Construction and AEC leaders — the affordable housing crisis has a blind spot, and it took a social worker to find it.

Rory Rubin spent her career in Alzheimer's research, healthcare, and management consulting. At 48, she realized she wasn't doing anything purpose-driven — so she started a construction company.

Not a car. Not a midlife crisis. A modular construction company that builds with shipping containers.

She sees the housing crisis differently. And after this conversation, you will too.

Rory Rubin is the founder of SI Container Builds, a sustainable modular construction company turning repurposed shipping containers into affordable housing, portable power pods, and workforce housing solutions. She joins Ryan Ware to discuss what social work taught her about collaboration, community, and why construction's biggest problems aren't technical — they're human.

This episode is brought to you by New Lyfe Accounting and Overcast Innovations.

In this episode:
Why Rory walked away from social work and healthcare to start a construction company at 48
The sustainability case for shipping containers — and why we're leaving them to waste
How a social worker's approach to community engagement changes project outcomes
"We're in a massive housing crisis in the United States" — and modular is part of the answer
"What got us here is not going to get us there" — on evolving the construction workforce
Why surrounding yourself with people smarter than you is the most underrated leadership move
Purpose-driven work: the two things you need to live a happy life

This conversation isn't just about shipping containers or affordable housing. It's about what happens when someone from outside the industry brings a completely different lens to construction's oldest problems. Whether you're leading a jobsite, a design team, or an entire organization, the question is the same: what are you missing because you've never seen it any other way?

This episode is for construction leaders who sense the industry is changing faster than their thinking. If you're open to seeing the housing crisis through a different set of eyes — start here.

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Timestamps:
0:00 — The moment Rory knew she needed purpose-driven work
8:31 — "I was 48 and realized I wasn't doing anything purpose-driven"
15:18 — Why the housing crisis isn't getting better
18:50 — Collaboration as a construction strategy
23:24 — What's fundamentally human about construction
29:22 — Why you don't need to be the smartest person in the room
34:18 — "What got us here is not going to get us there"
49:07 — The two things you need to live a happy life