Step into the world of industrial manufacturing through candid conversations with the leaders shaping it. Hosted by Ryan Miller, CEO of PWI—a leading manufacturer of cranes, mezzanines, and fall protection systems. This podcast explores what it really takes to build and grow a successful business.
Ryan shares his own journey while sitting down with fellow CEOs and team leaders to uncover the stories behind their success—the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned, and the moments that defined them.
Episode 17 | Growing a Business Without Losing Family
Growing a family business means making mistakes where everyone can see them. For Kyle Quill and Logan Musser, building Carolina HVAC & Electrical has been a process of trying, failing and learning what actually works. In this episode, Ryan sits down with them to talk about the lessons that shaped the business and the people leading it. They share how failure became part of their growth instead of something to avoid. They also talk about the challenges of building with family and le...
13 Oct 2026
Episode 16 | Work Life Balance and Why it Doesn't Exist
Work-life balance isn't something you solve once. It changes as your business grows and as life moves through different seasons. In this episode, Ryan, Darren and Kyle Miller talk about how they decide what deserves their attention and what they've learned about being present where they are. The brothers also get honest about the tension that comes with trying to lead well at work and at home. Whether you're early in your career, raising a family or carrying more responsibility than eve...
6 Oct 2026
Episode 15 | The Cost of Ignoring Technology in Your Business
PWI's technology journey started with a simple problem: too much time was being lost to processes that could be better. In 2019, Ryan, Darren and Kyle Miller decided to build their own design automation software from scratch. What once took hours could eventually be done in minutes, but getting there came with plenty of mistakes, expensive lessons and systems they held onto longer than they should have. In this episode, the brothers talk about what they learned from building their own tools ...
29 Sept 2026
Episode 14 | The Real Value of Your Business Isn't What You Think
Building a valuable business takes more than growing revenue. Mark Fisher spent decades helping grow Dwyer Instruments from roughly $60 million to $170 million before the company was sold. In this episode, Mark sits down with Ryan to talk about what actually makes a business more valuable and why the strongest companies are built to succeed. Mark shares lessons from years of growth, acquisitions and leadership. Including what worked, what didn't and how Dwyer became a company buyers wanted. W...
22 Sept 2026
Episode 13 | The Ugly Truth About Commission-Based Sales
Great sales starts with belief. For Ryan, Darren and Kyle Miller, that belief has shaped the way PWI has built its sales culture for more than two decades. In this episode, the brothers trace that philosophy back to a $25,000 lesson in 2003 and explain why PWI has grown a 25-person sales team without relying on commission. They talk about the difference between price and cost, why too much product knowledge can actually hurt a salesperson and what happened the one time they tried to change th...
Marv's story starts with an Amish upbringing and years spent working in his father's sawmill. At 26, he bought his father-in-law's manufacturing company on June 6, 2006. Less than two years later, the housing market collapsed and put a business heavily tied to residential construction under serious pressure. In this episode, Ryan and Marv talk about what it took to survive the 2008 recession and how to keep moving forward through uncertainty. Marv also shares how aviation became a tool...
8 Sept 2026
Episode 11 | The Growth Mistake Most Businesses Make
Growth has a way of exposing bottlenecks. For Ryan, Kyle, and Darren Miller, one of PWI's biggest levers for scaling has been funnels. In this episode the brothers get candid about the pressure they're feeling right now to scale past their current ceiling. They unpack how splitting departments into independent single threaded divisions has let PWI grow instead of choke on its own success. They walk through real examples from stairs to sales to production and draw a hard line between a healthy...
1 Sept 2026
Episode 10 | Turning Misery Into Ministry with Donnie Foster
Some seasons cost more than money. For Donnie Foster, the cost was 23 years on the streets, in gangs and behind bars in some of California's toughest prisons. Until a single act of forgiveness from a woman he'd robbed changed the direction of his life for good. In this episode, Donnie sits down with Ryan to tell the story most people never get the full version of. Childhood abuse that started at age three, a decade riding with a motorcycle gang and a moment where he was facing 102 years to li...
25 Aug 2026
Episode 9 | The Big Shift from Local to National Sales
Getting focused costs more than most owners expect. It sometimes means turning down work that is already paying the bills. Ryan, Darren and Kyle learned that while building PWI from the small farm repair shop their dad started in 1979 into a national supplier of overhead cranes, mezzanines and fall protection. In this episode, the three brothers talk about what that climb actually cost them. Ryan shares the decade he believes the company lost to good opportunities and the moment he realized ...
18 Aug 2026
Episode 8 | Cam Boyer's Blueprint for Scaling a Business Worth Hundreds of Millions
Scaling a business means taking responsibility for the people, the culture and the mistakes along the way. Cam Boyer learned that over three decades of building companies from the ground up. Most notably, he helped take Grand Design RV from a startup to roughly $500 million in just four years before it was sold to Winnebago. In this episode, Ryan sits down with Cam to talk about what that growth taught him about leadership. Cam shares the confrontation that changed the way he led and what he ...
11 Aug 2026
Episode 7 | The Value of an Executive Assistant
Delegation sounds simple until you're the one who has to let go. For Ryan Miller, hiring an executive assistant meant learning to hand over responsibilities he had always managed himself. In this episode, Ryan sits down with his current executive assistant, Micah Hershberger and his former EA turned Chief of Staff, Trevor Klotz to talk about how that decision changed the way he leads PWI. They share what it takes to build trust between a leader and an executive assistant, what the first 90 da...
4 Aug 2026
Episode 6 | What it Means to Hire 7 Foot Jumpers
Hiring great people isn't about finding the most experienced candidate. It's about finding people who are willing to learn, fit your culture, and elevate everyone around them. In this episode, Ryan, Darren, and Kyle Miller discuss why they look for "7-foot jumpers". People with the potential to grow beyond what's on their résumé. The conversation also explores what it really means to be Hungry, Humble, and Smart and why those three qualities have become the foundation of PWI's culture. Whethe...
28 Jul 2026
Episode 5 | The Boring Word Behind Real Success with Justin Moyer
Most people think you need to grow fast to build something real. Justin Moyer did it the opposite way. He left Bible college and moved into electrical work, learning the trade the same way his father and grandfather had, then spent the next two decades building slowly and deliberately. What started as him and his dad working out of a truck in 2005 is now a nearly 50-person electrical contracting company, plus a commercial cleaning business and an RV furniture manufacturer he picked up along t...
21 Jul 2026
Episode 4 | Why We Chose the Trades Over College
Most people are told there's one path. Finish school, go to college, get a degree. Ryan, Darren, and Kyle Miller didn't do any of that. They didn't finish high school, and they built one of Indiana's leading manufacturers in lifting, storage, and safety. This episode isn't just about the trades. The brothers get real about what it actually takes to run a successful business: finding your niche, showing up in person, answering the phone, knowing your role, and they share some strong views on c...
14 Jul 2026
Operating a Business While Under Attack with Patrick Booth
Some people go through one hard season. Patrick Booth went through several at once, and some of them aren't over yet. In Episode 3 of The Forge, Ryan Miller sits down with Patrick Booth, owner of CCB Technology, a company his father started out of their family's basement in 1991. Patrick took over the business in 2019 and shares what he is walking through. This is a conversation about the pressures of being a second-generation business owner, navigating hardship in both business...
7 Jul 2026
The Challenge of Building a Business with Family
In Episode 2 of The Forge, the Miller brothers engage in an open discussion about the realities of running a family business. They share insights on the lessons learned during tough times and how to maintain healthy relationships. The Forge With Ryan Miller is a podcast created to help develop company cultures that result in strong teams and create lasting business growth. Real conversations with business owners, manufacturers, and leaders about what it actually takes to build something. Host...
30 Jun 2026
Episode 1 | The Story of PWI
In the first episode of The Forge, Ryan Miller sits down with his brothers, Darren and Kyle Miller, co-owners of PWI, to share the story behind the business their father started in 1979. What began as a small operation in Nappanee, Indiana, has grown into one of the nation's leading manufacturers of lifting, storage, and safety solutions. Together, they reflect on growing up in the shop, carrying on their father's legacy after losing both of their parents to cancer, and what it's really like...
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Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
20 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
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