Straight Talk – an ISSA Podcast

Episodes

• 
  Who Tells the Boss What to Do? 17.09.2026 10m

  Accountability comes easily when the conversation centers on employees, supervisors and frontline managers. Expectations get set, performance gets tracked, and someone steps in when results fall short.
• 
  Certified to Advocate: Taking Restoration’s Story to Washington 15.09.2026 22m

  What does the future of advocacy look like for the IICRC and the industries it serves?
• 
  From Opinion to Evidence: The Next Era of Professional Cleaning 15.09.2026 33m

  At The Experience Convention & Trade Show in Las Vegas recently, three physicians spent their days talking not with patients but with carpet cleaners and disaster restoration contractors.
• 
  When Harassment Shows Up at Work 14.09.2026 16m

  What happens when a cleaning employee reports harassment—and is your company prepared to handle it correctly?
• 
  The Future is Already Here 01.09.2026 12m

  It’s time to give the next generation the opportunity—and freedom—to lead.
• 
  Before the Trucks Roll: Inside Disaster Communications 25.08.2026 21m

  When a hurricane makes landfall, a tornado tears through a community, flooding overwhelms a town, or a wildfire forces thousands to evacuate, restoration contractors often arrive ready to help—but long before that first truck rolls in, an enormous communication network is already hard at work.
• 
  Inside the Creation of Imperial Brady 24.08.2026 12m

  What did it take to bring two distribution giants to the same table? This is the inside story.
• 
  Turning Customer Reviews Into Marketing Fuel 20.08.2026 7m

  Collecting 5-star feedback is the easy part. Putting it to work is where most cleaning and restoration companies stop short.
• 
  Accountability Isn't Punishment. It's Clarity. 20.08.2026 6m

  Why do so many business owners dread conversations about accountability? The answer may surprise you.
• 
  Hiring Without an HR Department 19.08.2026 14m

  Hiring employees is hard enough. Doing it without an HR department can feel nearly impossible.
• 
  The Restroom Metric the Industry Never Tracked 17.08.2026 28m

  Most facility teams can say how much soap a building goes through in a month. They can pull cleaning frequencies, towel usage, service calls, and complaint logs. What almost none of them track is whether the person who walks into the restroom can finish washing their hands and get back out the door without touching something.
• 
  Integrity Commercial Products: A Company Betting on Innovation and Durability Over Commodity 14.08.2026 27m

  What does it take to launch a manufacturing company in today's commercial cleaning industry?
• 
  The Business of Sustainability on Stage at ISSA Show 05.08.2026 18m

  Sustainability is no longer limited to environmental responsibility. For today’s professional cleaning organizations, it is increasingly connected to efficiency, customer value, risk management, regulatory readiness, and long-term business resilience.
• 
  From Industry Marketing Leader to ISSA Executive: Laura Craven's Vision for Members 03.08.2026 18m

  Laura Craven joins ISSA as Vice President of Marketing and Communications, bringing years of industry leadership and a passion for building strong member relationships.
• 
  How Bedside Manner Can Become Restoration's Competitive Advantage 28.07.2026 25m

  Insurance has always been about managing risk, but many restoration professionals believe the claims process has become increasingly difficult to navigate.
• 
  Inside RIA's Fight for Restoration Recognition 28.07.2026 33m

  For decades, the restoration industry has played a critical role in helping property owners recover from water damage, fire losses, mold contamination, storm events, and other disasters. Yet despite its specialized expertise, restoration has never had its own dedicated federal industry classification. That may soon change.
• 
  The New Rules of Winning Customers in an AI-Driven World 23.07.2026 14m

  Artificial intelligence isn't just changing how service companies operate. It's changing how customers buy. Companies that rely on outdated sales tactics or slow follow-up may lose business before they even know they were being considered.
• 
  Growing Faster but Making Less? Here’s Why 23.07.2026 10m

  Growth is exciting. More customers, more employees, more trucks on the road all look like success. But behind that growth, many building service contractors are discovering a harder truth: revenue doesn't automatically translate into profit.
• 
  The Industry We Are Becoming 22.07.2026 12m

  As ISSA President, Laurie Sewell has had the opportunity to connect with professionals from every corner of the cleaning and facility solutions industry.
• 
  Your Employees Are Using AI. But Are They Still Thinking? 22.07.2026 19m

  AI is transforming the workplace, but is it also changing the way employees think?