Building Legacy: Patrick Lawler on Second-Generation Leadership in Construction
Release Date: 07/15/2025
Builder Mindset to Business Mindset with Duane Johns of Alair Homes
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
Most builders hit a wall. They work 80-hour weeks, carry tools, manage crews, chase payments, and somehow still struggle to make ends meet. Sound familiar? That was Duane Johns twenty years ago, grinding it out in Charlotte, North Carolina after moving from the Hamptons. Then 2008 hit. While other builders went under, Duane used the crisis as a mirror. "I think that that too, one thing that happened in that 2008 environment, especially the few years after, was everyone got reduced to a commodity, you know, I mean, the builders or modelers, they had the lower hand, no doubt." The...
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Scaling a Construction Business: From College Dropout to $100M+ Builder
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
Starting a construction company during the 2008 recession sounds insane, but sometimes desperation breeds the best business decisions. Matt Millsap's story starts like a lot of ours do - working weekends with dad, thinking he was going to hang out with friends but ending up tearing out bathrooms instead. What makes his story different is where it goes from there. After flunking out of college, Matt found himself cutting grass for a builder who saw something in the kid. That builder, Mark, became the mentor who taught him everything. It was old-school apprenticeship at its finest, and Matt...
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Road to 1,000,000 Doors: Will You Join Us? | Brian Coffman of Sound Capital
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
You know that moment when you're staring at a project and wondering if you're about to make a fortune or lose your shirt? Brian Coffman, Director of Homebuilder Finance at Sound Capital, has been on both sides of that conversation thousands of times, and he's got some real talk for builders ready to scale up. Michael Krisa sits down with Brian to tackle a question that keeps a lot of builders up at night: what separates those who successfully jump from 10 houses to 50 houses from those who flame out trying? Turns out, it's not about having the best crew or knowing the slickest...
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From One Man Show to 800 Doors a Year: Learning to Let Go | Adrian C. Avila
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
Picture this: an eight-year-old kid on construction sites, already reading blueprints like other kids read comic books. That's how Adrian C. Avila's story begins, learning from his uncle who took him everywhere and taught him the fundamentals that would shape his entire career. Fast forward to today, and Adrian runs AVICA Construction and Development, averaging over 800 doors a year across residential, commercial, and industrial projects. But the most compelling part of his journey happened when he was 29 and faced what he calls a "death experience" that forced him to completely rethink how he...
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What Builders Get Wrong about Marketing with Kelly Bosetti Primeau
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
Michael Krisa welcomes Kelly Bosetti Primeau, an award-winning marketing strategist who has spent 28 years helping builders and developers scale their businesses. This episode quickly evolved into a masterclass on residential marketing strategy. Kelly reveals that many builders essentially forgot how to market during the COVID boom years. Now that the market has normalized, builders are scrambling to relearn fundamental marketing skills they neglected during the easy times. One of Kelly's core principles involves comprehensive research before launching any campaigns. She shares compelling...
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Third-Generation Builder, First-Time Entrepreneur: How Cammie Hancock Beckert Carved Her Own Path
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
Sometimes the best builders are the ones who never planned to build. And Cammie Hancock Beckert proves that taking the long way around can lead to exactly where you're supposed to be. As the founder of Cameron Custom Homes & Renovations and a third-generation member of the Camelot Homes family, Cammie spent years avoiding the family business only to discover it was her calling all along. On this episode of Builder Straight Talk, Cammie breaks down how she went from market research and land brokerage to leading a custom division that's redefining luxury building in Arizona. "I had to prove...
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Chaos to Systems: Why Professional Builders Need Coaching, with Cole Tilbury
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
Building houses? You've got that covered. But building a business that doesn't rely on you working 80-hour weeks while making $25 an hour? That's where most builders hit the wall. Cole Tilbury, performance coach with The Professional Builder, is helping construction pros break free from the chaos cycle and build businesses that actually work for them instead of against them. With nearly two years coaching builders across North America, Cole has seen the same pattern over and over: skilled craftsmen trapped in their own success, spinning plates instead of scaling profits. On this episode of...
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Laborers to Leaders with Sergio Barajas
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
In this episode of Builder Straight Talk, Michael Krisa invited Sergio Barajas to explore the construction industry's critical labor shortage and how the NHCA is addressing it through education, networking, and business development. Sergio shares how the alliance grew from zero to 2,500 members across eight markets in just 14 months, with plans to reach 5,000 members in 15 markets by year-end. The conversation covers the stigmatization of blue-collar work over the past 20 years and how removing shop classes from schools disconnected young people from building trades. With only 1.3-1.4 people...
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Building Legacy: Patrick Lawler on Second-Generation Leadership in Construction
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
In this episode of Builder Straight Talk, host Michael Krisa welcomes Patrick Lawler, Vice President of Lawler Construction, Inc., to discuss his journey from professional baseball player to construction industry leader. As the son of company founder Jim Lawler (), Patrick shares insights on family business dynamics, faith-based leadership, and the evolving challenges facing the construction industry. What we discussed with Patrick: From Sports to Construction Patrick's unexpected path from minor league baseball to the family construction business during the 2008 recession. Working on...
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Building More than Houses with Tanya Cromwell of Caddis Builders
Builder Straight Talk Podcast
Michael Krisa sits down with Tanya Cromwell, one of the founding and managing owners of Caddis Builders in Eastern Idaho, to explore the practical side of running a successful construction company in today's competitive market. Tanya's journey began in 1995 when she couldn't find a house design she liked and decided to teach herself AutoCAD and build her own home. Three decades later, she's built an impressive dual career running both Idaho Home Design, which designs 125 homes a year and creates renderings for Parade of Homes magazine, and Caddis Builders, which handles everything from...
info_outlineWhat we discussed with Patrick:
Lawler Construction
- Lawler Construction ranks in the top 2% of Arizona contractors by volume
- 17-20 employees including superintendents, estimators, architects, and support staff
- Focus on semi-custom and custom homes rather than production building
- Operates with complete cost transparency, returning unused contingency funds to clients
- 37-year family business legacy with strong community reputation