What if the phrase “psychological safety” has been getting it wrong all along? In this episode, organizational culture expert Hacia Atherton reframes the conversation entirely — it’s not about creating safe spaces. It’s about creating brave spaces. And for engineering leaders navigating high-pressure environments, that distinction changes everything about how you lead.

Hacia’s background is as unconventional as her approach: she combines accounting, consulting, and positive psychology — and the origin of that third pillar is something she discovered not in a classroom, but during six months in a hospital bed after a near-fatal horse riding accident. That lived experience gives her a perspective on resilience, reframing, and human performance that is impossible to manufacture.

In this conversation, Hacia and James explore why culture problems almost always show up in the numbers first, how leaders unknowingly trigger the people they’re trying to lead, and what it actually takes to help a team stop reacting and start responding — including a concrete conflict mediation framework you can bring to your next difficult conversation.

• Brave spaces, not safe spaces: Psychological safety isn’t about emotional coddling — it’s about whether people can speak up, share ideas, and show up as themselves without shutting down.
• Culture problems are financial problems: Overtime, turnover, and missed KPIs are often symptoms of psychological distress on the team — understanding the story behind the numbers is where the real work begins.
• Leaders don’t always fail from malice: Poor leadership often comes from unexamined personal triggers that no one helped them identify or address — and those blind spots have real consequences for team culture.
• Emotional mastery over emotional intelligence: Knowing you have emotions isn’t enough — the competitive advantage comes from learning to correctly label, interpret, and channel them rather than react from them.
• When people fill in the blanks, they fill them in differently: Lack of information from senior leadership causes middle managers to invent narratives — and those different narratives create friction, misalignment, and culture breakdown.

[00:00] Introduction

[02:38] The psychological story behind the numbers

[06:08] Why people leave managers, not companies

[10:08] Redefining psychological safety — brave spaces vs. safe spaces

[11:27] How to transform workplace culture — the mirror work leaders must do

[13:22] Conflict mediation in practice — a step-by-step framework

[18:43] What new leaders aren’t prepared for

[20:04] How information gaps create culture breakdown

[21:35] Hacia’s personal journey — from near-fatal accident to positive psychology

[26:23] Human competitive advantage in the age of AI

[30:40] Guest question for the host

[32:05] Coach in Your Corner

• Name: Hacia Atherton
• Website: haciaathe​rton.com

Dr. James Bryant, P.E. is an engineering leadership coach, the founder of Engineer Your Success, and the host of the Engineer Your Success Podcast. His mission is to help technical professionals design and live a life where they’re winning at work and at home. Connect with James at engineeryoursuccessnow.com or find him on LinkedIn.

What if you could build an engineering firm where clients actually want to work with you AND top engineers want to work for you? Most firms assume you have to choose – either technical excellence or great relationships. Daniel McCaulley, founder of Ultimus Engineering, proved you can have both.

In this conversation, Daniel shares how he went from corporate engineer to building a multidisciplinary firm with a radically different culture. From his “super nerd athlete” background to implementing “trust to verify” remote work policies, Daniel reveals the systems, hiring practices, and leadership principles that make Ultimus a firm people genuinely enjoy working with – on both sides of the table. If you’ve ever thought engineering has to be stagnant or dry, this episode will challenge that assumption.

Whether you’re building a technical team, starting a consulting practice, or just trying to create better client relationships, you’ll walk away with practical insights on culture-building, remote team management, and why prioritizing faith and family actually strengthens your business.

• Why hiring for “intangible qualities” matters more than trying to train engineers in soft skills they don’t naturally have
• The “trust to verify” approach to remote work management that balances flexibility with accountability
• How offering commission-based compensation to engineers encourages business development and client-facing skills
• The three-tier priority framework (faith, family, work) that prevents burnout and creates sustainable business growth
• Why adapting your leadership style to how each person needs to be led is more effective than using one management approach for everyone

[00:00] Introduction – The “super nerd athlete” origin story
[03:52] How team sports shaped Daniel’s approach to engineering collaboration
[06:06] The dark side of “if you’re not first, you’re last” and managing competitive drive
[12:55] Getting uncomfortable with Toastmasters and developing soft skills
[17:38] Building Ultimus: Creating a customer service-focused engineering firm
[20:49] Hiring philosophy: Finding engineers who already have the intangibles
[25:18] The platinum rule of leadership – treating people how THEY want to be treated
[28:40] Biggest headwind to growth: Finding culture-fit engineers
[30:36] Faith as the foundation: Prioritizing in three tiers
[35:51] Mike flip moment: The “one thing” principle and 80-20 rule

Daniel McCaulley, P.E.
Founder, Ultimus Engineering
Multidisciplinary engineering firm specializing in MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing), Aquatics Design, and Structural Engineering

Website: ultimus.engineering or ultimusengineering.com

Email: info@ultimusengineering.com

Dr. James Bryant is an engineering leadership coach and host of the Engineer Your Success podcast. He helps technical professionals and engineering leaders win at work and win at home through a philosophy of work-life integration rather than balance. James believes that work and home don’t compete – they work together to create the integrated life you want.

Website: engineeryoursuccessnow.com

• LinkedIn: Dr. James Bryant
• All links: sleek.bio/eyspod

What happens when you’ve maxed out all your retirement accounts and followed every piece of conventional financial advice—but still aren’t sure you’re thinking about money the right way? Dr. Adam Link, founder of Fireweed Capital, brings a rare combination of Silicon Valley engineering leadership experience, multiple company exits, and deep finance expertise to challenge how technical professionals think about wealth, risk, and long-term decisions.

In this conversation, Adam shares why optimizing for low fees might be costing you more than you think, how behavioral psychology sabotages even the smartest engineers during market downturns, and why your financial goals might be setting you up for disappointment. Whether you’re living paycheck to paycheck or sitting on excess wealth wondering “what’s next?”, this episode will shift how you think about the relationship between money and the life you actually want to build.

• Optimizing for low fees alone can cost you more than paying higher fees for better returns—it’s about net results, not minimizing costs
• The biggest financial mistake engineers make isn’t poor investment choices—it’s locking in losses during market downturns because they lack clarity on where they’re going
• Wealth without purpose becomes an endless cycle of “now what?”—defining what you want from life matters more than hitting arbitrary dollar milestones
• The abundance mindset isn’t just about money—it transforms how you approach career growth, time management, and resource allocation in engineering leadership
• “Feeling rich” doesn’t require millions—it starts when you have enough freedom to make choices aligned with what matters to you

• [00:25] Introduction
• [01:43] How money perspective evolves from finance to engineering leadership
• [05:25] What engineering leadership teaches about resource allocation and human emotions
• [10:28] The “I’ve done everything I’ve been told, now what?” challenge
• [12:20] Why you shouldn’t let the tax tail wag the income dog
• [14:50] The fee optimization trap engineers fall into
• [18:43] The $200,000 red number: Why psychology matters more than strategy
• [23:00] The third entrée story: When Adam first felt rich
• [26:28] Coach in Your Corner: What are you optimizing for?

• Name: Dr. Adam Link, Founder of Fireweed Capital
• Connect: fireweedcapital.com | adam@fireweedcapital.com

Dr. James Bryant is an engineering leadership coach and host of the Engineer Your Success podcast. He helps technical professionals and engineering leaders make intentional decisions about how they lead, work, and live—so success in one domain strengthens the other. Learn more at engineeryoursuccessnow.com.

What if the secret to career advancement wasn’t networking or resume building—but simply doing excellent work right in front of you? In this conversation, nationally recognized lighting designer and electrical engineer

Leslie North shares how she built Aurora Lighting Design from a home office into a thriving firm with offices in the Chicago Board of Trade—all through word-of-mouth reputation. Leslie opens up about the painful growth edges of hiring your first employee, the power of being accessible to your family, and why she took pay cuts on her team during COVID rather than letting anyone go.

Whether you’re navigating technical leadership, considering entrepreneurship, or simply trying to show up authentically in your career, this episode offers hard-won wisdom about building a reputation through excellence.

Connect with Leslie North on LinkedIn, and discover why your work truly is your reputation.

• Your best marketing strategy is doing excellent work on the job in front of you—repeat clients who trust you become gold, and people remember those who did well by them.
• The first employee is the most daunting growth edge because you’re no longer just protecting your own reputation—you’re creating a work family that requires thinking about HR, benefits, and emotional dynamics
• Be authentic and willing to be vulnerable in appropriate contexts—it gives people the opportunity to be gracious and develop deeper relationships in a world full of marketing slogans
• Know what you want your reputation to be, then make all decisions contribute to that—a good reputation takes a long time to build and a bad one takes one minute
• For early-career professionals: initiate relationships with people you admire and become someone more seasoned professionals would find useful, because mentors give opportunities to those they trust

• [00:24] Introduction and Leslie’s journey into architectural lighting
• [04:21] Starting Aurora Lighting Design: The accessibility decision
• [08:21] Your work IS your reputation: Building through excellence
• [16:21] Leadership growth edges: Hiring, mentoring, and letting go
• [26:44] What do you want to be known for? Defining your reputation
• [29:09] The COVID decision: Keeping the team together
• [36:13] Leslie turns the tables: Interviewing James
• [41:03] Coach in Your Corner: Presence over time

• Name: Leslie North, Lighting Designer, Electrical Engineer, Founder of Aurora Lighting Design
• Leslie North | LinkedIn

James Bryant, Ph.D., P.E. is an engineering leadership coach and host of the Engineer Your Success podcast. He helps engineering leaders and technical professionals design and live a life where they can win at work and win at home. Through his coaching practice and podcast, James provides practical frameworks for leadership development, career transitions, and intentional decision-making. Connect with James on LinkedIn or visit engineeryoursuccessnow.com.

What happens when an engineer who’s great at solving technical problems suddenly gets told they need to sell? For many technical professionals, the shift from “doer” to “seller-doer” is one of the hardest transitions in their career. In this episode, Jessica Nuncio—VP of Business Development and Marketing at Naranjo Civil Constructors with nearly 20 years of experience—breaks down exactly how to make that leap without feeling salesy or inauthentic.

Jessica shares her unconventional journey from receptionist to estimator to leading business development, the MATCH framework she developed to make BD feel natural for technical professionals, and the hard lessons she learned about burnout, boundaries, and what it really takes to win at work and at home.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between technical expertise and business development, this conversation will show you how to bridge that gap.

Listen now and discover how to turn relationship-building into your competitive advantage.

• Business development doesn’t mean becoming “salesy”—it’s about shifting from doer to connector and blending your technical credibility with genuine curiosity about helping clients succeed
• The MATCH framework (Market research, Attract authentically, Time and trust, Connect and close, Hone and harmony) provides a practical roadmap for technical professionals to approach BD systematically
• Burnout warning signs show up in your body, sleep, and emotions long before they show up on your calendar—learning to pause and evaluate priorities is essential for sustainable success
• Success isn’t about climbing the ladder; it’s about building bridges that others can cross—investing in mentorship and sponsorship creates lasting impact beyond individual achievement
• Your unique differences (including being a woman in construction, a minority, or simply approaching problems differently) can be your greatest strength when you lead with authenticity instead of trying to fit in

[00:00] Cold open: Why engineers freeze when asked to sell
[00:34] Introduction: The seller-doer challenge for technical professionals
[01:55] Why engineers freeze and what makes them uncomfortable
[05:31] The MATCH framework for business development
[08:08] Jessica’s journey: First-gen college student to VP of Business Development
[11:15] From receptionist to estimating coordinator in three months
[16:28] Discovering the passion for business development
[19:07] Recognizing burnout: 3000% growth and the personal cost
[21:37] Setting boundaries: Learning to pause before saying yes
[25:51] Mentorship, leadership, and empowering women in construction
[29:22] Being a woman in construction: The “mandatory” meeting story
[34:12] Success is about building bridges, not climbing ladders
[36:00] Coach in Your Corner: What is your body telling you?

Jessica Nuncio
Vice President of Business Development & Marketing
Naranjo Civil Constructors

Connect on LinkedIn: Jessica Nuncio | LinkedIn

Dr. James Bryant is an engineering leadership coach and host of the Engineer Your Success podcast. He works with engineering and technical leaders who want to win at work and win at home.

James helps leaders make intentional decisions about how they lead, work, and live, so success in one domain strengthens the other over time. His approach emphasizes clarity, responsibility, and long-term integrity—acknowledging the effort and trade-offs leadership requires while rejecting the assumption that success must come at the expense of family, health, or presence.

Connect with James on LinkedIn or visit www.eysnow.com

What happens when half of an entire profession retires within a few years? Dustin Gardner, a fourth-generation surveyor, is facing that reality head-on. The average licensed land surveyor is now in their early 60s, and the industry is racing against time to train the next generation before decades of expertise walks out the door.

In this conversation, Dustin pulls back the curtain on a profession that touches every construction project, property transaction, and development—yet remains deeply misunderstood. From the hidden work that happens before anyone steps foot on a site, to lifetime liability that follows every stamp, to why vampire folklore matters to modern surveying, this episode reveals why attracting new talent means changing how we tell the story.

Whether you’re in civil engineering, construction, or leadership, you’ll walk away with fresh perspective on workforce development, cross-generational knowledge transfer, and how family businesses can be a retention advantage rather than a limitation.

• The surveying profession is losing half its licensed professionals to retirement in the next few years, with the average license holder now in their early 60s—creating an urgent need to train the next generation while mentorship is still available.
• Surveyors carry lifetime liability for every job they stamp—meaning they can be sued for their very first project at their retirement party—yet the profession hasn’t kept pace with inflation on pricing since 2000.
• The biggest misconception about surveying is that the fieldwork is the work, when in reality, days of courthouse research, calculations, and post-field analysis happen before and after the visible hour on site.
• Family businesses offer a competitive advantage in retention because people who feel like family at work are more likely to stay, creating natural pathways for the next generation to enter the profession.
• Reframing surveying from “working in the dirt” to “solving complex problems outdoors with history, math, and law” can attract a new generation who wants intellectual challenge without being desk-bound.

[00:24] Introduction – The talent shortage across engineering industries
[01:16] The aging crisis in surveying – Half the profession retiring soon
[02:17] What surveyors actually do (beyond boundary lines)
[06:10] Misconceptions about surveying work and pricing
[11:30] Strategies for attracting the next generation
[16:45] Why family businesses can be a retention advantage
[25:23] Surveying folklore – The boundary pusher vampire
[28:07] Leadership advice for introverts in technical professions
[29:57] Coach in Your Corner – You are bound by what you define

• Name: Dustin Gardner, Fourth-Generation Land Surveyor
• Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-gardner-rls-292781220/
• Instagram: @the_superstitious_surveyor

Dr. James Bryant is an engineering leadership coach and host of the Engineer Your Success podcast. He works with engineering and technical leaders who want to win at work and win at home.

James helps leaders make intentional decisions about how they lead, work, and live, so success in one domain strengthens the other over time. His approach emphasizes clarity, responsibility, and long-term integrity—acknowledging the effort and trade-offs leadership requires while rejecting the assumption that success must come at the expense of family, health, or presence.

Connect with James on LinkedIn or visit www.eysnow.com

What if the biggest risk to your project isn’t technical—it’s conversational? Most engineering projects fail not because of flawed plans or inadequate technology, but because teams aren’t having the right conversations about trust, coordination, and care.

In this episode, Jason Klous, Principal at Midion with over 30 years in complex construction projects, reveals the Language Action Perspective—a framework that transforms how teams communicate and coordinate. Jason shares why the most technically skilled people often struggle with the most critical conversations, how to rebuild trust when it’s broken, and the surprising power of assessments delivered with care.

Whether you’re leading a multi-million dollar construction project or navigating difficult conversations at home, this episode will change how you think about communication as the foundation of success.

• The missing conversations kill projects: Technically sound projects fail when teams don’t discuss trust, psychological safety, and coordination—not because of poor planning or inadequate software.

• Trust has specific domains: When trust breaks down, identify whether the issue is reliability, competence, or sincerity. Once you know which domain is lacking, you can develop a targeted plan to rebuild it.

• Moods are contagious and foundational: Teams fall into moods unconsciously, and those moods influence listening, trust, and coordination. Identifying and shifting moods can transform project outcomes.

• Assessments strengthen relationships when delivered with care: The most difficult feedback, when delivered to improve the relationship (not damage it), often brings relief and reveals more about the person delivering it than the person receiving it.

• Write it down before difficult conversations: To avoid “talking around” the issue, write down what you need to say. This helps you be more direct while maintaining care and candor.

[00:51] Introduction – The story teams tell themselves
[01:52] Why technically sound projects fail
[05:08] The Language Action Perspective explained
[09:04] Real-world example: $250M wastewater project turnaround
[15:47] The four domains of trust
[19:23] Understanding moods vs. emotions
[24:30] How to deliver assessments with care
[32:25] Having difficult conversations at home
[37:03] Coach in Your Corner

• Name: Jason Klous, Ph.D., Principal at Midion
• Expertise: Language Action Perspective, Lean Construction, Integrated Project Delivery, Team Coordination
• Connect: jklous@midion.com | https://midion.com
• LinkedIn: Jason Klous, PhD | LinkedIn

Resources Mentioned:

Dr. James Bryant is an engineering leadership coach and host of the Engineer Your Success podcast. He helps technical professionals and engineering leaders develop the human skills that drive career success—from communication and influence to strategic thinking and team leadership. Connect with James on LinkedIn or visit [website] to learn more about engineering your success.

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Podcast Hub: sleekbio.com/eyspod
LinkedIn: Dr. James Bryant