Constructing Greatness

Running a successful business and living on stress mode 24/7 shouldn't sound like synonyms, but unfortunately, many people can't have one without the other. However, it is possible to run a thriving organization without paying with our physical and mental health, and our guest, Ajay Patel, is here to prove it. He turned his 8-hour workdays into 2-hour workdays with a simple yet effective system, a...

Ryan Kulik was one step away from accomplishing his dream of pitching in the MLB, when in 2011, during spring training with the Cardinals, coaches suggested that he become a lefty specialist. Although he struck out 5 guys in two innings in his first outing, his arm started bothering him, and he started slowly but surely going downhill. He kept the pain to himself for some time, and surgery was the...

When the kid dressed in a JCPenney suit got into Advantage International's office, he already knew the internship position he wanted to apply for was already filled. He also knew he wouldn't leave that place without a fight, so he asked to talk with Tom George, Advantage International's Senior VP, and waited.  More than two hours later, that kid in his senior year of high school, wearing a ch...

Jumping right to college after high school and pursuing a degree that might not be our passion but can help us land a well-paid job has been branded as the right thing to do for years. The fact that even knowing that a college degree won't translate into a good job, students sink into massive debt is not discussed enough; it's broadly accepted and, in many ways, expected.  Our guest, David Li...

Follow your passion might be one of the most misinterpreted phrases ever; it doesn't mean "spend your time eating chips and watching movies," it means to focus on what you are good at and enjoy doing, and find a job where you can do that. If you are handy and don't like reading, don't pursue a law degree; if you are not handy and love reading, don't be a mechanic. For the first time in the show's...

A few months after leaving the buildings maintenance and cleaning company he was working on, Anthony Zurzolo got a massive lead. It was a half a million contract for working on two towers; the contract was ready to sign and start the following week. Without hesitation, he convinced his brother John to quit his job and join him; they were prepared to rock it.  But, destiny had something prepar...

As she got out of college with a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and Corrections, Kayla Paonessa DeJohn started working as a Juveline Case Manager, helping kids from 13 to 19 deal with anger management, goals setting, and personal development. After almost 4 years, Kayla was emotionally burned out; it was challenging for her to know that despite those kids' massive potential, their environme...

Growing up for Barbie The Welder wasn't exactly a fairy tale; it was more like the hero's path. She had a wonderful childhood, though; her mother constantly stimulated her creativity, and her father, a jack of all trades, taught her how to use tools, repair, and build stuff. Then, she became a single mom at a young age and fought her way through auto mechanics school, her second love; she graduate...

Following her passion for art and math, Elizabeth Graziolo decided that getting into an engineering university was an excellent way to leave her house. She was a teenager that just immigrated to the US, but dealing with puberty and starting to build her future didn't seem much for her; in fact, it was one of her traits - she enjoyed challenging herself. She got into the Cooper Union's Architecture...

Early in his life, Gregory Finkle tasted the pleasure of accomplishing something and getting paid for it. At 14 years old, he was already ambitious and a hard worker; he started helping in an extermination company, handling an eighty-pound hammer drilling holes in a basement. Encouraged by his parents and incentivized by his desire to accomplish more, the habit of being rewarded for his job accomp...

Back in 2004, Revolution Recovery was just a couple of people working the phones from home, seated in front of the computer trying to get a client. They would rent a side lot, a small place, their first physical space two years later. Then, in 2008, the company opened its first Philly spot, where they poured a big concrete slab and built a retaining wall. After eight years of hard and honest work,...

Since he was very young, Marvin Bowe knew his destiny wasn't far from advertising, marketing, and brand building. He went to college and became a graphic designer. At the time, he had this idea of having only one talent, and if he didn't use it, he would be lost. He made understanding every aspect of pharmaceutical advertising his mission, and he became one of the best at it. Time and experience w...

When John McCarroll's father came to America, with little money in his pockets, uneducated, and college not being an option, he got advice to join a trade. John would grow up watching his father who became a steamfitter, and his uncle and cousins working on the construction. John knew he wanted to be in construction from a young age, but he also knew he wasn't very good with his hands, so he decid...

One of the many challenges small businesses face is the lack of affordable options for hiring consulting firms. Large consulting firms won't bother to work with solopreneurs or firms with less than ten employees because of their uniqueness. Most of those small firms are hands-on businesses that can't afford to invest the time or the resources, and on the other hand, those high-priced consultants t...

Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should do it; Kyle Depiesse learned that the hard way. He went for a degree in business administration and started working on finances because he was good with numbers. He got into the corporate world and began pursuing what he was taught to, climb the corporate ladder, work for the next promotion, be the first to get there, and be the last to leave...

Getting out of our comfort zone is a challenging, yet rewarding, decision to make. To me, it was starting a podcast and putting myself out there, interviewing tradesmen and business owners to add value. And I discovered that accepting new challenges and committing to overcoming them is a satisfying feeling, regardless of the success of our new endeavor.  In this episode, after one year of our...

After finishing high school, Stan Chorzelewski still didn't have a clear idea of the path he would follow, and he was already working at Acme Markets pushing carts. College seemed like the right option, so he started the Business Administration and Management course at Camden County College. Working hard and giving 100% at every position he worked in Acme, Stan made his way up to Assistant Store D...

Having a rough time at a terrible school and feeling he wasn't learning anything of value there, George decided he would leave his formal education aside and started roofing; he was 16. However, he would discover that roofing in Philadelphia wasn't precisely a dream job, so a couple of years later, he was pursuing a different dream.  Fast forward a couple of years, George started his own comm...

Misty Solomon always worked in sales, with incredible success everywhere she operated. For her, edible arrangements were a way of showing appreciation to her team members. Until one day, she realized those products could be better, and as a hobby, she started producing them in her house. Although Misty never thought her hobby could turn into a business, she opened her first store four years later....

Leaving the corporate world and turning a lifetime passion into a business sounds like a dream come true for most of us. Although there is no doubt that working in what we are passionate about is an ideal situation, our today's guest, Chuck Garrity, believes it is not about dreaming but about planning. Creating a business out of a passion takes work, long nights of planning, lots of research, and...

Even after graduating from college as a physical education teacher and coaching high school kids for over 12 years, Kris Wilson's entrepreneurial spirit was more substantial than his pleasure in teaching. He found in the family agriculture endeavor a place to flourish his entrepreneurial mindset, first infusing technology to it, and now as a co-owner of Growtopia Farms LLC.  Joining me today...

The construction business is a dynamic and heterogeneous space where many different disciplines and complementary activities work together. For instance, precision and imagination work together to solve various challenges; no two days are the same. And in contrast with many other industries, where an empty inbox or the end of a commercial relationship signalizes the conclusion of a project, in the...

Deciding what career to pursue after finishing highschool might be one of the most challenging, and in some cases defining decisions in early adulthood. The norm is going to College and pursue a career in the corporate world or becoming a professional in medicine, law, or engineering. For entrepreneurial souls, that is not always the best path. However, even after 10 or 15 years in a corporation,...

The pandemic and the way people responded to it affected some industries diminishing their production and sales and increasing the demand in others, leading to insane price escalation. The fluctuation of prices, both abrupt and unpredictable, put salespeople and contractors on the spot, making selling extremely hard, and complicating their delivery dates. As there is little people inside the indus...

There is a shortage of skilled trades reported by several entities. The number of construction workers retiring every year is bigger than the number of apprentices joining the industry. Why is this happening? Some would say that is because, in the past, injuries were more common, and people losing limbs or even dying was a part of it. And that's something today's parents grew up seeing and don't w...