Dirt Talk Podcast

Some people say that they'd go to any lengths to achieve their goals, but not everyone would move halfway around the world like Michael Bullock aka @the_english_earthmover. Michael was born and raised in England, but has been working in the Dirt World in Australia for years now. He's built up quite a following on his IG acct @the_english_earthmover where he has been posting photos of equipment and...

And we're back! Aaron and Alex are back to answer YOUR questions. Thanks to our listeners for sending in such great questions. This week, the guys talk about some really exciting upcoming travel for the BuildWitt team, and then dig into some questions. They discuss union vs non-union wages and how and when to ask for a raise. If you have questions/comments/concerns, please reach out at DirtTalk@bu...

Two years ago, Bridger Snow was still in high school. Since then, he's not only started his career in the Dirt World -- he is the owner of Snow Excavation in Northern Utah. He's learning a lot of lessons the hard way in real-time, but he's far ahead of the rest of us when we were his age! Bridger was kind enough to take a few moments out of his weekend to chat with Aaron, and even though Aaron is...

Aaron and Alex are back at it again. After a light week of user-submitted questions where Alex had to fake one, the Dirt Talk community showed up in full-force and truly flooded the inbox with great questions. We're so thankful for the Dirt Talk listeners. This week, Aaron take a positive approach in talking about General Contractors (he's actually pretty nice!). He and Alex also talk about lack o...

We know, we know... this isn’t our typical podcast guest on Dirt Talk, but give Nick Schiffer (of NS Builders) some credit - he’s got some serious construction bona fides. Nick started NS Builders in 2014 and has gained a lot of wisdom in the triumphs (and failures) of growing a custom home builder. He shares about his dreams of building homes all over the world, how video and social media sets hi...

Podcasts aren't easy, as much as Aaron and Alex seem like it is (that was sarcasm). And while the Thursday episodes have been humming, we realized we didn't get any listener-submitted questions this past week. So listen as Alex tries to casually drop in a question that sounds really formal and Aaron busts him for just making it up. In all seriousness, the guys are so thankful for the continued eng...

Randy Blount (of Blount Contracting) recently sold the family business to WW Clyde after running the company for almost 15 years. He took over the company in his early 20s after his father passed away. The traditional way this could have played out is that he would have continued to run the company in AZ and surrounding areas and then passed the business on to his children or other family, but he...

Aaron is in Nashville and Alex is on a Florida beach. A perfect setup for a podcast, no? This week, Alex and Aaron catch up on BuildWitt office updates, exciting planning meetings last week, and Aaron explains why he thought it would be a good idea to run at least 48 miles in 48 hours (spoiler: he completed his run challenge). They also discuss a few listener-submitted questions about stress manag...

"Owner-Operator" is not the most common path in the Dirt World. It requires more admin work typically, and you have to actually buy the machine, of course. But for those who can make it happen, it opens up a world of possibilities in the Dirt World. This week, Aaron spoke with John Schiedeck of Schiedeck Construction about the owner-operator life. John's an absolute weapon with a blade, making him...

This week, Aaron and Alex catch up across the TN/AL state line. They check in about BuildWitt stuff happening and answer a few submitted questions like asking to hop in equipment on the job site, tracks vs wheels, and "the competition". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These days, the concept of “Company Culture” can be somewhat of a buzz-word, but the best companies truly understand what it is and why it’s important to have good culture. It’s also vital to know what “good company culture” is not.  Enter Eric Sellman, a VP & General Manager of Mortenson Civil out of Minneapolis, MN. He and Aaron dug into this a little bit. Aaron has said many times before that,...

This week's theme is the benefit of finding ways and opportunities to meet people and why it's so important to get face time whenever possible. Practicing what they preach, Alex and Aaron met in the illustrious BuildWitt Studios (aka Aaron's dining table, for now) to catch up and answer a few questions. This week's questions are especially exciting because they are from some of our younger listene...

This week’s guest is the newest team member with BuildWitt: VP of Business Development Ben Schwanberg. Ben and Aaron sat down in the illustrious BuildWitt Studios (aka Aaron’s house, at the moment) to smoke ribs, drink beer, and talk Dirt World stuff.  While the ribs were cooking, the guys sat down to talk about Ben’s history in the industry, haul truck drivers, and not compromising on your goals....

Aaron and Alex are back in the studio together after Aaron was traveling last week. The chemistry was evident as they were able to have a conversation about the Dirt World and vaguely related topics like gas-powered generators, steak, and rain. As always, they answered listen-submitted questions about work-life balance, productivity on airplanes, and the BuildWitt philosophy on photography. We're...

Alex Burnett is an “equipment trainer” in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada… but what that really means is that he knows his way around all kinds of equipment. And in Canada, they move a lot of dirt. Alex has all kinds of stories and offers a different perspective on the Dirt World in Canada than what is typical from our Dirt Talk guests. Alex works in the “oil sands” industry, which has many similarities...

Aaron is in Arizona. Alex is in Tennessee. But through the miracles of modern technology, they were able to have and record a face-to-face conversation. To say that they're excited to be the first people to ever have a video conversation would be a stretch because these two would never exaggerate or use sarcasm in any form. With Aaron taking the entire week "off work" (technically, though no one c...

This week's Dirt Talk is with one of BuildWitt's own: our Chief People Officer Jake Schmidtlein. Though his title might sound fancy, his blue-collar and dirt world bona fides are legit. He grew up working in the family business, racing go-karts and stacking thousands of bricks for money to buy fireworks. Jake's journey from brick-stacker to CPO at BuildWitt is anything but linear. He's worked in f...

Aaron and Alex met to record this podcast with 24 hours (spread over the following 3 days) of MSHA Part 48 training staring them and almost the entirety of the BuildWitt team in the face. Though there was much to look forward to with the training, it meant that a 5 (or 6) day work week would have to be squeezed into a Monday and a Friday. With their backs against the wall, Aaron and Alex bravely p...

Nick Bezates considers himself a utility man. He works on all kinds of projects in the Pacific Northwest, but he’s really made his name with a specific set of skills: welding. Nick and Bezates Construction Inc. have become one of the contractors to call in Oregon (and the surrounding states) for welding projects. Aaron and Nick had a wide-ranging conversation and touched on topics like how people...

Good Monday to you all! We've received some great questions from y'all, and a few questionable submissions as well (you know who you are). So thanks to all who've reached out, and please keep them coming! This week, Aaron and Alex discuss a few BuildWitt company values, the pros & cons of starting a business, and --- HOLY SH!T you guys we saw a flatbed truck drive past with a skid steer, and less...

Trace Hall knows his way around a LOT of Cat equipment. He’s been with Thompson Machinery in Smyrna, TN for almost 20 years and is now a Sales Manager.  The BuildWitt team recently met up at Thompson to drive a skid steer and a mini excavator. After seeing us out in the yard, Trace comes over and says, “I got something else you should check out!” and comes back with a full-size excavator for the t...

On this Monday episode (our second on the feed), Alex and I dig into the good stuff. We discuss the recent travel of our BuildWitt team, our growing collection of Dirt Nerds™, the awesome work that our new BuildWitt Partner J.W. Fowler is doing on the West Coast, and what it feels like to operate large equipment. Our guest this Thursday is Trace Hall of Thompson Machinery in LaVergne, TN. We'll ta...

Ryan Chrisman (@beefybladehand on IG) is a weapon with a grader. He’s made a name for himself online with his warm-hearted early morning greetings, wild blade videos, and educational content on how to use machines and grade control to its fullest potential. Dirt’s been in the blood of Ryan’s family for multiple generations. He ran tractors and skid steers starting at age 7 and naturally got into t...

A big week in Dirt talk history: we'll begin posting 2(!) episodes per week beginning this week. Our regular Thursday episode will continue to come as scheduled, but we're also adding a Monday episode each week with Aaron and new producer on the show, Alex where they touch on BuildWitt happenings and answer listener-submitted questions. This week, they'll touch on succession plans for family busin...

Frisch and Sons is an expert at making Southern California pools disappear. For the past year or two, I’ve watched their videos online as they’ve maneuvered their baby skid steers (Bobcat S70’s) across tiny backyards, in and out of pools, and even through people’s living rooms. Yep… just another day at the office for Frisch and Sons. Since I’ve spent entire days of my life watching their pool demo...