The Construction Life - podcast cover

The Construction Life

What is The Construction Life? The Construction Life is a daily routine of waking up at 5am, working out, showering, preparing lunch, sending off the family, driving to the construction site, organizing and preparing for the day's work, building, having fun on the job, wrapping up at the end of the day, returning home, spending time with the family, and preparing for the next day. It's a lifestyle that involves a constant commitment to hard work and a love for what you do, and it's never about settling for "good enough." The Construction Life is about striving for excellence every day.

Last refreshed:
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Download Metacast podcast app
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

#225 – 30–39-year-olds Part Two Health Fitness Nutrition and Age of Tradespeople with Dimitri from Pure Motivation Fitness

Part Two –30–39-year-olds #FitnessFridays with Dimitri Giankoulas It all begins with weight, the scale, is the old way of tracking your gains and losses, it’s truly about body composition, a reflection of tissues in relation to each other, fat and lean muscle tissue. In your 30’s your body begins to change, add life, marriage, kids, work, stress and watch your fitness drop and be pushed to the end of the line, worst thing to do. Food, find out what your body needs in nutrition, for example, Dimi...

Feb 18, 202258 min

#224 - 20–29-year-olds Part One Health Fitness Nutrition and Age of Tradespeople with Dimitri from Pure Motivation Fitness

Dimitri and Manny had this crazy idea, let’s do shows about health, fitness, nutrition and let’s warp up the conversations around age groups. Part One –20–29-year-olds. #FitnessFridays with Dimitri Giankoulas Listen to these packed 1-hour shows discussing so much about living a happy, healthier life. Let’s begin, the conversation begins with finding a mentor, your circle of friends and your family will determine what kind of person you become for the rest of your life. Of course, we discuss the ...

Feb 18, 202256 min

#223 Chris Michelin from Treasured Trim Inc. is here to chat Finish Carpentry and the love for the construction industry

Open the show with a little talk about the Superbowl and the new Rams logo. Coming from a family full or ironworkers Chris wasn’t interested in that craft, he fell in love with carpentry, building projects in high school trade classes. Chris shares the best thing his previous employer ever taught him; this is a major construction lesson worth listening too. His next story will tug at the heart, thank you Chris for sharing. Of course, we must talk about tools and his line up, as you expect, Chris...

Feb 18, 20221 hr 57 min

#222 Kim Piller a Sales Trainer from Sandler Cornerstone Centre for Continued Learning

Kim opens the show with a great assumption about contractors, he thinks we make loads of money, why do we need a sales trainer? This show will have a lot of questions for you as a business owner to ask yourself, prepare the notepad. · Why do you do your business? · How do you build a structure for your business? · Plan and prepare to sell your business one day. · Understanding the Buyers / Sellers Dance. · Don’t try to sell yourself and your service. · Don’t sell the person, they will back away....

Feb 12, 20221 hr 34 min

#221 Alex from Seal-It is here to discuss sealing all types of exterior surfaces and where the business is going

Alex has had an interesting last decade, studying music, working for lawn care and other sealing companies, hustling and learning, and even considering getting into electrical. 5 years ago, he had a vison of Seal It and has made it what it is now and growing well. He has his crews and is currently searching for more employees if anyone is interested. Alex takes great pride in learning about the proper sealers and applications through speaking to his suppliers and reps and testing these products ...

Feb 10, 20221 hr 23 min

#220 Real Estate and Mortgages learning from yesterday, what’s going on today, and expectations for tomorrow

Anthony Caputo from The Caputo Group and Michelle Farrugia are back after nearly two years to discuss the real estate and mortgage markets. This is one show for the books, it was all business from the very beginning, and they share so much incredible insight into what is really going on today, what we learned two years ago and what to plan for tomorrow. We even shift gears and discuss crypto, nft’s and the metaverse. You want to listen to show, take notes and prepare to be educated. Toronto just...

Feb 09, 20221 hr 48 min

#219 Larry Serpa of Key Tile Co from Vancouver is on the show talking everything to do with tiling and stone

Larry literally began by being thrown right into the pool with no swimming lessons, working for his dad and brother, they gave him a caulking gun and a tube of silicon and told him to caulk the shower, never did it before, was never shown how to do it and once completed his work was complimented and that was the beginning. Soon after that he’s asked to grout, no training, no instructions, you will figure it out is what his brother said. He did a great job and then was given the job, Grout Bitch,...

Feb 08, 20222 hr 19 min

#218 Behzad from Aria Build is here to discuss being a 25-year-old General Contractor of luxury homes

We have a new segment to share on the show, Building Books where we share a book that we have read and our listeners should consider reading, on today’s show we discuss Think and Grow Rich, Little Red Hen, Richest Man in Babylon, and today’s feature book is The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse. Please consider expanding your reading, it will only help you and your business. 25-year-old GC Behzad of Aria Build is our guest, moved to Canada when he was 11 years old, didn’t know any English an...

Feb 07, 20221 hr 40 min

#217 AVAS & Concepts Inc with Dennis Costa discussing Home Automation and Integration

Let’s get right into home automation and integration with Dennis from AVAS and Concepts, it all began with Dennis taking broken speakers out of the back trash of a local stereo shop, that led to him fixing the speakers and getting a job at the store. From there, Dennis was offered a job at Rogers Cable with the sub-contractor Trinity Cable. It was a great opportunity for Dennis, able to be one on one with homeowners, learning how to communication with clients and solving problems. Dennis always ...

Jan 28, 20221 hr 58 min

#216 D’lusso Tile with the OG Frank Dilorenzo, his son Joey and the new kid Jason Rita from MCM Stone & Tile

What a show! Are you easily offended by the truth about construction, then this show is for you because you need to be woken up about the realties in construction and Frank, Joey and Jay say it as it is and TCL welcomes everything said on this show. Huge shout out to JD Hellinger of @hellingerconstruction he reached out asking me to do more shows about safety, and I will be doing more. He recently had a jobsite accident; a split second can change your life. We want to wish him the best, we wish ...

Jan 25, 20222 hr 6 min

#215 Heavy Duty Homes is on the SHOW with Phil Russo the owner and his project manager Philip Games

Huge thank you to all the listeners, messages of support, questions about construction, the network this show has been building as we head closer and closer to our 300th show event, watch for it in August and this years Labor Day is something you don’t want to miss, Carlito and Manny has some big ideas. Please leave a rating and a review on iTunes and you can now leave a star rating on Spotify. Thank You On with the show. Most of this show discusses employees versus subtrades. Something differen...

Jan 24, 20221 hr 43 min

#214 Pino Pirillo and Giuliano Tarantini from International Visual Corporation talking about custom fabrication

In our last show from Montreal, we dive deep into the custom world of manufacturing and fabrication where every idea begins on a napkin. We have Pino Pirillo, business development and Giuliano Tarantini a prototype on the show and sharing the 60 plus years of this incredible business. With a facility at a size of 260,000 square feet IVC can handle any project and on today’s show we will discuss the entire process. A lot of respect goes out to IVC and how they never stopped when Covid hit, they w...

Jan 23, 20221 hr 35 min

#213 Filippo Placentino of Cr3ative Construction Company is here to share plenty of construction

The show opens with one of the best show tunes ever! Then the guys assess the grappa and realize we need more grappa because both Manny and Danny are feeling cockatail. Filippo was kind enough to bring one of the OG Hardcore Renos t-shirt, one of 1000’s that have been given away over the years, so nice to finally meet a follower and someone that received a HCR T. Thank you Filippo. Coming from a family background of trades, he didn’t begin in construction until 27, in his younger years he pursue...

Jan 22, 20221 hr 44 min

#212 Philippe Gaudreau from Construction Anorak Inc. the new kid on the block and loads to consider

1 year on his own after 6 years of working with others Philippe has a lot of questions for us and the industry, he is so passionate about. Incredibly refreshing to have a tradesperson that loves construction but wants to learn more on how best to navigate through the construction world. This is going to be one amazing show. The show opens with a classic Quebec song. Just to set up a construction business you will spend $4-5K just in paperwork, no jobs, no income, nothing and right out of the gat...

Jan 20, 20221 hr 48 min

#211 Old School Italian Show – 3 wise masons and the 2 young masons taking over from Construction Dosca Inc.

This is going to be one for the podcast books, we have 3 of the best masons on the show, Tony, Mario and the OG Ermete and the young men taking over the empire they built, Danny and Mike from Construction Dosca Inc. Sit back, pull out some paper, listen to the three wise Italian masons share their stories in Italian and English, trust us, you will understand the passion, family, love, and drive for the construction industry throughout the show. A massive shout out to Pizzayolo Montreal for provi...

Jan 19, 20221 hr 37 min

#210 Aldev Construction with Pasquale (Pat) the Dad and David the son taking things over for the next 40 years

Welcome to Detour a Montreal – Danny from @dannydosca suggested I come to Montreal and record a few shows, He reached out and had so many wanting to be on the show, 5 were selected and Manny was off to Montreal to get the Quebec Tradespersons perspective. 1962 and Pat’s dad is the one that started the construction business for the family, Pat started Aldev Construction in 1997 and now David has been working there for 10 years and he’s 26 years old. We have a lot of great stories to share on this...

Jan 17, 20221 hr 42 min

#209 Derek Sousa a Highschool Trade Teacher has a lot to say about teaching the next generation of trades

15 years in the industry with the last 4 being a teacher, Derek wasn’t the best kid in school but in his high school years he found his passion through the woodworking class. Finished school and went right into the union and began working right away. After a few years of doing commercial construction, he got into the carpenters union, followed by the opportunity to work for the school board taking care of things that fall a part or damaged by the students, faculty or age. 4 years ago, he was off...

Jan 16, 20222 hr

#208 Alex Maggiacomo from Universal Aluminium Products is a mom-and-pop shop handling all kinds

Welcome back!!! Nice to have a bit of a break after such an amazing 5 months of pushing the show to new heights and crossing that 500,000-download mark. First show back and we are geared to reach over 300 shows and 1 million downloads this year, stay tuned because it will all happen, and more. On with the first show of 2022. Alex Maggiacomo, manager of Universal Aluminum Products, 41 years in business is on the show and we have a lot to discuss the wonderful world of window, door, trim, soffit, ...

Jan 13, 20221 hr 39 min

#207 Millennials Choice Group of Companies with Matthew Ablakan - Let’s talk investing your money

In our last show of 2021, we end things with a lot of great information about where to spend your hard-earned money with pre construction condos. Matthew opens the show with a few reasons why tradespeople are the perfect candidate for real estate investing. Matthew takes us back to his humble beginnings, immigrant old school parents, he started working in service jobs and that led him studying 2 degrees in university. During his hustling days and making 25K per year and working and studying ever...

Dec 29, 20211 hr 33 min

#206 Tyrone Nickel from Nickel General Contracting is on the show, and he has a lot of years to share

I have known Ty for over 11 years, with his Irish background his name comes from the county Tyrone in Ireland. He’s been in construction since 1987, right out of college, always loved working with his hands, went through 2 recessions, shut down his Canadian business in 2004 to move to the USA and work there, he has dual citizenship, so you know he has seen a lot so you don’t want to miss this show. Now Ty began as a summer job with his first business, Deck Masters working in the Toronto downtown...

Dec 28, 20211 hr 42 min

#205 Frontiers Design Build building the right construction team

We have a full house on the show today, no less than 8 members of the Frontiers Design Build team, from the 3 owners, James Savoie, Doug Taylor, and Adam Taylor and then we have 5 of their employees, Jeremy Muzzell, Mac Myers, Patt Davis, Jesse Ranch and Graeme Fraser. We have quite the show for you today, we will be discussing the partnership, hiring, project planning, expanding the business, taking things from hardscape and landscape to full builds to high performance building. With 17 employe...

Dec 27, 20211 hr 34 min

#204 Mike Belley from Belley Renovations is back to discuss toxic masculinity on the jobsite

In our last show of the 24-hour event we discuss a topic that no construction cares to discuss but this is The Construction Life. As a GC we ae asked to handle so many details, on and off the job site, recognizing what our clients, crews, sub trades, suppliers are going through on a day-to-day basis. Where does this type of behavior come from, where does it begin? We feel it begins and comes from competition; competitive behavior breeds this type of environment. Construction is 100% about commun...

Dec 25, 20211 hr 22 min

#203 Jesse Barbosa is back to discuss what’s been going on with the growth of his framing business

Jesse has now joined the 3rd guest show appearance club and we couldn’t be happier as we have watched him grow his business over the course of our show. Welcome back Jesse, on with the show. Jesse gets Manny and Carlito to join in for the opening track and it’s great. Where do we begin with this show, it’s 6am and we are down to the last 3 shows of the event, the sun is starting to rise and Carlito and Manny are back with some energy. Jesse begins with a major foundation fuck up, funny enough it...

Dec 14, 20211 hr 33 min

#202 WELCOME BACK CrewMenGroup Taha has a lot more to share on the show – hold onto your tool belt

Taha (T) is back and gearing to go 3am in the morning and it all begins with where he left off the last time, a 400K fuck up. Sit back and enjoy the many lessons T has to share on this show and we appreciate him being a part of our craziness. Back to the 400K involving a union roof job that certain things didn’t get done and then T and his crew were asked to make holes in the roof for the anchoring points, but the next trade decided to go home and not do the work. Lesson learned and big ups to e...

Dec 12, 20211 hr 52 min

#201 Adrian Schwantz from C.R.C Contracting Inc is here to discuss ICF and more of his construction life

One O’clock in the morning and Manny and Carlito are still at it and thanks so much for Adrian for making the trek for such a late night or early morning show, much appreciated. Adrian began his career with ICF at the young age of 14 years old, learned so much with the right builder, then decided to get his mechanic ticket, hated it and got right back into building homes and the rest is history and will be shared on this show. Adrian has worked with and used every type of ICF block, and his pref...

Dec 11, 20211 hr 26 min

#200 Significant Others and what we as tradespeople put our loved ones through every single day.

This has been an idea for a show since our very first show and here we are 200 shows later and we finally get to record a show about our significant others and what tradespeople put our loved ones through every single day of The Construction Life. We have Carlito, his wife couldn’t make it, Jason from The Keystone Contractor is back with his wife Laura and Manny and his girlfriend Bela are here to chat the other half of the business. This should be interesting. The men speak up and accept what t...

Dec 07, 20211 hr 28 min

#199 Danny Dosca is BACK for more TCL talk and this round we will talk about the future of tradespeople, young and old.

“Tough times create strong men. Strong men create easy times. Easy times create weak men. Weak men create tough times.” The quote, from a postapocalyptic novel by the author G. Michael Hopf , sums up a stunningly pervasive cyclical vision of history. That is what this show will be about. Plenty of older tradespeople are nervous of the future of construction including the 3 on today’s show. Danny sparks the conversation about what will happen when the older generation of tradespeople decide to pu...

Dec 06, 20211 hr 25 min

#198 Kurt Snell of Snell Contracting Services Inc talking his young construction life and young trades

With today’s show we cast a wide construction net, but Kurt wants to focus on young trades, young business owners, the youth of construction, as the older trades prepare to step down, where is the industry going to be in the next decade, a particular favorite topic at TCL. Strap on the tool belt, this will be one hell of a great show. The show begins with Kurt’s experience with George Brown and how it was a huge positive step in his career path, sharing the teachers, the classroom sizing and fun...

Dec 05, 20211 hr 28 min

#197 The Finish Carpentry Trim Team is here – Gary Mares Fabio Andrede and finally we have Joe Nicolau

WARNING - This show is raw and honest and if you’re not interested in the real version of The Construction Life then please don’t listen. Very Explicit conversations on this show. What a show we have for you during our craziness of 24 hours of podcast and 14 shows, finally reaching the halfway mark we have 3 of the best finish carpenters in the Greater Toronto Area on the show and boy will the fun be let loose like sawdust in the wind. We begin the show discussing suppliers and the quality of ma...

Dec 01, 20211 hr 40 min

#196 Quaid Sturdy of Sturdy Contracting Co Young Contractor talking the future of construction

What a great show we have with Quaid Sturdy from Sturdy Contracting Co. and he’s going to share what he’s been doing being so young in Trades and why he sees such an optimistic future in construction. At 24 years old Quaid is very interested in meeting, speaking, absorbing from as many tradespeople as possible. Quaid walks us through his journey from working with his dad’s electrical co to busted up collar bone to all types of employment to finally getting into construction for good. Then we are...

Nov 30, 20211 hr 30 min
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android