What happens when a contractor and a marketer sit down to talk shop? In this inaugural episode, Sean Suttle and Rachel Schank kick off The Construction Collective by sharing why they launched a podcast, and how their marketing journey at Hanlin Rainaldi evolved from field notes to full episodes. From forging relationships over coffee to embracing technology, this is a conversation about finding new ways to connect in a people-first industry.
Introduction:
Innovation. Leadership. Problem -solving. From the field to the front office, the construction industry is evolving, and the people driving that change are the ones we are here to talk to. Through candid conversations and real -world insights, we dive into the tools, the trends, and the tough decisions shaping the built world around us. This isn’t just about buildings, it’s about the people who build them. This is The Construction Collective.
Sean Suttle: Hello, everyone, and welcome to The Construction Collective, innovators, leaders, and solutions driving the industry. My name is Sean Suttle, President of Hanlin Rainaldi Construction, and this is our inaugural podcast. So welcome.
Joining me today is Rachel Schank, our director of marketing for Hanlin Rainaldi, and we’re going to see where this first podcast takes us.
And I guess the first thing I’ll ask Rachel is, And I’ll answer my own question is why did we decide to start a podcast? We are a commercial general contractor based in Columbus, Ohio. We don’t self -perform any work. We subcontract it all out and we work in about 30 states. And we noticed that there are not too many commercial construction podcasts out there. So we thought, why not?
We’re looking to bring guests on to share insights, similar experiences. Sometimes we get to a place where we think we’re the only ones dealing with a problem or an issue when really everyone is. A lot of people are dealing with the same things we are. And we can commiserate, one, and two, we can learn. And so I think a lot of times when you get the conversation flowing, it’s educational, we don’t feel as isolated, we see that other people are dealing with the same issues that we’re dealing with. I always feel after those conversations with peers or folks in the industry, I always come away feeling more energized, like ok, I’m not the only one dealing with this issue, I’m not an idiot. And so it just becomes a learning experience. And I think being open to learning and new things really helps propel growth and just an overall learning and understanding about what we’re doing.
So those are my reasons, Rachel. What are some of your reasons? And Rachel, as our Director of Marketing, she likes to refer to herself as a marketing maven. What are some of your thoughts about the podcast, about what you’re looking forward to and what we want this podcast to sort of, what are some of the outcomes we want?
Rachel Schank: When I started in the construction industry, I really didn’t know a whole lot and I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last few years. But a big part of joining this industry is that it’s truly a doorway to get to meet some amazing people in the city who are decision makers and innovators, who have lots of amazing ideas, have done a lot of data compilation, and have amazing presentations and information to share.
So as I’ve ventured into the industry and into the marketing, I’ve gotten to go to a lot of amazing events where there are different speakers talking about what they’re doing and what they’re driving in the industry and beyond and It’s awesome to go to those presentations and get to hear those people speak. But then you just want to sit down with them and you just want to have a one -on -one conversation.
You and I have done a lot more in the last year of inviting people to lunch inviting people to coffee, sitting down and hearing what they have to say one -on -one instead of only the presentations. And so, you know, as a business, we’ve been working towards innovation and technology use in our business. And we’ve done some more with social media and with video. So a podcast seems like the natural next step and a chance to sit down with those people but share those conversations with the public, maybe create some new conversations?
Sean Suttle: Yeah, I think people want to tell their story. I think once you get them talking, they want to share those experiences. And I’ll echo the sentiment that, for the most part, people in Columbus are, we’re a Midwest town, so people are friendly and they are always open to having a conversation. I don’t think there’s anyone that we’ve reached out to in the different industries that we serve that have said, “no, I don’t have time.” Everybody’s always eager to share their experience. A rising tide raises all ships, right?
So your background, I wanted to get a little bit into your background since this is sort of our intro podcast and we’re
going to talk a little bit about marketing and sales. You came to us, I’m going to get this wrong, this is horrible, three years ago?
Rachel Schank: Oh gosh, no.
Sean Suttle: Five?
Rachel Schank: It’s been six now.
Sean Suttle: Rachel has been with us for six years, like I was saying.
Rachel Schank: I started as a consultant, so the counting of the years can be a little strange.
Sean Suttle: And Rachel came to us, she’s my neighbor, and I want you to talk a little bit about sort of how this whole thing, at Hanlin, we didn’t have any marketing. I was a sales guy, I was wearing multiple hats, Hanlin Rainaldi is 33 years old this year. And we were just sort of relying on past relationships, we were sort of waiting for our phone to ring and I sort of had an epiphany one day where I was like, this plan is probably not a good plan and it’s not going to work, it’s not going to work long-term And I was, I was sort of bemoaning to my wife about, you know, I like getting out and meeting people, but when it comes to marketing, I don’t really understand social media. She said, you know, you’re a lurker on social media. You don’t do any active participation. She was talking with Rachel one day and she came home and said, you need to hire Rachel as your, uh, marketing person. So Rachel has a really cool story. And So tell us a little bit about what you were doing before Hanlin Rainaldi and then what your first thoughts are when you first came into the business as a marketer.
Rachel Schank: Yeah, so I was in education for years and then I left to become a stay -at -home mom but I wanted to get back into working and one of the skillsets I had learned working with the Catholic schools was that I did a lot of fundraising and along with that fundraising
Sean Suttle: You learned there’s a lot of sinners out there working with the Catholic school probably.
Rachel Schank[laughter]: No, I was helping them do fundraising because a lot of their money comes from their fundraising efforts. So in the process of improving their fundraising efforts, I overhauled their website. I started social media accounts for them. I started a newsletter for them, and we saw a great return on that. So I knew that was a skill set I had, and I really enjoyed that part of the work. So when I went to figure out what I wanted to do part -time while my kids were still really little, I started my own social media consultancy. I had a conversation with Sean’s wife Amanda, she asked, “what do you want to do?” And I was like, “well, I really liked doing this for the schools. I’d like to try to do this for some businesses,” but I admittedly didn’t have a whole lot of experience with it. So Sean was generous enough to hire me on as a social media manager, consultant for his business.
Once I started figuring out how to run the social media accounts, a bunch of other clients from the community, who saw what I was doing with Hanlin and said, “Hey, please come do this for us too.” So I ended up with four clients. But then when my kids started school full -time, Sean said
Sean Suttle: I said, “When you decide to do this full -time, because I don’t want to say I’m the visionary, but I could sort of see that Rachel had a total talent for not only for social media, but just in marketing. And we can touch on this later. Just you’re such a good steward of our culture and our employees. So you wear multiple hats when it comes to that. I told Rachel, I said, all right, when you decide to do this full -time, I want first right of refusal. So I was very happy to hear when she came and said, “Hey, I’m going to fire my other clients.”
Rachel Schank: I did not fire them. I gently set them free, where they are all doing amazing things now, but they’ve all said getting into social media was one of the best things they did because it really can launch a business quickly. It gets you out there.
Sean Suttle: Yeah, and I think for me, when I first started thinking about how we want to attack sales and marketing, I had talked to some peers and it was, we’re such an interesting industry, I mean, all industries, I guess, but like everything is on the relationship, right? Do our clients trust us to do what we say we’re going to do? They’re trusting us with big projects, timelines. So are you competent enough to take this $300,000, $3 million, $8 million job and deliver it on time within the within the budget and with the quality that they expect. So when it came to thinking about sales and marketing, I was like, well, oh, it’s me. I have to go out and meet and shake
hands and meet all the people, which I still do, but people look at things different now, right? People search for general contractors on the internet. They look at Instagram and see the pictures of the projects that we’re building. And all that stuff lends instant credibility to what we do.
When we first started doing it and figuring out, we did some Google AdWords stuff, Instagram was our big push, and then we started getting some feedback on those things. And that’s when we really realized that people in our space, competitors, peers, they all have a social media presence, but they don’t keep up with it. A lot of them don’t, right? And so we, the feedback we got, you know, we definitely got some leads and some opportunities from it, but it was hearing our other peers in the industry going, who does your social media? This is amazing. Like it was like, I was getting emails and calls and that’s when we sort of jumped in and just started pressing and really Rachel dove in to sort of the analytics of what people like to watch. And then your position sort of evolved from there, right? It
was like social media and then
Rachel Schank: It’s way beyond social media now. But I mean, marketing is, it’s all encompassing. And I feel like, you know, I support the branding, but it’s more supporting the culture. Our business is very people-oriented. It’s less about how we look and more about showing off all the amazing things we’re doing with all these different amazing businesses, our team and how awesome they’re performing and just showing our projects and that we’re working on and also kind of educating the public on how the process works in our industry. It’s all encompassing
and I think everybody likes to see it?
Sean Suttle: Do you remember the first project we ever did? The first little marketing thing we did, the handout?
Rachel Schank: Oh yeah, yeah.
Sean Suttle: The book with the…
Rachel Schank: Yeah, we did like a book. We worked with Igloo Letter Press. Allison was amazing. And we got our logo imprinted on the cover. It was really neat.
Sean Suttle: We were like, hey, we need that something to hand the clients when we go to meet them. not just here’s our business card or here’s a handshake. We had this little field notes book made with a scale and some construction measurements and formulas in there and some pictures or bios, which I thought that was like, that was like the first thing we did. And now it’s morphed to hats and vests and golf balls.
Rachel Schank: I have another notebook in the works for you to look at.
Sean Suttle: Well, that was our first thing, but my question is sort of going back is we started with that book, then we focused on social media. Talk about sort of the evolution, if you can, and I’ll sort of help you, but like from where we were then, to where we are now, and sort of how your role has evolved or how
we’ve evolved, or you’ve evolved marketing for Hanlin Rainaldi Construction.
Rachel Schank: Yeah, when we started, I always like to joke that it was a small team and everybody’s communication style was just to shout across the hallway to each other.
Sean Suttle: Still is, we still get to do that.
Rachel Schank: And then it just was like pedal to the floor. The business just started growing really fast and we added so many new team members over the years. And it’s also because of that, because of the growth and because of the new team, our culture has evolved and grown and that’s reflected in every stage of our social media, in every stage of our marketing materials,
It’s like we’re constantly evolving to the next level
Sean Suttle: like doing a podcast.
Rachel Schank: Yes! Like doing a podcast! It’s really fun to watch, and sometimes I feel like I’m just hanging on to a moving train, but it’s constantly changing and I think that’s why I love it.
Sean Suttle: And I think that’s the fun part is you really don’t know what you don’t know when you start going down this path. And it starts with handouts and what do we want to give our clients after we meet them? What do our proposals look like? Are we doing Christmas gifts? What are we doing? All these things come into play and you’re putting so much time and effort into them. It’s just because you want to get better and better and be the best. But like you said, that all takes time.
Rachel Schank: And you have to constantly reevaluate. Does this make sense for where we are now? I mean, we don’t have to do some of the things we used to have to do, but we have to do new things. So it’s just a constant evolutionary process. Honestly, I don’t trust people who say they know everything and they’ve got it all in the bag. I love confidence. But I think that’s one of the things I love about our company is we don’t say that about our culture or brand new road blocks that arise, we say we will figure it out. And that’s what marketing has been like, it’s we will figure it out.
Sean Suttle: Yeah, I think you also have to be open to everybody’s ideas and inputs. Like you can’t think that you have it figured out. You can, you know, the thought process can be, hey, I have an idea of where I want to take this, but I’m going to be open to all these other ideas. And I think we do a really good job of like, as frustrating as it can be when you get a bunch of people in a room and you’re hearing all these ideas after you thought you had it figured out, I think the frustration comes a little bit from, dang it, they’re right, I’ve got to go back to the drawing board. And so I think for us,
we’re just, we’re constantly, we’re constantly trying to evolve and get better. But I also think we’re, you know, and in the big, you know, scheme of things, we’re not a huge firm compared to some of the big guys in town, but I think we’re getting better. I think we’re punching up, right? Like, our marketing is
Rachel Schank: I like to think of us as a boutique firm.
Sean Suttle: Yeah, right, right.
Rachel Schank: Because we do amazing things for our clients. Right. Well, I mean, that’s, I mean, you know, again, going back to culture, if, you know, the two things we always say is everybody comes home safe at the end of the day, all the other problems we can fix. Two, we do what it takes, you know, to deliver what we say we’re going to deliver to our clients. So tell us a little bit too, Rachel, you got involved in
SMPS, which is the Society for
Rachel Schank: Marketing professional Services, it’s a mouthful, but it’s amazing.
Sean Suttle: And it’s a, it’s a construction, architectural, Engineering
Rachel Schank: Yes, it’s the A|E|C industry.
Sean Suttle: So tell us, I know, tell us what your position is there now and tell us some of the lessons you’ve learned from SMPS.
Rachel Schank: Oh my goodness, I’m going to gush because I love SMPS, it’s been amazing to me.
Sean Suttle: Just a reminder, this is a Hanlin Rainaldi Construction podcast, not an SMPS podcast.
Rachel Schank: I was just going to say that before just before you did that. You’ve got to cut me off. Actually, I got started with them because our founder, Ed Rainaldi, introduced me to Paula Ryan of Schooley Caldwell as a mentor in the industry. She does marketing and business development for Schooley Caldwell Architects and she is amazing. And she, once we’d had a few conversations, she was like, you really need to get involved in SMPS. You’re going to find a wonderful group of people there that are going have so many resources for you and just going to have so much education. So I joined the programs committee, which ironically, like SMPS is mostly marketers and business developers for the industry. And the programs committee puts on events primarily for the business developers[which I am not!], but also beyond. And we put together panelists and topics that are interesting to the A|E|C community and to other business movers and shakers in the Columbus business world. And I joined that committee and I just loved it. I love the people and being on a committee.
I also attend the board meetings and I’ve got to meet the board and this is the most amazing group of go-getters and we were talking about how, you know, I don’t trust people who come off as I already have all the answers. That’s what’s amazing about this group. They are a, we’ll figure it out. We’re going to get our brains together and we’re going to figure this out and we’re going to do an amazing job. And we’re going to sometimes have to go back to the drawing board once we all talk it through, but we’re going to do the best.
And just learning about what everybody’s doing at their different businesses has been great. If I have a question, I have this huge pool of resources to pull from that will give me advice and information and tools and resources.
Sean Suttle: It’s the network of people, right? You get to meet all those different people. And again, it’s like you said, it’s not having the answer or a premeditated response to something. You’re open to all those different ideas and you get to see how other people are doing it. And it’s collaborative.
Rachel Schank: It is, it’s very collaborative.
Sean Suttle: From what you have told me. That’s awesome, I’m super proud that you’re.
Rachel Schank: Oh and I was the co-chair and I’m incoming Director [Chair] Of the Programs Committee.
Sean Suttle: There you go, that’s what I Was going to say I’m super proud of. So thinking about Hanlin Rainaldi our increased growth, as we navigate all the issues that come with trying to grow. And keeping all oof our core values in place, what would you say is your most exciting initiative, what do you want to do most moving forward? What’s the thing that excites you most?
Rachel Schank: Oh, right now, this podcast. (laughs)
Sean Suttle: Which, by the way, this podcast has been in the works for a few months now, and Rachel has been literally dragging me out the door, kicking and screaming.
Rachel Schank: Oh my gosh. We have such amazing lists of people that I just want to get on here and hear what they have to say. So I think I’m really looking forward to that, just seeing, you know, the different guests that we’re going to be having come on and speak. Um, don’t want to give anything away, but we have some really good options for here.
Sean Suttle: Jamie Diamond will be here next week. No, I’m kidding. To give us a Financial breakdown of what’s going on in the markets.
Rachel Schank: But yeah, that’s the biggest piece I’m really excited about right now. And we also have just so many different things in the works right now. I really enjoyed working with Columbus Business First and their new Building Columbus Awards. Like this is an amazing publication and just seeing all the projects everyone’s working on and all the growth in Columbus. That was awesome.
Sean Suttle: Last year we won an award with Tim Lai ArchitecT and John Dawson and Community for New Direction. We were fortunate enough to build their new facilities on Livingston Avenue. And I believe the award was Best Community Impact.
Rachel Schank: Yes, the Community Impact Award because they’re doing amazing things with their services.
Sean Suttle: And that’s something in the past I wouldn’t have had time to pursue on my own or would never have thought about doing it and Rachel kept bringing it to our attention. Hey, we should really look into applying for one of these awards. And I’ll tell you, it was such a good, the night was awesome, but what was really good was being with Tim Lai and with John Dawson and recognizing the good work that John’s doing in the community. And it was one of those really, not that we don’t feel good about all of our projects, but that was a really great
project. You felt like, you know, CND is definitely an organization that gives back to the community and to have them recognized and be a part of that was awesome.
Rachel Schank: Yes, it was such a special project because of the organization and the work they do. But also, I mean, Tim and Eliza from Tim Lai ArchitecT, they did all these beautiful murals. They pulled-in local artists to help design the murals. They pulled in volunteers and we volunteered to go paint the murals all over this beautiful building for this organization doing really important work. It was nice to be able to celebrate them publicly in that project and with everyone and I look forward to the next one.
Sean Suttle: Well, look, I can’t wait to see what you’re going to, what rabbit you’re going to pull out of your hat next with marketing and Rachel is always dragging me along, kicking and screaming, because there are always so many things. But I’m so grateful for the position that you’ve put us in and the amount
of work you’ve put in to just become one of the top marketers in this industry, in Columbus, in such a short, short time.
Rachel Schank: Don’t make me cry on the podcast!
Sean Suttle: But in closing a little bit, we’re going to keep it short on our first podcast. It just, this was sort of us dipping our toe in the water, but I wanted this to give a little look ahead of the kinds of folks we’re going to be having on the podcast and some of the things we’re going to be talking about. So we’ll have people that work in this industry from a development perspective, a banking perspective, a surety perspective, sales and marketing perspective, technology perspective, and we’re going to bring them in, and just like I said in the beginning, we’re going to talk about all the great things that we do, all the challenges that we’re fortunate to be able to overcome, and just learn a little bit about how people are doing it, the different ways they’re doing it, and hopefully learning something and being able to propel ourselves forward and just keep getting better one day at a time. So do you have any closing remarks for our first podcast?
Rachel Schank: You’re going to put me on the spot for our first podcast.
Sean Suttle: We don’t even have a cool sign off yet. So I have to keep working on that.
Rachel Schank: Yeah, we really do.
Sean Suttle: Good night and good luck, maybe. I don’t know.
Rachel Schank: What is it they say on the presidential address?
Sean Suttle: God bless America.
Rachel Schank: Columbus is in an interesting and exciting phase right now. And I’m thrilled that we get to be part of the conversation.
Sean Suttle: Yeah, that’s a great point. I mean, Columbus has been a boom town. Hopefully we continue on that path. And I think there’s a lot of exciting things in the pipeline. And so for the Construction Collective, Sean Suttle signing off.
Rachel Schank signing off.
Sean Suttle: And we’ll see you next time. Thank you.