I’m gonna keep this really short and sweet. ’cause we really dig in to the stigma of suicide within a construction workplace, which there’s over 5,000 suicides a year in the workplace. This needs to be [00:01:00] brought to attention. There’s only a thousand people. Not only they’ve lost their lives, but a thousand people have lost their lives.

About 5,000 people a year. Take their lives. And that’s, it is something that needs to stop. And so without further ado, I’m like, please tune into this. Like it subscribe. My sponsors like it and it will really help get this message out to somebody. And if you know anybody that’s struggling with mental health, please, put them in touch with 9, 8, 8.

And while you’re listening to this just think of people that might be in need of the services. That my good friend Sonya Bohmann. Is aligned with, so without further ado, here she comes. Let’s level up.

Hey VARs squad, this is Scott Ferguson and I’m joking around with my really good friend. Sonya Bohmann on offline. ’cause we literally recorded this. We thought we recorded this last week and I didn’t hit record. So we’re gonna bring you the same exact energy, the same exact.

Growth function, [00:02:00] everything, because what we’re gonna dig into is something that’s very near and dear to my heart, which is suicide, which my little brother, Tommy in 2009 took his life. And also my guest here has had a sibling that kind of did the same. They they did do the same, but Sonya is a game changer and one of the toughest industries out there, which is construction.

She’s the executive director of Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, leading the charge to create a zero suicide industry with over a decade of hands-on experience in commercial remodels and facilities maintenance. Son Sonya knows the grind. The pressure, and the mental challenges this industry faces.

Now she’s turning that knowledge into action, building resources, sparking awareness, and saving lives. She’s not just changing the conversation, she’s transforming the culture. Let’s welcome to the show, my good friend and smiley face and. The biggest forgiving heart ever because all of us, when I was like, when we were to do my after show kind of protocol and I’m even gonna check it again.

Yep. It still says recording. You, I saw your face. [00:03:00] You’re like, oh. And I was like, oh man. But you’ve been so forgiving, such a big car. So thank you so much for coming back. Literally like My pleasure. 96 hours later to do this again with me. ’cause it’s such a, an important. I’m happy to be here

Sonya Bohmann: and have this conversation,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): with that.

So we’ll dig right into kind of construction. It’s known for grit, long hours, pressure. So you know, it’s one of the industries that you and I both know is hardest hit by suicide. What do you feel is the first thing that we need to do? It’s not just you and I, but to really get it out to the public to start breaking that cycle.

Sonya Bohmann: So it’s about awareness and stigma reduction. The more that we can start having conversations, normalizing conversations about mental health, construction spends a heck of a lot of time talking about physical safety. Yeah. And if we started thinking about psychological safety or mental wellness at the same level, we would be able to move the needle.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): That’s beautiful. I love that you said that the basically human safety meaning like that’s not fall off a ladder [00:04:00] or, put yourself in the head with a nail or something like that, but also the psychological safety with that. What are you seeing with that’s out there? ‘Cause you’ve been hands on, you’ve been in the trenches if you will, what have you seen, like maybe a personal experience where somebody that you might have known needed help.

And maybe you did help them or maybe you didn’t, but like how was it maybe swept under the rug or did you bring it to awareness? I would love to hear a story about how something like that went down in, in your industry. Okay. Since you’ve lived in it.

Sonya Bohmann: So I’m not on job sites anymore in that I don’t work in on them as much as I did back in the day.

And certainly not, never to the extent that someone who is in a crane or, doing heavy civil work, but I spend a lot of time speaking on job sites and connecting with all levels of the construction industry. Sure. And what I think is the most difficult or why the conversation isn’t happening enough is that people are afraid to have this conversation.

They’re afraid of being [00:05:00] labeled. They’re afraid of judgment. They’re afraid of not being able to get the help that they need. They’re afraid of looking weak or selfish. So I, I’ve had an opportunity to obviously speak all over the country, but just recently I was speaking at a very large construction company in the south and I was fortunate enough for them to have brought an interpreter to, I spoke in English, this person spoke in Spanish.

Love that.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): At the end

Sonya Bohmann: of the conversation. We had someone come up to me and start to have a conversation, and I don’t speak, I speak very minimal Spanish. And so when he came up to have the conversation, we had someone else join the conversation to interpret for us. Okay. And what he said was, is that I came back from an injury, I went back to work, and I just didn’t feel like myself.

I didn’t feel like I. It felt the same grind or the same desire to do what I, had done before. I felt like I was sleeping more, I was disconnected from things. And I recognize now [00:06:00] after this conversation that I think I might be depressed. I didn’t know the word for that. And based on that, the, and the person who was helping with the interpretation said I went through the same things and I contacted our employee assistance program and we were able to connect to that person too.

The right resources to get the help that they need. But it’s conversations like that. It’s being open to sharing shared stories. There’s power in those shared stories, especially if they’re compassionately shared and shared with appropriate language. It really makes a difference.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Do. Have you noticed like somebody that might come to the upper echelon with the depressed, with the psychological and them getting pushed back, meaning eh just keep going.

Sure. Are you seeing a little bit more of acceptance now that you’re out doing what you’re doing? What do you, what are you see in it? Is weighing a certain way, because a lot of times that I’ve noticed here in Florida, I have no idea how this happens, but a lot of the people that are leading the construction sites.

Are these kids that are graduating from college that are like [00:07:00] 23, 24, 25 years old, they have no life experience. They have no idea what it’s like to go through that grind. Like how are you playing into that to give them the empathy to say, listen man, this is real.

Sonya Bohmann: So what I think is really special about that is that they are more aware of wanting to have this conversation.

So we have three age buckets in construction. You have that the site of construction that’s ready to age out of the industry who’s not as comfortable having this conversation because that construction worker was told that. The grit and the grind. Pull your up by yourself, up by your bootstraps.

Get it done at all costs is how we deal with everything, right? You leave your home at the door, you leave your problems at the door and you grind it out all day long,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): just plus you have a job kind of thing. Exactly. Yeah.

Sonya Bohmann: And there was a different culture and a different mentality around construction in that sort of that era of construction.

Okay. Gotcha. And then there was, there’s a bit of a gap where for the longest time we told people that if you went into construction, you were less than, you [00:08:00] were not smart enough for college. You were never going to make something yourself, so just go do some construction. Yeah. And so there’s this gap of not, oh my gosh,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): it’s so true.

Mind your generation is yes, exactly. Oh, you’re a construction worker.

Sonya Bohmann: Everybody had to go to college.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Yes. Yeah. Okay. And then there’s

Sonya Bohmann: this new set of the workforce that is more, they’ve been taught for a long time that it’s okay to talk about your feelings. That and COVID even exactly like highlighted that even more that.

We’re gonna start talking about mental health. So what’s great about that younger generation that is entering the workforce is that they wanna have these conversations and they’re open to them. Sure. It’s then the shift that has to happen with everyone else in the workforce to start to say, you know what, it’s okay for us to talk about that.

But that conversation comes from everybody being informed and everybody. Being willing to share, what their story is and if you are, if you’re someone that has lived experience, [00:09:00] meaning you have suicidal ideation or a mental health disorder, or if you’re someone who’s a lost survivor and saying, I’ve been through this and I don’t want someone else to go through it.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Love. Yeah, love that. And it’s so true because you people are aging out. They were like our parents just like we are hard workers. We’re boomers come out in World War ii and then us we’re like, you didn’t go to college, you suck. And then the younger generation, which there might be a little to my.

I think they’re coddled a little bit. I But at the same time they do need the psychological help. So when you’re going out there and giving these like talks or speeches, if you will, and I know you hold attention so well ’cause you’re a brilliant speaker, but is there at the end and you, one of your last things you’ll probably say, anyone have any questions, right?

Is there any question that you wish they would ask you? But never do someone I you wish someone would fricking just bring it up. Do you wish you could just plant somebody in the crowd and say, raise your hand and bring up this question. You know what I’m saying? [00:10:00] Is there anything Yeah.

That you wish they’d say.

Sonya Bohmann: So the question that I wish I was asked that doesn’t come up enough is what do you do if someone doesn’t want your help?

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Oh my gosh. And how would you go about answering that?

Sonya Bohmann: I think if someone doesn’t want your help, you have to continue to plant seeds. And they may not be ready.

And just like when someone is going through a substance use disorder is that they’ve gotta be at their place in their time. They have to be willing to accept the help. Yes. But you can’t give up on that person and so you keep coming back and you keep planting seeds and you keep sharing and you keep supporting.

Because ultimately there’s gonna be a moment where there’s a little bit of a crack in the facade, and then you can say, let’s do this together. Let me help support

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): you. And your story is. Which I should have put this at the front of. It helped heck for me not recording last week, but like your journey into it, right?

So like in squad, you gotta hear this like [00:11:00] story. Can you tell it again please? ’cause this will be the third time you told it to me when we first hit a discovery and then last week. But like how you, you saw an. Yeah. And then you got the kind of validation, if you will, from a couple different people.

Sure. Can I hear how you really got into this and also about your backstory with, loss of life as well, please.

Sonya Bohmann: Absolutely. I worked in a construction company for over a decade and I loved what I did. I got to do some really great things. I was their executive vice president of culture. And I started out, just like everyone else, fairly low level management, worked my way through the company and had a really great experience there and wasn’t looking for another job.

I happened to be reading a book called The Universe Has Your Back, which really essentially says that if you are open to signs from the universe, it will give you those signs, and then what you choose to do with them is up to you. But. The universe wants you to be abundant and have good things and is guiding you.

You just have to not block it. Right? [00:12:00] So I happened to be on LinkedIn one day and I was looking at resumes that I had posted a job description. And so I, my newsfeed showed a job description for the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention. And a few years prior to that, I had seen someone speak and I was like, oh my gosh, this guy is amazing, and his name is Cal Byer.

And I wanna do what he does, but is that really a job? Like I, how do you make a living doing that? And so I, had it in the back of my mind, I would reference C-I-A-S-P when speaking in the construction industry about suicide prevention. I had lost my sister to suicide about, at that point, it was probably 15 years before that.

And it was something I was volunteering in and I happened to have just also come back from a trip with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. And so all of these things were swirling in my head. I look at this newsfeed and I said, wow, that job description looks like my dream job.

Maybe [00:13:00] you can actually get paid for that. And I, and so I texted a friend of mine and I was like, Hey, can you come look at this? And so they looked at it and they were like. Yeah. That looks like your dream job. What are you gonna do about it? And I’m like, nothing. I’m busy. Don’t have time for this. Fast forward, went about my day, did nothing about it, went home, took my son to youth group, and was sitting there and I was like, I’m gonna get a jumpstart on my day tomorrow. Like the next day I’m gonna resumes opened up LinkedIn again, and sitting in my newsfeed still was that job description.

And so I turned to the person next to me and who happened to be our priest wife. And I said, what do you think of this? And she said, that is your dream job. I said, I know. She’s whatcha gonna do about it? Nothing. And so she’s you are being ridiculous. You have two hours before we have to take these kids home.

Update your resume. Send in a cover letter. Just see what happens. What do you have to lose? And so I did, and here we are, two and a half years later,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): they said something like, you might be [00:14:00] the least qualified, but the most but best for the job, or something like that. That’s what I said.

Sonya Bohmann: Okay. I said, listen, I, and when I sent it off, I was like, I am not a nonprofit person.

I have done volunteer work in nonprofit, but I come with construction background, and I can tell you that this is marrying two things that I am immensely passionate about. Love.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Yeah,

Sonya Bohmann: there you go. I may not be your girl, but maybe I am.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): How did you. Get involved in construction from jump, though, from in the first place.

So I know you said you weren’t doing the cranes and stuff, but I’m sure you Yeah, no. Did some stuff picking up trash and like maybe hanging some drywall or, something like that. But like, how did you, like a beautiful woman like yourself, make that happen? Like how did that happen?

Sonya Bohmann: So my first job outta college was in the automotive aftermarket and I made some really great connections there.

And so my next job after that was a jump in that same sort of world, and one of my former bosses was in, he had just taken over this business and said. You [00:15:00] wanna come work for me. And I was like, I don’t know anything about construction. He’s I’m gonna manage a business and there’s other people that are gonna do the construction part.

And that’s really how it happened. I started doing a little bit of, dabbled in a little bit of finance. I dabbled in a little bit of sales. I dabbled in a little, a lot of bit of management right now in the course of that, because you’re managing people and it is important sometimes to show up on that job site.

I have certainly. Hung things in a retail facility. I have held the ladders. Oh, sure. I’ve painted things.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Yeah.

Sonya Bohmann: By no means is it heavy construction, we call it construction light.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Right.

Sonya Bohmann: But that’s how it happened.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Still, you’re there and you learned how the process worked and the people, for the people, and you really got to know the people, especially if you’re working on the finance side of things and whatnot.

So when you maybe stop in. See as a coach, I’m blessed to coach companies where like they’ll bring me in and I will, kinda level up the C-suite first. And then if they allow me into the workers, then [00:16:00] yeah, I level of them up as well if there’s time being, but there’s always that person that.

Is dude, like why is the boss bringing this person in? You know what I’m saying? It’s it happens all the time. Why is the suicide

Sonya Bohmann: girl here?

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Yeah, that’s what we hear. Exactly. And I have my ways then 15 years of coaching to be like, okay, get on the guy side, easy peasy and whatnot.

But like, how about you? Because like why is a SUSE girl here? Like how do you approach that person? If you are forced to, like what is your dialogue with them? Because I and all those people out there that are listening right now, they need to hear this with regards to how to deal with somebody, especially with suicide.

Suicide should be a no brainer, right? Sure. But you’ll still have that. So how do you address that?

Sonya Bohmann: So it should be a no brainer, but also recognizing that there’s a big component of our world that doesn’t necessarily believe that mental health exists. Sure. And believes that suicide is weak or selfish.

And there’s lots of cultural connotations that go around that. And [00:17:00] so you have to deal with that as well. But you look at people in two buckets. You are either going to. Be attracted to a conversation because you have empathy for it or you’re a numbers person. And so if I can show you the ROI, then I’ve got it in there.

And so you look at the conversation. Love this ways. Yes. And so sometimes I have to share statistics and talk about the fact that, in construction there’s about a thousand fatal worker injuries a year, but there’s 5,000 deaths by suicide. Wow. And so that gets that conversation started.

Yeah. And then you have to talk about one in five of us is gonna be affected by suicide. Right. And so now you start to see them going, huh. Okay, so tell me more. So now there’s some numbers, right? There’s some facts that go with it because you’re either facts or feelings, right? And so then I start talking about feelings and you mix the two of them.

And you talk about overall worker health, right? And then. Even that person that’s a little skeptical, at least tunes in a little bit to the conversation. [00:18:00] And that’s all I need.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): And so if a foreman was out there listening to this now, or a project manager or even a tradesperson, you know what’s one powerful step that they can take today to make their company a little bit more mental health?

Better, for lack of a better term, like maybe improve the mental health within their company. What can a leader within a construction company start doing right now today to level that up?

Sonya Bohmann: Check in on your people.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Okay. It’s really

Sonya Bohmann: that simple. Just ask question. So if

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): they’re asking me, how do I do that, Sonya what, is there any role playing that you might do with them?

Like what is some an opener that they can use? This is gonna

Sonya Bohmann: sound so simplistic, but you simply say, Hey, are you okay? I’m worried about you, I’m concerned, or, I’m just checking in like it’s been a really busy month, or we’re working on some really tight deadlines.

Are you okay?

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Gotcha.

Sonya Bohmann: Now of course people are gonna be like yeah, I’m fine. And then you

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): ask, but maybe you take that pause and ask again. Yeah. Ask again, right? No, man. [00:19:00] Listen,

Sonya Bohmann: I’m really concerned like you look like you are. Today, right? Do you need some extra coffee?

Do you need to talk? Or, I heard that, I heard you saying that things are rough at home. Can I be a lending, a lending ear or shoulder? People just

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): love to be a nerd, you know what I’m saying? Yeah. It’s if you’re. Squad if you’re a manager out there, and I really tell, like leadership talks that I give and I talk to other leaders out there, really get to know each one of your employees.

Like I am a big believer in the Ford acronym, FORD, family Occupation, recreation Dreams. If you know about their family, obviously you know what they do for their occupation. Know what they like to do for fun and dreams. You can really check up on your people. You can open up conversations just by knowing the Ford and get out there and know the Ford.

And if you see something like my good friend, Sonya says, just ask, are you okay? Got deadlines, we wanna meet ’em. I just wanna make sure you’re okay. And just, and keep pushing. Not pressing, but just gently along until maybe you get the Yeah, they’re okay. [00:20:00] And not, or they’re not. Or they’re not. And if they’re, and if they’re not, thank you for saying that. What should be their next step?

Sonya Bohmann: It’s a great question and it depends on what you have in place already. So do you have an employee assistance program? Can you connect to them with someone at that EAP?

What does your health insurance offer? Do you have free mental health visits? And if you really come across someone who’s in crisis, then you reach out to 9 8 8. And the great thing about 9 8, 8 is that it doesn’t have to be just for the person who’s in crisis. It also is for someone. It’s not, you don’t always have to think about 9 88 is that I’m an absolute dire straits here, but you’re feeling stressed out, you’re feeling despondent.

You can reach out to 9, 8, 8. You’re worried about your substance use. You can reach out to 9, 8, 8. Or you are concerned about someone who is maybe using too much or is you feel like they might be in a mental health crisis or you’re with someone, right? [00:21:00] So nine eight has lots of opportunities for us to connect in with it or even as something as simple as texting 9, 8 8 or texting 7 4 1 7 4, 1.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): 7 4, 1, 7 4, 1 is another text. The crisis Text line. Okay.

Crisis Text Line. And then 9 88 is what like you even donated to. Thank you very much. To come on my show and again, I have a, the guest, the people that I do interview squad, they do donate to come on the show for the Suicide Prevention Lab.

The shows Thank you. Out there. The shows got big enough to where. If people don’t donate, they go to the end of the line. So I have a, just a plethora of people that are coming through. So I’m blessed to the people that are donating to the 9, 8 8. So what would be like you, you’re a fantastic mother, fantastic wife great friend.

Shout out again to Kirsten Carey for hooking us up. But what is Sonya’s definition, of a life well lived,

Sonya Bohmann: making a difference?

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Yeah. In Absolutely

Sonya Bohmann: in [00:22:00] what obviously in mental health and mental wellbeing. My kids jokingly say that I put the mom in awkward moments ’cause I’ll have this conversation anywhere.

I love it. Anyone I have,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): I love it. Met people in

Sonya Bohmann: the airport. I talk to my Uber drivers about it. Beautiful. I recently, I was in the Orlando airport and I was sitting along one of the, Orlando’s always packed, and so I was sitting along one of the window sections and I struck up a conversation with someone just because I talked to everyone, and he is oh, you sound like you’re from Philadelphia.

Shocking. He is what do you do? And so had this great conversation with them. But last week I just spoke to a very large company here about mental health and suicide prevention, who has offices in five states

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): watch from a

Sonya Bohmann: conversation in an airport,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): construction based.

Sonya Bohmann: They are facilities maintenance based.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Okay. That’s my next question. What if there’s people out there that are listening, man, damn dude we don’t [00:23:00] have this in, firefighting or they’re hearing it. Yeah. Is there something or direction that you can put them in other than 9 88 or someone, yeah. They, there’s other, 5 0 1 3 Cs or whatnot that are out there that are like you, that you do, you stay connected in your, I’m gonna date us right now, your Rolodex with our we’re putting ’em in touch.

Sonya Bohmann: Yeah. Okay. So I think that it’s important to know, one, that there are three numbers that you can always contact if you feel like you are in distress in some way. Yeah. Obviously, 9 1 1, if you feel like there’s an eminent emergency, right? 9, 8, 8. If you feel like there’s a mental health crisis happening, Uhhuh and then 2 1 1, which can connect you to other services that can support not just your mental health, but your physical health.

So always think about the intersection of those three numbers, right. Based on that, there are other organizations that sort of support all of those. And so the National Alliance on Mental Illness or nami, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, always great places [00:24:00] to start, right? They have right.

They each do their own thing, but they do them really well. And there are chapters all around the country that support each of those.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): I love that. I love that you have those numbers by heart. I know they’re short numbers, but that you break ’em down. 9 1 1 for the physical. 9, 8, 8 for the mental, and 2 1 1 could be other services such as poison control or community services, community stuff.

Yeah. I love that. I love that. How it is. So we’ve did this before, but I flipped this part up on you just a little bit for our leveling up lightning round and just gimme a really quick answer.

Five, 10 seconds max. But you ready to level up?

Sonya Bohmann: I’m let, I’m ready. Here we

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): go. One word that describes the culture shift you’re fighting for in construction

Sonya Bohmann: awareness.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Love it. What’s a daily habit that keeps your mental health strong?

Sonya Bohmann: Grounding.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Love it. Great. That’s good stuff. The best piece of advice you’ve ever received about resilience.

Sonya Bohmann: You don’t have to carry everything yourself.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Love that. [00:25:00] Love that, Sonya. So what’s the most common myth about suicide prevention? You want to smash right now?

Sonya Bohmann: That you have to be a mental health professional to make a difference. Yes.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Yes. So if you had a billboard outside every job site in America, what would it say?

Sonya Bohmann: Check in on each other,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): right? That Or are you okay? So we know that your nickname’s Jimbo. So Jen, if you had a sandwich, you could build a sandwich called the Jumbo.

And what would be on that sandwich? Chicken

Sonya Bohmann: cutlet, broccoli. Rob Sharp, pre alone.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Love it. Chest checkers or monopoly?

Sonya Bohmann: Monopoly.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Go to ice cream flavor.

Sonya Bohmann: Anything with nuts,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): most commonly used emoji. When you text, if any,

Sonya Bohmann: the the sideways, smiley face that’s like laughing.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Okay. And I know how you’re gonna answer this ’cause we’re from the same Jen, but the best decade of music.

Sixties, seventies, eighties, or nineties.

Sonya Bohmann: Eighties.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Okay. I love it. Of [00:26:00] course, we’re like looking at each other duh, it’s only the best. It was funny. I was listening to, I was hanging out with some younger squad this weekend and they had pit bull on and I started listening to the song and it had ahas take on me.

Remember the best video that’s ever been done?

Sonya Bohmann: Everybody samples the eighties.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Yes. Every book. It seems like it isn’t a, in. You know the songs these days all the way up to 2025 and we just lived in the best decade. Legitly the best decade. We didn’t have any smartphones. We don’t have tech neck, we’re like out on our bikes and you know that when it got dark you better be home.

That’s right. Kinda thing. So how can we find you, my friend? Prevent construction suicide.com. You can also find us at the C-I-A-S-P on all of our social channels. Excellent. And OI know that you’ve got a LinkedIn page.

Sonya Bohmann: My LinkedIn as well as Cisp,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): C-I-A-S-P. Gotcha. Yeah. So yeah. But the LinkedIn and the CI IASP squad go out, go up there.

They do have a donate now. [00:27:00] Or even a pledge to stand up and go out and visit and support this cause is super critical. Because these people are building buildings that are lasting for decades, and they’re putting their heart, soul, tears, everything into it. And it’s just a way for us to make sure that they’re okay.

And if, Sonya, if you could do me one last favor.

Sonya Bohmann: Yep.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): And leave me la One last knowledge nugget that we can take with us, internalize and take action on.

Sonya Bohmann: Start the conversation.

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): Love it and squad. That’s what I want you to do out there. Start that conversation. Really the job in, no matter what workforce you’re in, normalize the conversation for psychological safety.

Okay? There’s always physical safety. Let’s normalize it for psychological safety. Don’t be afraid to be labeled or judged. Okay let’s

Sonya Bohmann: just make them the same. Let’s talk about psychological safety and mental wellness. Just like we talk about physical safety,

L. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): just like Jen said right there. Yes. Make it the same.

Make it universal. My good friend Jen, like she’s taking things inch by inch or good friend Sonya, [00:28:00] sorry, inch by inch. It’s a cinch, right? Like by the yard. It’s hard. She’s taking things, small steps. She’s breaking off chunks. She’s never stops. She’s always moves forward. The universe has your back.

Dig into that book. I’ve read it. She’s read it. Books made a difference in both of our lives. That she’s planting trees. She’s probably never gonna sit in the shade of if she keeps doing what she’s doing, right? Remember the toolbox talks? Have those at your site. Have the toolbox talks with your crew.

If you are a foreman or a leader, and ask somebody that you see something that’s just not right, ask them, are you okay? And don’t press ’em like, are you okay? Okay. Are you okay? Like Sonya said, like there’s deadlines, just wanna make sure we’re good. We’re on the same page, that we’re moving forward and everything’s good.

Just be. Lean into ’em with that. Four. The Occupa four. Family, occupation, recreation, dream. Know your employees. I’m just asking you to please do that. ’cause one, you’ll retain ’em longer, and two, you’ll know if something’s going sideways with them. She wants you to chase your joy.

She’s doing things for the intention. Not the attention. You don’t [00:29:00] see her running into sites all dolled up looking j lo and like Lambos and stuff like that On social. She’s actually cares, like the pictures that I see are on social. She’s sitting at conference tables with people. Really game planning, right?

She wants you to chase your joy and ask the hard questions when needed. Are you okay? It’s the simplest thing you can ask, and so you, thank you so much for coming on. You level up your health, you level up your wealth. You’re absolutely stunning. You’ve earned your varsity letter here. Time to shine today and what you’re doing makes a huge difference.

Thank you so much for giving me a second chance in coming back on.

Sonya Bohmann: My pleasure. ThankL. Scott Ferguson (Coach Fergie): you. One last shout out to our good friend, Kirsten. Carrie, thank you so much, Kirsten.

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