Libsyn Directory

440 Mental Health in the Workplace with Dr. Andy Melton

Release Date: 10/03/2025

460 Building Boiler Talent: Fundamentals, Online Training, and Better Partnerships with Eric Johnson

Scaling UP! H2O

Boilers can feel intimidating the first time you step into a boiler room—the heat, the noise, the pressure gauge, and the weight of knowing that mistakes can be costly. Trace Blackmore opens with a reminder that boilers deserve respect, not fear—and that learning fundamentals is how you replace mystique with clarity. The talent gap behind the boiler room door , Founder and CEO of , explains why boiler expertise is becoming harder to replace. He points to the shrinking pipeline of boiler-trained technicians—historically strengthened by Navy steam...

459 From Wastewater to Resource: Water Reuse with Dr. Veronika Zhiteneva

Scaling UP! H2O

Industrial water professionals are increasingly pulled into conversations about scarcity, resilience, and “where the next gallon comes from.” , CEO and Co-founder of frames water reuse as an implementation challenge more than a technology gap—and explains where the practical starting points are when the scope feels overwhelming. Moving reuse forward when the technology already exists Waterloop Solutions was founded to accelerate implementation: clarifying end-use quality, identifying post-treatment needs on the back end of...

458 Hiring Olympics and High-Performance Culture with J.D. Roth

Scaling UP! H2O

"Stay curious. And you only have one reputation. Guard it with your life." Hiring for judgment, not just rehearsed confidence Industrial water treatment is full of decisions made with incomplete data—on sites, with customers, and inside the business. (Managing Director and Co-owner of ) builds his hiring around that reality. His aim is straightforward: protect the team and the culture by selecting people who can think, collaborate, and lead under pressure. JD frames the organization as a group of people choosing to work toward a common goal: building a better future for...

457 2026: A New Year with New Intentions

Scaling UP! H2O

Trace Blackmore opens 2026 with a practical reset: how to plan with urgency, sharpen the fundamentals that make troubleshooting easier, and use the tools around this podcast to keep your development moving all year. The 12-Week Year: urgency you can use Annual goals often feel “far away” until December forces focus. The 12-week year flips that dynamic by treating each quarter like a year—creating urgency sooner and giving you four chances to reset and improve. Trace walks through the structure: start with a vision (he uses a three-year example), then choose 3–5 tactical...

456 The 12 Days of Scaling UP! H2O 2025

Scaling UP! H2O

A year-end recap is more than a highlight reel—it’s a practical reset. In this New Year episode, Trace Blackmore walks through 2025 using a “12 Days of the Scaling Up Nation” format, tying together performance, community growth, listener engagement, and the sponsor support that keeps the podcast and its companion tools available at no cost. Year-end by the numbers Trace explains how he used to track every stat closely—and how that shifted into an unhealthy measure of self-worth—so the team now uses numbers as feedback, not validation. He notes the...

455 Mentors, Mindset, and the CWT: Owning Your Water Career with Nella Fergusson

Scaling UP! H2O

“So one thing I never do is try to start giving remediation or advice before I truly have understood and diagnosed the problem.” Mentorship and certifications don’t replace experience—but they can accelerate it when paired with the right mindset and a disciplined approach to learning. (District Manager, Southern California, ), lays out what “growing up” in industrial water treatment actually looks like: repeated exposure to real problems, strong diagnostic habits, and a willingness to keep learning long after year one. Learning that keeps...

454 Water Recycling, Innovation, and Industry Wisdom with Dr. Kelle Zeiher

Scaling UP! H2O

Industrial cooling is one of the biggest levers industrial facilities can pull on water use—and it’s getting harder to ignore as data centers and other high-heat operations grow. Returning guest (Project Manager at ) breaks down what water reuse looks like when you move past slogans and into the realities of pretreatment, concentrate management, footprint, and cost. Cooling water reuse: the scale of the opportunity Dr. Zeiher reframes “drought” beyond rainfall, emphasizing aquifer recharge and the limits of focusing only on household restrictions. She...

453 Water Risk, Governance, and Community Engagement with Dr. Annette Davison

Scaling UP! H2O

Industrial water professionals sit at the intersection of risk, regulation, and community trust. In this episode, (“the water risk doctor”) joins Trace Blackmore to show how disciplined governance, clear supply chain thinking, and community engagement can turn fragmented water systems into coherent, defensible risk management frameworks. Water risk from source to customer Annette starts with a simple question most customers never ask: “Where’s your water coming from?” She walks through a conceptual supply chain from source to end point—collection, transfer, treatment,...

452 UV Innovation and Whole-Building Water Safety with Ron Blutrich

Scaling UP! H2O

Entamoeba histolytica nearly ended Ron Blutrich’s scientific career. Instead, it pushed him to rethink how we protect people in multi-family buildings, senior facilities, and dense urban centers from invisible microbiological risks in their drinking water. In this episode, he joins host Trace Blackmore to unpack what whole-building UV can (and can’t) do for Legionella, biofilm, and real-world water safety. When One Bad Cup of Water Redefines a Career In the middle of his PhD in molecular genetics, Ron drank from an under-sink reverse osmosis tap at an Airbnb and...

451 Building a Culture of Innovation and Customer Service with Frank Lecrone

Scaling UP! H2O

What happens when you build a company around one niche, listen obsessively to customers, and never stop improving? In this episode, host Trace Blackmore finally sits down for a full-length conversation with , Founder, President, and CEO of . What started in a small 60' x 60' space in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with three employees, maxed-out credit cards, and endless Staples runs has grown into a 300+-person organization serving industrial water professionals around the world. Frank shares how AquaPhoenix became “the booth everyone wants to be next to” at...

More Episodes

The best leaders are the ones that can hold space for both—care personally and challenge directly.

Work never happens in a vacuum. Field calls, customer pressure, travel, and deadlines compound the very real mental load carried by water professionals. In this conversation, Dr. Andy Melton, a professional counselor and executive coach at www.andymelton.com—shares clear, practical ways leaders and teams can recognize mental health warning signs, set the right boundaries, and respond with care without stepping outside their role.

Care Personally, Challenge Directly—Inside Clear Boundaries

Managers aren’t neutral parties, and that matters. Andy explains the built-in conflict of interest when a supervisor probes too deeply into an employee’s personal struggles. You still need to check in—but do it in role: use open-ended, performance-anchored questions (“What’s been challenging for you lately?”), document observations, and offer resources instead of diagnoses. He also highlights Kim Scott’s “Radical Candor” frame—care personally and challenge directly—as a durable leadership posture for tough conversations.

Spotting Decline Early—Behavioral, Cognitive, Physical

Before missed KPIs and callbacks spike, there are tells: sudden drops in productivity, withdrawal, irritability, rising absence/tardiness, markedly negative self-talk, and physical complaints (fatigue, headaches, stomach issues). Andy shares a simple “dashboard” self-check—sleep and eating patterns—plus trackable 1–10 scales for stress, energy, engagement, and mood stability to catch trends early.

When It’s Serious—Safe Paths and Resources

Anonymous surveys can surface urgent risks—including suicidality. Andy outlines responsible next steps: widen communication, invite follow-ups, and immediately involve a mental health professional or crisis resources. Know the number 988 and your local mobile crisis team information; publish those options prominently so help is never far away.

Grounding Under Load—3 Techniques You Can Use Anywhere

For anxiety (mind racing ahead) and depression (mind stuck in the past), uniting mind and body in the present increases bandwidth. Andy teaches three job-friendly tools: the four-second “box” breath, a five-senses “sensory scan,” and a head-to-toe “progressive muscle relaxation.” Each can be done discreetly at a desk, in a service truck, or before a customer meeting.

Strong operations require strong people. Build a culture that normalizes check-ins, provides resources, and keeps performance expectations clear. That’s how teams protect each other and maintain reliability in the field.

Listen to the full conversation above. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!

Timestamps

02:20 - Trace welcome Industrial Water Week is next week and why it's our "Super Bowl"

11:38 — Water You Know with James McDonald

13: 11 - Upcoming Events for Water Treatment Professionals

15:14 - Introduction for Dr. Andy Melton

15:35 - Andy's background

19:06 - Why mental health is hard to discuss at work; stigma and judgment

21:40 - Cognitive/physical signs: negative self-talk, fatigue, headaches, stomach issues

23:33 — Why self-awareness is hard; “mirror” idea of counseling/coaching

24:21 — Self “dashboard”: sleep and eating as early indicators

26:22 — Employer question: caring without crossing the line

31:44 — Impact on teammates and operations; why the talk still must happen

32:06 — Culture: build trust so care is believed

36:12 — Psychological safety: education via outside counselors/coaches; offer EAPs

42:07 — 988 explained; local mobile crisis teams and how they respond

45:06 — Awareness first: listen to body; define “stress” simply

48:27 — Grounding overview: techniques to reunite mind and body

Quotes

Struggles in mental health still have stigma… but I do think there are ways to handle this sensitive subject in the workplace.

It is really challenging as an employer to be a neutral sort of resource in someone’s life.