The Contractor’s Edge Podcast - Build Better Businesses

In this solo episode of Contractor’s Edge, Nick argues that AI is a major competitive advantage for contractors when used with discipline and strong business systems, not as a novelty. He shares that many contractors already fail at software implementation and explains how AI should equip teams rather than replace them, especially with widespread employee disengagement. He outlines five reasons co...

At JobTread Connect, the hosts interview Nick Perret of Better Boss about his trades background, marketing degree, and early career at Milwaukee Tool before starting businesses in lead generation and contractor operations. Nick explains that contractors’ biggest issue is often not leads but operational systemization, and he focuses on helping especially small husband-and-wife shops build repeatabl...

On The Contractors Edge Podcast, host Nick interviews Eric Ernisse, founder and CEO of Coastal View Construction in Hawaii, about how adversity and personal development shape success in contracting. Eric shares his path from studying engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder to sailing with his family for seven years through roughly 49 countries, learning planning, patience, and how dealin...

On The Contractors Edge podcast, the host interviews Nathan Zee Pepmiller, an operations manager in a Minnesota contracting business and creator of JT Power Tools in the JobTread marketplace, about using AI and Chrome extensions to scale contractor operations. They discuss treating AI as a thought partner and coworker, building repeatable workflows that get faster over time, and avoiding “magic be...

On this episode of Contractor’s Edge, host Nick interviews Jordan Rychlik of WES TEX Construction and Remodeling about transitioning from five years as a middle school teacher in Fort Stockton, Texas to joining her husband Jeremy’s business after moving to San Angelo. They discuss the dynamics of husband-and-wife teams, balancing risk and impulsiveness, setting role boundaries at work, and how tru...

Today we interview Peter Rainey and Elliot Whitstruck of DataX about using AI, automations, and integrations to help contractors running JobTread. They discuss their backgrounds in construction and tech, how DataX began by sharing JobTread cost-group templates and grew into a toolbox of integrations (e.g., Quo communications logging, Zillow lead qualification data, Google cover photos, dashboards,...

Today Nick hosts Nicholas Cormier of Home Builder Marketers, an agency that has generated over $268M in revenue for builders. They discuss why builders don’t need to go viral on Instagram and instead should focus on trust, consistent content, ads, and systems that nurture long sales cycles (often 6–18 months). Nicholas shares his path from construction and car sales to building and restarting his...

On The Contractor’s Edge, Nick interviews longtime collaborator and developer Ryan Roman about the evolution from deterministic automation to AI agents that can orchestrate workflows, arguing AI will be integrated into every domain. Ryan shares how he learned coding to automate repetitive work, then helped automate contractor lead generation end-to-end and later built AI agents to handle client-sp...

On The Contractor’s Edge, the host interviews Erin Andrews, CEO of Level Accounting, about building better contractor businesses through proactive monthly accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, and tax planning. Aaron shares her background working largely with trades, frustrations with business owners treating accounting as an afterthought, and issues with once-a-year accountants and an industry talent...

In this Contractor’s Edge episode, Nick interviews Jake Mauldin, founder/CEO of Rising Creek Custom Homes, about Jake’s background in construction from childhood, his time as a firefighter/paramedic, and how those experiences shaped his focus on triage, prioritization, and staying calm in chaos. Jake explains why contractors need strong systems instead of relying on Excel, texts, and scattered com...

Eric recounts being asked to help a five-year-old construction company stuck at a scaling “glass ceiling” due to chaotic, manual paper-and-spreadsheet workflows, leading him to build software that became JobTread; after taking over as CEO, the company grew from $5M to $8M in sales and increased gross profit by 43%, and JobTread launched officially in 2019. He explains his enthusiasm for AI alongsi...

Nick hosts a recap from a JobTread town hall announcing a new AI connection integrated directly into JobTread accounts via MCP, noting strong interest and rapid customer growth. Nick, Johnny, and Tyler discuss how this foundation-based approach lets users layer powerful AI tools (including Claude) over existing workflows without relying on a single narrow feature. They emphasize that AI requires s...

Nick interviews Steve Rozenberg, an international Boeing 777 pilot and entrepreneur, about building businesses through systems, clarity, and humility. Rosenberg recounts becoming a major-airline pilot at 25, being furloughed after 9/11, and reinventing himself through intense self-education and real estate mentorship. After costly mistakes with a large Houston rental portfolio, he and a partner bu...

On the Contractors Edge podcast, Nick interviews Chris Moore, founder of Senior Remodeling Experts and author of “Age Out Loud,” about mastery, mindset, and building a purpose-driven niche contracting business. Moore recounts starting in the trades in 1986 under a precision-focused mentor, contrasts pride in craftsmanship with today’s “minimum effort” mentality, and explains that learning is for m...

We are back and better than ever. I'm Nick Peret, founder of Better Boss and your JobTread Certified Implementation Partner, and this is the very first episode of The Contractor's Edge — the podcast for contractors who want to build better businesses. I've been wanting to launch this show for a while now, but if I'm being real, I was too busy in the trenches doing the actual work to get it off the...