In this episode of Construction Corner, host Dillon sits down with his business partner John Molak, who took anything but a traditional path — from a short stint in college to becoming a licensed journeyman electrician, then pivoting into lighting sales, and eventually co-founding a fast-growing electrical engineering firm in Chicago.
The conversation covers his journey from doing demo work for a buddy's uncle to traveling the country on industrial job sites, landing in distribution sales, and spotting a gap in the market that nobody else was filling: engineering services sold direct to contractors. With 10X growth on the horizon in year three, he breaks down what it actually takes to build a company from scratch — bootstrapping cash flow, finding the right people, building a real culture, and never being afraid to seize an opportunity.
They also get into the importance of networking (including how the Arete Syndicate connected them), the challenge of hiring engineers who are willing to talk to clients, and why "people is the business."
Whether you're a tradesperson thinking about making the leap or a contractor looking for a better way to work with engineers, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons from someone who figured it out by just going for it.