Facility Rockstars

Kaloutas

5.0 (13)
Management
Updated Weekly

This is Facility Rockstars! The podcast that celebrates the unsung heroes of our daily lives – facility professionals! I'm your host, Jay Culbert. Join me as we honor these leaders - sharing stories, insights, and expertise that empower us all to learn and grow together. Facility Rockstars is sponsored by Kaloutas, operating the way you operate in order to make your life easier. Learn more at: https://www.kaloutas.com

5d ago

You’ll Never Stop Firefighting Without the Right Systems with Dean Vieira

Facilities teams can spend their entire day putting out fires, but without the right systems in place, that cycle never ends. In this episode of Facility Rockstars, host Jay Culbert sits down with Dean Vieira, Facilities Maintenance Manager at CA Design, to talk about his transition from technician to facilities leader and what he has learned about building more proactive, reliable maintenance operations. Dean shares how one team went from roughly 80% reactive maintenance to 80% proactive and preventive maintenance, why tracking the work was a critical first step, and how consistency helped make the change stick. Dean also explains why technical expertise alone isn't enough when you move into leadership. He discusses learning to view problems through a business lens, earning management's trust by delivering on promises, getting teams to embrace new systems, and protecting yourself from burnout in a career that rarely fits neatly into traditional working hours. Takeaways: Stop accepting firefighting as the norm. Without systems and processes in place, reactive maintenance will continue consuming the team's time.Track before you try to improve. Dean's team used maintenance software to understand what they were actually doing and identify recurring failures that could become preventive tasks.Facilities leaders have to think beyond the repair. Moving from technician to manager required Dean to consider production value, priorities, downtime, and the overall needs of the business.You don't need to use every feature of your CMMS. Dean's team eventually identified the functions that mattered most and focused on consistently using those instead of trying to do everything.Consistency creates lasting change. Dean describes persistence, rather than demanding immediate compliance, as one of his most effective approaches to changing behavior.Trust gives your ideas more runway. When leadership knows you deliver on what you promise, they're more likely to listen when you bring them difficult news or ask for additional resources.Protect yourself from burnout. Facilities work often means weekends, off-hours calls, and interrupted vacations, making the ability to switch off especially important. Quote of the Show: “If you don't put systems in place, you will never stop firefighting.” Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-vieira-cfm-60891abb/ Website: https://c-a-design.com/
Sep 24

When 70,000 People Show Up, Everything Has to Work with Andrew MacFadyen

Facilities work often goes unnoticed when everything is running smoothly. In this episode of Facility Rockstars, host Jay Culbert sits down with Andrew MacFadyen, Regional Vice President of Engineering at UG2, to discuss the lessons he’s learned over more than two decades in facilities, including his experience at some of New England’s most recognizable sports and entertainment venues. Andrew shares stories from major projects at Gillette Stadium and TD Garden, along with his approach to leadership built on honesty, empathy, and communication. He also discusses how AI is helping him work more efficiently, why human judgment still matters, and the importance of hands-on experience and strong relationships in facilities. Takeaways: Facilities success often happens behind the scenes. Andrew compares facilities professionals to offensive linemen and a duck swimming across the water: everything may look effortless from the outside, while an incredible amount of work is happening underneath.Trust starts with how you treat people. Andrew’s biggest leadership lesson is simple: treat others the way you want to be treated. Honesty, empathy, and transparency can create a strong foundation for relationships with employees and customers.Emotional intelligence changes how you communicate. Transparency does not mean communicating with everyone in exactly the same way. Strong leaders learn to read the room and understand what to say, when to say it, and who needs to hear it.Preparation needs contingency plans. During a major TD Garden renovation, Andrew’s team balanced construction with an active event schedule. Success required constant communication between stakeholders and backup plans for when materials, schedules, or other variables changed.Facilities can shape the customer experience. Facility teams cannot control what happens on the field, court, or ice, but they can control the environment around it. Cleanliness, comfort, security, food service, and reliable building operations all contribute to the experience.AI works best as a tool, not a replacement for judgment. Andrew has found value in using AI for difficult communications, SOP development, reporting, data analysis, and troubleshooting, while still emphasizing the importance of human oversight.The trades need the next generation. With an aging workforce, Andrew sees significant opportunity for young professionals willing to learn technical skills, ask questions, and gain hands-on experience.Build your network before you need it. Looking back, Andrew wishes he had invested more time earlier in his career attending conferences, continuing his education, and developing industry relationships. In facilities, the person who can help solve your next challenge may only be a phone call away. Quote of the Show: “Stay true to who you are and continue to treat others the way you want to be treated.” Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-macfadyen-391b494/ Email: andrew_macfayden@yahoo.com Website: https://ug2.com/
Sep 17

When Things Go Wrong: How Facility Leaders Rise to the Challenge

Every facilities professional has a story about the moment when things didn't go according to plan. In this special compilation episode of Facility Rockstars, we're revisiting conversations with Robert “Bob” Mack, Director of Facilities and Laboratory Operations at Korro Bio; Andrew DelPrete, Senior Facility Manager at Liberty Mutual Insurance and former President of IFMA Boston; Mark Netherton, Maintenance Manager at Grower Direct Farms; Carrie Battafarano, formerly Maintenance Manager at Nouria and now Business Development Manager at A-PRIME; Jeff Chierepko, Vice President of Global Facilities Management, Construction, CRE & EHS at SIG Sauer; Derek Earp, formerly Facilities Manager at UG2; and Jeff Beaudry, Regional Facilities Director at Appleton Corporation. Together, they share some of the toughest challenges they've faced throughout their careers and what it took to work through them. From a devastating facility fire and high-stakes safety incidents to troubled construction projects, vendor communication breakdowns, transitioning into management, and developing the next generation of leaders, these stories show just how much can land on the shoulders of a facilities professional. More importantly, they reveal what happens next. You'll hear how preparation can make the difference when an emergency strikes, why communication and trusted relationships matter when solving problems, and why sometimes the biggest leadership challenge is resisting the urge to do everything yourself. Takeaways: Preparation shows its value when something goes wrong. Training, procedures, and strong safety programs give teams something to fall back on when they're faced with an unexpected incident.A strong team can make an enormous difference during a crisis. One facilities team went from losing power, water, technology, and major portions of its operation in a fire to restoring essential systems within days.Direct communication can prevent small problems from becoming recurring ones. When information has to pass through multiple vendors, the original expectations can easily get lost.Get the right people in the room. Construction, design, facilities, and project teams working in separate "pods" can create unnecessary meetings and slow down decision-making.Not every meeting needs to be an hour. Focused conversations with the people who can actually make decisions can keep projects moving.Doing it yourself isn't always good leadership. Taking the time to teach, delegate, and let others take ownership is essential for developing a team that can operate without relying on one person.Developing leaders requires continued support. Promoting talented people is only the beginning. Leaders need to stay engaged, check in, and help the people around them grow.Challenges become experience you can use later. The lessons learned from past mistakes and difficult situations can make teams better prepared for whatever comes next. Quote of the Show: “It’s the best way to learn is making mistakes, and I’ve made, like, all of them.” — Jeff Chierepko Links: Mark Netherton LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marknetherton2/ Email: manetherton@gmail.com Derek EarpLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekearp/ Carrie Battafarano LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-battafarano-82ab3a59/ Email: cbattafarano@nouria.com Jeff ChierepkoLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-chierepko-2126964b/ Bob MackLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmack9/ Andrew DelPreteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-delprete-a2b5807a/ Jeff BeaudryLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-beaudry-a132b311a/ Email: jbeaudry@oconnells.com
Sep 10

You Have to Be the Example with Jonathan Gendron

Facilities management is demanding. Between 24/7 operations, unexpected failures, tight deadlines, and the responsibility of leading a team, it can be easy to put your own well-being on the back burner. In this episode of Facility Rockstars, Jay Culbert sits down with Jonathan Gendron, Field Engineering Manager at TJX Companies, to talk about the human side of facilities leadership. Jonathan shares why prioritizing mental health has become one of the biggest lessons of his career, how empathy and vulnerability have shaped his leadership style, and why great leaders need to be willing to show up alongside their teams when things get difficult. Jonathan also reflects on a catastrophic facility failure that cost millions of dollars in lost product, the importance of balancing proactive and reactive maintenance, and his journey from vocational school to a 15-year career spanning biotech, life sciences, power generation, and commercial retail. For Jonathan, strong facilities leadership ultimately comes down to a few fundamentals: keep learning, own your mistakes, care about your people, and bring the right attitude every day. Takeaways: Prioritize your mental health. Facilities professionals are often expected to be everywhere and solve everything. Jonathan believes leaders need to take care of themselves if they expect to effectively take care of their teams.Never stop learning. Jonathan learns from mentors, leaders, direct reports, certifications, classes, and his own mistakes. Continuous learning keeps both his career and his work from becoming stale.Turn mistakes into teachable moments. Leaders aren't flawless. Jonathan believes admitting mistakes and sharing what you learned gives your team permission to do the same and can prevent them from repeating those mistakes.Empathy is a leadership skill. Understanding that employees have families, health concerns, and challenges outside of work can build trust and morale that people remember.Be the example you want your team to follow. When Jonathan's team responded to an emergency at 3:00 AM, he drove two hours to Boston to be there alongside them.Prepare to be proactive AND reactive. Preventive maintenance matters, but unexpected equipment failures will still happen. Strong facilities teams need a plan for preventing problems and responding when prevention isn't enough.Attitude can outweigh credentials. Jonathan's advice for someone entering facilities is simple: attitude is everything. Experience and credentials matter, but having the right attitude can take you a long way. Quote of the Show: “When you genuinely show that you care for your team, they will care for you. And they’ll care for their job as well.” Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-m-gendron/ Website: https://jobs.tjx.com/global/en
Sep 3

Stop Blaming People: Build Better Systems with Ron Gantt

What if the biggest problem with workplace safety is the way we think about failure? In this episode of Facility Rockstars, Jay Culbert sits down with Ron Gantt, Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety at Beale Infrastructure, to challenge some of the traditional thinking around human error, incident investigations, and workplace safety. Ron explains why mistakes often aren't simply failures of the individual, but signs of a mismatch between people and the environments they're working in. Instead of asking who made the mistake, he encourages leaders to look at the demands people face, the resources available to them, and what can be changed to help them succeed. Jay and Ron also explore psychological safety, creating stronger relationships with contractors, moving away from punitive safety cultures, and why meaningful change doesn't always require a massive organizational initiative. Sometimes, the best place to start is with the part of the system you can actually control. Takeaways: Get the right people in the room when solving problems. The people closest to the work often have context that leadership doesn't. Ron stresses involving the people who will actually be affected by a decision instead of designing processes for them without their input.Human error is often a symptom, not the root problem. Rather than assuming a mistake lives within an individual, Ron encourages leaders to examine the mismatch between a person and their environment. Look at what made the task difficult, what pressures were present, and whether the person had the resources needed to succeed.Build systems that account for the fact that people will never be perfect. Mistakes are inevitable, especially in complex and changing environments. Strong safety systems don't just try to prevent errors. They include safeguards that help people recover when something does go wrong.Incident investigations should help you decide what to do next. Understanding what happened matters, but Ron argues that the real value of an investigation is using what you learn to improve how the system operates today and tomorrow, rather than simply assigning blame for the past.Safety is more than the absence of accidents. Ron defines safety as the capacity to succeed even when conditions change. That means understanding the demands workers face and ensuring they have the resources, tools, training, and support needed to adapt.Ask, “What did we actually fix?” Punishment, retraining, or corrective action can make it look like an organization responded to an incident without addressing the conditions that contributed to it. The better question is whether the response actually made future work safer.Start small and focus on what you can control. Meaningful change doesn't always require a massive initiative or complete buy-in from senior leadership. Ron encourages safety professionals to change what they can within their own sphere of influence, demonstrate that it works, and allow those small wins to create momentum. Quote of the Show: “Human error is a problem that lives in a mismatch between the person and their environment.” Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-gantt/ Email: rongantt@hotmail.com Website: https://bealeinfra.com/
Aug 27

Show Up for the Jobs That Suck with Sean Dearnley

The best facility leaders don’t just tell their teams what needs to get done. They show up and do the hard work alongside them. In this episode of Facility Rockstars, Jay Culbert sits down with Sean Dearnley, GxP Facilities Manager at CRISPR Therapeutics, to talk about the lessons Sean has learned working his way from hands-on HVAC and maintenance roles into facilities leadership. Sean shares why small acts of discipline can have a major impact, how thoughtful planning can turn an intimidating facility shutdown into a smooth operation, and why creating a strong maintenance culture requires constant reinforcement. He also explains how his years as a technician continue to shape the way he plans, communicates, and leads today. From predictive maintenance and GMP documentation to communication and team building, Sean offers a practical look at what it takes to keep critical environments running while building a team that trusts one another. Takeaways: Do the work upfront. Strong planning, preventative maintenance, and redundancy can make difficult situations much easier to execute when the time comes.Leadership doesn’t require a title. You can lead from any position by recognizing opportunities, communicating clearly, and helping the people around you succeed.Show up when the work gets difficult. Leaders build trust through action, especially when they are willing to work alongside their teams during the jobs no one wants to do.Listen to the people closest to the equipment. Operators and technicians often have valuable information that can make troubleshooting faster and more effective.Communication and documentation matter. In GMP environments especially, completing the repair is only part of the job. The ability to clearly communicate and document what happened separates good technicians from great ones. Quote of the Show: “I don't think there's any better team-building exercise than being in a crappy situation and figuring it out with your team and getting through it.” Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-dearnley-171a1399/ Website: https://crisprtx.com/
Aug 20

The Lessons That Stuck: A Facility Rockstars Summer Recap

This summer brought some incredible conversations to Facility Rockstars, but across different industries, roles, and experiences, the same lessons kept showing up. In this special solo episode, Jay Culbert looks back at the conversations and experiences that defined the summer, from Facility Rockstars events and the special EHS series to discussions about curiosity, adaptability, leadership, safety, and building stronger relationships. Jay reflects on lessons from Tim Reynolds, Maria Ruiz, Nick Petrosino, Rich Martelli, Pete Susca, Lindsay Seiberling, Jason Hyde, Darin Goodwin, and several past EHS guests, while sharing the ideas that have stuck with him most. The biggest takeaway? Great facility leaders don't just understand their buildings. They understand their people. Jay also gives a preview of what's ahead this fall, including upcoming events, new collaborations, future guests, and more opportunities for the Facility Rockstars community to connect. Takeaways: Stay curious enough to ask questions and humble enough to admit when you don't know something. Leadership isn't about always having the answer. Sometimes it's about knowing which question to ask.You can't control every challenge, but you can control how you communicate, respond, and bring people together.Safety only works when you get the human side right.Build relationships before you need them. Trust is much harder to create in the middle of a crisis.Behind every process, piece of equipment, safety program, and facility are people. Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-culbert-2675998/ Facility Rockstars Website: https://www.facilityrockstars.com/ Shoutouts: Tim ReynoldsMaria RuizNick Petrosino Rich Martelli Pete SuscaLindsay SeiberlingJason HydeDarin GoodwinColleen WalkerVanessa BradyLori SantoliJessica GoodhueDon BezekDon Watson
Aug 13

Why Great Vendor Relationships Are a Competitive Advantage with Troy Hollenbeck

Behind every well-run facility is a network of trusted relationships, thoughtful planning, and leaders who know that success isn't built alone. This week, Jay sits down with Troy Hollenbeck, an experienced facilities and operations leader, to discuss what he's learned after more than 25 years in the industry. From managing reactive maintenance environments and navigating post-COVID supply chain challenges to building strong vendor partnerships and creating exceptional customer experiences, Troy shares practical lessons that apply to every facilities professional. Throughout the conversation, he explains why patience, empathy, and continuous learning are some of the most valuable tools a leader can have. Takeaways: Strong relationships produce stronger results. Troy believes the best way to improve vendor performance is simple: make people want to work with you. Building trust, showing respect, and understanding the challenges vendors face creates partnerships that consistently deliver higher-quality work.Patience is one of the most valuable leadership skills. Facilities work is naturally reactive, but slowing down long enough to fully assess a problem often prevents bigger mistakes. Taking a measured approach leads to better decisions and more effective solutions.Preventative maintenance creates operational stability. While emergencies can't always be avoided, investing in preventative maintenance helps reduce downtime and gives teams a better chance of resolving issues quickly when they do occur.Standardization makes maintenance more efficient. Maintaining consistent equipment across facilities simplifies repairs, improves parts availability, reduces inventory complexity, and allows teams to respond faster when equipment fails.Customer experience extends far beyond the building itself. Whether it's curb appeal, store presentation, or amenities for EV charging customers, every detail shapes how people perceive a facility and whether they'll choose to return.Never assume you know everything. Troy encourages leaders at every stage of their career to stay curious, continue learning, and recognize that every team member brings valuable experience and perspectives to the table. Quote of the Show: "The simple thing is don't expect that you know more than everybody else." Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-hollenbeck-65717221/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/troy_hollenbeck72/ Company Website: https://www.cumberlandfarms.com/

Trailer

Facility Rockstars Trailer

Facility Rockstars

5

out of 5

13 Ratings

Love this show!

08/13/2025

A.goy

Jay’s a great host! He’s super authentic and always brings the best out of his guests. Keep on rockin!

This is Facility Rockstars! The podcast that celebrates the unsung heroes of our daily lives – facility professionals! I'm your host, Jay Culbert. Join me as we honor these leaders - sharing stories, insights, and expertise that empower us all to learn and grow together. Facility Rockstars is sponsored by Kaloutas, operating the way you operate in order to make your life easier. Learn more at: https://www.kaloutas.com

Creator

Kaloutas
Years Active

2024 - 2026
Episodes

134
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Kaloutas
Show Website

Facility Rockstars

Comedy

Comedy

Updated Semiweekly
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Government

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