After four years of chasing down old coworkers, safety pros, and fellow survivors of corporate nonsense, I finally got one of the greats on the mic — my boss, mentor, and Director of Safety for Evans General Contractors, Chad Smith.
In this episode, Chad and I cut through the fluff and talk about the real side of safety leadership — the mistakes that made us better, the culture gaps that never go away, and what it actually means to build a team that has each other’s backs.
From firefighting and med runs to multi-million-dollar projects, Chad’s seen it all — and still somehow manages to keep his sense of humor and sanity (mostly). He talks about:
The evolution of onboarding and what real leadership looks like
Why safety is a career of zeroes — success you can’t always measure, but sure as hell feel
How the next generation is changing safety before they even hit the field
The hard truth about communication gaps between GCs, subs, and the boots doing the work
And the best piece of advice I’ve ever heard: “When life hits hard, you can resign, you can whine, or you can shine.”
If you’ve ever wondered what keeps a true safety leader grounded after decades in the grind — this one’s for you.
