Tradies Who Lead

Leading a team that’s been at it longer than you have is its own kind of test. The fix isn’t more authority — it’s a different way of leading. Chris Hale is a sales manager in the wind energy industry who came up through sport and coaching. He brings an outside-the-trades view on leading experienced teams, building partnerships, and driving training that actually changes culture. In this conversat...

Leading a crew on site and representing the trade online are two different jobs, and parenthood has a way of changing how you do both. Andrew Hopkins (a.k.a. Hoppo) is a Melbourne carpenter, business owner at Hopkins Construction, content creator and dad. He’s led teams for over eight years while building an online presence that shows the good side of the trade. In this conversation, we get into:...

Surface-level banter keeps a crew comfortable, but it doesn’t keep them safe. Going beyond the usual back-and-forth is where we build stronger teams. Aaron Huey (a.k.a Coach Huey) is a construction mental health advocate, life coach and founder of Hustletalk Coaching. With 20-plus years in the industry and a hard-earned story through stress, anxiety and single fatherhood, he talks straight about w...

The trade gets passed down by the people willing to teach it, and mentoring the next generation doesn’t have to be hard. Raman is a vocational training specialist with international experience in education and training. He’s spent a career working out how people actually learn a trade, how to teach it better, and the diverse pathways a trade career can provide. In this conversation, we get into: •...

Plenty of tradies are carrying more than they let on. Bardie knows, because she spent years wearing a mask to fit in, while the hard stuff went unspoken. Bardie Somerville is the founder of The Shift, a platform built to give tradies real tools for life. She’s lived the mental health struggle she now helps others through with practical strategies that work onsite, whether you're leading teams...

A bad attitude on the crew is usually a symptom, not the problem. The real question is whether you’ll sit down and find out what’s actually going on. Matt Gilbert is a diesel mechanic who came up through the workshop and into a workshop manager role at a large civil mining company in regional Australia. He’s led crews that didn’t want to be led — and worked out how to win them over without throwin...

Welcome to Tradies Who Lead, the podcast about everyday leadership for everyday legends. Join Ashley Belteky, a diesel mechanic by trade, as she talks to a diverse range of tradies from across industries to uncover their leadership journeys and the tools of the trade they use to lead. From hard-learned lessons to practical strategies you can apply in your work, this podcast celebrates how tradespe...