Construction podcast provides platform for veterans to share their stories
BY KATIE KUEHNER-HEBERT
Military veterans can bring a host of valuable skills to the construction industry – just ask Adam Stark.
After serving in Israel’s Airborne Special Forces, Stark, born and raised in Los Angeles, obtained a bachelor’s degree in business followed by an MBA. Armed with this and his budding real estate experience, Stark then co-founded project management software company Jet.Build.
This year Stark began hosting the podcast, The Veterans Who Build Show, featuring military veterans who have successfully transitioned into the development, design and construction sector by leveraging the transferable skills they fostered when serving their country.
Constructor magazine sat down with Stark to discuss his efforts in supporting veterans while drawing more of them to the construction industry.
Tell us about your career journey. What attracted you to the military?
Stark: There’s a lot to that question, so let me provide context. I’m half American, half Israeli, and I grew up living in both countries. My parents are immigrants – my mother from Morocco and my father from Hungary — so I grew up with a mixed background, not totally understanding where my place was.
That said, both of my parents ended up in this country because of World War II, which gave me a sense of responsibility to serve and protect. So that was my purpose of military service: seeing how my parents — who have deep ties to both of their home countries — were uprooted due to war.
Between the ages of 10 and 12, I set my sights on the military. Recognizing that I was drawn to exerting myself physically and mentally, I was intrigued by the opportunity to push my understanding of human limits and do the best that I can — it’s a matter of challenge and it’s a matter of honor.
When I was 18, I enlisted in the IDF – Israel Defense Forces. I immediately entered the selection process for Israel’s Airborne Special Forces and as a staff sergeant leading squads in war zone deployments. Once I got accepted into my unit, my entire active-duty enlistment involved a deployment on a consistent basis. I served four years active duty and then a handful of years in active reserve, all within that unit.
Why did you leave the military?
Stark: What led me to finish my service was thinking about what’s next in life’s trajectory — school, starting a career, starting a family. That said, my advice for any young person is to take your time. You don’t need to rush through that.
In hindsight, I would have served more time in the military, because I think the values you gain from military experiences are immense. School and career will always be waiting for you. But, at that time, my motivation was to start university and move toward a career. I liked the concept of management, and I think I pulled that from working with the teams in my military experience – coordinating action plans, schedules, mission sets, objectives, after-action reports, equipment management, quality assurance/quality control — it was all really intriguing to me.
What pointed you to a career in construction?
Stark: I loved building and creating things when I was a kid. So when I finished my degree and was looking for work, I fell into an opportunity to work for a builder in New York City.
I began supporting project teams that were building mixed-use properties or redeveloping existing properties such as hotels and apartments. Over time I grew to the role of VP, where I was managing my own projects for the company. I worked there for six years while I obtained my MBA at New York University.
When I finished my graduate degree, I segued to my next role where I was chief of staff for a start-up company that was partnering with and servicing large real estate management companies with same-day delivery of office supplies, groceries and home goods, either for their tenants or for their employees.
At the same time, my business partner and I were developing our software product, an end-to-end real estate development and construction management software. We then founded Jet.Build, originally based in New York City and now relocated to St. Louis.
What was the impetus to start The Veterans Who Build podcast?
Stark: I recognized an opportunity — and a necessity — to support the veteran community, by providing them a platform to share their stories. My guests talk about difficulties that exist for any veteran who is transitioning from military careers to civilian life, and how veterans can overcome those hardships, in part by recognizing that they are not alone in this.
Fundamentally, there’s a different culture between military and civilian life, and it can create hardship. In the military, you are trained to operate in a specific environment that is very structured and very intense – very different from most civilian settings. That said, you’re also provided support in a way you’re not going to experience in civilian life. You have peers next to you who are going through the exact thing as you are and therefore you can rely on them — literally, with your life.
Second, your day-to-day needs — housing, clothing, food – are all considerations that you don’t need to think about because they’re provided for you. When you finish your service and flip to civilian life, you no longer have that backbone structure meeting your daily needs and you’re not side by side with your peers — everyone around you is caring for themselves and not focused on you. You have to learn how to cope with that and how to transition from one extreme to the other. It’s not a singular answer, and it’s not easy — it’s a continuous process.
I’m passionate about supporting the veteran community. I realize how much it can help veterans simply by telling their stories and hearing others tell theirs. They recognize they’re not alone, and they hear tips of how other veterans got through that process.
I’m also aware of the similarities between the military profession and a career in the built environment. Tons of translatable skills can and should be leveraged when veterans transition into the construction industry — manual labor, hard work, engaging and operating with people from all walks of life, schedule based performance metrics critical to a project’s objective, working in a potentially dangerous environment, fostering friendships with co-workers. And so on.
There’s a lot of relatability about the principles that guide you — whether that’s your grit, your necessity to communicate and work with others around you, your ability to create plans and objectives, or sensitivity to the pressure of time schedules.
My podcast is a platform for veterans to share their story in a positive light — from childhood through their military career, their transition period to civilian life, and their translatable skills from the military to the built environment. Effectively, we build a road map for other veterans to learn from or strive toward.
Based on your initial goals for The Veterans Who Build, have you seen success?
Stark: Every single veteran that I’ve interviewed has been so grateful – and that’s a win for me. In addition, I have received amazing feedback from listeners. One of my favorites came from the spouse of a veteran who was on our show. She told me that listening to the episode allowed her to realize a perspective she didn’t otherwise understand — thanks to the format of our conversation.
It was fulfilling to hear that this podcast not only supports veterans, it also supports their family members, friends and colleagues, by hearing and understanding the perspective of a veteran: why we think a certain way, why we react a certain way, while we feel a certain way.
Are there future plans to grow the program or initiate other workforce development programs?
Stark: We’re building an internal networking community for all who have been on the show to promote veterans in general as well as the development, design and construction sector. We want to provide support for whatever could be needed — whether it’s just simply community, personal support, professional networking or additional resources.
Can you talk about the importance of health and wellness in the construction industry?
Stark: We actually close out the show with two questions. I ask every guest about their wellness practices, and I also ask them to recommend books to the audience.
September was National Suicide Prevention Month, and veteran Brian Winningham is writing a book on this topic. Awareness is an absolute must when you look at the reality of what’s happening with suicides in the construction industry — especially when you factor veteran suicides.
Thankfully, I am seeing lots of companies in the built environment create programs around wellness, which I think is very important for anyone. For construction workers and especially veterans, there are lots of physical requirements in addition to psychological impacts, so wellness is important if you want to maintain a healthy and productive workforce.
What wellness advice do you have for others?
Stark: It’s critical to have some means of focus on wellness as a veteran and to prevent post-traumatic stress symptoms to control your life.
It’s also important to recognize that the battle doesn’t end with your military career. It stays with you for the balance of your life. It’s not ever going to be perfect nor easy.
Nonetheless, the more effort you dedicate toward wellness, the better your quality of life will be.
My advice is to make it as easy as possible for you — what can you do to best ensure a consistent commitment toward a wellness routine that you enjoy? Two days a week of 20-minute walks outside? Two days a week of 30 minutes in the gym? One day a week of journaling? Less junk food, less alcohol?
Be open to trying different methods and figuring out what you like — and, if you get bored of that routine, be open to changing it up!