If you're feeling overwhelmed by the constant struggle to find skilled labor and keep up with construction demands, then you are not alone! The skilled labor shortage is causing major headaches and hindering the growth and success of many builders and architects. But what if I told you there's a way to navigate these challenges and even thrive in this ever-changing landscape? Let's dive into some game-changing insights and strategies to revolutionize your approach to construction.
In this episode:
- We discuss the latest trends shaping the future of construction design and innovation.
- Uncover the significant impact of the skilled labor shortage on the construction industry and how it affects future projects.
- Explore the benefits and potential revolution of 3D printing technology in the construction sector.
- Learn about the latest advancements in sustainable and energy-efficient building techniques, and how they can shape future projects.
- Understand the role of AI in driving future construction and design practices, and how it's poised to transform the industry.
Our guest today, Kyle Bobbitt, is a seasoned professional in the construction industry and brings over two decades of experience as an unlimited licensed general contractor. Hailing from Wake Forest, North Carolina, Kyle's expertise lies in building custom homes and other structures in North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee, with project sizes ranging from 1 million to $50 million. His company, Kyle Bobbitt, LLC, is renowned for its contemporary design with a European flair, reflecting a unique and creative approach to construction. With a family history deeply rooted in construction, Kyle's passion and insights promise an engaging discussion on the trends and challenges shaping the future of the industry.
The key moments in this episode are:
00:00:00 - Introducing Kyle Bobbitt and his company
00:03:32 - Booming new construction market in North Carolina
00:09:05 - Challenges with skilled labor shortage
00:12:27 - Sustainable design and evolving construction industry
00:13:39 - Unusual client requests
00:14:20 - Importance of Custom Home Building
00:15:36 - The Future of Construction
00:17:30 - AI's Impact on Construction
00:19:10 - Innovations in Building Materials
00:26:12 - Advice for Aspiring Builders
00:28:25 - Opportunities for Women in Construction
00:29:11 - Rapid Fire Questions
00:35:48 - Contact Information
00:36:44 - Fun Moments and Parting Thoughts
Connect with Kyle Bobbitt:
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This episode was produced by Isaiah Industries, Inc.
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Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
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
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