LivLive Ep. 0000034 - Todd Hansen

LivLive Ep. 34 – Todd Hansen (QuarterSawn Design Build)Why “Director of Experience” Might Be the Most Important Role in Design-BuildIn this episode of LivLive, Dave sits down with Todd Hansen, Director of Experience at QuarterSawn Design Build in Minneapolis—a role that challenges the way most remodeling companies think about structure, culture, and client experience.Todd wasn’t a founder.He wasn’t brought up through the trades.He was brought in early—when the company had just nine people—to build something most companies talk about but never actually implement: a deliberate, managed experience for both clients and the internal team.The conversation unpacks how QuarterSawn’s founder, architect Jeff Nicholson, recognized that building culture and experience wasn’t his strength—and instead of ignoring it, made it a dedicated leadership function.From there, Todd has shaped a role that sits across client experience, team culture, trade relationships, and overall company alignment.This episode dives into what that actually looks like in practice—and why this kind of role may be one of the biggest opportunities in design-build today.What a “Director of Experience” actually does in a design-build companyWhy culture doesn’t happen by accident—and why most companies fail at itThe difference between talking about culture vs. actually building itHow experience applies to clients, trade partners, and internal teamsWhy Jeff Nicholson intentionally hired for this role early (at ~9 employees)How to address retention and turnover through experience designThe idea that leaders should build around their weaknesses—not ignore themWhy this role is starting to spread across top design-build firms00:00 – Intro + Todd’s role at QuarterSawn02:00 – What is a “Director of Experience”?05:00 – Why Jeff created this role early08:30 – Culture vs. actually doing the work12:00 – Internal vs. external experience16:30 – Retention, turnover, and team dynamics21:00 – Leadership self-awareness (playing to strengths/weaknesses)26:00 – How this role is spreading across the industry30:00+ – Applying this thinking to other design-build firmsWrap Up – Key takeaways