Real American Grit Podcast

Real American Grit, hosted by Tom Howard, goes beyond business theory to uncover what it really takes to build, operate, scale, and sell successful contracting companies. Through candid conversations with proven owners, operators, leaders, and industry standouts, the show explores the hard lessons, strategies, risks, and relentless work behind real-world success. No fluff. Just experience earned in the trenches.

Real American Grit Podcast is a general podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Real American Grit Podcast, a general show with 0 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Real American Grit Podcast

  Mr. Poppy | How They Reached a $10M Run Rate in Five Months

  Aug 8, 202652 minS0

  <p>Tenzin Soepa and Andrei Smith, co-owners of Mr. Poppy Electric, went from top Audi salespeople to launching a greenfield electrical and HVAC company that reached roughly $890,000 in revenue in its fifth month, a run rate above $10 million. They did it without acquiring an existing operation, and the path exposed a problem many contractors mistake for success: selling more work than the team can install.</p><p>Tom Howard breaks down how they shifted from closing every job themselves to building capacity. They unpack the capital and hiring decisions behind the growth, why a bright-orange-van brand and owner-led social ads...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Real American Grit Podcast

  Steve Michaelson | The HVAC Bin System That Cut Morning Prep to 15 Minutes

  Aug 1, 202637 minS0

  <p>Tom Howard sits down with Steve Michaelson, director of operations at Lee's Air, Plumbing and Heating, to break down the install-bin system that reduced morning prep from as much as two hours to about 15 minutes.</p><p>Steve explains how vendor-managed inventory, 5S organization, transparent SOPs, and frontline feedback can cut waste without slowing technicians down. They also revisit how Steve adapted the system while overseeing supply chain at Google, where the work earned a Feat of Engineering award.</p><p>In this episode:</p> Build repeatable install systems around the technician Track parts without making installers manage inventory...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Real American Grit Podcast

  Phil Filaski | The Sales Process Behind a 19.6M Year

  Jul 25, 202647 minS0

  <p>Tom Howard sits down with Phil Filaski, the residential HVAC sales leader behind a 19.6M sales year at Lee's Air, to break down what actually happens inside a high-performing home service sales process. Phil explains why elite sales cannot depend on one superstar, how Lee's pulled him out of the field to train the team, and why the real win is building multiple people who can consistently produce.</p><p>The conversation gets tactical: going back to the basics, creating space for homeowners to process bad news, avoiding rushed objection handling, handling one-decision-maker calls without being awkward, presenting price...

  ListenShow Notes

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.