For many people in the trades, the hardest part of the job isn’t the work itself — it’s carrying everything that comes with it, long after the day ends.

In the latest episode of Commercial Grade, host RC Victorino talks with Josh Vitale, founder of Project Built and former journeyman lineman, about a side of the trades that often stays unspoken — the mental, emotional, and family toll of the work.

Josh isn’t commenting from the outside. He lived it.

The Cycle No One Trains You For

Josh grew up in a construction family, left college, and joined the IBEW. The path looked solid: good money, steady work, respect on the crew.

But the culture was familiar to anyone who’s been around the trades long enough. Long hours. High-risk jobs. Constant adrenaline. And at the end of the day, no real way to come down.

“We work really hard, then we party really hard,” Josh says. “That’s just what’s accepted.”

Alcohol fills the gap. Disconnection becomes routine. Asking for help feels risky — personally and professionally.

Over time, that pressure compounds.

Rock Bottom Isn’t Sudden

Josh describes a slow unraveling: addiction, broken relationships, isolation, and eventually a point where he couldn’t keep going alone.

“I had to drink every day just to get through,” he says.

What changed wasn’t toughness or discipline. It was asking for help.

“I raised the white flag,” Josh recalls. “I realized I couldn’t do this myself.”

That decision led him to treatment, therapy, and confronting trauma that existed long before his career in the trades. It also reshaped how he thinks about responsibility in the industry — not just for physical safety, but for the people doing the work.

Leadership Without a Playbook

One theme stands out throughout the conversation: people in the trades are promoted for technical skill, then asked to manage human complexity with no preparation.

Foremen and superintendents don’t just run jobs. They handle conflict, addiction, family crises, and emotional fallout — often without realizing that’s part of the role.

“You become their therapist. Their financial advisor. Their crisis manager,” Josh says. “And nobody trained you for any of that.”

When leaders don’t have support or training, they fall back on what the culture has taught them: keep moving, don’t talk about it, handle it yourself.

That silence adds up.

Why Younger Workers Leave

Josh points to a growing generational gap. Younger workers are more willing to talk about mental health and ask for help. But they’re entering an industry still led largely by people taught to suppress everything.

When they don’t feel safe being human at work, they leave.

The labor shortage isn’t just about hiring. It’s about whether people can stay.

Rebuilding Connection

After years in the field and firsthand experience with jobsite crisis interventions, Josh founded Project BUILT to address what he sees as the root issue: disconnection from family and community.

The focus isn’t awareness campaigns or check-the-box programs. It’s practical support — peer connection, family involvement, and tools people can actually use before things fall apart.

The goal isn’t to fix people. It’s to give them something solid to stand on.

Strength Looks Different Now

The episode doesn’t frame the trades as broken. Josh is clear about that. Some of the smartest, most capable people he knows work in construction.

The problem isn’t the work. It’s pretending the work doesn’t change you.

The future of the trades will depend on leaders who can hold pressure, model honesty, and build environments where people don’t just survive — they stay.

As Josh reflects, the things people try hardest to hide often become the parts of their story that matter most.

Want to hear the full conversation?  Listen to Commercial Grade on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts.