During a podcast recording session, hosts Stewart Ward, Stacey Pollock, and Nolan Mark catch up on technical adjustments and recent personal milestones before diving into Nolan’s trip to Cape Town, South Africa, for the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) conference. Nolan shares his travel highlights, including his culinary adventures with exotic meats like impala and ostrich, sightseeing excursions to see South African penguins and a safari, and the conference's multi-round leadership voting process that designated upcoming event locations through 2030.

Transitioning into industry topics, Nolan sparks a debate on the efficacy of one-man field crews; the group collectively concludes that while single-person crews offer cost efficiency for simple layouts, two-man crews must remain the standard to ensure safety, minimize missed field evidence, and provide crucial mentorship for newly licensed professionals.

Looking ahead, the trio wraps up by planning a future episode focused on the often-overlooked business management and leadership aspects of land surveying.

During a podcast recording session, hosts Stacey, Stewart, and Nolan discuss remote-work technical setups and podcast intro formatting before diving into an extended discussion on Stewart's hobby of amateur beekeeping and its distinct parallels to the surveying profession. Stewart describes the highly structured, collective lifecycle of a honeybee hive, illustrating how bees instinctively transition roles as they age, construct hives with absolute geometric precision, and utilize landmark navigation to "beeline" back home—traits the group compares to structural firm mentorship, CAD precision, and field site calibrations.

Transitioning to the episode's industry hot take, Stacey argues that 100% remote work is highly detrimental to the professional development of young surveyors, as it eliminates the instantaneous face-to-face communication and spontaneous mentorship critical for passing licensure exams. While acknowledging that remote work suits stationary production technicians or helps mitigate long commutes, the hosts ultimately agree that physical office presence is a necessary career sacrifice for aspiring professionals, concluding the episode with a teaser from Nolan regarding the drawbacks of one-man field crews.

Meet Stewart Ward, PLS!

Stewart is a grounded, disciplined, and highly structured individual. He is a self-proclaimed early riser who hits the gym at 5:00 AM five days a week, a routine he maintains even while traveling for conferences. While friendly and deeply connected to his younger peers, he is fiercely protective of his schedule (joking about his 8:30 PM bedtime) and values control. His structured mindset carries over into diverse personal interests; he runs a specialized farm raising beef, manages composting worms, and is an amateur beekeeper fascinated by the strict organization and societal structure of bees.

Meet Nolan Mark, PS!

Nolan is highly driven, competitive, and brings an athletic, sports-centric mindset to his business operations. A former Division III college baseball pitcher and shortstop, he channels that same intense focus, work ethic, and "geek" level of passion directly into surveying. He admits to having heavy OCD, which shows in his frustration with disorganized gym weights and his desire to build a private three-bay garage gym to maintain total control over his environment. While he describes himself as having an underlying introverted side, he is highly expressive, opinionated, and fiercely dedicated to his family, spending his free time coaching or keeping up with his two highly energetic young boys in youth sports.

Meet Stacey Pollock, PLS!

Stacey is vibrant, highly organized, and proudly embraces her identity as a woman in a historically male-dominated industry—evident in her choice of custom hot-pink survey caps. She is incredibly driven, often joking about her packed schedule. She has a deep love for legal and historical research, which she connects to an early childhood fascination with maps. Outside of work, she is highly active, participating in recreational leagues for soccer and archery. She also horseback rides and cares for her Mastiff mix "fur baby.”