Cut The Tie | Own Your Success
Cut The Tie | Own Your Success reveals how high performers think, decide, and overcome obstacles—so you can apply one actionable idea each week.
Each short episode (<10 minutes) features one guest, the tie they cut, and a concrete step you can use now. For the full story, every episode links to the complete YouTube interview.
Insights focus on four areas where people “cut ties”: Finances, Relationships, Health, and Faith.
Guests span operators and outliers—CEOs, entrepreneurs, executives, athletes, creators, scientists, and community leaders—people who’ve cut real ties and can show you how.
Do this next
- Follow the podcast (or visit podcast.cutthetie.com)
- Play your first episode
- Leave a 5-star review
- Share with a friend who’s ready to cut a tie
Own your success.
Cut the tie.
Thomas Helfrich
Host & Founder
Cut The Tie | Own Your Success
“Construction Has Been Resistant to Change” — Erin Khan on Modernizing a Legacy Industry
Cut The Tie Podcast with Erin Khan
Construction is one of the most critical industries in the world—and one of the hardest to change. Erin Khan has spent her career working directly inside that tension.
In this episode of Cut The Tie, Erin shares her journey from civil engineering to leading construction innovation initiatives, and eventually launching her own consulting practice. She explains why technology adoption in construction is less about tools and more about behavior, trust, and execution on the ground.
This conversation explores how real change happens in legacy industries, why innovation fails when people are left out of the process, and how Erin helps contractors turn promising technology into real-world impact.
About Erin Khan
Erin Khan is an independent construction technology and innovation consultant based in Los Angeles. With a background in civil engineering and years of experience working inside large general contractors, Erin helps construction teams adopt technology that improves efficiency, safety, and collaboration.
She specializes in bridging the gap between contractors and technology providers, ensuring solutions are not only implemented—but actually used in the field.
In this episode, Thomas and Erin discuss:
- Why construction has historically resisted change
- The real reasons technology adoption fails
- Balancing experienced field professionals with emerging tools
- Moving from a large organization to independent consulting
- Supporting smaller contractors with limited resources
- Why innovation only matters if it reaches the job site
- Making construction more visible and attractive to the next generation
- Creating impact by connecting people, process, and technology
Key Takeaways
- Legacy industries don’t change overnight
Progress requires patience, trust, and consistency. - Adoption matters more than innovation
A tool unused is a problem unsolved. - Behavior change drives real results
Technology succeeds only when people buy in. - Impact happens in the field
Solutions must work where the work actually happens. - Modernization benefits everyone
Industry-wide progress requires inclusion, not exclusivity.
Connect with Erin Khan
🌐 Website: https://erinkhanconsulting.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-khan-655a761a/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ErinKhanConsulting
Connect with Thomas Helfrich
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantly Relevant: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com
Serious about LinkedIn Lead Generation? Stop Guessing what to do on LinkedIn and ignite revenue from relevance with Instantly Relevant Lead System
Welcome to the Cut the Tie Podcast. Hello, I am your host, Thomas Helfrick. I'm on a mission to help you cut the tie to whatever it is holding you back from success. Now you have to define that success yourself or uh you're chasing someone else's dream. So today we're going to learn from Aaron Kahn. Aaron, how are you?
SPEAKER_00:Doing well. Great to be here. Thanks, Thomas.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate you coming on. We're gonna we're gonna well, we're just gonna dive into it. But start with first of all who you are and uh what it is you do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so quick, quick intro. Uh my name's Aaron Kahn. I'm based here in Los Angeles, uh sunny SoCal for me. Um, and then what I do, uh, my background's in the construction industry. And I got into technology and innovation. And what I do today, I support contractors who are building things to connect with technology providers who are making technology solutions um to kind of talk to each other so that they can build more effectively, efficiently, and safer.
SPEAKER_01:I'm unfamiliar with the space, only that it's generally you don't see that group on LinkedIn a lot. Let's say it that way. So uh like the lagger nature of that community and is that your unique identifier too?
SPEAKER_00:Um, so yeah, construction traditionally has been a you know quite the laggard in terms of productivity. Uh so if we like compare it to manufacturing, it's kind of behind, quote unquote. Um, and it's also been pretty resistant to change and technology and adoption of new methods. So uh yeah, construction kind can kind of feel a little stale, a little old sometimes, but we're trying to change that. And my specific niche is kind of a niche within the industry itself. So it's really focusing on that innovation piece, getting team members to adopt new practices and try new things. Um, so yeah, it gets a little specific, but without kind of un unfolding the whole thing, that's the the high level view.
SPEAKER_01:That's good. You know, it's getting behaviors changed too, right? And what they uh like many industries, we do it this way because we've always done it. Right. And and uh I assume that has you have some degree of that in your uh in your industry.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there is a spectrum. Um, so you'll have you know tenured um staff that's been doing construction for 30, even 40 years, I've seen, um, in the industry. So they absolutely are experts, but they don't necessarily want to try a new technology or they kind of get frustrated with changing their process because they know what works, they want to stick to it, even if it might be a little bit slower or clunk, clunkier, or maybe even less safe. Um, but you know, on the other end, you have maybe, let's say, like a fresh grad coming right out of school. They're ready to use all the gizmos and gadgets to kind of get their work done. They, you know, I think we all want to go um home on time. So any piece of automation that can help do that, you know, they're interested in. Um, so it's kind of balancing those two uh sides of the whole thing that's going on with tech adoption.
SPEAKER_01:What what's uh what's your definition of success?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, um, such a good question. And as you said, it's it's different for everybody. Um, I think where I'm at today, it's uh, you know, so I'm I'm an independent consultant, um, just really me at my business. And what success means is just really being able to support um, you know, the clients I'm working with. I would say I'm a boutique consultant, kind of really going deep into a few specific areas of the business, um, and also having some fun and learning along the way. So one of the things that I enjoy most about this industry, there is always more to learn. There's always more to explore and discover. Um, so if I'm learning, I'm I'm in that success range. So uh that's kind of what keeps me going.
SPEAKER_01:You know, there's a beauty in it. And I go back and forth sometimes of just, you know, I would I would you know, I have teams and we have four clients. And there's a beauty that's different when you're just by yourself. I'm like, well, yeah, but then I wouldn't have any pay anyone. And it's like I could, but I can't get as much done, but I have to just do different things. But then I'm at risk. And and that's a struggle. We could talk about that maybe along your journey a bit, but I I I totally appreciate where you're at with it. Um talk about your journey a little bit and what you're doing to you know, what metaphoric ties you're cutting or have cut to get to that level of success you define.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's kind of interesting. So um maybe not necessarily like a cut of the tie, but I feel like my journey's just kind of been a natural progression of different steps, you know, closing doors and opening others. Um, but my my background is civil engineering. So I studied at USC, University of Southern California. Um, so fight on for any other Trojans out there. Um and then my senior year of school, I had the incredible opportunity to intern as a project engineer, renovating one of the historical buildings on campus. And that just really opened my eyes to the whole construction world. So that's kind of how I got in. Um, so you get hooked, you kind of get in somehow to the industry. And it was just awesome being on a team, working collaboratively. Every day is different. So again, you know, it's not, it's not ever boring in construction, um, which is something I really, really enjoy. Uh, but I also realized, you know, through that first experience, like, oh my gosh, like where's the technology? You know, stacks of paper, like paper, even the size of me, like like actually the size of me. If you can imagine, like a human-sized sheet of paper. Um, so you know, me coming into this, like as an intern, like where, like, where why isn't this in the computer? Like, I think of the the scene in Zoolander where he's like, the files are in the computer. Like, yeah, like why aren't we doing that? Um, but that just really sparked a passion. So it for me, it was like, hey, you know, let me get my team together. Let's learn how to use digital drawings on iPads so that we don't have to lug paper out to the field. We can just take our iPad, pull up our, you know, uh our plans and specs and information that we need to build the building on demand, and maybe the project will be a little bit better. Um, so that was my early days. Kind of took that and ran with it, um, did a few more historical renovation projects, but eventually um I ended up at Suffolk Construction, amazing company. So they're a national general contractor. Um, started there first as a regional, later on as the national director of construction solutions, which basically is a fancy way of saying, you know, finding good solutions and then bringing them back into operations for the teams to use. Um, but had a really amazing time learning there, um, working on some really interesting projects throughout the country, supporting various teams, um, and then also seeing the successes and failures of different tech startups. So that was a really interesting piece there. Um, but you know, what I think made me um kind of again, maybe not so much cut the tie, but like kind of move on or realize that I need to or wanted to um, you know, do something else uh which was start my own company, um, was maybe just kind of, you know, seeing, hey, you know, I'm at a big comp big company. We have a lot of resources for tech and innovation, we've kind of got this down, but like what about everybody else out there who, you know, it's maybe a mom and pop shop or a smaller team, or maybe it's a specific trade that doesn't really get into technology much. Like, how can we help the rest of the industry? Because um there's so many players and we all need to be successful for for the industry to be successful. So um is kind of the thought, like, hey, there's more, there's more out there. Um, so I started my consulting practice in 2023 and and doing more of the same. So helping find solutions to problems in construction.
SPEAKER_01:Are are you uh do you have a like a big struggle right now, though? You're trying to like a kind of like today's tie, so to speak, that you can't you you're struggling to cut or get around?
SPEAKER_00:Oh geez, today's ties. Um that's that's kind of where it's like, well, it's always a journey. Um, so maybe not necessarily something to cut, but you know, there's only so many of me. There's just one. Um, I do have a fantastic um assistant, Pam. Shout out to Pam. But uh yeah, one of the challenges is as a business owner, you just have to wear so many hats. So um it's just finding the right resources to help supplement, I think, strategically. Uh so yeah, finding ways to be able to get a little bit more time back in my day uh to focus on maybe strategic projects or things that are, you know, a passion project of mine to kind of get to. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I mean, and that's a common thing, right?
SPEAKER_00:It's the yeah, yeah, very common.
SPEAKER_01:Scale versus, you know, and then are you are you struggling to with uh wow, to get to a certain level, I'll need to take this risk, like hire somebody or go do something else? Is that on your roadmap of how do I take it past where I am now? Yeah, or or whatever else or working hard.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, not necessarily focused on like a a ton of growth. It's I'm actually at a pretty good spot where I'm just enjoying, you know, learning about different areas of the industry that I haven't really worked in before, um, or you know, beginning new exciting projects. So one of the things though, I mean, I'm I'm on this podcast. I would love to get a little bit more into putting more information out there on YouTube, on on TikTok, maybe, um, on social media, because the cool parts of the industry are just so buried that I think a lot of the incoming professionals don't and and kids, right? You know, you have dreams of what you want to be when you grow up, but nobody really dreams of being in construction because it doesn't seem that cool, but it really is. Um, so if we make that more known and make that more accessible, um, I think that could be something really amazing. Um, so yeah, I I wish I had, you know, a little bit more time to have more presence in the uh the uh in internet, I guess, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's uh it's uh it's always a challenge of like what it's also expected of you as a child. And you know, where it is. I I have one who's actually would probably like, you know, it's certainly you know, you gotta go to university, that's what you grow up in. There's no way I was doing a trade. Or I have a different perspective on this now. If my my kids said, Hey, I want to be a plumber, I'd be like, Okay. Because I'd be like, You're gonna learn a trade, you're not gonna have to pay for school, you're gonna make money. But I'd like you got to take business classes to learn how to run a business because you don't want to work for somebody as a plumber. Uh you you I'm giving you an example, you want to own it at some point, I would think. Um, and that's where the real money is because a few plumbers I know drive you know Bugattis. So a minivan, so I'm in the wrong spot. But are you struggle with any of that? The expectations versus now that you're working for yourself, though it's a little different piece. But do you ever struggle with some of the uh labeling that's you're given as a child and the definitions of success from parents?
SPEAKER_00:Um, yeah, interesting question. So yeah, I I guess not really, which is kind of why I probably ended up here in construction. Um, so my my dad's an electrician. I was always exposed to kind of you know little different projects going on growing up. Was never an issue if I took an interest or something. Um yeah, so I don't know. It kind of felt like, yeah, as long as you know you're successful and happy with whatever it is that your path you're going down, it's not too bad. But a lot of people don't maybe have that type of experience early on, or you know, they kind of just get set like, oh, I have to do this or I have to do that type of thing, or you know, whatever the case may be. But um to to what you're saying earlier about like the plumbing example too, but you know, these roles and and jobs are actually getting far more sophisticated than we could think of before. So, you know, the if I think of like a commercial project or something that's maybe a little bit more complicated, the MEP, so mechanical electrical plumbing, like there's all sorts of amazing 3D coordination technologies that you know kind of feeds into virtual reality, augmented reality. So you're bringing out like 3D models into the field to help coordinate your work. Um, it's it's really sophisticated, interesting stuff that it's almost like a video game. So um, yeah, it's it's changing. I think it's the dynamics changing. So that's where I'm like, well, no, it's like it's really cool. Um, and we should show more of it.
SPEAKER_01:It is, I mean, it's a great industry. It's being it's building things, it's just yeah. It it'll uh I I think that industry in particular is gonna really benefit from technologies like AI and then the then the things that kind of behind that will need to be in place to automate, do stuff and robotics and humans stop building stuff and other things. Anyway, it's gonna it's gonna have a it's gonna have an overhaul of tech, hit it and how we build things and the materials we use and speed.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's it's it's happening now. So um it's just rapidly train changing, even the past couple of years, just with AI, has just blown up a lot of our processes, which is exciting, but also needs to be strategic and safe. So yeah, there's always a a measured process to it.
SPEAKER_01:Um is uh do you do you feel do you feel like when you're when you're when you're in this work right now by yourself, you're making an impact?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, definitely. Um so I think where I'm at today, and like, you know, given any industry, but I think where I'm at is at the edge of discovery, or maybe not discovery, but um that that impact edge. So it's like exactly where, you know, some interesting discoveries have been made. There's a lot of exciting startups and solutions out of there, but it doesn't really mean much if nobody's using it, right? Um, so I'm the you know, entity that comes in and helps people use some of those exciting breakthrough technologies and discoveries that are happening. So yeah, absolutely. I feel like I'm working right in that impact space where um it's kind of like that connector role of saying, like, hey, check this out. It might help you, you know, improve this process by 50%. And someone says, Hey, like, yeah, I actually used it. Um, it automated all my invoicing for construction. Now I can go home, you know, on time, or maybe I can actually focus on things that should actually take my time and attention instead of just matching numbers to other numbers, um, that kind of thing. So yeah, I would say I'm like right in that impact zone, which is super rewarding every day.
SPEAKER_01:It's funny because when you put things, you know, one of the some of the work we do with customers is we help them solve a critical problem. Like we say, or we help them identify the critical problem they solve. I should say it that way. And oftentimes you'll just say, hey, listen, it's 50% faster. That's not the critical problem, right? The critical problem is I get to go home and work out now or have a beer earlier, or not one of the people.
SPEAKER_00:I'm happy, I'm excited to come back to contribute the next day. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:All the all the stuff that saving time does for somebody is is um is the critic is so it you are having impact for sure because people get that something they're oh my god, a week ago I had to do it. Now I don't, like that's overnight.
SPEAKER_00:So tons of benefits everywhere, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:What do you what are you most grateful for in your life?
SPEAKER_00:Oh geez. Um, there's a lot. Um, I'm always grateful for health, uh, you know, being able to do what I do. Um, so that's that's number one. Or, you know, it there's a few number ones. It's a tier, maybe. Um, definitely family, um, people in the industry. There's just a lot of support. Um uh yeah, so yeah, people in general are, you know, number one supporters. My husband as well, who also does a really great job of you know helping me figure out anything that I need to, all the way from like, hey, my email won't open to, you know, how do I get to this place across town that I need to get to in time? So yeah, really grateful for that.
SPEAKER_01:Awesome. Um if you know you could go back in your timeline at any point right now, you know, when would you go back? What would you do differently?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I you know, I s I was thinking about this question. I really don't think there's anything I would necessarily change all that much. Um I guess what one thing, one thing that I think um that might click in some some other people's minds who are listening in is just finding a solid workout routine sooner. Um yeah, I think so. I think so. You know, between like yoga and jujitsu and going on a run or a walk, I've got it at this point. But gosh, I could have benefited like way earlier and way sooner had I figured out the actual stuff that I like to do for exercise and then did that instead of being like, oh, I gotta get like X amount of minutes in per day doing this and that, just find activities you like to do, keep it routine. Yeah, that that helps me a lot. I would have done that sooner.
SPEAKER_01:You know, if you can cheat exercise, what I mean is, you know, I grew up playing a racket sport and and I I can't stand running because it's just boring and it kind of hurts. But I'll go out and turn it off playing tennis and four shirts and be like, I would never do this in any fashion. Just take the racket out of my hand. I'm like, nope, I'm gonna go lay down. And and it's it's true. So find ways to cheat exercise through fun is is a no-brainer. It's like burning, learnings can be boring sometimes because you just don't. But then if you make it fun or it's gamified in some way, uh the same applies to like kind of like albeit a business. Okay, listen if you gamify it, make it more fun for them, same price.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and it just has so many other benefits too. Like, so if you're able, right, you know, or you know, do do an activity that you're able to do, but you know, it gets at least for me, like my mind in the right state, more focused, um, just feel better and more able to actually kind of accomplish the tasks that I need to do, which I know will have that impact later on.
SPEAKER_01:So I find it, you know, I every morning I struggled with this for years of just finding the time. Um if now if it I know if it doesn't happen in the morning, if I can't find if I can't repeat it, I'll do it. So if it doesn't have the morning, it doesn't happen. But it's got like yeah, I got kids. So after they're kind of out and gone, I got this window between eight and ten. I just like out and I eight twenty-ish, eight ten, try to get out of around nine-ish, not stay there super long, and just get back, get your day set up and first meetings or whatever at 10 every day. Like I even go Saturday and Sunday because taking two days off, it just gets you out of the way. Yeah, it's like I might as well just go and do something, anything, just to do the routine. So I agree with you. Um be before we kind of uh you know ask the last question, it g let everyone know how to get a hold of you uh once again.
SPEAKER_00:And yeah, um absolutely. So let's see, uh, most direct, you can email me, Aaron at Aaron. Conconsulting.com. That's E-R-I-N-K-H-A-N-H before the A. And then on pretty much any platform, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, it's Aaron Con Consulting. So E-R-I-N-K-J-N. Just search that up. You should find me. I do read my messages on LinkedIn. So you can absolutely shoot me a message there. I will read it and look at it. And it's a human, I promise.
SPEAKER_01:So I I I'm not gonna, you know, instantly relevant man manages social media. I'm not gonna say they do it, may not be me online. If you guys reach out to some of you, it may be just gonna be the it's a big time saver not to man to not do your own not to manage. Oh man. Absolutely. If there's a question though I should have asked you today and I didn't, what would that question have been?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um gosh. Uh a lot of good topics. I mean, when it comes to, you know, my specific my specific niche, it's it's interesting because there's not a ton of organizations that are exactly like mine out there. Um one question I get asked the most is like, how did you actually do it? You know, you were you were at a large company, um, great role, great team, and then you switched, you know, kind of overnight, it seems like it wasn't overnight, but it seems like um to kind of running your own thing. So how did that actually happen? Um, I get asked that all the time. And, you know, what I have to say on that is you just need to kind of decide to do it. I think I also had the luxury of having a lot of support. I was in a good spot. Um, if I was gonna take a risk uh at any point in my career, you know, that was the time to do it. So it kind of aligned pretty well. Um, but also just not being afraid of the change. So I'm kind of crazy. I kind of feel feel like I just leapt off a cliff and kind of did the thing and was like, all right, we'll see how it goes. And if I fall flat on my face, I fall. And you know, if I happen to take off, I take off. So um it's kind of just being open to that change a little bit more too. That kind of helped me get through some of those transition phases.
SPEAKER_01:That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh thank you for coming on today. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Thanks for having me. Um short but sweet discussion. Really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate it. And listen, anybody who made it this point in the podcast, I appreciate you getting here as well. Uh get out there, go cut a tie to whatever's holding your back. Make sure you, though, define your success first, because otherwise you're chasing someone else's dream and it's not going to feel a value when you get there. So take that step first. Thanks for listening.
