Isaac (00:09): What is up everybody! Isaac here with Civil Engineering Academy? Excited to be with you on another podcast episode. Thanks for liking and subscribing to this stuff in this weird world of the internet that we are on. Goes a long way. If you can leave, comment, or share with another engineering friend, that's always good stuff. But today I'm excited. We're gonna unpack a lot about the structural engineering world. I bring a guest on his name's Daniel Bressler. He is a professional engineer in New York. He actually graduated with a master's degree in structural engineering in New York and he started working and he decided he wanted to start his own structural engineering company. And so he went out and started that. He called it D and B engineering and he's starting to do his own stuff. So there's a lot to unpack here. I thought it would be very interesting to find out what his mindset was as he was going through school, as he was working, why he started his own company. And if there's any desire for you out there to start your own company, especially whether you're a structural engineer or really any other type of engineer, you can start doing your own stuff. But kind of what was his mindset going through that? How are things now? What are his challenges right now? Or does he see challenges in five years? All of that good stuff comes up in our conversation. So if you've ever had a desire to go into the structural engineering field or a desire to start your own firm, I think there's a lot of wisdom that Daniel shares here and it's gonna be good stuff. So without further ado, I will go ahead and shut up. Let get to my interview with Daniel and he spills the beans on everything structural engineering and including starting your own engineering firm. So let's check it out.

Speaker 1 (01:41): It's coming up in a minute. See ya. Before we actually dive in today's episode, I have some exciting news to share with you to start out this new year, the best possible way, we are gonna be running this entire month a sale to help make sure you kick all these N-C-E-E-S exams in the butt once and for all and get 'em all passed. And that is that throughout this month, we're gonna be offering 20% off any of our courses that we offer. So that means FEPE or CFM review courses that we have out there for you. So whatever exam is standing in the way of you actually getting licensed and leveling up your career as well as your income, we're gonna be here to help you knock this thing. So to take advantage of this, go check out links in our description for your particular course or go check out civilengineeringacademy.com and use the discount code new year sale at checkout. The discount will automatically be applied to any access option that you choose. Whatever works for you. It is simple as that. So again, just click on the course link that applies to what you're looking for and use that discount code new year, sell at checkout and get 20% off. So it's exciting news. Let's get back to the episode. Thanks for tuning in. Let's make this a great new year and a boost to your career and your life. So with that, we'll see you in a minute.

Speaker 2 (02:55): Alright, Daniel, we're rocking and rolling. Thanks for joining me today on the Civil Engineering Academy podcast. Appreciate you doing this with me.

Daniel (03:01): Awesome. Yeah, I'm happy to be here. And let's see, let's see what happens.

Isaac (03:05): Yeah, this will be good. I'm excited to chat with you. You've done a lot of work with ASCE or structural engineer. Sounds like you've got your own business going on, so you got a lot going on in your world and I'm excited to kinda, you know, pull some questions out of your experience that we can share with others that may be going down a similar pathway. But I always love to kinda start these out by just kinda you sharing your own journey. Why, why did you become pe? What was that route like for you? Is anyone in your family a pe? Like why did you choose that? So why don't you start there?

Daniel (03:41): So I'll start from the beginning. Yeah, so I maybe like a lot of other people I actually didn't know I wanna go into engineering in high school. I never took a physics course. I knew I liked how things work and I knew I'm good at math. I didn't particularly love it. I was just good at it. Like I picked up on it really quick. So I started college my first year. I didn't know what I wanna go into, no clue. So I just kind of floated around, took random courses, kind of same thing, like I like sciences I was good at math and kinda whatever. So after the first year, I sat down in the family and we're all very blunts people, all from New York. So we're very direct and we're like, okay, what are, what's Z gonna do with his life? And we're like, okay, let's, let's have, let's have a, a meeting. So we all sit down and then my friend who's, or a family friend who's a he's an engineers, a mechanical engineer, he pitched ideas. He is like, why don't you go for engineering? It sounds like it just, everything sounds like it makes sense. Take a physics course and see how you feel about it. So I took like an entry level physics course and I fell in love with it, which is the nerdiest thing to say, but I just loved it. And then from there on I was just, yeah, I was like, okay. He is like, yeah, go for, go for engineering. So I took my physics math and all that other good stuff wrapped up. And then going into how did I, getting my PE So once I graduated, I start working, okay, what's the next step?

Daniel (04:57): I was like, well, I wanna get my master's. That was kind of a big deal for me. So I was like, but I don't want to get it while I don't wanna just go to school and then just school, school, school. 'cause Let's say I graduate and I don't really like this and then have a master's degree and I have nothing to use it for. So I was like, okay, let me work for a year and then go back to school while working. So I did that and I was like, okay, got my master's, what's the next logical step in these things? I was like, oh, it must be must be pe. So then I signed up for that study for it and then got my pe Yeah. And then to answer the question, family wise yeah, so no one in my family is an engineer. My family friend who's kind of like uncle, he's an engineer, he's a mechanical engineer, but everyone else in my family is a bunch of medical. So doctor aist nurses. That's kind of the quick summary of, of how I got here.

Isaac (05:45): Oh, that's good. There's some stuff unpacked there for sure. One of it is where did you go to school? Did you, you know, were you able to make some friends within school as you were going through, through engineering as well, that could be kind of a support group for you? How is that for you in terms of the mindset and things for, and really for any engineer that may be considering going this or not?

Daniel (06:08): So I started off in Brooklyn College. I'm from Brooklyn, so I started off there and there's like a pre-engineering program. So essentially they teach you all your physics and math courses, your pre-reqs, it's not an actual engineering course. And then from there you just transfer out after two years. So then from there I transfer to N NYU U. So in, in that pre-engineering course, I had a group of friends. Honestly, we still keep in touch. We go out every year and as engineers are actually really efficient at this is like the most, I'm so proud of this, basically we go like, okay, what month are we meeting up? And we're like, okay we'll have something in July, I something June, okay, June, June 24th, we'll get a random date. And then everyone goes, okay, what are you doing? And we go kind of just bounce around, okay, maybe it's the 25th. And pretty much within like three minutes we have like a date. And they're like, okay, where we go the last time we were in Brooklyn, okay, we're going Queens. This time I'm like, within like, basically within 10 minutes we go figure out like a date, a place a time, and like everyone's like confirmed and we do this like six months in advance. So we all have something like, we all have it on our calendars already. And I think like that's one of the most engineering things like can pick up really be so efficient at just at just socializing . So yeah, so I still keep in touch with those friends from Brooklyn. And that was my first two years in college, three years, because that first year I didn't know what I wanted to. And then and then at NYUI, yeah, I had a bunch of friend groups also that I still keep in touch with.

Daniel (07:23): And I'd say a big mistake I actually made was after graduating, I stopped keeping in touch with all friends because I'm like, you know what? I graduated, that's it. I'm done school. Like those are my school friends. Now I'm a grownup and now it's time for grownup friends. And then I started working and like my first six months at my first job, I really was a very unpleasant experience and it was just not a good company to be at. And I yeah, but I, I didn't think like, oh wait, I could reach out to my friends to ask them, is this normal? And then only after, I think like a year, like I switched companies and like a year after I graduated I was like, I just reached out again. I was like, Hey guys, what's going on? This and this? And they're like, oh my god, I haven't spoken to you in so long. Why haven't you reached out earlier? Whatever. I realized like, oh, the phone works both ways. And then, yeah, so I did broke up that relationship with all my friends. We still keep it up.

Isaac (08:07): That's great. Yeah, I think you know, having your network close at hand is always a good thing. Stay in touch with those that you study with. I still remember there's a core group I studied with and we still run into each other occasionally and try to stay in touch with each other to see where they're at and what's going on. But those connections are really good.

Daniel (08:26): Yeah, I'd also say that the whole engineering industry is smaller than you think. It's large, but it's smaller than you think. So you're gonna run into the same people in your co-works or you're in college with in five, 10 years, you're gonna end up running into them through, like, I'd been on calls where I was representing the client and someone else representing the neighboring clients and I was like, oh my gosh, that's like my classmate who's like the other engineerable line. So it's just, it's funny to shoot a text, be like, Hey, what's going on? Nice to see you on the zoom call and yeah,

Isaac (08:53): That happens all the time. Yep. So you'll, you'll see people that also relates to like careers too. Like it, it's probably helpful not to burn bridges if you're bouncing around a little bit and you know, that's never a good idea to, to burn a bridge. But you're gonna work with these people probably or your whole career or be in touch with them at some point in your career again in some project in the future.

Daniel (09:17): Yes. And I'd add to that is that for job searching is that people don't really look at job boards as much as you think it's more connections. For example, if you are thinking of, I have my own company, but like if anyone's thinking about hiring someone, you, if you know, like of your friend who is looking for a job or you, your friend who recommends someone, that recommendation goes a lot further than just a random name on a screen. I'm sure that person might be a great candidate, but if that personal connection goes a lot further than just randomly throwing your resume places. So if you are looking for a job, your connection is actually better. Your network was actually a very good resource to utilize.

Isaac (09:57): So I have a, a question for you. Some people debate the value of getting that master's degree, but it sounds like that's something you wanted kind of right off the bat. But it sounds like you were working while you got it. Is that accurate or?

Daniel (10:10): Yes. I had a hot take on this if we already go into that. My personal opinion is it's not required. Like I don't think you need a master's. I think people overemphasize it a little bit too much I personally, it was a me it was like just a bucket list thing. Like I always wanted it, I was gonna get it regardless of whether people said it was a good idea or not, but that's why I did it while be while working. So my take is that I don't think it's required. I think experience goes a lot further because it's more real world and practical unless you go into research. I'm talking about like actual doing like structural engineering and designing for me design buildings. If you wanna go into designing buildings, I'd rather hire someone who has been designing buildings for an extra year or year and a half or two years, whatever it is, than someone who took an extra course in building design. In my opinion, I think it's more valuable to experience. It could be wrong, but that's why opinion.

Isaac (11:04): I definitely agree with you. I think I mean, I mean I talked to a lot of engineers. I think getting that bachelor's obviously you gotta get the value of the PE I think is more valuable than even a master's, but.

Daniel (11:14): Correct.

Isaac (11:15): You might as well have an employer help pay for school and you know, if you need to specialize in something, I think it's more important to start working, getting experience and then tack on the master's as you're working.

Daniel (11:27): Exactly. And then you also run the risk of graduating and then not liking whatever. So if you get a master's member is specialized in a subcategory of civil engineering. So if you're in civil engineering, you're a year in and you did do structural or you do sorry geotech and you're like, I hate this mm-hmm but you could always switch. You're still, within a year people are still gonna be, it's valid versus if you sunk another year or let's say you did do the five year program and then you know how the master's in instructional engineering and you hate it or it's just, it's not good for you and you're gonna go into doing like civil or transportation. That degree was essentially a waste of time and running. So it's not worth it unless you have like a, a scholarship you need even then, like you're wasting a year if you don't really love what you do. So I would

Isaac (12:11): Makes sense.

Daniel (12:12): I would argue that you should, everyone should work a little bit or at least intern heavily to verify that you really do want to go into whatever field your master's is in.

Isaac (12:22): Yeah, I to totally agree. Go experience what it's like,

Daniel (12:25): The analogy that I would give is when you go see your doctor, you don't really ask them what school to go to, so what school they went to. So similarly if someone has their PE, usually you don't go, oh, and what masters do you have? It's usually like, oh no, your PE okay, you kind of, you did it versus Yeah. And then I think that misconception where people can, oh no, I need a master's to get these big firms. And that's kind of also why I did it. 'cause I was like, I wanna be able to just check that little box when I'm applying for jobs that says, do you have a master's? I just wanna be able to say yes, . And that was a big deal for me. Maybe Ego thing, I don't know, but that, that's why that, that's also a little reason why I did it.

Isaac (13:00): Yeah, it is valuable. I just, I think there's an order to it and people need to think about that. I think it is pushed heavily in school though to kinda like get that master's right after a bachelor's it feels like.

Daniel (13:12): So yeah. And similar to like an insurance person pushing you to get insurance, that's their job. Like you're in school, like their job is to teach you. So it's like of course they're gonna wanna te teach you more, like that's their job.

Isaac (13:22): Yeah. And it's accelerated,

Daniel (13:24): You know? Yeah. There, there's a time and place. I think it's good. I just don't think it's for everyone and I think it's pushed a little too much.

Isaac (13:30): Yeah. Yeah. Good points. Well before we leave the school kind of period of your life, I know you're a member of ASCE, how valuable was that to you? And I know you were also, you know, in the new faces of ASCE civil engineering in what, 2023? What?

Daniel (13:48): Yeah, Something like that. Yeah,

Isaac (13:50): . So I'm just curious if you could touch on that. Was being a member of that helpful, how did you become a new, a new new face of civil engineering within that community? Like maybe touch on that a little bit.

Daniel (14:01): Yeah, so, ASE that's a whole little bubble on its own where, okay, so I, when I graduated back to that, I, that first year I was really lost and I didn't know or anything like that and I was like, oh, cool, ASCE really forgot that a continues after school. I was part of Concord Canoe when I was in school. Just so much fun. Highly advised to getting it. I actually got my first internship, full.

Isaac (14:21): Competition.

Daniel (14:21): But yeah. Yeah. So I actually did my first internship by we were, I the concrete canoe and Steel Bridge worked in the same workshop and someone from the Steel bridge work his mother was at the principal at a firm. So I like you very cheesely whenever like, Hey, do you mind if I send you my resume like to you mom? Is it okay? He's like, yeah, sure, it's totally fine. Like, she gets it all the time. And I'm like, oh great. You know. So I sent my resume. I actually showed up the wrong day, sort of a week early for the interview 'cause I was like, my first interview ever went on and then the guy's like, no, you're fine. It is okay. Like, he met me for like 15 minutes. He is like, okay, you're good, don't worry. It's an internship you're hired. So that was a mess. But I got the internship through being part of a c canoe. Anyways, so once I graduated yeah, I kind of, again lost touch and then I saw, oh, a c is having like a mentor phone call. So I joined and then Tier Austin, who kind of runs a lot of these extracurricular programs through ac so she reach out, sends like these emails afterwards summarizing it and she's like, oh, if you have any questions, reach out. So I reached out to her saying, you know, I'm looking for a mentor, do you have anything and anything available, whatever, does AC provide any resources? And AC has AC mentor match. And so yeah. So that is a very valuable resource if you're starting out and they carry you with more senior engineers. So she did. And then I was just involved with that for six months and that really helped me kind of gain my footing and understand, okay, get over a cost per syndrome, which a hundred percent real and it never stops just by the way, you're always gonna feel like inadequate in something, so don't worry. Very careful listening. Yeah. So yeah, so I started with AC the mentor match program was a mentor, and then eventually I was asked, Hey, do you want to be part of AC collaborate and do you want be a ment?

Daniel (16:00): Do you want to be a mentor also, not just a mentee. And then that kind of just ballooned and just grew on its own organically. And then after being involved with a AC collaborate, and I then was involved with a AC,SEI, so within a AC there's all different types of subcategories of civil engineering. So s SE, SEI is the Structural engineering Institute. So that's the structural engineering portion of a AC. Uso I was, I got like recruited into, they like, Hey, you are very involved with mentoring. Are you interested in being involved in the mentoring committee? So I had then joined that, like I said, like all these things kind of one thing runs into the next thing. That's why I'm speaking and run on sentences. Uso yeah, so they all kind of just fell into the next thing. And so now I cheer the SE,SEI part ESI,a mentoring committee. So I'm in charge of, I'm the chair of that. And then, which again, so it's just 'cause mentoring helped me so much and I feel like it's just very valuable to give back. And the new faces, that was the original question was tying it all together. The new faces was,they asked me after got doing all these little things, they're like, oh, why don't you, you know, why don't you just get nominated to be a new face engineer? I was like, no, I don't think I'm, again, it pauses term. I was like, no, it's not for me. I'm not the right fit. And they're like, no, no, no, go for it. Go for it. And my name was submitted and yeah, I want it.

Isaac (17:16): That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, it sounds like it's a great organization to be a part of for civil engineers. You can get a mentor, you can be a mentee mentee as well. So there's a lot to unpack there, but sounds like a.

Daniel (17:29): Yeah, I continue.

Isaac (17:30): To tack onto your, you know, if you're going this route,

Daniel (17:33): I would definitely, I would definitely check out their website. You get a free membership when you're a student, so definitely. And I think like your first year after graduating, you're also free automatically, so it doesn't hurt you to just float around the website. They have resume writing workshops, so I'm a resume coach also on that. But yeah, so like float around the website, you'll see there's a lot of valuable resources that are free that people don't realize.

Isaac (17:54): Yeah. Okay. All right. Well that's that's all. Awesome. So let's jump into your business a little bit. You started a, a structural engineering firm, d and b. So what, walk me through the mindset of that. How, why did we start that? How did that come about?

Daniel (18:10): That is, that's a great question. Okay. yeah. So we started surprised you even asked me about it. Yeah. So we I started DMV about a year and like last October, October of 2024 maybe. Yeah, anyways, so I, I started not because I wanted to, if that makes any sense. Hmm. I basically got my PE and I was at my company and at the current company I was at, and I was waiting for something, in other words, a promotion, pay increase, something. And I was there for nine months and I didn't get any of that. And I kept asking like, you know, dropping settlements, not about the paid necessarily, it was also about the just the management. I was like, oh, is there, it was a small firm, but I was like, is there any way I could kind of oversee other engineer? Like I kept asking pretty pointed questions and I kept getting feedback that was just, no, yeah, don't worry. Yeah, you're doing great, you're doing great, whatever. And I was so a combination of that, the responsibility, the financial part. And so I had a friend who's a architect and then another friend who I play basketball with who was also an architect. And they're like, no, start your own firm. It's fine. And I was like, no, I don't know. I'm not ready, this and that. I kept pushing back saying, I'm not ready, and then north, no, you're ready. Don't worry, I'll push your name out there. So I started by doing co consulting, which I read my, my contract with my company and it allowed me to, so I did like consulting on the side, just a few hundred bucks here and there, just like design a few beams for an architect, this and that.

Daniel (19:33): And my friend who is architect was sending my name out to other architects. And a lot of architects need like, just basic beam design, at least I'm in the structural field. So that's how it works. And then he yeah, so he pushed me out and then, so I got a little bit of funding and I was able to fund like just startup costs, which is like filing LLC, all these little things, buying my own programs because I didn't wanna use my company's website email, like all the little things. And then after a few months I kept saying, no, I'm not ready, I'm not ready. And then my dad told me, he's like, this is the, for me, this is the best time to quit. Like I am, I'm young enough that if there's always another job, if I, if this doesn't work, give it a, give it a try, try it for like six months. If it doesn't work and you fail, you could always you could always just go get another job. And like, my wife works, so it's, I do have, I had like that financial backing where I wasn't heavily relying on my income to like day to day. Like if I have my income, we could still manage. And so given all that, it kind of, it made sense, okay, now's the time to try this out. 'cause In five years from now, my expenses are going to only be greater and my, yeah, I'm gonna be relying on my income a lot more and therefore it's a lot harder to take that gamble. So that's kinda why I started and where my Headspace was at. And then the, do you know, the question you've always get is like, like how you've only been working for like six, seven years.

Daniel (20:51): How do you have enough experience? And, and to that, you're right. Like that's never gonna go away. You're never gonna have enough experience in every single category of every single field. And that's where you, I reach out to my friends who are in the field and ask them questions. A lot of research on your own. And there's a lot of learning that goes on, not only business development, but also in the engineering sphere where you have a problem or people are gonna contact you about a park. 'cause No one's gonna contact you with something easy because then they do it themselves. They're only gonna contact you with something they don't know how to do it themselves. And that's where it gets fug, where it's like, okay, it's not just straight up design the scheme for me. It becomes, we have this weird situation and now you have to start delving into the nitty gritty and going back to like textbooks and be like, okay, wait a second. I remember something like this. And if, you know, like 80% of the job or 70% of the job, you could take it and the other 30% you could figure out if you can't, those higher a friend, you ask their friend a favor or even hire them for like, you know, a few hundred bucks a night, you're like, Hey, do you mind checking with my cals for me? Which I did. And it's been invaluable for sure.

Isaac (21:52): Yeah, I think it's important to have peer reviews on pretty much anything. But, so man, this is exciting. I think it's an exciting period for you just starting out a business. And a lot of people I've talked to that have businesses recommend that engineers actually always have an LLC or start something with an LLC because there's, you know, there's advantages to having a business tax advantages and such. What, what would you say to that? And I know there's benefits to having an LLC, but a lot of people feel like maybe there's a conflict of interest at work and I can't do what I'm doing at work with some other thing that I may wanna do as a consultant, but maybe they can you probably just have to dive into those details, but you feel like owning a business or having a business is a good thing to act onto your engineering career?

Daniel (22:43): Yeah, I'd say, so there's, there's two minds. I'm gonna take the question a little different direction. There's two mindsets. There is to, to opening up your own company, there's owning your job and owning a company. Those are two very different things. And they're both valid. They're both their own thing. So when I started, I very much had my mindset on, okay, how do I want to own a company. I don't necessarily want to own my job. So the first year I owned, I really, I owned my job, but I was still doing all the networking. I was doing everything and just trying to figure out how do I, how do I, how do I reach more people while doing the engineering stuff? And then I needed to do that transition. And that transition is after you hire one person. 'cause Then you're not doing everything. Now you could, everyone, the buzzword of TikTok is like passive income, but you could really make money by, again, by, by hiring someone else. In other words, I'm getting a job for this amount, I'm paying him whatever, and I'm keeping a little bit to the side. Obviously there's, you're taking on the liability and you're overseeing all the work, but you're not actually performing the day-to-day tasks. And that's the difference between owning a company and owning your own thing and owning your own job. Now to go back to what you said your original, that was, that was the question I wanted to answer. So your question was, is there any tax advantages opening up LLC? You have to speak to accountants. There definitely are. I would say that 'cause there's a lot of things that you buy for work rug for example, a tape measure, a bird case.

Daniel (24:04): These are all little things like a laptop where you use exclusively for work. And well, previously you, I, well at least I would spend my own money on them. Like, I need a new flashlight. I know these are little things, but sure they could get bigger computers, whatever things that I used exclusively for work, I would just pay my little money for versus LLC, you, they're all, they're write offs because you're using them as long as you're using 'em for your company, again, you have to speak to their accountant. But that's where the advantages go. And these advantages do get, do increase. For example, if for work from home, you have a dedicated work area that's specifically for work, you can write that off, take off some, some money from for taxes. Like I said, God speak to accountants is, it gets very gray very quick. Uh and yeah, that speaks to some of the parking out. But yeah, there's definitely a, a benefit. It also helps you with leadership, management, communication, like all the buzzwords. It really does help you with that because when you have your own LLC, people are not gonna be like, Hey, here's a project design that first they like, okay, here you have to discuss what the client, what they actually want. If they write up a contract, you then have to negotiate what they're gonna pay you. And then you have to send an invoice. And then if you're doing yourself, you have to figure out what time you're, how when you're gonna do it, timeline if to stick to that timeline. And then you have to make sure that the scope is not ballooning out of your control. And it's all within the scope. And then let's say they want to add add to it, which a lot of people do.

Daniel (25:23): They'll add to the scope and then try to sneak it in, be like, whatcha are talking about? That's part of the original scope we discussed. And then you have to put on, you know, your hardhat and be like, no, that's not and renegotiate. And so all these skills are, even if you are not looking to go full-time and you just wanna make some extra money on the side, it's great, but also helps you build a lot of your soft skills in business development. And it's really its own degree. And gonna, to answer a question I'm gonna make up on my own is I want to go back for my master's for business. And my wife said, if you do, I'm gonna kill you. So I'm like, okay, well that solves that problem. So then I didn't go back 'cause I love school. I don't know why. I just love of it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, no, I even said, I was like online, she's like, absolutely not. And she's like, you're not going for a PhD. I was like, what about SE and she's like, maybe I had to like explain to her what that is. And then she's like, maybe, but definitely not now. Like, you have to wait a year . So yeah, so that was like all that was put aside. So it's like, okay, great, I'm not going back to school. And then this whole business thing, when my friend just kept pushing me, I was like, I don't know anything about business. I really don't. So where do I get any information about that? And I realized like what was one of the most valuable things that taught school taught me was how to teach yourself something or how to redo research.

Daniel (26:38): And I pretty much built a degree for myself. I, that sounds very cocky, but it's essentially just what do you do in a, in a regular degree, right? You get textbooks, you read it, then you get exams on those and it's basically just the exams are just to make sure you're actually getting information. Now if the information is something that you actually find interesting, you don't really need those exams. So for me, I just started asking people every thought time I would connect on LinkedIn or have a conversation with engineer. I just ask them, Hey, what's a book you recommend? I'm looking? And then give a little more direction to that. In other words, not just, hey, what book I recommend? What, like for example, I'm looking to start a company. Do you have any motivational books to get me the right headspace? Um or I'm looking to hire someone, you know, how do I, how, where do I go from there? Or I'm looking to negotiate contracts with like, there's, you have to ask more pointed questions because if you just ask someone, Hey, what's a good book? I recommend you a good book. Like I can recommend you five good books, but it might not be the book that you're looking for. And I realized that asking people a little more pointed to questions and knowing who you're talking to. So if you're talking to someone whose business, ask 'em, Hey, what's a good business book? I could, I could use and then or you could recommend. And then kind of just reading them. And I, I always give a book a chance. I'm, I usually will take it off from the library and then just kind of read over the first, you know, little bit if I don't like it or I'm like, this book is not for me. It's too dry, too technical, you can always put it down, it doesn't call things, put it down. And then if I like it, then I'll eventually I'll buy it or you know, or I'll just read it from the library. And that has definitely helped me build my, what's called my master's degree in business. It really taught me a lot in business and just put you in the right head space. Even if it doesn't teach you anything hard, still new, it puts you in the right head space. Like, okay, I'm in the business development mindset now versus I was before just kind of figuring it out and just making it up as I go along.

Isaac (28:23): So I mean, we're, we're talking right now in 2025, it's almost 2026 right now, if we took a snapshot of where your company is right now, DNB, your challenges right now are, are probably very different than the way they're gonna be in maybe in five years or 10 years. So I'm just curious you know, running your own business, what are maybe some of the challenges that you're seeing right now just then, this gives people maybe a roadmap or, you know, if they're jumping into this world too. What, what are the challenges you're facing right now at DNB? So

Daniel (28:59): Currently?

Isaac (29:00): Yeah, currently. And where do you see challenges in five years? Like, I would love to pick your brain about AI and where do you see that going and all that jazz, but where are your challenges right now?

Daniel (29:11): Right now it's, it's time. There's like, I feel like I sit down on my desk and then just time gets, and then like, I look up and it's like four o'clock already. Like, oh my gosh, what did I do today? And like, I have a list of things I want to do and I'll get most of 'em done. It's just like I have five more things that came up. So right now the challenges is, is mostly time and it's not. So time management is just that I'm being pulled in many directions because like I said, I'm in a transition period of I was doing everything and now I'm trying to offload and put more on the, on the engineer. So I just hired my friend actually. So we're working together now, which is a lot of fun. So yeah, so basically I'm trying to offload all the engineering to him. But all those projects that I was did the past year that under construction, now he doesn't have a hand in those. Those are still my projects and I, so I'm still getting emails from the, like were in construction, the RFIs or just the, all those things. So, I need to answer those. And then at the same time, outreach and business developments, that's all. Yeah. So that all is taking my time on not our end. So it's being called in budget, different directions. That's really, I'd say the main challenge right now.

Isaac (30:16): That makes sense. And where do you see these challenges in five years? Where do you think you're at?

Daniel (30:23): The five year plan would be have a team of, let's say probably about three to five, maybe three to seven engineers. And maybe three to five, you know, three to five, maybe one of 'em being administrative assistants. I'd to kind of do all the 'cause that also eats up a lot of, than you think . It's a, it's a lot. Yeah, a lot more than you think. And when you're starting out, you'd see very easy and it's actually a lot of fun to do everything on your own. And it's actually beneficial to know how everything runs. So like my sister-in-law is an accountant, so she does bookkeeping, so she helped me learn QuickBooks. So yeah, so that, but like, it's fun to learn and now I know how to do it, but it's not like I make a lot more money doing engineering than I do sending invoices. So I mean, yes, when people pay great, but like also following up on invoices, like, so all that stuff, they're just, that they're very important, but you have to prioritize where is your, that's for me right now, that's kind of the challenge is I need to figure out where's my time best spent. But yeah, if five years from now I see my personal company just three to seven people. Yeah. And then I kind of like the niche we're in where I'm like existing buildings and I really like that. And the way I tell to people, two things is that, again, this is all structure. So I say if you could build a New York, you could build anywhere. That's the person I tell people. 'cause People go like, who's in New York? Everyone does their own very work. Yeah, they ask, they, they basically ask for forgiveness, not permission. So like when you like start excavating or start construction, you have no idea what the guy did before you. And it's always, it's always fun for me at least to like uncover weird situations that whatever. So that's the first part. And then I also say is if you could build, I could build something existing, which is more challenging and all these nuances, then I could build something new. Like it's a lot easier where I get to control all the variables. Like, are you kidding? That's like a dream. So those are my two pitches, but I kind of like being in the existing in the existing building sphere. It's really, I find it interesting.

Isaac (32:14): That's awesome. And I know you touched upon getting the SE, but could you touch on that a little bit? Like is it required to get an SE if you're designing buildings in New York, does it depend on where you live and what, where do you see the value of getting your SE?

Daniel (32:30): So New York as of now does not require it. I know that every few years, and this, a lot of states do this, like they try pushing the requirements. So a few states, California, I wanna say Illinois, I don't know, is one of the, one of the tornado states require SEs to sign off on most projects. Even California doesn't require you to do all the projects. They just require you to sign off SEs to sign off on like government buildings and high risk buildings. But it's might transition further. The problem is that I know Florida is also looking into it. The problem is that you have a lot of PEs that have been doing this for years, and they are, the pushback is I've been doing this for 15 years, like, why do I need to go back and take another exam just to continue doing what I'm doing? Because you decide to make a new law. So that's kinda like the pushback, the back and forth, which way is it gonna go? It's very tough because the SE is such a tough exam, especially now that it switched to online. What I've been hearing is that it's brutal. Like it's a 13% pass rate. And remember that people are taking this, our engineers like, they're not stupid. Like it's a tough exam. Like I, so I pushed out LinkedIn after my pe I was like, what did people think about se like, you know, what are people's thoughts? Like I'm thinking about taking it, you know, and then I spoke to a few people, like they reach out privately, they're like, oh, if you really are, like, let's chat offline. So I did, and I've been overwhelmingly told, don't do it. Which is shocking honestly by people who even have it.

Speaker 3 (33:53): Like I have my se it's not worth it as of now because the time and effort you put into it, this, again, I didn't take it, but the time they say, the time and effort you put into it are better spends elsewhere, which it's valid, especially given a 13% pass rate per exam and you have to take two parts or you split it up, it's four parts that's like, and you're, you're missing two days of work. And plus the amount of time I spent on my PE studying, which we could get into, but the amount of time I spent on my PEs for studying, I can only imagine the SE is exponentially greater. And I don't have like, well my PE was, let's say about three, three months and 10 studying about four to five months of like the first two months were very light. And then, and like then once I actually scheduled the exam date, I was like, oh, they actually get this done. So then like three months of intense studying, I imagine the SE can't be less than that. So it's like, I've taken six months of my life and literally of your life. 'cause I like day that, like that's all I worked and studied then like I scheduled fun time. Like I'm gonna relax for 30 minutes of intense relaxation right now. And like it was, it was intense and I don't think it's worth it for me right now to be doing that six months of my life just to take the SE and perhaps ask be one of the 15% that are lucky. Like, it's just really, really tough. So hopefully the exam, I don't wanna say it gets easier, but maybe it's the testing methodology or maybe it's just the resources that are out there. I don't know. But for me right now, I'm not looking into it. But as a very ambitious person, I definitely want to get it in the future.

Isaac (35:20): It's on your radar.

Daniel (35:21): Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just wanna get in the future. 'cause That's just the me thing and I'm weird like that. My whole family was just weirdly ambitious. So yeah. So it's like, I would like to, like originally when I was in school, I'm like, I'm gonna go for my PhD one day and like when I wanna interviews people, you the weirdest look. And then only afterwards I realized like, oh, PhDs are more research focused. They're not like industry focused. I was like, oh, that's why people give you that look. So then I transitioned to, I wanna get my PE and maybe my se and then people gimme a weird book. Like that's, they're like, you're not in a year in like why, where are these goals for here? Like okay, good. Yeah. No just a bucket list. Yeah, I would like to get my SE. That's sort my secret thing. Well now it's not secret. Take care. I like,

Isaac (36:01): We recently did an interview, you should check out the podcast we did and we unpacked everything about the SE why people don't like it what are the challenges that are out there. And so it was really eye-opening as to why it's a challenging exam right now. And I can see why people wanna put a pause on it. It's almost like the NCES is working out the bugs. Why do you wanna be the king pig?

Daniel (36:23): Yes.

Isaac (36:24): While they're working out the bugs, it's very hard to figure that out. So,

New Speaker (36:27): Well, I could speak on the PE that I took. I felt the PE was, I actually thought it was pretty easy. I don't wanna say easy 'cause I'm like so smart. I don't get that smart. I think it's just I the amount of studying that I did verse and I was working as an engineer and that really was very, very valuable. But the four years of work was like when they asked me how do you like get the wind load on something? Again, I was structure. So for all the structural people, I say, how do you get a wind load on something? Like, oh, of course you, I know how to do that. Like I did that for years. Or it's like, oh, you designed this beam. I'm like, great. It's a easy question. Versus yeah, if I wasn't actually working or I did let's say the master's and then only worked three years, it's, it's a lot. I think the people should, you need to respect the exam 'cause it's definitely a tough exam, but it is not unfair. I didn't walk out there and go, oh my gosh, that was ridiculously.

Isaac (37:21): Yeah.

Daniel (37:22): Crazy questions. No, everything was a very favorite exam. I felt like you knew what you studied, you did your due diligence. You should be sad.

Isaac (37:30): And I think one of the beauties of like pursuing a structural engineering focus is that taking the PE I mean it is very heavy focused on, on that like, you know, your subject matter.

Daniel (37:41): Yes.

Isaac (37:41): Extremely well. And structural engineers definitely know that very well. But you get some industries where they feel like, hey, I'm not quite as structural, but I do all this other stuff and which, which one should I take?

Daniel (37:53): Yeah, yeah. So I'd have a friend who is a dam engineer, which I didn't know existed.

Isaac (37:58): Yeah.

Daniel (37:58): Like what does that even fall under? She's like technically structural, I think.

Isaac (38:02): Yeah.

Daniel (38:02): So like she took her structural exam PE and she was like, it was kind of tough because like I don't do with loads, right? I just have to loads. I'm like, oh yeah, well that makes sense,

Isaac (38:13): . Exactly. Well, awesome. Well Daniel, you've been sharing a ton of great advice including, you know, anyone that's going into the structural engineering world anyone that's starting a business in this world as well. Is there any piece of advice or motivation that, or that you would give to anybody that's just starting this journey in the structural engineering world?

Daniel (38:36): Yeah, I think if I had to give one advice, it would be, and I think this is my, my general go-to is that everyone's been there before and that applies to everything. In other words, you're starting your own business, you're starting, you're just starting out in the industry, anything, remember someone else also had a first day sometimes. So if you are scared to reach out to someone, if you think, oh the person's intimidating, remember they have first aid. Some people, yeah, some people are nice out there, get valid. Most people aren't like that. If you reach out on LinkedIn and you actually have a curiosity to learn and you're not just gonna be like, oh hey, I want a job. If you have a curiosity to learn and you just want to get information or advice, people are very open to sharing advice and I'd utilized that a lot. And I think everyone should, if you're interested in opening a business. I actually reached out LinkedIn to three people who engineer, structural engineer specifically, who started their own business. And I said, Hey, what are some books? What are some resources? What do you think? And I actually got on call and I spoke with one of them, Colton Johnson actually, I'll say. Yeah, so he was actually, he spent like an hour a few times a week. You know, a few had several hours at some point coaching me or just like, oh yeah, here's a good book here, this and that. And just discussing, or even when I was thinking about it, I spoke to some people who just got their PE and then switch companies and I said, Hey, why'd you switch a company and not try your own thing? Or, and they said, oh, and they kind of gave you their perspective and you kind of, I like to outsource my problems and then kind of gather all the data and then make a decision. So for me it's very valuable to reach out to all these people and when, for example, start a business, I did all that. Or even when starting out I made a mistake of not keeping up with my friends and reaching out to people and saying, Hey, is this normal? Is this, is this a good company? What do you, is this a right amount of money I should be making? Like all these questions just feel comfortable reaching out to people. As long as you come across as courteous and curious, you should be fine.

Isaac (40:16): Yeah, Those, that's great tip. Great advice. Well Daniel, thanks for doing this. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us. If people wanna reach out to you, find your website where should they go?

Daniel (40:28): So my website is dnbengineer.com. Again, I'm just starting out, so hopefully when you see this, it's updated and it looks all pretty, but it might not be. And if not, then you could reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm very active on that. And then if you want to take the conversation from there, just reach out on LinkedIn and say, Hey, I already, it's the engineering academy and I'll and then we'll just message from there. I don't want to give out my work email only because I like to separate work and and social. So if I try to keep everything through LinkedIn and then work is like only work. So I apologize if I'm not giving out my email. But yeah, definitely reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm open to network. Just drop a message like, Hey, you know, heard you someone academy and just want to pick your brain about stuff and I'm very active and I'll get back to you.

Isaac (41:12): Okay, well I'm excited for you. I think your future is bright. It would be exciting to connect in the future, see what challenges you're facing.

Daniel (41:19): Yeah, We could do this again in five years and say hey, well, you know, let's see how that worked out. Where are your five, three to seven employees?

Isaac (41:25): Yeah. And it'll be good for you 'cause you'll go back and watch this and be like, oh my gosh,

Daniel (41:29): . Yeah. Oh my God. Had so much air

Isaac (41:32): Look where it was like then. Anyway, Daniel, thanks for doing this and we'll hopefully chat in the future.

Daniel (41:37): Yeah, looking forward.

Isaac (41:38): See yah.