Build The Crew People Want To Work On.
Association conferences, company kickoffs, foreman and superintendent sessions, safety stand-downs, and apprenticeship programs.
The trades offer something almost nothing else does: a real skill, real money without debt, and something standing at the end of the day that you can drive your kids past. The contractors who say that out loud, and back it with foremen who lead well, become the outfit good hands want to work for. Chris Sund closes the Midwest Insulation Contractors Association Fall Business Meetings in Omaha, and has spent two decades building crews in demanding, hands-on work where people chose to stay.
Good hands can work anywhere they want. They stay where the foreman is worth working for.
My KC Live, KCTV5 Kansas City →Let the crew size him up first.
A jobsite audience decides about a speaker fast, and that is fair. Send a clip ahead of the kickoff and let people judge for themselves. Chris has been on morning television in six markets and in Forbes, Inc., and the Midlands Business Journal, all collected in the media hub.
Five things a crew takes back to the job.
No means and methods, no scheduling software, no technical safety content. This is the leadership side, which is the part that decides whether your apprentices become your foremen.
On what the construction session is about
- Foremen and superintendents who lead, not just push. Almost every one came up off the tools and got a crew because they were the best hand on it. Give them one usable leadership skill and the whole job feels it by the next pour.
- Safety as something a crew owns. Your safety director owns the rules, the training, and the JHAs. What a leader controls is whether the newest apprentice feels able to stop a job, and that is a culture question with a specific answer.
- The trades career story, told well. Real skill, real money, no student debt, and something standing at the end you can point at. Contractors who can say that clearly recruit better, and the crews already doing it stand a little taller.
- Why good hands stay. Skilled people can go anywhere, which means retention comes down to the foreman, whether the work gets noticed, and whether they are getting better at something. All three are free.
- One move, not a program. Every session closes on a single specific action, sized for people who start at six. Nobody needs another initiative announced at a kickoff and forgotten by June.
Eight ways contractors book him.
Companies usually pair an all-hands with a foreman session. Associations usually add a breakout to the general session.
Association Conference Keynote
General session for a contractor association, trade group, or home builders association annual meeting.Company Annual Kickoff
The whole company at the start of the season or the year. Field and office together, built to work for both.Foreman & Superintendent Session
The highest-leverage group on any job. Promoted off the tools, handed a crew, and rarely trained to lead.Safety Stand-Down or Kickoff
The leadership half of safety culture alongside your technical content. Speaking up, standard-setting, and looking out for the person next to you.Apprenticeship & Training Center
Apprentice classes, JATC programs, and graduation nights for people entering the trades.Project Manager & PM Leadership
Project managers and estimators leading people who do not report to them, across owners, subs, and inspectors.Owner & Executive Retreat
Ownership and leadership teams. Standard-setting, succession, and growing without losing the crew that got you here.Take Back Your Time With AI
A live working session, not a lecture. Members bring the tasks they would rather not be doing and Chris hands as many as possible to tools any contractor can already afford. Booked by MICA for the 2026 Fall Business Meetings. Full details.Conference Breakouts
Repeatable concurrent sessions alongside a general session at an association event.Built for the outfits that build everything else.
The framework holds across all of them. What changes is who is in the room and what starts at six the next morning.
General Contractors
Company kickoffs, all-hands meetings, foreman development, and leadership retreats for GCs of any size.Contractor Associations
AGC and ABC chapters, state contractor associations, and annual conventions.Specialty Trades
Electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, sheet metal, insulation, abatement, roofing, masonry, and concrete contractors and their associations.Insulation & Industrial
Commercial and industrial insulation and abatement contractors, plus the manufacturers, distributors, and material supply firms that serve them. Chris closes the MICA Fall Business Meetings.Home Builders
State and local home builders associations, builder groups, and residential contractors.Heavy Highway & Infrastructure
Highway, bridge, excavation, and utility construction contractors and associations.Apprenticeship Programs
JATC and training centers, union apprenticeship programs, and trade school partnerships. See SkillsUSA and CTE for the student pipeline.Safety Councils
Construction safety conferences and regional safety councils looking for the leadership side alongside technical sessions.Suppliers & Distributors
Building products distributors, equipment dealers, and supplier customer events.Utility Contractors
Line construction and utility contractors. See utility and co-op speaking.Four movements. Ten principles.
Every session runs the same architecture as the book, which is what lets a foreman session and a company kickoff land as one message rather than two.
The Foundation
Ownership and time. What is inside your control when the weather, the schedule, and the owner are not.The Breakthrough
The comfort ceiling and the inner voice. The section a thirty-year journeyman goes quiet for.The Standard
Truth over praise, and the hidden gear. Speaking up, and what a crew does when the newest hand finally does.The Purpose
Finishing, and leaving people better. The close, and the movement that connects a crew to what they are actually leaving behind.A copy for every hand on the payroll.
A kickoff gives a crew an hour. A copy gives a whole company the same ten principles and the same words, which is how a message survives past the week the banner comes down.
You Are Capable of More: A No-Excuses Guide to Becoming Your Best Self. An Amazon bestseller from Game Changer Publishing, with a foreword by Ben Newman.
Ten chapters across four movements, written plainly and short enough that somebody working ten hour days will finish it. The free companion toolkit includes a discussion guide sized for a toolbox talk, a self-assessment, and a thirty day challenge. Nothing is gated behind an email address.
The feedback speaks for itself.
Chris consistently brings knowledge, insight, and practical advice. He led two impactful sessions and left everyone with tools they could use immediately.
Chris was an outstanding speaker and a highlight of our event. He took the time to deeply understand our organization and thoughtfully personalized every moment.
Chris is a thoughtful, intentional leader who understands the influence he carries. His message challenged me to think differently about how I lead, serve, and influence others.
Chris would be an incredible addition to any live audience. Each time he finds a unique way to connect on both a personal and professional level, keeping everyone engaged and attentive.
His engaging style draws the audience into the conversation, creating a relaxed atmosphere that encourages learning and reflection. You leave not only inspired but equipped.
Chris consistently brings knowledge, insight, and practical advice. He led two impactful sessions and left everyone with tools they could use immediately.
Chris was an outstanding speaker and a highlight of our event. He took the time to deeply understand our organization and thoughtfully personalized every moment.
Chris is a thoughtful, intentional leader who understands the influence he carries. His message challenged me to think differently about how I lead, serve, and influence others.
Chris would be an incredible addition to any live audience. Each time he finds a unique way to connect on both a personal and professional level, keeping everyone engaged and attentive.
His engaging style draws the audience into the conversation, creating a relaxed atmosphere that encourages learning and reflection. You leave not only inspired but equipped.
Events already on your calendar.
He built crews that showed up.
Chris Sund is an executive leader, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of You Are Capable of More.
As President and COO of Uniti Med, GQR Healthcare and Nebula, he helped grow Uniti Med 10x in two years and earn the number three ranking on the Inc. Regionals list among the fastest growing companies in the Midwest, while the organization earned Fortune Best Workplaces recognition and Great Place to Work certification three years running.
He is a father of three, based in Nebraska, a Maxwell Leadership Certified speaker, trainer, and coach, Vice President of the NATHO Board of Directors, and the founder of Amplify Speakers. He has not run a crew and will say so from the front. What he knows is how a leader keeps skilled people in demanding, hands-on work, which is the same job your foremen have every morning.
Details your team will ask for.
Owners, safety directors, and association staff ask these.
He has not worked in the trades. Why does that work?
How much does a construction keynote speaker cost?
Will it land with the field, not just the office?
Can he speak at our safety stand-down?
What about our foremen and superintendents?
Do you work with apprenticeship programs and training centers?
Can you do an early morning session before the day starts?
Do you speak at contractor association conventions?
Can we get books for the whole company?
How do we start?
Contractors have already put him in the room.
Chris closed the MICA 2026 Fall Business Meetings for the Midwest Insulation Contractors Association with Take Back Your Time with AI, a live working session on proposals, follow-ups and admin, and every attendee left with his book. He presents the same session to post-frame builders at the NFBA Conference & Expo in Columbus in February 2027. Beyond AI, the sessions contractors ask for are the ones that grew his own company: winning more work, hiring and keeping crews, and leading the foremen in the middle.
Winning More Work
Follow-up discipline, LAARC for “your price is too high,” and LOCKS for what a deal needs next.ArticleHow Contractors Win More Bids
The paper clip story, LAARC and LOCKS applied to bids and proposals.ArticleRecruiting Skilled Trades Workers
Speed to contact, referrals, pay transparency, the first week and the foreman as the retention lever.AITake Back Your Time with AI
The working session booked by MICA and NFBA: real tasks handed to affordable tools, live in the room.AIAI Speaker for Contractors
The contractor version of the AI workshop: bids, quote replies, change orders and field SOPs.ArticleAI for Contractors
Proposals, follow-ups and hiring with tools any contractor can afford.RetentionEmployee Retention Speaker
Why good people leave, and what keeps them, from an operator whose business is recruiting.PlanningChoosing a Contractor Association Speaker
What to look for when you book the general session.SafetyThe Leadership Half of Safety Culture
What leaders control that the safety manual cannot.Home ServicesHome Services & Specialty Contractors
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, insulation and remodeling companies.All TradesSkilled Trades & Blue-Collar Speaker
Contractors, trucking, manufacturing, ag, utilities, dealers and home services in one place.Other ways organizations book him.
Same framework, built for the specific room you are filling.