The Builders

Matt Levenhagen
  • 5.0 (12)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

"The Builders" Podcast is designed for those that are 'building' stuff on the web. Whether that's building a business, an agency, building teams, building products, services.. or building websites.. if it's related to building something, it's fair game.

  1. 5d ago

    Gabe Arnold – From Hustle and Failure to Building a Business That Gives You Back Your Life

    Gabe Arnold has spent most of his life building. He started working alongside his grandfather in the trades as a kid, launched his own construction company at 18, eventually grew it to around 40 employees and roughly $1 million in annual revenue... and then watched it fall apart. Bankruptcy, painful partnerships, personal loss, and plenty of hard-earned business lessons followed. But Gabe kept rebuilding. He moved into websites and digital marketing, learned how to productize services, built recurring revenue businesses, assembled teams, and gradually became obsessed with a question many founders eventually face: How do you keep growing without simply working more? By the time his agency reached the $600,000–$700,000 range, 50- and 60-hour weeks had become normal, and brute-force effort was starting to hit its limit. That search eventually led him to Simple Operations. Over the next 18 months, Gabe says his business doubled revenue, tripled profit, and took his workload from more than 60 hours a week to less than 30. The system worked so well that years later, he acquired the company behind it. In Part I of our conversation, we unpack the experiences, failures, reinventions, and lessons that shaped the builder behind that decision. In Part II, we’ll dig deeper into the operating principles and systems themselves. Key Takeaways Revenue alone doesn’t mean you’ve built a healthy business. Gabe once ran a million-dollar company with dozens of employees while discovering that the underlying margins and financial structure weren’t strong enough.Failure can expose the systems you never knew you needed. Bankruptcy and difficult partnerships pushed Gabe to understand finance, structure, accountability, and ownership differently.Good businesses are rarely built exactly as originally planned. Gabe continually changed his model as customers, markets, competition, and technology changed.Productizing creates leverage. Turning custom work into repeatable processes allowed Gabe to build recurring revenue, delegate delivery, and grow teams around defined systems.Hard work eventually reaches a ceiling. When every new level of growth requires more founder hours, the business has created another job rather than true ownership.The point of systems isn’t simply efficiency. Done well, they create clarity, empower other people, and give the founder back time for family, creativity, and the rest of life.

  2. Sep 21

    Jay Sargeant – Seven Reinventions, No Resume, and Proof There Are No Small Moments

    In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Jay Sargeant, a self-described serial reinventor whose path has taken him from community organizing and professional tennis to franchise development, NLP training, entrepreneurship, coaching, and writing. Jay’s story is filled with the kinds of moments that seem small until you realize they changed everything: walking into an interview with no resume, buying a blue suit and a briefcase he never opened, attending a dinner party he wanted to skip, making a deal with a shirtless software pioneer in Venice, and meeting a poolside stranger who handed him a book that redirected his life. Through seven reinventions, Jay has arrived at three enduring principles: credentials are overrated, there are no small moments, and it is never too late to change. His journey offers a vivid look at how people build their next chapter by trusting the abilities they already possess, recognizing unexpected opportunities, and continuing to create at every age. Key Takeaways Reinvention often begins by repurposing the skills you already have, not collecting another credential.Knowing what you do well is only part of the equation. You also need to recognize what should be entrusted to someone else.Relationships built through years of genuine service can open doors that qualifications alone cannot.Opportunities frequently arrive disguised as ordinary conversations, uncomfortable invitations, or inconvenient moments.Strong sales begin with connection and trust, making the eventual close a natural result rather than a forced technique.Age does not determine whether your most meaningful work is behind you or still waiting to be built. Tune in for a funny, unpredictable, and deeply human conversation about recognizing the moments that can build an entirely new life.

  3. Sep 14

    Bryan Blackmon – You Are Worth It: Sobriety, Belief, and the Rise of Crab Crew

    In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Bryan Blackmon, founder of Crab Crew Life, for a story about rebuilding from a place most people would have trouble imagining. Bryan’s journey moves through addiction, heroin and methamphetamine use, jail, prison, homelessness, and years of living what he describes as a life of constant chaos. But the turning point wasn’t another punishment, rehab program, or person telling him he needed to change. After eventually finding his way to Huntington Beach and renting a room from an 85-year-old woman named Elaine, Bryan experienced a quiet moment while brushing his teeth when four words came clearly to him: “You are worth it.” For the first time, he began believing that a different life might actually be possible... and more importantly, he decided to pursue sobriety because he wanted something different. What followed wasn’t an overnight transformation. Bryan began rebuilding through simple routines, meetings, walking, reading, coffee shops, and continuing to get back up. Eventually, sharing that journey online alongside Elaine attracted a community of people who kept returning. A TikTok joke involving a crab gift became the beginning of Crab Crew, and Bryan started recognizing that the resilience, adaptability, and belief he had developed through his own life could become a framework for helping others pull themselves out too. Key Takeaways Lasting change has to become personal. Bryan had people who wanted him sober for years, but his transformation began when he finally wanted a different life for himself.Belief can come before the roadmap. When Bryan heard “you are worth it,” he didn’t yet know exactly what he was worth or where the journey would lead. Believing there could be something better was enough to begin.Rebuilding happens through small actions. Meetings, short walks, reading a few pages, sitting in a coffee shop... seemingly ordinary disciplines became pieces of a completely different life.Resilience sometimes means simply getting back up. Bryan’s story is filled with setbacks and relapses, but those experiences eventually became part of the resilience behind Crab Crew.Your past can become material for what you build next. Bryan doesn’t erase the old TikTok videos or pretend the chaos didn’t happen. Those experiences became part of the story, perspective, and purpose behind the work he does today.Sometimes the thing you build emerges before you recognize it. Crab Crew didn’t begin as a polished business concept. It grew from community, humor, storytelling, lived experience, and Bryan paying attention to what was already happening around him.  Tune in for a story about hitting bottom, choosing to get back up, and discovering that sometimes the first thing you have to believe before rebuilding anything is that you’re worth rebuilding.

  4. Sep 8

    Matt Levenhagen – How Building a Better Week Gave Me My Sundays Back

    For years, Matt Levenhagen had a habit that probably feels familiar to a lot of entrepreneurs: when the workweek ran out of room, the work simply spilled into the weekend. Podcast editing could happen on Sunday. Weekly planning could happen Sunday night. A little strategy or content work didn’t really feel like “work” anyway...so what was the harm? Then Matt started moving those responsibilities back into the week. Podcast production moved to Thursday. Weekly planning moved to Friday. Daily planning became more intentional. Slowly, Sunday stopped being an extension of the workweek and became something worth protecting. What surprised him wasn’t simply having more free time. He felt lighter. More focused. More present. And because Sunday mattered, he actually became more deliberate about finishing important work during the week. In this solo episode of The Builders, Matt explores what happens when better systems aren’t designed simply to squeeze more productivity out of the day, but to give some of your life back. With less unfinished work occupying the background of his mind, there was suddenly room for art, longer walks, time with family, quiet mornings on the porch...and even new business ideas. It’s a reminder that sometimes the purpose of structure isn’t getting more done. It’s protecting the space where thinking, creativity, relationships, and life can happen. Key Takeaways Unfinished work creates mental residue. Even a few hours of work planned for Sunday can occupy part of your attention long before you actually sit down to do it. Protecting time can improve the work that comes before it. Once Sunday became something Matt genuinely wanted to preserve, Thursday and Friday became more focused and intentional. Simple systems reduce what your brain has to carry. Daily planning, inbox triage, task management, and weekly planning create a place to return when the inevitable fires interrupt the day. Mental space has creative value. When work stopped occupying the background of the weekend, ideas began showing up during walks, art sessions, and quiet time instead. Structure and freedom aren’t opposites. The right habits and boundaries can create more freedom because important work already has a place to live. There’s a difference between choosing to work and having to work. Matt still might do something on a weekend, but now it can be a choice rather than something hanging over him because Monday is coming.   Sometimes building a better business starts with building a week that leaves room for the life you’re building it for.

  5. Aug 31

    T. Christian Helms – Building a Brand That Isn’t Trying to Be for Everybody

    What happens when a difficult season forces you to rebuild not only your life, but the way you lead? In Part 2 of our conversation with T. Christian Helms, we pick up with Christian’s recovery from Lyme disease and the unexpected effect it had on his business. Before getting sick, Christian admits he was trying to do too much himself and micromanaging the people around him. Recovery forced him to accept help, trust capable people, and eventually build a team he describes less like a family and more like an elite sports team... talented, collaborative, low-ego people given the autonomy to do great work. From there, we dig into Christian’s world of branding and the philosophy behind Helms Workshop. For Christian, great branding isn’t about creating something that appeals to everyone. It’s about uncovering what is genuinely different about a company, product, or founder and amplifying it enough that the right people connect with it. We explore that idea through everything from Yeti coolers to Christian’s work helping rebrand Southern Comfort, where digging into nearly two centuries of history helped uncover pieces of the brand that could become relevant again. We also talk about choosing clients who fit, building a business around work you actually enjoy, and what AI means for branding and creative agencies. AI can be an incredibly useful research and exploration tool, but Christian argues that meaningful brands still require something harder to automate: experience, authorship, judgment, and a genuine point of view. Because whether you’re building a brand, a team, or a business, being remarkably different starts with understanding who you actually are. Key Takeaways You don't have to do everything yourself. Christian's recovery helped him learn to trust talented people, give them autonomy, and focus his own energy where he creates the most value. The people around you shape what you can build. The right team, partners, family, and clients repeatedly emerge as part of Christian's rebuilding story. A strong brand isn't trying to appeal to everybody. The goal is to understand what makes you meaningfully different and connect with the people who value it. History can be an asset rather than baggage. The Southern Comfort rebrand shows how looking backward can uncover authentic ideas capable of making an established brand relevant again. Fit matters in client relationships too. Being able to recognize and eventually turn away poor-fit work can create a healthier business and better work. AI can accelerate the process, but differentiation still needs a point of view. Tools can research, summarize, and generate ideas, but experience and judgment help turn those ingredients into something distinctive.   You don't need to build something everybody likes. You need to understand what makes it yours... and build it well enough that the right people care.

  6. Aug 24

    Rachel Lee – Owning Your Weird and Building a Brand That Attracts the Right People

    What happens when the version of yourself you think looks "professional" isn't really you? In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down again with Rachel Lee, co-founder of Neo Genesis, to explore what it means to build a brand around the person you actually are. Rachel shares how trying to fit into a traditional, polished version of entrepreneurship eventually became exhausting... and how embracing the energy, personality, and "weird" she had been hiding became one of the strongest parts of her brand. The conversation goes beyond logos, colors, and visual identity into something deeper: branding as a tool for growth. Rachel explains why a brand doesn't have to simply capture who you are today. It can create a container for who you're becoming. Matt and Rachel also explore how authenticity helps attract the right clients and relationships, how founders can balance personality with professionalism, and when it makes sense to separate a personal brand from the business you're building. Key Takeaways Professional doesn't have to mean personality-free. Credibility and personality can coexist, and the tension between them can actually give a brand depth. The things you're tempted to hide may be your strongest differentiators. Rachel discovered that the youthful energy and expressiveness she once worried would undermine her credibility were part of what attracted people to her. Your brand can help attract the right people and repel the wrong ones. Being intentional about how you show up makes it easier for clients, partners, and communities to recognize whether there's a natural fit. Build a brand you can grow into. Instead of constantly repackaging the person you were yesterday, Rachel sometimes helps clients create a brand around the person or business they're working toward becoming. Founder growth and business growth are connected. In founder-led companies, the capacity of the person running the business can become the ceiling of the business itself. Know when the brand needs to become bigger than the founder. Personal brands can be powerful early on, but as teams grow, the business may need its own identity and room for other people to step forward.   Tune in for a conversation about owning what makes you different, finding the people who appreciate it, and building a brand that has room to grow with you.

  7. Aug 17

    Rachel Lee – Learning What Fits (and What Doesn't) on the Way to a Creative Business

    Building a creative business rarely follows the path you imagine when you start. For Rachel Lee, co-founder of Neo Genesis, it began with a love of making things, a degree in design, and what was supposed to be her dream job. A few weeks into that job, though, she realized something was missing. She didn't just want to make things look good. She wanted to be part of solving the problem. That realization eventually pushed Rachel into freelancing, entrepreneurship, partnerships, joint ventures, branding, coaching, strategy, websites, and plenty of experiments that didn't quite fit. Along the way, she learned that building the right business isn't always about knowing exactly where you're headed. Sometimes it's about trying things, paying attention to what gives you energy, and being willing to remove what doesn't belong. In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt and Rachel talk about the messy process of turning creative skill into a sustainable business, finding a partner whose strengths complement your own, and gradually narrowing your focus until the work starts to feel like yours. It's a conversation about creativity and branding, but underneath it is a larger builder lesson: you don't have to have the whole path figured out before you start building. Key Takeaways Your craft and your business are two different skill sets. Being great at the work doesn't automatically mean knowing how to build the systems, workflows, sales, and structure around it.Finding the right fit often requires discovering the wrong ones first. Jobs, services, projects, and experiments can all teach you something about the work you actually want to do.Design is a problem-solving tool, not just an aesthetic one. Rachel's approach grew from wanting to understand the problem behind the work and create something specifically designed to solve it.The right partner can complement what you don't naturally bring to the table. Rachel's creative strengths paired with her business partner's systems and business mindset helped create a stronger foundation.Experimentation creates clarity. Freelancing, joint ventures, coaching, strategy, messaging, and web work all helped Rachel gradually sharpen the focus of the business.A business doesn't have to emerge fully formed. Neo Genesis grew through years of testing, refining, removing, and rebuilding until Rachel and her partner found a model that fit their strengths. Tune in for a story about creativity, experimentation, and learning your way toward a business that actually fits.

  8. Aug 10

    T. Christian Helms – Building Brands and a Creative Life Through Relationships and Resilience

    T. Christian Helms didn't grow up with a blueprint for becoming a brand strategist or agency founder. He grew up drawing, writing, listening to music, and following whatever captured his curiosity. That path eventually took him through journalism and fine art, into the world of design and branding, and ultimately to Austin, where he founded Helms Workshop and built a career working with musicians, entrepreneurs, emerging companies, and some of the world's most recognizable brands. In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen talks with Christian about what it really takes to build a creative life. They explore the mentors and relationships that opened doors, the importance of finding your people, and why genuine curiosity and enthusiasm can sometimes take you further than a perfectly mapped-out career plan. Christian also shares his approach to building Helms Workshop, protecting its culture, and surrounding himself with talented people who genuinely enjoy working together. The conversation also turns to a much harder chapter of Christian's journey: spending roughly a year and a half searching for answers while dealing with undiagnosed Lyme disease. Trying to keep an agency moving while his health deteriorated forced him to adapt in ways he never expected. His story is ultimately about more than branding or entrepreneurship. It's about building a body of work, a business, relationships, and a life... and developing the resilience to keep rebuilding when circumstances change. Key Takeaways Follow curiosity before certainty. Christian's career emerged from exploring art, writing, music, design, and strategy rather than following a predetermined path.Relationships compound over time. Mentors, collaborators, friends, and creative communities repeatedly shaped the opportunities that moved his career forward.Enthusiasm creates opportunities. Genuine interest, thoughtful questions, and a willingness to reach out can open doors that credentials alone may not.Culture is built through people. Growing a creative business isn't simply about hiring the strongest portfolios. Character, chemistry, and shared values matter too.Adversity changes how you build. Christian's experience with Lyme disease forced him to adapt personally and professionally while continuing to lead his agency.A creative life is something you keep building. Careers, businesses, relationships, and identities evolve. The work is learning, adapting, and continuing to create through each season. Tune in for a conversation about building brands, finding your people, navigating adversity, and creating a life around curiosity, creativity, and meaningful work.

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About

"The Builders" Podcast is designed for those that are 'building' stuff on the web. Whether that's building a business, an agency, building teams, building products, services.. or building websites.. if it's related to building something, it's fair game.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Levenhagen
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    297
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Matt Levenhagen
  • Show Website
    The Builders