Anniversary Episode: Build Perspectives Podcast in Review

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This week, Tim and Carolina look back on their podcast experience, as it is their first anniversary episode. The duo will be talking about their most memorable and downloaded episode of the year, along with things to look forward to in the future.

More About the Show

The Build Perspectives podcast shares insider knowledge to build connections and community in the building materials industry. Tim and Carolina are friends, colleagues and former coworkers who love the construction industry and their clients, and want to share their passion and insights to attract future talent to the industry.

In this episode, Tim and Carolina go over their favorite episodes to date, along with what to expect from them and their podcast in the upcoming year.

Background

Tim and Carolina started the episode on (sort of) a whim at AIA 2019. They started recording outside the Rockwool booth on the voice recorder on their iPhones. It was a form of expression that neither of them has gotten to do before. 

Tim and Carolina would discuss all of these different topics when they would get together. It seemed like a natural transition, but scary as they had to really put themselves out there. They had to get vulnerable and share their observations about who they were, where they’d been and what they’d seen in the industry. It was very exciting but intimidating. 

They have gotten used to the podcast process of recording, editing and posting. Carolina looks back to AIA and thinks it is so telling. Their first episode was called “The AIA is Dead”. They didn’t think it would make it this far, yet here they are today in 2020. They filmed this show on election day, where change was in the air. The vibes are super electric and 2020 has been the year that nobody could have predicted. Trade shows have been different, and they are appreciating the AIA in 2019 and how there was a need for it. Now in 2020, they realized they were wrong. 

They were talking in the context of the AIA show or the conference, not necessarily AIA as an entity. There were folks in the industry, even Tim, who felt like the trade show world was redundant, didn’t really add value and couldn’t track results. However, once they saw the Rockwool booth, they realized how that experience was so valuable. The in-person immersion was a tactile, whole-body experience of using the wall and ceiling insulation product.

Tim and Carolina walked through this tunnel that was fully insulated with Rockwell and that sound attenuation really stood out, something you couldn’t experience first hand online. Clearly, most building product manufacturers offered experiential, interactive exhibits at the AIA Conference, but those who were really stood out. Now, in Covid times, it is about how you can convey those experiences to an audience virtually. (Incidentally, Carolina ended up buying that Rockwool installation and put it in this year. That’s one of her COVID home projects.)

With the pandemic, podcasts and other virtual mediums are even more ubiquitous than they were back in 2019 when they started Build Perspectives. 

The future of trade shows is yet to be determined. Everyone has their ideas as to where it’s going. Some people are trying the museum thing where they display their product, and people come at their own time to see it displayed in temporary exhibits to avoid large crowds. It doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

Tim’s Favorite Episode

The episode with Carly and Erika from Journeymen International is Tim’s favorite episode. It’s the one called “How Sustainability Fights Poverty and Ecological Destruction.” It definitely has a lot of downloads, but not as many as he thought would happen considering the theme that folks have really connected with. 

He really loved the concept of that episode because he and Carolina have both done volunteer work and the concept of architects and people in the design field helped shape the planet while being overworked and underpaid. They shaped communities and places where people would work, shop or gather. 

Even nowadays, many more people are taking on this responsibility and challenge of doing design work in areas of need. Carly was in Rwanda during the episode and her internet even cut out because of grid challenges. Erika was in LA talking about how they raise money for projects, where that money goes, what it does for people and the actual outcomes. They also discussed the challenges they face. 

He appreciated that because it felt like something that he could buy a plane ticket and get involved by tomorrow. There are so many slow-burn activities in the industry that take a while to get off the ground. To be able to make a difference so quickly is really something that Tim connects with personally with that episode. 

Carolina’s Favorite Episode

Carolina really enjoyed the episode about B Corp. She fervently believes that companies that put the planet first as a stakeholder will be the ones that save the world. People talk about climate change, talk about polarization as a country and people hate capitalism. Carolina believes that capitalism isn’t bad in and of itself, as money is embedded in and of itself. It’s how companies are run. If you think of a successful company that’s being run sustainably and consciously, that’s where the future holds. That’s where people can really make a difference. 

The more profitable that you are, the more you can give back to the world. If people are conscious of how they manufacture, who they hire, how they support the communities around their company and their physical manufacturing facility or wherever they happen to be, that’s where they are going to be able to make the most difference in the world. That’s why the B Corp episode is her favorite. It also happened to be in the top 10 videos. 

Not only did Tim learn a lot from Carolina in that episode, but it made him think of retooling in his mind. He pictures marketing as a more tactical and physical space and how marketing strategy affects businesses and what can be done. 

A lot of folks think of the four P’s that they teach in college. There’ve been many books on the four Ps of marketing of placement pricing, promotion and product. There are actually seven, though, if you add people, planet and profit to that. 

What They’ve Noticed

One thing that’s interesting about the episodes is some of the ones Tim thought would be very popular weren’t as popular as he thought. The ones he didn’t really have an opinion on became remarkably popular. It has been fun for him to watch that because sometimes they have these notions of how things might be and to see what’s actually happened organically has been pretty fascinating. 

Carolina has noticed that the episodes that are more about design and architecture are not as popular. She was very surprised. It’s almost neck and neck for first place: “Coronavirus Quarantine Plans,” which they did in three parts. Part one was just right when it hit where they were just talking through what would happen. Part two was like Carolina’s plan. She could have viewed it as a stay at home prison or a time where she could be really productive. Those two episodes tied for first place. They talked about what was happening in Europe, along with books and plans that could help make things better.

When Tim looks at the website stats on that podcast, a lot of folks went there multiple times and used those links to the books, the links to the worksheets and all those resources were really popular. As they look at the follow-up episode to that, they want to put in more resources for people. 

A couple of things Tim loves about doing the podcast with Carolina is they are trying to help people think a little differently, but it makes him think differently, too. There’s an accountability factor to it. Also, it makes them think about what they are doing with their time. They have made this commitment to people and keeping that commitment is really important to them. 

YouTube Channel 

Tim was talking with a couple of folks at Nichiha, and they’re on the front lines, answering the phones and doing take-offs. Interestingly, these two people told Tim they didn’t listen to podcasts but asked if he and Carolina were on Youtube. They didn’t listen to podcasts, but they listened to YouTube and used the playlist function. Another thing he has learned while talking to folks about how they take in information, and yes, podcasts are growing. However, Tim and Carolina are going to make more use of their YouTube channel going forward.

In the next few weeks, they want to launch their YouTube channel. For every podcast they’ve ever recorded, they have video. Some of it needs to be edited per their guests’ requests, but they are slowly but definitely going to be uploading the ones they can. They will let people know when they’re up. 

Meeting New People

One of the most fun things for Tim with the podcast is meeting new people. Tim and Carolina both introduce guests and friends to each other through the podcast and learn from real people. A lot of them had a nonlinear path to construction. So Audree from Modular Sure Site and Urbaneer relating the path that she took from being in television to being in the construction world and her experience is exciting for anybody in the industry, but especially people coming from a complete non-sequitur business or people that think they can’t do it. They just push through it. 

Dave Cooper and Mark Willey with Passive House talk about sustainability and modular construction. Those are big episodes. Those go with that B Corp episode a little bit because the story is consistent. Tim really appreciated that these folks come on and take time out of their busy schedule. 

The Dave Cooper and Mark Willey episode is the fourth most downloaded episode. It was so much fun because they are so much fun. At the same time, these people are so experienced in their own right. They put out really great content. People can get a higher education just by following them and watching their work. They talked to some pretty smart people in the industry from all walks of the supply chain. They could be Carolina’s second favorite episode. She really enjoyed that one.

Tim also liked Dewayne Thomas’s episode on how to write your own ticket. What he liked about that was Dewayne was both vocal and open about how their websites say “We are a minority-owned business.” They are proud of that and work to have a diverse work culture and an open platform for people within their business. But also he was very open in how he described how people could get a third-party rep or a manufacturer’s rep business started easily and what someone would have to do. 

He even said people could contact him for information. He knew that if someone were to do that, they would be potentially a competitor in this space. However, he was totally open to helping somebody. The community is more open to those conversations with other people in the business, but they don’t happen that often because there’s not a lot of a platform for people to do that.

That episode was in the top 10 as well. They met Dewayne at a tradeshow in San Diego a couple of years ago, and they hit it off instantly. He is highly ethical, and they knew immediately that they wanted him on the podcast. He really changed people’s perspectives of a manufacturer rep. 

A lot of times, people think of manufacturer reps as having multiple lines and manufacturers they’re responsible for, but they have their favorites. There is this distrust with the reps. When dealing with humans, there are imperfections. But with Dewayne, Tim says he was very thoughtful, and Carolina says he was very intentional. When answering questions, he would take a pause and think about the answer. That was really appreciated by Tim and Carolina, and the audience loves that episode.

Tim and Carolina had Zach and Beth from Venveo on their podcast not long ago. Venveo is an amazing podcast content provider where they educate the industry. Mark Mitchell from www.seethewhizard.com also has a lot of free informational guides available for people. These people have tons of listeners across the country – so people are probably familiar with them and might have skipped the Build Perspectives interviews. Tim and Carolina encourage people to go listen to their content and share with other people. 

Tim was shocked at how many people visited their website from the podcast. It is almost equal stats in terms of visitors and listeners. That shows him the importance of having different sources of content. When they add to YouTube, that adds a way for people to listen and learn. They don’t make money doing this, but they have fun learning and thinking differently. They are making things available for people and adding other channels to the scene. 

Now, there are so many sources out there for podcasts. Tim and Carolina try to make their podcasts easy to share so people can see them more readily. If you listen to their podcast, they encourage you to send them a message on LinkedIn, Instagram, email or Twitter and give feedback. 

Tim has noticed that Twitter is being turned to more for building industry news and information. As they get better at Twitter and YouTube, they hope that more of this information will be available and shareable. They really appreciate the support and feedback, as it has been really helpful. 

Lastly, the duo mentions Justin and Tim Hamilton from Dixie Exteriors episode, which was in the top 10 as well. They were so instrumental in helping Nichiha grow in training people and growing their business. They were in the middle of the pandemic with cases still rising, and the podcast gets their perspective on that, as they travel all over the country. They are based in Kentucky but have crews everywhere. 

Justin called because they were finishing a national brand’s projects locally in the Seattle area, and they are going to have their best year ever. Some of the things they shared in that podcast were how to operate during COVID times, and how their businesses were successful. They were very open. 

Looking Forward to the Future

For the next year, Tim and Carolina have a lot more coming, including interviews, useful episodes, YouTube launch and more. They are looking forward to what their show will bring in the upcoming year continuing to spread knowledge on industry topics.

They want their audience to know that they really appreciate your listenership and any feedback you can give them. They promise they can take your feedback, so feel free to message them and talk about your thoughts!

Join the Conversation

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this week’s episode! Shoot us an email at buildperspectives@gmail.com.