We’re Josh and Amy. Founders of Project BUILT. Partners in sarcasm, laughter, and survival.

We met each other at a crossroads in both of our lives. It wasn’t cute enough for a country song. It was more like a back-alley intersection between pain and hope. 

Amy had been a mother the entirety of her adult life, raising three kids. She worked, volunteered in nonprofits, and somehow carved out time to earn her MBA. My path was different. High voltage lines, job site chaos, and a journey through addiction recovery.  Even though it seemed like we came from different worlds, we found something special in each other, and (naturally) decided to jump in head first.

 

As a new family of five, we navigated trying to build our lives together within an industry that sometimes leaves too little time to truly connect.  I worked long hours away from home and on the road, leaving both of us feeling isolated at times.  As life goes, whenever we felt like we were starting to figure things out we would hit another bump in the road, and we just kept trying to put one foot in front of the other.  We finally got a real break and some traction in our lives together after getting some solid recovery under our feet, and a job close to home.

Then we lost a baby. Second trimester. Three days before our wedding.
Everything stopped.

That grief cracked us open. Finding time to grieve, to even be together, was a battle within an industry that doesn’t traditionally acknowledge personal tragedy or allow space for healing.  We found ourselves rooted in isolation once again.  But this time, one foot in front of the other wasn’t working for us.

We needed a lifeline, so I decided to use my company’s EAP (Employee Assistance Program) for the first time and started the long crawl inward. Together, we turned toward the work, and back to each other. It wasn’t pretty. There were so many times neither of us thought we’d be together another day, let alone long enough to be sharing our story with you.  We had to rethink what we had been doing, and create something that matched what we actually needed.

In sharing my story, I found that it was a common thread among my peers.  Many of us were struggling with these big human experiences, isolating ourselves without proper tools or support.  Staying “tough.” And not all of us were making it through them alive.

Amy and I think the “way it’s always been done” is not cutting it anymore. So we founded Project BUILT.

For the workers whose hands built America and whose hearts are breaking under the silence. For the families holding it together while the industry tears them apart. For the ones who think healing is out of reach…we’re here to tell you it’s not.

We don’t claim to have all the answers. But we do know this: The system needs an overhaul.  Our workers are whole people who deserve more than they’ve been given. And there’s a way through. It’s messy, without a finish line, and the hardest thing we’ve ever done. But it’s also incredibly rewarding.

This is our work. This is our legacy. And if you’re still reading, maybe it’s yours too.