Built Tough: How Roggen Frick Turned Burnout into a Blueprint for Growth

In this episode of Built for This, Carly Pepin sits down with Roggen Frick, founder of Bear Ironworks, a Colorado-based manufacturing company redefining what it means to be “by contractors, for contractors.”

Roggen opens up about how his journey from seven-day workweeks to sustainable success began with one hard truth — burnout doesn’t build legacies. By transforming Bear Ironworks from a custom fabrication shop into a lean, systemized manufacturing company, he and his father turned a hands-on trade into a high-efficiency business built on clarity, culture, and core values.

He shares how they implemented a four-day workweek, built repeatable processes, and developed measurable systems that allow the company to grow without sacrificing people, safety, or quality. This episode is a must-listen for founders who are ready to stop surviving their business and start scaling it with intention.

Key Themes:

• Systems Create Freedom — Not Control: How tracking time, inventory, and quality metrics turned chaos into clarity, freeing Roggen and his team to focus on innovation instead of putting out fires.

• Culture Is a System Too: How embedding safety, honesty, and customer satisfaction into daily operations built a workplace people love — and clients trust.

• Delegation Is a Skill, Not a Surrender: Why true growth begins when you let go — even of the tasks you enjoy — and empower experts to elevate the company.

Memorable Quotes:

“If you don’t define your company’s values, they’ll define themselves — and you might not like what they become.” “You can’t be free as an entrepreneur if you’re doing the work you hate.” “We stopped trying to do everything and started building the systems that could do it for us.”

Connect with Roggen Frick:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bearironworks/ https://beariron.com/