Our guest today is Joan Barton, founder of Dirty Girl Construction. In another life, Joan was a music composer crafting everything from orchestral symphonies to commercial jingles. But when a friend asked her to oversee the construction of his house, she said yes and figured everything out as she went. The ability to create and build a house from the ground up spoke to her in such a way that she switched careers and went into contracting full time, eventually founding her company in 2008. Joan is now at a point where she can look back at her long career and impart the wisdom of someone who’s been around the block a time or two. Hell, at this point she’s basically built the block.

Listen in as we cover everything from how being a waitress helped her market her company, how the construction industry enabled her to avoid selling out, and why she considers her plumber to be an artist.