Builder Straight Talk Podcast

Michael Krisa
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Real builders. Real stories. Real talk about what it takes to grow in this business. Builder Straight Talk is the go-to podcast for builders, remodelers, and tradespeople who want to scale their business, get projects funded, and learn from folks who've actually walked the job site and built something real. Hosted by Michael Krisa, each episode dives into honest conversations with builders who've figured out how to grow, fail forward, and keep things moving—through systems, smart money, and straight-up grit. If you're building more than just houses—if you're building a real business—this is the show for you. No suits. No filters. Just the stuff that works.

  1. 58m ago

    He Hid the Depression BUT the Job Site Exposed It, with Jay Meacham

    It took three attempts to get Jay Meacham on the show, with technical trouble and a big storm getting in the way. The weather held this time, and I am glad it did, because this conversation has stayed with me. I opened the episode with a late night drive and the sound of gravel under the tires, the warning most of us ignore until we are already on the shoulder. Jay helps builders hear it sooner. Jay lives in Kansas City, Missouri, and spent years inside two Fortune 500 companies before moving into coaching executives and leaders. Today he works with home builders on the inner game of the person running the build: how they think under pressure and who they talk to when the weight gets heavy. "They're often isolated. They're at the top. Everybody thinks they have the answers, and they know everything that needs to be done, and they don't." Jay grew up on a farm in central Iowa, and when he was 13 the family home burned to the ground. That loss led him to lean into home building, where the work is putting roofs over families. We cover a lot of ground. Jay tells me about a builder in a funk who had not broken ground in 18 months, another whose job sites stayed messy despite signs in two languages and checklists, and one whose morning unraveled over a delayed countertop. "It was what was occurring for him internally that was messy, and it was showing up in the workplace, not being tidy." Jay has a tool he calls a date with your calendar. He sits down with a builder for 90 minutes, asks what matters most, and asks them to prove it with an ordinary week. We also talk about the warning signs worth noticing and what Jay calls the someday syndrome, that promise to exercise and spend more time with family at some point down the road. A Kansas City story stands out. New energy efficiency rules left an area that normally issued 500 to 600 building permits a year with 9, and Jay describes how Dennis Shriver, then president of the Kansas City Home Builders Association, stayed calm and present through some tough questioning. Along the way we touch on a handwritten letter you mail to yourself, scuba dive tables, and Jay's pick in our rapid-fire round for the one business book every builder should read. If any of this sounds familiar, Jay is easy to reach. His website has a dedicated page for builders https://coachjaymeacham.com/builders and an anonymous form that goes straight to his personal inbox. He also offers what he calls Vegas rules, meaning whatever you share stays between the two of you. Your local home builders association and mastermind groups also put you in a room with people who have walked the same road. Grab a coffee and join us. Jay grew up on a farm in Iowa. He holds a degree in accounting and an MBA and led teams at Fortune 500 companies across finance, customer service, operations, HR, and IT, with a long stretch in continuous improvement that included Lean and Six Sigma. He started his own business in 2014 and has focused fully on coaching since 2019, helping people find clarity, balance, and joy. He is also an ordained deacon in the Diocese of Kansas City/St. Joseph. Follow Builder Straight Talk: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com Chapters: 00:00 Intro 02:54 Meet Jay Meacham 04:31 Holistic Coaching for Builders 05:08 Fighter Pilots vs Builders 07:20 Jay’s Corporate Background 08:23 CEO Stress and Isolation 13:16 Builders Create Generational Wealth 16:54 From Trades to Business 18:41 Burnout and Letting Go 22:23 Slow Down Your Thinking 23:58 Scuba Tables For Builders 26:09 Builder in a Funk 28:54 Warning Signs, Asking for Help 31:00 Messy Jobsite Inner Chaos 34:09 Someday Syndrome 36:46 Sacred Time and Walks 37:21 Calendar Audit for Leaders 39:14 Busy Work and Delegation 42:41 Countertop Thought Spiral 46:15 Agreements and I Am Letter 50:38 Kansas City Code Chaos 54:17 Red Tape and Builder Stress 56:36 How to Reach Jay 58:37 Daily Intentions and Gratitude 01:01:33 Rapid Fire 01:04:33 Blessing and Farewell

    He Hid the Depression BUT the Job Site Exposed It, with Jay Meacham

  2. Sep 29

    $50 Million in Sales... But Only $10,000 in Profit? with Roger Glover

    Roger Glover grew up on a cattle farm in southwest Virginia, then found his way through a law degree, an MBA, and a stint at Trammell Crow before settling into real estate for good. After years building shopping centers around new Walmart sites, he made a deliberate bet on one buyer, the 55 plus crowd, and that bet became Cornerstone Homes. "My father was a doctor, a small town doctor, and we had a large cattle farm, and I had the pleasure and enjoyment of growing up working on the farm with the cattle and the horses." The difference at Cornerstone comes down to sequence. Most builders start with a house. Roger starts with a clubhouse. "One of my principles is the first building permit is the clubhouse. And you immediately start bringing people together. You create activities to start. You create a social committee." That approach also put him through the hardest stretch of his career. When the recession hit in 2008 and 2009, Roger had two North Carolina communities right at the point of maximum investment, and the buyers simply stopped showing up. "So when the great recession hit, I had two communities in North Carolina that we had just gotten that point. I had all this investment and capital in the infrastructure, in the clubhouse, in the first buildings, and the light switch just dropped." We get into what that stretch actually cost him and how his capital stack looks different today. Roger also walks me through his favorite project, an agrihood in Virginia built around a working farm, and explains why age qualified zoning gives him room a standard developer never gets. Stick around for the books, the movie line that's stuck with him for years, and a rapid fire round worth the listen on its own. About Roger Glover Roger Glover is the founder and owner of Cornerstone Homes, a Richmond, Virginia based active adult developer and builder founded in 2001. Cornerstone's flagship community, Chickahominy Falls, has delivered more than 600 active adult homesites in greater Richmond. Before founding Cornerstone, Roger spent roughly 10 years in commercial real estate, starting at Trammell Crow, and later founded Villa Development Co., building active adult condominium communities in Hampton Roads. He holds a law degree and an MBA from the University of Richmond, grew up on a cattle farm in southwest Virginia, and played football at Hampden-Sydney College. Cornerstone Homes: https://www.cornerstonehomes.net Roger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-glover-40784627 Follow Builder Straight Talk: * Web: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrisa * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuilderStraightTalk * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderstraighttalk Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:55 Welcome Roger 04:06 Cornerstone Homes 05:25 Farm Life Roots 07:14 Football to Construction 07:53 MBA Law and Real Estate Pivot 09:36 Trammell Crow Apprenticeship 13:43 Walmart Sites and Shopping Centers 16:54 Choosing the 55 Plus Niche 18:04 Franchise Growth and Departure 24:37 Nationals Catching Up 28:11 Designing Community First 30:02 Clubs Lifestyle Directors and HOA 35:01 Personal Why 38:55 Wizard of Oz Mentors and Obstacles 39:33 Partners and Archetypes 42:09 Recession Abyss 45:19 Permitting and Age Qualified 50:54 Building Golden Years 52:15 Capital Stack Basics 55:04 Bank Relationships Today 56:48 Private Equity Shoutout 58:22 Books And Better Systems 59:11 Rapid Fire

    $50 Million in Sales... But Only $10,000 in Profit? with Roger Glover

  3. Sep 22

    We Fired Him on Day 3 - And the Entire Company Thanked Us, with Clint Johnston

    Clint Johnston runs a home building company in Birmingham, Alabama that's been putting up houses for 34 years, and it does something many builders don’t: it keeps some of what it builds and rents it out instead of selling. I caught up with Clint after his family's trip to Montana, and we landed on an idea that runs through his company. He doesn't walk into the office chasing the home run. He shows up looking for the single. "We come in the office, and every day we want to hit a single. We don't walk in the office thinking, where's my home run today. We walk in the office and, where's my single?" That mindset carried the company through 2008, when a lot of builders around him didn't make it, and eventually pushed them into a different side of real estate. "Then 2008 happened. Stock market crash, real estate crash... We decided we never wanted to go through 2008 again... so we decided we were going to diversify." Years later, an appraiser came back with numbers that caught the whole team off guard. "We were blown away at what the market was paying in 2022 for BTR properties. We swore we'd never sell anything, we're the tortoise, not the hare. We took it to market and sold it. It was our first BTR transaction ever." From there we get into culture, and a hire that went sideways fast. "On day one, they came in like a wrecking ball, Michael. It was impressively bad... We made the decision that although it was just day three, we were gonna terminate this employee... But I got more positive feedback and more thank yous from our team because we were willing to protect our culture." Money comes up too, including a line from his CEO that's stuck with him. "I'm playing for the green jacket on Sunday at Augusta. I'm not playing to win on Thursday, and I'm not playing to win on Friday, and I'm not even playing to win on Saturday. I'm playing because I want to be wearing the green jacket." He also opens up about the mistake that still bothers him most. "We did not have the right leader in that business unit... I don't think anybody that was around that time doesn't still to this day drive by that old location and think, hmm, we missed it there." Along the way you'll hear about Builder 20 peer groups, EOS, and a countdown Clint keeps for Sundays left with his son before college. "I've got a tracker on my calendar every Sunday that reminds me how much time I've got left with each of them before they leave the house..." This conversation moves through land development, culture, and capital, and what Clint has learned about protecting a business for the long haul. Give it a listen and see if hitting singles changes how you think about your next deal. Clint Johnston is President and EOS Integrator at Tower Development, Inc. and Fairin Realty, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. He joined the company in 2007 and has worked through nearly every operational role, becoming President in 2023, a stretch that's seen revenue and net income double. He's helped oversee more than 2,000 homes and a build-for-rent portfolio worth well over $100 million. He's an active NAHB Builder 20 Group member and lives in Birmingham with his wife, Shannon, and their four children. Tower Homes: https://www.towerhomes.com Follow Builder Straight Talk: * Web: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrisa Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 04:23 Cab Ride Elevator Pitch 06:39 Why Built to Rent 07:26 Post 2008 Diversification 09:03 Pivot From Commercial 10:37 Launching BTR Strategy 12:11 Financing and First Sale 13:42 Targeting Premium Renters 17:12 Underdog Advantage Mindset 20:55 Culture Standards and Accountability 26:11 Protecting Culture Fast 30:50 Leadership Conversations Align Teams 32:56 Parenting as Leadership 35:45 Hard Talks with Love 36:23 Operations and EOS Roles 37:53 Personality Mix Matters 40:03 Biggest Business Missteps 45:25 Singles, Not Home Runs 47:30 Capital Strategy and Banks 59:41 Rapid Fire 01:01:59 Closing

    We Fired Him on Day 3 - And the Entire Company Thanked Us, with Clint Johnston

  4. Sep 15

    The Bank Wanted Its Money - I Said, “I’ll Send You the Keys!” with Justin Wood

    Justin Wood has spent 25 years building homes in Portland, Oregon, alongside his father-in-law, who's been at it since the early 1970s. It's a family operation, and together they've built a niche most national builders skip: infill housing, one lot at a time. "We've always focused on first-time entry-level, first-time home buyers. That's kind of been our niche." Oregon's middle housing laws opened the door to duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes on land that used to hold a single aging house, and Justin's crew shifted right along with it. Justin didn't set out to become a policy guy. The 2010 recession pulled him into government affairs work for Portland's home builders association, and it stuck. He's since helped shape legislation protecting Portland's narrow lots and a newer rule letting fourplexes be sold as four separate, individually owned homes. "They required you to be able to build on them." He's candid about why he stays involved in association work beyond the policy wins, and the informal network of builders he leans on when things get hard. Money comes up too. Justin walks through how his company finances its projects, and a moment during the 2008 downturn that still stands out, a call at a Trail Blazers game that put one project on the line. "I got a text from my loan guy... they said, 'We need you to bring us a check tomorrow to pay off the construction loan.' My father-in-law told him, 'You tell me the address to mail the keys, because we're not sending you a check.'" There's also a closer call more recently, when permitting delays stacked several projects on top of each other right as interest rates climbed. Outside the numbers, Justin digs into why good kids with strong job offers still walk away from construction work, and what he thinks it would take to change that. "The only way we get people into the trades is by making the wages so high it brings people in, and that hurts the housing affordability issue." He also shares what it means to build in someone else's neighborhood, and why he expects Portland hasn't seen real pushback yet, but will. "You're gonna see guys go into a really nice area of Portland, tear down an $800,000 house, slap up a fourplex, and neighborhoods are gonna lose their mind." This one moves through regulation, capital, community, and the people who actually swing the hammers. Justin Wood has spent more than 25 years in residential homebuilding, focused on attainable homeownership for first-time buyers. His work centers on entry-level and middle housing, using tools like property tax abatement and SDC waiver programs to help working families get into a home of their own. He's held leadership roles in housing advocacy for years, including two terms as President of the Oregon Home Builders Association, and was appointed by Governor Tina Kotek to the Governor's Housing Production Advisory Council to help address Oregon's housing shortage. Outside the industry, Justin has coached youth soccer for eight years and volunteered with Walk & Knock, Clark County's community food drive, for more than 15 years, including six as the organization's President. Follow Builder Straight Talk: * Web: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com Chapters 00:00 Introduction 03:24 Meet Justin 03:52 Portland Infill Niche 06:47 Getting Started 08:30 First Builds Lessons 09:37 Government Affairs Pivot 12:42 Advocacy Wins Skinny Homes 15:03 Why Join Associations 20:38 Culture Paying Subs Fair 22:13 Competition and Scaling 24:26 Capital Stack Lending 27:19 Margins Fees Red Tape 29:48 Workforce Trades Pipeline 34:32 Schools Immigration Fixes 39:23 Border Identity Debate 41:16 Builder Advice Find Niche 43:35 If Not Building Teaching 44:21 Five Year Goals 46:00 Overexposure Market Scare 49:43 Surviving the 2008 Crash 54:26 Middle Housing Land Division 57:12 Designing for Neighbors 01:01:22 Rapid Fire 01:03:42 Final Thoughts

    The Bank Wanted Its Money - I Said, “I’ll Send You the Keys!” with Justin Wood

  5. Sep 8

    How Facing Fear Built Him a Luxury Home Empire, with Jordan Vaughan

    Jordan Vaughan spent his childhood too afraid of dogs to enter a room where one was resting. By 13 that fear had flipped into obsession, and he was training dogs professionally, discovering people paid tens of thousands of dollars for a single animal. He built a business around something that used to terrify him, and that confidence carried him into homebuilding, with no construction background. "I had no idea that people were selling dogs for $40,000, $50,000. I realized that was an entire industry. That is what kind of launched me into the dog business, I love this as a passion." We talk through how COVID pushed him toward real estate, and how he moved from Airbnb arbitrage into fix and flip work in Atlanta right as interest rates climbed. Jordan explains what happens when a GC juggles several projects and pulls money between them, and how that grew into a legal fight that changed how he vets contractors. "If you don't have a GC that's managing the finances correctly, a lot of them are robbing Peter to pay Paul. What happens when project A overruns, they're pulling from your project, and the money has to come from somewhere." We get into the capital side too, including the strain of a heavy monthly interest load across many projects, and how restructuring that financing changed things for Harbor Development Group. He explains why he moved away from traditional banks and what he looks for in a capital partner. "You really need a financial partner who truly understands what builders go through. You don't need a partner who is gonna take two weeks to give you a draw. You've got subcontractors who wanna be paid the same day." Jordan also talks about how Harbor Development Group decides where to build and the design details that repeat across every home. He talks about walking into the International Builders Show for the first time, surrounded by people solving the same problems he'd worked through alone, calling it his industry's Super Bowl. Toward the end, Jordan gets reflective about leadership, investing in his team beyond a paycheck, and the tradeoff every driven founder sits with, time spent building a company instead of with family. "When you're growing a company, you spend a lot of time away from family, away from friends, and you're so locked in and so driven, that I've lost a few, a lot of family members. I wish I had just spent a little bit more time with them." Jordan Vaughan is the Founder and CEO of Harbor Development Group, building luxury homes across Georgia and Northeast Florida. A University of Georgia graduate, he brings a background in financial markets and investment strategy to real estate development. His work is guided by faith and a focus on integrity, quality, and lasting value. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, fishing, and spending time with his family and his two dogs. Harbor Development Group: https://www.harbordevgroup.com Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/company/harbor-development-group Follow us: * Web: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrisa * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuilderStraightTalk * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderstraighttalk Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:17 Meet Jordan Vaughan 05:06 Math Kid and Dog Trainer 07:47 Fear to Confidence 11:05 Pivot to Real Estate 13:22 Airbnb Arbitrage Funding 14:41 Raising Money for Fix and Flip 17:23 Losses Spark Developer Mindset 21:13 Fix and Flip Lessons 30:01 Obtainable Luxury Strategy 31:52 Staying Ahead of Trends 34:01 NAHB and Builder Networking 35:39 Builder 20 Groups 36:41 IBS Industry Super Bowl 37:46 Leading by Example 40:05 Investing in People 42:40 Profit Sharing Incentives 43:17 Capital Stack Evolution 45:41 Interest Reserves Gamechanger 46:44 Why Private Capital Wins 50:37 Banks Tightening Credit 52:39 Go, No-Go Deal Filters 56:09 Proudest Signature Build 58:06 Harbor Design Signatures 01:02:35 Construction Wishes 01:06:25 Faith Family Reflection

    How Facing Fear Built Him a Luxury Home Empire, with Jordan Vaughan

  6. Sep 1

    How Does $130,000 in Fed Red Tape Hold Buyers & Builders Hostage? with Robert Dietz

    I sat down with Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, twenty-one years into the job and one of the most cited voices on home building today. We talk about how what happens in Washington and on Wall Street plays out on an actual job site, and why national headlines rarely match what builders see on the ground. Robert walks through his path into economics, his years on Capitol Hill working tax policy, and how he still gets forecasts wrong. This year, a macro surprise tied to Iran threw off the ten year Treasury forecast by 50 basis points, and he's candid about what that teaches him. We get into why national numbers can look soft while entire regions, like the Midwest, are seeing growth, and why custom home building is climbing even as spec construction pulls back. The heart of the conversation is Robert's framework for what's actually driving up the cost of a home. He calls them the five Ls, and by the end he's added a sixth. We spend real time on the one he's spent a decade trying to get policymakers to take seriously. "The team at NAHB released new research just last week that indicates that in 2026, the regulatory burden component is now 26% of the price of a typical single-family home, and in dollar terms is now above $130,000." We also get into zoning fights, the terms Robert uses for the groups on each side of that debate, and where he sees real momentum right now, in townhouse construction and remodeling. Toward the end, the conversation takes a turn I didn't expect, into why Robert thinks homeownership matters far beyond the financial return, tracing the idea back through history. "A class of workers that don't own anything, have no stake, and who are dependent on the government, that is the number one way to weaken a democracy. Representative citizen democracy is dependent on people owning things and investing in those things, and it's why I'm a big fan of small businesses and homeownership." We close with a rapid fire round and a few personal questions, including whether there's anywhere in his own story he'd go back and change. If you build homes, sell them, finance them, or just want to understand why the market feels the way it feels right now, this one's worth your attention. Dr. Robert Dietz is the Chief Economist for the National Association of Home Builders, where his responsibilities include economic forecasting, industry surveys, and policy research. He is commonly cited on CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and NPR. He is the nation's leading analyst of the residential construction industry. Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University in 2003. NAHB's economics blog: https://eyeonhousing.org Follow Builder Straight Talk: * Web: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrisa * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuilderStraightTalk * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderstraighttalk Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:33 Meet Robert Dietz 05:07 Early Influences 07:39 Capitol Hill to NAHB 09:23 Life as Chief Economist 12:32 Builders Teach Reality 13:44 Forecasting Gets Humbling 15:29 Local Markets vs Headlines 17:53 Why Luxury Holds Up 22:16 Regulations Raise Costs 26:13 Politics and NIMBY Battles 34:02 Hope for Gen Z Buyers 37:00 Smaller Homes and Policy 40:11 Keys to the Kingdom 40:53 Workforce and Zoning Fixes 41:47 Capital and Free Trade 43:26 Why Homeownership Matters 46:20 Lending Crunch for Builders 48:00 Small Builders vs Giants 49:37 Tech and Modular Reality Check 52:21 The Sixth L 53:30 Training the Next Trades 55:50 Data Centers and Growth 01:01:20 NAHB Membership Value 01:05:57 Rapid Fire

    How Does $130,000 in Fed Red Tape Hold Buyers & Builders Hostage? with Robert Dietz

  7. Aug 25

    He Went From a Homeless Teen to Master Builder, with Dan Mitchell

    Dan Mitchell has been on a job site since he was 6 years old, growing up in a family of builders. Born in Tennessee, raised in California, he moved back in 1993 to the Smoky Mountains community his family called home, a region that ended up defining his career. He started with log and timber frame homes, then solved a problem nobody had really named yet, how to make a log home energy efficient, years ahead of the green building trend, which led to the modern mountain homes he builds today. We spend real time on something builders and homeowners often blur together, the difference between a performance home and a healthy home, covering VOCs, off-gassing, and air and water quality. That distinction connects to the name of his company, Eagle CDI. "It stands for Construction and Development with Integrity. The definition of integrity we tell our clients is this: when we're working on a job site, they're not there. But we are working hard to do the right thing every single day." Dan also opens up about his path before any of this started. At 15 he was living on his own, an emancipated minor, working lawn jobs to put himself through high school and college, after running paper routes and a lawn business from age 11. He talks about wrestling and the coach who saw something in him during a rough freshman year, and a client-first listening philosophy that guides every design decision he makes today. A few stories in here really stayed with me: a garage that ended up hanging off the side of a mountain in Gatlinburg, a 1998 lawsuit that threatened to end his company, and a 2019 health scare that started with what he thought was a sore back and turned into something far more serious. We also get into how referrals actually work in his business, why 80 percent of his clients find him through word of mouth, and what Dan thinks builders get wrong today. "My life is like a soccer game. The first 90 minutes went by, and now the referee holds up the placard, I've got extra time. I don't know when that's gonna expire, but I know that now I'm on extra time." Dan Mitchell is a native of Tennessee and the owner and president of Eagle CDI, Inc., established in 1994. Eagle CDI specializes in high-performance, energy-efficient custom homes and high-end log and timber homes, and developed Knoxville's first green community. Dan holds the Certified Green Professional, NAHB Master Builder, and Certified Aging in Place Professional designations. Dan has held nearly every major leadership post at the local, state, and national level of home building, including President of the Home Builders Association of Tennessee and NAHB National Area 7 Chairman. His recognitions include Tennessee State Builder of the Year in 2019, Tennessee Hall of Fame Builders in 2020, and the SA Walters Award for Service Excellence, one of NAHB's highest honors. Outside of building, Dan has worked with Operation Family Home to provide mortgage-free homes to wounded veterans. EagleCDI: https://eaglecdi.com Builder Straight Talk: Web: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrisa Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuilderStraightTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderstraighttalk Chapters: 00:00 Dan Mitchell 03:24 Meet Dan Mitchell 04:44 Log Cabins to Modern 06:19 Performance vs Healthy Homes 08:45 EMF and Site Concerns 09:57 Eagle CDI 11:19 Integrity and Client Fit 15:55 Early Hustle and Entrepreneurship 17:07 Leaving Home at 15 18:55 Discipline and Mentorship 20:29 Listening as Marketing 26:48 Custom vs Spec Building 31:10 First Spec House Epiphany 34:17 Designing for Lifestyle 37:22 What Builders Get Wrong 41:27 Clients Who Challenge You 44:18 Internet Ideas vs Reality 45:35 Log Home Cost Breakdown 47:01 High End Wants and Tradeoffs 53:16 NAHB Lifeline 57:08 Giving Back 01:00:47 Near Death Wake Up 01:03:41 Why Join HBA 01:19:21 Conclusion

    He Went From a Homeless Teen to Master Builder, with Dan Mitchell

  8. Aug 18

    No One's Coming to Save the Trades, with Aimee Bertrand

    Aimee Bertrand runs one of the largest builders associations in the country, and she's spent her career translating one group of people to another, a skill that started long before she ever heard the word zoning. She grew up as her deaf mother's translator, studied journalism, worked at the Mississippi state capitol, moved into city council work in Houston, and eventually found her way to leading the Greater Houston Builders Association. "I grew up with a mom that was completely deaf but had hearing support through a cochlear implant, but that also meant that I was often her translator growing up." Workforce is clearly the topic that lights her up most. Early in her role, a member called to warn her the trades were in crisis, plumbers retiring, electricians retiring, nobody left to do drywall. "Do you know how many plumbers are about to retire? Do you know how many electricians are about to retire? I can't find anyone to do drywall." That call started a real strategy: partnering with school districts, bringing trade curriculum into classrooms, and connecting students with people already working in the industry. We also got into the cost of regulation and how it connects to affordability in Houston. "Every time we add $1,000 to that median home price, we are pricing out 3,000 families from being able to purchase a home in the Houston area." Aimee also talked about why builders join associations, and her answer was simple: having people in your corner who understand what you're dealing with. "When I share those challenges or opportunities with people who are doing what I'm doing, I'm better for it." One part of this conversation stayed with me. Aimee brought up mental health in construction unprompted. "We see that not just suicide but the threat of addiction is higher and the incidence is higher in people who work in construction than in most other types of professions." That's part of why GHBA started a monthly gathering called In Good Company, a space for builders to talk about what's weighing on them. We also cover women in the trades, regulation costs, AI in permitting, and the community support that keeps builders from carrying it all alone. I think you'll enjoy this one. Aimee Bertrand is a proven leader and team builder who thrives in challenging, high-stakes environments. She has worked more than 20 years as a government affairs, communications and association professional, and she is at heart a connecter for individuals and issues that matter to her community. She was born and raised in Kingwood, Texas. Aimee currently serves as CEO and EVP for the Greater Houston Builders Association, the largest Home Builders Association in Texas and among the largest in the United States. Aimee is the mother of three children. She and her husband, Colin Butler, also have the cutest dog ever, Rufus T. Wiggleton, Esq. Greater Houston Builders Association: https://ghba.org --- Follow Builder Straight Talk: * Web: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrisa * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuilderStraightTalk * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderstraighttalk Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:28 Meet Aimee Bertrand 04:11 Early Life Translator 05:40 Accidental Politics Path 06:49 Inside GHBA Role 09:06 Texas Industry Outlook 12:16 Women In Building 16:14 Workforce Crisis 17:30 Schools Expo Pipeline 19:45 Trades Meaning Community 26:56 Tech Colleges ROI Model 30:38 Volunteer Mentors Menu 33:15 Regulations Price Out 36:44 Houston Market Scale 37:37 Small Builders Matter 38:19 Why Join Associations 43:11 Education and Advocacy 46:49 Trade Misconceptions 48:11 Red Tape Costs 50:29 AI In Permitting 52:20 One Message to All 54:45 Speak Up And Share 57:56 Mental Health Support 01:02:11 Career Wins and Governance

    No One's Coming to Save the Trades, with Aimee Bertrand
See All (81)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Real builders. Real stories. Real talk about what it takes to grow in this business. Builder Straight Talk is the go-to podcast for builders, remodelers, and tradespeople who want to scale their business, get projects funded, and learn from folks who've actually walked the job site and built something real. Hosted by Michael Krisa, each episode dives into honest conversations with builders who've figured out how to grow, fail forward, and keep things moving—through systems, smart money, and straight-up grit. If you're building more than just houses—if you're building a real business—this is the show for you. No suits. No filters. Just the stuff that works.

Information

You Might Also Like