Goodbye Fast Five, Hello Nailing It! (And the Wild Story You Didn’t Know About Me)

Behind the White Dresses, Global Stages and Corporate Success… Here’s What Most People Don’t Know.

I grew up in a caravan—in a trailer park my entrepreneurial dad eventually came to manage. And then? He didn’t just stop at running it. He started to build transportable homes, won Mobile Home of the Year in the mid-’80s, and proved that where you start doesn’t define where you end up (well, we ended up bankrupt—but that’s a story for another newsletter). 

While the other kids were playing dress-up, I was playing with Laminex swatches, trying to match them with carpet samples for our next build. My “playground” was a drafting table stacked with blueprints, my “toys” were the tools of the trade. And my biggest childhood project? Trying (and failing) to build myself a lift off the side of a building—because who wants to take the stairs when you can engineer a pulley system?

I wasn’t raised in boardrooms. I didn’t grow up with silver spoons, school excursions, or, for many years, even a car. I grew up in the grit of the building industry, surrounded by the relentless hustle of making things from the ground up—literally.

And now? I’m bringing that same roll-up-your-sleeves energy to helping leaders build businesses that don’t just succeed but sustain.

Introducing Nailing It 🔨

This is your new weekly dose of tangible, no-BS strategies to help you lead your team, scale your business, and make your industry better. Think of it as a power tool for your leadership skills—only instead of sawdust, you get sharp insights.

We’ll still be wielding the fluffy baseball bat of no-nonsense, practical advice that you were used to in our Fast Five series, but with a fresh new format and a new day of the week. And while we’ll be tailoring our tips towards trade-based and construction-related businesses, if you’re a business owner or leader who believes in building a high-performance business that’s whole-human-focused, you’ll still find massive value here. (Because let’s be real—99% of this advice is universal.)

Why Construction? Why Now?

Because we have a problem.

• The industry is in crisis—we’re losing skilled workers faster than we’re attracting new ones.

• We have a culture problem—worksite bravado and burnout are driving good people out instead of drawing new people in.

• Mental health in construction is in the red zone—with suicide rates among tradies alarmingly high and toxic workplaces still too common.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn this around. That’s why my 10-year obsession is to:

Change the Perception of Construction, Worldwide

Within the next decade, I want to see construction recognized as a desirable and dignified career—not a fallback option, but a first-choice profession with skilled, passionate workers who want to be here.

Build 1,000 of the Best Places to Work in Construction

By revolutionizing culture, leadership, and operational systems, we’ll replace the toxic legacy of bulling and bravado with a culture of respect, craftsmanship, and collaboration.

Create Lasting, Industry-Wide Change

By setting a new standard for how construction businesses operate, we’ll make this industry a blueprint for other industries facing similar challenges.

What You’ll Get From Nailing It

Every edition will help you ATTRACT world-class talent, RETAIN your superstars, and MAXIMIZE your team’s productivity—so you can increase your profitability without burning out.

Expect:

✅ Business optimization frameworks to streamline operations and cut the chaos.

✅ Leadership strategies to build emotionally intelligent, high-performing teams.

✅ Real-world lessons from my work coaching top-tier construction businesses.

✅ Proven methods from Scaling Up, Mindvalley, Flow Research Collective, and years of studying high-performance culture.

This isn’t just about making businesses better—it’s about making the industry better.

And to do that? We need a movement.

So, if you know someone in construction, trades, or any business that needs to step up its leadership game, forward this email or share Nailing It with them. Together, we can change the perception of trades, make construction cool again, and future-proof the industry.

Because where you start doesn’t define where you end up.

But how you build? That does.

🔨 Let’s nail it.

Jade