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.

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

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.

Zach Burnop had full ride offers from Michigan, Florida State, Stanford, and Georgia Tech. He kicked a 57-yard field goal which is still one of the longest in North Carolina high school history. Then things went sideways.

In this conversation, Zach opens up about leaving Appalachian State after two years, becoming a prison guard at a medium security facility (including getting pepper sprayed during training), and eventually finding his way to deck building through Doctor Dax's YouTube videos. He's now the owner of On Deck Construction where he builds 10-12 premium decks a year with a one-to-two man crew.

Zach shares the story of reconnecting with his middle school sweetheart at a gas station, getting engaged two weeks later, and being married for almost 20 years. He talks about his father's 45 years of drywall work, his service in Vietnam, Agent Orange exposure, and the physical toll the trades took on his body. This episode covers small-town hustle, building in extreme cold, and why quality matters more than quantity.

#ZachBurnup #OnDeckConstruction #NorthCarolinaContractor #DeckBuilder #AveryCounty #AppalachianState #FootballKicker #TimberTech #WesternNC #ChristmasTreeFarm #FraserFir #PrisonGuard #SmallBusinessOwner #DeckBuilding #ContractorLife #DrDecksPodcast #ConstructionPodcast #FamilyBusiness #TradesCareer #SmallTownHustle

Jeremy Wilkins woke up in a Baltimore jail cell on April 20th, 2004. He was 18 years old, and that morning changed everything.

In this conversation, the man known online as Deck Master J shares the story he's kept private for over 20 years. You'll hear about the kid who was repairing computers with spare parts at age eight, building robots in middle school, and playing soccer year-round before depression and bad decisions nearly destroyed him.

Jeremy explains how he cut off everyone he knew, moved to western Maryland alone, and rebuilt himself through construction. From Office Depot to Home Depot to insurance restoration to kitchens and baths to home inspections, he tried everything before landing at Legacy Decks and discovering his true calling.

Now he's training the next generation of builders through the Deck Van Gogh brand and developing software tools to help contractors sell and manage projects more efficiently. This is an honest conversation about failure, reinvention, and the trades saving someone's life.

Mike Malkin spent 15 years installing doors for his parents' Home Depot contract; 35 stores, 15 crews, thousands of installations. In 2020, that all ended with a phone call. The corporate rep told him walking away would be the biggest mistake of his life. Instead, it became his best decision.

In this conversation, Mike shares his journey from a skateboarding dropout to deck building business owner. You'll hear about skating with guys who became Olympians, dropping out in 11th grade before his dad convinced him to finish, and making $200 a day at 17 years old installing storm doors.

The episode takes an unexpected turn when Mike reveals he met his wife in Mexico, proposed there, and actually lived in the country twice before settling back in Massachusetts. His company name, Malkin and Daughters, is a nod to his parents' Malkin and Sons, updated for his two girls.

Now 37 and running his own deck business, Mike hasn't stopped working since he posted that first $50 wine rack on Instagram. This is a story about family legacy, taking risks, and building something of your own.

Robbin Havasi has only been in the United States for six years and the story of how he got here is unlike anything you've heard on this podcast.

Born in Sweden to an Air Force family, Robin spent a decade working for Scandinavian Airlines before his construction side hustle took over. But here's the part that caught us off guard: Robin has made about 2,000 skydives, competed on the Swedish national skydiving team, and won a bronze medal at the Indoor Skydiving World Cup in Austin.

In February 2020, Robin and his family packed 14 suitcases, flew to Los Angeles with nowhere to live, and landed two weeks before COVID shut everything down. His plan to become a commercial pilot evaporated overnight. So he grabbed the one bag that had his tools, bought a bike for $50, and started doing handyman work around Santa Monica with his tools in a backpack.

This conversation covers his Swedish upbringing, the woman who gave him her business card twice before he took the hint, and the hustle that built MORE Design Build in one of America's most competitive markets.

#MoreDesignBuild #SwedishContractor #LAContractor #DeckBuilder #Skydiving #SwedishNationalTeam #ImmigrantStory #COVIDStory #RedondoBeach #ConstructionBusiness #DesignBuild #ContractorLife #SkydivingLife #WorldCupMedal #StartingOver #AmericanDream #DrDecksPodcast #ConstructionPodcast #LADecks

Andrew and Benjamin Schoonover are identical twins who built Twin Brothers Construction into a $2.5 million deck company before turning 26. Based in Minnesota's south metro, they've been hustling together since middle school; flipping limited Jordans on Facebook, buying and selling pickup trucks at 15, and finishing high school online in three months.

This conversation goes deep into their journey from troubled kids to Timber Tech Platinum builders. Ben shares how he lost his Army Ranger contract to pneumonia days before shipping out. Andrew opens up about the workplace injury that lit a fire under both of them to start their own company. You'll hear about drawing their first logo on a napkin in their grandmother's kitchen, taking any job they could find on Next Door, and hitting platinum status at just 19 years old.

This is a raw conversation about brotherhood, hustle, and building something that matters.