Skilled AF Podcast | Skilled Trades & Construction Careers

In this episode of Skilled AF, we sit down with Devon Havenaar – journeyman carpenter, construction supervisor, TEDx speaker, and founder of Bad Leader – a movement built on a simple premise: to help construction workers become who they were created to be. Devon journeyed out as a carpenter at one of the youngest ages in Canada, moved into supervision at 25, and has spent the years since untanglin...

In this episode of Skilled AF, we sit down with Brooke Laing, a third-year steamfitter and welder apprentice with UA Local 46 in Toronto, Canada, and Chief Strategy Officer of Sisterhood of the Trades, to explore what it’s really like navigating a career in the skilled trades as a woman. From dropping out of college and spending two years on a union waitlist, to navigating harassment on the job, t...

* This episode discusses suicide, substance use, addiction, and workplace crisis. Listener discretion is advised. Construction consistently ranks among the most at-risk industries for suicide and overdose deaths, and Josh Vitale knows this firsthand. A former lineman turned senior superintendent, he navigated two dozen crisis interventions on a single job site before co-founding Project BUILT, a n...

Dustin Crosby is a journeyman carpenter and the voice behind the Blue Collar Poet, an online presence resonating deeply with workers across the trades. With more than two decades of experience in blue-collar work, Dustin’s journey spans industries, job sites, and life chapters shaped by instability, resilience, and reflection. Raised in rural Florida, Dustin’s path into the trades was driven as mu...

Collin White is the founder and CEO of Blue Gopher , a last-mile delivery service built specifically for the construction industry. With a background in construction management, Collin didn’t set out to start a tech-enabled logistics company. He started Blue Gopher after repeatedly running into the same problem on jobsites: material delays, poor communication, and inefficiencies that cost contract...

Misha Homara is the CEO of TriCore Panels , a vertically integrated architectural paneling company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of the youngest female CEOs in construction, she leads a 30+ person team and is reshaping what modern, people-centered leadership looks like in the industry. Misha never expected to find her career in construction. A temporary role helping her family’s busines...

Wilson Betances is a master electrician, contractor, author, and the Founder & CEO of Energize Us – a fast-growing education, media, and professional development platform redefining the future of skilled trades leadership. With 17+ years in the electrical trade, Wilson is now focused on addressing the structural issues holding the industry back. Grounded in his lived experience and the mentors...

* This episode includes discussion of suicide in the construction industry. Listener discretion advised. Angelo Suntres didn’t choose construction, construction chose him. After earning a mechanical engineering degree, he took a job in the industry simply to pay the bills. What he found instead was purpose and a deep sense of pride in building spaces that serve the community. Now, with 20+ years e...

Jeremy Mistretta is the founder of New Age Artisans , a plaster contractor and manufacturer based in Bozeman, Montana, and the creator of the Plaster Portal , a global online learning hub preserving and teaching ancient plaster techniques. A self-taught craftsman with an English literature degree, Jeremy has transformed a chance encounter with plaster into a thriving career. His work spans high-en...

Keith Benson is the Automotive and Manufacturing Instructor and Engineering Department Chair at Petaluma High School in Sonoma County, California. A former NASCAR technician and Ferrari mechanic, Keith left industry in 2019 to take over and build the very program that shaped his own career. Today, he’s preparing his high school students for in-demand careers by offering a world-class, hands-on edu...

Amy Atchley is the co-founder and owner of Amy’s Roofing & Solar , a solar and roofing company based in Sonoma County, California. After 16 years as a high school educator, Amy made a bold leap during the pandemic, leaving the classroom to build a purpose-driven trades business alongside her husband. Together, they’ve created not just a company, but new kinds of skilled jobs to meet the demand...

Nick Hartman always felt a deep desire to help others, but he never expected the skilled trades would be the place where that calling came to life. After dropping out of college and bouncing between jobs, a random Facebook message from a friend led him to a warehouse role at an HVAC company. That decision would quietly change the course of his life. As someone with ADHD, Nick had spent years searc...

Marielle Price didn’t grow up in a construction family, but after studying civil engineering and sustainable design at Stanford, she fell in love with the problem-solving, team-based nature of construction. After 7+ years in the field managing multimillion-dollar projects, Marielle made the leap into construction tech, joining Fieldwire (now Fieldwire by Hilti ) as one of its first employees. As V...

The construction industry has been a launchpad for transformation for Renae Sams. Raised with limited resources, and shaped by early loss and toxic relationships, Renae found strength, purpose, and financial independence through building. What started as a temp job turned into a decade-long career leading mission-critical construction projects for the military and major tech companies. That experi...

Aaron Valencia is living proof that the skilled trades can change lives. After overcoming addiction, homelessness, and incarceration, he found stability and purpose through hands-on work – first in house painting, then in classic car restoration. The trades didn’t just give him a second chance, they gave him a future and the chance to change the trajectory of others’ lives. That experience inspire...

Hayley Campbell, better known as Sparket Cadet, is a FIFO (fly-in, fly-out) electrical apprentice working in the mining industry in Brisbane, Australia. After a decade in hospitality, she took a leap at age 30 to chase a hands-on career in the trades—one of the best decisions of her life. Now, she’s thriving in a field she once thought was out of reach, proving that it’s never too late to rewrite...

Marie Patterson is a force in construction. As the first female Chair of Chico State’s Construction Management Department , she’s making major impact on the future workforce. With 15+ years in the field, working for major plumbing and mechanical contractors specializing in large process piping, Marie’s journey has come full circle—returning to Chico State to blend real-world experience with educat...

From sweeping shop floors to now leading a business unit at one of the top 5 ENR General Contractor companies in the world, 34-year-old Ryan “Ike” Eisenhaurer, also known as Coach Ike, has quickly risen through the ranks of the construction industry—channeling serious Drake “started from the bottom, now we’re here” energy. Outside of his role as a construction executive, Ike is a father of two and...

Juanita Douglas is a true pioneer. In 1984, seeking better pay to support herself and her 7-year-old son, she became a union commercial carpenter in Petaluma, CA, and quickly fell in love with the trade. After a successful 30+ year career as a carpenter and later a surveyor, she retired, only to return to the industry. Now, as Senior Manager of Construction and Labor Relations for Rising Sun Cente...

Kellye Wulfers , leads Marketing at M3 Services , an Arkansas-based HVAC company specializing in energy reduction services. Kellye has an incredible reinvention story having transitioned from a career as a fashion designer in New York to the construction industry. As one of the first employees at M3 and now as an executive team member, she’s played a critical role in shaping and growing the compan...

Jessica (Jessi) Lynn , is Director of Strategic Initiatives for Johnson Controls where she supports Sustainable Infrastructure business operations. She started her career in welding, went back to school to get her construction management degree, and then an MBA. Jessi’s story is one of resilience and hope. She has and continues to be a voice for diverse representation across the skilled trades and...