Learnings and Missteps by Depth Builder

Hosted by Jesse

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234

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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EN-US

About the show

The Learnings and Missteps Podcast is about unconventional roads to success and the life lessons learned along the way. You will find a library of interviews packed with actionable take aways that you can apply as you progress on your path to Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be. Through these interviews you will learn about the buttons you can push to be a better leader, carve your own path, and build your influence. Find yourself in their stories and know that your path is still ahead of you.

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June 11, 2026Episode 2341 hr 0 min

Old-School Crews, Last Planner Mistakes, and Building Culture by Design with Boone White

Boone White grew up with a stutter. Public speaking was something he avoided until years of running weekly safety meetings forced him to figure it out. He got better by going shorter, ditching the scripts, and replacing bullet points with stories. Now he's a general superintendent at ICM Construction, a construction influencer, and one of the more honest voices in the trades about what it actually takes to shift a jobsite culture from the inside.In this episode, Jesse and Boone get into what it looks like to lead crews who've been doing this longer than you have, why systems matter more than blame, and how tools like Last Planner can either build a team or blow one up depending on how you roll them out.What you'll hear:How Boone turned a childhood stutter into a communication strength — and why story-driven toolbox talks land harder than scripted onesWhat it looks like to lead hardheaded, old-school crews without losing their respect or your standardsThe honest story of how he butchered Last Planner on his first try — and why Lean tools get weaponized against the culture they're supposed to buildThe workforce pressures forcing construction to get serious about how it treats people, whether it wants to or notInside ICM's Align Academy and the Old Dog Community — and why experienced supers need a peer group as much as anyoneBoone's push to change how Mississippi bids and delivers workBoone's a working super who figured things out the hard way. This one's worth the listen.00:00 Facts and Introductions02:15 Why Boone Speaks02:39 Stutter to Confidence04:29 Toolbox Talks That Stick05:15 Stories Over Scripts08:08 Leading Older Crews09:31 Firm Leadership Balance13:41 Old School vs New16:54 Workforce Change Storm19:11 Treat People Like People22:26 Lean Books Breakthrough26:25 Butchering Last Planner27:21 Weaponized Collaboration28:21 Identity Shift to Lead31:51 Enemy Is Waste32:37 ICM Culture by Design35:16 Why Boone Joined ICM38:52 Inside Align Academy44:31 In Person Training Wins46:40 Listening as a Skill49:13 Old Dog Community53:06 Promise for Mississippi55:09 Where to Connect55:49 Podcast Wrap UpGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

May 28, 202644 min

Efficiency Isn't a Buzzword: Sneha Kumari on Merlin AI, Orchestration, and Operational Intelligence

Most people think Lean is a manufacturing methodology. Sneha Kumari lives it as a mindset.Sneha is back on Learnings & Missteps. She's the president of Merlin AI and one of the most recognized women in manufacturing; and this conversation gets into the stuff that actually moves the needle.Jesse and Sneha dig into why Lean isn't just a process tool, it's a way of thinking about simplicity, eliminating waste, and respecting people's time. That includes your team, your clients, and yes, even your kids. When you build systems — whether that's automation, AI, or a morning routine — the goal is the same: remove time as a bottleneck.They also break down how tight feedback loops change the game. Not chasing every outlier. Spotting patterns. Doing real root-cause analysis. Using an impact-versus-effort matrix to make smarter decisions faster.Sneha gets honest about what she's learned since launching Merlin AI, resilience, leading a remote global team, and how to maintain urgency without blowing up quality, safety, or delivery.And she explains what Merlin AI is actually solving: the fragmented, unpredictable mess that construction workflows still are. Orchestration and operational intelligence — predicting problems before they happen, making execution more scalable and repeatable.If you're leading people, building systems, or trying to figure out where AI actually fits in your operation, this one's for you.00:00 Feedback Loops Mindset00:14 Meet Sneha Kamari02:41 Why Lean Matters07:51 Respecting Time12:18 AI Systems Design15:27 Merlin AI Founder Lessons20:19 Mistakes And Learning22:01 Tight Feedback Loops26:42 Patterns And Priorities30:27 Orchestration Explained32:59 Operational IntelligenceGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

May 21, 202628 min

Break the Hyper Reactivity Loop: The Weekly Planning System Every Construction Leader Needs

Time management for construction leaders isn't about working harder — it's about deciding what actually matters before the week decides for you.In this episode, Jesse breaks down the hyper-reactivity loop that keeps construction superintendents, foremen, and project managers double-booked and frazzled — and shares two practical tools to fix it.You'll learn:The "Book Your Week" system — one weekly reset, a daily task limit of seven, and how it makes it easier to push back on last-minute requestsThree mental preset phrases that buy you time without burning bridges with your team or managerWhy last-minute demands keep landing on your plate — and whose behavior is reinforcing itThe one priority conversation that protects your focus without throwing yourself under the busWhat Jesse will (and won't) let disrupt his weekly planIf you're a construction leader who ends every week wondering where it went, this episode is for you.Follow Learnings & Missteps for a new episode every week — practical leadership tools built for the field, not the boardroom.Depth Builder | Learnings & Missteps LinkedIn00:00 Rushing Looks Incompetent00:48 Two Tools Overview01:31 Break Reactivity Loop02:15 Book Your Week Habit03:24 Calendar Skills Matter04:37 Seven Tasks Limit06:01 Say No With Confidence11:20 Mental Presets Scripts14:12 Stop Conditioning Yes15:02 White Paper Lesson16:48 Recap And Free Tools20:19 Bonus Disruption Rules22:33 Final Review And SignoffGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

May 14, 20261 hr 4 min

Your Workers Aren't Lazy - They're Depleted: Jennifer Martinez on Rapid Restoration for Industrial Athletes

Your people aren't running out of steam because they're soft. They're running out of electrolytes — and the water cooler isn't fixing it.Jennifer Martinez is a sports-medicine-trained performance specialist who decided the trades deserved the same recovery science as elite athletes. She calls it rapid restoration. And she's got an approach that turns depleted workers around in about 10 minutes.In this episode, Jesse and Jennifer break down what's actually draining your workforce — filtered water, energy drinks, caffeine, stress, poor diet. Why the headaches, cramps, fatigue, and on-the-job mistakes your crew writes off as "just part of the job" are symptoms, not character flaws. It's a $100 billion annual problem hiding in plain sight.Jennifer also talks about the faith that kept her going through early pushback, why she rebranded to "rapid restoration," and the mission underneath all of it: getting workers home to their families healthier than when they showed up.In this episode:Why "drink more water" is making things worse, not betterThe everyday habits silently draining your crewHow depletion shows up as mistakes, heat illness, and underreported incidentsWhy workers have to feel better before they'll change behaviorJennifer's journey from pushback to rapid restorationConnect with Jennifer Martinez: J Mar Solutions | LinkedIn00:00 The Hidden Cost00:37 Meet Jennifer Martinez03:44 Imperfect Action Wins06:31 Handling Criticism Gracefully08:47 When You Want To Quit10:10 Surrender And Rebrand13:31 Dehydration Myth Busting16:41 Coffee Stress And Coping20:19 Heat Exposes Depletion22:15 Rapid Restoration In Action26:34 From Sports To Job Sites29:40 Friction And Pushback30:51 Faith Fueled Resilience34:15 Squirt Squad Marketing34:52 Heat Stroke Save Story38:15 Industrial Athletes Mindset39:49 Change Through Feeling Better42:55 Surrender And Service45:26 Doing Right Over Profit48:23 Kidney Health Mineral Message50:22 Where To Find JMARGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

May 7, 20261 hr 2 min

Leadership Tachycardia and the Power of Recovery with Hanna Bauer

Hanna Bauer, founder of Heartnomics, joins Jesse to talk about what she calls "Leadership Tachycardia" — what happens when leaders skip recovery and wonder why they're running on empty.Hanna blends Six Sigma, systems thinking, and personal experience to help leaders align internally so they can execute externally. In this conversation: empowerment, fabricated stress, the difference between excellence and perfection, and why purpose and passion aren't the same thing.Topics covered:Leadership Tachycardia and the cost of skipping recoverySeparating facts from the stories we tell ourselvesExcellence vs. perfectionPurpose vs. passionEmpowerment as a personal responsibilityConnect with Hanna: heartnomics.com | LinkedIn00:00 Exhausted Yet Driven00:15 Meet Hannah Bauer02:14 Defining Empowerment03:38 Stuck Signals and Burnout06:09 Breathing and Recovery08:40 Purpose Versus Passion09:59 Leadership Tachycardia13:15 Seasons and Rest Rhythms16:21 Excellence Over Perfection20:12 Facts Versus Stories23:31 Beliefs and Empowerment26:16 Trauma to Thrive28:13 Pick Your Pain29:55 Heartnomics and Innovation32:30 Risk and Breakthrough Leadership33:20 Risk And Real Leadership34:34 No Roadmap For Change35:58 From Survival To Six Sigma38:04 Systems Thinking From The Heart39:11 Stop Blaming People Fix Systems42:28 Getting Used To Being Well45:45 Coaching Mentors And Accountability46:41 Your Story Becomes Your Message50:43 Excellence Versus PerfectionGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

April 30, 202628 min

YES! The Real Reason Your Weeks Feel Busy But Empty

You'd never start a project without knowing what it's going to cost you. But most people say yes to commitments without running those same numbers.Jesse calls it choose your consequence. Consequence isn't punishment. It's just the result of every decision you make — whether you thought it through or not.He puts his own life on the table. Explains why he doesn't date. Not because he can't. Because he did the math on what it costs — hours, money, focus — and decided that's not where he wants to spend it.Every yes is a no to something else. The question is whether you're choosing that tradeoff on purpose.If you keep ending the week feeling like you worked hard and moved nothing forward — this one's for you.00:00 Choose Your Consequence01:47 What Consequence Means04:00 Time Pressure Reality05:11 Dating Decision Example10:17 Zoom Out and Simplify11:55 Opportunities and Ego Traps14:52 Long Term Lens18:52 Non Negotiables and Hard Nos22:58 Workshops and Next Steps24:32 Podcast Outro and ResourcesGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

April 23, 20261 hr 8 min

Why Most Leaders Avoid the Conversations That Actually Build Culture (With Lisa Corrales)

Most leaders say culture matters.Very few are willing to do what it actually takes to build one.In this episode, Jesse sits down with Lisa Corrales - Field Verified leader with 25 years in organizational development and healthcare - to unpack the uncomfortable truth: culture isn’t built through values on a wall. It’s built through conversations most leaders avoid.They get into why promoting people based on seniority quietly erodes teams, what separates leaders who grow from those who stall out, and why self-awareness is the foundation almost no one invests in enough.Lisa also shares how Field Verified operationalizes culture - from weekly check-ins to real-time recognition - and what changed when she stepped into the direct, no-filter world of construction.But the real shift?Reframing “hard conversations” as the job, not the exception.If you’ve ever avoided a conversation, you knew you needed to have… this one will hit.00:00 Leadership Not Conflict00:13 Meet Miss Lisa03:36 Why Culture Drives Growth07:24 Internal Customers Matter10:19 Can Leadership Be Taught15:51 Building Leaders at Work21:01 Designing Thriving Culture29:16 Accountability And Coaching33:52 Responsibility Of Leadership35:16 Rewarding Top Performers35:57 Willing Versus Capable36:53 Bad Behavior Spreads38:21 Communication Styles Matter40:00 Praise And Direct Feedback43:09 Building A Praise Culture46:50 Reps For Tough Talks52:56 From Medicine To Construction59:12 Site Visit Perspective Shift01:02:06 Promise And ClosingGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

April 16, 20261 hr 5 min

Your Broker Might Be Costing You: Micah Salas on Insurance That Actually Works

Most construction owners treat insurance like a bill they just have to pay. Micah Salas thinks that's exactly why they overpay.Micah is an Austin-based commercial insurance author and the guy who wrote The Business Insurance Playbook — not for agents, but for owners like you. In this episode, he breaks down why the way most contractors shop for coverage is quietly working against them, what it actually looks like to "sell your risk," and the specific things happening inside your operation right now that are either raising or lowering your premiums.This one gets practical fast. We get into driver controls, subcontractor agreements, and what an underwriter is actually looking for when they get on a call with you — and it's not what most people think.If you've ever wondered whether your agent is actually working for you, this episode is worth your time.00:00 Risk First Mindset00:15 Meet Micah Salas03:03 Insurance Shopping Myth04:30 Carrier Blocking Explained06:52 Agent Versus Underwriter08:07 Sell Your Risk10:23 Real Estate Analogy13:13 Shoutout And Recap14:08 Cost Of Risk16:22 Why He Wrote Book20:21 Practical Risk Reducers27:33 Leadership And Character29:23 Client Fit Signals30:46 Risk Readiness Checklist31:39 Social Media as Signal32:29 Selling Your Risk Story33:58 BIM and Prefab Safety37:14 Side Hustle Selling Mindset39:57 Workshop to Product Pipeline43:17 Cold Outreach and Content Reality46:32 Building Max Revenue49:18 Bumps and Big Leaps52:37 Stillness for Resilience56:47 Meaning Making and RejectionGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

April 9, 202650 min

Stop Winning At Work And Losing At Life

You can be great at your job and still be losing the parts of life that actually make success worth it. That’s where we start: the quiet trade so many high performers make, sacrificing sleep, health, learning, and real presence with the people we love so we can keep delivering, keep getting promoted, and keep looking “fine” from the outside. I share a personal wake-up call that made it impossible to ignore the gap between professional execution and personal neglect.From there, we lay out the Self First Framework, a plan, commit, execute system built for self-management. We talk about guilt-free future planning to get your goals out of your head and into three clear buckets: meaningful connections, personal growth, and business or professional growth. Then we prioritize using the DAM Matrix so you can start with high impact, low effort wins that build momentum instead of shame. The key is simple: plan without rushing to the calendar, then commit real time to the first small step.We also get tactical about “not having time.” Most capable people aren’t failing because they’re lazy, they’re failing because they’re overcommitted. I’ll show you how to make your workload visible, then use strategically selfish scheduling with the FIRE boxes to finish what’s urgent, invest in what only you can do, reduce what can be delegated or automated, and extinguish what never needed you. We close with a straightforward daily execution method that helps you track distractions and actually follow through.If this hits home, subscribe, share this with a high-achiever who’s running on fumes, and leave a review with one thing you’re committing to protect this week.Get the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

April 2, 20261 hr 5 min

The Dirty Secret About Moving Up in Construction Nobody Prepares You For — With Gary Borque

Most people in construction get promoted and handed a completely different job with the same title.No roadmap. No manual. No honest conversation about what moving up is actually going to cost them.Gary Borque lived that. Multiple times.He started as a fabricator, worked his way through the millwright and carpenter's union, spent five years as a traveling superintendent, built a training department from scratch, and now serves as director of field operations at Hemi Systems.Every transition came with the same dirty secret nobody warned him about — and in this episode he finally says it out loud.Gary gets into the imposter syndrome that nearly derailed him, how he learned to compete against himself instead of everyone around him, and why 42.5% of the construction industry retiring in the next ten years isn't a future problem — it's already here.If you've ever gotten promoted and immediately wondered if someone was going to figure out you didn't have it all together — this one's going to hit close to home.Connect with Gary Borque | LinkedIn Learn more about Depth Builder 00:00 Imposter Syndrome Fuel00:38 Meet Gary Bork02:37 Constructability Explained04:08 Estimating Field Gap05:29 Cost Codes Integrity08:06 From Fabricator Mindset10:32 Union Pride Shift13:33 Field Experience Advantage19:05 Leadership Skills Upgrades26:43 Handling Bad Leadership30:29 Life as Road Superintendent33:55 Leading Like Family36:56 Doubt in New Role38:00 Asking Questions Under Pressure38:30 Imposter Syndrome as Fuel40:11 Ask for Help and Get Specific41:39 Why Debt Builder Matters44:22 Transition Into Training45:34 Building Training From Real Gaps47:57 Workforce Shortage and Safety Stakes49:36 Planning Toolbox in Action51:15 Investing in People to Win Talent53:38 New Role in Field Operations55:51 Hiring and Mobile Training Trailer59:09 Legacy and Final WrapGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be