Blue Collar Business Podcast
Welcome to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby. Dive deep into the world of hands-on entrepreneurship and the gritty side of making things happen. Join us for actionable tips on scaling your blue-collar business, managing teams, and staying ahead in an ever-evolving market. We'll also discuss the latest industry trends and innovations that could impact your bottom line. If you're passionate about the blue-collar world and eager to learn from those who've thrived in it, this podcast is a must-listen. Stay tuned for engaging conversations and real-world advice that can take your blue-collar business to new heights.
Episodes
94 episodes
Ep. 97 - Call Before Catastrophe: Modernizing 811 Safety with William Sanders
Striking an underground utility isn't just a costly delay; it is a life-or-death gamble for your crew. With infrastructure expanding daily and mapping systems struggling to keep up, understanding how to navigate the subsurface is more critical ...
Ep. 96 - No More Reopened Trenches: Tech That Actually Works with Alec Pestov
Downtime and disputes over unseen work are a massive profit leak for middle-market contractors. The traditional methods of documenting underground utilities are failing, costing crews both time and leverage when engineers or owners push back on...
Ep. 95 - Bad Culture Bankrupts: Building a Blue-Collar Team that Stays with David McCune
Chasing production while ignoring the people doing the work is a guaranteed profit leak. Right now, contractors are struggling to find and keep reliable help, constantly pointing fingers at the labor pool instead of looking at why their teams a...
Ep. 94 - Bidding the Cost: Stop Bleeding Cash in the Field with Josh Luebker
Running blind on your job costs is a guaranteed way to bleed cash. With fluctuating material prices and tighter lending, operating on razor-thin margins without a financial baseline will sink a construction business faster than ever before. I s...
Ep. 93 - Build Business Capital: Beyond the Personal Guarantee
Most business owners in the trades break into the industry relying entirely on grit and personal credit cards to survive the early cash flow cycles. You start making more money than you've ever seen in your life, but the minute you go to the ba...
Ep. 92 - Fight for Your Crew: Changing Bad Policy Before It Hits the Field
The hidden cost of bad excavation data isn't just a hit to your bottom line; it is a direct threat to the lives of your crew members on site. When project owners withhold accurate utility maps to shield themselves from legal fault, field crews ...
Ep. 91 - Damage Prevention Redefined: Tech Tactics with CGA Co-Chairs
When excavators saturate the system with massive, multi-block requests for minor digs, the entire ecosystem stalls, pushing schedules out by days and trapping crews in costly holding patterns. In this episode, we sit down with Adam Zeciri of Su...
Ep. 90 - Bilingual Safety First: Stopping Construction Line Strikes
Downtime is a profit leak, but a line strike due to a language barrier is an outright tragedy. Right now, infrastructure projects are booming all across the country, yet a massive portion of the boots on the ground doing the actual digging are ...
Ep. 89 - Damage Prevention Truths with CGA Contractor Experts
Utility strikes are more than just a production delay; they are a massive financial liability and a significant threat to crew safety. For years, the people actually doing the digging were left out of the policy-making rooms, resulting in a sys...
Ep. 88 - Utility Safety: The Cost of Taking Shortcuts
Unmarked utilities and accidental strikes are more than just a nuisance; they are massive profit leaks that put lives at risk every single day. In an industry where the pressure to produce often outweighs the patience to be safe, the "boots on ...
Ep. 87 - Family First ROI: Why Presence is Provision with Cory Carlson
Downtime is a profit leak, but a broken home is a life-altering bankruptcy that many leaders in the trades don’t see coming until the papers are served. In an industry where we pride ourselves on building the world around us, we often let our o...
Ep. 86 - Machine Control Secrets for Grading and Utilities with Matt Gillett
Downtime is not a mechanic problem, it is a profit leak that can wipe out a week of work in two days. We sit down with Matt Gillett, founder of Gillett Excavating in Michigan, to tell the truth about what it takes to grow an excavation company ...
Ep. 85 - Stop Hiring C-Players: Using Tech to Scale with Jonathan Whistman
If you’ve ever said, “We can’t find good people,” this conversation challenges the real problem: we’re not building a place good people want to belong. I’m joined by Jonathan Whistman, CEO of WhoHire and founding partner of The Sales Boss, to t...
Ep. 84 - Identify the Need: Building a Niche Empire in the Trades with Ed Katz
A competitor ten times bigger rolls into town, undercuts your price, and takes your market share nearly overnight. Most owners panic, cut margins, and burn out. Ed Katz did something different: he listened to what customers kept asking for, bui...
Ep. 83 - Why Your Crews are Failing at Implementation with Ron Nussbaum
If your crews are working hard but the money still disappears, the leak might be communication, not effort.We sit down with Ron Nussbaum, a Marine veteran and the founder behind BuilderComms and Builder Labs, to talk about the messy tru...
Ep. 81 - Digging Blind: The 811 Truth No One Tells You with Khrysanne Kerr
This episode was filmed live at Con Expo in Las Vegas! Join us for this special episode with Khrysanne Kerr!A locate mark that’s a few feet off can wreck a schedule. A utility strike can change a life. That’s why we sat down with Khrysan...
Ep. 80 - Contractor to Consultant: How Kory Mitchell Mastered the Exit
Want a blueprint for selling your contracting business without losing your identity or your team? We sit down with Kory Mitchell, founder of Iconic Founders Group and former CEO of a 200M environmental firm, to unpack how blue-collar owners can...
Ep. 79 - Overbilling is Survival: Managing Construction Cashflow With Ben Justesen
Ready to stop letting software and insurers set your prices? We sit down with restoration veteran and industry advocate Ben Justesen to map out a practical blueprint for blue-collar profit: building your own labor rates, managing WIP with confi...
Ep. 78 - California Concrete: Navigating Rules and Regulation With Kyle Harris
A good pour rewards speed and precision, but building a company takes a different mix. We sit down with Kyle Harris, president of Harris Company Concrete Construction, to trace how a young finisher who loved the rush of pour days became a leade...
Ep. 77 - 33 Million Views: How a Ditch Digger Built a Media Empire | With Marvin Joles from In the Mix Podcast
Some stories start with luck. Ours starts with sweat, a $20 bill, and a phone camera. Marvin went from picking shingles in small-town Wisconsin to building a trusted asphalt brand and a media engine that opened doors to stages, sponsors, and a ...
Ep. 76 - Empower, Don’t Exhaust: Fixing Leadership at the Core With Missy Washam and Mayce DelValle
Ever feel like you’re wearing every hat, working every hour, and still falling behind? We sat down with Missy Washam and Mayce DelValle of Mpactful Messages to unpack a blueprint that actually scales on the jobsite: connect with your people, em...
Ep. 75 - Brewing Brotherhood: A Coffee Brand Born in the Dirt | With Matthew Gleaves
A night shift, a permit delay, and a fresh pot of coffee changed the way Matthew Gleaves thinks about safety. Sitting in a rescue trailer with harnesses and figure eights on the table, he turned small talk into real training and watched inciden...
Ep. 74 - Scaling Slow, Winning Big With Matt Bachtel
If you think durable companies are built on flash, this conversation will change your mind. We sit down with excavation leader Matt Bachtel to unpack a 26-year journey powered by humble starts, careful decisions, and an unwavering investment in...
Ep. 73 - Win More Bids, Lose Less Money with Baxter Horton
Want to know how general contractors decide which subs to trust with real commercial work? We sit down with Baxter Horton, Director of Pre-Construction at Baldwin Shell, to open the black box of estimating, pre-con, and risk management in a way...
Ep. 72 - Build Better, Share Louder
Ever feel like the dirt world is being defined by people who’ve never set foot on a job site? We brought in Aaron Witt to flip that script with a clear, practical playbook for blue-collar storytelling, leadership development, and building a pip...