0:01 - Madeline
Okay, so on today's podcast, we had AJ Waters, and what did you find fascinating about this episode?

0:07 - Andy
Well, I loved his why, you know, which is really simple. We're building the world. Construction's cool.

0:14 - Madeline
I wrote it on the board. I heard it and I immediately got up and I was like, this is something that, you know, because you say that all the time, you're like, you know, there's nothing that an engineer has not touched. Other than like, you know, it's either God created or an engineer created it. And I hear you say that all the time. It's something that's so fascinating to think about. Somebody's designed this.

0:34 - Andy
Right, yeah. I mean, and I'm referring also not just to building engineering, but this desk had an engineer that fabricated it, or came up with the industrial design for the plant that fabricated this, as an example.

0:53 - Madeline
And not even that, you look at a can and you're like, somebody decided to put this dent here, and then this tab, and then this, somebody, you know, graphic design, which is what I would like to go into, somebody designed the graphics on it, and somebody designed, you know, decided it needs to be this big and this wide, you know, somebody went into that, and obviously that's not like your area of engineering, but it is, we're building the world, that is a part of the world.

1:16 - Andy
Right, so, and he's with the construction side of it, Kahua, they have a project management software, and technology, and he's an evangelist for them. So he's really interested in growing the construction industry through technology, but also at a larger level, enhance the world around us. He wants to get this message out that construction is cool, that we're building the world. So I thought that was really neat. And we're all a part of that here at Enhanced in terms of the people that listen and us, but the architecture industry, the architects that listen, the engineers, and also contractors.

1:57 - Madeline
Yeah, for sure. So on today's episode, we had AJ Waters, who is the Vice President of Industry Solutions at Kahua, focused on helping owners and program managers deliver better capital projects through an assist. He's also the creator and author of The Engineered Life, I looked at that, this is my pre-scripted script, and I was like, how do you say that? Engineered. A blog where he writes about technology, innovation, and the game day mindset needed to win in construction and capital project delivery. So, yeah, I really enjoyed today's episode. I thought that y'all had chemistry, it was fun to listen to. I just thought it was a good episode.

2:42 - Andy
Yeah, awesome. My name is Andy Richardson, and this is the Enhanced Podcast. This is Madeline, our producer. I've been in the industry 27 years and I'm still learning so much about the construction industry. Come along with us while we learn the what and the why of professionals in the construction industry. Let's get started.

3:08 - Madeline
Welcome to Enhance, an AEC podcast where we learn the why behind AEC professionals that you can learn your why.

3:16 - Andy
Hey, AJ. Welcome to the Enhanced Podcast.

3:19 - AJ
Hey, Andy. How are you?

3:20 - Andy
I'm doing great. So thanks for jumping on with me today.

3:24 - AJ
Yeah, I'm excited about this. This is quite the honor. Thank you for having me.

3:28 - Andy
Yeah, definitely. Well, this has been a long time coming, I guess. And we've known each other for a while. So it's awesome to have you on here. But I got an opener for you, which is So you're kind of an athlete guy and one of the things that I noticed is you often frame projects as game day. So what is one of your pre-project rituals that you recommend or that you would recommend for people to follow if it was in fact a game day?

4:03 - AJ
Oh wow, so you know a lot of times we get made fun of for this but the stretch and flex, right? Like, I could never go into a game without stretching. And a project should be no different, especially when it comes to some of the intense work that we do. Just taking a few minutes to limber up. It's winter here right now, so it's extra cold. And to get moving, that would be one of my pre-game rituals, and it's still one of my pre-work out rituals every day.

4:39 - Andy
Yeah, like a literal stretch out and let's do this. Exactly. Yeah. Awesome. So you're a bit of an athlete. Did you play sports in college?

4:53 - AJ
Sort of I did. I played football, but injuries kind of ended the career before it ever got started. So I was a student coach with the basketball team. Okay. And that was a lot of fun. I still do that today. I'm currently coaching my sixth grade son's basketball team this year, and so I get that fix a little bit. I've coached all three of my boys now throughout their basketball career.

5:23 - Andy
Awesome. So you were a football player more so than, I guess, basketball, because I saw one of your posts recently, and you had the basketball and you were dunking on some young guys. That was one of your real big things, was just doing some flexing and stretching and just getting that aspect of things.

5:47 - AJ
Yeah, exactly. It's funny, right? Because when we were kids, we used to make fun of that sort of thing. We didn't think we needed it. Because we were already loose, we were pretty nimble. You get the more you realize that that helps a lot and and for me I I've never been super flexible so injuries may or may not have come easier to me because of that and had I taken it more seriously when I was younger I maybe I would have not had such a short career in college but you know the the whole concept of just starting the day off with with something that loosens you up and we talk about it we're talking about a muscular here but you could do the same thing by stretching your mind in the morning with a puzzle like I do morning puzzles every day to kind of wake my brain up like there's more to it than just you know loosening up your muscles there's there's a dozen ways that you kind of light yourself up to get into the day without just kind of dragging yourself through the front door.

7:06 - Andy
Definitely. I mean, I think there's something about the pregame ritual that, you know, whether it's stretching or whatever it is, I don't know that necessarily always you have to do that thing from a physical standpoint. It's almost more important from a mental, right? I mean, you see these guys, they go through the exact same scenario when they play, like these pros and things. So on the construction side, I think, like you said, there's probably things we can do to get going on a daily basis and rituals to follow even to make our work better. So maybe something to think about, right? But that was like your opener to get started. So thanks for being flexible mentally. You bet.

7:58 - Andy
Quite literally.

8:00 - Andy
So yeah definitely want to get into some of your background AJ and you know how did you get going with the with construction and the AEC industry?

8:11 - AJ
Yeah so great question. I actually went to school to be a teacher which is funny because as a kid I always wanted to build stadiums like I was big into Lego if you can't tell by looking around and and so I I wanted to build stadiums that's that's kind of where I wanted to be but I had this fear that I wasn't gonna be smart enough to be an engineer so I went to school to be a teacher so that I could coach like that was the only way I was gonna be able to coach sports and my my wife was a year behind me in high school and she came came to the same college and wanted to be a teacher and I was good at math and those two things didn't add up right teacher plus teacher and so I was like I better change into something that'll that'll be a little bit more lucrative so that's when I went back to engineering I thankfully got introduced to a mentor that that gave us an aptitude test as part of my scholarship and it said I'd be good at engineering so that that kind of gave me the little confidence boost that I needed needed and I changed course and went back into the engineering field and I did one internship in design and one internship in estimating and very quickly realized I wasn't cut out to design the rest of my life. I was gonna go build things.

9:35 - Andy
Yeah, awesome. And what gave you that biggest clue? Was it a project or was it just something like you just knew I just didn't enjoy that.

9:46 - AJ
Yeah I think it was um it was a little bit of I didn't enjoy it and it was a little bit of just maybe I was put in the wrong environment. I had a lot of questions because I started I kind of started behind right I went to school to be a teacher first so I was playing catch-up on the engineering side of things and so I'd have a lot of questions during that internship and in not all All of the employees at that particular company appreciated my questions, or my volume of questions. But when I came back for the second internship in the estimating department, it was a much different experience, plus we got to go out on site a lot more, plus we got to get the boots dirty, build some things, and still crunch numbers, but in a way where you're, you're building out the plan and the schedule, it just, it fit a little bit better, I guess.

10:46 - Andy
Yeah, awesome. So it was something you just really, it resonated with you more than the design side. Exactly, yeah. Did the teaching, has that helped your career at all? You know, you have a unique, I guess, call it talent stack. You know, you have engineering, you have construction, you have teaching, but has the teaching helped you much?

11:09 - AJ
It's interesting because I never got far enough along in the teaching track at school to have to student teach. So I really didn't get up in front of people to talk, but that's my primary job today is to talk in front of people. So you would think that maybe that's where I got it from Thankfully, I got that from my parents. That was a skill that they taught me early on. My mom's a teacher and my dad has never met a stranger that couldn't be his best friend in five minutes. So, you know, that's just kind of the way that I was wired. But you're exactly right. I think it's the coaching more than the teaching, right? Like going through and building teams and working with teams and having to do that with your peers, right? Because I was a student coach at a college. So these were my peers that I was trying to help coach and I wasn't exactly good enough to play, but I'm trying to tell them what to do, right? So there are some, there are some balances to that equation that you learn on the fly that I think have benefited long-term. Just being able to have these conversations with peers today and not you know, act like a know-it-all that thinks they've done it before, you know?

12:37 - Andy
Right, right. So, I want to fast forward. I mean, you had, I guess, a good career in construction, but then you decided to go over to Kahua. Can you help me pronounce that one?

12:51 - AJ
Kahua, yeah. Kahua.

12:53 - Andy
Okay, I nailed it. So, can you tell us what you're doing there right now.

12:59 - AJ
Yeah.

12:59 - Andy
Kahua and what they do as well.

13:02 - AJ
Yeah, so my title with Kahua is Chief Evangelist, which is exactly as it sounds. Spread the good news about construction technology to the industry. So my role is to build relationships, share from my experiences that I've had because I did have a great career in construction but I did shift into construction technology pretty early in my career and stay there for a good decade even before coming to Kahua. So those learned experiences from both the contractor side and the owner side are things that I bring to the conversations that we have so that we can help educate the industry and not just be out there trying to sell them something that maybe isn't exactly what they need. So my role is to build those relationships, share that story, and help people kind of navigate the world of construction technology so that they're making the right decision and not just the decision that seems like safe or convenient.

14:20 - Andy
You often argue that software, to go into that a bit more, you often argue software should conform to the business, not the other way around. What do you mean by that?

14:32 - AJ
Yeah, that's a great question. It's funny because I used to argue the other way. I used to be a one-size-fits-all, let's get a platform with all of the industry best practices baked into it. Everybody's using the same platform and working in the same way, then we're all going to be kind of rowing in the same direction and the industry will be better for it. And the longer I did that, the longer I tried to like explain how a customer that I'd be sitting across from could use that platform to do what they wanted to do, the harder it got, right? Because one size never fits all. And the more I realized no software gonna be enough to do everything that you need to do as a company it might get you about 80% of the way there but that last 20% that's like your differentiation that's that's what makes your system special that's what makes you profitable it's what makes you who you are and and we're gonna miss that and so so I had a little bit of a change of heart when it came to that and and Kahua is a It's a project management platform just like the rest of them, but the key difference is, and I'm gonna use a prop, so if you're listening to this, I'll try to explain it verbally as much as possible, but the key difference between Kahua and your typical is this device right here, and I'm holding up an iPhone. And that difference is, iOS is a platform that runs out of the box.

16:08 - Andy
That looks like an old iPhone right there.

16:09 - AJ
It's the original. Nice, okay. iOS runs out of the box as a platform the way a phone's supposed to run. It's got mail, calendar, phone, text, right? All the things it should do out of the box. So you go buy a phone, it runs out of the box. Kuhu is the same way. You buy Kuhu, it runs out of the box. But let's say that you don't like mail, you prefer Outlook. Or you don't like messages, you prefer WhatsApp. There are other ways to do similar processes that are more attuned to how you do those things, right? And so you can swap them out. Or if you're really good, you could write your own app, right? And just run that app the way that you want. And that's how Kahua operates. We have a low-code, no-code development kit, so you could extend our apps. So if you don't like how we did RFIs, do RFIs your way. If you don't like how we did contracts, do them your way. If we didn't think of an app, like Apple never wrote United or the Southwest or the Hilton or the Marriott app, right? They let them do that. If we didn't think of a process that you need in your system, write your own. We have customers that have written 27 plus apps that we never even would have thought of It puts innovation back in your hands instead of you having to wait for us to put it on the roadmap, right?

17:29 - Andy
Yeah, okay. And this is for construction companies primarily?

17:35 - AJ
Yep. Owners, contractors, subcontractors. It's a project management platform for the AEC space. Yep. Yeah.

17:44 - Andy
So architects, engineers could use it as well?

17:47 - AJ
Yep. They could. There's design review, design management in there, integrations to Revit and Autodesk and things like that. Okay.

17:56 - Andy
Awesome. Well, yeah, maybe I should check that out too for our company. And what are you guys doing with regard to AI and integrating with that? Is that something that, I mean, you're probably thinking about a lot, right?

18:16 - AJ
Yeah, well, so there's a lot of, obviously there's a lot of hype around AI and it's hard to remove the noise and get down to things that are actually useful. And so we're doing a lot of work what many people are doing, right? Helping when it comes to search, helping when it comes to generating verbiage, right? Whether it be a note, an RFI, a submittal. We're doing a lot of the typical things that you see from platforms that are dabbling in AI. But the big one, the one that we're most excited about is what we call KBuilder Canvas, which is our code no code builder, you can now have just a text conversation like you would with chat GPT with our application builder and say, I need an app for shutdowns. These are the five required fields that I want and this is the workflow that I want. And in about 10 to 15 seconds, it spits you out a brand new app. And you validate it, give it a few changes, it changes, it tweaks it, right? And so, kind of that whole idea of coding on the side, you don't have to go in anymore into the coding language, the low-code language, and write the app. You just have a natural conversation, and the AI writes the app for you.

19:42 - Andy
Okay. Yeah, that sounds like it could really help, especially with that 20%. Hopefully, the Kahua can get you the 80, and then you fill in the gaps where you need it. So, what are some things that you're seeing from a project management standpoint that are helping, whether it be your app or others, that is helping people navigate through the challenges of construction right now the most?

20:09 - AJ
Well, I think the biggest thing that digital applications have done for the construction industry is the collection of data. Now, whether or not we're using it correctly or we're even and collecting it correctly. Like that kind of depends on which platform you're using and what what their kind of processes are. But at the end of the day, we have way more information in construction than we've ever had before. We have more metrics, more KPIs. The question is, how can we better utilize them? Right. And so I think that's what every platform is really chasing right now, because we've gotten to the point where we've got data saturation. Right. They say 96% of all data collected on construction projects goes unused, which tells you we've got too much data or maybe not the right data anymore. And so it's maybe time to look at the processes that we've digitized and make sure that they're really the right ones. But at this point, the biggest thing that project management platforms have done in the last 10 to 15 years is aggregate a lot of that data into one place for companies to understand at least a little bit better where they're at. I remember being at Kiewit looking through old cost reports, like trying to build an estimate, right? And I was just going through pages and pages, hundreds of pages of printouts trying to find the right past cost that I was going to try to build that estimate off of And now I can do that with, you know, three button clicks in the right dashboard, right?

21:44 - Andy
Yeah, I mean the ability to, and the thing about it, it's dynamic. I mean the drawings are updating constantly through design and even through construction. So that's got to be a challenge. I don't know how you could, I don't know how you're going to be able to do it without a project management software moving forward. I mean maybe small companies could have done it, but now I don't know how you could do it without it. So let's go into just, because you talk a lot about, you talk to people a lot as an evangelist with Kahua. You also have, you have a podcast you just dropped. Congratulations. So I just listened to it this morning. I was like, I got to listen to this and get caught up. So it was pretty funny and a good one. You actually landed with a good one, Matt Graves, the mean guy, You know, you talked a lot about how he brings humor to construction. So have you worked on your meme game since you talked to Matt? You got any good memes going?

22:49 - AJ
Not yet. No, I'm not. You know, some people have good skills for creating memes. I'm just not one of them. I've tried in the past and it's a lot harder than it looks. Yeah.

23:04 - Andy
Well, I mean, humor is something that, you know, I tend My biggest joke is that I only have five jokes. And that's actually one of them right there. So I better save the rest of the four for later. But yeah, it was a good episode and congratulations on starting your podcast. I know you've done some stuff with Kahua too, in terms of podcasting. I didn't get caught up on those yet. About your, I think this is like your personal brand, The Engine Nerd, right? Can you tell us a little bit about The Engine Nerd?

23:42 - AJ
Yeah, so The Engine Nerd Life is something I started last year, a blog on the side. There were things that I just wanted to share, right? And I couldn't get them out fast enough and couldn't figure out the right platform to get them out. Because I was seeing the same, people running into the same landmines that I've run into multiple times in my career and it's like you know I've already blown up on that bomb let's not do it again right how about how about we all get a little better and and so that was kind of the whole idea behind it was to get some of the some of that that knowledge out there but after a year of it I was like I feel like I'm just talking at people and I don't I don't like that So as I kind of turned the page into the new year, I came to the conclusion I wanted to talk with people. Like I wanted to share with the industry. There are so many more incredible people out there with great stories to tell that maybe aren't getting told it like they should be. That are doing great things that we can all learn from and take something away from And so that was the whole idea. With the transition into the podcast was to get more collaborative, expand the conversation, and let's all be talking together instead of at one another and moving the industry forward that way.

25:13 - Andy
Yeah, and so you have a blog, you're active on LinkedIn, and then now you have a podcast. So what are some of the messages that you're trying to get out there? To the construction community and AEC?

25:30 - AJ
Yeah, well, there's a lot of them. I would say a couple of the big ones that have resonated the most is when it comes to technology transformations, there's a formula. And going back to the math degree, the order of operations matters. And that formula, which it's been tried and true for a long time, but people tend to skip it anyway, is people first, then processes, then technology. That's your framework that you've got to walk through. If you don't start with the people, you're off on the wrong foot to begin with, and adoption is going to be incredibly difficult. If you start with the processes and just try to figure out where your gaps are or where your holes are, you're likely not talking to the right people who actually understand where those problems are. And so that's why you've got to always start at the beginning with the people. And, and too often companies want to start with the tech. Like they, they just go out and they're like, we need that software. Why? Why do you need that software? Because we need, because we need software. We need, we need project managers for software, but, but no, but what's it supposed to do? Like why? Well I don't know it just needs to project manage you know and so like and what ends up happening is you end up purchasing something that maybe look good in a shiny demo or did did something that you you appreciate it as a leader but when you give it to your end users it's an extra 20 clicks compared to what they used to do right and and they they had no say in whether or not something was needed they had no and how it was designed, or what this election was, and that is where adoption goes to die. And so, that's probably the biggest message that I tend to preach on when it comes to, because I've done it wrong multiple times. I've been a part of transformations that got that order wrong so many times, and every time, I've got stories upon stories of the ways that those things went wrong, and what happened because of it. And so I'm just trying to help people not have to do that themselves.

27:54 - Andy
And how did you come across this order of operations, the people, process, technology?

28:00 - AJ
Where did that come up? I wish I could off the top of my head tell you where that comes from It's a change management framework. So you can look it up. Google or what have you, and you'll be able to find where it originated from, but that order of operations is vitally important. Sometimes people look at it and they think that those are three distinct things. People, process, tech. Those are the three things you need to execute a successful change, but in reality, the order matters. That's the piece that maybe people miss. A lot of people understand those three components, but miss the fact that that order is just as important as those three things.

28:56 - Andy
Is there any good examples you have of that, that you've helped somebody see?

29:03 - AJ
Well, I can tell you, I was on a project where The end users selected a software. The Leadership didn't like it, so they hired a third party. The third party came back. And came with the exact same suggestion. As the users did so people got it right. Third party gets it. Leadership still doesn't like it, so they change the process waiting scores. To get a different Technology is the winner right like they changed the category waiting And it pushed the one that the people in the in the third party had appreciated to third and a different one that they wanted to first That technology implementation never got off the ground the users revolted They they tried multiple different ways to put lipstick on the pig right new UI changes skins, like they tried all sorts of things and never really got it successfully off the ground and ended up having to scrap the whole thing.

30:18 - Andy
Yeah, wow. Yeah, that seems kind of unfortunate, the way they did that. So hopefully they learned their lesson from that one.

30:27 - AJ
Time will tell, right?

30:31 - Andy
So yeah, people process technology. I definitely like that. And it's just easy to flip those, right? Like you said, we just want to get that app. We wanted to let Claude fix everything for us. Or pick your AI these days and let that fix it. But the fact is, I mean, the process wasn't really right to begin with, and the people weren't right. But the thing about people is people are messy. You know, they can be hard to work with sometimes, and often, actually. So I think that's why it's easier to, I think that's why sometimes it's easier just to skip ahead and say, you know what, they'll just deal with it, right? Do you think that's one of the drivers, or what's the biggest driver behind people skipping that step?

31:28 - AJ
You know, that's a big one. Is people are messy, people are difficult, and understanding who the right people are is hard. Because when it comes to that framework and it comes to making the transformation successful, you can't just pick anyone. Because we, I've been a part of a project that did that wrong, right? Like, they were throwing people, we had change that we wanted to do. And so who did they send to be a part of the team that was going to lead the change? The people they didn't want on the job site, right? Like, I don't want the person on the job site, so I'm going to send them to go help with this tech thing. Then I can get them off my job site. Well, if they're not good on the job site, they're not going to be good on the tech thing like that. It doesn't make it. You've got to, you've got to lean into some of your best people in a way that gives them space. To help you truly innovate. And because if you send the wrong people, I think they're the wrong people on the job site. They're gonna be the wrong people in the room trying to figure out what tech to use, right? They shouldn't be running the job to begin with. And so that created kind of a snowball of features and requirements and things that we didn't really need to deal with and made made some of the rollout a little bit more difficult than it should have been, right? But we learned from that and we kind of reset and win a second time and then brought, you know, they sent a lot more of their best people instead of just their, just the people that they wanted to kind of move around. And more importantly, they brought people that had a little bit of influence, right? Like the best way to help lead change within an organization is from the ground up and so you need some of those influential folks within your your company that have a little bit of pull or sway with their with their co-workers because they can bring kind of that energy and that positivity to the change that gets everyone else leaning more positive versus somebody who's like oh this is never gonna work is gonna be the worst thing ever. That, or it's so difficult, or this software's really hard to learn. Those things, that negative spreads quickly.

34:02 - Andy
Yeah, awesome. Well, that sounds like some good tips to help work with people better. But it's an ongoing challenge, right?

34:13 - AJ
It is, it really is.

34:16 - Andy
So in the construction industry at large, And this, you know, our podcast Enhance, we are, it says AEC, but really we have a lot of A's and E's mostly. We do have some construction people, and we welcome that, of course. But the reason I mention that is, what are some messages that maybe you're seeing that are from a construction standpoint? You had, you know, 10 in construction, estimating you're probably working with mostly contractors. And what are some messages to designers that you can see from a construction and collaboration standpoint that we can improve upon?

34:58 - AJ
Well, you know, everybody likes to poke at the RFI, right? Like it's just the cluster that it is. And at the end of the day, it's all about communication and teamwork. We're all strapped thin. I think engineers and designers and architects get a bad rap because maybe because they're billable I don't know but like that they've got all this time in the all the time in the world and why are they not responding to me because like they're just sitting there waiting for me to ask them questions and that's not the case right like everyone is stretched to the limit on every project and once the projects out door right you you're on to the next one just like we were in estimating like when we sent the project out to the field after the estimate was done like we were on to the next one and so it's hard to make that that gear shift and so I think more than anything communication is the fundamental communication and collaboration or the fundamental requirements of this industry and if there were something that I don't necessarily want to say that engineers and architects need to be better at it but like if they wanted to if they wanted to alleviate some headaches over communicating even if it's I can't get to this right now give me this much time and then following through Like that could be huge because being on the on the contractor side for a while and in like submitting the RFI and then just waiting, you know, you, you wonder what black hole it got sucked into. And, uh, and I'm dating myself a little bit because a lot of my RFIs were emails. Um, not, not nearly as sophisticated as some of the project management platforms today, but Just that being willing to stay on top of and over-communicate goes a long way, even if the communication is, I have to get back to you.

37:18 - Andy
Yeah, definitely. It's an empathy, really, is what I'm hearing. Empathetic, I mean, it's so easy to say, you know, have this conflict mentality between design side, and even the architect and the engineer can have a conflict. Because you might just see us as all like, hey, that's the design team. But obviously, there's stuff going on there too sometimes. And even inside of your own companies at times, right? We know that is a challenge, as we just talked about. But yeah, I think empathy, it sounds like, big one. And just realizing, hey, this AJ guy, he keeps sending me these RFIs. You know, like, but once you get to know, you know, he's just, he's just a guy trying to get ahead, trying to do his thing. And, you know, I'm just gonna do the best I can to help him out. You know, I think that helps. And like I said, I love to alleviate headaches. I mean, that's one of our That's actually our System 8, Eliminate Headaches, at 2096, so yeah, I love that one. So how does the Engine Nerd, and is there a relationship between that and Kahua, or is this just a total brand that you have for yourself?

38:44 - AJ
Yeah, that's a good question. Obviously, there's a lot that I learn throughout what I do at Kahua, and the events that I get to go to, I get to talk to that feed the the knowledge that gets shared on the engine nerd right like I wouldn't have the opportunity to have the conversations that led to the aha moment without Kahua and in one of the things with the podcast like I lean into resources that Kahua has to get the podcast done so that's why the podcast is powered by Kahua But yeah, the Engine Nerd, again, it kinda comes back to, there were things that I wanted to say that we couldn't get out fast enough. And so, in order to do that, here comes a blog, and then here comes a podcast. And that allows that message to just get out faster. And to be more agnostic, that can help. Help the industry at large.

39:52 - Andy
So you're not like a fanboy, per se. It gives you an ability to, you can talk about Kahua some, but you can also talk about general things. Yeah, exactly. So that's good. What are some of those, and I see you're active on LinkedIn, you're basically posting every single day on there. Are there any other messages that you're sharing the engineered life different from like your speaking engagements with Kahua?

40:25 - AJ
Yeah, I get into a lot on leadership and culture in construction. I mean, you've been around the industry, you know that we're dealing with a major shortage in labor, we're dealing with mental health challenges, like all these things and a lot of them stem from just a different form of leadership than many of us grew up with, right? And a different way to lead, to mentor, a different culture than the typical job site is used to. And so I get into a lot of those topics on the blog and some of them on the podcast, right? Even with Matt Graves, like it was having those tough conversations in a constructive way and not just complaining, right? Like that was one of the key things that we talked about. And so that's something that I'm big, like I kind of waffle between culture and tech when it comes to the topics that show up on Engineered Life. And that'll pop up in the future. And the way that I post on LinkedIn, too. But my, I think the number one message that I try to get across, and I end every blog and now every podcast with it is, you know, construction's really cool. And it's an incredible industry. It needs to get more credit. It's not a fallback career, right? It's not something you do Smart enough for anything else like we're building the world and in in everything Everything that we're using right now to communicate on this podcast the electricity the signals in space the the video cameras the The microphones like all of this stuff was built because of engineering because of construction And so we wouldn't be able to live the way we live today without this industry. And people should know that. They should understand that it's a valuable career. It's a cool career. It's a fulfilling career. And so I always tell people, construction is cool. Tell your friends, because we got space. Yeah, I love that. Don't mind us.

43:02 - Andy
Yeah, it's awesome. And that taps right into what we're trying to highlight here. I mean, enhance the world around you, right? And trying to find out what your story is, and that sounds like a big part of it, but is there anything else that drives you? Basically, the big question we like to really bring up in the podcast is, what is your why?

43:30 - AJ
Yeah, so when I was a kid, Boy Scouts, right? And I was always taught to leave the campsite better than you found it. And for me, my why with construction is to leave the industry better than I found it. At the end of the day, that's why I do all these things. Because I've been asked that a lot. I've been asked, what's your end goal with this blog? Why are you starting a podcast? All those things. And at the end of the day, it all boils down to leaving the industry better than I found it. And that's why I do what I do.

44:07 - Andy
Yeah, that's awesome. That's some really strong messages. And that's what, I love the message of construction's cool. It's not a second thought. It's not just like, well, I gotta make a paycheck. I might as well do this. I mean, obviously we do have to feed our family. But it is cool, and you know, I love the idea that, you know, I tell people this all the time, I'm like, especially with regard to engineering, I'm like, everything that you touch, unless it's like dirt or, you know, earth, or like something that grows out of the earth, is made by, probably an engineer touched it at some point, right? You know, and if it's, you know, a building, or like a road or the internet that we are using right now is, you know, like my dad was on here. He was in the fiber optics and telephone industry. So that was cool to learn all about that. And just that tiny thing, but it's not a tiny thing, it's a huge thing. All this AI, you gotta have data centers, but you also have to have data travel from point A to point B. I mean, you're in Nebraska, I'm in South Carolina, and yet we're here having a podcast.

45:26 - AJ
Yep.

45:27 - AJ
So I'll give you two real quick, like full circle moments, right?

45:32 - AJ
So, so I got like, I, I dreamed as a kid of building stadiums and I got the opportunity to work on the college world series ballpark in Omaha.

45:41 - AJ
So that's my all time favorite project because it was the stadium I got to be a part of

45:47 - AJ
Um, and every year, every June I get to go back and experience that with my kids.

45:52 - AJ
Right.

45:53 - AJ
So like, that's an example.

45:55 - AJ
of construction, something that I got to work on that has made a community better.

46:00 - AJ
But this last year, I had a different aha moment, because this last year, when I was inestimating, I worked on a number of renovations and addition estimates for Omaha's Children's Hospital, Nebraska Children's Hospital here in Omaha, and I never, imagined that I'd have to use it, right?

46:26 - AJ
And this last summer, my son had to hit the emergency room and spend a few days there because of something that happened.

46:38 - AJ
And here I was on a floor that I worked on the remodel of, and I'm sitting here thinking, you know, this is, that's a full circle moment of, and I posted this LinkedIn a few days ago like construction doesn't save lives in the moment yes but somebody built the infrastructure that saved a life right and so it was it was kind of neat it was one of those where it was a facility I never wanted to use when I when I was working on it but thankfully it was there and my son was saved and you know everything's That's awesome.

47:17 - Andy
And yeah, it's so neat that, I mean, obviously nobody really wants to use a children's hospital, right?

47:27 - Andy
But the day that you need it, you know, the people that go into the design, the care, the craftsmanship that goes into the construction of it, and the safety of it, and all those things, you know, you want it to be nice.

47:44 - Andy
so that you can take care of your family and take care of your son, so that you come out and the nurses and the doctors can do their jobs efficiently, the layout, and that's where the architecture comes in.

48:01 - Andy
So the people that are in the healthcare, they're like, yeah, we gotta do that.

48:07 - Andy
But yeah, that's a really neat full circle moment that you had.

48:11 - Andy
And, you know, I'm thankful that I have a friendship with you.

48:16 - Andy
Obviously, I was able to learn about some of those things.

48:19 - Andy
And we're actually in a prayer group together, as you know, and that's how I first met you.

48:25 - Andy
So I'm sharing that to the group.

48:26 - Andy
But I mean, we met first through that, which, you know, one of the, like LinkedIn, he asked us to all be in a part of this.

48:33 - Andy
So it's neat that I actually became a LinkedIn connection after that relationship.

48:42 - Andy
But now there is a little bit of a full circle now, because now we're on the podcast together.

48:47 - Andy
And I didn't realize you were quite the influencer.

48:51 - AJ
Yeah.

48:52 - Andy
And you post quite a bit on LinkedIn.

48:55 - Andy
You've got a podcast now.

48:56 - Andy
Now, is the Kahua podcast, is that still going?

48:59 - Andy
Or is it pretty much the Engineered Life only?

49:01 - AJ
It is, yes.

49:02 - AJ
So Kahua Built Different is still going.

49:04 - AJ
In fact, they still drop an episode every month.

49:09 - AJ
Nicholas and I just recorded the first season wrap-up episode, so that's exciting, that's coming out here soon.

49:18 - AJ
But yeah, we still have Kahoo!

49:21 - AJ
Build Different, and Engineerd just kind of releases on the off weeks where Build Different doesn't.

49:26 - Andy
Yeah, okay, awesome.

49:28 - Andy
Is there any other messages that you want to share today with the group, with the podcast, that maybe I didn't hit on?

49:35 - AJ
I mean, I'll just go back and reiterate what I always like to say, that construction is awesome.

49:41 - AJ
Come join us.

49:42 - AJ
We have so much fun.

49:44 - AJ
We're building the world each and every day, making communities better.

49:48 - AJ
Construction is so cool.

49:50 - Andy
Yeah, I love the passion, love the excitement.