Dirt Talk Podcast

Aaron Witt went to a Grand Prix... in his neighborhood? Aaron and his co-host Alex talk a good bit about the interests and eccentricities of Nashville, TN. Later, they talk about how to get access to job sites to take photos (hint: be upfront and authentic) and some signs and trends that show that the BuildWitt mission of "Make the Dirt World a Better Place" might be on to something. To connect wi...

Brock Johnson reached out to us and shared his story... and whaddya know, he is now this week's guest on Dirt World. Brock is an interesting combo: not only is he a full-time operator working in northern MN, but he also started Prograde Excavating and spends his weekends building his own business. He certainly works a lot these days, but it's all towards a greater purpose: more freedom and flexibi...

Happy Monday, Dirt World. This week, Aaron and Alex sit down to discuss why "lifers" in the Dirt World sometimes discourage their kids from coming into the industry, landfills, and what one of our BuildWitt Partners (Veit) is up to. If you want to visit the Veit website, go to veitusa.com. To connect with other people who listen to this show, use and search for the hashtag #betterdirtworld and joi...

The Dirt Talk guest this week is from "across the pond," as it were: Nick Drew of Digger Man Blog fame. This week, Nick was kind and gracious enough to share his Saturday evening with us and, as Aaron Witt says, "shoot the poop." Aaron and Nick discussed Nick's construction background prior to focusing on writing about the Dirt World, what he misses (and doesn't miss) about the work, and how troll...

G'day, fellow Dirt World people. Aaron and Alex geek out a little about the BuildWitt Team meeting that happened a few weeks ago. They eventually discuss small ways that teams/organizations can introduce training into their company culture and why some industries rely on migrant workers vs others. Thanks for the questions - please keep them coming! To connect with other people who listen to this s...

Marcus Sheridan is a new friend of ours, but boy, are we glad we brought him around! In his words, he's an "International Keynote Speaker on Digital Sales/Marketing, Ranked #1 LinkedIn Voices for Entrepreneurship, Author of They Ask, You Answer...and a Dang Good Follow on LinkedIn"... and sharpened all those tools moving some dirt early on. He is one of the first speakers we brought on to be featu...

Happy Monday, Dirt World pals. Dirt Talk-erinos? We're working on it. Alex and Aaron geek out about how BuildWitt Leaders is going, as well as their excitement over the last few episodes of the podcast recordings in Aaron's house. This week, the guys dig in about how people start a dirt world business without debt (and how debt can be a useful business tool) and when Aaron first started to underst...

Molly Abbott of ban•spas Consulting is our guest this week. ban•spas is an organizational consulting + interior design firm based in the Arizona desert, and Molly was kind enough to work on a pretty big BuildWitt project: she designed and planned out the new BuildWitt Offices in Nashville, TN. Since she and Aaron Witt are the 2 people most intimately familiar with the space, it made sense to get t...

Happy Monday! This week, Aaron and Alex chat at Aaron's home "studio"... but this is one of the last times ever, as the new BuildWitt Studios are almost complete! Can't wait to share photos and videos of the new space with the Dirt Talk community. On this week's episode, Aaron and Alex discuss what it takes to transition from doing landscaping work to excavation, Aaron's interest in owning a wareh...

As a general rule, we at BuildWitt LOVE to engage with people who love the Dirt World as much as we do. So, when we first started chatting with David Cutler through email, LinkedIn, etc, it was clear immediately that he's got the passion for our industry running through his veins. And as the podcast team was building out the guest list, it just started to make more and more sense to bring David on...

This week, Aaron is in Montana, taking some much-needed "time off". As you'll hear, though, he still stays pretty involved. Aaron talks about how he's spending his time alone out in the mountains, and Alex and Aaron commiserate on endless shipping delays. Aaron and Alex also answer a few listener-submitted questions. They discuss building relationships with new co-workers, being honest with custom...

Wally Adamchik literally runs the website constructionleadership.com. Suffice it to say, Wally is well-versed and well-traveled when it comes to leadership in the Dirt World. Wally's company FireStarter Speaking and Consulting works with companies all over the U.S., helping them to build better companies through better leadership, better operations, and better culture. Wally was kind enough to sit...

Co-hosts Aaron Witt and Alex Horton discuss Aaron's travels out West this past week as he went to visit some Dirt World friends, and all of them are either past or future guests on the Dirt Talk podcast. They also answer a few listener questions about a workplace culture of learning, the dos and don'ts of asking for a raise, and if BuildWitt will have a booth at CONEXPO in 2023! To connect with ot...

Have you ever wondered anything about the gold mining industry? Enter David Garofalo, Chairman & CEO of Gold Royalty Corp. He's the premier name in the mining and precious metal industry. David has 30 years of experience in the creation and growth of over 15 multi-billion dollar sustainable mining businesses across multiple continents and led the largest merger in gold mining history valued at $32...

Aaron and Alex face their toughest obstacle yet - the lawn crew just outside the windows of the BuildWitt Studios (Aaron's dining room, for just a few more weeks). But they pushed through because we're on a mission. This week, the guys take on tough topics like Santa, what industry leaders read/listen to, and will BuildWitt start selling autographed merch. To connect with other people who listen t...

We've got another young buck on the podcast to challenge Aaron for the Young Buck throne! This week, we've got Ben Warren of Warren Land Solutions, who was gracious enough to come by the BuildWitt Studio (Aaron's house for only a few more weeks!). He mentioned that this is his first podcast appearance, but don't let the fact that he's green fool you - he has plenty of great stories and earned expe...

We often speak about why our company values are important to us, and today we talk a little about why it's important for every company to be driven by those values. We believe it's not enough to identify the core values of the company - the entire company needs to be speaking those values out loud... and often.! Aaron and Alex also talk about BuildWitt employee travel (and whose responsibility it...

We've hinted at it for some time now, but now it's official: the BuildWitt crew has officially announced the upcoming launch of their leadership platform, BuildWitt Leaders! There have been a lot of questions about what exactly "BuildWitt Leaders" is, so we got Aaron Witt (CEO and Chief Dirt Nerd), Dan Briscoe (President), and Randy Blount (Advisor) to get together and lay it all out. Simply put,...

Aaron and Alex are back in the studio together after a week apart! They get to effectively go back in time and answer a question from a few weeks ago, as well as discuss attracting a new generation to the dirt world and how to manage a crew of people that are older than the leader. Check out the BuildWitt Youtube Channel. Thanks again for listening! If you have questions/comments/concerns, please...

CONEXPO-CON/AGG is a big deal. It's part equipment trade show - part dirt world family reunion IN LAS VEGAS and it's anything but a breeze to organize. The event is put on by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers every 3 years and it takes every bit of that time in between to put all of the pieces together. Fortunately, Dana Wuesthoff (Show Director) and Caroline Roberts (Director of Event Op...

This week on the Monday edition of Dirt Talk, Aaron and Alex chat about Aaron's upcoming trip through the South and why he prefers driving instead of flying right now. As always, the guys also discuss some listener-submitted questions/topics, including operator school, selling an equity stake in your business for cash, and why it's still tough to find good people to work at your business these day...

Colby Williams describes his skills as "pushing buttons". But if you've come across his work as Fueled Photography, then you know he's no hack. For years, Colby has been shooting cars, trucks, bulldozers, cement trucks, cranes - if it looks cool, chances are good that Colby has photographed it. And we at Dirt Talk were lucky enough to have him come on the pod and talk about his story. Colby and ho...

This week, Aaron and Alex discuss their recent travel and answer listener-submitted questions about photography, job titles and company structure, and two-stick controls vs full joysticks. If you have questions/comments/concerns, please reach out to DirtTalk@buildwitt.com. Stay Dirty! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Garcia (of Rogers Group in the southeast US) has been bouncing around the last few years. He's been hired at Rogers Group multiple times. He's moved to and from Alabama multiple times. And now, after working for Reed Contracting for a time, he's now running what was formerly their operations after Rogers Group acquired Reed Contracting. Knowing that, it is easy to understand why he's perfe...

Aaron and Alex FINALLY talk about what happened on Aaron's trip to see the official BuildWitt Skid Steer in the Caterpillar Factory! Yes, folks, it's actually real and not a joke. As always, the guys answer a few questions too. Keep the questions coming! If you have questions/comments/concerns, please email Alex at DirtTalk@buildwitt.com. Stay Dirty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...