined Integrity Architectural Millwork during a pivotal transition period. Since then, she has helped modernize processes, implement scheduling and documentation systems, and guide the company through growth, a new facility move, and leadership succession. She is also actively involved in AWI and industry organizations that support collaboration, education, and workforce development.

 

Where to learn more

Integrity Architectural Millwork website
https://www.integritymillwork.net/ 

Integrity Architectural Millwork Linkedln
https://www.linkedin.com/company/integrity-architectural-millwork-inc./ 

Connect with Madison Fuzzell on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/madisonfuzzell/ 

Podcast blog:https://vifpodcast.com/leading-the-next-generation-of-millwork-with-madison-fuzzell/?utm_source=Buzzprout&utm_medium=Podcast 

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Transcript

Madison Fuzzell 0:00

So the first time that we like started working together, he's like, why are you so mean to me? And I'm like, I'm not being mean dad. This is just, we gotta talk about business

Jacob Edmond 0:12

welcome back to Verify and Field Everybody. Today I have guest with me, COO of Integrity Architectural millwork, Madison Fuzzell And, I'm excited to have her on here and share her unique journey as she's starting in her new role in a family business. So thanks for joining me today, Madison.

Madison Fuzzell 0:28

Yeah. Thank you for having me.

Jacob Edmond 0:30

I think to get started, would you mind giving just a little bit about your background and your career journey that has led you to your role today?

Madison Fuzzell 0:39

Yes. Pretty untraditional I think for the millwork industry. It's my dad's company, so I grew up around it. In the car with him going on to school, hearing him talking to, his foreman and the installers. So I was always exposed to it. I used to go to the shop after school. I had a birthday party in the office of the shop one time, so I was always growing up around it. But it was never even an idea that I would join the company the whole time I was growing up. It's nothing I wanted. I don't think my dad necessarily wanted it for me either, because, back in the day it used to be a little rougher

Jacob Edmond 1:12

Yeah. Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 1:13

with the superintendents and the industry, so it was just never even a thought of mine to join. So I went to college. I studied business and then I went just the corporate route. So I used to work for a German grocery store company that launched in the US. In my twenties, I lived in Germany. I learned about the business, and then I came to the US and launched it as a district manager. And I worked as a district manager for a few years, and then I went up to headquarters and worked in supply chain. So I handled all the inventory and store placement and, all of the processes for that. So I yeah, had no construction experience and then COVID happened and I was working in supply chain in DC during COVID, and it was just a moment of what am I doing with my life? Of thing. And I just wanted to move back home. But once again, it was never even an idea to work for my dad. I was just ready to leave the corporate world behind and maybe move home. And so then I was just talking to my dad and at that same time he was looking at retiring, was thinking of next steps. And he also just started noticing a lot more women in the industry, not just like with millwork, but also on the GC side of things. It was like a light bulb of like perfect timing of why don't. I just go try working for him. And so yeah, we were just like, okay, let's just see. So I started off as director of operations was my title when I started. And really what I was bringing to the company was just procedures and processes. That was something I really learned all of my twenties, I worked for a German company and it was all about lean processes tight margins just operational side of things. That was what I brought to the company. My dad is more of like carpenter, business, like he understands that part, but there wasn't a whole lot of organization. So that was something I could bring right away and help benefit the company. And then I just learned millwork as I went. And now it's been five years later I was just promoted. And my dad is taking a bigger step back as I take a bigger step forward. We've moved to a new shop. We're hiring, we're growing. And I'm excited. So it's worked out, it was a huge leap to join the family business, but I think it all worked out.

Jacob Edmond 3:22

That's amazing. That's a really interesting story,'cause I think it's not entirely rare to have, second or third generation millwork shop. Families running and there's even just in AWI, I know multiple other, sons of founders that have started. But definitely usually in those cases they've grown up working a lot more involved in the shop and come up through the business more directly through their career. And so I think your path of, not at ever really being a part of your plan until later in your career is really interesting. It seems like the experience you gained outside industry has been valuable as well. And there's a lot of alignment there. So going back a little bit though, growing up in a millwork family, like as far as you can remember as a child, this was your dad's business and what he did for a career, right?

Madison Fuzzell 4:04

Yep. Yeah, so he's had the business for 40 years, so it's always been the family business. And so yeah, I've always just grown up around construction, job sites. It's one of the guys that like I grew up with always knowing. He just retired, Like this year. And that's also interesting is moving into this business. The people that work for my dad worked for him, for a lot

Jacob Edmond 4:26

mm-hmm.

Madison Fuzzell 4:26

There's a lot of people that I know that knew me as a kid.

Jacob Edmond 4:29

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 4:30

and so that's also fun because it feels like family. It's not like I didn't know who these guys were.

Jacob Edmond 4:35

Yeah. And it was never in your mind, as a child or as a teen or even through college of Hey, this is what I want to do. I wanna be in the family business. And it was never pushed on you, it sounds like from your dad either. If anything, it was Hey, go do your own thing. And so you mentioned that, your dad noticed that the industry's changed. There's more women, more diversity coming in because I think that is also something that I found that's interesting. A lot of times there are a lot of founder operators like your dad in our industry, and a lot of the times those guys are craftsmen first, entrepreneurs second, right?

Madison Fuzzell 5:05

Exactly. Yep.

Jacob Edmond 5:06

And so it seems like we're seeing a transition to more entrepreneurs first, craftsmen second coming in. And I think that, not just millwork but business in general, we have a lot more resources and things changing, but specifically within the construction industry, times are changing and if I imagine if you went into your dad's company 30 years ago, there was probably, if any women in the business, definitely not in the shop. I would imagine. And that's the industry as a whole, would you say?

Madison Fuzzell 5:32

Yes.

Jacob Edmond 5:33

And it's exciting for me to see that change because I think what comes with it, not just women, but more diversity of outside industry, we're starting to see things like what you're bringing with your experience with, supply chain and stuff. I think there's a lot that our industry is able to gain and learn from outside perspectives or more diverse perspectives. What has been the response to that? You coming in, having a whole career outside of this and now coming in and saying, Hey, I don't necessarily know millwork, but I have something to add. And, sometimes it can be very much Hey, you don't know what we're doing. We're not gonna change. What has that experience been like for you of coming in with that outside perspective and how have people responded to that? Or how have you gotten over that hurdle potentially?

Madison Fuzzell 6:13

Yeah, it was definitely a hurdle. I think it was like a twofold because I was the boss's daughter and I didn't know millwork

Jacob Edmond 6:19

yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 6:20

and so there was a lot to prove there of that. Like I wasn't just being handed over something without earning it or being worthy of it. And I think for me, and this is just how I always approach things. I approach it very humbly. We have a, a shop foreman who's been with my dad for forever and he's an old stubborn guy who doesn't like change. And so he was my hardest nut to crack. But basically I just started slow like, introduce myself, didn't try to impose anything. Didn't wanna change, didn't wanna scare him too much. So I really just started with little changes. And as he saw the benefit of the little changes, he was then welcome to more changes. So you don't wanna overwhelm them. You don't wanna come in day one and be like, I'm changing everything because that's just too much. So you wanna start small, start with something easy and then work your way. And then as I was doing that, I was really trying to educate myself on construction. So I was taking AWI classes, I was reading up on the handbook. I was. Just observing, asking questions. I think a good way to learn is just ask the guys around me, ask my installers about things, ask my dad about things. And just continuously learned. And then also just, putting in the hard work, going out in the shop and, observing and going out to job sites and not just sitting behind my desk. And so I think it was a slow transition. But now like I look around and we're doing all these processes that they. Are asking for, the schedules that I make and the lists that I make and the procedures and they're implementing it. And so I think it's like slow and steady

Jacob Edmond 7:48

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 7:49

and don't do too much, too quick.'cause it's an older generation. They're used to paper, they're used to like their way and so you don't wanna do it too quick.

Jacob Edmond 7:56

Yeah, no I've gone through similar, experiences where we're trying to implement, for example, just new engineering process or new ways of manufacturing and it is always very,'cause one, you don't wanna impact the productivity of the business. And two, you don't wanna lose the people that are doing the work.'cause it doesn't matter if you have a good plan, if they're gonna fight it and it's not gonna get executed. And so it sounds like that what you did is you were able to get some kind of. Small but visible wins to earn trust. And from there then once they see, hey, oh, these things are able to help us, let's go back and ask for more. Is that kind of your experience?

Madison Fuzzell 8:30

Exactly. Yep. I think once they saw that, like what I was trying to do worked and it made their lives easier and they felt more organized, then they were like, okay, I guess she knows what she's talking about. And so yeah, it was definitely a slow process. It's not something quick. and to earn trust. I feel like the guys, they have iPads out on the field. That was something we never had. We have like electronic schedules. We have electronic drawings, so we are getting into the 21st century, but there's definitely more technology that we wanna implement. But we've gotta just take it one step at a time.

Jacob Edmond 9:02

Awesome. And is there any examples you can think of that came directly from your experience outside that you were able to see, Hey, I think this would translate, let's try this, and has been a success.

Madison Fuzzell 9:13

Yeah. I think just SOPs, like just having it, something written down. Instead of just like talking about something and then everyone forget what the procedure was, which seems really simple,

Jacob Edmond 9:23

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 9:24

But it´s just like, Hey, let's have a meeting. Let's write down exactly what our processes are so that way all aspects of the business understand what the process is. So our bookkeeper knows like the order of things that are happening, so she knows when to bill a little bit Or like our drafts person not really understanding the processes. So I think it was just like writing something down and then. We could go back and look at it, and then everyone's on the same page for new starters. Anytime someone else new comes in, we can just pull up the document and be like, Hey, okay, this is our procedures. So that was a very simple thing. We hadn't done scheduling. When I first started, bless'em, they had a big printed calendar And that was how they did the schedule. and so now that I have an electronic schedule and we can look months out and kind of plan production a little bit better, I think that's helped as well. They're not scrambling last minute of, oh my gosh, we have a big job next month. We haven't even done anything with it. So I think those two things were huge to help us get more organized.

Jacob Edmond 10:21

Awesome. And so what about the transition and kind of the development with your dad? So obviously you're his daughter and there's a certain amount of hair already built, rapport and trust there. But you coming in and working inside the business is a totally new thing, I would imagine. What was that process like of, okay, we're gonna do this, you're gonna come in. But I imagine there was still a certain amount of like you had to earn his trust and Hey dad, you've been doing running things for decades, but I need you to give me a little bit of leeway here to help. How has that transition gone for you and were there any sticking points or kind of hurdles you had to overcome there?

Madison Fuzzell 10:57

Yeah, I think it, there were some, in the beginning I think it was tough. Especially because since I didn't grow up working in the business, he had never seen me as like a working, he'd only ever seen me as his daughter

Jacob Edmond 11:08

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 11:08

And so he didn't understand, like, when I'm in work, I maybe have a little bit different of a personality. So the first time that we like started working together, he's like, why are you so mean to me? And I'm like, I'm not being mean dad. This is just, we gotta talk about business

Jacob Edmond 11:21

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 11:21

So like that was a, an interesting transition. And then I think it was very similar to how I like really gained the trust of my shop foreman, of gaining the trust of him, of like slowly implementing change and then also doing it respectfully. You don't wanna offend someone being like, oh my gosh, the way you did things before was so old and so archaic. You wanna come in respectfully and be like, okay, that worked and I can see how that worked, but we're wanting to grow and we can't grow while still doing kind of these paper processes.

Jacob Edmond 11:49

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 11:50

so I think it comes with like just being really respectful of obviously they built a wonderful business already with what, how they were doing things

Jacob Edmond 11:57

Mm-hmm.

Madison Fuzzell 11:57

So We have to acknowledge that and then, but like how can we take that and make it a little bit better and be able to grow the company?

Jacob Edmond 12:04

Yeah. It is so interesting'cause I, everything you're saying makes sense and is, but this is just my commentary. I find there's a difference inherently a lot of times in how a woman comes in with handle these things. And there's, I find in our industry we have a lot of ego and that's not necessarily just limited to men, but we are male dominated in industry. And inherently with that you get a lot of ego. And with that ego comes a different approach to the scenarios that you're discussing. And so I think that getting outside of yourself and especially coming in.'cause I, as working as an engineer and engineering manager, I was always having to go to the shop floor and I always tried to approach it with Hey, I might come out here and I might get a tongue lashing. I might get some, some a beating of like mistakes I've made or Why did you do it this way? I'm going to, endure that because I wanna learn, I want to get to the meat of what they're saying and I want to get to where they're trusting me of, Hey, I wanna work on the stuff that Jacob releases and the stuff that like the, what he does I trust and we wanna work together and gain that. And sometimes the. The way of 30 years ago is very different than what we as millennials and now the younger generation are used to working. But being able to come in humbly like you're describing and saying look I, there's value in how you've done it. I wanna learn from that and I don't wanna negate that or remove that. But how can we build on top of that to move forward and be able to do something a little bit more than what we've done in the past?

Madison Fuzzell 13:22

And also just collaborating with them. That's what I found. What do you think? Or what are, how would you think? Because if you just tell them it, once again, it's the ego, it's a little bit of the ego thing. So you've to approach

Jacob Edmond 13:31

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 13:32

it in a way of making them have the buy-in. Okay, like I came up with a little bit of this plan and there's more buy-in to do it.

Jacob Edmond 13:38

Yeah. Do you feel like that you, obviously you had experience in another industry and even in Germany, culturally, I imagine things were different there than they are here as well. But do you think that experience of having to go into a foreign environment, a foreign industry when you started there and in a foreign culture has allowed you like. To adopt a mentality of okay, now I'm repeating that even though it's my dad's business and my hometown, I'm coming in as an outsider in many ways. Similar to how you probably had to do going to Germany in a new industry.

Madison Fuzzell 14:10

Yeah, there's so many parallels. First off, the industry I was in is the grocery industry. It's a very male dominated industry as well. I remember looking around, I'd be like, the only female in a meeting. And so I think that kind of toughened me up a little bit in a sense of I don't get my feelings hurt very easily. And I know that they're not trying to hurt their feelings. They just come off a little rougher sometimes. And so I feel like that was a huge parallel. And like you said, I was thrown into an industry and I had to learn German and then learn the industry in German. And so Once I could do that, I can do anything. If I can learn a whole industry in German, I can do anything. And I feel like with business, it's copy paste basically for every industry. You just have the basics of a business, and then you just have to learn what the business is. But I feel like that's the easy part. You just research. You go to classes, you observe, then you can do any industry essentially. Once you have the basics of how to manage people, you're pretty set.

Jacob Edmond 15:02

Yeah, I mean I think that's very true is a lot of times, you know what we do, the content of what we do is simple. You can standardize it, you figure it out. Obviously there's a lot of technical, expertise, but the people a lot of times is the hardest part of a business is getting through the dynamics of relationships and managing people.'cause every person's different and it's not. Cookie cutter. But the, once you can figure out manufacturing, woodwork and things like that it's okay. This can be taught to another person. This can be learned to experience and especially if you have SOPs and making it repeatable. But it's the day-to-day relationships that make things difficult. How about from the people at Integrity, now they're transitioning through and there's people that have worked for your dad and now they're working with you. And I imagine there's been a shift in culture, a shift in, you've moved to a new building I'm sure you've had new hires and stuff, but what has been the response, outside of the technical and everything we do of just Hey, this is a different environment and now I'm interacting more with Madison as opposed to your dad. How do you feel like that has changed with. You know the times and culture speaking

Madison Fuzzell 16:03

Yeah, I would say probably two years ago was a huge shift of they stopped calling him and they started calling me, and so it once again, but that was three years of me in the industry,

Jacob Edmond 16:12

right.

Madison Fuzzell 16:12

And so It took like me earning trust of I know what I'm talking about. And then they're like, now it's almost like they come to me too much. I'm like, whoa. Try and figure it out yourself, kind of thing. So they, yeah, I feel like it just took, three years of constantly proving myself and, answering the questions correctly. And then there are still times, and this is why my dad's still involved in the business, there are some like weird things that may pop up that I've never seen before. And that's when we, pull the expert in and he'll help. But for the most part. was just proving myself over, three years and then now it's everyone just comes to me. It was like a natural, there was no like, Hey, stop going to Frank, go to Madison. It just organically happened.

Jacob Edmond 16:51

Yeah. Awesome. And so I, obviously I know you're involved in AWI I've seen you at a lot of the conferences and I imagine in many other ways throughout the industry. Have you made any kind of connections or found peers or any type of, way that, hey, somebody else that I can go to that's in a similar position as me, whether that be another child of a founder or just somebody else that's an upcoming leader in this industry. Like what has that been like for you? Networking outside of integrity.

Madison Fuzzell 17:18

Yeah so AWI attribute to really my success with the business. I when I first joined, I wanna say it was like a few months into me joining the business, I did a project management class through AWI, and it was just like something that popped up on my dad's email and he is Hey, you should probably go to that. And I was like, okay. But he had never really been involved with AWI He just was a member, but Conferences, never did classes, anything. So I went to the class and it was taught by Uncle Bob and Craig, and so they like took me under their wing. They were like, this girl is like fresh in the industry. And they are like a huge part of why I'm so involved in AWI. I came back from that class and I told my dad. We gotta go to these conferences. There's so many like-minded people. like when you're a subcontractor, you almost feel like you don't, you're alienated, like we don't, converse with other mill workers in the Nashville area. And so you feel like a little bit like no one's going through what I'm Hard for, our significant others to relate to the day-to-day of millwork industry. And so you feel like you can't really like talk to others and bounce ideas. So we started going to the conferences and then we just never stopped. We've been going to every conference. My dad actually went and did a class with AWI to learn more. We're a part of the best practice group. And I just feel like every time I go to a conference, I meet someone else. And the last conference that we had in Texas, I met two sons that were like a generational, and they're in the Chicago area, and so it was just like nice talking to them and getting, how did you do the transition? What did you learn going from, you know, father to son? I can't speak highly enough about AWI, I think just from the resources it provides for education, but like the huge part is just the community you have. If I ever have a question and like my dad doesn't know the answer, he is oh, I don't know, maybe call and we'll call X, Y, or Z. Whoever we need, like think would maybe know a little bit better. So it's just open to a total communication channel and collaboration, and it feels like family.

Jacob Edmond 19:16

Yeah. That's amazing.'Cause I think there's a lot of people who, even I grew up in the industry. We were always members of AWI, but I never went to the conferences and a lot of people don't know what AWI is outside of the standards. But there is a huge community and a lot of resources there. What are some of the biggest challenges that integrity still faces today? You've mentioned that you guys have grown, you've moved into a new building, I imagine there's a lot of scaling, but what are the biggest obstacles you're still facing or you guys are still trying to solve?

Madison Fuzzell 19:41

Yeah, I think it's you've touched on it of the shift of labor. So we had like my dad's generation who were handy and didn't necessarily go to college, but just learned it in the field. Then we have this new generation that goes to college and then goes into the field. And so there's a really big, it's interesting'cause are, we're struggling to find people that have the skillset and and we're losing people that do have the skillset. So it's like we're trying to like find, hire the right people. We've been struggling with do we hire someone with experience or do we hire like a new young guy with no experience and we just teach'em.

Jacob Edmond 20:19

Hmm.

Madison Fuzzell 20:19

And so that's been a little bit interesting. We are really lucky that all of our employees, once we bring them in, they stay. And so as far as like the shop goes and the install goes, we've been really lucky with that. It is interesting finding like project managers, drafters, programmers, like those have been more difficult to find that have the experience that we need. And the younger generation wants to be remote and we're like, you can't be remote. You have to come in the office. So I think that's been difficult. And I've talked to other people in the industry as well that it is hard to find people to fill the roles of the skilled labor that's now retiring.

Jacob Edmond 20:58

Yeah, I think that is definitely industry-wide. As we're largely, retiring people from, with experience at a much higher rate than we're bringing people in. And, most of the people that have been filling those positions for the last 20 years came up from the shop floor and then eventually, either became foreman or became managers or became drafters or project managers with, years and years of hands-on experience. And now we don't really have that path as much anymore. And also you don't really have kind of the talent that's coming in with the interest in making a career out of it.

Madison Fuzzell 21:31

No, we've reached out'cause we're a part of you know, AGC, ABC and stuff like that. So we've reached out to them being like, Hey is there, they have schools for electricians, for plumbers. I was like, is there like any kind of apprenticeship that you have for like millwork? It doesn't

Jacob Edmond 21:44

Mm-hmm.

Madison Fuzzell 21:44

And I know AWI is really helping with that and they're like trying to create that. But like locally, there's just not a pool of people.

Jacob Edmond 21:50

Yep.

Madison Fuzzell 21:51

and you're just taking people from other Millwork shop, which you don't want either. And so it's that is a struggle that we're having. And I think we're still trying to figure out the best way to bring in skilled labor.

Jacob Edmond 22:02

Yeah. No, I think it's definitely an industrywide challenge that everybody's struggling with and then being, that we're, a nationwide industry, but really it's a very regional market base that each shop is serving. And you need people that are in your shop to produce and install at work. Are there any other big things? You've moved into an office, you've scaled, and I imagine that means you need more people than you did maybe five, 10 years ago. Are there other ways that you guys have changed? I know software's changing, machinery's constantly evolving. With that though the need of the talent changes and shifts a little bit of what you need people to do. But outside of that, are there any other things that have, changed the way you do business from five, 10 years ago? That have been either a big win or a big struggle.

Madison Fuzzell 22:45

Yeah, I think technology side of things is. Changing the business a lot. And I know we talk about that, but we're struggling a lot with these new big machines and how to service them. It's almost like we need to hire a service tech just to be at our shop to service all our machines

Jacob Edmond 23:01

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 23:02

'cause we're bringing in people for that. So like I think that's probably something that we're gonna be shifting is like just having an in-house tech that can service all our machines.'cause it does add up to bring in people from different countries or states and stuff to that specialize in those machines. I think we're going to have to be, a lot more lean because of the cost of goods going up. And so I, with hardware, with sheet goods, I think we just have to be more conscientious of that and also just having to pay people more which rightfully so the cost of living's gone up. So that means we've gotta pay them more to keep up with the cost of living.

Jacob Edmond 23:39

Yeah.

Madison Fuzzell 23:39

that just means that we have to be lean in our production and really focus on our processes so we can cut costs where we can, because costs are coming up.

Jacob Edmond 23:49

Yeah. The core, the two biggest costs in our industry are materials and labor, and both of those have continued to increase a pace that I imagine that what you can charge to your client hasn't kept up with. And I know that's always a struggle for everybody in the industry. Would you have any advice for somebody else that's, looking at, coming up in our industry or maybe in a similar position as you as, Hey, maybe I have a family business and my parents don't have a succession plan, or, I'm interested in trying to enter into leadership and make a career out of this. What advice would you have for others that are in a similar position to you or maybe five years ago?

Madison Fuzzell 24:23

Yeah, I think it's just keep an open mind. I will say another good shift for. Construction industry in general is I feel like people are getting away from pushing the narrative of you have to go to school to succeed and you have to get a college degree, and they're pushing more that trades are a great way to make a living and it's a great career. And there was a stigma, I think probably 10 years ago of construction. And now I feel like that stigma's going away. And it's no, this actually is a really great industry and you can be really successful in it. And it doesn't mean like it's not rough like it was like it can be a really good industry. And so I think it's just like opening your eyes of accepting that and then also telling younger people that are in high school you don't have to necessarily go to college, go to a trade school. We're needing tradespeople and it pays well and it's a craftsmanship. And so I think yeah, I think just being open to it and being and learning and. Yeah, that's, I think that's really it. It's just like I, I'm really excited for the construction industry. I'm excited for the women joining. I we're a part of, I'm a part of a naic, which

Jacob Edmond 25:33

Mm-hmm.

Madison Fuzzell 25:33

In construction, and the Nashville chapter is the largest chapter in the nation in every month I go to those meetings. It's just. Full of women and they're in the field and they're not just like in the office. And so I think it's also women being open to come to it, and construction has the lowest pay gap of any industry between men and women. And so I think that's also good to know.

Jacob Edmond 25:54

Yeah, no, absolutely. I definitely am excited to see, more I mentioned before we started previous to this, I interviewed Kaitlyn Rossier who was an architect. A young architect in this industry. I think I've got a couple other people, Liz, who's the new chair of AWI, I'm gonna interview her next. And Jenny Gaffer who runs a company up in Canada. More and more I'm seeing amazing women coming into industry and I think that. One that's of a sign of good change is coming. And two, it excites me about just the voices and the different perspectives that we're bringing into our industry that I think we're all gonna have a net positive gain from, And hopefully makes it more appealing for young people to come into our industry. So what do you see changing in our industry over the next five to 10 years?

Madison Fuzzell 26:37

Yeah, I think obviously technology is a huge one. With the machines, I think it's gonna become a lot more machine focused, but I think the shops that will succeed are the ones that still keep the human aspect because I really don't think. You can have a millwork shop that's just machines. You've gotta still harvest the skill in craftsmanship. And I feel like that's where we succeed a little bit better is because we have really great installers that know how to, modify in the field. It's not like a, oh, this box doesn't fit. What do I do? They have the skills to modify it. Or there is something that like maybe an architect draws, but unless you know millwork, you don't know that, okay, that might not work in application. And so someone might just draw it and go to build it and then that's when they realize that doesn't necessarily work. So I think it's a really good balance of the technology which we need.'cause that's gonna help, make things quicker and more efficient, but then also still keeping the labor and the skills. So I really think that's what's gonna make a successful millwork shop. And then like I said, just really having tight margins because of the cost of goods going up, the labor going up, it's gonna happen regardless. So it's just what can you do now to make sure that we're really cutting costs elsewhere

Jacob Edmond 27:50

Awesome. And you touched on this, but I always ask the flip side of what do you think is gonna remain the same in our industry over the next five to 10 years?

Madison Fuzzell 27:58

Yeah, the people, you can't get rid of people we're, you gotta have your hands, you gotta have your installers, you gotta have the skill there. You gotta know people that know wood. It won't totally be replaced by robots. There's just no way. I think it'll be a lot of working along with robotics, working along with ai, finding ways to make things more efficient because. cost is ever going up. So you wanna find ways to make things efficient, but you still have to have the human aspect.

Jacob Edmond 28:21

Yeah. Awesome. Madison, I'm really grateful for you making time to come on here and share with us. I'm super excited to see you're sent in the industry and at integrity Architectural Millwork. I will post here in the show notes. What's the best way for people to find out more about the work you're doing or the work you guys do at Integrity.

Madison Fuzzell 28:38

Yeah, so we're active on LinkedIn, just Integrity Architectural Millwork. Um, You can also find me on LinkedIn, Madison Fuzzell. And then we have a website, integrityarchitecturalmillwork.net. And yeah, we're not really big on socials, but yeah, so we have LinkedIn and website.

Jacob Edmond 28:53

Amazing. We'll link those in the show notes and I look forward to seeing you at the next AWI convention.

Madison Fuzzell 28:58

Yeah, I'll see you then, thank you!.