If you've ever led a business that looked impressive on paper but felt like it was quietly eroding your well-being behind the scenes, this episode will meet you exactly where you are. Many trades entrepreneurs begin with a craft, not a company blueprint. They hustle hard, fueled by grit, only to find themselves imprisoned by the very business they built—exhausted, reactive, and disconnected from the purpose that sparked it all.

That’s the real story behind Richard Walsh’s success... and collapse. After two decades running a nationally recognized, award-winning water feature company, Richard watched it all vanish in the 2008 housing crash. No systems. No contingency. No margin for error. But in the ruins, he discovered a deeper truth: the business wasn’t what defined him. And his rebuild would look radically different, grounded in systems, sustainability, and human-first leadership.

In this episode of The People Strategy Podcast, Traci Austin sits down with Richard Walsh, CEO of Sharpen the Spear Coaching, to explore how he redefined what “success” means and how he now equips trades leaders to design businesses that serve their lives, not consume them. From his book Escape the Owner Prison to real-world frameworks that prioritize freedom and purpose, this is a candid conversation for leaders ready to reclaim control.

In the trades, it’s not the perks that define culture—it’s how your people show up when things get hard. On job sites, in tight deadlines, across five generations—real culture is built through clarity, trust, and showing up every day. And that doesn’t happen by accident.

Too often, trade businesses measure success in activity: 500 calls made, back-to-back shifts worked, 100 tasks checked off. But when output becomes the goal, people burn out, trust breaks down, and culture becomes just another line in the handbook.

In this episode of The People Strategy Podcast, Traci Austin talks with Paul McCarthy, business development leader at Hero Facility Services, about how to build a strong culture that actually supports your people, especially in field-based, fast-moving environments. Real culture gets built one deposit of trust at a time. Paul shares insights from decades of experience across operations, hospitality, and business development—plus a clear-eyed philosophy on what he calls the “psychology of the heart.”

They dig into how to know whether someone is truly aligned with the team, what to do when your gut says no but the resume says yes, and how to structure tough conversations that build—not break—relationships. This is an episode about seeing your people, naming your values, and leading with presence. In Paul’s words, it’s not just about the sale—it’s about changing one person’s life every day.

If you’re serious about growing your business and keeping good people, you’ll want to hear this.

If your communication strategy only works for half your crew, it's not a strategy—it's a risk. And in the trades, that risk doesn’t just affect productivity—it affects safety, morale, and retention.

Today’s job sites are made up of multiple generations working side by side, each with their own preferences, assumptions, and expectations around communication. You've got Boomers printing out emails, Gen Xers living by their calendars, Millennials juggling inboxes and Slack messages, and Gen Zers who'd prefer a quick text over a long meeting. When leaders fail to adapt their communication styles to meet their people where they are, messages get lost, accountability slips, and trust erodes.

We see this breakdown most often when companies introduce new tools or systems—like that HRIS app everyone’s supposed to download but no one knows how to use. Without proper guidance, the disconnect between intention and execution widens. What starts as a missed message becomes a safety issue. A dropped thread turns into a missed deadline. And an overwhelmed employee—who might have thrived with a little extra support—becomes your next resignation.

In this episode of The People Strategy Podcast, Traci Austin sits down with Dawn Hart, HR leader at Center Phase Energy and founder of Manage with Hart, to unpack the nuances of generational communication in the trades. Dawn brings more than three decades of HR experience across construction, utilities, and finance, along with sharp humor and clear-eyed leadership advice. Traci also introduces a concept called the Tough Talk Audit—a framework for leaders to address misalignment before it becomes a retention issue.

Whether you’re rolling out new systems, running storm crews, or simply trying to get your team on the same page, this episode offers the clarity and empathy leaders need to create communication strategies that work for everyone.