We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brad Leavitt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brad, thanks for joining us today. What can you share with us about the story behind how you found your key vendors?

Social media is a connector. For those of us that use that platform, it can open many doors that assist us in our business. Not only has it allowed us to find better building practices and sources to better run our business, but also connected us with some of the top vendors and manufacturers. This is more important than ever at this time in the construction market. Supply chain and labor is a major issue. It is very difficult to build homes with thousands of products. One kink in the supply chain can create major challenges. Through social media collaboration with major companies, this has allowed us a direct contact to expedite product. In some cases, this major brands have created custom and “one-off” designs specifically for our clients. We don’t have to wait for disbursement through the normal distributors and can go direct to the source.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am the President and Founder of “A Finer Touch Construction” – a Scottsdale based luxury residential and commercial builder. AFT Construction, as known throughout the industry, is an award-winning construction firm and has been nationally published in magazines such as: Fine Home Building, Luxe Interiors and Design, Architectural Digest and Professional Builder. I am fortunate to be an ambassador for many national brands including Kohler, Pella, Subzero-Wolf, Cambria, Elkay and Buildertrend. I grew up in the industry in San Diego, Ca as an electrician. I worked on notable projects in Souther California in Coronado island, Rancho Santa Fe, and La Jolla. I completed a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from BYU in 2005 and worked on notable projects around Phoenix, including the Omni Montelucia in Paradise Valley.
I also have a Podcast, “The AFT Construction Podcast”, which is focused on bringing value to its listeners, no matter their industry. The topics are focused on marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, organization, building science and construction. AFT has continued to exceed industry standards and create strong client relationships based on integrity, reliability and quality. I am married to Ashley Leavitt. Together, we have 6 children, 5 girls and 1 boy. I am active with all 6 of his children, serves in my local community, and loves all sports.

As a builder, our goal is to bring a client’s dream to reality. We work on both commercial and residential projects, primarily new build construction. There are always challenges with timelines, product availability and labor constraints. Our job is to proactively find ways to expedite the building process while not jeopardizing quality. We have been selected to build the national home of the year, a “net-zero” home. Net-zero is a home that produces as much energy as it uses. There are many building science products and install methods in this build. We work on homes that range from 3,000 SF to 59,000 SF. Some of which have trampoline barns, lazy rives, and underground gun ranges. Every day is a different challenge for our company and team

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2011, I had trained my replacement at my construction company. The market was incredibly slow and construction projects were not very common throughout the valley. I had planned to return to college and obtain an MBA in Finance. I took the GMAT and prepared to leave out of state. I was 2 weeks from starting my MBA when due to personal circumstances, that opportunity would never come to fruition. I was suddenly left as a single father of 3 daughters and graduate school would not be an option. I had to call the Dean of the business school and break the news. I contacted my old firm but they did not have a replacement for me, because of the new hire. My only choice was to start my own company. I was not prepared or ready, but entrepreneurship was forced out of necessity. I am so thankful looking back because AFT would not be the company it is today, without that trial and setback.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

We were at a tipping point as a company in 2017. The market was still not very strong and payroll was incredibly difficult to meet. I honestly thought it was time to shut it down and find a different career. We landed a couple key projects and through our social media branding, increased our network. We turned that corner and never looked back.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aftconstruction.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aft_construction/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aftconstruction
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleavitt/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzB4R_DHPVV1SPh7RUfR5jg

Image Credits
Jesse Fitton Smith This is Nick