The Dr Decks Podcast | Podcast on RSS.com

The Dr Decks Podcast

The Dr Decks Podcast

by Dr Decks

Design Education

Season 1

He Saved Skiers. Now He's Coming for Carhartt (DDP #59)

After 35 years and 500+ deck builds, Doctor Decks doesn't recommend gear lightly. So when he says True Work is the real thing and it's worth paying attention to. In this episode, Jason Russell sits down with Jason Cloyd, VP of Partnerships and Community at True Work, the performance workwear brand built on a simple idea: what if the technology behind elite outdoor gear was redesigned for the job site? Think less Carhartt, more what Carhartt would be if it was built by someone who came from the outdoor performance world. Jason describes it best: "imagine Carhartt and Under Armor had a kid." But the story behind Jason Cloyd is what makes this episode unusual. Before True Work, he spent years designing cryogenic systems: liquid oxygen storage tanks tied to Mars Rover projects, heat exchangers for liquid fuel rockets. He helped bring the first widely available avalanche airbag to the US market: gear that went on to save real lives in the backcountry. He ran global education sales for SolidWorks across three continents. And somewhere in between all of that, he reconnected with a friend named Brian who had an idea for a workwear brand and eventually bet his career on it. What does aerospace engineering have to do with the pants you wear on a job site? A lot more than you'd think.

The Deck Builder With the Most Insane Backstory Ever (DDP #58)

What does sneaking into the Fukushima nuclear exclusion zone have to do with building decks? If you're Hayward Gatch, the answer is: everything. In this episode of the Dr Decks Podcast, we sit down with Hayward Gatch, founder of Be Nice Home Solutions, a Rhode Island and Connecticut contractor with maybe the wildest backstory in the trades. From the hand tattoo that accidentally named his company, to hiring mechanics and homeless workers when no one else would take a chance on them, Hayward built his business by doing everything differently. But before the decks came the journey: a heartbreak-fueled trip around the world on a few hundred euros, talking his way out of a nuclear zone, getting caught in a street siege in Athens, squatting in abandoned Soviet buildings, and navigating foreign cities by nothing but the sun. This is a story about grit, reinvention, and why old-school craftsmanship still matters in a digital world. This is Part 1 of 2 — Hayward's journey concludes in the bonus episode. Subscribe for new episodes of the Doctor Decks Podcast Follow Hayward: Instagram @be_nice_home_solutions Doctor Decks on YouTube: youtube.com/@drdecks

They Weren't Going to Stop Building Decks. They Were Born Into Them (DDP #57)

Blaise grew up watching his dad build decks. There's a photo of him at age two in a tool belt on one of his dad's job sites. His dad ran Knock on Wood Construction for 35-40 years before burning out on five crews. Blase went to college, played rugby, got put on academic probation, dropped out and came back to decks. In this conversation, Blase shares how LVMC went from just him and his dad in 2014 to three crews building 150-156 decks a year at around $3 million in revenue. He sells five decks a week by himself. His dad runs production entirely. His brother runs the crew Blase used to run. His cousin recently took over. His sister-in-law handles the office. The company joined Chris Breen's Legacy Academy this year to build the systems they never had and the results are already showing. Blase also opens up about his rugby background (his father played professionally in Palestine before immigrating), the brief HVAC company he and his dad started and abandoned, and building his home from the ground up the day after his wedding with his wife and father-in-law.

A Deadhead Lost His Partner. He Built Anyway (DDP #56)

Coy Pence spent a year following Bob Weir's touring band across 15-20 states, selling Kirkland water and grilled cheese in parking lots to fund his travels. He was a Deadhead by culture and a hustler by necessity. That chapter ended in Louisville, Kentucky, where his first construction job was rebuilding rotten apartment decks. One move to Minnesota, two years of framing log homes near Leech Lake, and a relocation to Tennessee later, Coy started Rough Ashlar Construction. Three months in, his business partner Lucas relapsed and overdosed the week before Christmas. Coy rebuilt alone. Now he's consistently booked six to eight months out in the Nashville area, focusing exclusively on high-complexity custom builds; compass rose inlays, steel framing, premium mineral composite boards. He doesn't take cheap jobs. He doesn't chase volume. He built his name one conversation and one difficult project at a time. The company name comes from a Masonic symbol: a rough ashlar is a stone not yet carved into its final form. Always a work in progress. Always striving to be better. This is one of the more quietly powerful stories we've had on the podcast.

The Engineer Who Swung a Hammer First (DDP #55)

Todd Roe grew up in Brady, Nebraska. A town of 200 people where he genuinely thought North Platte (population 25,000) was the biggest city in America. After graduating second in a class of 11 and playing all-state basketball, he spent a year working on Ted Turner's 88,000-acre bison ranch. One day in the field, Todd calculated the remaining diesel in a 500-gallon tank using improvised geometry. Turner walked over, asked what he was doing out of school, and said nothing else. A week later a $2,500 check arrived from T.E. Enterprises; "This should cover your deposit and first month's rent." Now Todd is the Technical Specialist for Pacific Wood Tech's engineering department; the person who bridges contractors, salesmen, and engineers in a way most companies haven't figured out how to do. He spent 15 years framing and building 26 homes in Nebraska before finding the role he was built for. He also owns approximately 168 guns in seven safes. His wife knows about most of them. This is one of the most colorful backstories the Doctor Dax Podcast has hosted.

26 Years Old. 7 Months in Business. 10 Leads a Week. (DDP #54)

Leo Adorno was making six figures at 17 years old running a moving company through U-Haul's partner program. By 18 he was losing everything he'd built. By 26, he had his own deck company in Massachusetts with a website generating 2-10 leads per week, seven months after forming the LLC. In this conversation, Leo shares what happened in between: dropping out of high school at 16 after his school refused to sign the transfer papers for an early college program, working under the table as an electrical apprentice at 16 for a boss whose equipment kept getting repossessed, the moving business that made him more money than he knew what to do with, and the spiral that followed. His dad has been sober for 30 years and runs the largest homeless shelter in Boston. A backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail helped Leo find his way back. So did mountain biking, his dog, and eventually a job building decks for a house flipper who taught him the rest. This is a young guy who went the hard way before finding the right path.

He Got Sober at 21. Built a Deck Company by 28. (DDP #53)

Nick Waters from Waters Woodworking Corp joins Dr Decks, who we met at the International Builder Show at the FastenMaster Booth. Nick is 32 years old, born in Kentucky, raised in New Hampshire. His mother relocated constantly during his childhood: sixth grade in Florida, eighth grade in Mississippi, finally settling in Exeter, New Hampshire for high school. Nick graduated through an alternative program for students who couldn't function in a traditional school environment, got into drugs at 17, became a full-blown heroin addict, went through rehab and a sober house at 21, worked at Dunkin Donuts and a factory making giant Jenga blocks, discovered framing at 22, spent four years framing houses, three years in remodeling (including work on a $30 million home where every wall was a radius), and started Waters Woodworking Corp around age 28-29. He now builds 20 decks a year in New Hampshire with a small crew.

His Company Started Because a House Was About to Fall into a Lake (DDP #51)

In 2019, Lake Michigan hit the highest water level ever recorded in history. Shoreline bluffs were eroding, homes were sliding toward the water, and property values were collapsing. Mason Kuipers was a senior at Hope College when a family friend's house was about to fall into the lake. That emergency phone call started Lakeshore Customs. Mason and his brother Clayton began filling 50-foot-long geotextile sandbags using a sand-water slurry technique and Honda trash pumps to protect the toe of Lake Michigan bluffs from further erosion. They worked through winter nights, waded into the lake in wetsuits, and eventually bought the equipment themselves in April 2020, right as COVID shut everything down. Six years later, they have 20 employees, a new showroom with VR technology, and one of the most specialized luxury outdoor living companies on the Great Lakes. We met Mason at the International Builder Show after Mason donated $1,000 to Saint Jude's Children's Hospital. That kind of character demands a conversation and this episode delivers it.

The Rebellious Kid Who Became a High-Performance Builder (DDP #50)

Sam got expelled from three schools before he turned 16. He stole the master key at boarding school in Asheville. He skateboarded instead of studying and didn't care about traditional education. His Cuban mom and Mexican dad didn't know what to do with him. Now he builds some of the most technically sophisticated homes and decks in North Carolina and he's studying to become a certified passive home builder. In this conversation, Sam shares how his father's 100+ employee drywall business collapsed in 2008, how he worked at a car wash while bouncing through six different college majors, and how he finally decided at 24 that he wanted to be a builder. He pledged five years to a local contractor to learn the trade, got his license at 30, and started Crews Built with a neighbor's custom home and a one-and-a-half page contract that he's embarrassed about today. Sam explains why he prioritizes high-performance building over square footage, what passive home certification actually means, and why he'd rather build a small, scientifically advanced home than a big traditional one any day. #CrewsBuilt #SamCrewsBuilt #NorthCarolinaContractor #CustomBuilder #GreensboroNC #HighPerformanceHomes #PassiveHouse #DeckBuilder #ExepelledFromSchool #SecondChance #TradesCareer #ContractorLife #BoardingSchool #SkateboardingLife #CubanAmerican #MexicanAmerican #DrDecksPodcast #ConstructionPodcast #CustomHomes #BuildingScience

2 Million Followers. He Still Shows Up to the Job Site.

Travis Collins has been posting on Instagram for nine years. He started with 16,000 followers when companies first noticed him. Today he has nearly 2 million followers across platforms and creates the "F.U.K.I.T Friday" videos that contractors obsessively wait for every week. But he still shows up to remodel houses. In this conversation, Travis shares his journey from a small town in upstate New York where he learned to rebuild bikes in sixth grade, to getting a psychology degree at the University of Hawaii, to working seven years turning over 26 new homes for a general contractor, to accidentally becoming one of the most influential tool reviewers on the internet. Travis explains why he took tools apart to show internal build quality, how he changed his handle from an unpronounceable French word to "Tools by Design," why companies started sending him products but Instagram paid nothing for years, and how his wife Liana (a licensed CPA) runs the business side while he creates content and builds. This episode covers the reality of being a "tool influencer" while still living in the trades and why he wouldn't have it any other way.

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