Builder Stories

Hosted by Eric Fortenberry

Business EntrepreneurshipInterviews guests

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Episodes

162

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to Builder Stories, the podcast where builders, remodelers, and contractors share their personal and business journeys. Come learn from the stories of successful entrepreneurs who share how they got started, how they found success, and the lessons learned along the way. Your host, Eric Fortenberry, has successfully built two businesses, one in software and one in construction. He is now the Founder and CEO of JobTread Software, a construction estimating and project management platform that has helped thousands of builders and contractors sell and manage over $1 billion in construction jobs.

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60 recent

October 21, 2026Episode 16256 min

The Seminary Student Who Built a Luxury Remodeling Firm | Stephan Sardone of Sardone | McLain

Stephan Sardone was planning to move to Papua New Guinea when he started doing tile work to get through seminary. He had no business training and wasn't worried about making money. Then his company grew 10X in a single year and he admits he had no idea what he was doing. Hear what he wishes he'd known before the business outgrew what he could keep in his head. In this episode you will learn: The one move that finally gave him a real business education The goal he keeps front and center The surprising advice he gives prospects who are weighing his competition The contract habit that had him eating change orders for years How he supports his team's mental health with a benefit few contractors offer Resources: Hear the full conversation on Builder Stories. Learn more about Sardone | McLain here .

October 14, 2026Episode 1601 hr 0 min

Automate the Obvious, Personalize Everything Else | Steven Ross, Renovating KC Design and Remodel

Steven Ross and his brother Ben started Renovating KC in 2020 and "did everything the wrong way." One early mistake cost them $90,000 on a single project. Five years later the Lenexa, Kansas firm landed at No. 139 on the 2025 Inc. 5000. In this episode Steven reveals the secrets behind that explosive growth. He also shares how his team uses AI to move faster than ever while delivering an experience no computer can match. In this episode you will learn: The campsite strategy that keeps his rapid growth on track The best pace to keep you growing at the optimal speed The simple rule he follows for deciding what to automate The hiring approach behind his 35-person team When micromanaging becomes the right move for your team Learn more about Renovating KC here

October 7, 2026Episode 15053 min

Running a Legacy Pool Company Like a Startup | Jillian Childs of Craft Master Custom Pools

Jillian Childs went from running field marketing at Tesla to owning a South Florida pool company with her husband, Christian. They took over 150 open projects on day one, and every single one lived in a manila folder. In one year, Jillian rebuilt the operation inside JobTread with robust processes and streamlined automations that wipe out hours of tedious admin work. Now she's using AI to recover revenue that was slipping through the cracks. In this episode you will learn: The revenue red flag Jillian looks for before buying any business How a single AI audit uncovered approved change orders that never got invoiced The training approach that helps a team with mixed tech skills adopt new software Why Jillian puts her ad dollars into Meta and skips Google entirely The simple list exercise that shows you exactly where to hire next Resources: Hear the full conversation on Builder Stories. Learn more about Craft Master Custom Pools here .

September 23, 2026Episode 15854 min

How to Invest in Marketing When You Cant Fully Prove It's Working | Ashley Wainscott of Simply Home

Ashley Wainscott built Simply Home for years on referrals and relationship marketing alone. In recent years she made a real investment in SEO, paid ads, and video content, even without a clean way to prove any of it was converting. She talks about the shift from scripted, robotic video to something rawer, and what her content looks like today. In this episode she breaks down her current lead mix and the rule she uses to decide whether a new marketing channel is worth keeping. In this episode you will learn: Why Ashley believed relationships alone would carry her business, until they stopped being enough How she turned her direct competitors into one of her most reliable sources of new clients The shift from scripted, robotic video to something rawer, and what her content looks like now What she spends each month on video content with no clear way to prove it converts The rule of thumb she uses to decide whether a new marketing channel is worth keeping Resources: Hear the full conversation on Builder Stories. Learn more about Ashley's work here .

September 23, 2026Episode 15957 min

How to Eliminate Surprises Before Construction Starts | Morgan Thomas of Homestead Builders Group

Morgan Thomas spent 15 years in commercial and residential construction before launching Homestead Builders Group in Healdsburg, California, with her business partner. Her promise to every client is a project with no surprises. Morgan believes most construction mishaps can be caught with upfront investigation before anyone picks up a tool. In this episode, she shares how she built her new company around that promise from day one. In this episode you will learn: How an itemized preconstruction agreement makes every responsibility clear before demo starts Why an old-school whiteboard keeps crews accountable every day The "superpower" that allows her to forecast accurately, know when to hire, and dial in her pipeline The simple social media habit that turns architects and designers into referral partners What keeps disagreements between co-founders from damaging the partnership Resources: Hear the full conversation on Builder Stories. Learn more about Homestead Builders Group here .

September 16, 2026Episode 15749 min

Where Americans Are Moving and the Homes They Want to Build | Jared Davis of Architectural Designs

Jared Davis left Stripe to take over a family business that sells house plans to builders across the US and Canada. Today Architectural Designs represents 28,000 plans from around 200 designers and sells to tens of thousands of builders every year. In this conversation he shares what that buying data reveals about regional growth and shifting design tastes. He also makes the case that a stock plan can get a builder to a custom design faster than starting from scratch. In this episode you will learn: Why the "pre-drawn" stigma is costing builders time in preconstruction The question to ask before hiring an in-house designer The home style that dominated the last decade and what's replacing it The regions where home building growth is spiking, according to what people are buying What a life-size floor plan walkthrough revealed about how buyers decide Resources: Hear the full conversation on Builder Stories. Learn more about Architectural Designs h ere.

September 9, 2026Episode 1561 hr 5 min

Meet the 30 AI Agents Running in the Background of a Remodeling Company | Jeremy Wood of Neil Kelly Company

An agent is just a program that runs on a timer and does one job for you. IT Director Jeremy Wood has about 30 of them working inside of a large, 80 year old design build firm that handles projects from handyman jobs to whole-house remodels. They sync the CRM, process AP, reconcile vendor invoices, check estimates against scopes of work, and much more. Here, Jeremy explains what agents are, how to run them, and why the version most people picture is the version you should never build. He even used agents to select construction software and had a graded shortlist of options before he ever spoke to a salesperson. In this episode you will learn : What an AI agent really is in plain language, and why the simplest ones are doing the most valuable work at Neil Kelly The one thing Jeremy refuses to let AI do in a business process, and what he has it do instead What Jeremy learned he was really building when he thought he was building agents The three levels of company technology, and why agents only work if the bottom two are solid Why mid-size companies are falling behind smaller ones on AI right now, and how a small shop can turn that into an advantage Resources: Hear the full conversation on Builder Stories. Learn more about the Neil Kelly Company here .

September 2, 2026Episode 19952 min

Turning $100,000 in Debt Into a Thriving Remodeling Business | Todd Milton of Milton Construction Company

Todd Milton inherited his father's sterling reputation as an Appomattox, Virginia home builder, then nearly ran the company into the ground. He then attended a two-day conference that exposed how badly he had been pricing jobs, and that same year he closed the books $100,000 in debt. He rebuilt his pricing, rewrote his contract into something that protected him, and slowly turned a business run off a legal pad into one with real financial software behind it. Today he's learning when and how to step back and let his team lead. In this episode you will learn: The pricing myth he believed for nearly a decade that bled his company dry The unconventional method he used to climb out of six figures in debt The formula that finally showed him what he actually needed to charge to turn a profit How long it really took before his marketing investment started paying off The advice from a client that changed the way he leads his team Resources: Hear the full conversation on Builder Stories. Learn more about Todd's work here .

August 26, 2026Episode 1541 hr 0 min

Rebuilding the Business Every Time You Outgrow It | Canon Baldridge of Integria Construction

Canon Baldridge started Integria in 2023 with no connections in California and no book of business to fall back on. Every hire since has forced him to redefine his own role, from hands on tools to project management to marketing and sales. He has assembled a stack of software and outside partners piece by piece, adding each one only when the last version of the business stopped working. Three years in he is rebranding as a design build firm because a run of change orders proved the model itself had outgrown its usefulness. In this episode you will learn: The software stack Canon runs a four person company on, and the one piece he preaches like the gospel The outside partners Canon relies on for clarity, branding, and administrative help How Canon divides work between a virtual assistant and AI so neither one runs unchecked The weekly meeting he and his wife have not missed in two years, and the $200 rule that guarantees it The two words Canon says every owner needs before they can build anything worth keeping Listen to the full episode and learn more about Integria here .

August 19, 2026Episode 15346 min

How to Price Work Correctly and Sell it with Video | Dan Flansburg of Flansburg Construction

Dan Flansburg started his New Jersey remodeling company in 2011 with a truck, a set of tools, and no business plan. For three years in the middle of that run, several of his employees took home more money than he did. Around 2018 he stopped treating marketing as an expense and hired a real web team, an SEO company, and a professional photographer. Three years ago he added video, and he now calls it the biggest change his company has made. In this episode you will learn: What Dan tracks on every job and the three years he lost by not tracking it The six weeks off his feet that taught him to delegate for the first time The two outside programs that helped him scale the company and improve operational efficiency How he handles scripting for his videos, and who's on the video team The two kinds of callers he can tell apart within a few qualifying questions Listen to the episode to learn more. Resources: Learn more about Flansburg Construction here .