Tradies Who Lead

Landscaping is one of the toughest physical trades going. So how do you keep a crew motivated, run the business and still get home to your family? Today we're joined by Ashlee Hadden, founder and director of The Girl Who Lifts Landscaping on the Mornington Peninsula. After years managing at KFC and Aldi, she became a mature-age apprentice at 32 and now leads a majority-female landscaping crew....

What happens when your mentor ends up reporting to you? In this episode, we're joined by Simon Flannery, senior mechanical engineer at Malabar Resources' Maxwell Underground Mine. Starting as a mechanical apprentice in 2013, Simon has worked his way up through trade, frontline and middle management into senior leadership, where his role is now far more about people and process than machine...

Today we're joined by Dave Willmann, a licensed electrician, trade supervisor, and owner of Willmann Electrical, who's built a reputation across electrical, industrial, and commercial work. He’s also a trusted voice for sparkies online, known for his no-nonsense tool reviews and testing breakdowns. Dave's led crews on some of the toughest sites in the industry and mentored a generation...

Whether we’re promoted from tradie to supervisor, or shifting from tradie into parent, the change demands new behaviour. Today we're joined by Leigh Ryan, a landscaper and supervisor from Gippsland, Victoria, who most tradies online know as Tradie Dad. When Leigh started sharing his life online, as a tradie, new father and supervisor, he started building a community who tuned in for the relata...

Today we're joined by Adrian Gillman, a registered carpenter and owner of Kingsford Building and Carpentry in Metro Melbourne, with over 15 years in the trade specialising in bathrooms, extensions and detailed internal fitouts. Adrian's career has taken him off the tools and into a corporate role running a funeral home, an experience that forced him to learn how to understand people before...

Today we're joined by Luke Canham, who's spent over 30 years leading teams across some of the highest-risk work in the trades, including construction and scaffolding. After a serious workplace safety incident and a decade caught up in the court system, Luke walked away with one realisation: every business is a training business, whether it knows it or not. He's since built Multiply Me,...

Today we're joined by Kurt Checketts, a light-vehicle mechanic-turned-diesel-fitter who spent 12 years in the mining industry, five of those leading crews in one of the highest-stakes environments in the trades. Kurt learned firsthand what it costs when standards slip, and what it takes to build a team that holds the line when the pressure is on. Since leaving site, Kurt's taken everything...

There's a gap most tradies don't see coming when they step into leadership. It's not technical. It's not experience. It's everything that happens after you put down the tools and start trying to get results through other people. Jason Loft is the Managing Director and Co-founder of PROTRADE United, with over 16 years of experience supporting trade and construction businesses ac...

Most tradies have played a mentoring role at some point, yet very few have been taught how to do it well. David Mehmel is an Apprentice Trainer, Mentor, and Safety Coordinator with 16 years in and around the automotive industry. With his sole focus on apprentice development, he knows which strategies yield the best results for workplace performance and engagement. In this conversation, we get into...

What does leadership look like when you've sat across from hundreds of builders, tradies, and business owners right across Australia? Aaron "Az" Ng is the founder of The Good Builder, Australia's leading media and intelligence platform for the residential construction industry. After years of conversations with builders and trade business owners right across the country, Az knows...

Join me for the first episode of Tradies Who Lead as I chat with Dave and Cat McCarthy, the founders of the award-winning business McCarthy Plumbing Group . In this conversation, we dive into the leadership nuances of making the leap from managing someone else's business to running your own.   We explore the power of authentic company culture and the importance of continuous improvement at all lev...

What does leadership look like when your title isn’t ‘manager’, ‘supervisor’ or ‘boss’ and you’re trying to change an industry while still on the tools? Jasmyn Smith is a Tassie sparky and co-founder of The GO Company, a business built around a problem that’s been on worksites for years but rarely talked about: access to basic hygiene onsite. Jazz has turned her experience into a movement raising...

Creating clear standards and real accountability with one filter: if it doesn’t work on the floor, it doesn’t belong in the program. Matt Wyatt is a trade-qualified leader with over 30 years in the heavy vehicle industry. He started as an apprentice, worked through operational and national leadership roles, and has spent the last 15 years focused on developing people. In this conversation, we get...

Bringing people along on a vision they can’t see yet is its own kind of leadership, and it’s how Tom’s building things that didn’t exist before. Tom Macrokanis is a qualified boilermaker who started his first business at 17. Since then, he’s founded Macro3D, a concrete 3D printing company tackling housing affordability, and directs Macro Constructions Group across steel, concrete and light-gauge s...

When the industry wasn’t built with you in mind, leading looks like showing up consistently, backing yourself anyway, and then bringing others with you. Stefanie Apostolidis, also known as Melbourne Chippy Chick, is a qualified carpenter, founder of Tradie Lady Hire and Tradie Lady Club, and one of the most recognisable voices for women in Australian trades. In this conversation, we get into: • Bu...

The hardest part of any job isn’t the paperwork. Often, it’s managing different roles and people and figuring out how to lead well across diverse sites. Vincent Saunders has 17-plus years of experience across buildings, quantity surveying, and construction management, and hosts the Constructing Mindsets podcast. He brings a solutions-focused view to the people-challenges that don’t show up on pape...

Discipline, vulnerability, and consistency aren’t just personal strengths; they’re tools that shape how you show up for your crew. Many know Claude Thomsen as @ThatSoberTradie, where he’s become a steady voice for healthier habits and a stronger culture across the trades. He went from the Army Reserves to the leading hand at a roofing company, and became a role model for other tradies online. In t...

Backing yourself to show up as a leader takes more than a title – it takes the discipline to keep showing up when no one’s making you. Les Wikiriwhi came up through the tools and founded Stand-Up Recruitment, a Trans-Tasman company helping Kiwi tradies build a better future in Australia. He’s honest about the early struggles and the habits that keep him consistent. In this conversation, we get int...

Whether it’s getting paid on time or leading a team, success is about the quality of your communication skills and business systems. George Dib is a Senior Commercial Manager at Credit Protect and a former accountant who’s helped hundreds of Aussie tradies tackle unpaid invoices. He’s seen the stress and the money left on the table, and he gives tradies the leverage big businesses take for granted...

When your people and your customers’ expectations keep changing, the way you lead must evolve if you want to keep up. Kosta Kantilaftis is a second-generation technician, workshop owner and industry advocate with nearly two decades in the game. He started his first business at 19 and now leads Dulwich Hill Automotive and SMART Mechanic Sydney, and co-founded The Garage Network, a community of almo...

A decade into business, and the challenges change: how do you continue to build systems on the go, stay visible to your crew off the tools, and keep family and work from swallowing each other? Cam and Matt are brothers-in-law turned business partners and the founders of Limitless Build and its sister brand, Melbourne Decks and Pergolas. They’ve grown a word-of-mouth carpentry business into a full-...

Building something every Australian knows didn’t come from systems alone — it came from staying personally connected to the people doing the work. Jim Penman is the founder and CEO of Jim’s Group, which grew from a one-man mowing round into a network of 5,500-plus franchisees across 50+ divisions. Behind the scale is a leader driven by people, purpose and genuine care. In this conversation, we get...

The goal isn’t a team that needs your sign-off on everything. It’s a team that can make the call without you in the room. Adam Hall is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of AH Fencing, one of Australia’s fastest-growing commercial security fencing companies. He’s grown it from a start-up to a multi-state operation on culture and empowered leadership. In this conversation, we get into: • How to e...

Most builders don’t get held back by their trade skills. It’s the leadership blind spots they can’t see that cost them the team. Mick Hawes is the host of The Toolshed Podcast and founder of Builders Business Blackbelt. He’s spent years coaching builders to turn stressful, time-poor operations into businesses that actually work. In this conversation, we get into: • The leadership blind spots that...

You don’t need a title to lead. You just need to take more responsibility — and Leon backed that belief by walking away from job security to start again on the tools. Leon Simmons is a 4th-year electrical apprentice in Melbourne who left high pay and security to chase a new career in the trade. He documents life as a mature-aged apprentice and turned it into a community of tradies. In this convers...