In The Mix with Marvin Joles

Marvin interviews JJ Letcavage, an operations leader at Proline, about discipline, leadership, and building a legacy. JJ describes growing up in rural Pennsylvania in a coal-mining family, being raised largely by his revered grandfather (a WWII Patton Army Bronze Star veteran), and how that modeled a relentless work ethic. He explains his path from the Marine Corps to 26 years in law enforcement,...

Recorded at BuildWitt in Nashville, Marvin talks with Presley Lannom (CoreSite Materials), Brad McCoy (McCoy Construction & Forestry), and Gabe Wegmann (Cemen Tech) about the partnership between manufacturers, dealers, and contractors. They explore how volumetric concrete mixers produce fresh concrete on-site, reducing waste, controlling costs, and eliminating delays. The conversation also covers...

Marvin sits down with Sign Picker Steve to explore the fascinating world of vintage traffic and highway signs. Steve shares how a childhood interest grew into a collection of nearly 500 signs, what makes certain signs valuable, and how signage has evolved over the decades. Plus, learn how collectors legally find and preserve these unique pieces of American history. 🎙️ CONNECT WITH STEVE THE SIGN P...

Marvin welcomes returning guest Cliff Cameron of KM International to discuss recent contractor meetups, new equipment aesthetics, and ongoing innovation, including expanded computer-aided design capabilities that let the team rapidly customize rig layouts. Cliff explains KM's culture of having fun while building better, more productive equipment, backed by strong customer service and a commitment...

Today two industry veterans explore the evolution of the asphalt and pavement maintenance sector over three decades. Bradshaw reflects on his thirty-three years running Sure-Seal in the Greater Toronto Area, emphasizing that long-term survival in the business relies on adherence to the golden rule of treating people well and maintaining transparent relationships. The conversation highlights the sh...

Bill Elverman, Director of Marketing for Komatsu North America, discusses his move from agency life ahead of CONEXPO and what he's learned through groups like NAPA. The conversation explores workforce shortages, the power of human stories to attract talent, Komatsu's culture and North American growth, dealer–OEM–contractor accountability, the return of experiential marketing, practical uses for AI...

Marvin interviews Brandon Lindsey, who co-founded Dream On 3 with his wife Elizabeth in 2012. They discuss how Dream On 3 makes sports dreams come true for kids and young adults with life-altering conditions by creating multi-day experiences that include families and community support, and how the construction industry became central to the nonprofit through Brandon's contacts from Martin Marietta...

Colton Erskine of Erskine's Construction and Sealcoat shares how he went from brushing driveway sealer in his early 20s to building a fast-growing paving and maintenance company. He talks about early mistakes in pricing, striping, and preparation, the lessons he learned from mentors, and how door knocking and better commercial pricing helped grow the business. Colton also explains how shifting fro...

Marvin talks with John Summers, vice president of AEM's construction utility sector, about CONEXPO-CON/AGG, World of Asphalt, and AEM's role in the equipment industry. They discuss improving the attendee experience, managing the massive Las Vegas show, and using feedback to make each event better. They also explore automation, training, attracting young people to construction, the growing influenc...

Dig World Founder Jacob Robinson on Building a Construction Theme Park In this episode of In The Mix, Marvin interviews Jacob Robinson, founder of Dig World near Houston, a construction-themed amusement park where kids and adults operate real excavators, skid steers, tractors, and boom lifts with safety controls like "Dig World mode," timers, and kill switches. Robinson shares how the idea grew fr...

On this episode of In The Mix, Taylor Kitchen joins the show to talk about her journey in motorsports media, from launching the Above the Yellow Line NASCAR podcast and ATYL Media to managing social media at Motorsport. She shares what it's like covering Daytona, memorable moments from race weekend, standout drivers, and the unique atmosphere inside the track. They also discuss Daytona's history,...

Chris Walsh ("Chris the Striping Guy") joins Marvin to discuss his parking lot maintenance business (crack sealing, sealcoating, striping) and their meetup at PAVE/X in New Orleans. Chris explains how he went from working multiple low-wage jobs to starting a striping business after learning from YouTube, then documenting his work and building an education/consulting income stream as people repeate...

On In The Mix, Marvin Joles, Jennifer Brigman and Jerry Corder of Merlo America discuss the company's growing U.S. presence ahead of ConExpo. They highlight Merlo's telehandlers, attachments, versatile applications, dealer support, warranty, training, parts availability, ConExpo plans, and partnership with race car driver James Roe. They also reflect on changing contractor needs, new technology, t...

Marvin interviews Bianca of Crosswalks Collective LA, a guerrilla urbanist group painting crosswalks to make Los Angeles safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. Bianca explains how they choose locations, mimic city standards, and respond to citations, fines, and removals. They also discuss infrastructure inequities, the city's reactive approach to safety, community support, and how ot...

Marvin welcomes Jack from TestFit.io to explore how the platform helps contractors, engineers, and designers quickly create and optimize parking layouts. Jack demonstrates parcel mapping, editable site boundaries, ADA and EV spaces, landscaped islands, generative design, and exports to PDF, CAD, and SketchUp. They also discuss how faster layouts reduce revisions and help contractors quote and win...

Host Marvin Joles welcomes Brandon Noel, asphalt industry editor and creator of the No Edge Lines video series, for a conversation about storytelling, safety, and the future of the industry. Brandon shares how he highlights the people behind the work, why podcasts and video are changing industry communication, and how road work remains a serious safety concern. They also discuss NAPA advocacy, con...

On "In the Mix," Marvin welcomes Three and Jackie Carpenter , authors of "People First," to discuss workforce turnover as boomers retire and younger "digital natives" enter skilled trades and hospitality. They argue the biggest gap isn't technology but interpersonal skills, and leaders must teach and model basics like eye contact, communication, and positive attitudes rather than assuming them. Th...

In this episode of In the Mix, the host talks with Dusty Bailey (Asphalt Space Ranger) about the tight-knit online paving community and how high-quality social media content has raised the bar for showcasing asphalt work. Dusty explains how he got into the industry at 19 through his dad, started on a tennis-court crew, worked up through tasks like running a tack wagon and dumping trucks, and event...

In Las Vegas, Marvin interviews Dayne Viernes "Da Hawaiian Hitman," the current super heavyweight Power Slap champion, about following his brother into slap fighting once Dana White backed the sport, and what it feels like to be the best while giving glory to God. Mana shares stories from his Hawaii upbringing, family influences, mental preparation, visualization, and how meditation on God's word...

Marvin interviews Kevin Garcia, General Manager of Civil Specialty Solutions at Trimble, about how Trimble's technology supports end-to-end construction workflows beyond earthmoving, including paving, milling, drilling, marine construction, landfills, and survey. Kevin explains how Trimble systems help machines achieve tighter tolerances, improve smoothness, reduce material waste, and deliver bett...

Marvin talks with street luge racer and sports-science professional Fred Laberge about his standout season, including a World Cup podium and a North American Downhill League win. Fred shares how he moved from snowboarding and downhill skateboarding into street luge, why pavement quality matters so much, and what made races in El Salvador, Port Jervis, and Utah so different. They also discuss equip...

In this episode of In The Mix, Marvin talks with Moasure team members Barry Fitzgerald and Jamie Armfield about how Moasure's motion-based measuring tool has improved estimating and quoting for sealcoating and hot mix asphalt paving. They discuss key capabilities including fast capture of irregular shapes, curves (TraceLine), hard-to-reach boundaries (SkipLine), shape-within-shape measurements (La...

In this In The Mix episode recorded in Nashville, Marvin interviews Austin Monteiro, a 27-year-old First Phorm warehouse employee and ultrarunner, about how First Phorm's culture of discipline, high standards, and customer-first community impacts the way employees and customers carry themselves. Austin shares his nomadic background, years in construction and industrial work, losing his mother in 2...

Marvin welcomes Darin Whelan (founder of PaveCo) and Matt Stone to discuss how a long-running relationship with PaveCo grew from a Chattanooga meetup into a deeper look at national contracting going into 2026. Darin shares about starting PaveCo in 2013 after seeing a lack of reliable paving/concrete contractors in South Florida, launching PaveCo National around 2019–2020 at clients' request, navig...

Reinvention sounds exciting until you are the one living it. This conversation gets into what it really looks like to step out of one intense career, lose the structure that defined your life, and build something new from the ground up. Marvin talks with Scott Holtzman about the shift from the UFC to owning AMC Sealcoating and Paint Striping in Knoxville. A former UFC fighter, Scott shares how dis...