Entrepreneur's Journey - Rory Rubin, CEO of S.I. Container Builds
CEO Bros - After Hours
Social worker turns 26 million stranded shipping containers into housing. Rory's husband offered a solution to her midlife crisis: "Just buy a sports car." She started a manufacturing company instead. Seven years later, she's built a two-story structure on Lake Michigan. This is episode 41. When the easier path isn't the right one. *YOU'LL DISCOVER* • Why 26 million shipping containers sit in US graveyards • How a clinical social worker became a manufacturing CEO • The Navy Pier project that made Chicago history • Why containers weren't legal for housing until 2018 *WHAT ACTUALLY...
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Productive Friction
CEO Bros - After Hours
Sales vs. Legal. Operations vs. Compliance. You vs. your Co-founder at 2am. Brad encourages friction. Brian lets it run longer than most CEOs. They both know something most entrepreneurs miss: the uncomfortable tension between departments isn't killing your business. Avoiding it is. Sales wants to close the deal. Legal wants to protect the company. Operations needs flexibility. Compliance needs rules. Most CEOs try to eliminate the friction. Brad and Brian? They promote it. This is episode 40: Let’s Get Ready To Rumbbbbbbbble! *YOU'LL DISCOVER* • Why "copacetic" environments produce lazy...
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Pros and Cons of Remote Work ep 39
CEO Bros - After Hours
Remote work introduced problems offices never had. Dogs barking. Contractors arriving. Kids at the door. Cameras off or multitasking? Working in PJs or logging extra hours? Brad thinks remote work kills his 550-employee culture. Brian cleaned out VHT's fridge in March 2020 and never came back for two years. COVID forced the experiment. Some companies stayed remote. Others are dragging people back. AT&T doesn't have enough parking spaces. Microsoft's thriving. Brad can't imagine meetings with cameras off. This is episode 39. Remote versus in-office, and why nobody's figured it out. You'll...
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Intuitive vs Analytic decision making ep 38
CEO Bros - After Hours
Making decisions fast? Making them careful? Or just frozen between the two? Brian spent three months analyzing a new product line nobody in the industry had ever done. Endless scenarios that led nowhere. He finally said screw it and pulled the trigger anyway. Now people ask him how he decided to do something nobody else can replicate. Brad runs the opposite problem. His team moves so fast they don't think through consequences. This is episode 38. How to know when to trust your gut and when to slow down. In this conversation, you'll discover: • The two questions that determine instinct versus...
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ep 37 Budgeting - It's a
CEO Bros - After Hours
Budget Battle Royale: The Smackdown Between Growth vs. Profit (+ The $250K Contest Catastrophe)* Two CEOs reveal the brutal truth about budgeting, why "set it and forget it" destroys businesses, and how to turn budget fights into innovation. Think you know how to budget? Think again. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Brian and Brad (two CEOs who've built, scaled, and sold companies) destroy the myths around business budgeting and reveal why most entrepreneurs are doing it completely wrong. You'll discover: • Why the "baseline vs. zero-up" debate could make or break your company • The...
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ep36 What got us here Wont get us where we need to go next
CEO Bros - After Hours
What got us here, won’t get us where we are going next. The guys discuss the business philosophy that "What got us here won't necessarily get us there." The conversation focuses on the evolution of a growing business, emphasizing the need for change in leadership, systems, processes, and people to reach the next level of success. Both CEOs share personal examples. Ultimately, they conclude that bold, sometimes unpopular decisions are necessary for a company to scale effectively. This discussion centers on a fundamental challenge faced by every growing business: the skills,...
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ep 35 Do the Little Things Really Make or Break a Business?
CEO Bros - After Hours
A spirited discussion about the critical importance of attention to detail in business. The guys share anecdotes, including a story about an easily forgotten rental car in Las Vegas and an example of poorly implemented office doors, to illustrate the consequences of overlooking small details. A central theme is the contrasting perspectives on leadership, with Brad emphasizing the need to "inspect what you expect" and Brian trusting employees to handle details, and they explore how details significantly influence the customer experience and overall business success, citing examples like the...
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ep 34 He said what? The essentials of business presentations
CEO Bros - After Hours
Public Speaking for Business Leadership This episode of ‘CEO Bros - after hours’ synthesizes key insights on public speaking as an essential leadership skill, derived from a discussion among business leaders and a communications expert. The central argument is that while public speaking is a common and significant fear, it is a non-negotiable and masterable competency for anyone in a leadership role. Effective speaking hinges on three pillars: meticulous preparation, controlled delivery, and a relentless focus on a clear, memorable message. Key strategies include knowing the...
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Did minimum wage policies kill entry level jobs?
CEO Bros - After Hours
5 Surprising Ways Raising the Minimum Wage Can Backfire, According to Two CEOs The Well-Intentioned Policy with Hidden Costs Raising the minimum wage is often seen as a direct and compassionate solution to help low-income workers. The logic seems simple: pay people more, and their quality of life will improve. However, for business leaders on the front lines of managing payrolls and profit margins, the reality is far more complex. They argue that this well-intentioned policy is fraught with hidden costs and unintended consequences. One CEO bluntly describes the policy as a "big heart, small...
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New Client Experience - Make or Break
CEO Bros - After Hours
Many businesses focus on a single question: How do we get new clients? However, a more critical question is how you keep them once you have them. This episode opens with a comical but eye-opening story about a truly terrible first-time experience at a dentist’s office. Despite spending a lot on advertising to attract new patients, this practice had a disorganized, impersonal process that left the patient confused, disrespected, and unsure about what procedures were even being performed. This is a powerful lesson for any business: a first impression, especially for a new client, is not just a...
info_outlineRemote work introduced problems offices never had. Dogs barking. Contractors arriving. Kids at the door. Cameras off or multitasking? Working in PJs or logging extra hours? Brad thinks remote work kills his 550-employee culture. Brian cleaned out VHT's fridge in March 2020 and never came back for two years. COVID forced the experiment. Some companies stayed remote. Others are dragging people back. AT&T doesn't have enough parking spaces. Microsoft's thriving. Brad can't imagine meetings with cameras off. This is episode 39. Remote versus in-office, and why nobody's figured it out. You'll discover:
• Why Brad forces therapists into offices but can't justify leaders working from home • Brian's refrigerator story that explains VHT's accidental two-year remote experiment
• The logistical nightmare: marketing spread across 5 states, now sitting with IT guys
• Why cameras-off meetings signal you're not actually engaged
• Brad's equity problem when some groups get remote work and others don't Brian hired people from Idaho, Nebraska, Canada, Japan. Brad runs 550 employees across 11 therapy centers where hands-on work requires showing up. Different businesses, different answers. WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS:
• Prove productivity remotely before earning the privilege
• Cameras on shows you're present
• Don't force marketing to sit with IT because they're in the same city
• Hybrid works when rules are clear
*WHO THESE GUYS ARE* Brian Balduf co-founded and sold VHT Studios. Brad Balduf runs By Your Side Autism Therapy with 550 employees. Matt Croke keeps it real.
*THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH* "If you're going to have people in that meeting, there should be nothing else going on. No multitasking. If you're not engaged, why are you there?"
Where do you stand? Cameras on or off? Drop a comment. SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every Friday. Real stories, real disasters, no LinkedIn energy. ————————————
*TIMESTAMPS* 0:46 - COVID Hit: The Fridge Cleanup Story
4:06 - Blizzard Forced VHT Remote (Before COVID)
5:04 - Brad's Philosophy: Productivity Loss is Real
9:25 - Brian's Pro-Remote Argument: Hire Anywhere
12:00 - Matt's Experience: Remote Killed Connection
16:17 - The Post-COVID Hiring Problem: 5 States, One Office
18:08 - We're Literally on Zoom in the Same Bar
20:37 - Jamie Dimon vs Elon Musk Approaches
23:24 - Brad: Cameras On, No Multitasking
25:31 - Brian's Brown M&M's Segment
26:27 - Book Rec: Apple in China (Supply Chain)
28:07 - YouTube's New AI Tools (Dancing Parakeet) ————————————
*ABOUT CEO BROS AFTER HOURS* Three entrepreneurs share real business failures and successes over drinks every Friday. Brian Balduf (VHT Studios), Brad Balduf (By Your Side Autism Therapy), and Matt Croke (host). Real stories, real disasters, no LinkedIn energy. ————————————
🍸 *WIND DOWN WITH THE BROS: THIS WEEK'S COCKTAILS* Three drinks for three work setups. Pick yours.
🍸 *THE FRIDGE CLEANUP* Brian Balduf - Left the office March 2020, never came back Recipe: • 2 oz bourbon • 0.75 oz lemon juice • 0.5 oz honey syrup • 2 dashes Angostura bitters • Lemon twist • Shake with ice, strain into rocks glass The Vibe: Clean out that fridge, you'll be gone two years. This drink is what you make on that last Friday thinking it's just two weeks. Smooth, practical, gone before you know it.
🍸 *THE ZOOM CUBICLE* Brad Balduf - 550 employees, cameras better be on Recipe: • 2 oz rye whiskey • 1 oz sweet vermouth • 0.25 oz Benedictine • 2 dashes orange bitters • Orange peel • Stir with ice, strain into coupe The Vibe: You're in a meeting. Camera's on. No multitasking. If you're not engaged, why are you even here? This drink demands your full attention. Complex layers you miss if you're distracted.
🍸 *THE IDAHO HIRE* Matt Croke - Hired from anywhere, worked with no one Recipe: • 2 oz gin • 1 oz elderflower liqueur • 0.75 oz lime juice • Club soda • Build in highball, top with soda The Vibe: Brian hired people from Idaho, Nebraska, Canada, Japan. Never would've worked if they had to be in Chicago. This drink's light, flexible, works from anywhere. Just like that perfect remote hire. Make all three. Figure out where you stand. Still going to the office? Fully remote? Sitting with IT guys you don't work with? Tag us with your drink choice.
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Music: "Back to Black" by Rockin' For Decades (licensed through Epidemic Sound)