At Stansell Construction, we don't just talk about safety - we live it every day. This year, Stansell committed to pull back the curtain on the experts making safety happen on our jobsites.
The Stansell Safety Spotlight allows people to meet the experts behind our QSR projects and discover their passion for keeping every project safe and every client satisfied. Through this monthly feature, you'll get a front-row seat to their strategies, stories, and commitment to protecting our teams.
This month's Stansell Safety Spotlight shines on Superintendent Brendan Desthers.
Stansell Construction Superintendent Brendan Desthers didn't necessarily find a career path in construction - it practically found him. Brendan was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, and he has been in the construction profession for roughly 15 years. Long enough to see the industry evolve, but not so long that he's forgotten what it feels like to be the kid trying to earn his way onto the tools.
"I kind of got involved in construction at 13 years old, just trying to help," Brendan said.
Today, he has spent the past six years in the QSR industry, all with Stansell Construction.
His path into the trade was rooted in family expectations and a straightforward motivator: if he wanted to work with the machines, he had to master the basics.
"When I was growing up, if you didn't know how to read a tape measure, you weren't able to use the saws," Brendan recalled. "I really wanted to use the saws, so, I learned how to read a tape measure."
From there, he grew into residential remodels - kitchens and bathrooms -- and kept building his skills through high school.
Away from work, he was the kind of teenager who stayed busy. He played baseball through his sophomore year. The left-handed athlete spent most of his playing time at first base and pitcher. Before he could even drive, he also ran his own lawn service, using his dad's truck to get from yard to yard. Eventually, speed and mechanics replaced the diamond.
"I kind of grew up on motorcycles, and then I got into dirt biking on four-wheelers," he said. "I really enjoyed the thrill. It is fast and I only had so much time, so I stopped playing baseball."
After time in the union, an experience he says wasn't the right fit, Brendan took an unexpected detour: he sold health insurance for four and a half years. The role forced him to sharpen his people skills.
"It helped me develop a lot of communication skills with different types of people," he said.
With 19 state licenses and customers in time zones three hours behind Florida, he worked "from sunup to sunset," learning to handle the highs of success and lows of rejection, all while keeping conversations productive. The lesson that stuck became a personal motto: "Get comfortable being uncomfortable." It's a line he still leans on in commercial construction, where success often depends on staying calm and clear with construction workers from all different backgrounds.
Brendan didn't apply online or wait for a recruiter to call to earn an opportunity to join Stansell Construction. The former high school baseball player simply showed up.
"I literally walked through Stansell's doors unannounced with resume in hand six years ago," he said.
He spoke with President Jim Kurtz and Owner John Stege on day one, returned the next day for a formal interview, and left with a job offer that he accepted.
"I went into this looking for a career, not just a job," Brendan said.
In his early days with Stansell, he leaned heavily on seasoned leaders including Area Supervisors Alan Bradford, Glen Anderson, and Carey Klein, and treated every conversation like a field lesson.
"I basically tried to steal nuggets of what worked for them, and either use it or make it even better in my own way," he said.
Glen's guidance, Brendan added, still echoes in his planning cadence:
"We're always scheduling, we're always overseeing and we're always projecting on what's coming next," Brendan recalls Glen telling him early and often.
Alan remembers those first months, too:
"At first, Brendan seemed a little lost, but he definitely had ambitions as far as what he wanted to do and become. He was incredibly motivated to learn. He got hired just before COVID."
Ask Brendan where safety lands on his priority list and he doesn't hedge.
"It ranks really high," he said. "I would definitely rank it as one of the top things as far as what is most important on our jobsites."
In practice that starts with visibility, doing the basics the same way, every day, so expectations never feel negotiable.
"The most important thing is all of us should be leading by example with PPE," he said. "I always wear my hard hat and safety vest. We always look to make sure everyone is wearing theirs."
That consistency is personal.
"I work safe for my family and our company," Brendan said. "Some may choose one or the other, but I choose both. And that keeps us accountable."
At home, he and his wife are raising two young boys, ages six and two, and the same mindset applies.
"At home I have to make sure the kids aren't jumping off couches or eating things off the ground that they shouldn't," Brendan joked. "On the jobsites, I have to make sure the Trade Partners are working safely and wearing their Personal Protective Equipment." (And yes, he added with a grin, once the kids are older: "I've already got the okay from my wife to get dirt bikes.")
For Brendan, enforcement is less about volume and more about clarity.
"I've found that the best way to enforce the safety standards on our jobsites is by talking to the Trade Partners, simply communicating with them clearly and respectfully," he said.
So, he gets ahead of issues by treating everyone with respect, greeting crews first, shaking hands, saying "Good morning," asking how they're doing and then walking through the plan, the schedule, and jobsite conditions. If someone still isn't cooperating, he keeps it simple: "I need you to work safe out here. I have my PPE on, and you've got to have yours on, too."
Sometimes safety leadership shows up in the details people might overlook, until they're the ones trying to find the Superintendent in a sea of high-vis yellow. Brendan remembers the moment the idea clicked.
"I was on a jobsite one day and I just mentioned to our Safey Manager that we could really benefit from having a different look in the field, one that is unique to Stansell," he said, "that way people clearly know who the Superintendent is and what company it is."
Brendan suggested switching to a green safety vest, Stansell's branded color. Stansell took the idea into consideration and let it marinate. It wasn't long before the company unveiled its new, green safety vest look, which Brendan thought was "pretty cool."
Stansell CEO Angelica Connor explained what the Stansell field uniform means to safety and more, and credits Brendan for caring enough to share his idea.
"Our field uniform is a visible standard of who we are as a company," said Angelica. "Every time the Stansell logo is worn on a jobsite, it represents our commitment to safety, professionalism, and the way we show up for our clients and each other. Consistency in how we wear it reinforces the brand we have built and the standard we are responsible for upholding every day. I really appreciated Brendan's push to elevate our appearance, both from a safety and an aesthetic standpoint. Now, when you walk onto a jobsite, there is no question who the field leaders are, and more importantly, there is a clear, consistent standard that signals you are on a safe, disciplined, and distinctly Stansell jobsite."
In quick-service restaurant construction, safety and customer service are not competing priorities, they're linked through the same discipline: clear expectations, steady follow-through, and respect for the people doing the work. Brendan traces much of his approach back to communication.
"I've always been able to communicate," he said. "I'm used to dealing with people, all different backgrounds… I can talk to whomever you need me to talk to. That's how I focus on the clear communication and provide straightforward answers."
When asked which of Stansell's four pillars he feels he lives out most - Character, Integrity, Work Ethic, and How We Treat People, Brendan doesn't isolate one as if it stands alone.
"I feel like all four Pillars integrate into one," he said. "I mean, character is integrity… and then how we treat people is off your character. So I feel like character suits me best."
On a jobsite, he believes character shows up in the simplest leadership habits:
"If you have your clear expectations and you communicate with everybody on site," he said, "I should be able to expect them to create a good work environment and they should expect me to create a good work environment. And it's just how we do things at Stansell Construction."
Construction safety is also personal history for Brendan. His family is from New York and worked high-rise jobs long before modern standards became commonplace.
"My grandfather fell down an elevator shaft holding a piece of plywood," he said, describing an era "without any of the OSHA standards." He heard stories of men walking "on two by fours… hanging over 60 stories, with no safety net or anything."
His father had a close call, too: "My father fell down the crane ladder and caught himself with a crowbar."
Those stories keep the stakes clear. And while he calls the incidents "crazy stuff," he's quick to add he's grateful his own jobs have been far less severe. "Pretty much small cuts and scrapes. Nothing major."
That's due in large part to Brendan's proactive approach to safety. He consistently holds Toolbox Talk safety meetings, tailoring each talk to what the team is about to face. He also makes his Safety Station accessible so Trade Partners can locate a fire extinguisher, first-aid kit and SDS access if needed.
"Brendan leads by example on safety," Alan said. "Brendan always wears his PPE. And he's looking closely at things beyond PPE on safety to make sure people are going home safely."
Housekeeping is another area where Brendan leans on proactive communication instead of reactive frustration.
"It all comes down to communication," he said. "You have to embrace the chaos that sometimes is on a construction site. But I also believe there are appropriate times to recalibrate and have the Trade Partners devote the last 30 minutes of their day to restacking materials and cleaning up."
The payoff goes beyond safety.
"Everything our clients see when they visit our jobsites… is based on perception," he said. "If the jobsite is a mess when they see it… a messy jobsite could give them the wrong idea."
In fast-track QSR work, planning is also prevention. Brendan relies on the three-week lookahead schedule as both a coordination tool and a safety tool, helping crews understand what's coming so the site doesn't become congested or chaotic. But he's quick to clarify that the posted lookahead only shows the surface.
"We have a three-week plan, which is great and people can see it, but we also have the next three-week plan behind that one, and another three-week plan after that," he said. "We have contingency plans for things in case some things don't happen as planned. The three-week lookahead is the visual plan, but there are a lot of other plans underneath it."
Aggressive schedules add another layer of complexity.
"With a 100-day schedule, there's simply not a possible way to avoid having Trade Partners working around or on top of each other," Brendan said. "That's why the daily communication is so important. Every morning, you walk everyone through what is going on around the jobsite, and proactively prepare people to use caution when they are working on top of each other. You call out potential hazards. It's usually a 4,000-square-foot building, so it really comes down to good planning and communication."
Stansell Project Manager Shawn Abel has worked with Brendan closely on projects and attributes a great amount of their success to how Brendan approaches the entire project.
"Brendan is a great Superintendent," Shawn said. "It helped him to have Alan Bradford and others as mentors. But Brendan has come into his own. He knows his schedule and dates. He's on top of everything. When I call him for answers he's got them. Brendan is he's like a chess player - always eight moves ahead. From a safety standpoint, he and his Trade Partners are always in full PPE and his jobsites are clean. Bottom line is Brendan takes pride in his work. I'd work with him on a project any time."
John Stege often says, "Pressure is a privilege," and Brendan can relate because he feels that pressure from every direction.
"Pressure to be a good dad, pressure to be a good husband and be involved with your kids," he said. "Pressure to deliver safe, high-quality projects on time or ahead of schedule. Yeah, lots of pressure. But you just buckle down and do your job, right? I mean, these are the most exciting things for me, too. You have to have a good work-life balance. It's hard to do it as a Super, but I'm starting to figure it out."
Alan sees the balance as a skill Brendan has deliberately developed.
"He's found a way to keep his personal time in the forefront, but also keep Stansell there, too," Alan said. "Brendan has become good at managing his schedule and critical times of the project. Brendan is a good dad - he schedules time to go to his kids' activities. It's not easy to do it, but the better you get at managing your schedule and projects, the better your work-life balance becomes as a Superintendent."
When the schedule tightens, Alan said Brendan's steadiness becomes part of the jobsite culture.
"He handles pressure extremely well," said Alan. "Brendan always has a positive attitude and never gets really excited from an anxiety standpoint. I feel like that's contagious to everyone working with him. I've had several Trade Partners tell me unsolicited how nice it is to work for and with someone like Brendan."
For Brendan, the appeal of Stansell is less about slogans and more about accessibility.
"Regardless of the pressure that is put on the projects, I know I can always easily call Jim Kurtz and he will always pick up the phone," he said. "I like the open access policy where it feels like a family. It does feel like they care."
He also values loyalty especially because, as he put it, Stansell "gave me my shot."
When he started, the company had about 22 employees; now it's over 100, yet "the Leadership still makes time for us," he said. "They also allow us and help us have a good work-life balance. They encourage it."
Anyone who has worked with Brendan sees what drives him to be successful every day.
"Brendan is very ambitious," said Shawn. "He wants to help the company grow and grow with the company.
Alan said that growth shows up in the results and the details.
"Every job Brendan's done now is great," Alan said. "One of them had a three-item punch list only. He leads successful projects and is an excellent communicator with verbal, written … everything."
In spite of the praise from customers, colleagues and mentors, Brendan remains what author Patrick Lencioni refers to as "The Ideal Team Player" - possessing three key virtues: humble, hungry and smart.
"One thing I always say is if you can get 1 percent better at something every day," he said, "whether you're reading a book or listening to the Bible or you try to learn new cooking methods or something, it adds up to significant improvement and progress. I'm always trying to get better and grow."
If Brendan's leadership style has a headline, it's consistency: detailed planning, steady communication, and an insistence that safety is part of production, not a pause from it. Alan points to the way Brendan thinks ahead and writes everything down.
"He takes detailed notes and is constantly planning, and then communicating that to his Trade Partners," Alan said. "That's why he's so successful."
Alan offered an example that has become part of Brendan's reputation inside the company:
"Brendan's planning and communication is how he was able to tear an old store down and build a new one in 91 days," said Alan. "They usually require 115 days for that. It says a lot that the company went to Brendan to accomplish that safely and timely because we have some incredibly good Superintendents like Scott Ruppert, Ben Bever and others. But Stansell hasn't hesitated to call on Brendan to get something like that done. That's why I call him Stansell's 'Young Gun.'"
