Our Industry Is Sexier Than You Think: Across the Yard Episode 100!!

A retired CIA agent once told Liz that this industry has it backwards: it isn't unglamorous, it's essential, the materials behind every home, restaurant, and space where people build their lives. That reframe kicks off a milestone conversation. This is Across the Yard's 100th episode, and Liz sits down with four of Supply-Build Canada's newest board members: Jesse Watson of QuikTherm, Brady Wilk of Integrity Building Products, Helen Smith of Star Building Materials, and Eddie Cho of Trimlite, for a wide-ranging look at where the association has been and where it's headed.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How the shift from WRLA to Supply-Build Canada has actually landed with members and government relationships alike, straight from board members who lived through the transition

- Why an executive coaching partnership changed how two board members lead their teams, and why they both wish they'd had it 20 years earlier

- How the association is getting into high school classrooms through a Calgary Board of Education partnership, plus what happened when QuikTherm hosted a summer camp for kids who'd never seen insulation made

- Why supply chain is quietly becoming a real, recognized career path in an industry still mostly learned by doing

- What softwood lumber advocacy actually looks like after nearly 20 years, including a last-minute call with the U.S. embassy during the Section 338 tariff fallout

- How the current tariffs and counter-tariffs are hitting four different building materials businesses in very different ways, and the surprising stat about how much of Canada's GDP this industry actually represents

If you want an honest look at what it takes to advocate for an entire industry, and why four board members who joined for very different reasons all landed on the same conclusion, this milestone episode is worth the listen.

Enjoy the show!

Sponsor info:

This episode of Across the Yard is brought to you by HiLine Treated wood by West Fraser. Elevate inventory, elevate sales.