Builders, Budgets, and Beers
The Builders, Budgets, and Beers Podcast is on a mission to make project financials less intimidating for commercial and residential builders. We aim to give builders the confidence to take control of their business’ cash flow by bringing on relatable guests who share real stories of financial wins and losses from their journeys in the building industry.
Produced by the team at Adaptive, this podcast is here to help builders build smarter—one budget, one story and one beer at a time.
Episodes
47 episodes
Stop Bleeding Talent
Suman Cherry shares a no-BS playbook for hiring in construction. We get into the real cost of losing A-players, the first hires that buy back your time, and how SOPs, EOS-style accountability, and regulated leadership create capacity - not chao...
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51:36
Profit by Design: CFO + CPA for Builders
Allison O’Baker and Priscilla Thomasevich share how a CFO–CPA duo helps builders organize their books, budget with intent, and protect margins. We dig into chart of accounts vs. cost codes, fixed vs. variable spend, tax levers and accounting me...
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51:19
Building a Business With Your Spouse with Cody & Kristen Dawson
Cody & Kristen Dawson share how Patriot Custom Homes grew from a COVID-era handyman hustle into a legit remodel-to-custom operation—with corporate skills, clear lanes, and real systems doing the heavy lifting. They get into the spouse-run d...
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49:21
Payroll Tax Savings Most Builders Miss
Operations pro Angie Aki joins Reece to demystify payroll tax savings, W-2 vs 1099 trade-offs, benefits that actually help retention, and the liability/insurance pieces builders overlook. We finish with a simple action plan—clean AR, right reti...
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36:40
From Grunt Work to Luxury GC
Brady Fenn shares how Fenn Rogers went from “tearing up floors” to a trusted luxury custom home builder in the Phoenix area by partnering with the right designers/architects and bidding to the actual spec, not the plan assumptions. He shares ha...
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47:17
Fixed Price vs Cost-Plus
Victor Rybak shares how he moved from “bags-on” to building systems that protect profit—covering fixed price vs cost-plus, change orders, retainers, and allowances that don’t burn you. He also breaks down the House Pro workflow for bids, select...
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56:03
Curiosity Over Ego: Specs & Real Margins
Gabe Joseph shares how getting past ego made him a better builder—leaning into curiosity, standardizing specs, and scaling without bloat. We dig into procurement, margins, architect fit, permitting, and the upstream moves that erase change orde...
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47:59
Know Your Numbers, Not Just Your Craft
Tyler Grace shares how he shifted from over-delivering to running a lean, profitable small-shop—tracking every hour, pricing for reality, and choosing lifestyle over headcount. He breaks down T&M vs cost-plus in plain English, why “good eno...
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1:17:37
Pre-Con Without the Chaos
Adam Copenhaver shares how Cope Grand scaled from small cottages to ultra-luxury builds in Charleston by systematizing pre-construction, translating “ankle-grabber” chaos into clear scopes, and making budgets readable to clients. He dives into ...
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1:14:49
Cash Flow Isn’t Profit: Job-Cost It
Trent Waldrop shares how confusing cash flow with profit can quietly sink a small builder—and why ruthless job costing is the only way to know if you’re actually making money. He breaks down moving from 75–80% cost capture to billing every line...
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52:09
You’re Flying Blind in Business (Here’s How to Fix It)
Would you jump on a plane if the pilot didn’t understand their cockpit dials? Randy Stanbury of 4 Level Coach shares how builders and remodelers can stop “flying blind” by mastering financial literacy, building systems, and creating a clear vis...
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53:21
From Budget Nightmare to Profit Machine
In this episode of Builders, Budgets & Beers, Reece sits down with Owen Drury of Bricks & Bytes to tackle the pressure from big-tech clients demanding lightning-fast delivery. They dig into UK vs. US timelines, the surge in HVAC/heat-pu...
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46:07
Uncovering Hidden Profits
Chloe Brown, founder of Wildest Dreams, discusses the importance of accurate job costing and financial tracking in construction. She highlights that many builders fail to recoup thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per job due to inade...
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47:49
The True Cost of Fixed Fee vs Cost Plus Models
Jake Bruton, from Aarow Building, talks about the painful $180,000 lesson that forced him to completely rethink his construction business pricing model. Learn how moving from fixed fee to cost plus saved his company, improved client relationshi...
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46:48
How He Built a Construction Empire Overnight
Rudy Marroquin, founder of Atlas Homes in Austin, joins Reece to break down how he went from a $500 startup budget to building luxury homes in Montecito and Malibu. Rudy shares how vertical integration, strategic hiring, and cultural fluency he...
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32:11
How to scale from 15 homes to 150 homes with Thomas Joseph, Joseph Design Build
Thomas Joseph, co-founder of Joseph Design Build, joins Reece to talk about moving from high-end custom infill homes to building at scale—with intention. He walks through how getting out of the “just wing it” mindset and leaning into systems, n...
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48:36
How to Actually Make Money in Construction with Will King
Custom builder Will King of High Cotton Homes shares hard-earned lessons on how to actually make money in construction. From markup vs. margin to pre-con agreements and spotting bad clients early, this episode is packed with real talk and tacti...
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52:19
From DIY to $3M: What Builders Learn the Hard Way with Garrett Goldsberry
Garrett “Goldsy” Goldsberry joins Reece Barnes to share how he and his wife left cushy jobs, started Salt Creek Homes from scratch, and grew it to a thriving remodel and new construction business. He walks through the overlooked pain points of ...
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50:40
When Your Systems Don’t Match Your Strategy with Dirk van der Velde
Dirk van der Velde, co-founder of Momenta, opens up about the early missteps in aligning business structure with execution—and how tightening operations led to meaningful gains. From auditing underused software to designing a high-output team c...
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42:17
Bringing Commercial Precision to Custom Home Building with Julian Miller
Julian Miller, Director of Operations at NS Builders, shares how his experience in commercial construction built the foundation for his process-driven approach in high-end residential work. From implementing operational systems to maintaining c...
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32:57
The Most Common (and Costly) Mistakes Builders Make with Melissa Leediker
Melissa Leediker, Founder of Turquant Builder Services, LLC, discusses the most common and costly errors in construction accounting, focusing on job costing, cost coding, and duplicate payments. She emphasizes the importance of implementing con...
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34:57
How Multi-Entity Builders Stay on Top of Every Dollar with Shayne Glass
Shayne Glass, CPA Controller for Shrock Companies, shares his insights on Shrock’s sophisticated approach to managing multiple business entities by maintaining financial independence while sharing resources across construction, prefabrication, ...
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48:54
Rebuilding After Helene with Noi Calhoun
Noi Calhoun, from JAG Construction, shares the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene on Asheville, North Carolina, detailing the community's struggle and resilience. The conversation explores the challenges of rebuilding, the loss of infrastru...
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34:16
Insights From a Top Construction CPA with Dorrie Franzello-Kurtz
This week, Dorrie Franzello-Kurtz, CPA at YHB | CPAs &Consultants, discusses the critical importance of accurate job costing, real-time financial reporting, and strategic financial management for construction companies. She emphasizes the n...
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49:12
COPE-ing with Overhead and Cost Codes with Michael Anschel
In this episode Michael Anschel, Principal at OA Design+Build +Architecture, discusses the COPE (Cost of Project Execution) method, which helps builders gain better visibility into their overhead and project costs. The guests emphasize the impo...
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47:27
