The Builders

What does it take to build a successful career when you start with very little support, no clear roadmap, and a persistent sense of self-doubt? In this episode of The Builders Podcast , Matt Levenhagen sits down with Rich Magallanes, longtime animation executive, producer, and founder of Animated U, to explore his remarkable journey from a difficult childhood to becoming a senior vice president at...

In this milestone 300th episode of The Builders Podcast , Matt Levenhagen takes a look behind the scenes at how artificial intelligence is transforming the way he builds, manages, and grows Unified Web Design. What started with AI helping write emails, troubleshoot code, and handle individual tasks has evolved into something much bigger: an increasingly connected system of AI assistants helping ma...

What does it take to build a business that grows without requiring more and more of your time? In Part 2 of our conversation with Gabe Arnold , CEO of Simple Operations, we explore the systems, leadership principles, and team structures that allow entrepreneurs to step out of the day-to-day and focus on building something sustainable. Gabe knows this transformation firsthand. After implementing th...

What if the secret to better sales wasn't learning how to close, but learning how to connect? In this second conversation with Coach Jay Sargeant, Matt Levenhagen explores a different approach to selling, one built around understanding people, earning trust, and creating lasting value. Drawing on decades of experience and his work adapting Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) into sales training...

Carl Fudge helps founders tell stories that investors can understand, remember, and act on. But as Carl points out early in this conversation, telling your own story is often much harder. His path to founding Presentation Mode wasn't a straight one. It moved through organizational psychology, management consulting at McKinsey, an early-stage innovation company, business school at MIT, eight ye...

Gabe Arnold has spent most of his life building. He started working alongside his grandfather in the trades as a kid, launched his own construction company at 18, eventually grew it to around 40 employees and roughly $1 million in annual revenue... and then watched it fall apart. Bankruptcy, painful partnerships, personal loss, and plenty of hard-earned business lessons followed. But Gabe kept reb...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Jay Sargeant, a self-described serial reinventor whose path has taken him from community organizing and professional tennis to franchise development, NLP training, entrepreneurship, coaching, and writing. Jay’s story is filled with the kinds of moments that seem small until you realize they changed everything: walking into an...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast , Matt Levenhagen sits down with Bryan Blackmon , founder of Crab Crew Life, for a story about rebuilding from a place most people would have trouble imagining. Bryan’s journey moves through addiction, heroin and methamphetamine use, jail, prison, homelessness, and years of living what he describes as a life of constant chaos. But the turning point wasn’t an...

For years, Matt Levenhagen had a habit that probably feels familiar to a lot of entrepreneurs: when the workweek ran out of room, the work simply spilled into the weekend. Podcast editing could happen on Sunday. Weekly planning could happen Sunday night. A little strategy or content work didn’t really feel like “work” anyway...so what was the harm? Then Matt started moving those responsibilities b...

What happens when a difficult season forces you to rebuild not only your life, but the way you lead? In Part 2 of our conversation with T. Christian Helms , we pick up with Christian’s recovery from Lyme disease and the unexpected effect it had on his business. Before getting sick, Christian admits he was trying to do too much himself and micromanaging the people around him. Recovery forced him to...

What happens when the version of yourself you think looks "professional" isn't really you? In this episode of The Builders Podcast , Matt Levenhagen sits down again with Rachel Lee, co-founder of Neo Genesis, to explore what it means to build a brand around the person you actually are. Rachel shares how trying to fit into a traditional, polished version of entrepreneurship eventually...

Building a creative business rarely follows the path you imagine when you start. For Rachel Lee, co-founder of Neo Genesis, it began with a love of making things, a degree in design, and what was supposed to be her dream job. A few weeks into that job, though, she realized something was missing. She didn't just want to make things look good. She wanted to be part of solving the problem. That r...

T. Christian Helms didn't grow up with a blueprint for becoming a brand strategist or agency founder. He grew up drawing, writing, listening to music, and following whatever captured his curiosity. That path eventually took him through journalism and fine art, into the world of design and branding, and ultimately to Austin, where he founded Helms Workshop and built a career working with musici...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast , Matt sits down with Tina Larsson , founder of The Folson Group, to explore how one frustrating experience serving on her own co-op board uncovered an overlooked problem... and ultimately became the foundation of a thriving business. From her Wall Street background to coaching volunteer boards, Tina shares how trust, thoughtful systems, and a willingness to...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Allan Glanfield, founder of Chuck, a Canadian meat snack brand built from a very real family problem: finding better, travel-friendly snacks that kids would actually eat. Allan’s path to building a snack brand has been anything but linear. From screen printing and fashion design to photography, e-commerce, marketing, and produ...

In this solo episode of The Builders Podcast , Matt Levenhagen reflects on what it means to keep building at 55. After years of building businesses, products, services, and eventually a web design and development agency, Matt explores a different kind of builder journey: continuing to build yourself after you thought you had already “arrived.” This episode moves through three connected threads: bu...

For years, Amy Foley built Inbound Back Office almost entirely through relationships and referrals. What began as a freelance virtual assistant business grew into a thriving agency supporting marketing agencies across the country, eventually expanding to nearly 80 team members. But when growth stalled and the market shifted, Amy found herself navigating one of the most difficult seasons every buil...

In this second conversation with Malcolm Reid Sr., Matt shifts from Malcolm’s remarkable life story to the business philosophy that’s helped him build a thriving coaching and consulting practice. Rather than relying on cold pitches or high-pressure sales tactics, Malcolm shares why the strongest businesses are built by leading with value, creating trust, and opening doors through genuine relations...

In this first part of Matt Levenhagen’s conversation with Malcolm Reid Sr., we explore an extraordinary journey from the streets of Baltimore to prison, and ultimately to a life dedicated to helping others build better businesses. It’s the story of how adversity shaped the builder behind the business. From dropping out of school and serving time in prison to discovering unexpected lessons in sales...

For nearly three decades, Drew Griffin worked in healthcare as a hyperbaric wound care nurse, helping patients navigate some of life’s most difficult medical challenges. Along the way, he developed a deep appreciation for solving problems, improving outcomes, and helping people regain control of their lives. That mindset eventually led him somewhere unexpected. After recognizing how smartphones co...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Gary Gitelson, founder of Prohana, to explore a deceptively simple idea: some of the most important opportunities in life and business come from a surprisingly small number of relationships. Drawing on nearly three decades in engineering leadership, startups, and large technology companies, Gary shares how a carefully nurtured...

In this solo episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen introduces the theme behind the upcoming fourth season: What Built the Builder? Rather than focusing only on tactics, strategies, and business frameworks, the next season will explore the experiences, failures, influences, and turning points that shape the people behind the businesses we build. Using his own journey as an example, Matt...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with Shaun Modi, product designer, founder, and builder whose career has taken him from NASA and MIT to Google, Airbnb, startup studios, government projects, and ultimately the founding of Capitol AI. From designing lunar habitats with astronauts to helping shape products at Google during the rise of social computing and contributi...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast, Matt Levenhagen sits down with leadership coach, consultant, speaker, and podcaster Kim Miller-Hershon for a conversation about building businesses and teams around human strengths instead of forcing sameness.  Kim shares her journey from struggling to fit inside traditional corporate environments to discovering that her greatest strength was helping people...

In this episode of The Builders Podcast , Matt Levenhagen welcomes back William Holsten for a deeper conversation around the hidden behavioral patterns behind preventable business mistakes. After sharing his entrepreneurial journey and hard-earned lessons in Part I, William returns to explore how founders can reduce risk through simple systems, stronger habits, and better operational awareness. Th...