Hire Smarter with Tony Misura

In this episode, Tony sits down with Rory O'Neill of Rory Thomas Productions, a longtime friend and expert in video storytelling. They discuss the real value of video in talent and customer attraction, the common pitfalls companies face when creating content, and how to capture the genuine, compelling stories that resonate with both customers and candidates. From building comfort on camera to identifying what makes a company truly unique, this conversation is packed with insight for leaders ready to level up their brand and recruitment efforts through video.

Hire Smarter Podcast: Land Banking, Risk Mitigation, and Government Policies Shaping the Housing Market Join industry expert John Burns as he explores the evolving landscape of the housing market. In this episode, John breaks down the significance of land banking, risk mitigation strategies for builders, and the lasting effects of government policies like Dodd-Frank. Tune in for valuable insights on how these factors are shaping the future of homebuilding and real estate. Listen now and stay ahead of the curve in today's dynamic housing market.

In the latest episode of Hire Smarter, Tony Misura talks with Joe Page, founder and CEO of Tamarack Software, about his innovative approach to modernizing the wood products industry. Tamarack is building an integrated operating system for sawmills to address the complex, fragmented nature of the industry. Joe explains how the company, despite lacking prior experience in the field, began with hands-on collaboration with sawmills like RSG Forest Products, uncovering inefficiencies and creating a system that automates and streamlines processes. With a focus on improving workflows from landowners to homebuilders, Tamarack has already garnered impressive adoption, with 15 sawmills onboard in just two years. The platform's ability to reduce tasks that once took hours to mere seconds is driving automation, data-sharing, and optimization across the entire supply chain, making the future of the lumber industry more connected and efficient.

In the latest episode of Hire Smarter™, Michael Collins shares insights into his journey in the building products industry and investment banking, emphasizing a strategic focus on large, fragmented markets ripe for acquisition. He highlights the significance of sustainable EBITDA in business valuations, urging listeners to steer clear of one-time or non-recurring items that could skew buyer perceptions. Collins also underscores the importance of succession planning and retaining key management talent during ownership transitions, as well as the competitive edge and higher margins that installation and service offerings can provide. Additionally, he discusses the transformative impact of technology adoption and the necessity of fully integrated ERP systems to maximize business value.

Cody Nuernberg, President of BLD Connection, outlines the advantages of joining the association. He emphasizes the benefits of networking, educational opportunities, and the diverse program services provided. Cody also highlights the association's role in legislative advocacy, addressing current issues like credit card fees and potential changes to crane regulations. He underscores the cost-effectiveness of membership and the importance of effective communication to keep members informed. Cody invites non-members to experience these benefits firsthand and notes the growing impact of technology on the industry, stressing the need to embrace innovation to remain competitive.

In the latest episode of "Hire Smarter," we explore how LBM industry leaders can transform their hiring practices and career decisions by leveraging innovative technology to improve estimating processes. The episode highlights the challenges LBM dealers face with estimating and how the groundbreaking Paradigm technology addresses these issues. Paradigm enables a significant boost in estimating capacity and accuracy, streamlining bids to be completed in just 5-7 days while allowing estimators to focus on customization. Join us as we speak with Paradigm's Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Ted Nafzger, and Account Executive, Chase Hackner, to uncover how this technology can enhance sales, efficiency, and talent retention, ultimately revolutionizing your business operations.

Our guests today are Jack Laverty and Larry Noble from World Vision, an organization that focuses on providing relief and development to underserved communities. They discuss the organizations evolution from typical NGO to solution-based provider for corporations, offering product donation solutions and addressing issues such as obsolete inventory and employee engagement. They highlight World Vision's impact both internationally and domestically, with a focus on helping communities lift themselves out of poverty.

In the latest episode of Hire Smarter™, follow along as Tony, Jim, and Michele discuss the explosive value that Hogan Assessments can bring to the LBM industry. Jim dives into how this personality assessment is used to help companies with strategic planning, succession planning, and coaching. While there are many types of personality tests out there, the Hogan Assessment allows for individuals to get the most detailed, holistic approach in regards to hiring, onboarding, and continued success in day-to-day interactions. It gets down to the nitty-gritty of understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and fit within a company culture. Misura Group is excited to expand the reach of solutions we can provide to our clients and candidates.

In this episode, Tony dives into Matt Semonik's unexpected journey into the LBM industry and Arnold Lumber's legacy as a fourth-generation family-owned business. Matt elaborates on the company's niche in serving high-end custom home builders in Rhode Island, its diverse offerings, and its growth trajectory. The conversation shifts to non-compete agreements, with Matt discussing their evolving landscape in the US and the importance of cultivating strong relationships with employees and customers to mitigate their necessity. They explore Arnold Lumber's innovative approaches, such as video content creation, supplier collaborations for customer training, and e-commerce integration, highlighting their beneficial effects on employee involvement, customer contentment, and sales expansion. Matt also highlights the company's focus on internal process enhancement and technology utilization for improved efficiency and customer service.

This episode of Hire Smarter dives into the questions to help listeners understand what the cutting edge supply chain tactics are and how first principles can challenge the status quo and help your organization move forward.   The sharpest supply chain leaders start from a cultural perspective in creating a place where there is a more progressive think, challenging teams with best practices and innovation that impact the P&L.   Our guest today is Matt Wolf, recently the director of Supply Chain with Agorus. He claims to have improved profits by 35%, strictly through a better supply chain approach. He and his team focused on changing the industry's view of offsite manufacturing through a variety of tactics. Here are the big topics Matt helps break down in this podcast:   How focused is your supply chain team at impacting your customer's value proposition? How does your team implement best practices to deliver an industrialized process? How do you currently approach the expense vs inventory conundrum around purchasing? What are the opportunities moving from CAD to BOM? How do the table stakes change in hiring talent from outside the industry?

The best step any company can take to become excellent at recruiting is to be excellent at marketing. At its roots, recruiting is a marketing problem. Scott Ericson, Owner of Wheelhouse 20/20, takes pride in having created a full-service marketing resource exclusively for the building supply channel. They specialize in developing and executing strategies that weave together the building industry, sales, and marketing.  Listen in as Scott shares some of his most important takeaways when it comes to building a strong, successful brand with a lasting legacy. 

The greatest leaders take on the toughest challenges. Successfully driving cutting-edge innovation in the home building industry is an enormous challenge. Garrett Moore, the CEO of Agorus, has a mission of building homes from permits to keys in 30 days. How does a leader maintain the level of intensity and focus needed to tackle the boldest initiatives? Mantras help teams effectively maintain focus through the white noise and distractions life throws at them.   Some of Garrett's favorite mantras: Team, Teammate, Self – In priority order. No one is too big to pick up a broom – Humility starts at the top. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication – The simplest plan is the best plan. The only easy day was yesterday – Never rest on your laurels. Two is one, one is none – You need to have a backup.

Our guest today is Chalmers Brothers, a best-selling author, certified executive coach, consultant, and speaker. In this episode, Chalmers shares that we don't need to be psychologists to be effective leaders - but to be emotionally literate and capable of utilizing our most effective tool, “the power of language,” does require a dedicated effort. We all have heroes, people who have held themselves to a higher standard whose level of success and how they achieved that success earns our respect. Chalmers Brothers is one of my heroes. We met at a Vistage event several years ago and read his book Language and the Pursuit of Leadership Excellence. I found his methods to be simple, effective, and actionable. I hope you learn as much as I have from Chalmers. 

In this episode, Tony speaks with Levi Smith, the CEO & President of Franklin Building Supply, a standout independent LBM dealer. A full line lumberyard in Idaho, they generate over $300m in sales, with 750 people, 17 locations, including door shops and truss plants. What is your best story to effectively attract bright young talent to your company? A great story has three components: A cast of characters that everyone cares about The desire to accomplish something for someone else A challenging obstacle to overcome Great leaders and excellent problem solvers create some of the most straightforward solutions. Levi's insight and teaching are excellent.

In this episode, Tony speaks with Craig Webb, the decades-long editor of ProSales Magazine and current President of Webb Analytics, about the importance of excellent communication and how to hone in on your skills. Craig is easily one of the best speakers and communicators in the building materials and construction supply industry.  Craig recommends we ask 3 simple questions: What combination of media selection is the best given the outcome objective? What is the clearest, simplest form for that message to be delivered effectively?  What is the best feedback loop to refine the message?  

Are you interested in building a sustained business model that thrives whether you are there or not?   Are you facing scaling or turnover challenges?   Are you curious about what drives a building products business to sell for 6-8x EBITDA instead of 3x EBITDA?   This episode's guest is one of the building industry's top operators, Kendall Hoyd, CEO of the Sharpen Group. His track record includes taking a $5m business that was red on the profit line to $25m with double-digit profits. He was a C-level leader with Trussway, a $250m company achieving high returns, then moved on to Residential Design Services/Interior Logic Group, a subcontractor installing cabinets, countertops, and flooring. There he inherited $110m and grew it to $375m, with ownership evolving from founders to private equity to a publicly-traded structure.  

The #1 differentiating factor of great companies is simply the quality of their people. The quality of leadership determines the quality of people. Top talent does not want to report to mediocre leaders. It's the primary motive for most candidates we place.    Our guest today is Mai-Tal Kennedy, Principal Consultant with Building Industry Partners' Center of Excellence. Building Industry Partners (BIP), led by Matt Ogden, is an industry-focused private equity firm with a vision around people.   In this episode, Mai-Tal challenges traditional views on human capital and is generous with her insight providing the best methods to impact your team building.

In this episode, Thea Dudley teaches us her approach to establishing and maintaining a culture of accountability through the Art of Candor. Thea is respected in the industry as the credit and collections expert. Her career as a VP at Guardian Building Products and SRS Distribution pivoted to her consulting service, Thea Dudley LLC, where she guides the building industry on credit and collections practices and team building.  Listen to her engaging and hard-hitting approach as she educates us on the best way to reach our stretch goals around the following areas:  How does a professional develop the Art of Candor?  How can you grow the sales and profits of a business through the Credit Department?   What are the best steps to be an emboldened industry leader?  

Our guest today is Stuart Kliman, Partner and Head of the newly formed Center of Excellence at Building Industry Partners.  Stu's previous experience with the Harvard Negotiation Project (think tank behind the book – Getting to Yes) and as a founding partner of Vantage Partners, a management consulting firm, has made him an expert at helping not only companies improve their performance but assisting industries to collaborate and grow together. In this episode, Stu provides insight into the following questions: What does it mean to be a leader? What are the distinct traits of good leaders? What single trait can be used to further vet for outstanding leaders?

Our guest today is Mike Wisnefski, the Co-Founder of MaterialsXchange. Mike is shaking up the LBM purchasing supply chain with a low-cost, real-time e-trading platform for the 2x dimensional lumber and 4x8 plywood and OSB markets. Anyone can access Gold, Silver, and Palladium trades in real-time, and whether you are buying $1,000 or $1,000,000 - everyone has equal access to the market. MaterialsXchange's vision is that buying and selling lumber should be no different.

In this episode, we are joined by Gary Poulos, President of Mill Creek Lumber, a $250m LBM, Truss, and Millwork dealer serving the Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Wichita markets. Despite the issues everyone in our industry is facing with accelerated material pricing and availability, Mill Creek is aggressively growing with booming sales to keep up with demand while retaining its top talent. Gary answers a few tough questions: What is your view on the current supply and demand challenges in our industry? What are the steps you have taken as a leader to gain a competitive edge? What does the future hold for our industry around the enormous inflation and supply chain challenges everyone is facing?

In this episode, Tony speaks with longtime friend and mentor, Dena Cordova-Jack, Senior Director of Leadership & Talent Development at Kodiak Building Partners. Kodiak has over 5000 people and nearly $2B in sales annually. Central to their mission is developing leaders and inspiring people to grow. With 5000 people, Dena and Kodiak are taking on many challenges facing multi-generational teams. What are the best practices defining, benchmarking, and feeding leadership development?  What are the ways to approach succession planning? What is the distinction between a leader in a developmental stage and a leader who is miscast?

In this episode, Tony speaks with Dr. Robert Hogan, the founder of Hogan Assessments, the leading professional assessment tool in the world. Dr. Hogan, Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Past Professor of Psychology at Johns Hopkins University, Past Psychology Department Chair at the University of Tulsa, and author of several books, shares his wisdom on why companies struggle to make leadership hires.  Suppose we know the top 3 traits that predict great leaders. Why do companies continue to be so poor at hiring them? It is not whether the hiring leader thinks the candidate has the desired traits that matters, it’s based on the outcomes and facts of their personal and professional lives. Adding the right psychological testing to the process helps leaders understand the innate personality tendencies, flagging the key areas for questioning to determine if needed behavioral disciplines are entrenched. 

In this episode, Tony is joined by Cybelle Lyon. Cybelle has a Ph.D. from Portland State University in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and has been doing leadership consulting for over 20 years. Cybelle delivers some crisp, precise answers around complex topics:    - What are the two most critical traits of transformational leaders?   - What are the top five most common areas of development for leaders?   - Are you struggling with effectively implementing humility?   We deliver the answers to these questions and outline how you can accelerate your development path.

In this episode, Tony is joined by Kendall Hoyd, President at Residential Design Services, to discuss Hoshin Kanri. Kendall, previously the president of Idaho Truss and CFO of Trussway, has been effective at implementing Hoshin Kanri in multiple business models and cultures.  Hoshin Kanri is a methodology used in strategic planning that creates alignment and ensures that goals drive action across the entire organization. Listen on as Kendall shares 5 best practices as well as some common pitfalls that can be made while implementing this process in your organization. 

In this episode, Tony speaks with Kyle Little, COO of Sherwood Lumber, one of the largest privately-owned lumber distributors in the nation. 2020 has been a wild year and particularly explosive to the lumber market. Kyle has dedicated his life and profession to understanding the lumber commodity markets and has one message for everyone: the market volatility is here to stay for the next 5 years.

In this episode, our guest is Jim Robisch, Senior Partner at the Farnsworth Group. Jim has been a strategic consultant to the building materials industry for over 30 years, developing strategic plans for companies accelerating their growth through data and research, not anecdotal information.   We dive into a topic that comes up for Misura Group often – strategy. A truly great strategy is a dynamic force that pulls cultural engagement and P&L performance to the highest goals.

In this follow-up episode on the colossal merger between Builders FirstSource and BMC, Tony meets up with his close friends and LBM dealer presidents, Gary Poulos and Russ Kathrein. Having first-hand experience with BFS and BMC, Gary and Russ deliver insights about what makes these companies unique, the opportunities ahead for the now $11B business, and how this event will permanently change how the manufacturers and lumber mills interact with the national production builders.

In this episode, Jim and Tony discuss the merger of Builders FirstSource and BMC - two of the largest building materials dealers in the nation. Joining forces to create a company that is over $11B in annual sales, this also creates new challenges and opportunities for manufacturing suppliers, general contractors, and other dealer competitors.  Jim and Tony also give some guidance to professionals who are measuring the potential changes in their career path. 

In this episode, Tony speaks with Chris Kliefoth, current Advisor and former CEO of Nationwide Industries. They discuss how to lead during times of uncertainty, as we are currently facing the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and the importance of considering what is factual and what is probable.    This is a longer episode with some important information we don't want you to miss - so we've outlined some key moments below.    0:45 - Introduction  2:05 - Chris shares how he got into the industry 10:25 - One of Chris' greatest successes & failures 19:50 - Lessons learned from Chris' greatest mentor, Peter Dachowski 46:35 - The importance of a blameless culture 49:55 - Leading through a crisis & how to handle the current situation 54:35 How the coronavirus is different from other economic crashes  56:06 Chris shares the most critical step to crush your competition 1:12:40 - Closing thoughts & take-aways

In this episode, Todd shares with Tony some of the most common misconceptions and pitfalls of running a truss plant that many building materials dealers face. 

In this episode, Tony meets up with one of his best friends and President of Wick Buildings, Allan Breidenbach. Allan is a great example of how taking career risks and embracing challenges leads to success. Allan shares the importance of making good hiring decisions and how to use Lean Six Sigma principles to simplify processes and make sure everyone is ready and willing to move in the same direction. 

In this episode, Tony is joined by Michele Burger, Vice President at Misura Group. Tony and Michele chat with Lindsey Fox, Product & Marketing Manager at Nationwide Industries, about what it takes to be a successful female in the building materials industry.

This episode is part two of Tony's conversation with Hans Vonderhofen, President of Split Rail Fence & Supply. Hans and Tony continue the discussion about what goes into a successful turnaround and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people. 

In this episode, Tony joins up with Hans Vonderhofen, President of Split Rail Fence & Supply, for part one of a two-part series. Hans shares how he happened upon the building materials industry and divulges his secrets for what makes a great turnaround leader. 

In this episode, Tony had the opportunity to meet with Walter Foxworth, Chairman of Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber, at the inaugural Texas Unity Dinner where he was honored by the Lumbermen's Association of Texas (LAT). Walter shares his passion and purpose that drives his energy to stay engaged in the business and building materials industry. 

In this episode, Bradley and Tony discuss their mutual "why" of helping companies achieve their big goals, the importance of an inclusive culture and embracing diversity, and the value consultants bring to the building materials industry.   Thanks for listening! Next Steps: Hire Smarter Make Better Career Decisions  

In our inaugural episode, Russ and Tony met up at the LBM Strategies Conference and had a great time sharing stories and addressing the most significant obstacles that leaders face when mentoring the twenty-somethings and the best steps to develop great mentoring leaders.  Thanks for listening! Next Steps: Hire Smarter Make Better Career Decisions