Advertise on podcast: Builder Straight Talk Podcast

This episode opens with a line from Sherlock Holmes about an east wind nobody else could feel, an odd way into a conversation about plumbers and electricians, but it fits. My guest is Mike Reeser, Chancellor and CEO of Texas State Technical College, the only statewide public two-year technical college in Texas. TSTC trains people who build homes, maintain the power grid, and keep water running, serving 12,000 to 16,000 students across 11 campuses a year. Texas alone needs 141,000 more skilled trades workers than it has. We trace that gap back to the disappearance of shop class and a generation told a four-year degree was the only route to a good life. Mike got that same advice in the 1970s, and explains why it stopped working. What sets TSTC apart isn’t just what they teach, it’s how they get paid for teaching it. Public funding only arrives once a graduate is working and earning in Texas, and if that graduate can’t land a job offer within six months, the college has to pay the tuition back. “Our public funding doesn’t trigger until one of our students goes to work in the Texas economy... the earnings they make for the first five years drive our public funding.” We get into the real cost of a TSTC education, how a Pell Grant can cover nearly all of it for lower income students, and why TSTC produces over 80 percent of Texas line workers and nearly a third of its construction trades graduates. There are stories in here too, about a former student named April, and about TSTC’s own board chairman, who built his career on a single technical credential. We also talk about why the old college advice stopped working, women in the trades, entrepreneurship as the natural next step after mastering a craft, and what guidance counselors could be telling students that they currently aren’t. If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s a better way to think about the choice between college and a trade, or you’ve got a kid, a niece, a nephew, or an employee facing that same choice, this episode gives you something real to work with. Michael L. Reeser is Chancellor and CEO of the Texas State Technical College System, leading the only statewide public two-year technical college system with 11 campuses across Texas. TSTC is the state’s leader in providing a skilled workforce to critical infrastructure industries like water, electrical power, construction, advanced manufacturing, and transportation. Under Reeser’s leadership, TSTC has become known for innovations including the Returned-Value Funding Formula, a state-funding method based solely on student employment outcomes rather than enrollment, and the Money-Back Employment Guarantee, which refunds tuition to students who can’t find a job after earning a TSTC degree. Prior to being appointed Chancellor in 2010, Reeser served TSTC in roles including chief financial officer, college president, and dean of instruction. Earlier in his career, he worked as a banker in Houston and Waco. Reeser is married with four children and four grandchildren. He holds a BS from Texas A&M University and an MBA from The University of Texas at Arlington. Follow Builder Straight Talk: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 04:34 Meet Chancellor Mike Reeser 07:58 The 800 Million Endowment 10:59 Banking to Human Capital 12:56 Outcomes Based Funding 15:08 Tuition Refund Guarantee 22:12 No DEI and No Unions 25:33 Top Programs and Sectors 30:44 Trades vs Harvard Pitch 38:31 Cost and Student Debt 39:15 Free Tuition with Pell Grants 40:13 Graduating with Job Offers 41:02 Employers Shape Curriculum 42:43 No Hoop Jumping Philosophy 43:27 A Principal’s Lesson 45:25 Success Stories that Matter 50:18 Women and Trades Potential 51:32 The Bachelor Degree Myth 58:32 Guidance Toward Practitioner Paths 01:01:19 Trades Demand and Entrepreneurship 01:05:45 Rapid Fire Round 01:08:21 Three Wishes for the Trades

Nick Arenson never really decided to become a builder. He just always built things, and being good at math pointed him toward engineering. “I always built stuff... It wasn’t a matter of choice as much as I just sort of did it always, everywhere, of everything.” He went to Berkeley, then a Stanford research program, then a design firm that put him on site at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, a job that changed how he approaches every project since. “At Disney, they would create a backstory for the project you were doing... how do I design this piece?” That guest-experience lens still shapes the communities he builds today. He then moved through D.R. Horton, Meritage Homes, and Century Communities. Then came 2008. For nearly 3 years he kept letting go of people he liked, rebuilding teams, watching it happen again. One thing stayed with him the longest. “Some of them went bankrupt or lost their houses... the people who were good and happy and had good positive outlooks, all of them recovered within a couple of years, and had this amazing resilience within them that I don’t think they knew was there.” That realization shaped a decision his wife talked him into, after he’d planned only a month long vacation. “How about a year instead of a month long vacation? I quit my job, we pulled the kids out of school, rented the house out... We traveled to 25 countries a year. Our kids were 9 and 11.” Nick now co-founded Rurka Homes and is managing director of Altamont Development, running Mountain House, a large master plan for tech buyers priced out of the closer-in Bay Area. Being family owned shapes his thinking on capital and land. “If you have a lot of money and you’re really patient, land development might be the perfect thing for you... If your money is less patient, home building’s fantastic for that.” He explains where small, private builders can beat the national chains. “The big national builders do a fine job... Do I have an opportunity to tailor my product to people who want specialty things and a better quality product? Absolutely.” Nick also untangles California’s entitlement process through 330 Land, and why a state that badly needs housing made it harder to build. This one covers construction, capital, a trick from Disney, and a decision that pulled a family out of its routine for a year. Nick Arenson has spent 25 years turning California land into finished neighborhoods. He’s Managing Director at Altamont Development and Mountain House Developers, overseeing entitlements and buildout of the 16,000-lot Mountain House master plan. He co-founded Rurka Homes, and as Principal at 330 Land Company takes on entitlement fights most developers won’t touch. He’s acquired more than $5 billion in residential land and built over 11,000 homes. He was Division President at Century Communities, VP at Meritage Homes and D.R. Horton, and earlier worked on guest experience driven projects like Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Downtown Disney. He holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in engineering from UC Berkeley and has been an invited mentor at Stanford’s Center for Integrated Facility Engineering since the mid-1990s. https://mountainhouseliving.com https://rurkahomes.com https://330land.com Follow Builder Straight Talk: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com Chapters: 00:00 Intro 03:39 Mountain House 05:16 Name and Heritage 06:39 Origin Story Builder 08:01 Engineering Mindset 09:56 Gender and Careers Debate 12:52 Women in Construction 16:13 College vs Trades 20:32 Workforce Development 23:41 Early Career 25:33 Disney Guest Experience 29:40 Placemaking and Illusion 32:16 Big vs Small Builders 37:27 Founding Rurka Homes 39:00 Post COVID Market Reset 39:44 Financing Land and Control 40:34 Where the Money Really Is 42:17 California Red Tape Reality 44:26 Entitlement Battles And New Laws 50:09 Mall Conversions and Homelessness 01:03:33 Family Ownership And M&A 01:06:58 Rapid Fire Favorites 01:08:38 Wrap Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Emma Wildermuth grew up inside the home building industry. Her parents, Chuck and Emma, started what became The Shinn Group in 1992, tracing back to a graduate school accounting class in the 1960s where they met. At the National Association of Home Builders, they discovered that builders were running successful looking companies with almost no financial structure behind them. "That is my accounting system. I open up a checking account for every home I build, and if there's money left in the account when I'm done, I won." Emma's mother saw the gap and wrote the first accounting book for the home building industry. Most of our conversation centered on a question that trips up a lot of builders: when does this stop being a job and start being a business? Emma grew up on job sites, left briefly for marketing, and came back to lead the family company as her parents move into their 80s. "I believe that home building isn't about building boxes. It's about building lives." We kept circling back to margin. Emma's target for a healthy builder is 10 to 12% net profit, and she explained why chasing volume without protecting that number usually backfires. "Our buyers don't care about us putting a mirror in there. They're not willing to pay me what it costs to buy it, install it, and include my margin." Emma also opened up about her builder groups: small peer groups of non-competing builders who meet twice a year and stay close between meetings. "During COVID, these groups were essential... now I know I have somebody else that I can pull your head together with my head and we can solve this problem together." Emma also shared a personal dream involving her daughter and a future shelter for senior dogs near a senior living facility. It's a nice reminder that behind the profit margins and the coaching frameworks, Emma's work is rooted in the same thing her parents built The Shinn Group around: helping people build lives, not just houses. Emma Wildermuth is President of Shinn Group, where she helps private home builders build stronger, more profitable businesses. She joined the organization in 1999 and has grown from managing seminars to leading the company, specializing in leadership development and management systems that drive long-term profitability. Outside of work, Emma and her husband Brian have five adult children and three dogs. She loves hiking outdoors, and her greatest joy comes from watching her kids build lives they love. The Shinn Group - learn how to become the Builder of Choice™ in your market: https://www.theshinngroup.com The Shinn Monthly Briefing - home building management news and insights: https://theshinngroup.com/newsletters Seminars: Managing for Profit: https://web.cvent.com/event/4bdb9089-6397-4afc-9d76-5038af43df11/summary The Superintendent's Job: https://web.cvent.com/event/a892266b-c196-491a-83f1-5db90a62357a/summary Production Management: https://web.cvent.com/event/241dd8a8-3ae5-42c3-aada-a5cf47efa72f/summary Builder of Choice Insights Podcast - conversations with leading private home builders: https://theshinngroup.com/builder-of-choice-insights-podcast.php Builder Partnerships - the leading private home builder network, get rebates from top manufacturers and service providers: https://builderpartnerships.com Join the Shinn Group Community to connect with top private builders across North America: https://theshinngroup.com/shinn-group-community.php Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:50 Sound Capital 03:27 Welcome, Emma 06:28 Origins of Shinn Group 11:01 Emma Joins the Business 16:07 What Shinn Group Does 18:22 Job Versus Business 21:27 Profit Over Volume 25:31 Ideal Client and Systems 28:39 Scaling Mindset 32:07 Product Fit 36:37 Builder Groups Explained 42:01 Hosting And Tours 43:13 Ways to Join 46:13 Live Beats Zoom 53:31 Fall Classes Lineup 53:59 Which Class Fits Who 56:46 Scaling And Team Support 58:47 Succession Planning Help 01:00:14 Rapid Fire 01:05:21 Where to Find Emma

John Cook remembers the market disappearing overnight. Cars had been circling the block in every neighborhood in East Tennessee, then one morning they were just gone. "It was very much like a faucet shut off. One day we had traffic, cars were literally circling the block in every neighborhood on an everyday basis, not just weekends, and one day, all of a sudden there are no cars, and you're looking around like, 'What just happened?'" That quiet turned into nearly four years of grinding it out for John and his brother Ralph, co-founders of Cook Bros. Homes. They were carrying spec homes nobody was buying and lots they never should have bought. John still keeps the net worth statement he wrote out for his bankers, every dollar accounted for, negative. "From late 2007 through at least 2011 was probably the darkest four years of my life." Remodeling jobs and a flooring partnership with Lumber Liquidators kept them afloat while sales stayed frozen. John explains why he believes something beyond effort carried them through. "I personally absolutely feel now, looking back, that there was somebody definitely looking out for us." That period reshaped how the company runs today. Trade partners now get paid weekly, with no chasing. "They go to bed on Thursday night, and they'll see a pending transaction in their account. Friday morning, they wake up, the money's there. They're not chasing us." Personal and business finances stay completely separate too. "My controller would tell you if I accidentally use my business credit card for a Coke, I'm gonna bring her a check for $2.18, if that's what that Coke was." John also explains why he wants cost plus contracts gone entirely. "No cost plus building. We don't do any cost plus building anymore. In fact, I think it should be outlawed. " From there, the conversation covers how Cook Bros. built out multiple entities to be ready for the next downturn, plus the family story behind it all and one commitment that has held since 2008. "Even with what we went through in 2008, we've never laid anybody off, ever." This episode covers survival, discipline, and the long view built from nearly losing it all. John Cook is a Co-Founder and serves as the CEO of Cook Bros. Holdings, a real estate development and construction firm with roots started in Knoxville, TN in 2004. The firm benefits from John's 25 years of experience in real estate across the full life cycle of projects, from finance, acquisition, development and construction of projects, all through hands-on experience. John's visionary leadership allows the firm to capitalize on its core strengths and create new synergistic opportunities, while maintaining industry-leading financial returns and stability. In his spare time, John enjoys a good weight-lifting session, boating and motorcycling and spending time with his wife Ashley, family and friends. Cook Bros. Homes: https://www.cookbroshomes.com 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 03:46 Meet John Cook 05:02 Custom to Product Lines 06:15 Starter Homes and Quality Focus 08:22 We Culture and Team 11:36 In House Management Trade Partners 13:17 Keeping Trades Loyal 16:32 BuildPro Scheduling and Fast Pay 18:12 Financial Discipline and Draw Temptations 21:19 Family Roots and Early Ambitions 24:56 Flips to Starting the Builder 27:29 Recession Hits Hard 33:29 Faith Perspective and Partnership Strain 35:56 Keeping Work In House 36:15 Flooring Leads Lifeline 37:58 Grinding Through Downturn 38:23 Why Not Bankruptcy 40:10 Lessons and Diversification 42:25 Building Multiple Entities 43:49 Product Lines and Pricing 45:10 Captive Insurance Explained 48:10 Capital Stack and Banks 51:44 Family in the Business 53:24 Legacy and Succession 01:05:57 Closing

I sat down with Brent Garrett, whose path ran from a childhood job site to building and selling a company, and then very nearly losing the next one. Brent grew up working for his father's plumbing business, though his dad pushed him toward life insurance sales first, a detour that shaped how he sells to this day. He eventually built his own plumbing and air conditioning company, sold it, and helped lead an industry rollup worth half a billion dollars. Then he started over, certain he had it figured out. He hadn't. "I go over to the neighbor, all their lights are on. My accountant didn't pay the bill, and I looked at that and we were a million dollars in debt." We talk through what really happened that year, and the two lessons Brent says he will never let slip again. "You can delegate, but you have to own your financial health of your company. That was the first mistake. The second one was I allowed a group of people to set the culture in my company that I didn't even believe in." Brent also gets into why contractors stall at the same revenue ceiling, what he calls the messy middle, the four rules his company still runs on today, raising kids who understand money, and what he told his wife once he found out. Toward the end, Brent talks about faith, why so many owners regret selling a business too soon, and the handful of things he tells owners to fix before they ever sit down with a buyer. "If you're getting close to thinking about retiring or you are thinking about selling your business, make sure that you know what you want to do in the future because you might be selling something that keeps you young and that you love to do." Brent is the author of "30 Days to a Better Business" and now works with owners who want to grow without losing sight of what matters to them. Brent Garrett is an owner of a thriving skilled trades business who has experienced the real highs and lows of building and running companies in the trades industry. He lives in Plano, Texas. He is a second-generation plumber who chose to enter the trade against his father's advice. That decision led him into a career of building, scaling, and leading service-based businesses from the ground up. Brent is the founder of The Skilled Trades Coach, Inc. and owner of Sirius Plumbing & Air Conditioning, Inc., and he operates multiple businesses across real estate, leasing, coaching, and consulting. After building and selling a successful company, Brent faced a significant business setback in his next venture, including overwhelming debt, unpaid bills, and the risk of missing payroll. That experience reshaped his approach to leadership, systems, sales, and accountability. His book, 30 Days to a Better Business, reflects the same systems, values, and leadership principles he uses daily to operate and grow his companies. Today, Brent helps skilled trade business owners build profitable companies without sacrificing their values, families, or health. He works with entrepreneurs at all stages of the business cycle, helping them improve leadership, strengthen operations, and build more stable and profitable companies. Connect with Brent: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-garrett-b455aa11 30 Days to a Better Business book: https://book.brentgarrett.com/ Follow Builder Straight Talk: https://BuilderStraightTalk.com Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:28 Meet Brent 02:43 Old School Wisdom 04:17 Teaching Kids Money 12:32 Entrepreneur Risk Mindset 16:30 Use Money Wisely 22:45 Scaling Past Messy Middle 30:24 Wake Up Call 35:33 Financials and Culture 37:48 Culture Rules 39:09 Know Your Numbers Early 40:09 Turning It Around With Sales 41:43 Coaching Mission, Industry Gap 45:15 Marriage Under Financial Stress 51:38 Faith, Natural Law and Grace 56:42 30 Days to a Better Business 01:01:05 Retirement and Selling Out 01:04:07 Five Steps Before You Sell 01:06:31 Rapid Fire

Grace Tsao Mase grew up tagging along to job sites with her father, an electrician, and it never really left her. "My dad would take me to job sites and really fell in love with the whole concept of construction, residential construction, and particularly seeing my dad owning a house for the first time, and that really made a huge impact on what does it mean to be a building professional, what we get to deliver, and how we change people's lives and the communities." She became an architect, a licensed builder, and someone deeply immersed in technology, and she carries all three into every conversation about where our industry is headed. We got into how AI actually shows up in a builder's day, shaped by her years coding and working in machine learning long before it became a buzzword. "Artificial intelligence really simply put is additional brain to help you process information." We also got into why code updates and permitting delays trip up even experienced builders. Grace shared a personal story about money builders often leave on the table through wildfire safety rebates. "So we're talking about a check for us, our yard is not very big, we got a $7,000 check that pay for material and labor to create that barrier that makes our home safer in case of wildfire." It changed how I think about conversations builders could have with clients about upgrade costs. There's a moment in this episode that surprised me more than anything else we covered, when Grace discovered she was severely dyslexic, and she didn't know about it all her life. That discovery shaped her belief that AI can help people in the trades who learn differently. We also talked about where AI gets overestimated. Grace believes the human connection with a homeowner can't be replaced by a machine. "I do have to find that engaging with AI, you don't have that key connection. It's a human connection, the thinking, the emotion, something that's lived experience. AI can't generate that for you." We talked about her book, AI in Residential Construction, and her platform, HomeRES.ai, that gets practical information into builders' hands. Grace Tsao Mase is the founder and CEO of HomeRES.ai (winner of Fast Company's World Changing Ideas), and author of "AI in Residential Construction: A Blueprint for Lasting Impact and Success" (NAHB BuilderBooks, 2026). A Yale-trained architect, multi-state licensed contractor, NASCLA-accredited, and AIA associate, she has spent two decades in residential construction and software development, from hands-on project work to leading operations. She has worked alongside contractors on more than 5,000 residential projects nationwide and holds three U.S. patents. A 2025 Los Angeles wildfire survivor, Grace brings firsthand urgency to her work on AI and resilience-focused construction. Grace's book, "AI in Residential Construction": https://www.builderbooks.com/ai-in-residential-construction-products-9780867188295.php HomeRES website: https://homeres.ai 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 03:59 Meet Grace 05:41 Tech Meets Building 07:21 What Builders Miss 08:02 Codes Permits Delays 10:58 Incentives and Rebates 13:26 Red Tape Reality Check 15:01 Escalate and Resolve 17:49 Construction as a Band 21:39 AI as the Game Changer 23:14 AI Explained Simply 26:04 Authenticity vs AI Bots 28:26 Human Touch vs Scale 31:02 Full Circle to Connection 34:17 Hands On Learning Returns 39:32 AI as a Power Tool 39:52 Fear Jobs and Terminators 42:08 Tech Inspires New Trades 44:29 Scaling with AI Pressure 45:58 Find Friction Then Tools 49:09 Book Breakdown 50:44 AI Hype Versus Reality 59:01 Why Builders Must Adapt 01:00:49 Five Year Forecast 01:03:05 Neurodivergence and AI 01:07:38 Rapid Fire

I sit down with Jason Hale, who traded a career in insurance defense law for a return to construction, and has since built Willow Homes into a company with more than 250 projects across custom builds, renovations, and spec homes. He also serves as president of the Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders. We start with what drew him back to building after law, then get into one of the biggest misconceptions in the industry, that builders are the ones driving up home prices. Jason breaks down how much of a home's cost actually comes from regulation rather than builder profit, with real numbers from his own business and a stormwater example that shows how fast those costs add up. We also talk about how data centers moving into Birmingham are affecting construction labor, and Jason walks me through the story of his very first project, a rundown 1930s bungalow four doors from his own house, and what it taught him about running a company. From there we get into growth, why hitting a ceiling in production is almost inevitable, and how Jason thinks about capital today, including why he sees the builder as the true first lender in every deal. Jason also shares what his association is doing on workforce development through the Central Alabama Home Builders Academy. Jason Hale grew up on construction sites in Alabama and later practiced law in Birmingham before real estate and construction pulled him back for good. In 2011, he launched Willow Homes with a single renovation project, growing it into hundreds of custom homes, renovations, and development projects across the Birmingham area. He now serves as president of the Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders. Learn more at https://gowillowhomes.com 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 02:31 Meet Jason 03:29 Jason's Backstory 05:04 Leaving Law 07:12 Builder Profit Myth 09:06 Red Tape Cost Breakdown 13:24 Local Rules Real Examples 15:14 Associations Fight Back 16:50 Data Centers and Labor 19:55 Willow Homes 20:44 Market Research Windshield 24:34 First Flip to First Clients 26:10 Spec Versus Custom Strategy 29:10 First Project 31:18 Funding and First Pride 33:32 Lessons and Systems 37:27 Vision and Culture 38:47 Systems Over Spinning Plates 43:31 Builder Brain Trust NAHB 45:58 Win or Learn 46:49 Pandemic Pressure Cooker 51:47 Contracts Cash Flow Reality 55:04 Capital Stack Banks vs PE 01:01:20 Workforce Pipeline Academy 01:04:35 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up