Builder Stories

Steven Ross and his brother Ben started Renovating KC in 2020 and "did everything the wrong way." One early mistake cost them $90,000 on a single project. Five years later the Lenexa, Kansas firm landed at No. 139 on the 2025 Inc. 5000. In this episode Steven reveals the secrets behind that explosive growth. He also shares how his team uses AI to move faster than ever while delivering an experience no computer can match.

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The campsite strategy that keeps his rapid growth on track

The best pace to keep you growing...

Jillian Childs went from running field marketing at Tesla to owning a South Florida pool company with her husband, Christian. They took over 150 open projects on day one, and every single one lived in a manila folder. In one year, Jillian rebuilt the operation inside JobTread with robust processes and streamlined automations that wipe out hours of tedious admin work. Now she's using AI to recover revenue that was slipping through the cracks.

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Ashley Wainscott built Simply Home for years on referrals and relationship marketing alone. In recent years she made a real investment in SEO, paid ads, and video content, even without a clean way to prove any of it was converting. She talks about the shift from scripted, robotic video to something rawer, and what her content looks like today. In this episode she breaks down her current lead mix and the rule she uses to decide whether a new marketing channel is worth keeping.

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Morgan Thomas spent 15 years in commercial and residential construction before launching Homestead Builders Group in Healdsburg, California, with her business partner. Her promise to every client is a project with no surprises. Morgan believes most construction mishaps can be caught with upfront investigation before anyone picks up a tool. In this episode, she shares how she built her new company around that promise from day one.

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Jared Davis left Stripe to take over a family business that sells house plans to builders across the US and Canada. Today Architectural Designs represents 28,000 plans from around 200 designers and sells to tens of thousands of builders every year. In this conversation he shares what that buying data reveals about regional growth and shifting design tastes. He also makes the case that a stock plan can get a builder to a custom design faster than starting from scratch.

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An agent is just a program that runs on a timer and does one job for you. IT Director Jeremy Wood has about 30 of them working inside of a large, 80 year old design build firm that handles projects from handyman jobs to whole-house remodels. They sync the CRM, process AP, reconcile vendor invoices, check estimates against scopes of work, and much more. Here, Jeremy explains what agents are, how to run them, and why the version most people picture is the version you should never build. He even used agents to select construction software and had a graded shortlist of...

Todd Milton inherited his father's sterling reputation as an Appomattox, Virginia home builder, then nearly ran the company into the ground. He then attended a two-day conference that exposed how badly he had been pricing jobs, and that same year he closed the books $100,000 in debt. He rebuilt his pricing, rewrote his contract into something that protected him, and slowly turned a business run off a legal pad into one with real financial software behind it. Today he's learning when and how to step back and let his team lead.

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Canon Baldridge started Integria in 2023 with no connections in California and no book of business to fall back on. Every hire since has forced him to redefine his own role, from hands on tools to project management to marketing and sales. He has assembled a stack of software and outside partners piece by piece, adding each one only when the last version of the business stopped working. Three years in he is rebranding as a design build firm because a run of change orders proved the model itself had outgrown its usefulness.

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Dan Flansburg started his New Jersey remodeling company in 2011 with a truck, a set of tools, and no business plan. For three years in the middle of that run, several of his employees took home more money than he did. Around 2018 he stopped treating marketing as an expense and hired a real web team, an SEO company, and a professional photographer. Three years ago he added video, and he now calls it the biggest change his company has made.

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Tyler Hunsberger has won a NARI Contractor of the Year award and earned a spot on Pro Remodeler's 40 Under 40. He is a fourth-generation contractor who has spent nearly 15 years on the sales and design side of remodeling. Now he is bringing that playbook back to his family's company after 25 years with no marketing, no estimating, and one single customer. This conversation is a masterclass in how remodelers actually win jobs.

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Mike Coffey grew his social media audience from nothing to more than 120,000 Instagram followers. Here, he reveals how contractors can use social platforms to build trust, show their humanity, and turn finished-project beauty shots into real sales opportunities. He also shares how suffering a stroke last year changed his priorities. Instead of feeling consumed by the less inspiring parts of his business, he is now focused on building a life around the things he loves most: producing excellent work and the creation of meaningful content he can share with others.

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Kelly Kirk took over Greymark Design + Build a few weeks after her mother, who founded the company, passed away. Leslie King was a larger-than-life figure and a well-known industry leader. Kelly chose to honor that legacy while also finding her own voice as a leader and bringing in fresh processes and a new approach. The journey wasn't easy, but today Kelly heads up a thriving company with a strong, aligned, and high performing team.

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Bryan Sebring didn't just grow a business, he rebuilt one from scratch. After running his company in Chicagoland for over two decades, Bryan moved to Franklin, Tennessee and relaunched as a design build only firm serving a completely different market. He shares the controversial 15 day pricing window he uses to qualify leads and close faster, along with a "power of three" approach to budgeting range. Bryan also opens up about the peer group community that changed his business and why he treats every homeowner, even the ones he turns away, as a future advocate.

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Vince Nardo helped grow his family's cabinet refacing shop into the largest home improvement company on the West Coast with 700 employees. The company operated in multiple states and even landed a partnership with Costco to sell their products. In 2022, he sold the business to private equity firm Audax. Two years later, the acquiring company went bankrupt and the 40-year legacy the Nardo family built was gone. Now Vince is out of retirement and building a national roofing brand from scratch, and he's sharing every hard lesson along the way.

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Jane Dzielski has spent nearly a decade at Google turning massive datasets into answers about how consumers make decisions. She knows what people type when they need a contractor, and that behavior is changing fast. In this episode she breaks down search, reviews, ads, and AI for the home services industry. Contractors will walk away seeing their own marketing differently.

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Dustin Hippensteel spent years convinced he had to do everything himself. Then three decisions quietly changed how his entire business runs. None of them cost much, and none were the flashy fixes most owners chase first. In this episode he breaks down what they were and why they mattered.

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As the leader of Versa Homes, Felipe Freig builds multimillion dollar homes for executives and entrepreneurs. He dialed in the systems behind those builds so completely that he was able to step back from the daily grind. So he launched Versa Method Coaching to hand that same playbook to other contractors. In this episode he gets specific about what actually keeps a building business profitable.

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Corey Plourde spent eighteen years climbing the corporate sales ladder before walking away to build his own remodeling company. Years later he hit a wall he could not see past and finally admitted he had run out of answers. In this conversation he opens up about the moment everything turned around and the year that followed became his most profitable ever. He also reveals why the change he feared most was the one that finally unlocked his growth.

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Todd Dawalt spent more than 30 years in construction learning expensive lessons the hard way. In this episode, he reveals the one stage of every project where the most profit slips away, usually long before work even begins. He shares the counterintuitive shift that helps companies make more money without adding to the team. Todd also explains how one builder was leaving $400,000 on the table every year without knowing it.

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Jake Gosselin built Churchfront into one of the most innovative AV firms in the country, all fueled by a 300,000 subscriber YouTube channel and a relentless drive to automate the work that used to drain his time. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on the AI agents now running his business behind the scenes, including budgeting, procurement, and payroll. Jake also gets real about the security risks of connecting AI to your operations and the smart moves every owner should make first. This is the episode that will change how contractors think about AI inside their business.

Liz Davies built a "small but mighty" luxury building and remodeling firm in Atlanta, and she did it without ever letting a project run on guesswork. In this episode, she pulls back the curtain on the pre construction approach that puts the right people in charge of the right decisions long before the first wall goes up. She reveals the one thing she says to hesitant clients that finally gets them off the fence. And she shares the single reel that hit nearly five million shares, plus the kind of content that keeps the right clients coming to her.<...

Phil Parsons of KP Homescapes shares how he moved from engineering and house flips into a focused outdoor living business built for profitable growth. In this episode, he reveals what happened when he created an "AI twin" for his business and how it transformed sales, training, and business strategy. Phil also shares how coaching helped him think bigger, why job costing changed the way he leads, and what happened when he stopped being the answer man for every problem.

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Frank Llaneza went from buying a pool for his own family during COVID to running a franchise that has installed more than 300 pools across two states. Frank also shares why he chose to join a franchise instead of going it alone, and what that decision unlocked for his growth. In this episode, he reveals the surprisingly simple gift that has driven a 30% jump in reviews and helped fuel a 60% lead increase in a soft market. He breaks down how to stay human in an AI driven world without losing your edge on automation.

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Contractors are not usually stuck because they cannot build. They are stuck because too much of the business still depends on memory, follow up, and the owner carrying every decision. Zac Liquori of ConstructAid shares how construction companies can create stronger systems, bring in better operational support, and finally remove the admin work that keeps owners buried.

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Here, Michael Flory shares a story that will stop you in your tracks and stay with you long after it ends. He opens up about a horrific childhood tragedy and reveals how he slowly rebuilt his sense of purpose and carried those ideals forward into the way he leads his remodeling company today. You will hear the ways that Michael's perspective on leadership, success, and growth was shaped through years of struggle and reflection.

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If you are trying to grow your building business, this episode will challenge how you think about your process. Mike Lee shares how one development created demand and forced him to rethink how he builds homes and runs his company. He reveals his strategies for passing inspections, working with trade partners, and shares best advice for home builders. Gain insights into where small decisions create bigger outcomes across every project.

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Doug Howard brings a background from the The Wharton School and decades of experience helping contractors improve how their businesses operate. In this episode, he breaks down why so many companies struggle to execute even when the owner knows what to do. He reveals how to develop systems that transform how your business operates every day. Doug also shows what shifts when leaders take control of their time and create a team that works together more effectively.

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Eric Van Dixhorn tried different paths across construction, sales, and startups but nothing clicked. He shares what changed when he stepped into a new business and found early success in a competitive market. That shift helped him gain traction faster than expected in a new market, and launched his success going forward. Eric also reveals how the right support system helped him avoid mistakes that slow most owners down.

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Nasir Dukes went from one rental property to running a high-growth development company in one of the hottest markets in the country. In this episode, he reveals how he spots real opportunities and avoids the deals that create problems down the line. Adina Safta shares how stepping into the business transformed the way they scale, bringing financial discipline that fuels smarter growth. Together, they break down what it actually takes to grow a construction business while managing risk and staying profitable when the market shifts.

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Gil Vaisman turned a side project into a fast growing ADU business and built a team that continues to scale. In this episode, he shares the shift that helped him attract the right clients and avoid deals that go nowhere. He breaks down how leading with pricing changes the entire sales dynamic before the first meeting even happens. Gil also reveals how his approach to competition and partnerships is opening the door for his next stage of growth.

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Steve Young built HHI Builders into a $9 million remodeling company in just six years by challenging the way most contractors run their businesses. His team focuses on large scale remodels that average about $300,000 per project while using a unique workflow built around project directors who guide clients from the first conversation through the entire job. Steve shares the lessons he learned after early pricing mistakes, the role outside coaching played in sharpening his systems, and how AI is reshaping the estimating process and where he sees it taking his company next.

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Aaron Hines grew up on construction sites learning the trade from his grandfather before ever imagining he would run a remodeling company. Today he leads Dallas-based Darden Hines Design + Build, delivering projects that range from whole home remodels to swimming pools. In this powerful conversation, Aaron shares the lessons that reshaped how he runs his business and how he thinks about leadership. He reveals the mindset shifts that helped him break out of the owner operator trap and build a company designed to grow far beyond the owner.

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Adam McChesney shares how he founded Builders of Authority after creating more than 200 websites to master digital marketing. He explains why many contractors grow during high demand seasons yet struggle when the market tightens. Adam also reveals how to build a personal brand and why that accelerates visibility and attracts inbound leads faster than relying on company branding alone. Learn the difference between mindset and a tactical approach and why both are crucial for growth.

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Mike Tappert reveals how stepping away from full remodels and focusing on exteriors transformed his growth path. He shares why niching down into roofing created stronger cash flow and a clearer direction for his business. Mike's turning point came when he hired a coach and began building the systems he needed to scale as well as the personal disciplines that shape how he leads today. From marketing decisions to business leadership strategy, this episode invites listeners to question what needs to change before the next level of growth.

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In this captivating conversation, Zac O'Hara dives deep into the innovative ways he's deploying AI to transform daily operations at North Shore Masonry. As a hands-on operator who has immersed himself in emerging technology tools, Zac reveals what is possible when AI is strategically applied inside a construction business. Zac also addresses security concerns and speaks candidly about the real risks leaders must evaluate as AI becomes more powerful.

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Philip Sessions shares how a simple need for marketing help led him to build a business focused on virtual assistants for contractors. He explains why many contractors struggle with VAs and what must change for the relationship to work. Philip also shares best practices for managing virtual assistants and how contractors can grow without adding full time staff.

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Ken Combs shares how he went from a 19 year old laborer to leading a design build firm with more than $15 million in annual revenue. He reveals how he restructured his company for higher profit and increased efficiency. Ken also shares his results driven approach to operations, marketing, and the org chart he developed to support his team. He explains what had to change before the business could operate without his daily involvement.

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Casey Fabling shares what it takes to come back after losing a company. He walks through how a fast growing business unraveled once visibility and controls disappeared. Casey reflects on the personal toll of shutting down and starting over in a new city. He explains how rebuilding with intention changed every aspect of his approach.

This conversation offers a rare look at resilience from someone who has lived it. Casey focuses on what he learned rather than what he lost, and why his second company is being built with a very different definition of success.

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In this episode of Builder Stories, Dave Stephens shares practical insights drawn from his real-world journey of building and growing a business on his own terms. The conversation is packed with honest advice that resonates with builders navigating growth and challenges. Dave's story offers encouragement and clarity for anyone looking to move forward with confidence, wherever their path may lead.

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In this episode of Builder Stories, Eric Anderson shares what it looks like when a technology partner truly understands the needs of builders and remodelers. He reflects on DreamMaker's experience working with JobTread and why genuine care for both people and product makes a measurable difference. Eric offers insight into how the right systems and relationships can improve operations while strengthening trust across your team. This conversation highlights why alignment and service matter just as much as features when choosing tools for your business.

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