Welcome to the Construction Disruption
Speaker:podcast, where we uncover the future of
Speaker:design, building and remodeling. I'm Todd
Speaker:Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer,
Speaker:specialty residential metal roofing and
Speaker:other building materials. And today, my co
Speaker:host is Ethan Young. Ethan, we are back
Speaker:from hiatus. We haven't recorded one of
Speaker:these in a while. Yes, we are. But. So
Speaker:we're gonna. I feel a little rusty. I
Speaker:don't know about you, it's been. I mean,
Speaker:what, six months or so? So maybe longer.
Speaker:We had quite a few in the can when we went
Speaker:on hiatus and worked through those. But
Speaker:I'm excited to be back. So one thing I
Speaker:will remind everybody, we are going to be
Speaker:back once again here in season two, doing
Speaker:our challenge words. And with our
Speaker:challenge words, each one of us on the
Speaker:show has been given some secret word that
Speaker:we are challenged to work into the
Speaker:conversation. And we were given that by
Speaker:one of our illustrious co people here on
Speaker:the show. So you, the listeners, might be
Speaker:listening, try to figure out what those
Speaker:weird words are that we might say, and
Speaker:then at the end, we will announce what
Speaker:those words were and whether we were
Speaker:successful or not. So today we're going to
Speaker:kind of continue the show and kick off
Speaker:here, season two, by taking a deep look,
Speaker:actually, at new construction as well as
Speaker:trends and current issues and some
Speaker:exciting things for the future happening
Speaker:in new construction. And to help us along
Speaker:the way today, we're very excited about
Speaker:today's episode as our guest is Kyle
Speaker:Bobbitt of Kyle Bobbitt, LLC, based in
Speaker:Wake Forest, North Carolina. An unlimited
Speaker:licensed general contractor with a focus
Speaker:on creativity and problem solving, Kyle's
Speaker:company builds custom homes as well as
Speaker:other buildings in North Carolina,
Speaker:Florida, and Tennessee. Their projects
Speaker:typically range from 1 million to $50
Speaker:million in size. So they are not doing
Speaker:small stuff. And as you look at the homes
Speaker:they have built, you really see a bent
Speaker:toward contemporary design with a european
Speaker:flair is the best way I know to describe
Speaker:it. So, Kyle, welcome to Construction
Speaker:disruption. It's a pleasure to have you as
Speaker:our guest. Thank you so much, Todd.
Speaker:Appreciate it. Good morning, Ethan. Well,
Speaker:I just kind of gave the audience a teaser
Speaker:on your background, but why don't you go
Speaker:ahead and tell us a little bit about
Speaker:yourself, how you came to be a part of
Speaker:this great industry. And, you know what,
Speaker:what's your company up to today? What sort
Speaker:of projects you got going again? Kyle
Speaker:Bobbitt, unlimited general contractor.
Speaker:Been in construction for two decades now.
Speaker:Father was a builder, grandfather was a
Speaker:builder. I was on job sites my entire
Speaker:life. Since I was five years old, right.
Speaker:They were dragging me around and just
Speaker:having a good time. I think I had the
Speaker:first nail in my foot when I was about
Speaker:seven or eight. And of course, I think mom
Speaker:put a stop to the job site visits probably
Speaker:at least about a week until I could
Speaker:convince her I was good. As far as what we
Speaker:have going on today, we actively do maybe
Speaker:40 to 50 houses at a time. At a time. Holy
Speaker:cow. At a time. Yeah. So it's, it's always
Speaker:a lot going on. I also do some commercial
Speaker:stuff, some upfits, things like that. So
Speaker:it's, it's always a lot going on. And, you
Speaker:know, this area, this market has always
Speaker:been hot. Even when the housing market
Speaker:crashed in 2008, 910 1112, it was still
Speaker:just booming in the Raleigh Durham wake
Speaker:forest area. So we, we've always had just
Speaker:tons of work and a lot of good people out
Speaker:here and we just build as much as we can
Speaker:to the best of our ability. That's really
Speaker:interesting. And so I'm just kind of
Speaker:curious. I mean, you're saying that it's
Speaker:still booming down in your area. I mean,
Speaker:is any slowness at all or anything on the
Speaker:rise? And are you projecting continue to
Speaker:remain strong on new construction or
Speaker:what's happening? Yeah, I think we're
Speaker:continuing to go strong in this area in
Speaker:particular. Statistically speaking. I
Speaker:think I read 73 families are moving into
Speaker:this area every month. Excuse me, every
Speaker:week. Wow. From Ida State, the top biggest
Speaker:states are, you know, New York, New
Speaker:Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
Speaker:Massachusetts. A lot of the people are
Speaker:leaving the city and trying to find a more
Speaker:rural life. And something that raleigh
Speaker:offers in particular is it's a city
Speaker:center, but it has a lot of little small
Speaker:rural towns all around. It kind of like in
Speaker:a bubble. So people find that very
Speaker:attractive and they move here. And, you
Speaker:know, in north Carolina in particular, if
Speaker:you're in the center of the state in 2
Speaker:hours you're on the coast, or 2 hours to
Speaker:the west, you're in the mountains. So
Speaker:it's, it's kind of a, kind of an awesome
Speaker:scenario for people who are looking to
Speaker:relocate. We also see a lot of people from
Speaker:florida making their way back up to north
Speaker:Carolina, so. Well, it sure is a beautiful
Speaker:area. No doubt about it. You know, part of
Speaker:my wife and I's dream retirement may
Speaker:involve the coastal carolinas. You never
Speaker:know. So, um, so I see that you like to
Speaker:travel and you like outdoor activities.
Speaker:Um, maybe kind of a strange question, but,
Speaker:um, how have those things influenced your
Speaker:career as a builder, I think. Traveling
Speaker:opens your mind. Right? And, uh, I've
Speaker:been. I've been everywhere, man. I. You
Speaker:know, Switzerland is probably one of my
Speaker:favorite places on the planet. Seeing the
Speaker:way they build houses is amazing. I've
Speaker:also spent time in Japan, so it's taken
Speaker:little pieces of everything. And if you
Speaker:take the quality and craftsmanships from
Speaker:somewhere like Japan, and you see the way
Speaker:they do heavy timber framing, do you turn
Speaker:around and you look at Switzerland and
Speaker:what they do, especially for snow loads,
Speaker:and then you go through Europe and you see
Speaker:that kind of contemporary design or modern
Speaker:design all through Germany and Berlin, you
Speaker:see a lot of modern designs out that way.
Speaker:So as I've kind of traveled around the
Speaker:world, I've just seen all kinds of
Speaker:different ways of building. And it really
Speaker:opened my mind to more than just that
Speaker:traditional stick frame. Well, I think
Speaker:that's really interesting. So often when
Speaker:you look at other countries and how they
Speaker:build, you see that they've been building
Speaker:for resilience and permanence for
Speaker:centuries, and that just seems like
Speaker:something that our country now is suddenly
Speaker:trying to figure out how to do. So I think
Speaker:that perspective you've gained, especially
Speaker:from Asia and Europe. Japan, you
Speaker:mentioned. I know when I was in Japan a
Speaker:few years ago, too, I was just amazed by
Speaker:just the level of skill that they put into
Speaker:construction and what that looks like. I
Speaker:mean, guys are installing our roofs
Speaker:wearing white gloves. That doesn't
Speaker:normally happen here in the states. No, it
Speaker:doesn't. I did have a question. So is your
Speaker:company doing more design build work, or
Speaker:do they, you guys build more to spec from
Speaker:other designers? I'd say it's probably
Speaker:about 90 ten. We do have in house
Speaker:architects and structural engineers. I
Speaker:certainly prefer to do design build work
Speaker:over spec works from other designers,
Speaker:mostly because my guys, number one, they
Speaker:know how I build and how I like it. And,
Speaker:you know, everybody has their own quirks,
Speaker:I guess, as a builder, you know, or
Speaker:whatever your pet peeves are, so they just
Speaker:happen to know mine. And the biggest
Speaker:thing, the biggest advantage, I think, is
Speaker:the ability to control the design also
Speaker:helps control the price point. Right.
Speaker:Because what you put into the structure
Speaker:can, can greatly affect, you know, what
Speaker:that. What that overall price point looks
Speaker:like, just depending on how it's designed.
Speaker:Yeah, makes sense. Definitely more of a
Speaker:unified effort. You know, both you guys
Speaker:kind of fighting on the same team, I
Speaker:guess, just put it in a different way. But
Speaker:at least. Yeah, that leads perfect into
Speaker:the next question I had, which was, can
Speaker:you tell us a little bit more about, like,
Speaker:the makeup of your company. You mentioned
Speaker:stuff about architects and stuff, but what
Speaker:else? Who else is part of your team? Yeah,
Speaker:sure. So all in all, we're construction
Speaker:management firm first and foremost. It's
Speaker:myself, my wife. She's the vice president,
Speaker:co owner. She kind of oversees the books,
Speaker:the accounting side of things. I usually
Speaker:focus more on the project management side
Speaker:of things and kind of moving the future of
Speaker:the company in the right direction.
Speaker:Gotcha. We have in house architects, in
Speaker:house engineers. We have our own project
Speaker:management team, a construction manager
Speaker:which kind of heads that group, and then,
Speaker:of course, site superintendents. And we
Speaker:have some in house crews that do some
Speaker:work, and then we sub out most of the
Speaker:work, just depending on what those
Speaker:specifics are. So what's it been like to
Speaker:work with subcrews recently? I mean, how
Speaker:do you kind of get around? I know one of
Speaker:the big things we talk about is this
Speaker:skilled labor shortage and all that.
Speaker:What's that been like for you? Like
Speaker:everybody, it's been rough. I think I'm a
Speaker:little bit more blessed than most. A lot
Speaker:of these boys have been working with me
Speaker:for two decades. Some of the subs that I
Speaker:use, my dad used, some of the companies
Speaker:are even farther along than that. So in
Speaker:some of that aspect, I've been fortunate
Speaker:to have worked with the same group of
Speaker:guys. But as they retire out and the
Speaker:younger guys come in, it's getting harder
Speaker:and harder, for sure, because they're not
Speaker:really trained properly. Right. Like, I
Speaker:was on a job site my entire life, so I
Speaker:kind of knew what to expect. But for the
Speaker:younger guys that are coming into it, you
Speaker:know, and especially we see a lot of
Speaker:immigrants that are in the construction
Speaker:field now, and they're maybe used to a
Speaker:different type of construction, more of
Speaker:like the masonry or block or seamen and
Speaker:things like that. Whereas the stick built
Speaker:houses, which are more traditional here,
Speaker:they struggle with that aspect of it. And
Speaker:the skilled, I would say the skilled labor
Speaker:is getting harder and harder to find every
Speaker:day. I think I read statistically, for
Speaker:every eight people that retire in this
Speaker:industry, only one comes in. And that's
Speaker:alarming because it used to be your
Speaker:material and labor were kind of tit for
Speaker:tat in terms of what something cost. And
Speaker:what we're going to see moving forward
Speaker:with that as the labor market gets tighter
Speaker:is when you have ten plumbers and eight
Speaker:retired and there's only two left, they're
Speaker:going to demand more money for their time,
Speaker:and that's just going to raise the price
Speaker:of square foot for every house, and the
Speaker:labor market is going to drive the cost of
Speaker:construction through the roof at some
Speaker:point. Yeah, I think that's an interesting
Speaker:observation and certainly something that
Speaker:we've been seeing even in the specialty
Speaker:trades as well. Labor has been a major
Speaker:driver in cost in recent years. I'm
Speaker:curious, what do you do to make sure that
Speaker:your subcrews are working up to your
Speaker:standards? I understand you've got the job
Speaker:site superintendents, but tell us a little
Speaker:bit what that looks like. I'm a tough
Speaker:builder to please. I'll be the first one
Speaker:to invent it. I'm very particular, and I
Speaker:kind of have OCD of that nature. Right.
Speaker:Like, every line has to be straight and
Speaker:clean, and it's real difficult for these
Speaker:boys to work with me. But I think the
Speaker:biggest thing is just communication. You
Speaker:know, construction's one of the biggest
Speaker:industries in the world, and we always
Speaker:fail on communication. And, you know, the
Speaker:clients communicate with their builders,
Speaker:and the builder communicates with their
Speaker:team, which are communicating with the
Speaker:owners of the companies that send out
Speaker:these guys to do the work. And we all
Speaker:know, as the story gets told, things
Speaker:change. So I think having that on site
Speaker:presence greatly helps. I think treating
Speaker:everybody with dignity and respect really
Speaker:helps getting on the same page. We've
Speaker:tried to use technology to help. We try to
Speaker:get the superintendent some paper in their
Speaker:hand that just kind of highlights what we
Speaker:expect, and they communicate with that.
Speaker:With the guys in the field, it really
Speaker:breaks down to communication. Obviously,
Speaker:quality control is a big part of that and
Speaker:just kind of staying on top of it as you
Speaker:see things unfold. We talked about the
Speaker:current labor issue, but another big thing
Speaker:that's come up recently in construction is
Speaker:this trend towards sustainable design,
Speaker:fortified construction, and then also
Speaker:energy efficiency. Those are all three big
Speaker:things that we keep hearing about. So
Speaker:what's your take on all that? I think it's
Speaker:exciting. I think the construction
Speaker:industry has to evolve. I think if we're
Speaker:not careful, those items can drive up the
Speaker:cost of construction to where the
Speaker:affordable housing is not so affordable
Speaker:for the average american. So we have to be
Speaker:careful with that particular part of it.
Speaker:You know, a lot of it is just going to
Speaker:have to be chalked up to growing pains
Speaker:until we can get it figured out. But I'm
Speaker:really excited about it. I definitely
Speaker:think there's better ways to build, and
Speaker:just trying to make sure that we can build
Speaker:better, more efficiently and keep the cost
Speaker:at a reasonable price is the sweet spot.
Speaker:That's going to be hard to find for a
Speaker:couple of years until we can get it all
Speaker:figured out. Yeah, you're right. There's
Speaker:all kinds of trade offs there, aren't
Speaker:there? Pros and cons to everything. Yeah.
Speaker:I'm curious, so this seems a little bit
Speaker:non sequitur, but what is the most unusual
Speaker:thing you have ever had a client ask for
Speaker:you to include in their house? Ryan, you
Speaker:might have to edit this out and we start
Speaker:over. I don't know. The most unusual
Speaker:thing, to be honest with you, is a red
Speaker:room. Yeah, a red room. Okay. Yeah. I can
Speaker:probably let my imagination figure that
Speaker:one out, I suppose. Yeah. You know, I tell
Speaker:my clients there's three people in the
Speaker:world you don't lie to, and your doctor,
Speaker:your lawyer, and your general contractor.
Speaker:You know, if you want me to build you a
Speaker:true custom home, I have to know exactly
Speaker:what it is I'm building. So if I have to,
Speaker:you know, soundproof some walls or put in
Speaker:some extra blocking with. Through bolts or
Speaker:whatever that may look like to make sure
Speaker:you have the best time in your house that
Speaker:you can, you know, it's fine with me. I
Speaker:just have to know what I'm building. So
Speaker:that's a little bit different. Yeah. I
Speaker:don't know how I would have followed that
Speaker:up. So a few years ago, a friend of mine
Speaker:built a house, and the most proud thing he
Speaker:was, he had in his house was a urinal. Do
Speaker:you put many urinals in houses? I'm
Speaker:curious. Well, not a stand up urinal. No.
Speaker:I see a. I see a lot more trend towards
Speaker:bidets lately. The last couple of years, I
Speaker:feel like I've put a bidet, at least one,
Speaker:in almost every single house I do. And
Speaker:it's interesting what people ask for. You
Speaker:know, it's construction. Construction can
Speaker:be so difficult in that aspect because the
Speaker:devil is in the details, you know? And
Speaker:every. Every house has a piece to play in
Speaker:putting the puzzle together, and it almost
Speaker:has to. It's like a perfect symphony to
Speaker:try to pull it off, whereas everyone has
Speaker:to be in coordination to make work. Yeah.
Speaker:Interesting. So you stepped your toe into
Speaker:3d home printing. Tell me a little bit
Speaker:about that. I know you've been kind of one
Speaker:of the first to try that on a serious
Speaker:basis and tell us a little bit about that,
Speaker:how it went and what you think the future
Speaker:may be there for it. I see 3d printing as
Speaker:being a way to evolve the construction
Speaker:industry. I'm one in particular, love the
Speaker:idea of it. It obviously has pros and cons
Speaker:and kinks that we have to work out. And
Speaker:the price point is the biggest one and one
Speaker:for one, side by side, whether you're
Speaker:printing a wall or doing a stick frame
Speaker:wall, the cost for the material is about
Speaker:tit for tat. Either way, as we evolve the
Speaker:software and the machines become more
Speaker:efficient, that price point is going to go
Speaker:down. As we figure out the mixture of
Speaker:materials, I think that price point
Speaker:continues to go down. But where you really
Speaker:save at is the time. You know, a 2200
Speaker:square foot house, we can print the walls
Speaker:in about 17 to 20 hours. Wow. So you
Speaker:imagine interior and exterior? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Wow. So if you imagine you show up on a
Speaker:job site and the slab is poured, the
Speaker:plumbing underground is done, kind of like
Speaker:your traditional method, you pull the
Speaker:machine out, you print the walls, and
Speaker:pretty much if you have the capability to
Speaker:prefab the roof, which is something we're
Speaker:looking into pretty heavy right now, to
Speaker:set with a crane, we would be able to
Speaker:print the walls, come back the next day
Speaker:and lower the roof on top of it. And
Speaker:pretty much within five days we'd have
Speaker:underground plumbing slab, poured walls
Speaker:printed and a roof on. That is. I mean, I
Speaker:am flabbergasted by that. I had no idea
Speaker:that it could happen that quickly. And
Speaker:you're right, you prefab the roof and drop
Speaker:it on. And that's amazing. So one of the
Speaker:big topics right now too is AI, artificial
Speaker:intelligence. Kind of curious. How do you
Speaker:see that impacting design and building in
Speaker:your business in the future? I think in
Speaker:the next decade we're going to see AI take
Speaker:over a lot of the design work, a lot of
Speaker:the structural design, load calculation,
Speaker:things like that, kind of the front end of
Speaker:construction that people don't really know
Speaker:or see much about. I think AI is going to
Speaker:definitely be able to help on the front
Speaker:side of construction in terms of AI or
Speaker:robots being able to hang drywall or paint
Speaker:houses efficiently. I definitely don't see
Speaker:that taken off in the next decade, maybe
Speaker:20 years from now, 30 years from now. We
Speaker:have a long way to go from that
Speaker:perspective. I think with machines, it's
Speaker:going to change the industry. I know in
Speaker:Germany they're experimenting with AI
Speaker:software that's running a machine that
Speaker:lays concrete blocks and it has the
Speaker:ability where a human basically loads a
Speaker:pallet of blocks in the machine and the
Speaker:machine cements it and sits it down and it
Speaker:has the capability to lay about 3000
Speaker:blocks in one day, which is about ten
Speaker:good. Like, you know, brick masons. So
Speaker:within ten years from now, we may see some
Speaker:of that happen, but I think the biggest
Speaker:impact it's going to have is on the front
Speaker:end. That's interesting. Let's talk a
Speaker:little bit about, you know, we talked a
Speaker:little bit about how you do those things,
Speaker:but let's talk about building materials a
Speaker:little bit. Anything exciting you're
Speaker:seeing coming up in terms of actual
Speaker:materials these days? Something that
Speaker:really makes your socks go up and down, or
Speaker:are we still just kind of stodgy and doing
Speaker:the same old stuff? As manufacturers, I
Speaker:see a lot of. Interesting concepts, some
Speaker:good, some bad. I think sip panels are
Speaker:very good, interesting products and not
Speaker:necessarily a new concept, but it's kind
Speaker:of gaining some ground where you're
Speaker:prefabbing that structural insulated panel
Speaker:and you're able to set the walls pretty
Speaker:fast. I think the ICF blocks are a great
Speaker:idea. You know, there's a company that
Speaker:basically sells their blocks, almost like
Speaker:a Lego, where you put the house together,
Speaker:all of these, all of those different ideas
Speaker:and those different materials. I think
Speaker:it's all innovative and very exciting. We
Speaker:just have to be careful because we don't
Speaker:know exactly how it's going to respond
Speaker:over a long term period. And, you know,
Speaker:that's one of the biggest things in
Speaker:construction, is it's always evolving
Speaker:because we're always learning from our
Speaker:previous mistakes. And that goes back
Speaker:hundreds of years. You know, I mean,
Speaker:we're, we just now, in the last, you know,
Speaker:50, 60 years, understand how important it
Speaker:is to have a footer under the house
Speaker:instead of just putting it up on some
Speaker:blocks or some rocks that you find in the
Speaker:field. Right. So it's, you know,
Speaker:construction has come a long way pretty
Speaker:quickly. And as these new materials come
Speaker:out, I think it's exciting and is
Speaker:something certainly I keep my eye on. And,
Speaker:you know, I cautiously proceed in the
Speaker:right direction, I hope. I'm kind of
Speaker:curious on something as a manufacturer.
Speaker:Let's talk about finished work and finer
Speaker:details. If you could push some of that
Speaker:off to a manufactured prefabricated type
Speaker:thing rather than have to have crews to do
Speaker:it, would that be desirable to you, or
Speaker:would you rather keep with the fit and
Speaker:finish being under your control? I would
Speaker:certainly prefer to go the prefab route. I
Speaker:think the biggest thing is trying to find
Speaker:that fine line of communication between
Speaker:someone like me as a builder and someone
Speaker:as a prefabrication house is trying to
Speaker:communicate what that client wants. You
Speaker:know, the biggest part of my business is
Speaker:the ability to offer something unique. If
Speaker:we're, if we're talking about building 100
Speaker:houses that all looks the same, that's a
Speaker:builder's dream and a prefab guy's dream.
Speaker:But when you get more into like custom
Speaker:homes, in that niche of custom homes,
Speaker:every single house is different or has its
Speaker:own different layout. And I think trying
Speaker:to find a way to streamline the design
Speaker:side of it where the prefab guys don't
Speaker:have to spend so much money redoing
Speaker:machines or setting up and, you know, that
Speaker:type of scenario, I think that's where.
Speaker:That sweet spot, so it really all started.
Speaker:That makes a lot of sense. Kind of starts
Speaker:with design and figuring out that sweet
Speaker:spot. So you kind of gave a tease of this
Speaker:earlier, but, you know, look into your
Speaker:crystal ball. What does home building look
Speaker:like in 20 years? Wow, in 20 years, are we
Speaker:talking about what it looks like
Speaker:aesthetically, cost wise, material wise?
Speaker:That's a loaded question. Maybe
Speaker:aesthetically and maybe a little bit about
Speaker:just the functionality, the trades and
Speaker:what it's going to look like for the
Speaker:builder, will builders look significantly
Speaker:different? I definitely think builders
Speaker:will look significantly different. I think
Speaker:as AI progresses, as the software
Speaker:progresses, and as the tech progresses, I
Speaker:see the builders being a lot more tech
Speaker:savvy than we ever have been before. From
Speaker:an aesthetic perspective, if I hit my mark
Speaker:on 3d printing, I mean, I think that that
Speaker:opens up the door to some pretty
Speaker:significant design changes. You know, the
Speaker:3d printing has the ability to print wavy
Speaker:walls, you know, which can look really
Speaker:cool, and they're also strong as they can
Speaker:be and they break the wind instead of
Speaker:trying to put a box in the window. In
Speaker:areas that are heavily impacted with
Speaker:hurricanes, tornadoes, I think 3d printing
Speaker:is going to really play a factor in those
Speaker:areas, even high snow loads, because the
Speaker:walls are so much stronger. And, you know,
Speaker:if you think about the thickness of a
Speaker:wall, you know, our thickness is two by
Speaker:fours, two by six. But if you're printing
Speaker:with a machine, the machine literally just
Speaker:has to travel that extra two inches every
Speaker:time it turns a corner. So it's very easy
Speaker:to achieve a ten inch wall, a twelve inch
Speaker:wall. So I see thicker walls with cooler
Speaker:designs in the ability to offer something
Speaker:a lot more unique at a fair price point.
Speaker:So I think we're going to see some kind of
Speaker:like Jetson futuristic type of printed
Speaker:houses in 20 years for sure. And that was
Speaker:my favorite cartoon growing up. So I think
Speaker:we're like all, aren't we? Like already
Speaker:beyond when the Jetsons actually lived in
Speaker:terms of years, but, yeah, we're going to
Speaker:get there. Awesome. Slowly but surely. So
Speaker:what do you really. Tell me, what do you
Speaker:really love about what you do? That's.
Speaker:That's a loaded question, too. I won't ask
Speaker:what you eat. No, no. You know what? I, I
Speaker:tell you, I don't feel like I've ever
Speaker:worked a day in my life. You know,
Speaker:construction, for a lot of people is just
Speaker:a job and they go to it and they dread it
Speaker:or they hate it. It's just a paycheck to
Speaker:them. But I just love to build. I mean, my
Speaker:slogan, right, that I tell everybody is I
Speaker:can build anywhere, anytime, anything,
Speaker:under any circumstance. And it's because
Speaker:I, you know, I see it from that
Speaker:perspective. I love what I do. I love to
Speaker:build. I love my clients. I love that
Speaker:relationship that I get to build with
Speaker:people, both individually and
Speaker:professionally. I get to see a lot of
Speaker:different personalities and perspectives,
Speaker:and it really opens up the world to me
Speaker:just to see it from all different angles
Speaker:and trying to achieve, you know, that
Speaker:perfect solution for everyone is pretty
Speaker:amazing. And just, you know, when you,
Speaker:when you go somewhere like a raw piece of
Speaker:land and there's nothing there, and six
Speaker:months later, you've created the dream
Speaker:that someone envisioned for years as
Speaker:they're saving their money to build this
Speaker:thing, you know, when they, when they give
Speaker:you a hug or they cry and, you know, say
Speaker:thank you and, you know, or whatever that
Speaker:may look like. Or maybe I get the
Speaker:occasional, hey, can you come for
Speaker:thanksgiving? Or let's do something for 4
Speaker:July? So a lot of my clients become
Speaker:friends, you know, and I'm the godfather,
Speaker:probably to 17 or 18 of my clients kids
Speaker:over time. Wow. You know, so, yeah, so I
Speaker:build a very unique, strong relationship
Speaker:with my clients, for sure. That's probably
Speaker:my favorite part. That's very cool. I'm
Speaker:curious, what advice would you have for
Speaker:younger folks out there who are thinking
Speaker:about a career in design or construction?
Speaker:Any real advice? How should they go about
Speaker:that? How do they learn? Who should they
Speaker:be paying attention to? I think the
Speaker:biggest thing is they have to be real with
Speaker:themselves and identify first and foremost
Speaker:what it is they really like and then try
Speaker:to seek out that professional in that
Speaker:industry, whether that's design,
Speaker:architectural engineering, building
Speaker:framing, carpentry, roofing, whatever that
Speaker:is they really enjoy doing and try to
Speaker:apprenticeship. You know, I think the
Speaker:industry would do really good to go back
Speaker:towards apprenticeship programs. They
Speaker:pulled apprenticeship programs out of high
Speaker:schools for a long period of time. And
Speaker:that's something that is kind of a
Speaker:generational thing that we're going to
Speaker:see. And that's why this labor market is
Speaker:tight. If you go back and look
Speaker:historically for about 30 years now, the
Speaker:schools slowly have pulled the trades out.
Speaker:And they're kind of saying, and their dads
Speaker:are saying, you don't want to do that. Go
Speaker:to college, get a degree. And for 30
Speaker:years, that's kind of been the norm. And
Speaker:all these kids are not getting into
Speaker:construction the way they used to or their
Speaker:dad was in it, and he's telling them, oh,
Speaker:don't do it, don't do it. And, you know,
Speaker:we're going to all pay for that in the
Speaker:price point per square foot. And as an
Speaker:industry and whole, just that conversation
Speaker:of kind of pushing kids away from hard
Speaker:work. But I think they definitely should
Speaker:find apprenticeship programs, find the
Speaker:right people to talk to. I always
Speaker:encourage the younger guys. I get a lot of
Speaker:messages on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter,
Speaker:Facebook, TikTok, even, you know, just
Speaker:guys just asking general questions. And I
Speaker:do the best I can to guide them. And we
Speaker:actually work with a college at ECU, and I
Speaker:have a couple of internships that come
Speaker:with me in the summers. One of them has
Speaker:been with me for two years, John Spargo,
Speaker:and he's going to actually come on full
Speaker:time afterwards. So I'm really excited
Speaker:that, that local college in particular has
Speaker:pushed these people, these young guys and
Speaker:women, to get into the construction
Speaker:industry. And I think with saying that, I
Speaker:think women play a big part of it. Women
Speaker:make the best project managers. And I know
Speaker:for a long time they say, oh, you know,
Speaker:woman doesn't belong in construction. But
Speaker:as this industry evolves, I tell you, I
Speaker:see more and more opportunity for women to
Speaker:get into construction than ever before.
Speaker:That's awesome. That's great. Well, Kyle,
Speaker:this has been a great time together. Thank
Speaker:you so much. We're really close to
Speaker:wrapping up what we call the business end
Speaker:of things. Is there anything we haven't
Speaker:covered yet today that you'd sure like to
Speaker:share with our audience? Just keep being
Speaker:innovative. Keep pushing forward, keep
Speaker:evolving. You know, the more people tell
Speaker:you no, just keep trying harder. All
Speaker:because, all because 100 people are going
Speaker:one direction don't necessarily mean that
Speaker:that's the direction you should go. So if
Speaker:you find yourself walking along on a road,
Speaker:down a path, you're probably doing the
Speaker:thing that no one else thought possible.
Speaker:So just keep pushing forward. I love that.
Speaker:Great, great advice and great wisdom
Speaker:there. So I have to ask you before we
Speaker:close out, if you'd like to participate in
Speaker:a little thing we call our rapid fire
Speaker:questions. So, rapid fire consists of
Speaker:seven questions we're going to ask you.
Speaker:Some may be serious, some may be a little
Speaker:more on the silly side. All you have to do
Speaker:is give a response, and the audience needs
Speaker:to understand, if Kyle agrees to this
Speaker:challenge, he has no idea what we're about
Speaker:to ask him. So are you up to the challenge
Speaker:of rapid fire? Well, being one of the. The
Speaker:head had head leaders in probably the most
Speaker:intense industry the world knows. I think
Speaker:I can handle some rapid fire questions. No
Speaker:doubt. Well, we asking questions. Ethan,
Speaker:you want to ask the first one? Yeah, I can
Speaker:do that. Question one, what's a product or
Speaker:service that you bought or used recently
Speaker:that was a game changer for you? Kind of
Speaker:like, oh, wow, where's this been? You
Speaker:know? Do you have something like that? I
Speaker:think. I think definitely ICf blocks. You
Speaker:know, at North Carolina, we don't have the
Speaker:winters that the upper states use, and I
Speaker:know the northern states have used ICF
Speaker:blocks for a long time, but I think ICF
Speaker:blocks are a great product that the south
Speaker:doesn't really know about or the hotter
Speaker:areas don't really know about, but they
Speaker:work extremely well for basements and
Speaker:things like that, and really easy product
Speaker:to put together. It's definitely been a
Speaker:game changer for me in terms of basements.
Speaker:That's cool. We actually have a company
Speaker:here in Pickwell, Ohio, and that makes ICF
Speaker:blocks, and they also make some foam parts
Speaker:for our systems as well. So, question
Speaker:number two. What is a funny childhood
Speaker:memory? A funny childhood memory? Well, we
Speaker:have a river that is called the tar river
Speaker:that flows through the state that goes all
Speaker:the way to the ocean. Me, my brother, my
Speaker:grandfather, and his best friend Pete used
Speaker:to take the boat, and we'd put in behind a
Speaker:Pizza hut in Franklin county, and we'd
Speaker:take a whole day trip in a little John
Speaker:boat all the way down to the ocean. And
Speaker:about an hour and a half in now, this is
Speaker:early 1990, 119 92. Cell phones were not a
Speaker:thing yet now. And a snake fell into
Speaker:jamboat from a tree. And I remember Pete,
Speaker:who was. He was an old red deck now, old
Speaker:country man, and he pulled out his shotgun
Speaker:and pointed it right at that snake and
Speaker:shot him. And he says, don't worry, boys,
Speaker:I got him. And sure enough, the boat was
Speaker:sinking all at the same time. So we
Speaker:walked. Yeah, we walked the rest of the
Speaker:way, and my grandmother was there waiting
Speaker:for us. And she was just pissed because we
Speaker:were about 5 hours late. She's like, what?
Speaker:Why are you so late? And she's like, and
Speaker:where's the boat? So, yeah, that's
Speaker:probably one of my most fond memories. Oh,
Speaker:my goodness. That's hilarious. That's a
Speaker:good one. Alrighty. Question three. What's
Speaker:your favorite sushi roll? Okay. Wow. I
Speaker:have to go with the dragon roll. Dragon
Speaker:roll is probably my favorite. Gotcha.
Speaker:There you go. I don't know if that's
Speaker:universal or. Not, but I think so, yeah,
Speaker:pretty much. Okay, next question. If you
Speaker:could spend a day with someone, anyone
Speaker:from history, who would you spend that day
Speaker:with? From history? So in. In the past,
Speaker:right, someone's probably dead. I'd
Speaker:probably say Benjamin Franklin. Well, my
Speaker:business partner has confessed to me that
Speaker:he thinks he may be Benjamin Franklin
Speaker:reincarnated. So maybe I can get you guys
Speaker:some time together. I don't know. You may
Speaker:just discover that he's a little crazy.
Speaker:Alrighty. Question five. What would you
Speaker:most like to be remembered for at the end
Speaker:of your days? I think for me, the most
Speaker:important thing would be for my, my kids
Speaker:to remember me as a good dad. I think
Speaker:that's above everything. Love it. Love it.
Speaker:Good stuff. Okay, next question. One of
Speaker:our favorites here on the show. Um, if you
Speaker:had to eat a crayon, what color of crayon
Speaker:would you choose to eat? Well, my favorite
Speaker:color is green, so I got to go with green.
Speaker:Green crayon. Okay. It's weird how some
Speaker:people base their a. They. They always
Speaker:take this question very seriously. I'm not
Speaker:going to ask you crayon, but a lot of
Speaker:people say white because they figure it
Speaker:won't show up on their teeth as bad. Okay.
Speaker:Okay. Would have been the last thing I.
Speaker:Thought about with, with the amount of
Speaker:coffee that I drink on a daily basis.
Speaker:Using that analogy, I'd have to go kind of
Speaker:yellow. But. We'Ve gotten all kinds of
Speaker:answers with that. Like, I mean, I don't
Speaker:know, orange and green and red. Like
Speaker:taking a big bite out of a, you know,
Speaker:Macintosh apple. But I always think with
Speaker:red, like, it'd look all, I don't know,
Speaker:all bloody or something. I don't know,
Speaker:maybe too much thought into it, but, yeah,
Speaker:maybe so. Maybe so. All right, here's the
Speaker:last question. Who was your favorite
Speaker:teacher in school and what do you remember
Speaker:them for? Wow. I would have to say it was
Speaker:my 9th grade math teacher. Her name was
Speaker:Miss Yoder, and in that time she was 82
Speaker:years old. She was still teaching, and she
Speaker:was just old school, man. Like, there was
Speaker:no calculator, there was no anything. And,
Speaker:you know, she used to give us such a hard
Speaker:time. And, you know, we were. I was always
Speaker:in advanced math, so I was already past,
Speaker:like, algebra, and I was actually in the
Speaker:pre calculus at that time. I went all the
Speaker:way through calculus two and three. She
Speaker:was just. She was real hard, real strict.
Speaker:You know, she always used to tell us we
Speaker:couldn't even think our self out of a
Speaker:paper bag. You know, she's like, your
Speaker:generation would suffocate instead of just
Speaker:tearing the bag open, you know? She was.
Speaker:She was hardcore. She was hardcore. But I
Speaker:tell you, as hard as she was, I have to
Speaker:dedicate probably my mathematical skills
Speaker:to that one woman in particular, because
Speaker:she made me use my brain instead of a
Speaker:calculator, which was, you know,
Speaker:calculators were always pushed real heavy
Speaker:all through school to help you. She just
Speaker:absolutely refused to even let them walk
Speaker:through her door. So when I can shoot
Speaker:numbers off the top of my head now, it's
Speaker:definitely because of her. That is
Speaker:awesome. Good answer. Hey, that was fun.
Speaker:Thank you. So if folks, listeners, would
Speaker:like to get in touch with you, visit your
Speaker:website, all that type of stuff, how can
Speaker:they do that? Yeah, so it's. I do my
Speaker:business in my name because I take it real
Speaker:personal. My website is kylebobbitt.com.
Speaker:That's kylebobbitt.com. We're also on
Speaker:Facebook, Instagram x, which used to be
Speaker:Twitter, TikTok, all of the things. We
Speaker:have a marketing person that does that for
Speaker:us. I don't really know what all those ids
Speaker:are, but if you type in Kyle Bobbitt or
Speaker:Kyle Bobbitt LlC in google alone, you
Speaker:probably can find us pretty quick. Cool.
Speaker:Good deal. Well, this has been great.
Speaker:Thank you so much. I've enjoyed this, and
Speaker:you've provided us a great insight into,
Speaker:you know, what's happening in your neck of
Speaker:the woods, what's happening with building
Speaker:in general, uh, where the future may go.
Speaker:You are definitely on the front end of
Speaker:things and putting up 40 to 50 jobs at a
Speaker:time, I guess you gotta be. So, uh, kudos
Speaker:to you. Good stuff. No, I appreciate that.
Speaker:Thank you. Well, um, how we doing? Our
Speaker:challenge words? I know, I got mine in.
Speaker:Flabbergasted. Ethan, you worked yours in
Speaker:right there. At the end with, uh,
Speaker:Macintosh there. Macintosh. Kyle, I. If
Speaker:you did yours, you got it in so good, I
Speaker:missed it. Did you get your word in? I
Speaker:did. When you asked me about urinals. I
Speaker:said I was. I kind of dived into
Speaker:construction and a piece by piece to make
Speaker:a puzzle, and I said, it's almost like a
Speaker:perfect symphony and it all has to work
Speaker:together. Awesome. Symphony was your word.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Cool stuff. Yeah. Back to the
Speaker:urinals, man. My friend was so proud. He.
Speaker:I was at a relatively, you know, nice, I
Speaker:call it a high class, highfalutin party at
Speaker:his house. Everyone that walked in the
Speaker:door, he had to take us to show us his
Speaker:urinal. He was really proud of that. Was
Speaker:it gold? Was it a golden urinal? It was
Speaker:just kind of a normal looking urinal just
Speaker:hanging there on the wall. Yeah. Yeah. If
Speaker:it was a party at Trump's house, I think
Speaker:it would have definitely been golden,
Speaker:right? There you go. I hear he likes to
Speaker:show people his golden toilet. Oh, wow.
Speaker:Well, thank you so much to our audience
Speaker:for tuning into this very special episode
Speaker:of construction disruption with Kyle
Speaker:Bobbitt of Kyle Bobbitt, LLC. Hey. Please
Speaker:watch for future episodes of our podcast.
Speaker:We're always blessed with great guests,
Speaker:just like Kyle. Don't forget to leave a
Speaker:review on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. And
Speaker:until the next time we're together, as
Speaker:Kyle said, keep on disrupting, keep on
Speaker:challenging. Keep on looking for better
Speaker:ways of understanding and better ways of
Speaker:doing things. And don't forget to have a
Speaker:positive impact on everyone you encounter.
Speaker:Make them smile. Encourage them simple,
Speaker:yet very positive, powerful things you can
Speaker:do to change the world. So God bless. Take
Speaker:care. This is Isaiah Industries signing
Speaker:off until the next episode of Instruction
Speaker:Disruption. This podcast is produced by
Speaker:Isaiah Industries, manufacturer of
Speaker:specialty metal roofing and other