The Grit Blueprint

Technology is moving faster than our industry has ever seen, and on this episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast I sat down on the floor of the National Hardware Show with Adam Gunnett, the VP of Business Intelligence and Strategy at Busy Beaver Building Centers. Adam has done something rare in independent retail. He took a 19-store neighborhood hardware chain in Pittsburgh and built it into one of the most technologically advanced i...

What does it really take to carry a legacy business into its fourth generation without losing what made it special? 

In this Grit Blueprint Podcast conversation, I sit down with Brookelyn McClellan of Hardware Sales, a Bellingham, Washington institution that began selling dynamite to loggers and miners back in 1962 and has grown into a multi-million dollar retailer with its own e-commerce engine. 
Brookelyn was ...

What does it really take to grow a career inside one company for 25 years? In this episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast, I talk with Sarah Lee, VP of Purchasing at Blish-Mize Co., who answered that question by living it. She walked in the door as a receptionist in 2001 and worked through the catalog, advertising, and purchasing departments before becoming the first female merchandise manager and, eventually, the executive setting ...

This is where Building Grit begins. 

In this first episode, I hand you the keys to Grit Studios on day one and let you see the messy, exciting reality of building industry entrepreneurship from the inside. We just signed the lease for this space, and you will catch the very first moments: taking down old shelving, lighting candles so it feels like home, and planning out every corner. I show you where the podcast studio ...

The best dealers in the building industry are not just stocking product. They are guiding people toward the home they actually want. In this conversation, I talk with Abeer Saeed, Merchandise Manager at Do it Best, about how consultative selling helps customers land on exactly what they want while believing it was their idea all along. Abeer came up through interior design and retail at JCPenney and Ashley Furniture before joining ...

Some of the best builders in this industry started with a truck, a trade, and a decision to bet on themselves. In this episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast, I talk with Devonie Hutchinson, founder of DGB Developments in Wichita Falls, Texas, about how she turned a 2012 weekend side hustle into a full-service construction and junk removal company, and why she walked away from the false security of a steady paycheck to do it.

I have spent my whole life in the building industry, and one thing I know for sure is that the best people often stay the best-kept secret. NataLee Callahan refused to let that happen. In this episode she shares how a casual hobby in 2011 grew into more than half a million subscribers and a patented power tool line built for the women the industry forgot.

If you are trying to figure out how to start a YouTube channel, you wi...

Most people who sell doors have never seen one built. That is a problem. The product is more technical every year, the margins are tighter, and the warranty claims come fast when something is installed incorrectly.

In this episode of Behind the Build, I walk through Magbee Contractors Supply in Winder, Georgia, with owner Bob Magbee. We tour the custom door shop and watch the process of making a door from start to finish.

If you run a hardware store, lumber yard, or building supply business, this episode shows you how to compete without big box budgets. I sit down with Sharona Eiserer of Wood Shed Lumber and Hardware, Ashley Guest of Harbin Lumber Company, and Kerry Hasselbach of Do it Best to break down omnichannel marketing for independent dealers that actually drives foot traffic and revenue. 

Sharona Eiserer runs Wood Shed Lumber and Hardwar...

Most lumber yards sell what their suppliers stock. Magbee Contractors Supply builds it. In this episode of Behind the Build, I head to Winder, Georgia with owner Bob Magbee, VP of Sales Stewart Brandon, and inside sales manager Melissa McDougald to walk a 20-acre, rail-served yard and the custom millwork shop that sits at the heart of the operation.

You will see how Magbee runs a real custom wood door shop. We find door slab...

Lew Oliver has spent decades doing something most designers never attempt. He does not just draw homes. He plans entire towns. From Seaside to Rosemary Beach to the first expansion of Edinburgh since 1805, his work has shaped some of the most loved communities in the world. In this episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast, I sit down with Lew at his studio in Clarksville, Georgia, to talk about what real community building looks like ...

Most leaders in the building industry know AI is going to change the game. Very few have a real plan for what to do about it. This episode is a working playbook on how to use AI in your business from a CEO who is already doing it.

Jason Blair runs Tal Building Centers, a family-owned company with 28 locations in the Pacific Northwest. Fifteen months ago, he started an internal AI committee with people from across his organiz...

In this episode of Behind the Build I'm in Chatsworth, Georgia, with Chip Wade at The Perch Treehouses. The three luxury treehouses are located in the North Georgia mountains and have stunning views of their wild surroundings. The Jenny, The Tom, and The Jake, share the same square footage and the same engineered foundation. But the second you walk through the front door of each one, the feel is completely different. That's what cu...

I sit down with Dori Shoshan, head of Innovation and Business Development at Panda Windows & Doors, inside the Las Vegas showroom of one of the most respected custom luxury windows and doors manufacturers in North America. Dori is a working radiologist and the son of Panda's founders, Avi and Tiranit Shoshan, who started the family business in 1991 in Israel, where his father chose to start with the hardest product in the categ...

Most lumber yards stay invisible in their own market. They sell millions of dollars of product a year and the people next door still do not know their name. Ashley Guest is changing that at Harbin Lumber, a fourth generation, century-old building materials dealer in Lavonia, Georgia. She walked in four years ago with a marketing degree and zero industry experience. There was no playbook. There was no team. There was a blank canvas ...

Sharona Eiserer bought a struggling 60-year-old lumber yard at six months pregnant and grew it into six Wood Shed Lumber and Hardware locations across rural Missouri. In this episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast, she shares how she saved a dying small-town retail business, why the Do it Best co-op model beat her franchise experience, and the exact social media and radio playbook she uses to win against bigger competitors. If you o...

Jason Blair, CEO of Tal Building Centers, joins me to break down how to build a sales culture in building materials where every role drives revenue. He shares the weekly communication cadence he uses with 500 employees, how he reads company culture in the lumber industry the moment he walks a yard, and how AI fixed a three-department friction problem in 90 minutes. This episode gives LBM dealers, distributors, and building supply l...

What does it actually take to sell a $55 million business you built from scratch? In this episode, Gina Schaefer breaks down everything: ESOPs, succession planning for independent dealers, finding the right buyer for your business, and why she chose employee ownership over private equity. If you have ever searched "how does an ESOP work," "when should I start succession planning," or "how to exit a small business," this episode ans...

The big box giants are buying everything. But independent dealers? They can still win. In this episode, Stefanie Couch sits down with Craig Webb of Webb Analytics, the most trusted data voice in the building materials industry, to break down what the 2025 M&A numbers actually mean for independent dealers. Craig shares where the real growth is hiding, why installed sales is no longer optional, and how AI and e-commerce are separ...