For most of my life, I’ve been building — homes, brands, teams, systems, and ideas.
And beneath it all, one question keeps returning: How do we live better?
This podcast is where every facet of my work converges — leadership and design, philosophy and real estate, art and execution.
It’s not about marketing or self-promotion; it’s about exploration — an open dialogue about how we design better systems, make more intentional choices, and create lives that endure in meaning, not just memory.
Because excellence is not a luxury; it’s a responsibility.
Segment 1 — The Story
This week, Bloomberg reported that the White House is preparing to ease tariffs on the U.S. auto industry — a major win for giants like Ford, GM, and Stellantis after months of heavy lobbying.
The Commerce Department is ready to extend a five-year deal letting automakers reduce what they pay on imported parts.
They called it relief.
Let’s call it what it is — an exception for the powerful.
Because while they get relief, we get ruin.
I run MOLTO Imports — a company built on bringing Italian craftsmanship to America.
We import cabinetry, systems, and ideas that raise the standard for what a home can be.But over the last year, tariffs have made that nearly impossible.
Shipments stopped.Margins gone.Projects dead on arrival.
And no one in Washington cares.
No one lobbies for small importers, builders, or craftsmen who are trying to do it right.We don’t have lobbyists — we have invoices, clients, and payrolls.
So when I see the same system that strangled small business suddenly bending over backward to save the biggest players, I have one word for it: betrayal.
Segment 2 — Lens One: Fix Your Why
From the Fix Your Why lens, this isn’t just bad policy.It’s hypocrisy.
We say tariffs are about protecting American jobs — but what jobs are we protecting when small companies are forced to shut down?
Policy without alignment becomes politics.And politics, without purpose, becomes theater.
The truth is, we’re not fixing the system; we’re feeding it.Lobbying now defines who wins, not merit.The loudest voices — not the best builders — get heard.
That’s not leadership.That’s leverage.And it’s killing the very people who built this country with their hands and hearts.
Segment 3 — Lens Two: Building the Rich Life
Through Building the Rich Life, I’ve said many times: a rich life isn’t about what you own —it’s about what you build.
It’s about integrity in how you work and who you serve.
But integrity doesn’t stand a chance when policy rewards manipulation.We talk about fairness, but we practice favoritism.We talk about strength, but we subsidize weakness.
The small business owner —the builder, the craftsman, the dreamer — we’re not asking for handouts.We’re asking for the chance to compete on the same field.
Because when tariffs turn into tools of exclusion, when regulation becomes retaliation, we lose more than money — we lose belief.Belief that effort still matters.Belief that excellence is still rewarded.
When that belief dies, a country loses its soul.
Segment 4 — Lens Three: MOLTO Imports
At MOLTO, we’ve always said: beauty engineered to endure.That’s more than a tagline — it’s a philosophy.
But endurance has a cost.Quality has a cost.And those costs are now being punished by policy.
These tariffs make it cheaper to flood the market with mediocrity and harder to deliver what lasts.We’ve created a system that subsidizes shortcuts and penalizes standards.
I’ve spent my life building things meant to last — homes, ideas, systems.And yet, I’m standing here watching the same government that claims to value builders quietly destroy the very ecosystem that makes building possible.
That’s not capitalism.That’s capture.And it’s killing creation.
Closing Reflection
Tariff relief for automakers might make headlines, but behind every headline is a small business gasping for air.A builder closing their doors.A craftsman walking away from the dream of doing it right.
This is what it feels like to be crushed by the machine.
But here’s what I know:Machines break.Principles don’t.
And I still believe in the builders.The people who care enough to make something real, something lasting, something better.
Because what we build should outlast the politics that shaped it.That’s what it means to build well.That’s what it means to live better.
I’m Bill Ryan…
Thank you for listening to The Bill Ryan Podcast.
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