In this episode, Kerry Smith welcomes Dr. Vince Hafeli, DBA, president of Ajax Paving Industries and a nationally recognized leader in construction mental health advocacy. Dr. Hafeli shares his deeply personal journey into mental health leadership, shaped by lived experience, industry loss, and decades in construction, and explains why meaningful mental health initiatives must begin in the C-suite to truly change culture. Drawing from his doctoral research and real-world implementation, he discusses leadership responsibility, vulnerability, suicide prevention, and how programs like peer “warrior” teams and construction-specific training can save lives. This conversation challenges outdated ideas of toughness in construction and reframes mental health as a core leadership and safety issue that directly impacts people, performance, and long-term industry sustainability.

In this episode, Kerry Smith Buck welcomes Cal Beyer, Senior Director of Safe Workplaces at the SAFE Project, as part of the show’s mental health, wellbeing, and construction series. Cal unpacks the critical intersection of substance use, mental health, suicide, and overdose in the construction industry, explaining why these issues must be addressed together rather than in isolation. Drawing from decades of experience, he emphasizes recovery-focused workplace strategies, peer support, psychological safety, and a shift from “mental illness” to “mental fitness,” offering a hopeful, practical roadmap for how construction leaders and crews can better support one another and reduce risk across job sites.

In this episode, Kerry Smith Buck speaks with Mike Cox, CEO of Crete United, about why safety is not a stand-alone program but a direct reflection of company culture. Mike shares how Crete United built an industry-leading safety record by focusing on non-punitive learning, near-miss reporting, field-first decision making and mental health awareness, while investing in dedicated safety leadership as the company scaled to over $1B in revenue. The conversation highlights how strong safety culture improves retention, reduces costs, strengthens acquisitions, and ultimately proves that when companies genuinely care for their people, safety performance and business results follow.