Blue Collar Business Podcast

Sy Kirby
  • 4.7 (20)
  • 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. 3H AGO

    Ep. 89 - Damage Prevention Truths with CGA Contractor Experts

    Utility strikes are more than just a production delay; they are a massive financial liability and a significant threat to crew safety. For years, the people actually doing the digging were left out of the policy-making rooms, resulting in a system where locators and excavators often operate at odds. We sit down at the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) conference to discuss how the "boots on the ground" are finally taking a seat at the table to overhaul damage prevention. We get into the technical and tactical substance of what is actually happening in the trenches with John Fluharty, Chase Lapcinski, and Brent Hunziker. This conversation covers the high failure rates of current locate software, the necessity of "safe harbor agreements" for sharing utility mapping, and why the industry is pushing for specific line items for potholing in civil contracts. We also explore the unique role of DPAC in lobbying for better legislation and why the "missing middle" of communication between owners and contractors is causing 40 distinct points of failure on a single job site. The unglamorous truth is that our industry currently operates more on risk transfer than actual safety, with many utilities prioritizing low-bid locators over quality results. You will walk away from this episode with a clear understanding of the legal and financial traps inherent in the 811 system and a roadmap for how to document your work to avoid five-figure bills years after a project is completed. If you care about crew safety, civil infrastructure, and protecting your bottom line from utility damages, you’ll get a lot from this. Please Subscribe and Share to help us get this message to more contractors across the country. What is the biggest hurdle you face when trying to get an accurate utility locate in your state? Support the show 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!

    49 min

  2. 4D AGO

    Ep. 88 - Utility Safety: The Cost of Taking Shortcuts

    Unmarked utilities and accidental strikes are more than just a nuisance; they are massive profit leaks that put lives at risk every single day. In an industry where the pressure to produce often outweighs the patience to be safe, the "boots on the ground" are frequently the ones left holding the bag when things go sideways. In this episode, I sit down at the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) conference with industry veterans Josh Hinrich, Scott Brown, and Eric Metzger to bridge the gap between those who mark the lines and those who dig them. We sit down to dismantle the adversarial relationship between excavators and locators to find a more profitable, safer path forward. We get into the tactical realities of damage prevention, including the implementation of "positive response" systems, the technical challenges of directional drilling, and why "white lining" your job site is a non-negotiable step for crew efficiency. The panel shares the "secret sauce" of utility safety: a culture shift toward "trust but verify" that moves beyond the paperwork and into real-time communication between stakeholders. The unglamorous truth is that our industry is facing a massive knowledge gap and a turnover crisis in the locating community that affects your bottom line. Whether it's the overwhelming volume of tickets from fiber buildouts or the struggle to provide safety training across language barriers, the logistics of keeping a job site "clean" are getting harder, not easier. You will walk away with a clear understanding of how to use CGA best practices to protect your business and a mindset shift that views the local locator as a partner rather than a hurdle. If you care about protecting your crew, minimizing downtime, and mastering the logistics of underground utilities, you’ll get a lot from this episode. Please subscribe and share this with anyone in the trades who is tired of playing "utility roulette" on their job sites. Support the show 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!

    59 min

  3. APR 29

    Ep. 87 - Family First ROI: Why Presence is Provision with Cory Carlson

    Downtime is a profit leak, but a broken home is a life-altering bankruptcy that many leaders in the trades don’t see coming until the papers are served. In an industry where we pride ourselves on building the world around us, we often let our own foundations crumble under the weight of 70-hour weeks and the "provision" trap. We sit down with executive coach and author Cory Carlson to discuss how to stop the cycle of burnout and reclaim the role of leader in your own household. We sit down to tackle the unvarnished reality of mental health in construction, where high-stakes pressure often leads to isolation and addiction. Cory breaks down his "5 Capitals" framework—Spiritual, Relational, Physical, Intellectual, and Financial—to show how true wealth is measured by more than a bank balance. We get into tactical strategies like the "Family Strategy Session," the necessity of dating your spouse, and why your kids need to hear about your failures at work just as much as your wins. The secret sauce is Cory’s "Rise and Go" philosophy: the understanding that while every leader gets knocked down, the great ones develop the systems to get back up faster. The unglamorous truth is that being a provider means nothing if you are a stranger at your own dinner table. It takes more discipline to put the phone down and "listen with your eyes" than it does to manage a million-dollar job site, yet the stakes of failing at home are infinitely higher. You will walk away from this conversation with a concrete method to audit your life and a warning that if you don't intentionally schedule your priorities, your business will eat your legacy alive. Support the show 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!

    54 min

  4. APR 22

    Ep. 86 - Machine Control Secrets for Grading and Utilities with Matt Gillett

    Downtime is not a mechanic problem, it is a profit leak that can wipe out a week of work in two days. We sit down with Matt Gillett, founder of Gillett Excavating in Michigan, to tell the truth about what it takes to grow an excavation company from a $500 start into a full service heavy civil construction and underground utilities contractor. The stories are raw because the lessons are expensive, and we want you to steal the learning without paying the same tuition. We get into the real-world tech debate around GPS machine control and total station guided grading: when it boosts production, when it creates another failure point, and why operator skill still has to come first. Matt breaks down his switch back to Trimble after trying Topcon, plus how he thinks about automated dozers, 3D excavators, and “indicate only” setups for tighter sites and faster decision making. If you are bidding commercial work, expanding into mass grading, or trying to decide whether to invest in GPS guided equipment, this will help you ask better questions. Then we go where most podcasts avoid: equipment payments, cash flow, and the brutal moments that force clarity. Matt shares what late pay can do to a growing contractor, the hard cuts he made when life changed, and why the real mission is family, not a never-ending business fire drill. We close with leadership that scales: core values you can hire and fire by, and the “first 30 last 30” system that sets expectations, improves safety, and keeps crews productive. Subscribe for more blue collar business advice, share this with a contractor who is feeling the pressure, and leave a review so more excavation and heavy civil owners can find these conversations. Support the show 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!

    1h 16m

  5. APR 15

    Ep. 85 - Stop Hiring C-Players: Using Tech to Scale with Jonathan Whistman

    If you’ve ever said, “We can’t find good people,” this conversation challenges the real problem: we’re not building a place good people want to belong. I’m joined by Jonathan Whistman, CEO of WhoHire and founding partner of The Sales Boss, to talk about how blue collar business owners can build a team competitors can’t beat or steal by focusing on identity, standards, and the full human experience at work.  We dig into why hiring is more than filling seats, it’s a responsibility. Jonathan shares how repeated actions create evidence, and evidence creates identity. That idea shows up everywhere: your company culture, your onboarding process, your leadership habits, and even how your shop looks and feels the first time a candidate walks in. We also hit the traps that crush growth, like chasing revenue with prices that are too low, settling for B and C players, and pretending a quick interview is enough to predict performance.  Then we go straight at the future: AI in construction, AI in recruiting, AI in sales follow-up, and why leaders can’t delegate learning it. Jonathan explains a simple “Lego block” framework for AI tools so you can implement what matters without getting lost in the hype. If you want better hiring, stronger retention, and a more profitable trade business, this one is packed with practical ideas and hard truth.  Subscribe for more real blue collar leadership conversations, share this with an owner who’s struggling to hire, and leave a review so more contractors can find the playbook. Support the show 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!

    1h 18m

  6. APR 8

    Ep. 84 - Identify the Need: Building a Niche Empire in the Trades with Ed Katz

    A competitor ten times bigger rolls into town, undercuts your price, and takes your market share nearly overnight. Most owners panic, cut margins, and burn out. Ed Katz did something different: he listened to what customers kept asking for, built a system to deliver it, and turned adversity into a breakthrough that transformed commercial moving.  We talk through Ed’s path from Wall Street to entrepreneurship, why “identifying a need” puts you most of the way to the goal line, and how one ugly Friday-night breakdown taught him the real value of processes and contingency planning. Then we get practical about estimating: why accurate man-hours and a repeatable formula beat gut feel every time, whether you run office relocations, excavation, concrete, electrical, or any other service business where one bad bid can wipe out months of profit.  The story takes a wild turn with Ed’s “boxless move” innovation: space gobblers that let teams move desks without emptying drawers and the spider crane that safely lifts loaded file cabinets. That differentiation didn’t just win jobs, it let him charge premium pricing while delivering a better customer experience. We also get into leadership lessons every blue collar business owner needs, including the moment Ed realized he had built an upside-down org chart and the seven words that started creating real decision-makers on his team.  If you want better estimating, stronger systems and processes, and a clearer way to stand out in a crowded market, press play. Subscribe to the Blue Collar Business Podcast, share this with a friend in the trades, and leave a review so more owners can find it. Support the show 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!

    1h 19m

  7. APR 1

    Ep. 83 - Why Your Crews are Failing at Implementation with Ron Nussbaum

    If your crews are working hard but the money still disappears, the leak might be communication, not effort. We sit down with Ron Nussbaum, a Marine veteran and the founder behind BuilderComms and Builder Labs, to talk about the messy truth of construction operations and the myth that software fixes everything. Ron breaks down why the tool is only a small slice of the solution and why the real work is process, discipline, and leadership buy-in during implementation. We get practical about the three buckets most blue-collar businesses live in every day: sales and estimating, project management and daily logs, and accounting as the foundation for job costing and WIP. From change order handoffs to “go backs” that torch profit, we dig into how fragmented texts, scattered emails, and siloed departments create money burn and reputation damage. Ron shares the moment that pushed him to build a centralized communication hub by project, so owners can walk into tough client conversations with the full story in minutes. We also go straight at the culture side: the office versus field war, the ego that blocks listening, and why transparency creates accountability that can either grow the company or expose what needs to change. To close, Ron offers a mindset tool for anyone who feels stuck or burned out: 75 Hard as a mental discipline framework built for high-stress industries like construction. If you want better systems, better handoffs, and a team that actually follows the playbook, this one will give you a clear place to start. Subscribe for more real-world construction business strategy, share this with a contractor who’s drowning in communication chaos, and leave a review so more blue-collar leaders can find the show. Support the show 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!

    1h 26m

  8. MAR 25

    Ep. 82 - A Visual Stakeout Rover Changes How Crews Work

    This episode was filmed live at Con Expo in Las Vegas! Join us for this special episode with Chuck Harris! A lot of construction tech looks great in a demo and then dies on the jobsite. So we recorded this one live from ConExpo 2026 in the CHC Nav booth to talk about what actually sticks when crews are tired, the schedule is tight, and the boss wants ROI now. Chuck Harris from Benchmark Tool and Supply breaks down what’s new with CHC Nav across GPS rovers, surveying, layout, and machine control. We get into the “visual stakeout” rover that uses forward and down-facing cameras to show a real-time image with your points and lines layered on top, making it easier for operators who don’t want to interpret a plan view all day. We also talk correction options, from UHF radio to cellular and RTK network workflows that can remove the need for an on-site base station on many jobs. Then we jump to the LiDAR rover conversation: fast point cloud collection for stockpile volumes, safer measurement around demolition materials, and why that kind of speed changes decisions for project managers and owners. We also cover the TD73 dozer platform updates, better CAD performance, scalable system options, and a practical feature contractors love: the ability to move a display between machines without a license fee when something breaks or needs to be swapped quickly. If you’re running excavation, grading, utilities, concrete, or even smaller residential crews and you’ve been burned by complicated GPS systems before, this talk is for you. Subscribe for more blue-collar business reality, share this with your foreman, and leave a review with the one feature you wish every piece of jobsite tech had. Support the show 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!

    26 min
See All (89)

4.7
out of 5
20 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
    89
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Blue Collar Business Podcast
  • Show Website
    Blue Collar Business Podcast

You Might Also Like