How One Man Built a Media Empire Focused on the Dirt World

In a recent episode of the Kid Contractor Podcast, Caleb interviewed Aaron Witt, the founder of BuildWitt, a media company focused on the heavy civil and mining industries. Witt shared his story of how he got into the industry and how he built his company from scratch. 

Growing up in a white-collar family, Aaron had no exposure to the blue-collar world of construction and heavy equipment. But he always had a fascination with bulldozers and other equipment that moved dirt. So at 18 years old, he cold-called the owner of a construction company in his neighborhood and asked for a job. He started right out of high school, not knowing what he was doing, but he fell in love with the industry and knew it was where he wanted to be.

Aaron went on to get an engineering degree and worked for five different heavy civil contractors while in college. After graduating, he went into road building with the goal of owning his own construction company. Then eventually, Aaron started taking his camera to work and posting photos and videos online. It took off, and he quit his job eight months out of college to pursue storytelling for the industry full time.

Today, BuildWitt has about 75 full-time employees and another 50 part-time employees. The company has three main businesses: BuildWitt Media, which does exclusive storytelling for heavy civil and mining companies; BuildWitt Services, which offers branding, web design, and marketing services for these same companies; and BuildWitt Training, which is a software platform that helps contractors train their employees using short educational videos on a daily basis.The company has even attracted big names like Jocko Willink, who will be involved in BuildWitt's upcoming Dirt Road Summit in October.

Aaron Witt's story is a true testament to the power of passion and perseverance. He took a leap of faith and started telling stories about the industry. He didn't know exactly what he was doing, but he knew he had to try something. Today, BuildWitt is a thriving media company that is making a significant impact in the heavy civil and mining industries. Be sure to listen to the full conversation with Aaron. Listen here!