The Builders

Matt Levenhagen

"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

    Matt Levenhagen - Still Building Me: Business, Art, a Custom AI LifeOS, and a Better Life

    In this solo episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen reflects on what it means to keep building at 55. After years of building businesses, products, services, and eventually a web design and development agency, Matt explores a different kind of builder journey: continuing to build yourself after you thought you had already “arrived.” This episode moves through three connected threads: business, art, and AI. Matt shares how his agency remains the foundation, how picking up a pencil again reignited a creative part of himself that had been quiet for decades, and how he has been building a custom AI LifeOS to help manage memory, priorities, reflection, and daily action. At the center of it all is a simple but powerful idea: building is not always about chasing the next business, pivot, or product. Sometimes it is about creating a better life. One with stronger systems, more creative presence, better habits, and enough room for the parts of you that still want to grow. Key Takeaways Building does not stop when you “arrive.” Sometimes the next chapter is about building onto the life and business you already have.Past chapters are not wasted. Art, sales, contracting, internet marketing, web development, and agency work all become layers in the builder’s journey.Reigniting an old craft can reconnect you with a younger, more honest version of yourself.AI becomes more useful when it is built around your real life, your data, your priorities, and your way of thinking.A good system should not just make you more productive. It should help protect what keeps you human.At any age, builders can give themselves permission to keep learning, creating, and shaping a better life.  Tune in for a personal reflection on business, creativity, AI, and the long work of still becoming.

  2. Jul 13

    Amy Foley – When Growth Stalls or Reverses: Building Through Change Without Losing Yourself

    For years, Amy Foley built Inbound Back Office almost entirely through relationships and referrals. What began as a freelance virtual assistant business grew into a thriving agency supporting marketing agencies across the country, eventually expanding to nearly 80 team members. But when growth stalled and the market shifted, Amy found herself navigating one of the most difficult seasons every builder eventually faces.  In this conversation, Amy shares the difficult chapter that followed. As AI emerged, agencies consolidated, referrals slowed, and long-standing clients disappeared, she found herself making decisions no business owner wants to make. Together, we explore what it looks like to recognize changing market conditions, simplify a business, take back responsibilities you’d previously delegated, and rebuild with clarity instead of panic. This isn’t a conversation about scaling faster. It’s about becoming the kind of leader who can adapt when growth slows, forgive yourself for the things you didn’t see coming, and build a healthier business for the future. For anyone navigating uncertainty, changing markets, or the emotional weight of leadership, Amy’s story offers a refreshing reminder that resilience often matters more than rapid growth. Key Takeaways Growth can hide problems if you’re not paying attention to changing markets.Relationships remain one of the most valuable assets a business can build.Sometimes leadership means stepping back into the business instead of away from it.Simplifying services and operations can create a stronger, more sustainable company.Stability and contentment aren’t signs of settling. They can be intentional measures of success.Every season of business teaches lessons that become part of the builder’s story.  Every business will face unexpected change. The builders who endure aren’t the ones who avoid hard seasons… they’re the ones willing to adapt, learn, and keep building anyway.

  3. Jul 6

    Malcolm Reid Sr. – Lead with Value. Open Doors. Build Relationships. Clients Will Follow.

    In this second conversation with Malcolm Reid Sr., Matt shifts from Malcolm’s remarkable life story to the business philosophy that’s helped him build a thriving coaching and consulting practice. Rather than relying on cold pitches or high-pressure sales tactics, Malcolm shares why the strongest businesses are built by leading with value, creating trust, and opening doors through genuine relationships. Drawing on years of experience helping business owners grow, Malcolm explains how documenting proven systems, delivering measurable results, and putting people before transactions creates a business that clients stay with for years. Along the way, he and Matt explore how generosity, authority, and authentic conversations often outperform traditional selling. Whether you’re a coach, consultant, agency owner, freelancer, or any service-based entrepreneur, this episode offers practical lessons on building trust first, creating opportunities naturally, and growing a business through relationships that last. Key Takeaways Lead with value before asking for anything in return.Strong relationships create better business opportunities than cold pitches.Documented systems make your expertise repeatable and scalable.The right clients are chosen through fit, not just persuasion.Long-term success comes from consistently delivering measurable results.When trust comes first, sales become a natural outcome instead of the goal. Tune in for a conversation about why the best way to grow a business is often to stop selling and start serving.

  4. Jun 29

    Malcolm Reid Sr. – From the Streets to Prison to Purpose: Building a Life That Changes Others

    In this first part of Matt Levenhagen’s conversation with Malcolm Reid Sr., we explore an extraordinary journey from the streets of Baltimore to prison, and ultimately to a life dedicated to helping others build better businesses. It’s the story of how adversity shaped the builder behind the business. From dropping out of school and serving time in prison to discovering unexpected lessons in sales, leadership and human behavior, Malcolm shares how accountability, resilience and an unwavering desire to help others transformed the direction of his life. Every chapter, even the painful ones, became preparation for what came next. If you’ve ever wondered whether your past limits your future, this conversation offers a different perspective. Malcolm’s story is a powerful reminder that while our experiences shape us, they don’t have to define us. Some of the strongest builders are the ones who first rebuilt themselves. Key Takeaways Resilience is often forged long before success becomes visible.Your past explains you, but it doesn’t define where you can go.Every experience, even painful ones, can become part of your builder toolkit.Great businesses are built by solving one problem after another.Authentic relationships consistently outperform manipulation and sales tactics.Helping others succeed is one of the most meaningful ways to build a lasting legacy.  Tune in for a story of resilience, redemption and discovering the builder that was there all along.

  5. Jun 22

    Drew Griffin – From Hyperbaric Medicine to Reinventing Local Marketing with Newsletters

    For nearly three decades, Drew Griffin worked in healthcare as a hyperbaric wound care nurse, helping patients navigate some of life’s most difficult medical challenges. Along the way, he developed a deep appreciation for solving problems, improving outcomes, and helping people regain control of their lives.That mindset eventually led him somewhere unexpected. After recognizing how smartphones could help diabetic patients better manage their health, Drew taught himself software development and launched one of the early mobile apps focused on diabetic tracking. The app quickly gained traction, reaching tens of thousands of users and opening his eyes to the scale of impact technology could create.In this episode, Drew shares his journey from healthcare to entrepreneurship, the lessons learned from building software and marketing businesses, and how local newsletters became the foundation of a completely different approach to local marketing. He explains why owning an audience may be one of the most valuable assets a business can create and how newsletters are helping agencies build trust before they ever make a sales pitch. Along the way, he discusses building software, navigating industry shifts, embracing AI, and helping business owners create new opportunities through audience-first thinking. Key Takeaways Why solving real problems is often the foundation of successful products and businesses.How a healthcare career unexpectedly prepared Drew for entrepreneurship.What he learned from building and selling an early mobile app.Why traditional agency sales became harder as local marketing became commoditized.How local newsletters create owned audiences that businesses can reach directly.Why building an audience first can completely change the sales conversation.

  6. Jun 15

    Gary Gitelson – Why a Handful of Relationships Can Change Everything You Build

    In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Gary Gitelson, founder of Prohana, to explore a deceptively simple idea: some of the most important opportunities in life and business come from a surprisingly small number of relationships. Drawing on nearly three decades in engineering leadership, startups, and large technology companies, Gary shares how a carefully nurtured network became one of his greatest professional advantages. From his early days at Cisco to leadership roles in startups, Google, and VMware, Gary's story reveals a consistent pattern. Every major transition, opportunity, and career breakthrough was made possible by trusted relationships built over years, sometimes decades. Along the way, he learned that meaningful connections are less about collecting contacts and more about investing in people, creating value, and staying genuinely engaged. Matt and Gary dive into the practical side of relationship-building, discussing mentorship, curiosity, reciprocity, and how builders can intentionally develop the kinds of connections that create opportunities long into the future. Whether you're growing a business, building a career, or expanding your network, this conversation offers a thoughtful framework for turning relationships into a lasting advantage. Key Takeaways Most career-changing opportunities come from a small circle of trusted relationships. Building relationships is about creating value, not keeping score. Curiosity, generosity, and follow-through are traits that strengthen long-term connections. Strong networks are built over years through consistent, meaningful interactions. Mentors, peers, and former team members can all become future collaborators and opportunity creators. Being top-of-mind often matters more than having the largest network.

  7. Jun 8

    Matt Levenhagen – What Built the Builder? Finding the Pattern in My Story (And Yours)

    In this solo episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen introduces the theme behind the upcoming fourth season: What Built the Builder? Rather than focusing only on tactics, strategies, and business frameworks, the next season will explore the experiences, failures, influences, and turning points that shape the people behind the businesses we build. Using his own journey as an example, Matt traces a path through early sales jobs, insurance, contracting, internet marketing, web development, and agency ownership. While those chapters may appear disconnected on the surface, a closer look reveals something deeper: a pattern. Looking backward, he discovers recurring themes of creativity, building, systems, and people that have quietly guided his decisions for decades. The conversation ultimately becomes an invitation for listeners to do the same. By examining your own story, identifying recurring patterns, and understanding the experiences that shaped you, you may discover strengths, opportunities, and insights that have been there all along. Key Takeaways The chapters of your life may be more connected than they first appear.Skills learned in one season often become assets in the next.Looking for patterns can reveal strengths and motivations you may have overlooked.Reflection isn't about nostalgia. It's about understanding yourself more clearly.Every builder has a story, and those stories often explain what they're building today.Understanding what built you can help shape what you build next.Tune in for a conversation about story, self-discovery, and the patterns that quietly shape every builder's journey.

  8. Jun 1

    Shaun Modi – Building Products at NASA, Google, Airbnb & Beyond Before Founding Capitol AI

    In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Shaun Modi, product designer, founder, and builder whose career has taken him from NASA and MIT to Google, Airbnb, startup studios, government projects, and ultimately the founding of Capitol AI. From designing lunar habitats with astronauts to helping shape products at Google during the rise of social computing and contributing to Airbnb during its rapid growth, Shaun offers a firsthand look at some of the most influential technology movements of the past two decades. The conversation explores how great products emerge from understanding people, challenging assumptions, and relentlessly improving the customer experience. The discussion eventually lands on Capitol AI, where Shaun and his team are building the intelligence layer behind high-stakes enterprise workflows. From financial services to government agencies, they’re helping organizations move beyond scattered AI tools toward governed, repeatable systems that deliver reliable outcomes. For builders, founders, and product leaders, this episode is packed with lessons on innovation, execution, and seeing where technology is headed before everyone else. Key Takeaways ✔️ Great builders learn to recognize transformational technology shifts before they become obvious. ✔️ Customer experience is often the strongest competitive advantage a company can build. ✔️ Working alongside exceptional people accelerates growth and sharpens your thinking. ✔️ Successful companies stay close to customer problems and avoid building in isolation. ✔️ Enterprise AI adoption requires governance, workflows, and repeatability, not just powerful models. ✔️ The best opportunities often emerge at the intersection of technology, design, and real-world needs. Tune in for a story of building through curiosity, craftsmanship, and a relentless focus on solving meaningful problems.

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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
    287
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Matt Levenhagen
  • Show Website
    The Builders