Conquer Contractor Chaos: Business Coaching for GCs, Cabinet Makers and Closet Pros

Lee Thomas Miller - Brave Academy Coaching
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  • Entrepreneurship

Conquer Contractor Chaos is the podcast for cabinet shop owners, closet companies, millwork shops, general contractors and renovators who want a business that runs without them. If you’re stuck on the tools, working nights on paperwork, and growing revenue without growing profit, this show is for you. Your host is Lee Thomas Miller, a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy and Conquer Contractor Chaos. Lee coaches trades business owners doing $250K to $10M in revenue across Canada and the United States. Lee’s coaching comes from running real businesses, not consulting slides. He started as an apprentice commercial floor layer in the UK and went on to run crews on jobs up to £5M. In North America he was head of operations at You Move Me, growing it to $4.5M in revenue. He then bought into WOW 1 DAY PAINTING Metro Vancouver, part of the O2E Brands family alongside 1-800-GOT-JUNK, and took it from $140K in debt to $3.25M in revenue at 56% gross and 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021. Before founding Brave Academy, Lee was head profit coach at Cabinet Maker Profit System, working with cabinet and millwork shop owners across North America. Today he has coached 150+ trades businesses, and more than 170 shop owners are part of his free and pro Skool communities. Every episode gives you one move you can use right away. Topics include: • Pricing, markup vs margin, and hitting 50% gross margins • Job costing and knowing your numbers on every job • Hiring, onboarding and training a crew, including green and Gen Z hires • Getting off the tools and buying back your time • Sales, referral partners and lead generation that doesn’t depend on paid ads • Shop systems, production flow and efficiency • Building a business that could run, or sell, without you You’ll also hear real cabinet makers and closet company owners share the numbers behind their growth, like Dean Rovedo of Platinum Woodworking (72% revenue growth on half the jobs), Phil Blumberg of Perris Woodworks, Matthew Pierce of Matthew James Co., and Laurent Pichette of Cutting Edge Construction, plus experts on hiring, money and AI for the trades. The coaching behind the show is built on one belief: systems over effort. Working harder isn’t the answer. Better systems for pricing, people and production are. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool to meet other shop owners, get tools and templates, and join the weekly Contractor Coffee Break call: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538 Learn more at www.conquercontractorchaos.com

  1. Sep 28

    From 40% to 54% Margins: How Phil Blumberg Scaled Perris Woodworks

    Phil Blumberg, president of Perris Woodworks in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, was busy but barely making money when he joined coaching 15 months ago. In this episode, he sits down with cabinet shop business coach Lee Thomas Miller to share what changed and the numbers behind it. Phil's results after 15 months of coaching: Gross margin up from an average of 40% to 54%Shop grew from 1,000 to 4,000 sq ftBiggest job ever booked: $130KPrices raised twice, now quoting on margin instead of markupFirst full time employee, Mark, promoted to run most of productionIn this episode: Why small jobs drain owner time, and how to start turning them downBack costing past jobs, and why highly custom work is often the least profitableTracking labor by job with Gusto and ordering materials per jobWhy a 33% margin feels fine but slows your growthSimplifying your product line so someone else can run productionSelling the experience, not the pricePhil's story: AmeriCorps rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, a 500 sq ft basement shop in 2020, and a slowdown that nearly put his family on food stampsWhat's next: $1M in revenue, 50%+ margins, and six weeks off every summerPhil's advice to other shop owners: get help. There's only so much you can figure out on your own. About the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

  2. Jul 16

    From Marine Officer to Cabinet Shop Owner: Nick Hall of Hall's Cabinetry Co.

    Nick Hall spent eight years as a Marine Corps officer, including three years teaching organizational behavior and team leadership at the Naval Academy. When orders to Japan came through, he chose his cabinet business instead. In this episode, cabinet shop business coach Lee Thomas Miller talks with Nick about how he built Hall's Cabinetry Co. near Raleigh, North Carolina, on nights and weekends while still on active duty, so it was ready the day he got out. What Nick had in place on his first day as a civilian: A fully equipped shop with a CNC, edgebander and dust collectionA business plan, insurance, website and Google Business ProfileAbout four months of work already bookedReferral partners with GCs and interior designersIn this episode: Why Nick hired a business coach before his business needed oneBuilding a cabinet business from five hours away: cold calls on lunch breaks, designing in Mozaik, and outsourcing CNC cuttingCold calling, door hangers and Facebook groups, and why leads you plant today show up months laterNarrowing your product line, and charging more for work outside your systemsHiring your first employee and training him with recorded videosLeading civilians vs leading Marines, and why the rules are stricter for the bossLessons from wrestling at NC State: discipline, setbacks and keeping a white belt mindsetBuilding a business without losing your family along the wayNick's advice: if you're thinking of leaving a job to start a shop, build it on the side first. The best time to plant a tree was years ago. The second best time is today. About the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

  3. Jun 17

    Hiring and Leading a Construction Team With Predictive Index: Dr. Matt Poepsel

    Hiring the wrong person can set a contractor back months. In this episode, contractor business coach Lee Thomas Miller talks with Dr. Matt Poepsel, VP of Product at The Predictive Index, a Marine Corps veteran and author of Expand the Circle, about using people data to hire, lead and keep a great team. In this episode: What the Predictive Index is, and why Lee uses it with every one on one coaching clientWhy most construction businesses track every number except the one about their peopleThe profiles that tend to run construction companies vs the profiles of skilled tradespeopleMatching roles to people, and why stretching staff into the wrong role makes them quitThe difference between managing and leadingWhy complaining about Gen Z won't fill your open positionsHow a general contractor fixed infighting on its leadership team with PIWhere to start: take the assessment yourself in about six minutes, then use it in hiringThe simple phone call to an employee's spouse that keeps good people for yearsMatt's advice to business owners: every business is a people business. Get the people part right and the business results follow. Take the Predictive Index assessment at predictiveindex.com. About the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

  4. Jun 1

    You've Outgrown Your Foundation: Fixing a Contractor Business Near 7 Figures

    If your contracting business is nearing seven figures and everything feels like it's on fire, it's not failure. You've outgrown the foundation you built as a $250K owner operator. In this solo episode, contractor and cabinet shop business coach Lee Thomas Miller uses a construction analogy to show what to reinforce before you scale any further. In this episode: Why growing pains are "settlement," not collapseWhy working more and hiring in a panic only patches the cracksThe five footings to underpin: written core values, an updated vision and mission, leadership that delegates, financial understanding (job costing, margins and forecasting), and a scaling mindsetFraming: the systems, KPIs and workflows that hold the business upThe roof: contracts, hiring standards and cash flow protectionWhy new trucks, offices and gear add weight without adding strengthWhat Carillion's collapse teaches about growing on a weak baseHow Starbucks slowed down in 2008 to rebuild its foundationWhy every business needs an outside inspection each year, and a yearly planning rhythmAbout the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

  5. May 13

    How Kevin McCarthy Built a 7 Figure Closet Company: Legacy Wardrobes

    Kevin McCarthy grew up in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, dropped out of school in ninth grade and spent years as a trades helper. Today he runs Legacy Wardrobes and Closets, a luxury closet company featured in Faces of Design Philadelphia 2025. In this episode, closet business coach Lee Thomas Miller sits down with Kevin to talk about how he built a multi seven figure closet company from a basement in a Philly row house. Where Kevin is today: A team of 12, with a sales lead, install manager, shop manager, design engineer and adminMoved from a 2,500 sq ft shop to 8,000 sq ft, with a new edgebander and a new showroomA team that texts him asking what the gross margin was on their last jobIn this episode: Why working hard alone stopped working, and why Kevin finally asked for helpHiring the wrong salesperson, and getting it right the second timeWhat an A player really is: ownership and core values, not technical skillCore values like "family first" and "pride in what we design and build," and how they make tough decisions easierWhy Legacy Wardrobes focuses on closets and wardrobes and refers out kitchensGetting your whole team bought in on gross profit marginLessons from moving shops: electrical upgrades, riggers and leaning on partnersWhy the owner's job becomes spotting the next bottleneck, not fixing every problemKevin's advice: hard work will get you far, but not all the way. You have to ask for help. About the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

  6. May 4

    Time Is Currency: How Contractors Invest, Spend and Waste Their Time

    Every contractor gets the same 24 hours. What separates average owners from high level operators is how they use them. In this short solo episode, contractor and cabinet shop business coach Lee Thomas Miller breaks your time into three buckets and shows which one grows your business. In this episode: Investing time: learning to price jobs, knowing your numbers, building systems, reading, planning, and surrounding yourself with people playing a bigger gameSpending time: answering calls, running job sites and putting out fires, the work that keeps the lights on but doesn't grow anythingDonating time: tire kicker clients, draining conversations and people who discourage your growth, and why this is the most dangerous bucketHow systems and a team let you move more of your week into investingAbout the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

  7. Apr 15

    Virtual Assistants for Contractors: Buying Back Your Time With Victor Kong of Treantly

    Most contractors think a virtual assistant just answers email. In this live, in person sit down, contractor and cabinet shop business coach Lee Thomas Miller talks with returning guest Victor Kong, founder of Treantly Outsourcing, about what offshore team members can really do for a trades business, and what it means to be an entrepreneur. Victor moved from China to Canada at 10, worked in investment banking, then started Treantly during the pandemic. His company now places over 200 vetted professionals from the Philippines with businesses across North America. In this episode: Why "virtual assistant" undersells it: sales support, customer service, bookkeeping, project coordination and moreSpeed to lead, and why the contractor who answers first usually wins the jobWhy the Philippines is a hub for skilled, English speaking professionalsHow to build culture with a remote team, and why VAs work better with colleaguesPaying a salary vs hourly, and judging a VA by the hours they give back to youWhy healthcare and stability matter so much to keeping good peopleReal results from Brave Academy clients, including one who got back 20 hours a week and another whose gross margin rose more than 6%Using Loom to document training so your systems outlast any one hireWhy it's lonely at the top, and why business owners need to get out and connectFind Victor at treantlyoutsourcing.com. About the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

  8. Mar 31

    Simplify Your Product Line: How Contractors and Cabinet Shops Boost Profit

    Most contractors start out as everything to everyone, with a list of services on the side of the van that reads like a grocery list. In this solo episode, contractor and cabinet shop business coach Lee Thomas Miller explains why that keeps you stuck in production, and how narrowing your product line makes your business more profitable and easier to scale. In this episode: Why saying yes to everything keeps the owner tied to the shop floorIf you wing every project, you wing the profit on every projectThe McDonald's lesson: master a few products and build systems around themWhy your most beautiful, custom work is often your least profitableHow to use back costing to find the jobs that actually make moneyWhy cabinet shops often make more on simple, standard jobs like white melamineBuilding a detailed ideal client profile, not just an age rangeWhy fewer finish and material options can make selling easierThe owner's real job: sell, sell, sell, until you can hire a salespersonAbout the host: Lee Thomas Miller is a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy. He took a painting franchise from $140K in debt to $3.25M at 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021, and has since coached 150+ trades businesses. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538

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Conquer Contractor Chaos is the podcast for cabinet shop owners, closet companies, millwork shops, general contractors and renovators who want a business that runs without them. If you’re stuck on the tools, working nights on paperwork, and growing revenue without growing profit, this show is for you. Your host is Lee Thomas Miller, a business coach for cabinet shops, closet companies and contractors, and the founder of Brave Academy and Conquer Contractor Chaos. Lee coaches trades business owners doing $250K to $10M in revenue across Canada and the United States. Lee’s coaching comes from running real businesses, not consulting slides. He started as an apprentice commercial floor layer in the UK and went on to run crews on jobs up to £5M. In North America he was head of operations at You Move Me, growing it to $4.5M in revenue. He then bought into WOW 1 DAY PAINTING Metro Vancouver, part of the O2E Brands family alongside 1-800-GOT-JUNK, and took it from $140K in debt to $3.25M in revenue at 56% gross and 20%+ net margins before exiting in 2021. Before founding Brave Academy, Lee was head profit coach at Cabinet Maker Profit System, working with cabinet and millwork shop owners across North America. Today he has coached 150+ trades businesses, and more than 170 shop owners are part of his free and pro Skool communities. Every episode gives you one move you can use right away. Topics include: • Pricing, markup vs margin, and hitting 50% gross margins • Job costing and knowing your numbers on every job • Hiring, onboarding and training a crew, including green and Gen Z hires • Getting off the tools and buying back your time • Sales, referral partners and lead generation that doesn’t depend on paid ads • Shop systems, production flow and efficiency • Building a business that could run, or sell, without you You’ll also hear real cabinet makers and closet company owners share the numbers behind their growth, like Dean Rovedo of Platinum Woodworking (72% revenue growth on half the jobs), Phil Blumberg of Perris Woodworks, Matthew Pierce of Matthew James Co., and Laurent Pichette of Cutting Edge Construction, plus experts on hiring, money and AI for the trades. The coaching behind the show is built on one belief: systems over effort. Working harder isn’t the answer. Better systems for pricing, people and production are. Join the free Conquer Contractor Chaos community on Skool to meet other shop owners, get tools and templates, and join the weekly Contractor Coffee Break call: www.skool.com/conquer-contractor-chaos-free-7538 Learn more at www.conquercontractorchaos.com

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