Builder Stories

Welcome to Builder Stories, the podcast where builders, remodelers, and contractors share their personal and business journeys. Come learn from the stories of successful entrepreneurs who share how they got started, how they found success, and the lessons learned along the way. Your host, Eric Fortenberry, has successfully built two businesses, one in software and one in construction. He is now the Founder and CEO of JobTread Software, a construction estimating and project management platform that has helped thousands of builders and contractors sell and manage over $1 billion in construction jobs.

Builder Stories is a business podcast hosted by Eric Fortenberry, with 152 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 83. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Eric Fortenberry hosts Builder Stories, a business show with 152 episodes published.

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  Episode #152

  Win More Remodeling Jobs by Mastering the Sales Conversation | Tyler Hunsberger of Hunsberger Builders

  Aug 12, 202651 min

  Tyler Hunsberger has won a NARI Contractor of the Year award and earned a spot on Pro Remodeler's 40 Under 40. He is a fourth-generation contractor who has spent nearly 15 years on the sales and design side of remodeling. Now he is bringing that playbook back to his family's company after 25 years with no marketing, no estimating, and one single customer. This conversation is a masterclass in how remodelers actually win jobs. In this episode you will learn: How Tyler builds real excitement on a first phone call before he has ever seen the project What he does with a lead that is clearly a bad fit for his company The approach that earns him reviews far more often than any email or QR code How he opens the budget conversation without naming his own numbers first The way he delivers a $15,000 change order without losing the client's trust Listen to the episode to learn more. Resources: Learn more about Tyler and his work here .

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  Episode #151

  Turn Your Craft Into Content | Mike Coffey of Coffey Custom Builds

  Aug 5, 20261h 2m

  Mike Coffey grew his social media audience from nothing to more than 120,000 Instagram followers. Here, he reveals how contractors can use social platforms to build trust, show their humanity, and turn finished-project beauty shots into real sales opportunities. He also shares how suffering a stroke last year changed his priorities. Instead of feeling consumed by the less inspiring parts of his business, he is now focused on building a life around the things he loves most: producing excellent work and the creation of meaningful content he can share with others. In this episode you will learn: How much social growth your business really needs The difference between personal branding and company branding How Mike learned the best times to post Common social media mistakes contractors should avoid What to know before working with sponsors and brands Listen to the episode to learn more. Resources: Learn more about Coffey Custom Builds here .

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  Episode #150

  Running a Company You Grew Up In | Kelly Kirk of Greymark Design + Build

  Jul 29, 202659 min

  Kelly Kirk took over Greymark Design + Build a few weeks after her mother, who founded the company, passed away. Leslie King was a larger-than-life figure and a well-known industry leader. Kelly chose to honor that legacy while also finding her own voice as a leader and bringing in fresh processes and a new approach. The journey wasn't easy, but today Kelly heads up a thriving company with a strong, aligned, and high performing team. In this episode you will learn: Why Kelly could not lead the way her mother did, and what she built in its place The single email that changed how Kelly's team saw her, and how long the effect took to compound What her business coach used to pull the company through its worst stretch, and why it was far simpler than she expected The client comment that revealed a blind spot only someone outside the industry could see How she plans in one, three, five, seven, and ten year increments without losing focus on the current month Listen to the episode to learn more. Resources: Learn more about Greymark Design + Build here .

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  Episode #149

  Inside the Playbook of a Successful Design Build Firm | Bryan Sebring of Sebring Design Build

  Jul 22, 20261h 2m

  Bryan Sebring didn't just grow a business, he rebuilt one from scratch. After running his company in Chicagoland for over two decades, Bryan moved to Franklin, Tennessee and relaunched as a design build only firm serving a completely different market. He shares the controversial 15 day pricing window he uses to qualify leads and close faster, along with a "power of three" approach to budgeting range. Bryan also opens up about the peer group community that changed his business and why he treats every homeowner, even the ones he turns away, as a future advocate. In this episode you will learn: The "dating before marriage" mindset Bryan uses to qualify homeowners before they ever see a price Why he intentionally gets fewer leads now than he did in Illinois, and why that's a good thing The controversial 15 day pricing window some builders call dishonest and Bryan calls incentive How Bryan turns down projects and still creates lifelong advocates out of the homeowners he refers elsewhere The unexpected way switching his accounting system finally made work in progress reporting possible

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  Episode #148

  When the Exit Goes Wrong | Vince Nardo of Master Roofing Solutions and TimeProof USA

  Jul 15, 202656 min

  Vince Nardo helped grow his family's cabinet refacing shop into the largest home improvement company on the West Coast with 700 employees. The company operated in multiple states and even landed a partnership with Costco to sell their products. In 2022, he sold the business to private equity firm Audax. Two years later, the acquiring company went bankrupt and the 40-year legacy the Nardo family built was gone. Now Vince is out of retirement and building a national roofing brand from scratch, and he's sharing every hard lesson along the way. In this episode you will learn: The simple metrics Vince used ensure growth of a 700-person company Why Reborn stopped thinking of itself as a sales and marketing company, and what it became instead How a meeting in Seattle turned into a partnership with Costco, and what selling under a retail giant taught his team The one question Vince says every contractor must ask before selling to private equity What convinced him to bet on himself again after losing everything he spent decades building Listen to the episode to learn more.

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