Transcript: Why I Started the Constructrr Podcast

This is the Constructor Podcast, session number one. Hello and welcome to this episode of Constructor. My name is Brittany Campbell Turner and this podcast is dedicated to helping property owners have certainty in their decisions about their construction projects. My goal is to help property owners foster trusting relationships. I want you to have better relationships with your design and construction team, lower risk in your construction projects, be under budget and on schedule, and ensure that your end users' desires are exceeded.

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining me today. This is the first episode I'm doing of the Constructor Podcast and I wanted to give you some reasons as to why I'm passionate about doing this for you guys. Number one, I'm a nerd for planning and scheduling solutions. During the first two years of my construction experience, I was a schedule manager reviewing for about 80 projects at a major public program the following.

Plan schedules, progress updates, as-built schedules, and delay schedules as well. So one major thing I learned while working in that particular role was rarely do everything go as planned. So I found that approximately, and this is really my guesstimate, that 89% of the time the reason is usually the same. Somewhere along the way, the communication line broke down. So that's number one.

Number two, efficiency is epic. I started loving problem solving through doing jigsaw puzzles at around age four, so soon after that I started asking for 3D puzzles at Christmas time. I changed out my parents' clogged faucet by myself at age seven. I asked for my own real tools by my next birthday and using those tools I built a playhouse with my dad, of course, for my neighborhood friends and I to play in our backyard. My family moved to a beautiful yet dated home when I was about 12 years old, and I spearheaded doing some house upgrades, organizing, decorating, and doing do-it-yourself projects.

With my family is a great team behind me, of course. Some of the jobs included painting, laying towel, hardwood floors, re-staining kitchen cabinets. I wasn't half bad in math and science in school either and loved building, so I chose to study architectural engineering and construction management in college. I've worked in construction management in the project management realm for about ten years, mitigating risk for cost and schedule overruns for some of Chicago's largest capital programs and high profile global companies. So I'm now a project manager for a global owners rep contracting firm, mitigating risk every day.

In my few years of experience, I found that solution finding doesn't stop with the technical side of construction, but it really, really relates to the social side of things, the things, which I see it as collaboration or really communication. Number three, I have an insatiable desire for learning about innovation and technology that makes lives easier for doers, particularly in the construction industry. So I've recently become somewhat of an ENR junkie. And I'm always ready to dig into technology and what's trending for construction or engineering. When I went to engineering school, I was required to use software for Matlab, MathCad, C++, Primavera, P6, tell me if I'm boring you.

Like seriously, that's like nerdy stuff. And well, although they're very useful softwares, some of which I still use today, including like AutoCAD or the Autodesk products, Brevet really. So most of them that I'm not using today are pretty useful for people who are engineers now, not so much me. But I'm consistently encountering and using project management software tools, including collaboration tools like Submittal Exchange, Procore, PlanGrid, Oracle products, Bluebeam, New Forma, etc. There's always a question of which works best for your project needs, what works for your project needs.

And it really is dependent upon what you're doing. I find that this kind of question that arises about what works best, it always excites me. And I always want to know what are the reasons why one works better than the other. Anyway, I have an innate need to constantly improve everything around me. Isn't that what technology means?

Systematic treatment? I constantly want to tweak and tweak the systems around me, always have, from when I was a kid. The same trait continued as I transitioned into adulthood, systematically treating things like they can always incrementally improve, or those who know the Japanese term kaizen. Number four, I love learning and growing with the industry. As much as I like systematization and consistency in growth, I also have grown to enjoy the challenges that come along with the technical questions, as well as the social people management aspects of construction.

I've encountered scenarios of cultural growth that come along with younger generations and worldwide experiences impacting how construction is done today. Innovation doesn't stop with technology. Innovation has changed the way society interacts. We live in a social environment where we can do in-person meetings 50,000 miles away and have transparency with social media, where we learn others' thoughts and opinions real time. Number five, I love collaboration.

Collabo and pre-construction is huge. I mean huge. So collaboration can be a wonderful thing when it's done right. There are so many elements to doing it right. Each event has to do with the, air quotes, buy-in, air quotes, of the total team.

Each person has to feel valued and trusted and capable of getting the type of respect for their opinion because of their expertise. If there's a kink in the chain, it doesn't work well. Each person must be a contributor and must be encouraged to do so. Only then does the whole team get the benefit of all the skills in the team. In other words, you are able to use all of the tools in the toolbox, never neglecting one or two.

This is done by creating synergy between the parties involved. Collaboration always works best if started at the inception of a project when design is actually taking place. This is why I mentioned collaboration is huge. Did I say huge? It is.

The contractor, the builder, must be able to speak to the constructability of the design or there's an inevitable need for the design changes. Number six, lean construction is awesome. The Toyota production system outlined in the Toyota Way by Jeff Leiker talks about illuminating Muda or waste by using the knowledge of the last planner, aka the person who is physically putting the pieces together or swinging the hammer as we say, and is the most important person to get input into the plan of executing the project. For those of you who have had the opportunity to encounter the Lean Construction Institute, leanconstruction.org, you can understand that the founders have the willingness to try to implement the success found at a manufacturing company like Toyota and test it out for construction.

This takes a type of vulnerability from crazy trailblazers that is rarely accepted. Today, many companies are implementing these refined principles. Number seven, I love providing my clients with a quality product from inception of a design to day one and beyond in their space. This is my passion, seeing the faces and hearing the accolades from reviving the culture of a business to just upgrading the HVAC behind the walls for more efficient energy use to upgrading residential properties, allowing for a more creative space for businesses to host their clients or stakeholders.

That's what I love about it. Providing this satisfaction drives me. Knowing that I am helping you provide the experience you are striving for in your business gives me the greatest fulfillment. Number eight, I love sharing my passion for construction. When I met my father-in-law for the first time, when I was just friends with my now husband, I learned that my father-in-law did construction and had built a number of houses from the ground up.

I also learned that my mother-in-law's father owned his own construction company and mentored my father-in-law. Oh man, did we talk. Only about a few good times. We talked, and to today, we talk. At that time when I first met my father-in-law, my husband knew that I fit in the family.

Number nine, I believe there are a lot of people who give a lot of value in this industry, and I want to showcase to you. I'm dedicated to showing top performers, amazing case studies, and other construction enthusiasts that are impacting our communities. Number bonus! My last item here, I believe relationships drive this industry, and I want to build a community here of people who are passionate about the same things I am. So please click the link as far as what's in my show notes, and sign up to get updates about upcoming podcasts so you can hear a little bit more about what I'm learning and improve your construction life.