Building Texas Business

BoyarMiller Chairman Chris Hanslik interviews industry thought leaders and organizational visionaries in a discussion rife with leading edge information, the latest trends, case studies, and news. Business inspiration, growth, challenges, corporate culture and mentorship will be on the agenda. Enjoy the banter and glean valuable insight as the conversation unfolds.

Building Texas Business is a business podcast hosted by BoyarMiller, with 118 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

BoyarMiller hosts Building Texas Business, a business show with 118 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #117

  Ep117: Building a Barbecue Brand on People and Process with Craig Haley

  Sep 16, 202639 minS1

  In this episode of Building Texas Business, Chris Hanslik sits down with Craig Haley, CEO of Smokey Mo’s Texas Barbecue, for a conversation about what it takes to run a growing restaurant brand while keeping the feel of a neighborhood joint. Craig shares how a college job at a College Station sports bar turned a computer science major into a lifelong restaurant operator, and how more than 30 years in the industry led him to a Central Texas barbecue brand founded in 2001. He explains what makes Smokey Mo’s different, from its smaller footprint and community roots to hiring general managers from inside the neighborhoods it serves, and why great food paired with genuinely friendly service remains the whole strategy. The conversation covers the operational work behind the scenes, including standardizing kitchen flow across locations, modernizing the look and feel of the restaurants, consolidating four point of sale systems into one, and building loyalty and guest feedback tools that actually move the business. Craig also offers a candid look at rising beef costs, why brisket yield testing matters so much to a barbecue operator’s margins, and the deliberate decision to hold prices down for guests even when costs climb. Chris and Craig also talk about leadership lessons, including hiring for traits you cannot teach, having the courage to let go of people who are not a culture fit, communicating strategy so every team member knows where they fit, and getting to the root cause of a problem rather than patching the surface. Craig closes with advice for anyone considering franchising or entrepreneurship, starting with the reminder that passion and hustle matter more than the promise of easy money. If you are a business owner, operator, or leader interested in restaurant operations, culture building, cost management, and scaling a brand without losing what made it work, this episode offers practical insight and a good deal of Texas barbecue along the way. LINKS Show Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Smokey Mo's

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #116

  Ep116: Buying Back The Business That Let You Go with Travis Hollman

  Aug 26, 202644 minS1

  In this episode of Building Texas Business , Chris Hanslik sits down with Travis Hollman, owner and CEO of Hollman, the largest manufacturer of lockers in the United States and the world. Travis shares the story of a family business his father started in 1976, one he bought in 2016, and how it grew into the company behind the locker rooms you see everywhere from Notre Dame, USC, and the Houston Rockets to Equinox, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America branches across the country. Travis talks about his winding path into ownership, including getting let go by his own father, launching seven or eight companies of his own along the way, and returning to rescue the business as it slid toward bankruptcy. He reflects on the value of finding work that naturally fits how you think, using tools like Culture Index and Myers Briggs to understand yourself and build the right team, and why starting a company from the ground up is one of the hardest things an entrepreneur can do. The conversation moves through innovation, culture, and the discipline of keeping a fifty year old company feeling like a startup. Travis explains how his MeSpace concept for neurodiverse offices reshaped the way his team designs sleepable, function first locker rooms, how his new AI division is transforming billing, renderings, and shop drawings, and why he believes honesty is the only real policy when a customer relationship goes south. He also opens up about Texas as the ideal place to build and manufacture, sharing a memorable story of staying open through COVID with the help of a responsive local government. Chris and Travis also explore leadership and authenticity, from Travis embracing his direct, bullet point style to surrounding himself with good cop VPs who balance him out. He closes with a moving look at the educational foundation he and his wife created, funding college for the children of his Hispanic plant workers so families can build lasting security across generations. If you are interested in manufacturing, family business, innovation, leadership, and building a company that stays true to its values while embracing new technology, this episode offers an honest and energizing look at what it takes to lead with authenticity and purpose. LINKS Show Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Hollman, Inc.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #115

  Ep115: AI Before It Was Cool: Building a Consulting Firm that Reinvents Itself with Tim Doll

  Aug 12, 202641 minS1

  In this episode of Building Texas Business, Chris Hanslik sits down with Tim Doll, founder and CEO of Precocity, a boutique technology consulting firm, for a conversation about building a company that has thrived through more than two decades of relentless technological change. Tim shares how his early frustration with corporate bureaucracy became the spark to strike out on his own and build a company where vision could translate directly into action. Tim talks about the firm’s origins in the early days of high speed internet and DSL, how the company evolved into a team of software engineers, designers, data architects, and AI engineers, and why he likes to say Precocity was doing AI before it was cool. He reflects candidly on the lessons learned along the way, from the importance of solid contracts and clearly defined expectations to the reality that success is less about a destination and more about always continuing to learn and grow. The conversation takes a thoughtful look at how artificial intelligence is reshaping professional services, including the pressure it puts on the traditional time and materials model, the likely shift toward outcome based pricing, and the deeper challenge of how the next generation gains real experience when AI can handle so many entry level tasks. Tim and Chris also explore why going deep and developing genuine expertise matters more than ever in a world where AI offers breadth but not depth. Tim also opens up about the culture he has worked to build at Precocity, hiring for character, culture, and capability in that order, embracing humility as a core value, and practicing a flat, servant leadership approach where the higher you go, the lower you go. He describes the company’s Jedi Tech Council, a biweekly forum where team members share their work, their successes, and their failures, and explains why focusing on people’s strengths rather than fixating on weaknesses has kept turnover low and tenure long. If you are a founder, technology leader, or professional service provider trying to understand how AI will reshape your business model, how to build a durable and relational company culture, and why Texas continues to be such a welcoming place for entrepreneurs, this episode offers a grounded and forward looking conversation worth your time. LINKS Show Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Precocity

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #114

  Ep114: Say What You Can Do: Building Trust and a Life Safety Business with Shannon Payne

  Jul 29, 202642 minS1

  In this episode of Building Texas Business, Chris Hanslik sits down with Shannon Payne, Co-Founder and CEO of Allied Fire Protection, for a conversation about building a life safety company from the ground up and the discipline it takes to grow one steadily over nearly three decades. Shannon frames his work simply, describing a business dedicated to saving lives and protecting property through the engineering, construction, service, and maintenance of fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems. Shannon shares how the company began in 1998 with three people in a Pearland garage, a lifelong friendship, and a mentor’s early advice about mastering operations as the true heart of any business. He walks through the growth that followed, from the first offices on Telephone Road to expansion across Texas and eventually into markets like Nashville and Tampa, all achieved organically. He also speaks candidly about weathering back to back black swan events, including 9/11 and the financial crisis, and how deep customer relationships allowed Allied to remain profitable even through steep downturns. The conversation covers the themes that have defined Shannon’s approach to leadership, starting with a commitment to hiring for values first and the story of how a rebranding effort surfaced the company’s real mission by asking team members and customers who Allied truly was. He and Chris discuss the challenge of keeping culture consistent across regions, the importance of learning to let go and empower others, and the value of building in a pro business state like Texas. Shannon is also honest about hard lessons, including the million dollar cost of commodity swings in steel and pipe, and the transparency he brought to his team afterward along with the strategy he adopted to protect the company going forward. Shannon also talks about innovation in an industry that struggles to find skilled people, describing how Allied built talent acquisition and training programs that reach into high schools, military bases, and colleges to introduce young people to a career path, along with a rotational development program aimed at growing the next generation of leaders. Throughout, he returns to a principle he once taught his son, to say what you can do and do what you say, as the foundation of trust and lasting customer loyalty. For business owners, entrepreneurs, and leaders interested in disciplined growth, building a values driven culture, navigating economic uncertainty, and solving the talent challenges facing the trades, this episode offers a grounded and practical look at how a garage startup became a company operating across Texas and beyond. LINKS Show Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Allied Fire Protection

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Building Texas Business

  Ep113: Leading with Love: Building a Family Business That Scaled with Julie Friedman

  Jul 15, 202642 min

  In this episode of Building Texas Business , Chris Hanslik sits down with Julie Friedman, founder of Young + Wild and Friedman and known to many as the Play Dough Lady, for a conversation about turning a personal challenge into a thriving product company. Julie shares how her search for a way to help her young daughter, who struggled with a speech disorder and anxiety, led her to homemade sensory play and, almost by accident, to building a nationally recognized brand. Julie walks through the early days of mixing Play Dough in her kitchen, packing hundreds of kits across every room of her house, and hauling pallets of bins and fifty pound bags of flour with three small kids in tow. She talks candidly about the moment she realized this was a real business, the viral growth that took off on Instagram, and the tenacity and passion that kept her from giving up even when it would have been easier to walk away. The conversation covers the practical lessons of scaling a company that grew faster than anyone expected, including learning to let go of control one finger at a time, hiring the right people, and building a supply chain with backup plans after being burned by a single source. Julie also opens up about the family that runs her Play Dough factory today, the culture of love and loyalty she has built with her team and customers, and the leadership style that favors trusting her gut and moving quickly over overanalyzing every decision. Along the way, Julie reflects on balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship, the importance of asking for help and leaning on a supportive spouse and business partner, and the surreal milestone of launching her line into eighteen hundred Target stores. She shares why authenticity has been at the heart of her brand from the beginning and how she recharges each summer by unplugging in Montana. For entrepreneurs, mompreneurs, and anyone who has ever turned a personal passion into something bigger than they imagined, this episode offers an honest and inspiring look at resilience, growth, and staying true to yourself while building a business from scratch. LINKS Show Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Young + Wild and Friedman

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Building Texas Business. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.