THE FIELD. THE BOOKS. THE BUSINESS.

Built for the trades.
Ready for the boardroom.

A visual identity and launch blueprint for James Roberson & Shelby Khan. One clear promise: run the business, not just the job.

Explore the direction ↓

01 / VISUAL IDENTITY

Strong enough to stand alone.

A clean navy-and-black system. The wordmark carries the show. BCB gives it a signature. The hosts make it human.

THE PALETTEConfident. Practical. Uncomplicated.

Navy#182C49

Black#111111

White space#FFFFFF

The system, separated. Faces are a standalone profile image—not part of the logo. Choose one wordmark, one matching BCB mark, and a consistent host image. Logo concepts remain open for selection; the realistic studio portrait below is approved.

02 / THE BRAND IN THE WILD

One show. Every touchpoint.

Illustrative channel previews show how the pieces work together. These are launch concepts, not live accounts or published episodes.

Watch / listen→Get The Boardroom Brief→Put one decision to work→Reply with a real problem

03 / LAUNCH & EMAIL CAPTURE

Build the list before the launch.

The first offer is useful content. The first conversion is an email address. The Boardroom Brief turns a viewer into someone we can keep helping.

A simple path into beehiiv

Create The Boardroom Brief
Set up the publication, sender details, reply-to address, and branded signup form in beehiiv.
Keep the first ask small
Capture email on the coming-soon page. Ask name, trade, and annual revenue in an optional follow-up survey so signup stays quick.
Deliver something immediately
Send a welcome email with “The 5 Numbers Every Trade Owner Should Know Every Month,” once Shelby has reviewed the checklist.
Bring them back weekly
Each Brief: the episode, the number, the decision, and one question inviting a Hot Seat submission.
Measure interest, not just reach
Track signup conversion, qualified owners, clicks, and replies by channel. Use tagged links from YouTube, Instagram, and podcast notes.

To activate: supply the approved beehiiv embed or signup URL, confirm sender settings and consent language, then test a real signup and welcome delivery. This presentation does not collect emails.

From first recording to first audience.

SEQUENCE, NOT A FIXED DATE

01 / FOUNDATION

Choose & prepare

Select the identity; verify handles and domain; confirm host bios and stories. Prepare the checklist and beehiiv welcome email.

02 / PRELAUNCH

Capture interest

Publish the coming-soon signup page. Link every profile to it. Share host introductions and short clips from the first sessions.

03 / RECORD

Build a buffer

Record two sessions before launch: four full episodes plus a 60–90 second trailer. Prepare clips, thumbnails, titles, and show notes.

04 / LAUNCH

Give them a reason to stay

Release the trailer and three episodes on day one. Keep the fourth as a buffer, then settle into a weekly publishing rhythm.

Launch readiness & decisions to confirm

Before the page goes live

Confirm the final wordmark and complementary monogram.
Verify domain and social handle availability; no availability claim is made here.
Connect and test beehiiv, consent copy, and unsubscribe handling.
Approve the five-number checklist and welcome email.
Choose a launch date around recording and editing capacity.

Before the first episodes

Confirm host bios, company names, and stories they can share.
Agree on language boundaries and label episodes according to actual content and platform requirements.
Obtain guest consent and permission before sharing financial details.
Confirm editing ownership, review turnaround, and who publishes.
Plan occasional extra recordings: four episodes per month does not cover every five-week month.

04 / WHO THIS IS FOR

Meet the accidental CEO.

A working audience hypothesis synthesized from both strategy documents. “Mike” is a composite persona, not an interviewed customer or a claim about every owner.

MIKE / 44

Great at the trade.
Never taught the business.

$1–5MCore annual revenue

35–55Typical age range

8–40Team members

Mike started on a roofing crew at 19. Today his exteriors company does about $2.8M, with multiple crews and an office that leans heavily on his spouse. Revenue makes him look successful. Payroll Friday still makes his stomach drop.

He is on the job early, bidding between calls, and writing estimates at the kitchen table at 9 p.m. He thinks he needs more leads and better people. What he wants is confidence in his numbers, a foreman he trusts, and a business that can survive a week without him.

“I'm good at roofing. Nobody taught me how to run a business.”

01 / NUMBERS

Flying blind.

The books are behind. Bank balance feels like profit. He cannot say which jobs actually made money.

02 / PRICING

Busy, but underpaid.

He prices against competitors, absorbs cost increases, and fears that raising prices means losing every bid.

03 / OWNERSHIP

Everything needs him.

Every crew question, bid, hire, and customer problem lands on the owner. Growth multiplies the pressure.

The full audience picture

05 / POSITIONING & MESSAGING

Two sides of the same business.

The difference is the pairing: an operator and a bookkeeper working through the same decision from different angles.

THE BRAND PROMISE

Run the business,
not just the job.

Blue Collar Boardroom helps trade business owners doing $1–5M know their numbers, price for profit, and build companies that can run without them—from the field and the books.

JAMES ROBERSON / FREDXTERIORS

The field.

Crews. Bids. Customers. The reality of getting the job done. James brings the operator’s perspective to what works outside the spreadsheet.

SHELBY KHAN / NO BULL BOOKS

The books.

Cash flow. Job costing. Pricing. What the numbers actually say. Shelby brings financial clarity to the decisions owners make every day.

06 / THE CONTENT ENGINE

Real problems. Useful episodes.

Lead the first five to ten episodes with numbers and pricing. Broaden into crews, delegation, and long-term value as trust grows.

Four formats. A repeatable month.

2 RECORDING DAYS · 4 EPISODES

The anatomy of every episode

Cold openThe strongest line or painful problem. Hook attention in the first 10 seconds; keep the open under 30.
Show intro“This is Blue Collar Boardroom. Run the business, not just the job.”
The problemUse the owner’s language. Show why the issue costs money, time, or peace of mind.
Field NotesJames brings a real job, crew situation, or owner decision.
The NumberShelby explains the metric that makes the decision clearer.
The Boardroom DecisionOne action an owner can take this week.
One invitation“Get the number and the decision in The Boardroom Brief.”

Turn one conversation into a week of content

The anchor

One 30–45 minute video episode on YouTube; the audio edition on podcast feeds. Strong title, intentional thumbnail, useful show notes, and one newsletter invitation.

The discovery pieces

Pull 4–6 short clips from each episode. Publish across Shorts, Reels, and the hosts’ accounts: one painful number, a disagreement, a real mistake, a practical script, and the weekly decision.

The owned relationship

One Boardroom Brief with the episode, the number, the action, and a reply prompt. Use a carousel or static post when a checklist or framework is clearer than a clip.

The next conversation

Replies and comments become Hot Seat questions. Guest relationships and qualified list growth can inform a future mastermind; do not sell an undefined offer at launch.

Idea scoring, packaging & production rhythm

Five sources of ideas

The audience’s own phrases and recurring frustrations.
A 10-minute voice memo from James and Shelby’s week.
Newsletter replies and YouTube comments.
Guest owner stories and questions.
Recurring questions in trade communities.

Score pain, real-story potential, title strength, and pillar fit from 1–3 each. Prioritize ideas at 10+ out of 12.

Make each recording day easier

Prepare a two-episode shoot plan two weeks ahead: problem, story, number, decision, and likely clips. Batch different formats together.

Packaging rules

Titles sound like an owner. Thumbnails use 3–4 bold words, navy/black, white type, and expressive host imagery. Add a dollar figure only when the episode supports it. Organize playlists by pillar.

THE NEXT MOVE

Choose the look.
Build the list. Start the conversation.

A clear audience, a credible pair of hosts, and a content system that earns trust one decision at a time.

Review the visual concepts Review the launch plan

Built for the trades.Ready for the boardroom.