The Impactful Engineer Project - Mentorship, Career Growth, and Personal & Professional Excellence for Aspiring Engineers

In this episode, manufacturing engineer Brooke MacFee joins Jake and Steve to share hard-earned lessons from her path across biomedical, aerospace, and small-scale manufacturing. From taking jobs out of necessity to leading teams before she felt ready, Brooke’s story hits every early-career engineer who’s still finding their footing. This conversation cuts through theory—it’s practical, tactical advice on how to become the kind of ...

Most engineers chase outcomes—titles, numbers, recognition. But outcomes are a lagging indicator of your inputs. In this episode, Jake and Steve break down how to flip your focus from results to repetition, from motivation to momentum, and from willpower to discipline. This isn’t theory—it’s practical, tactical advice for engineers who want to build consistency, find purpose in the process, and eliminate burnout by taking control o...

Most engineers hold themselves back by waiting too long to act. In this episode, Steve and Jake Maxey break down how speed of decision-making drives value in your career and projects. Not theory—practical, tactical advice you can use right now.

Key Topics Covered
• Why projects bleed money from slow decisions, not big mistakes
• How to spot critical path items and move them forward early
• Why fear of being wrong keep...

Your communication (or lack of it) defines your reputation. Miss updates, ghost clients, or wait for someone else to ask, and you’ve already lost trust. In this episode, Jake and Steve break down why communication is the real differentiator in engineering—and how you can lead without authority by setting standards others can’t ignore. Not theory—practical, tactical advice.

Key Topics Covered
• Why silence creates anxiety and de...

Most engineers think their job is just to deliver the technical work. Drawings done, analysis complete, box checked. Wrong. The engineers who win long term are the ones who manage stakeholder expectations. That means clear updates, fast pivots, and taking ownership of communication—even when it feels uncomfortable or “not your job.” In this episode, Steve and Jake Maxey break down how to stop hiding behind deliverables and start le...

Most engineers don’t fail because they lack technical skills. They fail because they blow up in the moment—or because they move too slow. In this episode, Steve and Jake Maxey break down how to control your emotions when feedback hits hard, why perception trumps reality, and how speed separates leaders from the rest. Not theory—practical, tactical advice you can use immediately.

Key Topics Covered
• How emotional outbursts sile...

Negativity spreads faster than bad code reviews—and it can tank your career. Too many engineers air frustrations in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and end up damaging trust instead of fixing problems. In this episode, Jake and Steve Maxey break down the real playbook for raising issues without becoming “that person.” Not theory—practical, tactical advice for ambitious engineers who want to protect their reputation, elevate the...

Stepping into your first engineering job? The anxiety is real—but it doesn’t have to own you. In this episode, Jake and Steve Maxey break down the exact playbook for engineers in their first year on the job. Not theory—practical, tactical advice to cut through the noise, avoid rookie burnout, and start stacking wins that actually build confidence.

 Key Topics Covered

• Why pretending to know everything kills trust and slows yo...

Most engineers think career growth is about waiting for promotions or cranking out projects. It isn’t. In this episode, Brian Walch—leadership coach, consultant, and founder of Shift Focus Coaching and Consulting—breaks down the real framework for building a fulfilling career and the role managers play in making (or breaking) it. Not theory—practical, tactical advice you can use now.

Key Topics Covered
• Why fulfillment—not pro...

Most engineers want feedback—until it stings. Then they explain it away, blame the delivery, or wait for someone “better” to say it. That’s how careers stall. In this episode, I break down how to separate signal from noise, use even the roughest feedback to grow, and stop making your improvement someone else’s responsibility. Not theory—practical, tactical advice from the trenches.

Key Topics Covered
• Why filtering every tough...

Tired of feeling overloaded no matter how hard you work? This episode breaks it down. It’s not about adding more energy—it’s about deleting what doesn’t matter. Jake lays out a ruthless framework for increasing clarity, output, and agency by maximizing your signal-to-noise ratio.

Not theory—practical, tactical advice for engineers buried in distractions and pointless obligations.

Key Topics Covered
• Why burnout often ...

You don’t know which doors you’ll need to open—until they’re locked in your face. And when that moment comes, it’s too damn late to wish you had started building your network.

This episode isn’t about “networking.” It’s about regret-proofing your career.

Jake and Steve break down the truth engineers don’t hear enough: the relationships you build today are the skeleton key for tomorrow’s opportunity.

Not theory—practical, tactical advi...

In this episode, Jake and Steve break down a real-world story of a promising project derailed by ego-driven leadership—and how it quietly destroyed the motivation of a high-performing engineering team. If you've ever worked under someone who needed to be the smartest in the room, this one will hit home.
Not theory—practical, tactical advice.

Key Topics Covered:
 • How ego can quietly destroy team culture from the top do...

In this episode, Jake and Steve break down the core traits that separate engineers who accelerate teams from those who quietly stall progress. This is a raw, practical conversation about how ego shows up in engineering—and how to replace it with real influence, clear communication, and team-building behaviors that actually get noticed.

Not theory—practical, tactical advice from engineers who’ve been there.

Key topics covered:
• ...

This one’s for every engineer who’s ever been told to “speak up more” without being given a blueprint.

David Hall—author of Minding Your Time and host of The Quiet and Strong Podcast—joins us to dismantle the noise around introversion in the workplace. He’s not here with theory. This is tactical, field-tested insight for deep thinkers who want to lead without pretending to be extroverts.

We go deep into how to use your internal proce...

Episode 108: Guest Mark Smith - Fired, Hired, and Thriving — Real Lessons from the Early Career Shitshow

Your first engineering job might suck. It might burn you out, betray your expectations, or end with you getting fired. That’s not a failure—it’s training. In this episode, we sit down with Mark Smith, founder of Bothwell Engineering, to unpack the early career war stories that shape who you become. From getting let go in his firs...

Episode 107: Learn the Game: Systems, Strategy, and the Equity You’re Missing

In this no-BS breakdown, Jake and Steve dive deep into what separates high performers from invisible ICs. It's not just about doing the work—it's about building value that compounds over time. From turning templates into leverage, to earning internal loyalty and external referrals, this episode shows you how to play the long game in engineering.<...

Episode 106: Guest Aaron Moncur - If You’re Not Building Energy, You’re Dying at Your Desk

Guest: Aaron Moncur, Founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering

In this episode of The Impactful Engineer Podcast, Jake and Steve sit down with Aaron Moncur—founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering and host of The Being an Engineer podcast—to talk about the career factor too many engineers ignore: energy.

Not caffeine. Not motiva...