Blue Collar StartUp

This is a special crossover episode with our sister show, Buying Local, on Blue Collar Startup! In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, hosts Mike Nelson and Derek Foster interview Terry Hubbard of Peak Environmental about innovative landscape construction and eco-friendly practices. Tune in as they discuss robotic mowers, sustainable services, opportunities in the landscape industry, and more! Fi...

In this episode of Blue Collar Startup, hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems interview Curt Hemmeler, Executive Director of the RV Technical Institute. Tune in as they explore the booming RV industry, technician training programs, entrepreneurial opportunities, and much more! Learn more about Curt and the RV Technical Institute at rvti.org . 0:15 Intro...

In this new episode of Blue Collar StartUp, hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems have a conversation about what it means to be unhireable. Tune is as they explore how problem-solving, initiative, and adaptability make employees indispensable, offering insights for aspiring entrepreneurs and dedicated team members in the trades to achieve career growth...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems, sit down with Chris and Noah Manzella of BradManz Landscaping. Tune in as they discuss being honest with your clients to maintain trust, the importance of cold calling, having confidence in networking scenarios, and much more!  0:15 Intro 0:40 Welcoming Chris and Noah Ma...

In this Blueprint episode of Blue Collar StartUp , host Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems chats with Carrie Kirvin , now with MP: Wired for HR , about payroll and HR solutions for small businesses. At the time of this recording, Carrie was with Paychex , where she helped entrepreneurs save time, manage cash flow, and stay compliant through services like payroll outsourcing, workers’ compensa...

In this episode of Blue Collar Start Up, hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems are joined by Scott McKenna and Stacy Spector of Catamount Consulting. Tune in as they explore workforce development challenges, the role of entrepreneurship in attracting young talent to the trades, the importance of emotional intelligence, and much more! 0:15 Intro 0:51 Int...

In this episode of Blue Collar Start Up, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems interview Kendra Hart, president at Martin Electric. Listen in as they discuss experimentation within business growth, the experiences of being a young woman in construction, setting up your team for success, and much more! 0:15 Introduction 2:22 Meet Kendra Hart 3:20 Th...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your host Derek Foster (Daigle Cleaning Services) sits down with returning guest, Josh Jewett of Cole’s Collision. Tune in to learn about the creation of a process – Indicators of when a process may be necessary, how to pivot with change, monitoring the process and adjusting with feedback, prioritizing tasks, setting standards, and outcomes! Want to connect...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson (Five Towers Media) and Derek Foster (Daigle Cleaning Services) interview Mike Munter and Alex Dominguez of Munter Enterprises. Tune in to hear them discuss choosing to pursue the trades after trying out college, going into a construction job with no experience, passing down skills to younger workers, and much more! Want to connect wit...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems interview Jack Miller and Dan Pratt of Jack Miller Contractors. Join them as they discuss the building science mindset, innovation in the construction field, team growth and the processes behind it, and much more! 1:01 Thanking Sponsors 2:12 Introducing Dan and Jack 4:35...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems interview Mason Lord, co-owner and founder of Hudson Valley Preservation and Trades Up. Tune in as they talk about giving kids hands-on experience with tools, handling the stress of building a business, and much more! 0:15 Introduction 2:38 New Sponsors 3:53 Introducing M...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, we're mixing things up a bit. When the podcast first launched, we released a series of professional tips called Blue Collar Blueprints. These previously exclusive episodes contain valuable insights that we’re excited to share with you! In addition to our regular interview episodes, we’ll be bringing these Blueprints to our listeners as well. This episode fea...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Services interview Nick Schkrioba, sales consultant with the professional employer organization, Peoplease. Listen in as they talk about workers comp models, maintaining a high retention rate, modern software, and much more! Want to connect with Nick and learn more about Peopleas...

In this episode of Blue Collar Startup, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems interview Matt Whitbeck, owner of Whitbeck Construction. Listen in as they explore the experiences of a first-generation business owner, the challenges of growing faster than one can access education and resources, maximizing the lifespan of construction projects, and muc...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Services interview William Day, assistant project manager at Jersen Construction. Tune in as they explore strategies to incentivize careers in the trades for future workers, the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, the business development side of a construction co...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Services interview Shaw DuBourg, owner of Symmetric Electric. Tune in as they discuss the challenges of starting an electric company in a new state, navigating the market, the benefits of being part of a union, the importance of patience when launching a business, and much more!...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson (Five Towers Media) and Derek Foster (Daigle Cleaning Services) interview Matthew and Pete of Rifenburg Construction. Tune in to hear them discuss teamwork in the workplace, connecting with young people to grow the blue collar workforce, large scale project logistics, and much more! Want to connect with Blue Collar StartUp? Reach out t...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson (Five Towers Media) and Derek Foster (Daigle Cleaning Services) interview Nick and Kayla, owners of Trojan Home Services. Tune in to hear them discuss being self-taught, working full time while starting a new business, balancing out work with your partner, and much more! 0:50 Introducing Nick and Kayla 2:26 Painting and Home Services 3...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems, interview CEO of Peak Advisory Jakob Kirschner. Tune in to hear them discuss the importance of having good data in accounting, how the size of a small business can affect their finances, and much more! We want to showcase your blue collar business! Connect with us at har...

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, host Mike Nelson interviews Scott Lawler, Chief Estimator at LeChase Construction. Tune in to hear about why Scott wanted to be an estimator, how school shaped his career path, finding construction opportunities, and more! Contact Scott at Scott. Lawler@lechase.com with any questions or inquiries you might have. 0:15 Opening Thoughts 0:53 Introducing Scott L...

In this episode, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems interview Devon Camenga of Camenga Construction for a second time. Devon goes into depth about his experiences balancing new and old customers, transitioning from the education field, how he takes on apprentices, and more!  0:18 Reintroducing Devon Camenga 2:21 Handyman vs General Contractor 4:...

In this episode, your hosts Michael Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems talk with Kaydance about her experience going to the BOCES program in Saratoga, how she landed her job in South Dakota right out of trade school, her family's collision shop, and more!  0:42 Introducing Kaydance 1:20 The BOCES Collision Program 3:04 Why choose this path? 3:58 Kaydance’s pare...

In this episode, your hosts Michael Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems talk about their expectations and goals for the Blue Collar StartUp Podcast in 2025 and talk more about Derek’s experience starting a business from scratch.  0:15 Excitement for 2025 1:03 Opening thoughts 5:28 Inspiring news from podcast listeners 6:40 First goal of 2025 8:29 More 2025 goals...

Your hosts Derek Foster from Daigle Cleaning Systems and Michael Nelson from Five Towers Media sit down with Scott McKenna and Stacy Spector from Catamount Consulting. Learn more about Catamount Consulting on their website https://catamountconsultingllc.com

Our Hosts, Derek Foster and Michael Nelson, chat with Mike Muscolino of AMC Construction & Management.