WTC 'Building Strong Foundations’ with Jesse Hernandez

In this episode: Christi Powell and Angela Gardner welcome returning guest Jesse Hernandez (Depth Builder founder, partner in No BS with Jen and Jess, and host of Learnings and Missteps) to discuss leadership and systems in construction. Jesse shares pivotal moments from moving from installer to foreman, where intimidation got results but cost relationships, and how leadership training helped him shift to a people-centered approach. He explains why most leadership training is too generic and not contextualized to construction, emphasizing conversation, listening, and challenging ideas over slide-heavy agendas. For quick job-site results, he says leaders must be present, visible, and model desired behaviors. A simple ROI habit is setting daily targets and end-of-day check-ins to identify “time bandits” and interruptions. He urges listeners to meet someone new on the jobsite to build connections and improve the industry, and shares ways to reach him via LinkedIn and depthbuilder.com.