This is BUILD IT, BABY!, the show for big ideas, brave pivots, and bold next chapters. So let's do it. Let's build it, baby.
Penelope:
I’m Penelope Bent and this is BUILD IT, BABY!. The show for dreamers who are doers. And today we're talking about something that just really stopped me in my tracks. I read that some of the happiest people in their work are construction workers. And not because it's easy, we certainly know that's not true. Just try having your house remodeled. And not because it's glamorous, there is nothing pretty about dusty and hot days. But because at the end of the day, they can see what they built. And the moment I read that, oh my gosh, I thought, well, of course they are. Because there is nothing more satisfying than seeing something exist that didn't exist before you touched it.
So today we're going to talk about what it really means to build something you can see and why this is one shift that just might be the thing that changes everything for you. So I say, let's do this. Let's build this, baby.
So here's the question. Let me ask you something. At the end of the day, can you point to something and say, I built that? Not I worked on it or I contributed to it. Not I attended meetings about it, but I built that. And if the answer is no, how does that make you feel?
Because I find that most people are busy all day and yet they feel like they're going nowhere. And here's what I think is really happening. When I read that construction workers are some of the happiest people at their jobs, I really realized that construction workers don't just work, they create visible progress. They have that proof of accomplishment. They pour the foundation, they frame the walls, they raise the structure. And every single day they see the movement. And think about this for a moment. They see the growth. They see proof.
Now compare that to how most people work today. You sit in a meeting, you answer emails, you move things forward, maybe. But at the end of the day, nothing really feels finished. Nothing feels real. Nothing feels like it's yours. And that creates a very specific kind of exhaustion. It's not a physical exhaustion, but it's existential exhaustion, the kind where you think, what am I really doing here? What am I actually doing?
And I think the truth of the matter is that humans are not wired to feel fulfilled from activity alone. I think we're wired to feel fulfilled from creation, from the art of creating, from building, from shaping something, from watching something take form because of us.
That's why I always say I've never worked a day in my life. I love building companies. So I don't work. I can't wait for my feet to hit the ground running in the morning. Why? Because every day I'm building something. I'm making some progress, something that I can see. Am I getting from point A to Z where I want to get overnight? No. But every day, before I go to sleep, I know that I made progress that day. Or if I didn't make progress, I'm able to really look at it and say, okay, yeah, that didn't work. And that may have been a waste of time. But if I slightly adjust over here, then I can get to the next phase of where I want to be.
I really dig the momentum of it all. And you want to know why? Because I can freaking see it. I feel it. I can say honestly that that did not exist, and now it does. Why? Because I built the damn thing.
And here's where this really gets important. Most people think happiness comes from more money, more freedom, more recognition. But I say to you, and this is for someone that has been building for a long time, what if happiness actually comes from progress that you can see, progress that you can feel? Not imaginary progress, not someday progress, but visible, tangible, undeniable movement.
And I think the big problem, the big rub here in our current culture and within the job market, most people are living in a system that actually hides their progress. And so they stop feeling powerful, they stop feeling creative, they stop feeling like builders. And slowly they start feeling less than.
A lot of people out there in the workforce, they feel stuck. They're starting to feel stupid. And some just give up hope for a better life, one that is really fulfilling. They're spending their whole day going to meetings, putting a bit of input in, and then the decision maker over here who sits there and asks questions all day long, because they may be middle management, they're too afraid to take a step forward because the guys above them are gonna get all upset if they make the wrong move, and the guys below them are trying to fulfill all the needs, and not a damn thing is getting done in the whole damn company.
And if you've ever felt that way, I want you to think about this. It's not that you've lost your drive. I really think that many have not lost their drive. It's not that you're not capable. And it sure as heck is not that you don't want more. It's that you're not building something you can see. The setup, the organization, the culture, the structure does not allow for the participants to see.
And I say to those building businesses today, to those that already have businesses that are built, and I shout this from the rooftops and the mountaintops: people need visible progress to feel alive. We need to feel that we're participating, we need to feel that we have made a contribution. We need to see this, we need to hear this.
We need you to design companies and cultures that fill that human need, not just a goal, not a Monday business meeting saying, okay, team, this week we're going to get from point A to point B, and let's just throw a bunch of ideas around. People need to see the progress, not through just talking about ideas Monday after Monday after Monday. They need to see progress. They need to see visible movement.
I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing statistics, whether you're in the marketing division and you're putting marketing together, why not let those folks know about what's going on? The sales team based on your marketing contribution. I mean, we're up 25% or whatever. Show them. Show them the facts about the progress. If you can't see it, you'll eventually disconnect from it.
And I think this is so important on a personal level, whether you're building your own business or getting ready to start a little side asset, side hustle, so to speak, in addition to your full-time employment, or you're actually running a company and you're in upper management. I think it's very important because you can watch your people, your team, the people that work with you, you can see them disconnect.
Have you ever watched anyone that just started with a company and man, they are just so hungry and so excited, and everything is peaches and cream, and they're looking through rose-tinted glasses, and man, they are busting their butts. They are showing up before the meetings, they're staying late after the day's done, they're trying to make an impact.
Now I want you to think about this for a minute and think about this personally. If you are one of those people that started a job and you've been into it six, eight months, maybe twelve months, ask yourself this. What is your performance like today? How do you feel about it? How do you feel about the team you work with? How do you feel about the powers that be? Are you as excited as you were when you began a year ago? Are you just can't wait to get on Zoom in the morning and discuss what you guys are gonna create and what you guys are gonna build and how you're gonna move the needle today? Is that who you are? Are you as excited as you were when you began?
I think that's a huge indicator. Because here's the key: busy work is the fastest way to kill momentum and to kill spirit in your team. You can be fully booked all day and completely unfulfilled. Because activity is not the same as creation.
When you build something, when you're part of the build, you change your identity. It's bigger. You stop being someone who wants to, and you become someone who does, and that shift changes everything. I think as owners of businesses, that's our responsibility to help those that are working with us feel that shift that changes everything. The ownership creates energy.
And I remember I worked for a great guy in the recruiting industry when I first began. His name is Kevin Eikinen. He was a great director. He was my director when I worked at a big cybersecurity company here in the Bay Area. And one of the things when I went through the interview process with him, one of the things I just loved was the idea that he established ownership. He said, your recs are yours, own them.
And being in business for so long, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I could take them, I could run them as intimately as I would my own company, even under the umbrella as his contractor. When something is yours, you show up differently. You think differently. And here's the big one: you care differently.
So I busted my ass in that role because I had that sense of ownership. I was proud to be creating something, to be able to bring wonderful people on board. I helped contribute to their success. And I could see the progress. I could see how the company, after a year or so, moved this great talent that I had found from being a business development representative in-house to being out in the field. That's a huge step.
So you don't need to build something massive overnight, but you do need to build something consistently because consistency creates your confidence. The better I do my job, the better I can create something fantastic for the clients that I work with, the more that I can shape their lives to become happier. You don't think that contributes to my life? Well, hell yeah, it does.
But if you're sitting there thinking, okay, I get it, but what do I actually do? Well here's how you start. You start building something that you can see, not someday. I'm talking now.
And if you're not able to build something within the employment that you have or the business structure that you're working in right now, then perhaps it's time, like I've been nagging everyone, to start creating another simple offer on the side, some little small business idea, maybe a content platform or some simple service.
And if you're not up for that, here's what I really want you to consider. What about just simply a project that is yours, something that moves, something that you personally can create, something that will allow you to see the results, the movement, the creation. Hell, this could be building the little dog house for your dog that likes to be outdoors during the day. It gets hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. Maybe that's a nice little bit of shade that you could create.
I was raised around a lot of women. My mom, my grandmother, my auntie. They were all really strong, really creative women. My mother, in the day, women were not encouraged to work. They were to be staying at home while the husband brought home the bacon. But that didn't keep my mother from becoming one of the most amazing dressmakers I have ever seen. She could create something out of absolutely nothing. And she was really good at this, and she was excited every day because she was creating.
I'll never forget. She'd have her cigarette on the end of the ironing board, and she'd be ironing a hem that she was going to be stitching up or laying out a pattern, and she would just be at the top of her game.
So I don't think it has to be always in the workplace. I'm not saying you have to go out there and build the business, although I really encourage that. But I think when you're building your life, what can you create? Is it decorating the master suite? Is it working on the children's rooms? Is it creating something that would be desirable within the family?
I'll tell you a really interesting story. So when my daughter was, I think she was about nine, maybe 11, whatever. And she was one of these people that, oh my god, she always wanted to change her bedroom up. So as she kind of morphed into these early 11, 12, I'd say, okay, if you want to do this, you've got to sell the furniture that you have, and then you can take that money and you can buy some new pieces.
Well, she had a new bedroom look going in. And the room fans, those fans that you know, the paddle fans, that was a big thing that was just kind of coming into vogue. And so she found a pink fan that she really thought would be the all-time most important thing for her pink bedroom.
And so I went ahead and went to the hardware store and I bought this circular fan with the little paddles and everything. Well, I mentioned that to my husband a couple of times, and because everybody was so busy, there was just never the time to install the fan.
So one day my daughter was getting up ready to head into school, and I'm looking at her and I'm looking at that box of that damn fan sitting there, and I said, hey, what do you think about taking the day off from school? And she was a great student, so that wasn't a big deal, and let's install that damn fan.
And so the two of us, now I am not an electrician, and I thought to myself, oh my god, either we're gonna burn the whole damn house down or we're gonna do a really great job here. And so we took the whole damn thing apart, we read all the instructions together, and I got up there on the ladder, I took down the current lighting fixture, we figured out how to go to the box outside the house, turn the electrical off, and I'll be damned if we did not install that bloody fan.
And I remember when I said to her, go ahead and throw the switch to turn the power on, and I'm gonna pull that little chain. And I remember thinking to myself, either we're gonna blow the house up or this sucker's gonna go flying around the room.
I remember saying, I want you to step out of the room. I'm gonna pull the chain here just in case this thing fell out of the ceiling. And you know what? It didn't fall out of the ceiling. That puppy worked like a dream. It hummed, it didn't even make much noise, we'd balanced it really, really well.
And I have to tell you, I was like a kid in a candy store. I was as excited and jumping up and down as my young daughter was because we had accomplished something. We had created something, and we had done it together. And we did something that was kind of unusual because that's usually a guy thing. We did all the electrical. We hooked the little wires up and we did the little thing where you put the little cap around them. I mean, for two chicks that didn't know anything about electrical and installing lighting equipment, we did a doggone good job, and it was a thrill of a lifetime.
So just remember that you don't have to start big. You can start small, you can start messy, you can start visible, because visibility creates momentum, and momentum creates belief. You don't need everything figured out. What you need is something you can point to and say, I made that or I installed that. Because once you feel that, once you see your proof of accomplishment, you'll be hooked.
So as you move through your day-to-day, I want you to ask yourself, what am I building that I can actually see? Not what are you thinking about, and not what are you planning, and not what are you hoping for, but what are you building?
Because your happiness, your confidence, your momentum, and your dreams, they are not waiting somewhere in the future. They are waiting to be built by you one visible step at a time.
You're not here to just work or merely exist. You are here to create, to build something real, something aligned, something that reflects who you are. You are here to build your life, your way. And once you get that, everything changes.
So here’s the part where I tell you exactly what I know. These are my knowings, the things I no longer question because they've shown themselves to me again and again—not from a book, but from building, getting knocked down, getting back up, and doing this work in the real world.
Okay, so here are my knowings.
I know choosing to be happy is one of the most important choices I can make for myself, as well as for all of those around me.
Number two, I know that I have all the skills I need to create the life that I want. I just need to trust myself and my co-partner, the universe.
And number three, I know that the feeling I receive from seeing my accomplishments, whether big or small, creates my confidence to keep moving forward.
Okay, it's time for listener questions.
Okay, we've got a question from Levine from Arizona. And here's Levine's question.
Do you think now is a good time to start building a business with the market and financial situation so unstable?
Well, Levine, thank you for the question. Very interesting and smart question.
So my answer to your question is this. I've realized that I have been building businesses in lots of different eras. So I've experienced financial downturns over many, many of the years that I have been building businesses.
Let's say you want to go into the real estate business and they're saying, oh, hell, nobody's buying a home in California right now. Now's not the time to get into the real estate business. You need to wait until after this downturn and when the feds change the interest rates or yada yada yada.
And I think that there will always be a reason why now is a crappy time. I think the big question is, is this a good time for you? Because if you choose to embark on building something, then I want you to think about this. When you begin building something, it's like entering a race.
And if you watched the Kentucky Derby the other day, some horses had blinders on and some did not. And if you are going to begin building and you want to jump into that race, then you need to put on your blinders and plug your ears 90% of the time.
Because the biggest obstacle that you will encounter is the knowledge, the information that you will be given that the market's in the crapper. Nobody's buying anything, people aren't spending money. Who on earth would want to buy your product? Now is not the time.
Well, I always say there's never a good time to have a baby. You're always gonna be broke from time to time. But that doesn't keep us from having babies.
So I say if it's good for you, if now's the time, if now's the feeling in your gut, and you've got the courage to go out there when the naysayers are jumping on top of the cars screaming that now is not the good time, then it's your time, babe. It is your time to build it.
You have to just be very clear that when you build, you are going to make it happen. Come hell or high water, you're going to readjust the plan and you are not going to fail. You are going to meet the finish line. You may meet it and it may have a different look. The product may have a different look than your first pass or your first conceptual idea.
But as far as I'm concerned, building is not about when. It's about if you've got what it takes to take this puppy all the way to the finish line.
And because you asked that question, I would bet money on your horse, on your race. So yeah, Levine, I say go for it. Build it, baby.
Well, yes, it is that time, and thanks for listening to BUILD IT, BABY!
And one thing that I wanted to mention is I really want to thank all of our international listeners. This is just so exciting watching BUILD IT, BABY! grow into these different towns in these different countries, and just seeing all of the repeat listeners and how often you're tuning in. I just think that's really exciting. It's exciting for all of us here at BUILD IT, BABY!
So I really wanted to give you a shout out. Thanks so much. And I hope that you're taking something away from BUILD IT, BABY! and creating some exciting new products and services in your countries. That's very exciting for me. And I do hope that I can help.
And you know, you can always reach out and schedule some time with me to have a quick chat.
So just a reminder: building something you can see creates happiness. And what if building is the one shift that just might be the thing that changes everything for you?
So I say, like I said to Levine, go for it. Build it, baby.
Always best, P.
BUILD IT, BABY! is a Rainy Day Production House original, hosted by Penelope Bent and produced and edited by Morgan Clymer. Music by Yuri Shemshishin and Oleksii Holubiev. If this episode spoke to you, please follow the show and leave a review. It helps more dreamers like you find us. And remember, you’re not just building a bold business or career—you’re building a bold life.
