This week on the podcast we were fortunate to host Jason and Mark from the land down under with @beyondbuildconstructions. Jason and Mark have built an amazing company in Sydney, Australia. Company culture is so important for any brand or enterprise and we discuss this in detail. We also spoke about how to run an effective partnership, how to bring value to your customers, the difference in construction between the US and Australia, what will impact builders and designers over the next 10 years, and how to better market and brand your firm. You won’t want to miss this one.

On Episode 42 of the AFT Construction Podcast we were fortunate to host Shea McGee with @StudioMcGee. Shea and her husband Syd have built an incredibly successful and diversified company. She shared some upcoming exciting news, as well as her background to the early beginnings of Studio McGee. Shea has always had a passion for design and shared the importance of the client relationship, as well as what creates good chemistry between the builder and architect. She spoke of how important it is to focus on your aesthetic, content creation and be consistent. If you are looking to grow your business through marketing and networking, definitely take a listen

This week on the podcast we were fortunate to host Matt Risinger @risingerbuild with @thebuildshow. Matt is a tremendous thought leader in the construction, building science and design industry. He is a public speaker, mentor, has an extremely successful YouTube channel, and “Netflix for Builders” website at www.buildshownetwork.com that he hosts with other talented professionals throughout the country. Matt discussed the importance of a well-constructed home and how that integrates with design and budget. He spoke about the importance of social media, personal branding, and marketing and how we can sell our value to the customers. Consistency, trust and risk assessment were other key components of our conversation. He also spoke about aspects of the preconstruction process that we all must consider. You don’t want to miss this one. Matt Risinger’s building career began with a Pittsburgh church ministry. After college, he worked with a national builder in Washington, D.C., where he met his wife. The two then moved to Portland, Ore., where Matt worked for a smaller semicustom builder. After moving to Austin, Texas (his wife’s hometown), he started Risinger Homes in 2005. In addition to running his company, blogging, and writing for various publications, he stays busy with his four kids.

We brought Aaron on the podcast because of his specialization in marketing, branding and hiring. If you aren’t already on LinkedIn, I am confident you will make it a priority after our conversation. Aaron is an expert in content creation throughout all of his social media channels. His company has expanded to website design, used equipment sales, and job placement for the dirt industry. After graduating with an engineering degree and working for five different heavy construction companies in four states, Aaron's life plan was to start a construction business. However, all that went out the window when he started sharing his Dirt World experiences on social media. His online following quickly grew, and he realized he could build a business around educating society about how essential heavy construction and mining are to our world. He quit his day job, picked up a camera, and started traveling to different job sites across the US. Today, while he still runs around photographing dirt, he leads a marketing agency focused exclusively on heavy construction and mining companies. BuildWitt is a team of 25 marketing experts who help their partners solve their workforce issues and win new work by telling their stories via social media, web, video, and other means

To celebrate July 4th, we launched an incredible podcast episode with Jeremy Andrus, CEO of Traeger Pellet Grills, LLC. Jeremy has an amazing entrepreneurship resume from his studies at Harvard Business School, to Real Estate Development, to Investment Banking, to President at Skull Candy and now, CEO at Traeger. His episode is a must listen. He spoke about the importance of culture and how you can build a strong team within your company. He spoke about the importance of marketing, lifestyle and innovation as well as systems and infrastructure. We are tremendously grateful for the time Jeremy allowed to record this amazing episode. Jeremy Andrus is the President & CEO and Board Member of Traeger Grills. From 2005 to 2013, Jeremy served as President & CEO of Skullcandy, where he helped grow annual sales from $1 million to $300 million

This week on the podcast we were fortunate to host Claire Staszak from Chicago with @Centered_by_Design. We spoke about leveraging social media, branding, and how to utilize a blog to refine your business. We also spoke about how to leverage your social media channels for extra press and marketing. Claire had just started her blog and then won “Best Design Writing in 2017” at the Design Influencers Conference. Claire Staszak is known for her holistic design process, which combines her well-trained eye for interiors with her passion for wellness. Her work has been featured by The Chicago Tribune, Modern Luxury, HGTV, Domino, Architectural Digest online and more

This week on the Podcast we were fortunate to host Arik Tendler, Chief of Sales at Cambria. Arik has tremendous experience building companies, infrastructure, and of course, marketing. He was the founder of Caesarstone and Vdara. Tendler is now the chief of sales at Cambria, responsible for identifying target segments, resolving logistical obstacles and bottlenecks, and generating demand through innovation. He oversees Cambria worldwide sales activity and will be tasked with activating aggressive and insightful efforts to further build sales channels across the continent

This week on the podcast we invited Joe Edwards from Elite Concepts USA. Joe is a design build contractor in New Jersey and has been a great friend over the past 4 years. Joe is extremely talented and knowledgeable in regard to building a successful and profitable business. However, we invited Joe to be a guest to speak more about how we can be more aware and inclusive to the Black community. We not only discuss the topic of racism, but also give solutions how we can create a more aware and welcoming society. It is more important than ever that each of us reach outside of our network to meet people from all walks of life, backgrounds and cultures. Conversations, friendships and empathy will help us all build a better community. Joe is a native New Yorker who has lived the past 16 years in New Jersey with his wife and 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. Joe has extensive experience as a designer, architect, contractor, builder, carpenter and investor.

This week on the podcast we welcome Danny Wang with Danny Wang Design Build from Newport Beach, CA. Danny has really leveraged social media to build his brand. He spoke in depth about the content he produces, how to manage the “pay for play” social media platforms, and of course, the important of systems and company procedures. Danny has built an incredible brand with some amazing projects. He has been requested by clients all over the world for his unique designs. He had a lot of advice to offer in regard to social media content.

Randi has built an incredible brand throughout all of her social media channels. She has partnerships with many well-known companies such as: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Teen, Frontgate, Bloomingdales, Wayfair, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal Mart, Voluspa, Arte Italica and Pom Pom at Home. We spoke about how to partnership with brands, build relationships, social media, marketing and the importance of a blog.