From Union Operator to Business Owner: Overcoming Fear & Past Failures with Zach Taylor

CONEXPO – CON/AGG Podcast: Construction Business Insights For Contractors

Many equipment operators dream of starting their own excavation business, but often face big hurdles, like financial risk, the fear of past failures, and the heavy responsibility of safety on every job. Zach Taylor, a union operator who’s also building his own company, Melania Corporation, is tackling these challenges directly, driven by tough lessons from previous ventures and a powerful desire to prevent senseless tragedies in the trenches.

Today, Zach shares the nitty gritty of balancing a union job with his growing side business, the candid reasons behind his push for #TrenchSafetyTuesday, and the mindset it takes to get back up after a setback. He gets into the importance of knowing your worth, the hard calls on what jobs to take, and the crucial need for real talk about the dangers that still exist in our industry, particularly in excavation.

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🎯 BIGGEST TAKEAWAY [0:29:17]: "You see this guy down there, like, looking up, holding the shovel, smiling. And they said five minutes later he was dead. And it just really pissed me off."Zach's raw emotion here highlights the preventable tragedies that fuel his commitment to trench safety.

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS:

✨ ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRE IGNITED [0:1:25]:"I was at a Trimble Dimensions in the fall and Dane from DC Excavation told me, and not so many colorful words that I should just go do it. So here we are."Sometimes it takes that outside push. Zach talks about that moment of deciding to go for it, moving past the fear and taking control of his future.

🔑 LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY [0:13:57]:"I was less calculated and more excited to move up to that next job...than really taking a step back and looking at it as a business owner and saying, ‘This is where we're at and this is the lane that we need to stay in.’"Zach shares how past excitement almost led to overextension, emphasizing the critical need to understand your company's real capacity and value.

⚠️ THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH ON RISK [0:29:35]:"How many times is this going to happen before, like, we do something about it? ...if you stop killing the ones you have, first of all, that's a good place to start, right?"A direct hit on the industry's all too common blind spots with trench safety. Ignoring these dangers isn't just negligent; it's costing lives.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Building a Side Hustle in Excavation

02:16 - From Childhood Obsession to Career

03:35 - Challenges of Urban Excavation

05:02 - Balancing Work, Family, and Growth

07:40 - Overcoming Fear and Taking the Leap

11:50 - Hard Lessons from Early Business Mistakes

14:14 - Smarter Risk Management for Contractors

17:26 - When Business Partnerships Fall Apart

21:39 - Fatherhood and Flexible Scheduling

25:15 - Naming the Company After His Daughter

28:43 - Starting Trench Safety Tuesday

31:30 - Using Social Media to Drive Safety Awareness

36:08 - Innovations in Trench Safety Tech

38:34 - A Vision for National Safety Training

🔗 CONNECT WITH ZACH TAYLOR:• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_taylorthings/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-taylor-55391533/

Thank you to our good friends over at John Deere Power Systems for sponsoring this podcast: https://www.deere.ca/en/engines-and-drivetrain/

#TrenchSafetyTuesday #OperatorLife #SafetyFirst