We’ve started a new series, “AKA” or “Ask Kevin Anything.” And wow, did our listeners deliver! From Kevin’s most difficult issue concerning running a business and then the mantra Kevin uses during dark times to how Kevin goes about creating goals for the future, to a technical question involving external wall material, we had a nice range of subject matter for this first episode, along with many more questions we’ll address in future episodes.

While KCB hasn’t been able to work with Interior Designer Georgia Zikas yet, she’s been a familiar face for years. At this past Luxury Home Design Summit, we bonded over a presentation involving what Summit presenter Seth Cohen calls “Applied Positivity.” Georgia approached us with coming on the pod to discuss this in more detail, especially with how Cohen employs “hope” as a design construct. We also brought up his approach to curiosity as “the most honest form of optimism.” 

On October 29th, we hosted the New England Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art in a Boiler Room panel discussion titled, “Preservation vs. Performance: Renovation in the Modern Era.”

This past May at the Luxury Home Design Summit Steve Siegel had a bit of a “moment.” With about sixty seconds to spare at the mic, he rolled out a description of what he and his company does—structural engineering—in a way that set the room of about 400 designers, builders, architects, and trade partners abuzz. It was great writing and a great delivery, making the work of structural engineering feel like something altogether new. While KCB has worked with Steve on several projects and has known of him for decades, this experience got us thinking that we’d love to hear more.

From his role as both managing partner of New England Home magazine and co-founder of the Luxury Home Design Summit, Adam Japko is a force in Boston’s build-design community. With personal interests like fishing and wine tasting, rounding him out, Adam is a genuine one-of-a-kind presence. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to hear him present, you know he’s not only comfortable in front of an audience, he’s a serious thinker with a great sense of humor. 

Of all the discussions we’ve hosted, this one stuck out as not just unique but also evergreen; builders and designers are from two very different worlds. This makes the conversation really amazing when we all get together to talk it out.

Architect Matthew Arnold has been a familiar face in the homebuilding community. Recently, Kevin had a conversation with him where he shared that he left a firm he had been with for 15 years, to strike out on his own. His new business is called ArnoldAnd. 

This is our second episode of a new series where we do a deep dive in things that are Hard to Make. Before Kevin started KCB, he served in the Coast Guard, and one of his takeaways was the POD or “Plan of the Day.” The idea is that you have three “big” things you want to tackle during the day.

Architect J.B. Clancy, of ART Architects, holds the record for guest spots on Boiler Room panels. Along with his work on the SUNFLOWER, an historic stick-style Victorian, J.B. shares a love of Jamaica Plain, the neighborhood in Boston that Kevin has called home most of his life.

Introducing a series we’re calling “Hard to Make.” This is a story Kevin’s been wanting to tell for decades, the culmination of a lifetime of experiences as a carpenter, woodworker, and general contractor. And so periodically, we’ll drop one of these short episodes into the feed. 

In this episode, Kevin and Josh discuss all things Jamaica Plain, the neighborhood in Boston where they both live. Josh is the founder and leader of The Muncey Group real estate agency and founder of The Welcome Home Fund, a group that helps first-generation homebuyers of color make their downpayment on a home.

In our first special bonus episode, we have Jim Gauthier to talk about Boston Pride, along with his own coming out story, and more. Of course, we also asked for Jim’s Pride mixtape rundown, and Jim did NOT disappoint, including a special cinematic shoutout to Birdcage.

When you are lucky to know someone professionally for nearly 30 years, a bond gets formed. In the case of Kevin and Jim Gauthier, anyone can see how strong their relationship is when they get together. Their openness and comfort with one another really comes through in this wonderful conversation from the Boiler Room. And just wait until you hear them harmonize!

In December of 2024 we assembled a panel of principles—builder, interior designer, and landscape architect, to go deep on the topic of company culture. Tiffany LeBlanc contributed a lot to the discussion, from her position as the founder of Tiffany LeBlanc Design. She is a great podcast guest in this follow-up chat. Her combination of high emotional and social intelligence, along with her experience, allows her to be insightful, hilarious, and almost-but-never inappropriate.

Last November Michael Oh, founder and president of TSP Smart Spaces, gave a presentation in the Boiler Room titled, “Beyond AI: Visioning Design & Construction in 2030.” We had Michael back to the Boiler Room to follow up with questions, which we aired last week in Episode 3 of the KCB Boiler Room Podcast. 

Of all the panels we’ve hosted, this one on artificial intelligence and predicting the future felt like the one that was most in need of a follow up, especially because the speaker is one of the most down-to-earth while simultaneously brilliant and charming people you’ll ever come across, Michael Oh, founder and president of TSP Smart Spaces.

Two years after a panel we hosted about why you should work with interior designers, we invited panelist and interior designer Kristen Rivoli back to the Boiler Room to reminisce, as well as to check in about how things have changed.

The three moments we brought Eric in to revisit were Kevin’s favorite part of camaraderie—eating lunch together; Eric’s story of a moment that’s stayed with him involving this adage: “When money isn’t a problem, everything else is”; and another moment Eric had on the panel about democratizing success.