The Forge with Ryan Miller
Step into the world of industrial manufacturing through candid conversations with the leaders shaping it. Hosted by Ryan Miller, CEO of PWI—a leading manufacturer of cranes, mezzanines, and fall protection systems. This podcast explores what it really takes to build and grow a successful business.
Ryan shares his own journey while sitting down with fellow CEOs and team leaders to uncover the stories behind their success—the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned, and the moments that defined them.
Episodes
16 episodes
Episode 16 | Work Life Balance and Why it Doesn't Exist
Work-life balance isn't something you solve once. It changes as your business grows and as life moves through different seasons. In this episode, Ryan, Darren and Kyle Miller talk about how they decide what deserves their attention and what the...
Episode 15 | The Cost of Ignoring Technology in Your Business
PWI's technology journey started with a simple problem: too much time was being lost to processes that could be better. In 2019, Ryan, Darren and Kyle Miller decided to build their own design automation software from scratch. What once took hou...
Episode 14 | The Real Value of Your Business Isn't What You Think
Building a valuable business takes more than growing revenue. Mark Fisher spent decades helping grow Dwyer Instruments from roughly $60 million to $170 million before the company was sold. In this episode, Mark sits down with Ryan to talk about...
Episode 13 | The Ugly Truth About Commission-Based Sales
Great sales starts with belief. For Ryan, Darren and Kyle Miller, that belief has shaped the way PWI has built its sales culture for more than two decades. In this episode, the brothers trace that philosophy back to a $25,000 lesson in 2003 and...
Episode 12 | Marvin Peachey's Hospitality Obsession
Marv's story starts with an Amish upbringing and years spent working in his father's sawmill. At 26, he bought his father-in-law's manufacturing company on June 6, 2006. Less than two years later, the housing market collapsed and put a business...
Episode 11 | The Growth Mistake Most Businesses Make
Growth creates complexity, and eventually the way your business is structured has to change. For Ryan, Kyle and Darren Miller, breaking PWI into focused divisions has become a major part of scaling beyond their current ceiling. In this episode,...
Episode 10 | Turning Misery Into Ministry with Donnie Foster
Some seasons cost more than money. For Donnie Foster, the cost was 23 years on the streets, in gangs and behind bars in some of California's toughest prisons. Until a single act of forgiveness from a woman he'd robbed changed the direction of h...
Episode 9 | The Big Shift from Local to National Sales
Getting focused costs more than most owners expect. It sometimes means turning down work that is already paying the bills. Ryan, Darren and Kyle learned that while building PWI from the small farm repair shop their dad started in 1979 into a n...
Episode 8 | Cam Boyer's Blueprint for Scaling a Business Worth Hundreds of Millions
Scaling a business means taking responsibility for the people, the culture and the mistakes along the way. Cam Boyer learned that over three decades of building companies from the ground up. Most notably, he helped take Grand Design RV from a s...
Episode 7 | The Value of an Executive Assistant
Delegation sounds simple until you're the one who has to let go. For Ryan Miller, hiring an executive assistant meant learning to hand over responsibilities he had always managed himself. In this episode, Ryan sits down with his current executi...
Episode 6 | What it Means to Hire 7 Foot Jumpers
Hiring great people isn't about finding the most experienced candidate. It's about finding people who are willing to learn, fit your culture, and elevate everyone around them. In this episode, Ryan, Darren, and Kyle Miller discuss why they look...
Episode 5 | The Boring Word Behind Real Success with Justin Moyer
Most businesses chase rapid growth. Justin Moyer took a different path. He spent years learning the electrical trade alongside his father before slowly building Moyer Electric into one of northern Indiana's trusted industrial and commercial ele...
Episode 4 | Why We Chose the Trades Over College
Most people are told there's one path. Finish school, go to college, get a degree. Ryan, Darren, and Kyle Miller didn't do any of that. They didn't finish high school, and they built one of Indiana's leading manufacturers in lifting, storage, a...
Episode 3 | Operating a Business While Under Attack with Patrick Booth
Some people go through one hard season. Patrick Booth went through several at once, and some of them aren't over yet.In Episode 3 of The Forge, Ryan Miller sits down with Patrick Booth, owner of CCB Technology, a company his father star...
Episode 2 | The Challenge of Building a Business with Family
In Episode 2 of The Forge, the Miller brothers engage in an open discussion about the realities of running a family business. They share insights on the lessons learned during tough times and how to maintain healthy relationships.
Episode 1 | The Story of PWI
In the first episode of The Forge, Ryan Miller sits down with his brothers, Darren and Kyle Miller, co-owners of PWI, to share the story behind the business their father started in 1979. What began as a small operation in Nappanee, Ind...
