US Homebuilder 'From Good to Great'

About US Homebuilder 'From Good to Great'

US Homebuilding "The Masters" from US Human Capital delves into the inner-workings of the US homebuilding and developer market, through interviews with leading industry players who share their experience and insights into what it takes to compete with the best. We discuss the tactics, habits and strategies of effective leaders from discipline managers to company presidents. If you lead a team or business or you aspire to, US Human Capital can help you overcome your challenges, recover from the lows and inspire you to reach your full potential.

Publisher

Gerard Ball

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Nov 2021

Latest episode

24 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

46 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Sept 2026

   From 200 to 2,000 Closings: Boyd Martin, former Division President, D.R. Horton Utah

   From 200 to 2,000 Closings: Boyd Martin, former Division President, D.R. Horton Utah - Building a Division That Lasts In this episode of US Homebuilding: The Masters Series, host Gerard Ball sits down with Boyd Martin, who spent almost 25 years at D.R. Horton and ran the Utah division as Division President from 2004 until March 2025. Boyd took a division doing around 200 homes a year and grew it to 2,001 closings, making D.R. Horton the largest builder in Utah for four consecutive years. Along the way he also ran Idaho for five years and opened southern Utah, where the division became the market leader within its second year. His executive team averaged 14 years of tenure, and almost every one of them was promoted from within. Episode Highlights: - Learning production home building from Rick Salisbury, a bricklayer turned builder running a 45 calendar day construction schedule in 1998 - Why "empty homes lose money" became the operating principle behind everything that followed - Moving from a fast local builder to a slower one, and knowing when the culture is simply wrong for you - Surviving the crash: from 350 closings to 100, and an executive team that cleaned toilets, picked up trash and sat models to keep the machine running - Spotting the master plan opportunity in 2010 and building conviction ahead of the market - Why he stopped hiring superintendents from other builders and hired green instead - Building a talent pipeline out of personal networks rather than job adverts - Running an accountability culture on monthly scorecards without making it personal - Finding an advocate inside a large organisation, and how to do it without being a kiss up - How the job changes when the division passes 1,000 closings Notable Quotes: "It has nothing to do with the technology. It has everything to do with the mindset of your construction team and purchasing team." - Boyd Martin on build cycle times "We learned quickly, do not hire superintendents from other builders. It failed almost every time. We hired green and promoted up, and those young people did an incredible job." - Boyd Martin on building a construction team Key Takeaways: - Prioritise culture and opportunity over compensation early in your career, because compensation follows - The habits that make a division successful are usually formed in the hardest part of the cycle, not the best one - A well documented system lets you hire for attitude and train for skill - Accountability works when everyone is measured, including the leader - Advocacy inside a business is earned by volunteering for the jobs nobody wants - Home building is a people business at every touchpoint, from the subcontractor to the city inspector About the Guest: Boyd Martin is a BYU accounting graduate who found home building on job sites before he found it on a balance sheet. He began his career with Salisbury Homes and Hubble Homes before joining D.R. Horton in 2001 as CFO and VP of Operations for the Salt Lake division, becoming Division President in 2004. Over more than two decades he led the division through the financial crisis and the recovery, took it to number one in Utah, and delivered eight master plan communities ranging from 1,000 to 2,400 lots. He teaches a construction class at BYU. This is one of the most complete division president careers we have had on the show, in one market, over 25 years. Essential listening for anyone building a division, a team, or a career in home building.

2. 

   10 Sept 2026

   The Forgotten Middle: Building Home Building's Next Generation of Leaders, Abby Cornelius, Leadership Adviser at Elevate Actually

   Guest Introduction / Episode Overview:In this episode of The Masters Series, we sit down with Abby Cornelius, a 21-year home building veteran who has held sales leadership roles with several of the industry's best-known builders, including Taylor Morrison and Stanley Martin, and now runs Elevate Actually, a coaching and training venture focused on developing leaders across the industry. Abby goes into a problem she calls "the forgotten middle": talented top performers promoted into leadership without the skills, support, or training to succeed there. From generational shifts in what employees want, to why cross-functional understanding separates good leaders from great ones, to her own four-part leadership framework, this conversation is packed with practical insight for anyone managing people in homebuilding today. Episode Highlights: Why top salespeople don't automatically make great leaders "The forgotten middle": the generational leadership gap created by 2008 Signs someone is ready for a leadership role before they're promoted Structured internal programs (certified coaches, DP training tracks) that actually work How Gen X, millennial, and Gen Z employees define a good job differently Building an Employee Value Proposition without breaking the bank Why cross-departmental fluency separates top VPs and Division Presidents Fairness vs. equality in how leaders support their teams Self-funding your own leadership development when your employer won't Abby's "Four Ds" framework: Diagnose, Decide, Drive, Deliver Notable Quotes:"Not all top performers make great leaders. It's a we versus me mentality." - Abby Cornelius on identifying leadership potential "I am an investment worth making." - Abby Cornelius on why she started paying for her own leadership development Key Takeaways: Identify peer-leadership signals, not just sales numbers, before promoting someone into management Build structured, ongoing leadership development, not a once-a-year succession conversation Recognize that different generations need different support to stay engaged and perform Treat cross-departmental relationships as a core leadership skill, not a nice-to-have Apply fairness rather than blanket equality when supporting individual team members Take ownership of your own development rather than waiting for company sponsorship About the Guest:Abby Cornelius has spent 21 years in home building, moving from new home sales through sales training, sales leadership, and a stint in land acquisition before returning to leadership with a broader operational perspective. She previously worked at Taylor Morrison, among other national builders. Today she runs Elevate Actually (elevateactually.com), offering both team-wide and individual coaching programs built around her Four Ds leadership framework.

3. 

   8 Sept 2026

   Sales Roundtable: Orlando "Recruiting Top Sales Counselors"

   In this Orlando edition of the US Homebuilding Masters: Sales and Marketing Leadership Community Roundtable, host Gerard Ball sits down with two leaders who know this market inside out: Melanie Hemingway, VP of Sales at Taylor Morrison Orlando, and Tatiana Souza, who spent 17 years at Meritage Homes rising from the sales floor to Division Vice President before joining Davila Homes. With over 800 sales counselors in the Orlando market - and roughly a third having moved in the last 12 months - the pair dig into what it really takes to attract, hire and keep top-tier new home sales talent in one of America's most dynamic and competitive marketplaces. Episode Highlights: Why Orlando is currently a candidate's market - and how land assets and community pipelines are driving unprecedented movement among sales counselors The traits that beat experience every time: coachability, growth mindset, urgency and competitiveness Why both leaders prefer hiring green talent - Tatiana built teams that were 80% industry newcomers The backgrounds that translate best into new home sales: educators, restaurant workers and luxury retail Recruiting is always on: Melanie's Ulta story - how a stocking stuffer shopping trip produced a Rookie of the Year and Salesperson of the Year How the Predictive Index became a non-negotiable hiring gate at Meritage Structured interviews at Taylor Morrison: stacked interview days, cross-functional panels, scored interview guides Radical honesty in the pitch: weekends, holidays, and the 12-18 month runway before the big paychecks arrive Why candidates choose leaders and culture over logos - and how personal brand and company brand must work together Notable Quotes: "I never really looked for experience as much as I looked for coachability, growth mindset, and high sense of urgency, being competitive." - Tatiana Souza "If you want to come work here, you're working for Taylor Morrison. I don't hire for communities, I hire for my brand, and I hire for my culture." - Melanie Hemingway Key Takeaways: Hire for traits, not experience - coachable, urgent, competitive people can be trained into top producers Always be interviewing, even when you have no openings, so you are never forced into a desperate hire Be brutally honest upfront about weekends, holidays and the timeline to real earnings - it prevents costly early turnover Protect your loyal team - promising prized communities to outside stars damages the culture that retains your best people Great recruiters treat every service interaction as a scouting opportunity About the Guests: Melanie Hemingway is VP of Sales at Taylor Morrison in Orlando, leading sales operations across the division. She previously spent almost five years at PulteGroup in Nashville, including time as acting division president. Tatiana Souza spent 17 years at Meritage Homes in Orlando, starting on the sales floor in 2008 and rising to Division Vice President while the division grew from 200 to over 1,100 closings. She has since joined Davila Homes to help grow the company. Whether you are a sales leader building a team or a professional considering a move into new home sales, this roundtable is a masterclass in recruiting, hiring and retaining top talent in one of the toughest markets in the country. More markets to come.

Who has been a guest on US Homebuilder 'From Good to Great'

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Joel Underwood
• Dan Grosswald
• Mike Reynolds
• Matt Phillipoff
• Rob Hutton

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.4 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Contact US Homebuilder 'From Good to Great'

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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