Welcome to the Dirt World's top podcast (self-proclaimed). Every week, host Aaron Witt, founder of BuildWitt, interviews construction and mining industry leaders in long form and shares updates on what's happening inside of BuildWitt.
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60 recent
June 15, 202618 min
Announcements and You Can Too (Building BuildWitt 57) - DT451
June 15, 2026
Announcements and You Can Too!
BuildWitt Update #57 – DT 451
Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.
Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary
Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
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June 11, 20262 hr 7 min
Dragging Construction Into the Future - Tristan Wilson ( DT 450)
June 11, 2026
Dragging Construction Into the Future - Tristan Wilson ( DT 450)
Tristan Wilson is the founder of Edgevanta, an estimating automation software built for civil contractors, a former road construction operator, and author of a weekly newsletter covering construction technology and industry trends. He spent years on paving crews watching estimators hand-enter numbers into spreadsheets and wonder why nobody had fixed it yet — so he built the fix himself. He reveals why construction tech keeps failing contractors, why the industry is at a once-in-a-generation inflection point, and what it actually takes to drag one of the oldest industries in the world into the future.
Follow Tristan on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristan-a-wilson/
Learn more about Edgevanta at: https://www.edgevanta.ai/
Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
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June 8, 202613 min
New Architecture, Frank and Announcements (Building BuildWitt 56) - DT449
June 8, 2026
New Architecture, Frank and Announcements
BuildWitt Update #56 – DT 449
Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.
Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary
Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 4, 20261 hr 54 min
Why Construction Is Losing the Next Generation - Fred Mills (DT 448)
June 4, 2026
Why Construction Is Losing the Next Generation - Fred Mills
Fred Mills is the founder of The B1M, the world's largest YouTube channel dedicated to construction and infrastructure, a construction media pioneer, and author of the new book Mega Builds. He quit his job in construction the same week his son was born to build a media company nobody believed in — editing videos in hospital while his wife slept after giving birth. He reveals why the construction industry's mental health crisis isn't a people problem — it's a systems problem — and why the stories being left untold about the world's greatest projects are costing the industry an entire generation of talent.
Follow Fred on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-mills-35a8412b/
Learn more about The B1M at: https://www.theb1m.com/
Check out the latest videos at: https://www.youtube.com/@TheB1M
Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 1, 2026
African Mining Adventure
BuildWitt Update #55 – DT 447
Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.
Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary
Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 28, 20261 hr 57 min
"It's Not the Pay, It Never Was" - Ken Rusk (DT446)
May 28, 2026
It's Not the Pay, It Never Was
Ken Rusk w/ Rusk Industries – DT 446
Ken Rusk is the author of Blue Collar Cash, founder of Rusk Industries, a drainage and excavation company in Toledo, Ohio, and a Fox News contributor who has appeared on over 327 podcasts in the past two years. He spent 40 years figuring out why some employees thrive and others just survive — and the answer had nothing to do with pay or benefits. He reveals why employers who can't find good workers are the actual problem — and the surprisingly simple system he's used for decades to turn blue collar workers into goal-crushing machines.
Follow Ken on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-rusk-2656a7175/
Learn more about Rusk Industries at: https://www.kenrusk.com/
Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
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May 25, 202614 min
Dirt World Sold Out (Building BuildWitt 54) - DT445
May 25, 2026
Dirt World Sold Out
BuildWitt Update #54 – DT 445
Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.
Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary
Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 21, 20262 hr 16 min
They Tried to Undo 100 Years of His Family’s Work - Herb Sargent (DT 444)
May 20, 2026
They Tried to Undo 100 Years of His Family's Work
Herb Sargent w/ Sargent Corporation – DT 444
Herb Sargent is the Board Chair of Sargent Corporation, a 100-year-old employee-owned civil construction company in Maine, and co-host of the Starbuck & Sargent podcast. He bought back his family's company — six times the size of his own — the same year a German-owned parent company tried to undo everything his grandfather built. He reveals why the construction industry's biggest problem isn't workforce shortage, it's leadership — and why employee ownership might be the only vehicle left to rebuild the American middle class. His new book, “The Hard Work Starts Today,” documents the 100-year Sargent journey, from simple REO Speedwagon to a 9-figure business.
Follow Herb on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herb-sargent--esop/
Learn more about Sargent Corporation at: https://sargent.us/
Want to better train and develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 20, 2026
Speaking, Waiting Lists and Solving Problems
BuildWitt Update #53 – DT 443
Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.
Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary
Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 14, 20261 hr 46 min
Give Us the Dirt - Brandon Lindsey (DT 442)
Brandon Lindsey is VP at Hoopaugh Grading Company, host of the Give Us the Dirt Podcast, and Co-Founder of Dream on 3, a sports dream-granting organization for kids battling life-altering conditions. He quit his 20-year corporate career the day he was finally offered the job he'd been working toward his whole life and joined Hoopaugh Grading in 2018. He reveals why the construction industry doesn't have a workforce problem - it has a development problem - and why the companies ignoring that are headed toward extinction.
Follow Brandon on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonlindsey272/
Learn more about Hoopaugh Grading Company and Dream on 3 at: https://hoopaughgrading.com/ and https://dreamon3.org/
Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com
Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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