Taylor's Construction Parent Life Hacks

Taylor White: Welcome back everybody to the CONEXPO-CON/AGG podcast. I am your host as always, Taylor White. With me here today, so is myself. Today, I was listening to a podcast this weekend, and I'm going to do a deep dive today into being a dad in construction and being a parent and having businesses, multiple businesses, kind of going on and what that entails. 

I was listening to a podcast like I said, and the guy was kind of really diving down and he said some things that really made me click, and I actually texted, you know, fine people from CONEXPO and said, "I know what my topic is going to be." But before we get into all of that today, I want to let everybody know that holy cow, we are getting close. Registration for CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 is live, baby, and we cannot wait to see you there. I honestly can't wait to see everybody there. I'm super pumped. 

In Vegas, March 3rd to the 7th, 2026, see over 2,000 exhibitors, nearly 3 million square feet of equipment, gear, tech. All the heavy hitters of the industry are going to be there, so you might as well be too. But also, here's the kicker: You can save 30% on your admission right now with Code Podcast 30. Again, Code Podcast 30 to save 30% right now on your tickets. But don't wait because this is only valid through Friday, December 5th. So grab your crew, mark your calendar, we are going to see you out there. 

So, as I said, this weekend, I'm sitting there, right? I'm chilling. We, we, we, we did it, we put a pool in at our house. Something for the kids. We've, we've been talking about it for like three years, and we've been planning for this. So finally this year, me and my wife, my wife and I were like, "Hey, you know what, let's put a pool in for the kids. It makes sense now. You know, we've talked about it for three years. There's absolutely nothing to do at our house when it's 40 degrees outside," other than like pack three kids up because I have a four-year-old, a two-year-old, and a four-month-old now, girl, boy, girl. And there's absolutely nothing to do when you're at home. 

And the trick is, with kids, is to have them doing something. And people with kids right now are like, "Uh-huh." They're shaking, they're nodding their heads going, "Yeah, yeah, you got to be doing stuff." There's no just sitting around, it's busy. It gets kind of crazy, unpredictable. So we said, "All right, we're going to do this, right?" So, you know, we put it in our pool, we did our thing. And then I was chilling there this weekend, listening to this podcast. I forget whose it was, but it was a really good podcast. It was one, it wasn't one that I normally listened to, but it was one that I was like, "Oh, this sounds pretty good." And it was like how, you know, your kids are essentially a mirror. You know, everything's like a mirror. 

And it made me realize that I wanted to have a discussion or topic because I get a lot of questions in my DMs about, and, and even just through the podcast as well too. And about questions of, "Hey, what's it like having multiple children, running multiple businesses?" And it's a great question because I don't have the perfect answer because I'm not the perfect human being, I'm not the perfect father. I miss a lot of events, and I kind of just figured talking about this was, is a really good idea. 

You know, it's really cool because I remember when I was a kid, I remember always having an interest in the business, like, kind of like start there. Like, everyone always asked me about my childhood, like, with the business. And like, I always knew that I wanted to do this. Like, I always knew that this was going to be my thing. And I guess part of it is just because, like, I was just going to work with dad, you know. 

And this week, because this is like fresh and been in my brain, I messaged my wife and I was like, "Hey, like, I got a meeting this afternoon, but it's just like a bank meeting," and not like a serious bank meeting, just like opening a bank account for a different business. And I was like, "Is it cool if I bring Cara, our oldest daughter?" And she's like, "Yeah, of course." So I brought her with me and it just gave me a bunch of like flashbacks to, you know, doing stuff when I was younger with my father and driving around in the truck with him and doing stuff. 

But I think what makes it so hard and why I'm having these thoughts now is just because being a dad specifically in construction and understanding that it's super long hours, unpredictable schedule, and the jobs run super late. And not that because I'm on the jobs as well, but the issues with the jobs or with these projects, you know, they start early and they end late, and then they carry on through your, your overnight. Right? I mean, you're trying to solve stuff. And the best thing, like, for us as well, is, you know, relying on a really good team that we have here, but specifically for me myself, like, those problems always, you know, carry home and they come home with me. 

And that's just the nature of the beast. And I don't think that there's a way to be like, "All right, well, the switch is off and now I'm not going to do anything," because guess what? Then, you know, your business won't perform and you're going to get backlogged on stuff, and it's just going to eat away at you. So for me, I always think it's better just to deal with the thing. And, you know, that's kind of probably one of the most important things. 

And for me, relating that back to my kids is, it's tough because I'm happy that they get to see, you know, that their dad, you know, goes to work and puts in these hours and he enjoys what he does. And I think that that's really important. Right? So I always say this to other people with kids: there's the parents that come home every day that say, "Oh, you know, hate my job. Oh, work." Like, "Oh, I don't want to do this. I don't want to go do that. I don't want to do this." You do that for, you know, your kids' entire life. By the time they're 12, 13, 14, 15, and they're starting to think about getting, you know, a little side job, cutting grass, or doing something, they're going to think that it's normal, that, like, work is just this thing that you have to do in order to just like get through life. 

And it's true, you have to. You need money to live, you need all these things. But, like, the perspective that I like looking at it is like, "I get to go to work." Like, "I get to go to work today and I get to do these things." And I don't want people to take away from this that I think that, you know, work is one of those things where you're looking at it like, "Oh, I think every day is awesome and, oh, I'm so fantastic," because you could be having a bad day right now listening to this and be like, "Dude, shut up." And I'm totally aware of that. So don't get me wrong. We all have those days. I have those days where I'm like, "I just want to go home right now and not do this." Because I'm a human and because that's normal. 

But I always tell my guys, you know, we were on a run club the other night, and I was saying, "Guys, it's like 75, 80% of the time, you guys like what you do, and you like where you are in life. You like your career. You're winning." You know, nobody's going to max out at that 100%. And to me, I think that that's kind of the sweet spot. It's that 75, 80% of the time. I'd say I'm a little higher than that. I would say like 95% of the time I, I, I truly love what I get to do, but I'm in an awesome position. You know, like, we, we've built up these businesses, we added a new business. I'm loving building it, but it takes away from the time with my kids. 

So, my first point would be making sure that understanding your kids are a mirror, right? Your kids are going to be you, right? Because they're, you're the ones, you're a superhero to them. Like, to my, to my son, I'm my son's superhero. And that's like how I was growing up, it's, you know, like my dad was a superhero figure. Your dad is, you know, like, especially when you're a boy, it's like the ultimate guy. So like, you see how he is, and you are a product of, of your parents or of your dad or of your mother. 

So I think it's really important to understand how they see you and how they're perceiving you because, like I said, you show up every day saying you hate your, hate your job. Well, guess what? They're going to think that that's normal and you should just hate that. Like, what a crappy, you know, life to live. So understanding that your kids are a mirror is really important. And having that thought process is always in my head of like, "Okay." Like, "I'll even stay in the truck for a little bit longer and just like, decompress a little bit and then go inside." So I'm not going inside, you know, if the day ended on something that wasn't the best, and it's just kind of like I'm still going through the process, dealing with that. 

So specifically in construction, another really important thing is the energy. Having the energy for your kids, time for your kids, is physically demanding work, both physically and mentally, obviously, as well. So these two kind of go together. But the physically demanding part is, you know, up until two years ago, I was on sites doing things, right? Like, I was either on a site running a piece of machinery, I was down a hole, or, I mean, hell, even last winter, I spent the whole. Or last summer, I spent the whole month building this wall with a guy and using the machine and I was like laboring for him. 

And, you know, it's a different type. I mean, like, I try to stay physically fit. I work out probably six days a week just to make sure that I have the energy for my kids. But when you're putting in 12-hour days and you're outside all day and it's 44 degrees, and you get home, you don't have much energy left for your kids. And what that comes down to for me is having the patience and the energy for your kids is something that you really, is really tough in the construction industry. 

And a lot of people talk about the hours, and they talk about, you know, the mental stress as well, because that is a huge factor. But the physical stress and the physical demand and not having the energy for your kids at the end of the day is a huge role as well too. Especially when you got toddlers just learning how to walk. You've got toddlers that are running around like crazy. Their mom loaded them up on ice cream. And then you get home and it's like, "Whoa!" Like, I went home last night and it was just like screams from the top of their lungs because they were happy to see me. It was just like so much energy and I just was not there. 

So, it's really, it's tough, and how I combat that is just now being not super physically demanded every day, but, like, I make sure that I have enough energy for my kids, both mentally. Because mentally, being there for your kids on the stressful days is really hard. I find that especially hard to like, disconnect from my cell phone, putting it down, and being in the moment, being present. Being present for my kids is something that I struggle with mentally a lot. Just because your mind is always so many other places, right? 

Especially when you compile different businesses, different issues. And everybody's got their own thing, right? It could be, you know, financial, it could be arguing with your wife, it could be arguing with your boss, your coworkers, your employees, whatever. Your vehicle just broke down, you just put a bunch of money in. Like, there's so many different things like, that can add on to the mentally. But it's really important to make sure that you're there for your kids mentally. And I struggle with that, and I'm not saying, trust me, don't think that this podcast is me being like, "Here is a blueprint of how to be the perfect parent." Because that is me. Definitely not. I am disconnected from my kids probably, you know, 50% of the time. 

On the weekends, I really push to be there. You know, we go to the farmer's market, leave my phone in the wagon as we're pulling them through. Little things like that, that helped me. Like that, that's a good tip for me. It's like, for me, it's my phone. I can be disconnected if I don't have my phone. Mind you, I zone out whenever I'm driving down the road. My wife'll be like, "You're thinking about work right now." I'm like, "Yeah, I am." But I can't turn that off. And I look at that, though, and I always say like, "Well, that's what puts us, you know, the step above, right?" Is because I'm putting in that extra work, I'm putting in that extra time, which will allow us to grow and get larger, which in return, the whole thing is for your kids. 

And that comes down to, you know, I had kind of like four challenges. So we kind of like time, energy, presence, sacrifices. Is the last one, missing milestones or school events because of project deadlines or meetings, for instance. Perfect example is last week we were supposed to meet my daughter's teacher for the first time. She starts kindergarten this year, and missed it. Couldn't go. The night before, you know, my wife was like, "Oh, yeah, tomorrow at 10:00 we have this thing." And I'm like, "I have a 9:30 at the other end of the city and I can't move it. It's with our main client." Telling them I'm not here is not an option. And a lot of people listening to this that might be like, "Well, telling your kids you're not going to be there to meet their teacher for the first time isn't an option." It's like, "Well, if I don't go to this, then we might lose out on all this work." You know, it's just like, "Why is he skipping out on this meeting? He's bailing kind of last minute." 

So there's milestones and events that you're going to miss out on a lot of the time. Soccer practices. I've missed out on lots of them because, you know, work kind of went late, or we had meetings or an event after as well, especially being in an owner role. There's a lot of events after work. So sacrificing milestones is definitely difficult. And how I'm trying to combat that is my calendar, is my schedule. So, my tip for, you know, other dads, parents listening to this that are in the industry, that are, whatever, have businesses, is, "Put it in your calendar, schedule stuff." 

And, and relating back to energy as well too, I do the same thing with my workouts. I treat my workouts like a meeting. I put them in there, I block off that time. That's what I'm doing, right? I give myself, you know, half an hour to get there and then like 20 minutes to shower and decompress after it and then I'm good. So I got, you know, an hour and a half in there too, to do my workout thing. And then that's max. And you know what? I need to do that. If I didn't do that, I'm not going to perform the best. I'm going to feel like crap. And I need in order to do that. 

But treating, treating my life like a scheduled day every day is really important. Like, I'll even tell my wife like, I texted her yesterday. I said, "When's Kara's first day of school?" She's like, "Next Tuesday at whatever time." So like, "Put it in my schedule as an event. I have to be there." So that's a way that I'm trying to work on not missing milestones. But obviously there's going to be times where it's like, "Hey, we need you here." And you are going to miss out on those things, which is really tough. 

And so, those are kind of like the four challenges that I thought of that I was like, "These are the things that I struggle with the most and I'm trying to work on." But there's also a lot of wins, and I was thinking of that as well too. So one of the first important wins is like kids growing up around construction. You have machinery sites and problem solving. And that to me is, is a lot of fun. Like, growing up as a kid, being around construction, like, it's so cool. All your buddies are like, "Oh, like, you know, like, you guys have, have dozers and, and excavators," and like, you know, what boy or, or kid for that matter, you know, doesn't like playing in the sandbox with, with toys and having real life, real size ones is, is, is really cool. 

And, you know, seeing my son drive down the road and he'll be like, you know, "Dozer," when he sees like our bulldozer, or like he's really attentive at like seeing our trucks and our logos on the road. So he'll be driving around with mom and, and she'll be like, "Oh, like, Kenny was like, 'Daddy logo, Daddy truck.'" And they pick up on that stuff. And that to me is really cool. And that kind of goes into another one that I had, which was the pride of providing your family through the business. That is, uh, one of probably the most things. Like, uh, my, like, we always do this thing about, like, people talk about love language. My love language would be the act of, like, giving and, and being able to provide. So, like, monetary stuff. And that's just how I feel blessed. Right. I look back, I look at my family and my, you know, like, my daughter wants a bike or, or wants this or that. Being able to provide for them, taking them to Disney. That sort of stuff makes me really happy. And I would say that, that probably, if people ask me, "My biggest motivator," that would be my biggest motivator is being able to provide wealth for my family, number one overall. And I don't care if that sounds bad or good or whatever, but I love being able to provide for my family. Don't want us to have to worry. We constantly are pushing, and I think that that's really important. I think that having that in my brain is just something that makes me just keep my foot on the throttle rather than on the brake. 

Another thing with construction is teaching them hard work and responsibility super early. I'll bring the kids here on the weekend, you know, clean up the shop, wash daddy's truck, wash this, wash that. And I think that it's difficult because, you know, I grew up a certain way, and then my kids will grow up a certain way, and then, you know, like, my dad grew up a certain way. Like, it's crazy how over the generations stuff just kind of keeps compiling and growing. And it's like, I think as a business owner, your kids, and as you find success, making sure your kids remain humble and making sure that you teach them the value of responsibility and hard work and the responsibility that you have as an employer. You know, stop and, and don't just walk by your, your, your, your employees. We were in the shop the other day and Cara's with me and Justin, you know, our mechanic, was, was in the shop, and I made a point to be like, "Cara, go say hi to him, you know." Because I think just like instilling that stuff at a young brain, at a, at a young age in your brain is really important because I remember specifically growing up and, you know, see the garbage guys, you know, garbage girls going down the road. And I remember my dad being like, "Taylor, like, you know that guy? He like, he probably makes X and X amount of dollars and you wouldn't even know it." He goes, "Those guys are, they're, they're well paid, but it's really hard work. And without them, Taylor, guess what? Our garbage is all over the road." And I remember just like that short conversation with my dad, and I remember it really hitting me because I was like, "Yeah." And at the time, I wasn't thinking like, "Wow, he just taught me the value of, like, not looking down on blue collar, not looking down on other people." 

And so I always say to my kids, and, you know, my wife comes from a white collar family, so I remember when I first met her, I was always like, "Blue collar puts food on the table. That's what it is at this house, and that's the way it always will be at this house." And I tried to include my kids into that conversation as well too. Look, blue collar work is rewarding, it's hard, it's tough, but it puts food on the table. And that's one of the most important things. And as I was saying earlier, the pride of providing your family through that rewarding work is really important. 

One of the other wins is being able to take your kid to work moments like I did this week and stopping at the job site and getting to see stuff. That's really important to me as well too. I think it's really important to integrate your kids into work. I want to do more of that. I, I saying to my wife, that's my one day this week. " I brought Cara with me. I know it's only one day, but for me, that's a big thing to, like, just start bringing my daughter to work. And obviously there's stuff you cannot be around. I mean, she's four years old. But I think again, I just think back, you know, under my own childhood, some of my biggest things, I guess, that I picked up on today as a business owner were stuff that I didn't think that I was picking up on at the time. Drive around with dad, listen to his conversations with other contractors or other clients. 

And I think that those lessons that I didn't think I was learning at the time that I now pick up on and be like, "Oh, yeah, he handled this situation this way." You know, I remember dad having a conversation with the guy who wasn't paying him, you know, the money that he, that he needed to pay, right? He's over on his, on his net, net terms. And dad had that conversation with the guy, and I remember that conversation to this day. And I carry those things throughout life. So I think that even if Cara or Kenny or Chloe are in the truck with me, they're still picking up and, and learning on things. So, uh, I think that that's kind of really important. And that's part of the scheduling as well too. 

So, as I was talking about earlier, like, about blocking your time off, scheduling is super important. So, I block off like non-negotiable family time. Even in busy seasons, I have to. But we kind of have this rule where I don't take summer vacations. Being in this industry, it's kind of hard too. Because you have, I mean, we might try to sneak away. We used to go camping on like, and we would leave on Fridays and stuff like that. But it's just really hard work, especially being in construction. 

Understanding your boundaries is a really another tough one. You know, I'm not trying to bring every job site home with me or every issue with, you know, our building company home with me, but sometimes it does. And combat that with, you know, your health. Staying fit, healthy. This year I signed up for a program where I got all my blood work done, I got my nutrigenomics done, I got all this stuff done so I could see like kind of where I'm at and how I can perfect that. You know, like I'm obsessed with my Whoop. I've been wearing it for like 400 something days straight. I'm probably in the last four years right now the, at the best stage of, of health of where I've been at as far as, uh, mental and, and physical. And that physical really relates over to the mental as well too. 

But that just makes me feel like I love working out with the kids as well too, and it makes me feel well rounded. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something, and it makes it so that I can show up for my kids as a dad and a boss. And I want them to see that. And I want them to see that, you know, you can take care of yourself and still have, you know, a bunch of kids and businesses and stuff going on and you can still make that time to do it. Because the biggest thing that people say is like, "I don't have time." It's like, "Well," again, go back to what I said, "Schedule it in your calendar, like in a meeting. Treat it like a meeting. Make that time for it." You can make that time. It's such an investment into your health. And, you know, tracking my metrics with my Whoop, it's like, "Wow, my VO2 Max is now going up," or, "Oh, wow, my HRV is getting higher when I'm sleeping and I'm getting recovered more." Like, that's crazy. "Wow. I'm actually, you know, going to bed at a decent time and waking up at a decent time." And that, you know, that, that helps recovering as well too. 

So that's a huge one. The health, making sure that you can show up there for your kids and for everybody else that relies on you is really important. And you can't do that if you're not taking care of yourself first. So putting yourself first, taking care of yourself, super important. And that relates into the mindset. Viewing parenting as part of the legacy, just like my projects. And it sounds kind of interesting putting it like that, but I view how I can shape my kids' minds, you know, to be these empire-loving, you know, fantastic, well-rounded, humble human beings. And I think that that's how I kind of treat every project is we always tell our guys like, "Guys, like, do the best quality job that you can. We don't want to be known as a company that half-asses stuff." And that's exactly the stuff that I kind of instill in my daughters, you know, my son's still two years old, but my daughter's brain, right? Like when I leave for work every morning, it's funny, but she whispers and she goes like, "Daddy, you go to work." And I'm like, "Yeah." And she's like, "You work harder." I'm like, "Yeah." She's like, "Work harder, make money." It's like, "Yeah." And I love that because I treat my kids like don't half-ass stuff, you know. And I tell Cara like, "If we're at soccer practice, like, we're running on the field," you know, or, "Or we're, we're, we're sticking it out." 

And when we started practice, this is actually a funny, uh, example is when we first started practice soccer, for the first three weeks, four weeks, even now, three weeks, she would stand in the middle of the field with her arms up like this and just cry, not do anything, unless my wife went on the field with her. And, you know, me and my wife had that conversation and we're like, "Okay, like, do we pull her out of soccer? Does she not want to do it anymore?" Basically, "What are we doing here?" And we both, because my wife is, you know, kind of under the same mindset, and we're like, "We're sticking with it. We signed her up for it. She's doing it." And where other parents or whatever might have been, "Oh, we'll take them out, they don't like it. We'll take it out of it." Well, to me, in my brain, what I think is, now you're showing your, your kid that, "Okay, well, when you don't like something, you just give up, or when something's hard, you just give up." Well, guess what? Week four, five, six. And we only did a six-week, it was called like session one. By week six, we weren't on the field. She was running onto the field. She loved it. She, all she did was talk about soccer at home. So we're like, "Okay, great, right? We stuck it out, right? We stuck it out. We, we, we kept her in it." And she realized like, "Okay, this is actually a lot of fun." And we ended up signing her up for a whole other session for the second half of the summer. Again, instilling in her brain, like, "Don't half-ass stuff," you know, just like how we do with our projects. "We're not going to, we're not going to do something and not do it right. We're going to do it. We're going to see it through. We're going to make it." It's like getting a job and thinking you priced it right and then realizing you priced it all wrong. Guess what? We still got to provide the quality work for the client even though we may not like the outcome of this, but we got to stick to it and we got to get it done. 

So, I think a really important thing to take away from this podcast is construction. What I find is it teaches resilience for yourself. I'm talking to you, the viewer right now. Construction teaches your resilience, but fatherhood gives you perspective. Those two things, if you can understand, will probably transform how you treat your life and your kids. That construction gives you that, that foot on the throttle, the go. When going gets tough, you get tough. You don't back up. Fatherhood gives you a perspective: Why am I doing this? Why should we do it this way? How does this view in, in the eye of someone that'd be standing in the mirror, looking back at me right now? So if you are a dad or a parent in the trades, uh, I want to kind of start a conversation around this on CONEXPO page, or DM me, uh, or in the comments if you're watching this on YouTube. How do you balance kind of both worlds? Uh, I want you guys to share your stories about, you know, some of the stuff related back to what I said today too. And I want to hear from you guys. I want to hear, uh, you know, your, your, your stories of being a parent in the trades. 

So, uh, again, super pumped, uh, for the upcoming CONEXPO. Uh, I'm glad that we got to talk about being a parent, being a dad in the industry. I think that that's a really important conversation. I got all my points cleared out. I had this written out on a note this weekend. So I'm super pumped about that. But I'm super pumped to see everybody at CONEXPO. So I want to remind everybody, March 3rd to the 7th, 2026, it's going to be five full days of heavy iron, cutting edge tech, and honestly, the best people in the business because I will be there. If you're in the trades, this is where you want to be. And I want to make sure that everybody understands that you use Podcast 30 to get 30% off your admission. This offer is only good until December 5th, so please make sure to get over. Podcast 30. Do it up. I'll see you March 3rd to the 7th. 3 million square feet. That's right, 3 million.  

And we will catch you guys on the next podcast.  

Oh, and as always, this podcast is brought to you by our good friends over at John Deere Power Systems. Thank you, John Deere Power Systems, for being the sponsor of the CONEXPO-CON/AGG Podcast. Without you, we could not make this happen. Thank you.