Builder realizes dream job: Hosting TV show about his trade

Cole McCollum said his lifelong dream has been to star in his own television show. With Building for Better Living, his dream has come true.
Building for Better Living is a home building and remodeling show that airs on KMIZ-17 on Sunday mornings. McCollum co-hosts with business partner Jason Richardson. The two have been in business as home builders and remodelers since 2008 and started thinking about the show in late 2009.
“The show is really Cole’s brainchild,” Richardson said. “He wanted to do a television show, something spun off of building and remodeling, and we landed this custom house that we’re building, and it provided a nice, stable platform for the show.”
The idea for the show originated in a meeting with representatives of Word Marketing, a local firm that now produces, films and edits the show.

“Jason and I met with them to discuss a radio campaign, and at the end of that meeting, I asked them to find out how much it would cost to do a home improvement show,” McCollum said. “We all had a little laugh, and then later when we came back, they said, ‘It’s more affordable than you think.’”
McCollum, Richardson and Word Marketing Associate Partner Anna Lawrence began making plans for the show, though they weren’t entirely sure of the direction it would take. At about that time, Jon and Toby Class entered the picture and asked McCollum and Richardson to submit a bid for building them a house.
“We were gearing up to do some sort of show,” Richardson said. “At the same time, we happened to meet Jon and Toby, who were thinking about building, had talked to another builder and didn’t think their dreams were anywhere near attainable. When we got done talking to them, they went from, ‘We might want to build,’ to, ‘We’re ready to build.’”
Once the couple was on board, the first season of Building for Better Living began to come together.
“We’re not a huge part of the show,” Toby Class said. “It is more focused on the home building.”

“Being a part of the show wasn’t a huge factor for us,” she said, “but we know they’re going to do an extra good job because it’s going to be on TV.”
McCollum and Richardson said that a big part of their goal with the show is to help people understand the building process so they can make better decisions with their builders.
“Everything is a decision in a house, and I think a lot of times that builders have what they want, and they almost muscle the homeowner into it,” Richardson said. “We want to make sure that people can get what they want and that they are comfortable with the process.”
The first season of the show, which began April 11, will include 13 original episodes and three reruns. Each episode focuses on different stages of the home building process and includes a combination of construction footage and interviews with contractors and suppliers.
Carpet One Floor & Home-Columbia was the first advertiser to sign on with the show, which runs from 9:30 to 10 a.m. As an advertiser, Carpet One is also a supplier for the project and a participant in the show.
“Their goal is to educate people about home building from the time they break ground until they have a new home,” said Scott Bradley, general manager of Carpet One. “No one else is doing that. As soon as I heard about it, I said, ‘How can I be a part of that?’”

Richardson said the interviews with contractors and suppliers are key.
“I don’t think it’s Cole and I going in like we are know-it-alls because we are talking to contractors about their fields of expertise,” he said. “The conversations are really good. They are comfortable talking about their work because it’s what they know better than anyone else.”
Producing the show involves dealing with all of the issues of any construction process. For example, filming was delayed for six weeks because of a combination of snow, frozen ground and rain.
Richardson said now the show is really coming together. “The majority of the first half of the season is shot,” he said. “It’s just a matter of editing.”
Season one is scheduled to end in July after the completion of the home in June. McCollum and Richardson said they intend to produce a second season but have not yet decided whether it will focus on another custom home building project or a series of remodels.