Welcome to the Success Architect, where we don't just build homes, we build legacies. I'm your host, Jake Lewendal, custom home builder and coach. Each week, I sit down with builders and entrepreneurs who are ready to 10x their business, their health, and their mindset. This is where blueprints become breakthroughs. Let's get to work. Welcome. This is Lisa Walthers. We're here today with the success architect and Lisa Walthers is here. She is our first official employee with Momentum AI. She is the head of growth and I am just so excited to have her on the team. We're very lucky. because she has a massive amount of experience. So I'm really glad to have her on today because as always, we're going to talk about life. We're going to talk about what does success mean to you and how do you do it all? We actually had a conversation about having it all. earlier and how that means different things to everybody, which is really exciting. And then we're also going to talk about AI and construction and our specific software and how that pertains and how we hope to revolutionize the construction industry overall. So welcome today. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Good. And so let's just kick it off a little bit of background on how you got to Bozeman from San Francisco. Always been in tech. Give us a quick run through of how you I often tell the joke if somebody had asked me to bet a million dollars when I was like 22 that I'd be living in Bozeman, Montana, I would have said, take that bet because no way would I ever live But yeah, so I spent the majority of my life, adult life, I should say, living in cities. I actually grew up in the Midwest, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Couldn't wait to get out. It was one of those things where I just headed for the coasts immediately and ended up spending a bunch of time, about 13 years, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Moved out there on a whim. It was in 2008, kind of when the financial market They always say that tech industry, or at least the startup industry, is on a cyclical 10 year cycle in the Bay Area. And so I happened to move there when it was at Lots of companies closing because of obviously this financial crisis. But what that also meant was that was sort of the advent of new innovation, right? Because when things get smaller, new ideas come out. And, and that what that led to was me actually taking a initial career that was in policy. I was running legislation in the state government in California. And as I said, I used to be, I used to sell ideas and then I transitioned to selling products. But that led me to start joining different young startup companies in the Bay Area. So started out in a number of different industries. I was in pharmaceuticals, women's health. I was in the solar industry for over five and a half years. So a form of construction because we were putting residential solar panels on houses and was there for a number of years, worked at a number of smaller companies and then Just so happened to meet two entrepreneurs, one based in Boulder and one based in Bozeman. And they were starting a company and I decided to work remote for the first year of working for that company and was coming to Bozeman all the time. I joked that my second home was at the Copper Horse in Bozeman. Bozeman airport because I'd end up sitting there on most Fridays when I'd head back to the Bay area. But yeah, worked, was working and traveling and just decided, Hey, Bozeman seems like a great place to kind of catapult to. And so came here actually for a job, which I know a lot of people come here for lifestyle. Turns out I actually love the lifestyle, but, but came here for a job and ironically came here in February of 2020. So was driving my minivan. across the country and listening to this podcast about this crazy virus that was, I think in Europe or maybe China at Yeah. So moved here, worked at that venture backed business for about four and a half years and then started consulting for a number of early stage companies and was introduced to you and was just super excited about what you guys were doing here, but also I love early stage companies. I love seeing a blank canvas and going, man, like how do we build this? Where do we go? What do we do? Because it's just constant learning and innovation. So yeah, I believe you've called that being a Yeah, I was just gonna say like Lisa's main gig is startups and has been for 15 years plus. And she's just constantly a glutton for punishment, like going to new startups. So I'm really excited to have you here. And With all that experience, big cities, Bozeman, tech, like different, also tech in different industries with tech as the back, like the backbone of it, like how have your experiences shaped how you think about growth and people and like how growth and Yeah. So, I mean, I'm a marketer by trade, right? So I think marketing is half psychology and And so I love the idea of every company I've worked at, I start by really thinking about what is the psychology of our customer? What do they want? What do they need? What's their pain? How does our product alleviate that pain? And then it goes from there to really speaking, how do I talk to them? What do they want to hear? What is truth? How do I build trust? Right? So for me, the excitement is taking that. And then I've been called a dog with a bone multiple times. Essentially means like I love to hit a target, right? And I love to grow and achieve and I love the excitement. I think especially at early stage companies of your first 10 customers, it's like a high that you get because this idea you had is actually coming to life and you get to see that happen through the eyes of your early stage customers. You get to know them. You, you're constantly iterating and learning. You're constantly changing. So, for me, that really strikes a chord with creativity. Love it. And I don't do well when I'm confined to a space. I just do much better when I can be a creative problem solver. And so, for me, I think that's really what gets me excited about this Is that it's so much about learning and iterating and moving quickly. You're rarely just sitting still. That I love it. You're not leaving after the first 10 customers for Momentum AI No, I promise I'm not. I promise. I like to hit bigger numbers than that. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's fantastic. So marketing, people, psychology, like that's your game. Getting to know people, looking for the growth in people. So when you look back, like what prepared you most for that specific role? You are the head of growth. You do focus mostly on people with marketing. What prepared you most for this role? Like that 15 years I think there's like various sections of my life and career. I mean, obviously growing up, I was the only girl of three brothers. You learn to observe, you learn to persuade, you learn to use your words to get out of situations because I physically at some point couldn't. I wasn't stronger than my three brothers. So I had to get real creative about the psychology. As my brother once said to me, you might not be stronger than me, but your mouth and the words you say can cut like a knife. So I think that the psychology of that comes into play. But I also, my early career was in policy. So I actually started in Washington, DC, believe it or not. advocating and working on legislation there. And I think what that taught me was, number one, you have to be succinct in how you make a case. Like persuasion, you usually get 30 to 60 seconds with somebody on a legislative bill that you've maybe spent five years working And it might be like in a hallway walking by, right? In an What's your elevator pitch, right? And so it made me really think about how you get someone's attention right away. And that is marketing, right? You have less than two seconds to get somebody's attention. How are you going to do that? And you had to get really good at it. And I think the second piece that working in policy really prepared me for was This idea of you can't focus on the summit. You have to focus on Because I remember my boss, who is one of the world's leading public health nutritionists. I mean, she said, if I pass one federal And to like a 24 year old at the time, I'm going like, wait, just one bill. How do you, one bill? And she's like, yeah. That's how long it can take to basically bake legislation to find the right time to persuade, to get people on board. So I think what that taught me was a And, and also that sort of tenacity to go into the startup world, to be with entrepreneurs who have these huge ideas and huge visions and huge goals and be like, okay, yeah, we can do that. And so, so I think from that standpoint, and then of course, obviously, I mean, we could spend a day talking about the years in San Francisco, the lessons it taught me, the things I won't do again in my career, the things I will do and what that environment of working in really high growth, fast paced, fairly crazy startups led me to the value system Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Tell us a bit more about So I think San Francisco in particular in the time that I was there was, it was kind of what some of the movies are made about. It was the time where money was being just thrown at companies, millions and millions of dollars. The goals were astronomical and crazy. The work ethic was unsustainable. It was people working 60, 70 hour weeks, women choosing to forego some of their other dreams to pursue careers. I And I don't think it was healthy in a lot of ways. I think that the pandemic really forced a shift in work-life balance for people. I always tell the story that this was probably some of my own stuff, but when I started at the solar company that I worked at, I was a mom of two at the time, but I didn't tell anybody because it would, I felt, I won't put that, but I felt that it would have been perceived as a weakness. Oh, she can't stay for the extra meeting. She has to go do childcare pickup. She needs to leave to go pump milk. Cause I had a little baby. I just kept my personal life completely private and was there to work. And it, I think that actually is not, healthy. I think bringing your whole self to work is actually a really healthy way to have people realize that we're humans. We're not robots. And, and so I think San Francisco taught me a lot about the way I wanted to still maintain a hard work ethic, a great culture and work with integrity because of some of the mistakes I made and some of the leaders I worked for that I think made some of those same mistakes as Yeah. Interesting. Okay. Let's we're going to come But so you came from San Francisco, came over to Bozeman and you came over for a job, not just lifestyle like most people. Well, some people come here with no money and just figure it out. Some people come with a lot of money and still come for the lifestyle. But you came for work. What made you come and stay? Because Bozeman's small. Is there a lot of tech coming here? Is it expanding? What's your view of the Bozeman tech scene, I Yeah. So I think there's two answers to that question. So number one, I came in 2020, which was right when the pandemic happened. And all of a sudden this shift occurred, which was, Hey, you can actually work remote As an employee, as if I make you come into the office for eight hours every day. And so that was just this really eye-opening moment for me where I thought, oh, wait, I don't have to live in a city and exist on the treadmill. I call it the treadmill because you're just focused on what is right in front of you. And you rarely step off to go, is this sustainable? And I think a lot of people were living in that, in cities, San Francisco, New York, others. That's why Austin blew up, Bozeman blew up. Because suddenly you went, oh wait, I can get off the, I can actually get off the treadmill and I can still have a career. So that was sort of step number one. Step number two is that Bozeman actually has become sort of this bubble of tech entrepreneurship, which is really cool. I think that the pandemic, as awful as it was, also forced people to think that innovation can exist outside of the coasts. And that's like, that it, of course it can, right? It can be anywhere. There's investment can occur from anywhere. It doesn't, you don't have to live in the same place as venture capitalists to be able to get money. So that's been really exciting is to just see even in the last five and a half years that I've been here, that there is so much innovation existing here and that it's become an incubator in a lot of ways for entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial mindsets and companies to start. Not just for remote workers to be here, but for companies to actually exist in Bozeman. And that's been really cool to be a part of. And I'm super excited that you, Jake, also decided to be one of those entrepreneurs. Not that you weren't before, but especially in the tech arena. Yeah. Very cool. It's kind of cool too, because because of the lifestyle we have here, there's a relatively good pool of talent to pull from. Like we're very small, so talent usually is difficult to come by in a small area. And because of the lifestyle that's available here, And because of COVID and the different mindset that it gave us, it offers us the ability to have some pretty good talent right here in our valley, which What made you suddenly say, Hey, I want to transition from building custom homes in big sky to starting Yeah, totally. Yeah. There's probably a whole episode on I've wanted to do tech since I was like maybe I just had no idea what my dad was in construction and I was in construction. I actually had planned to go to school to be a film director for And the last minute I changed my major to business. And then I worked for my dad. And so I worked and went to school and I fell in love with construction and I'm still in love with it. I almost burned myself out of it, which I think I talked about on a past episode. But tech and something, I guess something a little bigger construction is huge and the potentials of building a massive company with massive impact is also huge but the thing with construction for me is ever since I let's see probably since I was like 18 or 19 when I first started working for my dad in management capacity from 19 to I don't know age 19 to 23 I worked for him in a management capacity And all I could think about was on the job site was like, this can be done in such a better way. And I was like, but I have no idea what that is. So I always thought there's, I'm gonna innovate and find a better way to do construction, whether it's modular walls. prefab things like that. And then a lot of people started doing that. Some people did a really terrible job at it. Some people did a really good job. And now it's like a standard of doing prefab. It's what we do for all of our framed walls are done down in Belgrade and we bring them up to big sky no matter how big the house is. And that's very cool. But I just still am. There's bigger and better ways to do this to make it more efficient, to make it faster. And so this company Momentum AI. AI started hitting us a couple of years ago. It's been out for a long more, longer than that, but as standard consumers, it's now very available. And I found a spot in our company that was taking up way too much time and energy. And it just so happened it was taking time and energy from me because I was able to delegate most of the other work in the company, but I still am doing a lot of the estimating. I hired an estimator a couple months after we started the development on the product, which has been fantastic, but I'm still very involved. So it was somewhat an opportunity that I just was like, oh, this is here. Why can't we do this? And it was also a personal struggle because it was the only thing that I So I was like, well- And also so important for the margins of your business, right? If you're not estimating accurately, you're burning Exactly, exactly. And so, you know, we haven't talked a lot about the software, it's take off and estimating software, AI driven take off and estimating, and hopefully later on, it's AI driven like autonomous submittals, RFI, conflict detection, like all this stuff. Right. And so I basically found what are the things that it just so happened I was currently working on and what sucked up most of my day. And all of a sudden I started asking, wow, can you do this for me? And And it was very inaccurate. And I was like, Okay, but it kind of did it. If we can design something that can actually do this and do takeoffs and estimating for us, like, wow. And the other part too that I've found in construction for our company is our profitability is 100% based on our estimating. Yep. And so for the projects we're on, they're two, three plus years long. I'm building out the profitability of my company for the next four years today, which is really scary. If you don't do it right, you've set yourself up for failure. And yes, any good contractor understands how the change order process works and there's ways to come out of that still in integrity. But You're going to have happier customers too, right? Because we all know that Yeah, that's huge conflict. And there's ways to make it not conflict, but that's the change orders is the buzzword of the industry. Right. And. The other part is my dad used to say in construction, 50% of the project is complete before you dig a hole. And all I could see is that we were struggling so hard through the process, going back and finding issues And we were starting to get pretty well set up with our staff and our lookaheads that we were finding a lot of these issues. We were still struggling. Our framers would find issues on the site and then you have them sitting there. You got to move them to another piece of the house because you have to get questions answered. And it takes one to five to 10 days to do that, especially with now Construction's very litigious. The amount of documentation and process that we have to do on the administrative side for these large houses is massive. And it's, that's just the standard. So it's what we deal with. So I'm like, okay, how do we cut this down to a 10th or a 20th of the work and have the quality of the work equal or better? Yeah. And so that's the premise and that's why I'm building this company. But also largely like this company, we get this foundational tech stack set up. It leaves so Beyond this to now start actually changing the construction industry like I thought could happen back when I was Well, and how unique that you as a tech entrepreneur also have the understanding of what it's like to actually be in the field. That is so unique compared to most, if not all tech companies. You're not a computer programmer who looked at the total addressable market of residential construction and was like, Oh, that's a lot. Hey, I can use AI to do something about this. You were somebody running a company in the field, understanding the pains truly, and then taking that and applying it to your entrepreneurial mind and saying, well, how can we use innovation to actually fix this? Which I think is so unique to this company. And honestly, one of the things that made Good. Well, that leads perfectly to, again, your glutton for punishment, construction industry. Most people like run from the construction industry. I mean, most people in the construction industry are probably in it because like their dad was a builder and it just. just kind of fit. I just kind of fell into it. And that's kind of how I And I had choices and I made choices to be here, which I'm glad I did. Life would be a lot different if I didn't. But like, you No, I mean, along the glutton for punishment theme, but I think for me, one thing that really excites me, and maybe this comes from my background in policy, but is I love industries that are just like ripe for change and construction isn't going anywhere, right? But yet you look at the systems. I mean, I've just been blown away and I'm drinking from a fire hose most days learning, but I've been blown away by how antiquated a lot of the stuff is that you guys do and how we have solutions on the table, but there's definitely the struggle here goes back to that psychology piece is how do we get the skepticism away from the mindset of a lot of people in the field to say technology can Versus disable me, right? I don't need to fear it. It can actually be my partner in making my job easier and better. And I think that many companies, although in completely different arenas, it is the same core problem is getting a non-tech user to think about tech as a power tool for them, right? It's something that they can utilize to be better at their job, not something they have to fear is going to take their job away. And in the company that I was at previously, I worked with childcare workers and it was the same exact core issue, right? A fear of technology, but yet technology could enable them to be so much better at their job. And so I see that as just such an awesome and incredible problem to try to tackle. And also I think there is, there's just a huge, we call it TAM, total addressable market in residential construction that allows the business to also be very successful. And so, so yeah, that, that's what got me super excited. And then obviously meeting you, Jake, I see this, I'm, I'm an entrepreneur in my mind. Like I love being around other people with big ideas and big goals. And I loved the team and everyone has just such a hands-on approach to wanting to do exceptional things here at Momentum. And I think that excites me. I tend to, at this stage in my career, team is one of the main factors in how I choose where I'm going to land. That was a huge factor in also wanting to come here is I just think the team is exceptional and exciting and That's so awesome. That's so awesome. Okay. So when it comes to leaders, this kind of goes to culture that you talked about too. You've worked at a lot of other big companies, very many of very successful. What separates just like a standard owner or founder from a Ugh. Number one for me is integrity. which is what are you doing when no one's watching? And do your words and That's a leader to me. A leader is someone who makes the hard decisions and has the tough conversations. So a big thing for me in my career that I learned from previous leaders that I've worked with is radical candor, which is having tough conversations with empathy, but Where I see leaders fail a lot is their inability to have tough conversations with their team, have tough conversations with themselves, and lead with that radical candor. It's a book and a TEDx talk, if you really want to just do the 15 minutes. But that has probably been the most impactful value that I've brought into leading teams, working with teams, because it's not just about being a leader. It's about everyone you work with, above, Yeah. But those are two of, and then I think also just holding yourself to the same standards that you hold other people. That's, I mean, that goes along with integrity, but luckily I have teenagers who keep me on my toes every second telling me all the ways in which I am not doing the things that I say. And so, but I think that that's the culture I want to cultivate in any team that I work with A hundred percent. That's awesome. Speaking of your house. So this podcast is about business. We happen to talk about construction a lot because that's our like where we originate. Yeah. But it's also it's the success architect where we talk about success in every division of life. Yeah. And before this we were joking but talking about having it all. And you said it's not possible. And I said well it depends how So we can talk about that a little bit. Mostly like you have been successful in many facets of your life, which is really cool to see. You're a single mom and you have three kids. And so tell us a little bit about how you have evolved and you continue to work in a very high output industry. in a very high output position when you've had a similar position at other companies. So how do you Oh, gosh. Sometimes not really beautifully. Sometimes it's really messy. And I think when I say things like it's impossible to have it all, I think what I really mean is I grew up in this generation where that was what women were told. You can have it all, the amazing career, be the best mom, do this, do that, have these hobbies. And what I really want to say is, And that it's not all on you. Count on a village. Rely on whether you have family, you have friends, you have church, whatever you have. I mean, it's trite, but it does take a village. And I think if there's one thing that I want to instill in my kids is that they don't have to do it all by themselves. And so that means I have Sunday dinners at my mom's house sometimes. And sometimes we have Sunday dinners with all my single mom friends and their kids. And we cultivate that sense of community amongst people that I want my kids to say, I can rely on them. If I need help, if I'm stuck in a situation, I've got other people to rely on. So I think that was probably the fallacy of my generation was this idea that you had to sort of do it all yourself or that there was shame in saying, yeah, I have, I, if I can't afford it, I have a nanny or I send my kids to daycare. There's no shame in that. Right. I've been really proud that I've been a working mom my whole career, but also that wouldn't have been possible had it not been for some of the nannies I've had or the daycares that my kids have gone to or my mom helping out. There's, there are, there's a lot of help along the way and friends that I call a friend. Hey, in a pinch, can you pick up my kid? I'm running late. Right. And I think that's more what I'm, hope that I can instill in a younger set of women is just this idea, you don't have to be perfect. You can have a day where you say, I love my kids, but I don't really like them today. They were really hard and there's nothing wrong with that, right? That's being human and being human is being imperfect. And, and I think that's That's amazing. Just because I know from talking to my wife and seeing her go through life and her friends, they're exactly what you talked about. There's this fallacy that especially on Instagram, you see very successful women. doing And I'm not going to go into too much on this, but like, I see a difference between doing it all and having it all. And so if we take that as like the foundational statement of what we're talking about, many women, especially this happens to men as well. But while we're talking about women, they see other women on Instagram who can do it all. They have it all. And it looks like they do it all. but actually in the background, they have nannies, house managers, people, community. You talked about just how important it is to build a community, but how many, What I see is that many people are showing on Instagram and showing to the world that they actually don't have that community. They do it all themselves. So kind of not repeating what you said, but help any women listeners and any listeners at all understand that it's okay to ask for help, that there's value in that and that you don't actually have to do And to say it's hard, I think, just to be honest about your feelings, there are days that it's brutal. There are days I feel like a terrible parent. There are days I feel like, oh, I'm not cutting it enough at work. I mean, that's all reality, right? And I think that Instagram and all these things, listen, I'm a marketer. It's a snapshot. Right? Like you can look at my Instagram and it's probably very cultivated for the wonderful moments. And that's what you, what people decide to share. But I think the biggest thing is asking yourself like what your values are and trying to focus on that versus comparing yourself to others. I mean, it's impossible. That's what all social media. us to do, or take the nugget, take the nugget that you like and leave the rest. And that's, again, it's a snapshot, but I think we just all need to give ourselves a little bit more grace. At the end of the day, my kids, often I tell them, my generation was told so often, And my mom, I remember, and my mom's the sweetest, right? But she'll still say, I just want you to be happy. And I say, mom, happiness is a feeling, it's not a destination. And that's what I say to my kids. Like, happiness is a feeling, it comes and goes. Everything is momentary, right? It comes and it goes. And do I want you to be fulfilled? Do I want you to be curious? Do I want you to be challenged? Do I want, yes, all of those things. And some of those moments may lead to happiness. but it's not like this world, this place we get to where it's, how boring would that be anyways? I mean, I would much rather feel all the highs and lows of everything than to just sit in perpetual happiness. So anyway, my point being that to me is kind of what social media can give you is this sense of, oh, they just live in perpetual happiness. And turns out it's really hard and turns out it's also maybe not what we all want. I would rather have the full human experience, which means there's going to be days that are brutal, but without the brutality, you wouldn't be able to appreciate the joy. And I think that's ultimately God damn, that is well said. Nice work. Nice work. Okay. We wrap up every single episode with a special question. Same every time. So you might know what's coming. You might not. Oh, I don't. Ah, that's perfect. What Success means to me, I have peace and that at the end is what I care about is how I made people feel. And success for me isn't a number. It's not a bank account. It's not a car. I mean, those things are nice. But for me, when I die, I want people to remember how I made them feel. And that's what I try to live by. Because to me, that is part of that integrity piece I talk about. And success truly is for me living in integrity. And that's my goal Beautiful. Beautiful. That's awesome. Okay. Well, thank I think we'll have to have you back on because there's so much more to talk about. When we get this thing launched, we'll be ready to talk about it all day long. It's going to be so fun. So thank you for being on the team. We appreciate you and everything you bring. And thank you for joining today Thank you. Thanks for tuning in to The Success Architect. If today's episode helped you lay a stronger foundation for your business or your life, subscribe and share it with someone ready to do the same with theirs. You can follow me, Jake Lewendal, on social for daily tips on health, wealth, and building success that lasts. Until next time, keep designing,