Blue Collar Business Podcast

Sy Kirby
  • 4.7 (21)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

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.

  1. 1d ago

    Ep. 100 - Geotech Reports: Decoding the Dirt Before Digging with Ben Brunni

    A bad number off the desk cannot be fixed in the field, no matter how hard your crews work. Margins in the dirt and pipe game require precision, meaning contractors can no longer afford to guess on their quantities or rely on a hunch for an estimate. Ben Brunni from PayDirt Support joins the 100th episode to break down exactly how modern earthwork and utility contractors are securing their profits before a single piece of iron comes off the lowboy. We sit down to unpack the mechanics of a truly bulletproof takeoff and why missing the fine print in the specs can completely derail a project's cash flow. The conversation covers the transition from traditional layout methods to leveraging GPS machine control, the hidden risks buried deep inside geotech reports, and how years of production data are being transformed into estimating software with Earth Pro. Ben shares a grounded philosophy on technology, explaining that embracing AI isn't about replacing your intuition, but rather automating the mundane tasks so your pre-construction team can focus entirely on strategy and risk management. The reality of the estimating process is often exhausting, filled with sleepless nights and the gut-wrenching feeling of waiting on supplier numbers just hours before a hard bid deadline. It takes serious discipline and upfront capital to implement tools like base and rovers or automated workflows, and many contractors resist this shift because they naturally fear what they do not understand. You will walk away from this conversation with a clear understanding of what a quality takeoff actually looks like and why shooting the top of pipe on every single bell is the cheapest insurance policy your utility crew can buy. If you care about accurate job costing, speeding up your sales cycle, and eliminating rework in the trench, you’ll get a lot from this. Please remember to subscribe to the Blue Collar Business Podcast and share this milestone episode with another contractor who needs to hear it. What is the most expensive mistake you have ever found hidden inside a geotechnical report? Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

  2. Jul 22

    Ep. 99 - Inclusive Networking: Building Spaces for Blue-Collar Pros with Queenie Be

    Isolation is a quiet business killer in the trades. Right now, prioritizing face-to-face analog relationships is proving to be the most reliable way to secure consistent leads and build resilient, long-lasting partnerships in a highly digital world. We sit down with Queenie Be, a former ICU nurse practitioner who executed a massive career pivot to found Hive Networking, to discuss how she built the largest inclusive professional ecosystem in her region. We get into the exact mechanics of building massive analog events that trade stuffy hotel ballrooms for active warehouses and heavy equipment yards. The conversation covers how residential and commercial contractors can leverage face-to-face meetings, the logistical realities of organizing 800-person gatherings, and the launch of the Buzz Tank initiative to fund local entrepreneurs. Her overarching philosophy centers on the power of being aggressively friendly, proving that walking into a room to support the community yields far better long-term results than simply hunting for an immediate sale. Building these massive community spaces frequently exposes the serious mental health challenges and sheer loneliness disproportionately affecting men on the job site today. We break down the heavy stigma placed on the working class by a society obsessed with traditional college pathways, and how constantly pushing against that cultural grain takes a mental toll. You will walk away with a better understanding of how to leverage your natural capabilities and a firm reminder that you inherently belong in the corporate rooms you quite literally built with your own two hands. If you care about building strong local partnerships, prioritizing mental health on your crew, and expanding your business footprint without relying on cold digital outreach, you’ll get a lot from this. Make sure to subscribe to the channel and share this episode with a fellow contractor who could use the encouragement to step out of their comfort zone. What is the single biggest hurdle keeping you from showing up and shaking hands at a local industry event? Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

  3. Jul 15

    Ep. 98 - Solo Contracting Success: How One Painter Masters Social Media with Ryan Dandrea

    Relying on expensive lead generation services is draining your profits and stunting your business growth. If you are still buying shared leads while ignoring the digital footprint of your brand, you are leaving money on the table for your competitors to claim. Today, we sit down with Ryan Dandrea, a solo painting contractor with over 15 years of experience who completely replaced his paid marketing with an organic social media engine. We get into the exact mechanics of building an autonomous solo operation that leverages tools like AI lead qualifiers to streamline scheduling. We discuss the transition from taking any project to strictly vetting clients, the value of cross-platform posting, and why you should be tagging material vendors in your daily job site content. Ryan shares his counterintuitive philosophy that your local competitors are actually your greatest asset when it comes to managing overflow work and keeping your clients on schedule. Building a self-sustaining pipeline requires pushing through the initial friction of content creation and dealing with local critics. We discuss the real toll of trade industry burnout, the danger of not understanding your true job costs, and the frustration of managing daily operations out of your head instead of a dedicated system. You will walk away with a clear framework for qualifying prospects and a strict reminder to prioritize your own mental health before the quality of your finish work starts to suffer. If you care about protecting your profit margins, building a reputable solo operation, and taking control of your local market presence, you’ll get a lot from this. Please make sure to subscribe to the channel and share this conversation with another contractor who needs to hear it. What is the one red flag that instantly makes you walk away from a new project estimate? Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

  4. Jul 8

    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 than ever. Today, we sit down with William "Bo" Sanders, the Education and Outreach Liaison at OKIE811, to break down the real-world stakes of damage prevention. We get into the exact mechanics of keeping your team safe and your projects moving forward without a hitch. We discuss the importance of utilizing one-call centers, standardizing APWA color codes, and leveraging free digital mapping and safety resources. Bo shares a compelling shift in perspective: what if we stopped just reacting to line strikes with fear and started actively celebrating the underground contractors who flawlessly execute damage prevention protocols? The reality of excavation is steeped in constant unpredictability and immense liability once you break ground. It is incredibly frustrating to juggle different state legislations, hunt down localized utility maps, and deal with the fallout of unauthorized line strikes just because someone wanted to build a fence. You will walk away from this conversation with a clear mindset shift on how to integrate best digging practices into your daily operations and why sharing this knowledge early on might just prevent a regionalized disaster. If you care about keeping your crews safe, minimizing project downtime, and elevating the standards of the trades, you’ll get a lot from this. Make sure to subscribe and share this episode with anyone running equipment, managing a site, or planning a dig. What is the biggest hurdle your crew currently faces when trying to get accurate utility locates? Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

  5. Jul 1

    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 invoices. Alec Pestov, founder and CEO of vGIS Inc., joins us to share how his company is solving the documentation nightmare with practical, phone-based 3D scanning. We get into the actual workflow of bringing technology into the ditch without overwhelming your crews. We cover 3D scanning utility locates via iPhone, utilizing digital twins for underground progress, and bridging the gap between field data and administrative billing. Alec shares a massive realization his team had: building tech in a lab guarantees failure in the field, so they spent their time in the trenches observing how contractors actually dig and map fiber and pipe. The hardest part of adopting new construction software isn't paying for it; it's surviving the field's rejection when a tool fails on the very first try. You will walk away from this conversation understanding how to pair the right process with the right tool, keeping it simple enough for the installer while giving the front office the exact elevation and geo-referenced data needed to fight rejected change orders. If you care about damage prevention, protecting your project margins, and closing the technology gap in your utility business, you’ll get a lot from this. Please make sure to subscribe to the channel and share this episode with another contractor who needs to hear it. What is the biggest software rollout failure you have experienced in the field, and what did it teach you about your crew's daily workflow? Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

  6. Jun 24

    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 are turning over. David McCune, Vice President of Operations at Land Development Group, joins the show to share his boots-on-the-ground expertise on building teams that actually want to stick around for the long haul. We sit down to unpack the real mechanics of building a functional workplace, stepping past the corporate buzzwords to focus on what actually works out in the dirt. The conversation hits heavy on prioritizing core values over raw output, dealing with toxic high producers, and establishing clear accountability metrics for superintendents and crews. David shares a pivotal mindset shift by reframing standard core values as "house rules," creating a baseline that is hard for anyone on the payroll to misunderstand or ignore. Building a solid foundation means making some hard, expensive decisions, like letting go of the guy pulling the most footage because his attitude is a liability to the rest of the crew. You will walk away from this conversation with a clear understanding of the financial sting of high turnover, the direct link between crew chemistry and job site safety, and a firm check on your own leadership blind spots. Sometimes the bottleneck in your business isn't the market or the hiring pool, but the daily environment you have personally allowed to take root. If you care about building a legacy company, reducing expensive turnover, and leading your crew with solid integrity, you’ll get a lot from this. Make sure to subscribe to the channel and share this episode with another contractor who needs to hear it. What is the hardest leadership habit you've had to break to improve your team's daily environment? Chapters: 0:00 - Introduction and Welcome 7:48 - Defining True Company Culture 16:41 - Why Culture Outperforms Production 23:02 - Promoting and Firing by Core Values 43:55 - How Bad Culture Compromises Safety 52:41 - Leadership Accountability and Resetting Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

  7. Jun 17

    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 sit down with Josh Luebker, President of The Construction CFO, to break down exactly how to bridge the gap between field execution and long-term financial strategy. We get into the mechanics of building an airtight estimate that actually reflects the reality of the dirt work. We discuss the necessity of tracking labor burden, the proper way to structure a work in progress (WIP) report, and how utilizing a schedule of values for general conditions keeps your cash flow moving even when equipment is sitting idle. Josh shares a crucial shift in perspective: your working relationship with a general contractor should never outweigh your operational cash flow. The hard reality of stepping up from superintendent to CEO means confronting the financial mess you might be ignoring. We discuss the heavy toll of unpaid change orders, the frustration of financing a project out of your own pocket due to 90-day payment delays, and the mental weight of carrying overhead without knowing your true baseline numbers. You will walk away with a clear framework for tracking field production against your estimated costs so you can catch a losing job before it completely tanks your profitability. If you care about protecting your profit margins, holding general contractors accountable, and scaling a construction business with actual cash flow, you’ll get a lot from this. Make sure to subscribe to the channel and share this episode with another contractor who needs to lock down their financial systems. What is the most painful financial lesson you've had to learn on a job site? Chapters: 0:00 - Intro & 811 Conference Recap 4:41 - The Transition From Field to Office 14:27 - Estimating, Overhead, and Cost Allocation 32:00 - The Point of Contract and Protecting Leverage 54:34 - Job Costing and Utilizing WIP Reports 1:20:30 - Modernizing Systems and Financial Mindset Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

  8. Jun 10

    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 bank for a line of credit or try to win a massive commercial contract, you get hit with a sudden denial because nobody ever taught you how to build a proper corporate credit profile. Sy Kirby sits down with business credit expert Gerri Detweiler to break down exactly how entrepreneurs can proactively step out of the day-to-day chaos to map out a secure financial future. We sit down to demystify the opaque world of small business lending and trade credit. Gerri shares tactical steps on how to establish an LLC or S-corp that builds its own reputation as a separate legal entity. We get into why most mom-and-pop vendors fail to report your on-time payments, how the Small Business Financial Exchange acts as a hidden warehouse for top-tier lenders, and the exact process for identifying trade lines that do not require personal credit checks. Gerri also shares a crucial "aha" moment regarding the lack of federal consumer protections on business debit cards, revealing how a single skimmer pump incident can completely wipe out your operational checking account for months. The reality of scaling a capital-heavy subcontracting business is that you will eventually face high-stakes moments where tomorrow is payroll and the cash flow flywheel is completely off the rails. It is easy to get lured in by aggressive lenders slinging fast advances with devastating factor rates that take money right off the top of your daily merchant accounts. True financial survival requires absolute visibility into your balance sheet and a 13-week cash forecast so you can actively communicate with your vendors before a crisis hits. You will walk away from this conversation with a blueprint for checking the creditworthiness of your own commercial partners and a strategy to shift high-interest liability away from your family's personal mortgage. If you care about commercial asset protection, scaling your operational overhead sustainably, and maintaining a bulletproof reputation in your local market, you’ll get a lot from this conversation. Be sure to Subscribe and Share this episode with another contractor who is currently fighting fires in the field. What is the biggest financial blind spot you discovered in your own cash flow cycle this year? Let us know in the comments below. Support the show Check out our Sponsors: PayDirt Support: paydirtsupport.com  Bolster Built: bolsterbuilt.com Tune in to the Blue Collar Business Podcast with Sy Kirby for the rawest, most relevant stories behind building a successful business in the trades. New episodes drop every Wednesday at 5 am CST—put your boots on and get ready to level up. Follow and stay connected: Website: bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/@BlueCollarBusinessPodcast Instagram: @bluecollarbusinesspodcast TikTok: @bluecollarbusinesspod Facebook: Blue Collar Business Podcast LinkedIn: Blue Collar Business Podcast Never miss an update—follow, subscribe, and join the conversation! ...

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4.7
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Sy Kirby
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    97
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Blue Collar Business Podcast
  • Show Website
    Blue Collar Business Podcast