Working with Mason Earl

My Role

I'm an Estimator and Project Manager at Tempest Enterprises. I'm passionate about technology, love diving deep into complex problems, and flourish when I'm learning and building.

Working Style

In a few words: Collaborative, accountability-driven, ownership-oriented, optimizer

I do my best work with a common mission where everyone knows their role and holds each other accountable. I love getting into the weeds on projects — diving into specific issues and finding the best way to tackle them. I'm an optimizer by nature, always looking for better ways to do things, though I remind myself that output is the real metric. Optimization matters, but completions and customer satisfaction matter more.

I embrace failure as a teacher. Mistakes aren't fun, but they're how we learn. I'm willing to give and receive constructive feedback — that's how we grow.

"If something is important, there should be more than one pair of eyes on it."

Working Hours

Schedule	9-80 (every other Friday off)
Chronotype	Late morning — not an early bird
Flexibility	Very flexible; happy to work 60-70 hours/week on projects I'm passionate about

Time allocation: ~80% focused work (projects, skills, learning) / ~20% relationships and networks

Availability & Interruptions

Default: Open door policy | Exception: Tight deadlines requiring deep focus

Interruptions: Welcome if they contain valuable information that impacts the project. Getting into flow state matters, but so does collaboration.

Not productive: Hours spent in fruitless conversations. I'd rather spend time on strategic collaboration or skill-building.

Communication

Quickest way to reach me	Text or phone call
For details/documents	Email (my response time is slower here)
Urgent	Call first, follow up with details
With team	Text for small stuff, in-person for important things

I'm very responsive on my phone. I'm open to using Teams or other tools if that works better for you — just let me know.

Tools & Preferences

Hardware	Mac and Apple products preferred
Ecosystem	Comfortable in Microsoft (current setup), but prefer Google and Apple
Flexibility	Happy to work in whatever system the team uses

Strengths

Technical depth — I manage the technical components of projects well and think from first principles
Focus — When I'm interested in something, I dive in with extreme focus
Fast learner — I pick up new skills quickly
Problem-solver — I'm good at diving into problems and tackling them head-on
Execution — I get things done
Modern tools — I leverage AI, automation, and software development (like Cursor) to multiply my output
Loyalty — I'm genuinely loyal to people who care about the mission and the team
Optimism — I see problems as opportunities waiting to be solved
Determination — I stick with tasks until they're resolved
Willing to dive into hard stuff — I don't shy away from complexity

Growth Areas

Teaching — I could be better at teaching skills I'm good at to others
Emotional investment — I sometimes get too invested in projects and need to keep emotion in check
Big picture — I can get too in the weeds and miss the forest for the trees
Overcommitting — I've historically overbooked my schedule (getting better at this)
Ownership dependency — I put less effort into tasks I don't feel ownership of
Variety seeking — I can get bored focusing on just one project, even when that's what's needed
People problems — I recognize this is part of leadership, but it's not my favorite
Self-patience — I can get impatient and frustrated with myself when things don't go as expected
Autodesk tools — I could learn more of the Autodesk suite (Revit, Navisworks, etc.) that's useful in construction

What Frustrates Me

People not carrying their weight
Watching others carry someone else's load
Decisions made without data — I prefer analytical over gut feel
Talk without action ("say as I say, not as I do")
Not learning and growing
Handling things alone
No mutual accountability on the team
No vision or plan for the future
Empty promises and broken commitments
Lack of follow-through

What Earns My Trust

Competence — Help me tackle a hard problem, teach me something, prove your value through action
Mutual learning — We can learn from each other through speaking openly
Loyalty — Look out for me, don't talk behind my back, bring problems to me directly
Character — Competent, kind, and has a sense of humor
Action — Lead through doing, not just talking

Decision-Making

Data-driven — I gather historical data, look at previous projects, and collaborate before deciding
Multiple perspectives — I scrutinize big decisions and seek input on tricky problems
Bias toward speed — I like to move fast, sometimes faster than ideal
Risk tolerance — I factor in the time equation and I'm willing to take calculated risks to grow

When to Come to Me vs. Handle It Yourself

Come to me when:

There's a deadline involving me
It touches a project I own or am leading
My involvement would speed things up
You want to learn something together
You need help automating something or want technical / AI help

Don't:

Go around me on projects I'm heading
Leave me out of the loop on things I have ownership of
Stray from team decisions without further discussion

I love helping when it increases speed and gives me an opportunity to teach.

What Motivates Me

Growth and winning
Learning environments
Accomplishing things, making things happen
Seeing things come together
Solving complex problems
Winning bids
Being productive — knocking out the task list
Finishing projects on time, under budget, while making money

What Drains Me

Stressing about things outside my control
Losing, feeling stuck
No ownership or direction
Work that doesn't feel meaningful
Putting in way more effort than others
Not getting credit or recognition
Unproductive or off-target feedback
Decisions made without data
Not connecting or collaborating with teammates
No accountability or buy-in to the mission — when someone is rowing the wrong direction and not being held accountable