Dirt Talk by BuildWitt

These days, the concept of “Company Culture” can be somewhat of a buzz-word, but the best companies truly understand what it is and why it’s important to have good culture. It’s also vital to know what “good company culture” is not. Enter Eric Sellman, a VP & General Manager of Mortenson Civil out of Minneapolis, MN. He and Aaron dug into this a little bit. Aaron has said many times before that, in his opinion, “company culture” is more than “ping pong tables and beer” (though the new BW office will have plenty of beer…). In addition to company culture, Aaron and Eric discussed big picture concepts of civil engineering and General Contractors (and why Aaron’s general dislike of them).Thanks so much for listening to Dirt Talk. If you have any questions/comments/concerns, reach out to Aaron and Alex at DirtTalk@buildwitt.com.Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's theme is the benefit of finding ways and opportunities to meet people and why it's so important to get face time whenever possible. Practicing what they preach, Alex and Aaron met in the illustrious BuildWitt Studios (aka Aaron's dining table, for now) to catch up and answer a few questions. This week's questions are especially exciting because they are from some of our younger listeners. Alex and Aaron touched on topics such as designing an office that people WANT to be in, the value of meeting people in person, and how to grow yourself to be a valuable employee.We LOVE the questions, so please keep them coming. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out at DirtTalk@buildwitt.com.And as always...Stay Dirty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s guest is the newest team member with BuildWitt: VP of Business Development Ben Schwanberg. Ben and Aaron sat down in the illustrious BuildWitt Studios (aka Aaron’s house, at the moment) to smoke ribs, drink beer, and talk Dirt World stuff. While the ribs were cooking, the guys sat down to talk about Ben’s history in the industry, haul truck drivers, and not compromising on your goals. Buckle up - it’s a good one.As always, if you have questions, comments, or concerns, email the Dirt Talk team at DirtTalk@buildwitt.com. Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron and Alex are back in the studio together after Aaron was traveling last week. The chemistry was evident as they were able to have a conversation about the Dirt World and vaguely related topics like gas-powered generators, steak, and rain. As always, they answered listen-submitted questions about work-life balance, productivity on airplanes, and the BuildWitt philosophy on photography.We're so thankful for the questions and feedback we receive. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out to us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!And remember - Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Burnett is an “equipment trainer” in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada… but what that really means is that he knows his way around all kinds of equipment. And in Canada, they move a lot of dirt. Alex has all kinds of stories and offers a different perspective on the Dirt World in Canada than what is typical from our Dirt Talk guests. Alex works in the “oil sands” industry, which has many similarities to the American oil industry. Still, only a handful of countries in the world have oil sands (Canada, Russia, Kazakhstan, Venezuela). Aaron and Alex spend a lot of time discussing training and what it takes to train different types of operators, but they also dig into the value of learning from your mistakes and why it’s good to rib your peers at work sometimes.Thanks SO much for continuing to listen and share the podcast! For questions, comments, and concerns, please email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com.Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron is in Arizona. Alex is in Tennessee. But through the miracles of modern technology, they were able to have and record a face-to-face conversation. To say that they're excited to be the first people to ever have a video conversation would be a stretch because these two would never exaggerate or use sarcasm in any form.With Aaron taking the entire week "off work" (technically, though no one can keep him from the Dirt for long), Alex held down the fort in the BuildWitt home-base of Nashville as Aaron traveled the Southwest visiting family and Big Iron.The guys had some especially thought-provoking listener-submitted questions this week, with one answer ending with Aaron admitting he didn't really answer the question, so you know the info was good. Aaron and Alex touched on dealing with the haters, engaging young people who have an interest in entering the Dirt World, and what exactly is the point of LinkedIn.Thank you SO much to our listeners who have submitted questions and have been generous and supportive enough to continue sharing the podcast. We have a great time working on the podcast and hearing from so many perspectives in the industry that we love. It continues to be a privilege to build an engaged community of so many different types of folks who want to make the Dirt World a better place.If you have any questions or feedback, please email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com. We've loved the questions so far, and we're finding that each question submitted is also a learning experience, so thank you very much. Keep it coming! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Dirt Talk is with one of BuildWitt's own: our Chief People Officer Jake Schmidtlein. Though his title might sound fancy, his blue-collar and dirt world bona fides are legit. He grew up working in the family business, racing go-karts and stacking thousands of bricks for money to buy fireworks. Jake's journey from brick-stacker to CPO at BuildWitt is anything but linear. He's worked in finance, ran a race track, and headed up business development for a John Deere dealership (Murphy Tractor). He's always had a passion for training and people development, and after being hired as VP of Business Development, he was asked to transition to Chief People Officer during his second week at BuildWitt, and boy are we excited for that.Thanks to Jake for taking the time and sharing his winding road that led him to BuildWitt.If you have any questions for Aaron or Alex, please email dirttalk@buildwitt.com. And remember... Stay Dirty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron and Alex met to record this podcast with 24 hours (spread over the following 3 days) of MSHA Part 48 training staring them and almost the entirety of the BuildWitt team in the face. Though there was much to look forward to with the training, it meant that a 5 (or 6) day work week would have to be squeezed into a Monday and a Friday. With their backs against the wall, Aaron and Alex bravely put their stresses aside and recorded their Monday podcast, as promised. The guys answered questions on skip loaders, which states Aaron did NOT visit in the past year, and about the land clearing industry. They also discussed the questionable safety of school buses when they were kids and the excitement and relief of adding talented folks to the BuildWitt team.If you have questions or feedback for the Dirt Talk team, please email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com.Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Bezates considers himself a utility man. He works on all kinds of projects in the Pacific Northwest, but he’s really made his name with a specific set of skills: welding. Nick and Bezates Construction Inc. have become one of the contractors to call in Oregon (and the surrounding states) for welding projects.Aaron and Nick had a wide-ranging conversation and touched on topics like how people get into welding, re-starting a family business, counting on your own quality of work, and the “joys” of working in a muddy hole.To learn more about what Nick and co, are up to, check out his IG at instagram.com/bezatesn.Please submit questions and feedback to dirttalk@buildwitt.com. Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good Monday to you all! We've received some great questions from y'all, and a few questionable submissions as well (you know who you are). So thanks to all who've reached out, and please keep them coming!This week, Aaron and Alex discuss a few BuildWitt company values, the pros & cons of starting a business, and --- HOLY SH!T you guys we saw a flatbed truck drive past with a skid steer, and less than ten minutes later, pass by again but this time, it had a mini excavator back there too. Whoever loaded it up that quick is a wizard and deserves internet points or something.If you have any questions or feedback for the podcast, we're always open at dirttalk@buildwitt.com. Look forward to hearing from y'all.Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices