Jimmy Talks Construction

Mathew Ryan from Ryan Developments joins Jimmy to explain how turning over approximately $3.5 million forced him to confront the difference between running a busy building company and running a profitable one.

Mathew shares his journey from completing his carpentry apprenticeship in Whittlesea to building Ryan Developments into a specialist custom-home and knockdown-rebuild company operating across Melbourne.

Jimmy and Matt discuss:

In this episode of Jimmy Talks Construction, James sits down with Michelle Cirson, founder of Subcontractor Legal and The Subbies’ Toolbox, to unpack the contractual and commercial traps costing Australian subcontractors millions.

Michelle explains why retentions are often used to support builder cash flow, how Security of Payment legislation works, why being the “good bloke” can leave subcontractors exposed and wh...

Max Eagles, owner of X1 Plumbing, joins Jimmy Talks Construction to share how his first plumbing business failed—and what he changed before starting again.

In this episode, Max and James discuss:

• The difference between being a good plumber and running a profitable plumbing business
• Quoting a $40,000 job when the next price was approximately $70,000
• The apprentice mistake that flooded an entire basement
• Why verbal warnings were...

In this episode of Jimmy Talks Construction, Jimmy sits down with Andrew Deveson, co-founder and director of Kapitol Group, for one of the biggest conversations we’ve had on the podcast.

Andrew shares the full story behind Kapitol Group’s rise — from starting with zero employees, zero revenue, and putting everything on the line, to building one of Australia’s most talked-about construction companies with 550 ...

In Episode 52 of Jimmy Talks Construction, Jimmy sits down with Rhys Cooper, Managing Director of Cooper Civil, a southeast Queensland civil excavation business known for GPS excavation, Cat Next Gen gear, late-model machines and high-quality operators.

Rhys shares his story from growing up in New Zealand, working in forestry, travelling across Australia operating machinery, spending years in the mines, and eventually starting Coope...

In Episode 51 of Jimmy Talks Construction, Jimmy sits down with Garath Vella from Lorden Vella to talk about the real business of building: margins, risk, hiring, subbies, COVID, cash flow, and what it actually takes to start and grow a construction company in Melbourne.

Garath shares his path from plumbing, site supervision and project management into co-founding Lorden Vella during one of the most unstable periods the construction...

In Episode 50 of Jimmy Talks Construction, Jimmy sits down with Joel Griffs from Heidi Build for a brutally honest conversation about carpentry, construction business, insurance work, and why scaling isn’t always the answer.

Joel shares how Heidi Build has carved out its place by taking on custom carpentry, structural steel, excavation, concreting and insurance repair work, rather than following the usual online advice to &ldq...

Jimmy sits down with Mitch from Slimline Excavations to talk about leaving underground coal mining, buying a 1.7T digger and building an excavation business. They cover coal mining, subdivisions, mountain bike trail projects, helicopters in construction, training operators, hiring the right crew, pricing mistakes, business mentors and why you cannot be half-in when running a construction company.

Sponsorships + Guest Enquiries: loui...

In Episode 48 of Jimmy Talks Construction, Jimmy sits down with the three directors of Arrow Civil to talk about starting a new civil construction company in Melbourne, leaving a major contractor the right way, building a business with integrity, and backing yourself in a tough market.

A great episode for anyone in civil construction, earthmoving, subdivisions, infrastructure, project management, estimating, subcontracting or anyone...

In Episode 47 of Jimmy Talks Construction, James Starbuck sits down with Daniel from Complex Facade to talk high-rise construction, facade installation, scaling a subcontracting business, labour productivity, and the brutal reality of growing from apprentice to operations manager in the tier one construction space.

This episode dives into Daniel’s journey from being the boss’s son and a self-described ordinary apprentice...

James Starbuck sits down with Emmanuel Al-Jinavo, founder of Feed4Ward, for a raw construction business conversation about tradies, subcontractors, cash flow, unpaid invoices, and bad clients in the Australian construction industry.

Emmanuel shares his journey from running a plumbing business to building Feed4Ward, a platform designed to help tradesmen review clients, avoid serial non-payers, and protect small trade businesses from ...

Dirty Business Bonus Episode, live from Las Vegas. In this special bonus episode, we sit down with Brian Hayden, winner of the CAT Global Operator Challenge, to talk all things operating, heavy equipment, and what it takes to compete at the highest level.

Brian breaks down how he got started in the industry from a young age, growing up in the family business at Hayden Excavating in Maine, before working his way through the local de...

In Episode 45 of Jimmy Talks Construction, James Starbuck sits down with Toby, Managing Director of C&N Plumbing Services, a South Australian commercial plumbing contractor celebrating 10 years in business.

Toby shares his journey from apprentice plumber to commercial plumbing business owner, including the hard lessons learned through domestic plumbing, commercial projects, remote work, civil drainage, tendering mistakes, cash f...

In this episode of Jimmy Talks Construction, James Starbuck sits down with Steph Apostolides (Melbourne Chippy Chick) — carpenter, content creator, and founder of Trady Lady Hire.

Steph shares her journey from working with her dad on-site to becoming one of the most recognised female tradies in Australia. The conversation dives into the realities of working in construction, the challenges women face on-site, and why initiative...

Jordan Chivers runs WL Chivers Plumbing - a 17-man Melbourne maintenance and emergency plumbing business that turns up in under an hour, 365 days a year.

From a 14-year-old operating a Takeuchi TB108 to running one of Melbourne's go-to emergency plumbing outfits, Jordan has been on the tools since before he was out of Year 9. In this episode, Jimmy sits down with him - Managing Director of WL Chivers Plumbing - to talk about the rea...

In this episode of Jimmy Talks Construction, James Starbuck sits down with David “Alfie” Alford, Managing Director of DBA Haulage and one of the most experienced operators in Australia’s heavy haulage industry.

Alfie shares the raw reality of building a business from scratch, losing everything early on, and fighting back through some of the toughest lessons in construction and transport.

From running trucks at a you...

Episode 41 of Jimmy Talks Construction features Illan Samuel, Managing Director of Samuel Property Group, breaking down the reality of property development in today’s market.

From running multi-residential projects worth hundreds of millions to navigating rising costs, delays, and financing challenges, Illan shares what it actually takes to survive — and grow — in the development game.

This episode dives into the re...

In Episode 40 of Jimmy Talks Construction, Jimmy sits down with Jesse Campbell, Construction Manager at City Circle — one of Australia’s largest demolition and recycling companies.

This episode dives deep into the reality of modern construction, from the shift away from traditional builders to project management-driven companies, through to the challenges of scaling large infrastructure projects across Victoria and Austr...

In Episode 39 of Jimmy Talks Construction, Jimmy sits down with Jake Gorry, founder and director of Proline Group — one of Australia’s fastest-growing cladding and façade contractors.

Jake shares his journey from starting as a young carpenter working with his dad, to building a multi-division business delivering large-scale commercial cladding projects across Melbourne.

The conversation dives deep into how Proline identif...