Practical Tools for the People Who Build, Haul and Fix Things.
Chris Sund speaks at conferences and company meetings for contractors, trucking companies, manufacturers, ag businesses, utilities, dealers and home services companies. He talks about the four things these businesses ask him about most: winning more work, hiring and keeping crews, using AI to get hours back, and leading frontline supervisors. He presented at the MICA 2026 Fall Business Meetings and presents at the NFBA Conference & Expo in February 2027.
What Do Trade and Industry Audiences Want From a Speaker?
Rooms full of owners, foremen, drivers and plant supervisors have heard enough motivational talks from people who have never had to make payroll. They want something they can use on Monday morning, said plainly, by someone who respects the work and does not pretend to know their trade.
Chris says up front that he has not run a crew. What he brings is the business side that grew his own company: how to sell, how to recruit, how to keep people and how to lead the leaders in the middle. Those practices work the same way in a staffing office, a brewery sales route, a shop floor or a job trailer.
Practical, Not Polished
Every session closes on actions sized for people heading back to the job tonight. No theory, no jargon, no slides required.
Monday-Morning Tools
Frameworks short enough to use in a toolbox talk, a bid meeting or a dispatcher call, like LAARC for objections and LOCKS for deals.
Respect for the Work
He does not explain your trade back to you. He talks about the people and business side every owner and supervisor carries.
Works for the Whole Room
Owners, office staff, foremen and field crews hear the same message, and sessions can repeat across shifts.
Which Topics Travel Across Every Blue-Collar Industry?
The work is different in every industry. The business problems are not. Contractors, carriers, plants, co-ops and dealers all ask Chris about the same four things, and these are the four sessions he builds for them.
- Winning more work. Follow-up discipline, handling “your price is too high” with LAARC, and knowing what a deal needs next with LOCKS. See how contractors win more bids.
- Hiring and keeping crews. Speed to contact, referrals, the first week and the foreman as the retention lever. See how to recruit skilled trades workers.
- AI that saves time. Proposals, follow-ups, job postings and reports handed to tools any company can afford. See AI for contractors, and the step-by-step guides with Chris’s workshop prompts: finding new business, responding to quote requests, field notes to change orders and SOPs from your best hands. Every prompt is in the free AI prompt library, and the full program is Take Back Your Time with AI.
- Leading frontline supervisors. The foreman, dispatcher or shift lead who was promoted for being the best hand and never shown how to lead. See frontline manager sessions.
Proof: Contractor Stages
At the MICA 2026 Fall Business Meetings in Omaha, Chris closed the program for the Midwest Insulation Contractors Association with Take Back Your Time with AI: Practical Tools You Can Use Monday Morning, a live working session where members brought the tasks they would rather not be doing. Every attendee left with a copy of his book.
He presents the same working session to post-frame builders, suppliers and manufacturers at the NFBA Conference & Expo (National Frame Building Association) in Columbus, Ohio, February 8–10, 2027.
His topics are well researched, and he weaves in practical tips and real-life examples that make every session realistic and relatable.
Chris consistently brings knowledge, insight, and practical advice to every presentation, elevating the value he brings to every engagement.
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.
Find Your Industry
Each page covers the programs, formats and planning details for that audience.
Construction & Trades
Contractor associations, company kickoffs, foreman training and safety stand-downs.
Home Services & Specialty Contractors
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, insulation and remodeling companies and their buying groups.
Home Builders Associations
HBA conventions, remodelers councils and builder events.
Trucking & Logistics
Carriers, state trucking associations, warehouses, 3PLs and driver appreciation events.
Manufacturing
All-shift meetings, plant leadership and supervisor development.
Safety
Stand-downs and safety councils: the leadership half of safety culture.
Agriculture
Co-op annual meetings, commodity groups and young farmer programs.
Utilities & Electric Co-ops
Line crews, statewide associations and workforce succession.
Distribution & Equipment Dealers
Dealer meetings, distributor conferences and branch leadership.
Automotive Dealerships
Sales floors, service departments and dealer groups.
Family Business
Multigenerational companies and succession.
Programs for Trade and Industry Audiences
Every session is customized to your members, your industry and your year.
Take Back Your Time with AI
The live working session booked by MICA and NFBA: members bring the tasks they would rather not do and leave with them handled.
You Are Capable of More: Sales
Winning more work: follow-up, objections with LAARC, and LOCKS for knowing what a deal needs next.
Employee Retention
Why good hands leave and what keeps them, from an operator whose business is recruiting.
Leading the Leaders in the Middle
For foremen, superintendents, dispatchers and shift leads promoted off the tools.
You Are Capable of More
The signature keynote for a convention general session or banquet.
Formats
Each program runs as a keynote, a half-day workshop or a full-day workshop. Early-morning and pre-shift slots work, and a session can repeat so every crew or shift hears it live.
Keynote
A general-session keynote for the full room, with stories and one framework attendees can use on the next shift.
Half Day
The keynote content plus working time: leaders apply the framework to their own teams and leave with a written plan.
Full Day
A leadership day built around your agenda, combining the keynote, applied sessions and planning time for a leadership group.
Who Books This Session
Related pages: AI Speaker for Contractors · AI Workshop for Manufacturers · How to Increase Sales · How to Reduce Employee Turnover · Choosing a Contractor Association Speaker · The Leadership Half of Safety Culture · Manufacturing All-Shift Meetings · Driver Appreciation Week · Succession: The Next Generation
What Trade and Industry Planners Ask
Has Chris spoken to contractor audiences?
Yes. He presented Take Back Your Time with AI at the MICA 2026 Fall Business Meetings for the Midwest Insulation Contractors Association in Omaha in October 2026, and presents the same session at the NFBA Conference & Expo in Columbus, Ohio, in February 2027.
Chris is from healthcare staffing. Why does that work for a trades audience?
Because the problems are business problems, not trade problems. Recruiting is his business, he built a company 10x by selling and keeping people, and he spent ten years in restaurants and beverage sales before that. He says plainly that he has not worked in the trades and does not comment on means, methods or code.
What topics work best for blue-collar audiences?
Four travel across every industry: winning more work, hiring and keeping crews, AI that saves time, and leading frontline supervisors. Most associations pick one for the general session and one for a breakout.
Will it land with the field, not just the office?
Yes. Sessions use plain language, need no slides, and close on one action people can take on the next shift. They can run early in the morning and repeat for multiple crews or shifts.
What formats are available?
A keynote, a half-day workshop or a full-day workshop. A common pairing is a general-session keynote followed by a working session for owners, foremen or supervisors.
Can members get the book?
Yes. MICA gave every attendee a copy of You Are Capable of More. Bulk pricing and signed copies are available through bulk orders.
You Are Capable of More
The bestselling book behind the keynote, and the 2026 Paris Book Festival winner in the How-To category. Ten principles for closing the gap between what a team is producing and what it is actually capable of.
At the MICA Fall Business Meetings every attendee went home with a copy. Associations and companies often do the same for members, foremen or the whole crew.
He Sells, Recruits and Keeps People for a Living
Chris is President & COO of Uniti Med and GQR Healthcare and COO of Nebula. He helped build Uniti Med from startup into one of the largest healthcare staffing companies in the US: 10x revenue growth on the core brand, #3 on the Inc. Regionals list of the fastest-growing companies in the Midwest, and a Fortune Best Workplaces award.
Recruiting is his business. A staffing company lives or dies on how fast it finds people, how well it treats them and whether they come back for the next assignment, so the hiring and retention material comes from a Monday-morning job, not a book.
Before staffing he spent ten years in restaurants and beverage, managing restaurants and then running sales and marketing for a brewery: carrying cases, working with distributors and store managers, and asking buyers for shelf space. He has not worked in the trades and says so from the front. He is the bestselling author of You Are Capable of More, a Maxwell Leadership Certified coach, and writes for Inc. and Forbes.
Stages I Have Spoken On
Where Contractor and Business Audiences Hear Chris
Contractor association stages, plus the business and sales rooms where the same material was built.
MICA Fall Business MeetingsOmaha, NE · Oct 2026NFBAPOST-FRAMENFBA Conference & Expo 2027Columbus, OH · Feb 2027Definitive Healthcare Sales KickoffBoston, MA · 800+ sellersGreater Omaha Chamber POWER ConferenceOmaha, NEemPower BreakfastBellevue, NEDisruptHR OmahaOmaha, NEAlso: Construction & Trades · Home Services Contractors · Trucking & Logistics · Manufacturing · All Industries · See all speaking engagements →
Bring Chris to Your Trade or Industry Event
Tell Chris who is in the room, the format you are considering and what your members or crews are up against this year. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.
Check Availability & FeesResponse within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots