Glorified Carpenter

Buckle up — Mike's story is worth tuning in for.

Grew up in Worcester & Webster, MA. Started in the trades in high school, swinging sledgehammers and building circus tents on tour with a tent-rental company. Bartended his way through two degrees, walked away from academia at 26 with $130 to his name and $60K in student debt, and built a career out of "figuring it out."

We talk starting a company knowing the craft but not the business. The ups and downs. Sobriety. Challenges that hit us all in different forms, at different times — and what it actually takes to accept the bumps and come out the other side.

His latest chapter — Cairn Collaborative Design/Build out in California — is just as good as the story that got him there.

Hope you tune in, hope you enjoy it, and hope you share this one. 🎙️

Learn more about Ep. 43 Guest:
@Cairncollaborative

Project size: $350k-$2.2mil
Project per year: 4-7
Yearly Revenue: $5.5-6.5m
Employees: 9; Principal; Financial Controller; Project Coordinator; Project Manager; Licensed Architect; Architectural Designer; Lead Carpenter; Carpenter; Carpenter; and we are actively interviewing now for a second PM and also an assistant PM

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Sponsors:
www.durationmillwork.com
 @durationmouldingandmillwork 

www.heavydutypocketdoorframes.com
@hdpocketdoors

www.shubee.com
@shubeeshoecovers

Show Merch:
upstatemerch.com
@upstatemerch

Local Sponsor:
www.hiresmooth.com for all your spray foam needs!
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Angelica Armitage — Owner/Operator, Armitage Construction Company Ltd. | Sussex New Brunswick, Canada
Angelica put in 10 years with her bags on to earn her Red Seal Certification. A mix of great mentors, bad mentors, and hard-won experience gave her everything she needed to hang her own shingle.
Today she runs a crew of 5 carpenters — bags on, all day — while wearing every hat in the company: owner, project manager, estimator, business development, and everything in between.
Working in a market with real limitations on trade scope, Angelica has kept the majority of work in-house. It's a debate a lot of us know well — overhead vs. quality control — and she's got a strong take on it.
We dig into what pulled her into the trades, what's pushing her toward bigger and more challenging projects, and how she's building something worth being proud of in Halifax.
Hope you enjoy the convo!

Learn more about Ep. 42 Guest:
@Armitageconstructioncompanyltd

Project size: $50k-800k
Project per year: 1-2 flagship projects per year, infill w/ a couple small projects
Employees: 5-6 (including Angelica)

Listen • Subscribe • Watch• REVIEW
@apple
@spotify
@youtube

Sponsors:
www.durationmillwork.com
 @durationmouldingandmillwork 

www.heavydutypocketdoorframes.com
@hdpocketdoors

www.shubee.com
@shubeeshoecovers

Show Merch:
upstatemerch.com
@upstatemerch

Local Sponsor:
www.hiresmooth.com for all your spray foam needs!
@HireSmooth

CJ Nielsen of CNC Electric Co. joins us to share what it's really like running an electrical sub-contracting business from the inside. We get into scaling, systems, crew structure, and how he manages everything from small projects to ultra-high-end builds — each with their own tech stacks, client expectations, and GC dynamics. CJ breaks down what keeps his work consistently sharp no matter the job size.
Then we go deep — lighting controls, solar, all-electric (fossil-free) homes, load-shedding panels, and the latest in battery tech. This one's packed. Hope you walk away with as many takeaways as I did.

Learn more about Ep. 41 Guest:
@CNC_Electric

@thebuildshow contributor
@finehomebuilding brand ambassador

Project per year: 8-15 projects per year
Yearly Revenue: $1.5 million
Employees: 5-6 (including Dave)

Listen • Subscribe • Watch• REVIEW
@apple
@spotify
@youtube

Sponsors:
www.durationmillwork.com
 @durationmouldingandmillwork 

www.heavydutypocketdoorframes.com
@hdpocketdoors

www.shubee.com
@shubeeshoecovers

Show Merch:
upstatemerch.com
@upstatemerch

Local Sponsor:
www.hiresmooth.com for all your spray foam needs!
@HireSmooth

Dave Hanes is a second-generation builder running a family-owned boutique firm in Northern California. He learned the trade working alongside his father at Hanes Construction — a shop built on hustle, handyman work, and the occasional $200k renovation. The strategy was simple: ballpark the numbers, stay busy, and hope for the best.

Dave wanted more. He set his sights on architects and high-end custom projects, which forced him to build real systems, tighten his estimating, and elevate every level of his operation to compete for the work he actually wanted.

We cover 25 years of lessons — what's evolved, what's held firm, and what it really takes to grow a boutique build firm without losing what makes it special. You're going to love this one.

Learn more about Ep. 40 Guest:
@hanes_construction_inc
www.hanes-construction.com

Project size: $2-5Million
Project per year: 1-2 flagship projects per year, infill w/ a couple small projects
Yearly Revenue: $5million
Employees: 10 (including Dave)

Listen • Subscribe • Watch• REVIEW
@apple
@spotify
@youtube

Sponsors:
www.durationmillwork.com
 @durationmouldingandmillwork 

www.heavydutypocketdoorframes.com
@hdpocketdoors

www.shubee.com
@shubeeshoecovers

Show Merch:
upstatemerch.com
@upstatemerch

Partnerships:
projektnetwork.com
@projektnetwork

Local Sponsor:
www.hiresmooth.com for all your spray foam needs!
@HireSmooth

Matthew Logue of Matte Building Pty | Newcastle, Australia

We dive into what’s the same—and what’s completely different—about construction and renovations on the other side of the world.

Matt’s cut from the same cloth. Came up through the trades on a similar path, with a real love for building and creating. But where things split? He’s scaled—taking his company from just him and his sister (part-time) to a tight team of 10. No shortcuts. Builders who take pride in every swing of the hammer.

We get into how he built that team, earned his reputation, and what it actually felt like hiring that first employee… versus what keeps him up at night now.

Great dude. Building something special down in Australia.

Hope you enjoy the chat with Matt.

Learn more about Ep. 38 Guest:
@mattebuilding
www.mattebuilding.com.au

Project size: $500k-$1.5mil
Project per year: 4-8 projects per year
Yearly Revenue: $2.2mil
Employees: 10 (including Matt)

Listen • Subscribe • Watch• REVIEW
@apple
@spotify
@youtube

Sponsors:
www.durationmillwork.com
 @durationmouldingandmillwork 

www.heavydutypocketdoorframes.com
@hdpocketdoors

www.shubee.com
@shubeeshoecovers

Show Merch:
upstatemerch.com
@upstatemerch

Partnerships:
projektnetwork.com
@projektnetwork

Local Sponsor:
www.hiresmooth.com for all your spray foam needs!
@HireSmooth