Contractors attending CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 will have the opportunity to explore how intentional leadership, human-centered development, and culture-driven systems can transform their businesses from the inside out. The Repurposed Educator will lead two sessions this March—Building Better Teams: Effective Coaching and Career Conversations in Construction and From Buzzword to Blueprint: Transforming Culture—both designed to help organizations elevate performance by investing in their people.
Led by Minnesota-based educators-turned-construction-leaders Kayti Bjorklund-Strandlund, Ry Bostrom, and Erica Daher, The Repurposed Educator brings an educator’s mindset to construction leadership. Their packaged courses offer practical, ready-to-implement tools that help contractors strengthen communication, build trust, reduce turnover, and develop future-ready teams.
Recently, Missy Scherber, co-owner and president of T. Scherber Demolition and Excavating, sat down with the team to discuss how their programs are reshaping construction culture—and why the industry is ready for a more people-focused, sustainable approach to leadership.
A MISSION ROOTED IN REAL-WORLD CONSTRUCTION CHALLENGES
The Repurposed Educator was founded on a simple truth: most contractors genuinely want to take care of their people, but the realities of the industry: weather, deadlines, generational gaps, production pressure, and long-standing cultural norms, make it difficult to consistently show up as their best selves. Bjorklund-Strandlund explains that the goal was to create a framework that equips teams to communicate more effectively, manage conflict, build trust, and, ultimately, work better together.
Their approach addresses a critical issue: the human experience in construction. Given the alarming statistics around mental health and suicide, their work focuses on ensuring employees feel valued, heard, and supported, not just managed for output.
The founders first implemented this framework in their own construction company, DW Companies, before developing a blueprint that other organizations could easily apply. Their programs are designed for real-world schedules, giving leaders practical tools they can plug in and begin using immediately.
Today’s younger workforce is drawn to companies that invest in people—not just production.
Ry Bostrom
The Repurposed Educator
WHY BETTER CULTURE BENEFITS THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY
The Repurposed Educator’s impact extends beyond individual companies. Stronger culture leads to better collaboration, enhanced professionalism on jobsites, improved safety outcomes, and an industry that attracts new talent. As Bostrom notes, “today’s younger workforce is drawn to companies that invest in people—not just production.”
Their belief is simple: construction is a profession, and professionals deserve professional development. By elevating communication, leadership, and trust-building across organizations, contractors collectively make construction a better place to work, grow, and build a career.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Session 1 – From Buzzword to Blueprint: Transforming Culture
This session guides attendees through their four-pillar model, which serves as the foundation for their Groundbreakers peer group and curriculum:
1. Brand Establishment
Clarifying identity, expectations, values, and company standards to align teams and attract the right talent.
2. Team Building
Creating connection from the start through values-aligned hiring, shared learning experiences, and mentorship that builds trust and strengthens relationships.
3. Community Impact
Helping contractors build local pipelines by partnering with schools, supporting community events, and positioning themselves as employers of choice.
4. Professional Development
Their largest pillar—encompassing self-awareness, coaching conversations, conflict resolution, trust-building, communication tools, and more. This pillar helps teams understand themselves and each other, leading to healthier, more productive conversations.
This framework helps leaders interact with intention—and when that happens, everything improves: safety, collaboration, retention, morale, and performance. These tools help companies create teams that don’t just work together but grow together.
Session 2 – Effective Coaching and Career Conversations in Construction
One of their most requested topics is shifting from traditional employee reviews to meaningful, career-focused conversations. Rather than a one-way evaluation, The Repurposed Educator introduces a collaborative model centered on the employee’s goals, strengths, and future.
Their system equips leaders with tools that:
• Build trust
• Encourage employee voice
• Reduce fear and defensiveness
• Create growth-focused dialogue
• Strengthen long-term retention
Their language techniques and questioning strategies draw from the founders’ experience as cognitive coaches in education leadership, yet adapted specifically for the construction industry and used by teams across the U.S. In addition, The Repurposed Educator provides downloadable guides, question banks, and planning frameworks so contractors can easily implement the system within their companies.
LOOKING AHEAD TO LAS VEGAS
For Bostrom, Daher, and Bjorklund-Strandlund, CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 is more than an event—it’s an opportunity to connect in person with peers, partners, and the growing community that has engaged with their work through Groundbreakers and The Repurposed Educator platform.
Their mission is clear: help contractors build workplaces where people feel valued, leaders feel equipped, and companies thrive—not by accident, but by design.
This article was written by Missy Scherber of T. Scherber Demolition & Excavating for CONEXPO-CON/AGG 365.
Dive deeper with the Repurposed Educator team at the following CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 sessions: Building Better Teams: Effective Coaching and Career Conversations in Construction Tuesday, March 3, 1-2 PM, and From Buzzword to Blueprint: Transforming Culture Wednesday, March 4, 1-2 PM.
Photo Courtesy of the Repurposed Educator
