Welcome back to the Crushing It In Construction podcast!

After a chaotic few weeks of scheduling nightmares (thanks, end-of-financial-year madness), we’re finally back with a banger of an episode. I sat down with Kyra Naylor - CEO of Naylor Commercial Interiors and third-generation leader of her family’s Dallas-based architectural finishes biz.

Kyra’s story isn’t your typical "grew up in the trades" tale. She was the kid in cowboy boots translating for supers on job sites, detoured through law school, then got yanked back into construction when COVID hit. Now? She’s running the show with a mix of old-school grit and next-gen strategy like slashing 500 weekly bid requests to focus on clients who actually pay.

We cover Texas's boom-or-bust construction market, why election years bring projects to a standstill, and when "being nice" at work goes too far. Plus: the raw truth about inheriting a family business - from tough firings to construction-style networking.

Let’s get started!

Connect with Kyra Nylor:

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyra-naylor

Website:https://naylorcommercial.com/

Connect with Jordan Skinner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaskinner/

Website: https://moonshotmedia.com.au/

Ever wonder if you're being paid what you're worth? Or if you're paying your team fairly? Martin from Built & Byron's recruitment surveys 500+ actually employed construction pros (not just job-seekers) to reveal real Melbourne salary benchmarks.

👉 Grab the free Salary Insights Report:www.buildingenvironsrecruitment.short.gy/Salaryinsightsreport

Do you have an influential personal brand?

Take the quiz to find out:

http://www.constructingaleader.com/quiz

Welcome back to the Crushing It In Construction Podcast!

At 14, Kazan Hadden was training with Liverpool FC's youth squad. By 18? Injured, broke, and living in a caravan. Today, he's the founder of Nickaz Australia - a construction business that's thrived for three decades without ever chasing tenders.

We're digging into how getting cut from football taught him more than any business degree, why he keeps 15 full-time trades when everyone else subcontracts, how childhood trauma became his unfair business advantage and the $200,000 mistake that changed how he hires forever.

Real stories from a builder who's been through the fire. Hit play.

Connect with Kazan Hadden:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kazan-hadden-nickaz/

Website: https://nickaz.com.au/

Connect with Jordan Skinner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaskinner/

Website: https://moonshotmedia.com.au/

Do you have an influential personal brand?

Take the quiz to find out:

http://www.constructingaleader.com/quiz

This week we're sitting down with Todd Bacon, Managing Director of Central Coast-based Collaborative Construction Solutions. Todd's got some strong opinions about our industry, and he's not holding back: from tradespeople who've never seen standard installation guides to clients accepting mediocre work, we're facing a quality crisis that starts with training and ends with expectations.

Sharing how CCS operates differently, this episode takes us inside the challenging world of live-site construction - schools, hospitals and shopping centers where the public never stops moving around your work. Todd proves why this niche might just be the ultimate test of a builder's skill and patience.

For Todd, it's about balancing growth with sanity, investing in proper planning, and remembering to step away occasionally (even if that means battling boredom on a bike trainer). That's how we build better businesses - and a better industry.

Sounds refreshingly honest, doesn't it?

Let's get started.

Connect with Todd Bacon:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-bacon-639b67b/

Website: https://collaborative.com.au/

Connect with Jordan Skinner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaskinner/

Website: https://moonshotmedia.com.au/

Do you have an influential personal brand? Take the quiz to find out:

http://www.constructingaleader.com/quiz

Welcome back to the Crushing It In Construction Podcast!

For Episode 112, we’re sitting down with Kane Keefe, the visionary Managing Director behind Alliance Building Construction.

Based in Toowoomba but operating across Queensland, Kane took the unconventional path - launching during COVID’s toughest months, then systematically purchasing complementary businesses like a 30-year-old earthworks company rather than chasing traditional tenders.

He reflects on this bold journey, sharing how buying competitors became his secret to unlocking 8 figure scale, why vertical integration beats the race-to-the-bottom tender cycle, and how everything changes when you transition from employee to owner with real skin in the game.

Let’s dive in.

Connect with Kane Keefe:

Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kane-keefe-3ba53368/

Website: https://alliancebc.com.au/

Connect with Jordan Skinner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaskinner/

Website: https://moonshotmedia.com.au/

Do you have an influential personal brand? Take the quiz to find out:

http://www.constructingaleader.com/quiz

Welcome back to the Crushing It In Construction Podcast!

This week, we’re sitting down with Brodie Haughton, Managing Director of Solidity, a company that’s redefining foundation engineering with screw piling.

Now, screw piling might sound like a niche dark art (because it is), but Brodie’s taken this overlooked corner of construction and turned it into a multi-million-dollar business. And he did it by creating demand, not just fighting for scraps in an existing market.

This is a masterclass for business owners who want to spot and dominate a niche, bootstrap like a madman, survive cash flow nightmares, and use vertical integration to lock out competitors.

If you’ve ever thought, "There’s no room left to innovate in construction," this episode will prove you wrong. Let’s dive in!

Connect with Brodie Haughton:

Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brodie-houghton-86909984/

Website: https://www.solidity.com.au/

Connect with Jordan Skinner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaskinner/

Website: https://moonshotmedia.com.au/

Do you have an influential personal brand? Take the quiz to find out:

http://www.constructingaleader.com/quiz

Welcome Back to the Crushing It In Construction Podcast.

This week, we chatted with James Rutledge, the gritty founder of Rutledge Drilling - a family owned and operated geotechnical drilling and stabilisation company.

From dodging cyclones to rebuilding after floods, James knows what it takes to stabilize both crumbling hillsides and a growing business. He shares his unorthodox journey from Army vet to underground miner to high-risk license trainer and why he finally decided to stop making money for someone else.

Ever wondered how to turn a niche trade into an industry contender? Curious what happens when you mix family dynamics with heavy machinery? Or just want to hear why “some people have to piss on the electric fence to learn”? Strap in! This one’s packed with hard-won wisdom.

Connect with James Rutledge:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/red_dog_group/

Website: https://www.rutledgedrilling.au/

Connect with Jordan Skinner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaskinner/

Website: https://moonshotmedia.com.au/

Do you have an influential personal brand? Take the quiz to find out:

http://www.constructingaleader.com/quiz

Welcome back to the Crushing It In Construction Podcast.

This week, we’re sitting down with James Elliott, owner of Red Dog Group and a UK-born builder who traded drizzle for Queensland downpours (and somehow still came out on top).

James has strong opinions about our industry, and he’s not sugar coating them: Builders are tired of being the scapegoat for every delay and price hike, overregulation is choking growth, and if we don’t start making trades appealing again, we’re in serious trouble.

From battling another year of biblical rain to flipping the script on sales (hint: stop selling services, start selling products), this episode digs into why 2025 might be the toughest year yet for builders.

And if you thought post-COVID chaos was behind us? Think again. James breaks down why the ripple effects,material costs, labor shortages, and red tape are still hitting hard.

Ready for some straight talk? Let’s go!

Connect with James Elliott:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/red_dog_group/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-elliott-99252334/

Connect with Jordan Skinner:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaskinner/

Website: https://moonshotmedia.com.au/

Do you have an influential personal brand? Take the quiz to find out:

http://www.constructingaleader.com/quiz