In this episode of Big Swing Podcast, Jeremy Funk and Corey Scott sit down with Josh Carlisle, an EHS and regulatory leader at BKV, whose career journey took him from rural Wisconsin to the energy industry by way of geology, a climbing trip through the American West, and the coalbed methane boom in Wyoming. A father, grandfather, and advocate for the next generation of energy professionals, Josh has spent more than two decades in environmental, health, safety, and sustainability roles. He also helped establish a scholarship at his alma mater to encourage students to apply their geology degrees in the field rather than retreating into academia, a reflection of his belief that the industry needs fresh talent willing to get their hands dirty.

The conversation takes a deeply personal turn as Josh shares the story of his diagnosis with classic Hodgkin's lymphoma earlier this year, the six months of chemotherapy that followed, and the lessons he learned about vulnerability, faith, family, and the power of community. He speaks candidly about the financial toxicity that can accompany a cancer diagnosis, the importance of long-term disability coverage, and how his company's culture and benefits made it possible for him to focus on healing. Josh also discusses his decision to share his journey publicly, first in a company town hall and then through LinkedIn posts that resonated far beyond his network, and explains why he chose to write a book, Who Shows Up, which explores what cancer teaches you about yourself and the people who rally around you in a crisis.

Listen to the full conversation for a powerful and inspiring look at resilience, leadership, and the human side of the energy business from a man who faced an unexpected battle and chose to turn it into a gift for others.

In this episode of Big Swing Podcast, Jeremy Funk and Corey Scott sit down with Rhett Newberry, President and CEO of Service Compression, for a wide-ranging conversation on building a compression powerhouse from the ground up, navigating extreme market volatility, and the critical role of compression in the energy supply chain. Rhett’s journey into oil and gas was anything but planned—growing up in Arlington, Texas, with no industry exposure, he moved to Midland to support his spouse’s education and joined Basic Energy Services during its IPO. From there, he went on to build Service Compression into a company with roughly one million horsepower in its fleet, growing through strategic machine shop acquisitions, the pivotal purchase of Service Compression in 2017, and the transformative acquisition of Active.

The conversation covers the company’s evolution from a small overhaul shop to a dominant rental operation, the near-impossible timing of its largest acquisition closing on February 29, 2020—just days before the Russia-Saudi price war and COVID-19 sent oil prices negative—and how positioning compression as an essential production utility enabled survival when capital markets froze. Rhett also discusses the critical role of backend technology and operational infrastructure, the value of elite field personnel in acquisitions, and the persistent supply chain constraints that make rapid fleet expansion nearly impossible. The discussion turns to the broader market tailwinds reshaping the industry, including the explosive power demand from AI data centers, which solidifies compression as a vital artery in the energy ecosystem.

Listen to the full conversation for an inside look at building a scaled compression business, the art of strategic acquisitions, and why this often-overlooked sector is finally getting the attention it deserves.

In this episode of Big Swing Podcast, Jeremy and Corey sits down with Michael Atkin and Trevor Slade, the leaders behind WorkSync, a new operation prioritization system built for upstream oil and gas. The conversation traces the genesis of WorkSync from a successful hackathon pilot at Maverick, exploring how it evolved from an internal project into a standalone solution. Michael and Trevor explain how their approach to operations management is fundamentally different from traditional methods, driven by a belief in empowering the frontline workforce rather than simply layering on more oversight.

The discussion opens with a look at the industry’s long-standing challenge of managing declining production through "pump by priority." Trevor shares how Maverick leveraged their investment in telemetry and data to move beyond reactive alerts, while Michael emphasizes the importance of respecting the experience of field workers. The core breakthrough was building a system that equips operators with actionable information, rather than telling them how to do their job. This culminated in a daily 6 a.m. “hit list” that gives field personnel the clarity they need to work safely and efficiently.

Listen to the full conversation to hear how WorkSync is bridging the gap between corporate strategy and field execution, and why its founders believe that empowering the front line is the key to unlocking significant value in oil and gas operations.