Learnings and Missteps
The Learnings and Missteps Podcast is about unconventional roads to success and the life lessons learned along the way.
You will find a library of interviews packed with actionable take aways that you can apply as you progress on your career path.
Through these interviews you will learn about the buttons you can push to be a better leader, launch a business, and build your influence.
Find yourself in their stories and know that your path is still ahead of you.
Learnings and Missteps
Demi Knight Clark on Breaking Stereotypes in Vocational Trades and STEM
Trailblazing Yale alum and Guinness World Record holder Demi Knight Clark joins us as she reveals her path from childhood challenges to becoming a leader in the push for a new generation of welders. Inspired by her grandmother, one of the first female Marines, Demi's story is one of resilience and defiance against societal norms. Her experiences underscore the power of facing fears and advocating for oneself while leaving a positive impact. Demi's journey is a testament to the courage needed to succeed in male-dominated industries, as she balances early motherhood with a demanding career in home building during the tumultuous mid-2000s housing crisis.
Unlock insights into how modern parenting and mentorship shape future generations, as we discuss the delicate balance of helicopter, snowplow, and lighthouse parenting styles. Demi shares her thoughts on the importance of hands-on learning experiences for children in a digital age, urging parents to embrace traditional skills alongside technological advances. We explore how the mantra "cleaner, better, faster, stronger" can guide personal and professional development, helping women navigate STEM fields with confidence and community support.
The episode sheds light on the growing movement to elevate vocational trades like welding as viable career paths, emphasizing their role alongside traditional STEM fields. Demi highlights the role of mentorship and sponsorship in increasing gender diversity, emphasizing how men can support women and underrepresented groups through genuine engagement. By redefining blue-collar careers and advocating for strategic workforce development, we aim to inspire listeners to challenge existing narratives, foster diverse pipelines, and leave a lasting legacy through courage and determination.
Connect with Demi at:
https://www.demiknightclark.com/
https://www.instagram.com/girlfridaysgarage/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/demiknightclark/
Make yourself a priority and get more done: https://www.depthbuilder.com/do-the-damn-thing
Download a PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be
https://www.depthbuilder.com/books
Whatever the thing is that you're not doing now that you want to do, you've got to stand up for yourself, advocate for yourself and ask, and if they say no, it's okay. Dust yourself off. No hard feelings. Go to the next person, do the hard things, face the fears that are innately going to come, and if they don't come, it's probably not hard enough. That's what I always tell my 18 and 20-year-old daughters.
Speaker 2:Like put your big girl pants on shipping girl band sign. You're not made of sugar, you won't melt. Get out there. What is going on? L and m family.
Speaker 2:I'm just gonna tell you, like the big teaser, I got a superstar today for y'all welder ted women session leader, five summit climber, gu Guinness World Record holder, yale alum. And I know there's a list of other stuff that I didn't write down and probably a bigger, more gigantic list coming in the future. But we're going to get to know Miss Demi Knight Clark and she ain't messing around. And she ain't messing around. She's out there waking up the suits in their boardrooms with her plan to recruit the next generation of welders super, super, super fast. And she ain't doing it like the rest of us have been doing, running the same play over and over. She's riding her own place. So I can't wait to get to know her a little bit more. And if you're new here, this is the Learnings and Missteps podcast, where you get to see how real people just like you are sharing their gifts and talents to leave this world better than they found it. My name is Jesse, your selfish servant, and let's get to meet Miss Demi Knight-Clark. Miss Demi, how are you?
Speaker 1:I'm good and it sounds so formal when you say my whole name, but I go by my whole name and it's probably for first off. I love the. Do the damn thing. It's very much my style. She's kind of like put on the big girl pants. That's what I always tell my 18 and 20 year old daughters like, put your big girl pants on, you're not made of sugar, you won't melt, get out there. So I live in the South, not DFW South, but the other South, in the Carolina side, some more East coast South, cause I know there's a difference and I don't want to get everybody mad where they're like.
Speaker 1:We're in the Texas. South too, but we use middle names a lot so people are like, is that a Southern thing? And my grandmother was actually that was her maiden name and she was the one that was a Rosie and one of the first female Marines in World War II and she started to fight the patriarchy from the 1940s of before.
Speaker 1:It was even really a thing, much like her being a welter and a riveter and all the other things, but she was a knight and she got married and she was like I will always be knight and I want all the girls in my family first born Just if you were a junior I want them to have this name and so myself I've continued. I'm a Knight. My daughter, my firstborn daughter, is. My cousin is a Knight, Her firstborn daughter is, so it's kind of a cool tradition. My daughters, I hope they continue it.
Speaker 1:Now, it's way cooler to just be like you can take a name, but it's more of a. This is a honor of. We don't take our other maiden names, we keep Knight, but it does. It does sound a little formal that when people say and I'm like it's very official, I think it's intriguing, it's a school night, right, every kid gets made fun of. We were talking about our ages before you hit record. And I'm 47, almost 48, self-identifying, can't wait for the Molly Shannon. I'm 50 years old in a couple of years, but I'm dating myself in terms of when I grew up, of feral Gen Xer, because we watched Knight Rider and Kit, so all the little kids in school would be like Knight Rider. Whenever a teacher would say that and I hated it growing up I loved it but I hated it I was like oh, but they'll make a name to make fun of out of anything.
Speaker 2:Yes, like my name, my proper name is Jesus and, similarly to you when I introduced myself, when I'm out public speaking and stuff, I'll introduce myself as Jesus Hernandez. Everybody knows me as Jesse. Call me Jesse, but I do that because my mom heard me introduced as Jesse at a thing?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's not good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, exactly, I was a girl.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I named you.
Speaker 2:No, part of the reason I transitioned to Jesse was because when I was a kid man, they tore me up Jesus the moose, jesus the caboose, like they gave it to me, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was dummy, demi, that was oh no, that's not nice yeah. I mean, how derogatory or like demi is half in french. So they'd be like you're half, I'm like oh, that was a good one.
Speaker 1:Like yeah, good job, yeah, but yeah, I don't know where the dummy, it's just alliteration and I think actually I took that one to heart though, because I was always the smartest kid in the class, meaning I wanted to, so I always want to be out of the class. So to say that was like, really derogatory, I took that one to bed at night, being like I'm not going to be Debbie tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Maybe that's part of it now. I mean, who knows Right, it stuck with you Like you got to keep slaying and keep making things happen. So I know that the L&M family wants to know, of all the things that you've conquered, which ones have you learned the most from?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's I mean. I think everyone has an answer for this and I hope everyone asks that question because it's a great question to ask yourself before you're not on the earth anymore. It's not a lot I mean a lot, but I would say from a personal level, I remember I had my kids are 18 and 20 years old now and so I had them when I was 27 and 29. And I was a young manager in home building and it was the housing crisis. It was 2004 and 2006. Those of us were ancient enough to remember that time and be in management positions and.
Speaker 1:I remember for my second daughter. I mean, I just this is kind of women in the industry. I think, especially at that time and I know it still continues today, depending on where there's a bigger delta of women in the space, especially in leadership was I used to get in my truck or my car and be like going to job sites and say I'm gonna be cleaner, faster, stronger, better. Cleaner, faster, stronger, better. And I kept working as much as I could. This was really before. This was by choice.
Speaker 1:By the way, it wasn't my employer saying, hey, you need to get out there when you're eight months pregnant and be on job sites and all the things. But I was just like, oh, I'm cleaner, faster, stronger, better. I'm even going to take on pregnancy and you're not even going to see me like bat an eyelash. And I remember not the waiting room, but it was like after they give you a room and I was going to be induced. But they were like walk the halls, that's going to help everything, start the process. And I remember walking the halls and I was on a BlackBerry and people were like are you crazy?
Speaker 1:right now. We know you were admitted to the hospital. What are you doing? And I almost saw it as this badge of well, nobody else can be me, nobody else can do this. And that led to a couple of times of burnout. And I don't think I think that's gender agnostic Everyone can get burnout, so it's not just women, but I think we're more susceptible to it, especially if we're in industries where you feel like you've got to be cleaner, faster, stronger, better. So that was a huge learning experience.
Speaker 1:And then being in the middle of all of that chaos, of taking on four people's jobs as layoffs were happening and saying I'm a little toaster, I'll take another one. It was both the best time of my life and the worst time of my life because I learned so much as a leader. I was able to get into operations, I was able to get to understand the financials way better in the P&L and I was in rooms that you would die to get in those rooms or before the crisis, but at the same time, I was getting carded at my daycare, like my husband, thank goodness. We're definitely a 50-50 relationship and always have been. I don't think I could have married anything else, but he was picking them up and I remember going one time and they were like can we see your ID? Cause we don't know you. And that's my joke is I got carded at my daycare Like who gets that? Especially the mom. There's all this pressure on mom, so that was a bad day. That was a really bad day.
Speaker 1:I literally was like what am I going to do with this? Is this my benchmark and yardstick of success, as I gave up my family and I think that again, that was mid-2000s and here we are 2024. And I'm still hearing moms say that it's a much more acceptable environment to be addressed. And I know a lot of companies are addressing it, but I wish 100% of them had addressed it by now. So I think those just because you kind of led in with the mom thing and just so we can move on to other questions because I could give you like 10 examples, but the other one would be more of my running side.
Speaker 2:But before that I want to give the LNM family member shout out. This one is to Mr Jim Guntorious. Super awesome, I'm a fan of Jim. He's doing big things in the DFW area and Jim sent me this note. He said Jess, I don't know how you do all the things that you do. We can't thank you enough for what you've done, not only with the last event, but over the last couple of years. Without the do, the damn thing thought in my head breakthrough builders may have never happened. Your ripples of impact travel a lot further than you may think, jim. Thank you so much for that. My brother, as you grow, we grow. As one grows, we all grow, and I appreciate all the contributions you're making into the world and folks, the rest of the family out there. Drop me a comment, leave a review, whatever, get at me so that I can celebrate your comment on the future podcast.
Speaker 1:So I have the six star medal and again, like all this stuff, I'm just in the evolution now of being able to own everything I've done and I want everyone that to take that away from today. It's not about and this is especially women and again I don't want to take the women's stance on everything that we talk about today but it's just we grow up without the self-confidence They've done all the research on that to say that girls don't go into STEM if they don't feel confident and if they're not reinforced or they're not introduced the same way as boys. So we need to pay attention to that. It is very real and then we're harder on ourselves. So, like it's just compounded with that.
Speaker 1:So I see that a lot of my speaking life and my consulting life now when I'm traveling the country, is a lot of women will they have doctorates. They have crazy resumes that may or may not be on their LinkedIn bio because they're like, well, it's a little too braggy. There's actually a book like brag more where women just need to do that, but I think that's everybody right now is if you've gotten a degree, if you've gotten the accreditation, if you've run the race, if you've done the mountain, if you've sailed the world, whatever the thing is that you were like I was passionate enough to go do that. That's all that's you. It's not bragging. In my opinion, it's more of saying that's going to start questions like you're asking me of oh, tell me more about that. It's just sparking curiosity and community with people, which I think we need community more than ever. So yeah, I did my six star medal, which was my first one, which is running all the six world majors. Now there's a seventh.
Speaker 2:So I was just going to ask.
Speaker 1:Okay, can't wait for that, but I thought I was done at six. It will be nine, by the way, if anybody's interested in running, but that'll take a little longer. But yeah, and so Boston was one of my first in 2013. And I happened to be one of the last five timed and scored finishers as the first detonation went off to my left and my kids and my husband they were seven and nine.
Speaker 1:They were in the public library stands because I had fundraised enough for a charity to where they got VIP seats. And yeah, I think that was one of my darkest moments just being a human of everything, you see, everything that happened, and then coming out of there not only with your own PTSD and the kids' PTSD, it was really one of the first trigger incidents in the US.
Speaker 1:That was really national, I hate to say. There's been many more since then, but marathons are much safer these days, which is helpful. I wish we didn't have to learn what we had to learn that day.
Speaker 1:But it was not only the PTSD part of it, but it was also the survivor's guilt which, for a type A person was even harder to deal with than anything else and, honestly, the most amazing thing that had happened to me was I'm a military family myself. I was born at West Point, my dad was a West Pointer, my brother was a West Pointer. Most of the people in my family were in the military at some point in their life, if not retired military, because they were career in it, and I just happened to be doing a health coaching set with 101st Airborne while they were downrange in Afghanistan, all at different forward operating bases, and they were the first ones to start communicating. When they got the news, one was in typical military fashion, before they really knew what had happened, they saw my time and they were like you couldn't beat four hours Cause I was like right at the front, that is a military family right there.
Speaker 1:You couldn't get better than that. And then I think, once they process oh wow, something happened there.
Speaker 1:They were like you've been through the first trigger incident and this is what you need to do to get through that. And so I can understand now not anything about what it's like to be in war or what it's like to be in those really heavy areas of places that we are deployed in, many places that are places of conflict, but understanding how they come back and how our society has a tendency to shrink people. Let's go through the psychological breakdown process when they were the first ones to tell me like nope, you have the fourth box in your head. It's a box that if it's not good for your family, it's not good for you and it's not good for humanity. You keep that nastiness locked up in that box and you never have to unpack it. And once somebody gave me kind of permission to do that, I was like one. You're a street cred. So if you tell me that I probably try it and you look pretty good for all that you've seen in eight deployments or this historical level of deployments we've had, and then yeah, it worked where I was like, if it's just horrible memories or things that you're like, I still can't fathom a seven year old child right Next. That's not something you have to repurpose and relive constantly, or like people are just morbidly curious and it's just a natural instinct. So I can't fault them for that. But I remember being and this is the last story I tell, I promise I remember being at my so the therapist that they assigned to us the BAA, the Boston Athletic Association, was really nice and associated therapists with a lot of the people that were there, who was a volunteer thing, and I was like absolutely I have kids, I don't know how to walk through this, and I said get it physically out of your kids, just let them run, scream, do all the things and then go to school with them.
Speaker 1:They knew I had elementary school age kids and so I went to the lunches. So if people have kids, you kind of understand like we go have lunch with your kids, sometimes they'll put you that their schools put them on the stage and you're with all the parents and all the thing. And I just remember going to my youngest. She was seven and so I was a little more concerned about her and I went a couple of times, like once a week for a couple of weeks, and one of the last weeks I went a mom just felt and again, I can't falter for it. It's just like this natural thing that people do when there's these tragedies. She was like what was it like? Did you see a lot of blood? And I mean there were like five kids around us and I was like, lady, and this was 2013. So I mean, I feel like we have so much more social media that has completely, like we're so desensitized at this point.
Speaker 1:It was kind of the early stages of that where I'm like I'm not telling you any of this in front of any of these children, and so I just made that conscious choice then of being like this fourth box is real and it's okay to like before there was really boundaries to really say you've got to just for your own mental health, like, have boundaries with people and say yeah you can't fault them because it's just this natural instinct to ask or to look or to go to the website when somebody's look somebody died and you're like why am I wanting to do this?
Speaker 1:or like me with true crime. I still watch true crime after covid and my kids are like what is with the serial killers? And I'm like I think it's this curiosity of being like did it get solved? There's something in humanity of being like I just want to know they solved this case and like those people get justice. So anyway, but I know it's more from a place like that, but it was still like I have to create boundaries.
Speaker 1:So those are probably the two biggest that stand out to me. But I mean, it's a life of lessons, right, or a week every week.
Speaker 2:Yes, for sure. So thank you for that, because those are huge. Let the kids get it out of them physically. I think that's absolutely something. I don't think we train that enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was lucky for them to get, because I've used that multiple times with them when there's been just stuff they don't understand or things they couldn't control. I know we were talking about control before this and I think all of us have control issues to a certain extent. Right, because when you lose control, you lose any kind of like foundational. I got my stuff together, and so kids.
Speaker 1:I think we forget that with them and we're in this new generation I talk about this a lot too is there's three terms for it now? There's helicopter parenting, there's snowplow parenting and then there's lighthouse parenting, and I wish I'm sorry, whatever scientist, book writer, author came up with this. I could credit you. I don't. We could Google it right now.
Speaker 2:It's fairly recent, but we know helicopter, I mean that's the.
Speaker 1:you're just hovering and like absolutely hovering Snowplow is. I've actually done this. I've always been like I'm not a helicopter parent which I'm not but I definitely have fallen into the snowplow category before, which is busting the barriers out of the way for your kids, because who doesn't want that right Like, at the end of the day, why should they not go through the same stupid lessons we did, or bullying we did, or the thing? So I think that one's a fine line. I think all of us have been who our parents have been some type of snowplow at some point or another. Or a kid pushes them down on the soccer field and you're like, oh, no like we're having this with that.
Speaker 1:I'm just not going to be like oh, that's snowplow parenting. But really I guess the pinnacle of this is what everyone should shoot for is this lighthouse where literally you just have the light on for them and you are kind of this calming influence.
Speaker 2:Find your way back when they need it Light the path.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I think that's a work in progress for all of us.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I mean, I don't think kids are allowed to just run it out and play it out, and we see it in the trades where they just don't know how to use their hands. I'm continually I don't say shocked anymore because I'm not shocked, I'm not surprised we are a self-fulfilling prophecy of there's a lot of benefits for them to have these and to be using them. And they can I watch it with my own kids. They can assimilate things so quickly. I mean, they're on my version of Google Docs and they're like what is this when it's done? Or they've come up with some graphic in Canva that it took me a million years.
Speaker 1:There's like such positive advancements we've made and we will continue to make with technology, but we really did just throw out all the bath water of saying hands-on activities and now the pendulum swings. So now the pendulum is swinging back and hopefully we just don't have enough calls to action. I don't think and we're not connecting the dots to what you were talking about in my intro of saying like solving it differently. The funny thing is I don't think I'm solved, I'm just rehashing things that we saw in the 80s and maybe into the 90s and generations previous, and saying, ok, it can't be the exact same way as that because we are more technologically advanced, but do that thing or that practice, just turn it on its ear a bit and get kids with power tools in their hands, and so that's. I think that's the curiosity with parents right now that there's just not enough outlets. When we do say that to them, you have to give them resources to be able to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's kind of a bigger piece that I'm on in terms of fight the good fight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm with you there. The helicopter parenting thing, I think is also because that became kind of the norm, right and so construction. There's a lot of risk. You can bust your hand, burn your hand, burn your, and if you're a helicopter parent, no way I'm going to let you get close to getting a smudge on your shirt. Much less cutting your body open. Much less cutting your body open. There's a lot of opportunity there. But you use the word that I've never heard added to the combination. So we're going to come back to this. But you said cleaner, better, faster, stronger. Why cleaner? Because that's the first time I've ever heard that in the combination of better, faster, stronger.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to say it was in a movie, I don't know what eighties movie. It would have been in something like a vision quest, because I was always an athlete.
Speaker 2:And so.
Speaker 1:I think cleaner to me. So when I say cleaner, faster, I still say it. By the way, even when I'm running, if I'm like doing a marathon or something, I'm like cleaner, faster, stronger, better you got this. It's just this mantra at this point. But the cleaner it's been a journey with this saying because when it started it was really. I was title nine in sports. I had really great guy friends. I actually joke about it all the time that I kind of had to buy my, my girlfriends in college by joining a sorority more naturally inclined. And I mean, ask any women in trades or really male industries. They chose these industries for a reason, because they just felt a little more penchant to going that direction. And even with the things where you feel on your own, you still feel more comfortable in those societies. So for me it was more about being able to say it not to their face, but I have to do things clean execution. So it's not like having a clean house, it's more of saying okay, you're an athlete.
Speaker 1:It's a clean play. It's a clean throw execution. If it's in the workplace, it was the same thing. I'm not going to be the emotional one, I don't want to be pegged as all the things. That's not logical. It's cleaner, Like it's just, it's clean. It's a one minute understanding. And I mean once you get higher and higher in the business world, you realize the more succinct you are, the better, and so it was more evolved into that for me of being like get your point across very quickly and what's your solution or what's your call to action. So it's like cleaner. I have a tendency to talk because we can tell. I had some really great mentors who were like bottom liners. Get me to the bottom line because I would love to hear your 10 minutes but I need to hear the one.
Speaker 2:So here's what I heard Clean is not a reference to the need, it's about execution.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you're a football fan yeah, it's a clean throw. And Patrick Mahomes I don't care if you like the Chiefs or hate them, but that man is the cleanest in execution I've ever seen.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, man, I love it. Okay, so here's a. You've touched on this. You mentioned that naturally form relationships and build friendships with men. Even before we started recording you're talking about, you've got mentors and folks out there, executives that are men. How does one go about doing that? Because when I say one, I'm talking about women. It's abnormal for a woman to celebrate all of their successes and all of their triumphs because of whatever, like because of all the things I know for me. I've struggled with it because of my upbringing. There's no me who. You need to be humble and you need to don't brag and don't bring attention to yourself, and clearly I've gotten over that. But there's a lot of things that contribute to us to like playing small, like in terms of not just building the friendships, but like cultivating the mentorship relationship. How do you do that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I'm so glad you asked this.
Speaker 2:You'll get that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is a really big part of my life right now in the advocacy and consulting space and really there's some things coming in the first of the year which will be resources for men. By the way, I will say that I have more men coming to me and I'm so happy about this, so if you're out there, feel free Find me on LinkedIn. We'll do all that later on how to connect, but I want them to be curious to say there's so many men that say I'm not trying to not hire women, demi, they're the ones getting on the panels during women in construction month or ally month or whatever the month is, cause we always have to have a month for everything when it needs to be 365, right.
Speaker 1:This is it? Don't get on and wear the pin. I mean, I think all that's lovely and that's nice supplemental stuff to do, but and that's nice supplemental stuff to do, but that doesn't need to be like we check the box. And so these are the same people saying I'm an ally, I'm an ally, I'm an ally and it's am I like, screaming that you're not, like I get it, but it's a defensive piece of no, no, I'm on your side, but I don't know, like what is happening. And so it's about.
Speaker 1:If men are listening who are curious about this is like one. Just nobody thinks that you don't want to hire women, it's okay. So we're giving you a badge of honor on that one. If they do call you out on that, then that's their problem. Most of us, if we're women and identify as women, are not coming at you being like you really are just this patriarchal crazy person who wants all dudes the end. This patriarchal crazy person who wants all dudes, the end. What an awful company.
Speaker 1:It's more of saying I don't know how we keep staying here and that's why, in welding, I usually go to the place where it's the most Delta and right now, like construction is at least at like 10% women, like it's barely a needle move since I started in the industry in the early 2000s, but at least it's starting to crack and not just in like more traditionally known positions like PR, sales, hr, it's really an operational roles and we're out into the job site functions, which is different, and then CEO, like getting it to be the operator of the company. But welding is really still there. It's 3% in the field. That's a huge Delta. I mean it's a massive. When you're talking about my grandmother was one of 15 million. So realize we don't need to have a war to make it where 15 million trades. But it's happened before. It's kind of my point Like we, we've gotten them in the past. So it's more about how are we doing that? It's really starting to say name the problem or the challenge, like this is a challenge I'm looking to solve for and if you're truly wanting to diversify your pipeline, which has a lot of benefits, there are P&L benefits to this that are well proven.
Speaker 1:It's not just doing the right moral and ethical thing necessarily. That's not the argument anymore. It's just saying literally your pipeline is secure. When you have a diverse pipeline, your culture is naturally better because there's more that's being communicated, there's more representation in a room. So, without going down that road, it's name it, because we all know it that if you only have three women out of a hundred at your company, we're all wondering and being like God, I'm scratching because I love your company. I think it's cool, name it first and then also say like okay, I need to mentor.
Speaker 1:Mentor is literal, like job skills. So this is what I tell men all the time and women seeking it If you're looking for like on the job, ojt, on the job training, or you're looking to get into like switch roles to an operator role, you got to go find the operators and go find those mentors who are going to teach you those tactical, cleaner, faster, stronger, better skills. To say, like you want to make this move here, here's your cheat sheet so that you don't have to take four years going back to college or do the thing. And if you're in a good culture, you should be able to raise your hand and say I would like to champion that thing. I see that in welding all the time, which is the coolest thing ever of Finook robots. Or now we're getting into handheld laser welding and some 23-year-old many times female are raising their hand and saying I'll try it out, let's go. They're doing things that many people went to four-year, if not six-year, graduate school for engineering to do and I'm like look at the opportunity in this business. So that's mentorship is like real world on the job training.
Speaker 1:What we're talking about, what you were saying like how does this happen is sponsorship, and that is an active thing for both the sponsor the person that would be doing the sponsoring and the sponsee if that's a word the person looking for it. So if it was me, if you were my potential sponsor, so you're the sponsor I'm seeking sponsorship person looking for. So if it was me, if you were my potential sponsor, so you're the sponsor, I'm the one seeking sponsorship One. What is sponsorship? Sponsorship is not only getting them in the room. So whatever that underserved population is women, minorities, however you identify, whatever that population that you're like, I don't have these people around me and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. That has to be okay. What do I actively want to achieve here?
Speaker 1:And finding those populations and saying, hey, okay, now what are we going to strategically look at to say, not only getting them in the room, but also making that a good, hospitable environment in the room where everybody can feel like they can speak about it, meaning like not reference that person and say, hey, woman in the room, it's more of saying, hey, what is the language we use? Like just saying guys, I say that all the time where I'm like, do you realize? The narratives in the lexicon that you use means a lot to whatever that population is. I still it. Just it makes my shoulders go around the ears. I know it's not being done intentionally by 90% of the population, but sometimes it is where I've been in an early career and out on a job site and it's right after asking like, well, we'd like to talk to your boss, where is he? And then it's well, hey, guys, what do we want to do here? It's making people smaller, right so, but now it's unintentional and it's well, anybody could be a guy right In this generation, but it's still be intentional about the words, because this stuff does matter, it does give you strides in culture, but it's really more for the sponsee, not the sponsor. The sponsor just needs to know their role.
Speaker 1:I have two amazing sponsors and wouldn't be where I am without them. One is Nate Bowman, who was my teacher, weld scientist, been in the industry for 20 years. He just did 3M's Clash of the Grinders. He was the only person to answer my email when I got into this four years ago and I said I've got to do this, I've got to make the deltas go away. My grandmother was this was always a legacy piece to her to learn welding. I, I did my research and I I put a list together of all the people that I thought were the big wigs of welding I would be able to learn from.
Speaker 2:Not one of them emailed me back, and it's fine, I just keep receipts I'll never say your names, but you know who you are, so good you probably wouldn't want to be friends with me anyway.
Speaker 1:But Nate was the only one that emailed me back. He was doing the weld labs series for Lincoln Electric back at the time and he was like that's really interesting. He told me to read the CWS book I wish I had it which is the Certified Welding Supervisor. It's called the Big Orange Book to a lot of us and it is not exactly a Game of Thrones barn burner I mean, but it's also all the tactical stuff of welding travel speed, travel angle, work angle. And he was like read that cover to cover. Come back and talk to me and we'll teach you to weld three to five days. I read it cover to cover.
Speaker 1:I think I caught it it was maybe a month later and he was like do you know? Nobody's ever. I keep telling people to do it, nobody's ever done it Two hours.
Speaker 1:I flew out to Hemet with Josh O'Neill at his school. Lincoln Electric was there. Nate was also filming and he was teaching me to weld. I've since taken a lot of classes and done a lot more than that, but he was the first sponsor of me saying I don't know her from left field and I will take a chance on her. She's curious about this and she's ready to do the work. So I'm going to invest my time with her and I always say that about Nate is you are an organic sponsor without even trying, and so now I think he's an intentional about it, but I think he just was that type of a human before. The other is Mark Fisher at Lincoln Electric who, in a more corporate capacity, we just talked yesterday and I was connecting him with someone that really needs a handheld laser and had a fairly disastrous experience with another manufacturer and he's in Europe right now and he was like dropping everything. He was like okay, let me connect you to the regional guy. He's over here and I have never had him not drop things of.
Speaker 1:If I'm coming through Cleveland, we're having lunch or let's sit down and have a meeting and then the meeting is. I mean, I'm just so lucky, but I'm realizing it is sponsorship. So I do it with other people too, of asking me how my life is. What's on your agenda, what's coming up for you? Is there anything I can do to help you? That's a sponsor, is really it's time you are investing in someone and really I say for the sponsor, you could see the playing field and see if there's someone you want to sponsor.
Speaker 1:But this is more onus in your audience of the sponsee. I just don't know what else to call it. I need you to be the one that says I have handpicked my sponsors and I'm going to go ask and the worst you're going to get is no, but first ask and be like listen, I highly respect you. You're a subject matter expert in X, whatever field. Whatever the thing is that you want to do the damn thing, whatever the thing is that you're not doing now that you want to do, you've got to stand up for yourself, advocate for yourself and ask and if they say no, it's okay, dust yourself off. No hard feelings, go to the next person, but have a list of a few.
Speaker 1:You never know. Maybe all three say yes. I have yet to have somebody say no. I pick them intentionally, though. I don't just go ask the world because they're cool, and then I also say do you understand what this is? I didn't ask it of Nate. It was kind of like mid range when we were through it. I was like you realize what sponsorship is right, Because this is you. And now he's like intentionally doing it.
Speaker 1:Mark, it was an intentional ask where I said listen, you believe in me, Like my street credibility is there and I had some proven things to do that. And he was like I'm 100% on your deal, so I am happy to be your sponsor. This is helping me understand what this role is and he's, and when you get that and when you see the light bulbs go on. That's my mission in life right now is for all these men across the country, and that if your industry is 97% or 80% male or 60% male, when the light bulb goes on and you're sponsoring someone who is a woman or who does not look like your lived experience, that's all you need to do for progress to happen, In my opinion. That is, you don't have to wait for a corporate to create a department or for HR to change their recruiting practices. You have personal effect in this future.
Speaker 2:Two big things I love. Well, maybe three, three big things. One is put the damn list together. Yeah, put your ideal list. Be aspirational about it.
Speaker 1:I don't care if it's like Bill Gates, and I love that story. Does anybody remember that story? Maybe it's like super ancient story now, but Bill Gates, when he was like 12 years old, called Bill Hewlett, dave Hewlett from Hewlett.
Speaker 1:Packard and said he needed parts for his little garage business that he started and Hewlett was like I thought the kid was so nuts, I had to do it. And welcome to Bill Gates. He became a very early sponsor of Bill Gates because Bill Gates was a 12 year old who was fearless enough to say I'm just going to call him up. I think he tells the story of I was just an ADD kid who literally was like I didn't know the boundaries, and that's what I love, because they don't know politics or bureaucracy or boundaries. And so I say, just throw off. Linkedin has thrown off all those bow lines for us.
Speaker 1:You are two to three separated from just about anyone on earth right now.
Speaker 2:So like, why would?
Speaker 1:you talk yourself out of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you and I having this conversation right now is proof of that. I don't know if it was your post or somebody posted about you. I got in the comments. I'm like this human being. I got to talk to this person, yeah.
Speaker 1:She was amazing. Yeah, it was varsity welding, which, like, I don't know why that took off. It's the weirdest thing. Like these algorithms are so interesting because you'll think, oh, this is such a good message, I can see this one resonating and it'd be like, like it goes nowhere.
Speaker 1:And then that one just I still get responses on that one where it's recycled itself somewhere, and so I think it just touched a chord with people. Because varsity welding is the kind of another. I have hashtags in my head. Welding a stem is a big one and I don't know why I get both sides very passionate people about it either being stem or not being stem, which I didn't know was a dispute, but it was a very logical thing to say. And then also varsity welding, which is, I remember, being early. I was a graduate high school in 1995. I took shop class. I had to take industrial technology, absolutely despised home economics and home ec. So we took six months of industrial tech, or vo tech in some people's areas, and it was six months of home ec and I was like I wish I could stay with industrial this whole time.
Speaker 1:This is my thing. I love the drill press. I love like shellacking. My my mom still has that shelf in her house.
Speaker 1:It's got like 800 coats of shellac and lacquer that I'm sure I lost five years off my life. We never wore back bling. Osha existed, but I don't think in high schools. But yeah. So I wanted to continue that and was talked out of it by a guidance counselor, as many guidance counselors do, who like oh you're such a good speaker, you're such a good writer, you should be a journalist. You really need to go to college because you're not.
Speaker 1:You know it's either on for the, for the guys that ended up and it was primarily guys, so I'm going to say guys who ended up as instructors in the early two thousands. They were never given the like varsity treatment. I mean, the stories I hear are very usual stories of like it's auto shop, it's welding or it's jail. Well, that's a good three choices for me. Thanks so much. I feel like conquering the world now, and so that ended up being instructors for this next set of generations. And so it's twofold for me. One, it's empowering those guys who never got any kind of you're on the varsity squad. What is it at your high school now? And that's what I asked my daughters what is it? If it's not the football team, it's another team. That's the like cool kids. Whatever that varsity squad is the welders and the kids that are choosing seat they need to be told they're a varsity squad.
Speaker 1:You are choosing a career path that is just as good, just as financially responsible for yourself, as any college career, and we're not saying no to college forever. Your company might put you in leadership and you go get an associate's or a bachelor's degree. So this is not a like XO off of college forever. But career readiness is a varsity squad, and so that's where varsity welding started was like I want them all to feel like they're the top squad pick, first draft pick, like they're about to go home.
Speaker 2:It wasn't until it was weird. It resonates with me. It was so one. It caught my attention and I'm like I'm just gonna dm her and see if I can get her and you're like, yeah, I'm like, oh, yes, oh, my God, so I'm excited. Two it wasn't until my third year of apprenticeship, at the plumbing apprenticeship, that I was like had pride, real, genuine pride about my career choice. I was in a craft competition, national craft competition in Maui, of all places, at a big giant conference.
Speaker 2:We had fancy people up there talking and motivating and I finally felt, man, I've never felt this good about my choice, because it was always oh, you're in plumbing, I mean best choice I ever made, because it is what led straight to where I am today, which is an amazing, fulfilling life. I don't work like I used to, but I get to do some super, super amazing thing and obviously talk to super awesome people. Now the second point putting the list together of sponsors.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, we did kind of get off that Sorry.
Speaker 2:Is freaking. Reach out to them, yeah, text, email, dm. The worst thing that can happen is they say no. And then the last thing this is the third add-on is keep receipts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and hopefully that didn't sound really snarky. I mean, I'm one of those people cause I get it a lot from women many times of like how do you convince people and maybe it's me at almost 48 years old is I just don't give two foxes. If I have given a case is logical, has merit, isn't like very divisive. It's really just saying like this is a path forward. You can choose it or lose it. And they choose lose it, or they choose to go even farther with that, into just silly stuff that I'll see on Instagram. I'm like those just aren't my people. I am not going to put any kind of energy into that. You're not my people. I focus on when I can kick a door open or I can crack it open. Okay, I'm a strategist and I'm a scaler, so I'm just naturally thinking okay, how can I further get that door open? It's almost like a chess puzzle for me that I'm solving, and so I'm just not going to put any emotional weight to people that aren't on your team.
Speaker 1:I mean it's like a team You're either supporting the Chiefs or the Eagles and okay, eagles fans, you stay over there. If I'm a Chief, I'm working with the chiefs, but it just doesn't have to get disrespectful and I think it's really interesting. That's why the welding is STEM part. I had posted something from Fabtech where I did a handheld laser with IPG and I'm just I mean SpaceX and putting things in space. Really, I'm like that is how you are going to connect with this next generation of what they know and have grown up with, of saying you can weld and then also going to automation of welding by the time your career, age or hand welding or stick with any of these trades, but they have a future tense of what those trades look like. That is an evolution. I want to think it's because more of the fear of saying, like automation and it's ai and other industries like that's going to take a job. There must be a history to that, because those seem to be what it ends up being.
Speaker 1:The fight is this isn't welding. This is ridiculous. There's no fusion there. There's no that. Meanwhile, that same bead that I just ran with a handheld laser welder just went on a piece of titanium that held one of the ships together. So you can dispute me all you want and get emotional about it being like welding has never been stemmed. Somebody even posted like the welding machine is stem, but welding itself is not not. So it's just. I actually just laugh at them now. I'm just curious, is like, why is this threatening to you to say that it's them and I think the other thing is too. I say a lot of the time it's not the color of the collar for this next generation. They did not grow up unless they grew up in really heavy ag cultures and farming cultures. My husband grew up with FFA super, super proud of that.
Speaker 1:And again, I don't want anyone to take this as I'm like defaming that culture. I think it's awesome that there's still a lot of pride there, but that's less and less places, as opposed to kids who have just grown up in more urban areas who have been surrounded by gray hoodies. So I always say it's like it's not a white collar. I mean, and I've never also heard anyone say I am so proud white collar. It's really a blue pride, the source of pride of saying like it's blue. So I don't want to take away from people who have that pride piece to saying blue collar. That's absolutely a thing and I'm glad if that kind of propels you forward. But what I don't want it to be is a divisive piece that it last 20 years of.
Speaker 1:I think that's where the STEM thing happened. Basically, y2k happened when I got out of college and it was more of a let's go to the Google, apple route of Python coding and getting everybody into these desk jobs that are computer-based, and there was a need for it, but again the pendulum just swung so hugely that it really took. I mean, I said it earlier, technology has been a word in this side of mechanical, electrical plumbing, even carpentry, but definitely welding since the day it was born. I'm just putting it back into the conversation.
Speaker 2:And so that's why I think it's kind of funny is again, this is not a new idea.
Speaker 1:I'm not like trademarking. The term welding is STEM. It has always been STEM. It's just because it was a non-stigma kind of thing to talk about by putting your kids to be engineers or get into tech whatever they think tech is into, those cool careers yeah, that's robotics and whatever side of STEM that they wanted to go into. Meanwhile, cte has been STEM the whole time.
Speaker 1:So I'm trying to kind of break that barrier back down and be like I'm not taking away from the blue collar message. If that's important to you, I'm just trying to tell you. I know most of these kids are growing up saying I don't even understand what white collar versus blue collar means. I see CEOs in gray hoodies. What does that mean to me? And so we have this opera. I look at it as everything's opportunity. We have an opportunity to define that for them by just putting trades back together with STEM. It's a low lift to me. So I'm also a scaler. So literally I'm like when I started this research two years ago, I looked at it like oh wow, look at the challenge and the problem to solve for, hypothetically, with all these numbers of shortages and skilled trades gaps and a lot of LinkedIn likes around that, which I don't want to be a part of. I just want to solve for things. So I'm like, okay, what's?
Speaker 1:the easiest thing in here to solve for and welding. I was like God, massive opportunity of when you have these terrestrial spaces and there's always, this has been since the beginning of time and trades of bring back any type of trade. What do we have to do? We have to build a big school and I was like that's the Yale in me is thinking, wow, that's very high lift. What if you could do something mobile, that's transportable, and then you can collapse something, or you can bring it up when you need it, or it's something like an onboard ramp that me and Nate created.
Speaker 1:We're not the first ones to do a five-day welding school or a four-night or a one-day experience. We're just the ones saying, hey, if you already have the employers attached and you can give them basic skills, we're putting out a better hireable human, not just a great welder.
Speaker 1:And so it's like turning it on its ear a bit. So I say the same thing about the CTE stuff. I think it's wonderful these schools that are, these mega CTEs that are coming back. They're also adding in veterinary tech, the EMT stuff and then also adding in all of the trades. If you have the funding for that and you have the space for that, I think that's in concert with this.
Speaker 1:But I think the fastest way to do it is to say we don't have to rebuild what was broken down in the early 2000s. You can do it in a pop-up shop kind of way for now, until we look at what are the true numbers. Because that's the thing that I get disputed all the time is when somebody says we need 400,000 welders by 2030. But do we? And I walked around Fabtech and actually got that and I liked getting that question because I was like you know what You're so right Like where did the 400,000 come from? And is it like 400,000 because people aren't retiring, or is it butts in seats are just missing, or is it a combination thereof?
Speaker 2:Or is it the?
Speaker 1:pipeline, which I'm starting to see. It's more of the long-term pipeline than anything else. It's not. It's more of the long-term pipeline than anything else. It's not. Oh, my goodness, we are in such a deficit today, 2024, 2025.
Speaker 1:It is we don't have these transferable skills from our more seasoned folks being transferred into this next generation of the next 10 years. So I think that can be solved by a combination of automation. Because I say this when people are like, oh, robots are going to take everybody's jobs and I'm like valid statement. I want to be communicating what you're saying and where you're coming from with it. But I will also say, just as someone who's been an operational efficiency person in many companies is saying they want to produce 500 of the widget, you don't want to sit there and do 500 of the Model T widgets of something you will go brainless so fast.
Speaker 1:So if that was your job, let's upskill you into something that you could be more creative in. So I try to say it in a more opportunistic way of it's not losing the thing. It's an opportunity for transitioning into something that's even better, and then putting that mindless stuff just like AI. Now you have an AI assistant. Did we really want to be an assistant? I think it was just a part-time thing. So it's the same thing.
Speaker 2:Totally. When I first heard somebody I know personally I can't remember who it was it was like I'm like, okay, like I don't care. But the feeling I got was it was invasive, that I needed to change my messaging to talk about careers in the trade from a perspective, yeah. And then I got pissed and I'm like, wait a minute, because when I got introduced to this idea of STEM, it was through academia, through 12, higher ed. And then I'm like, oh, that's why this is rubbing me wrong. That person is an academic and shoving this down my throat, maybe had an internship and claims to be a craft worker or tradesman, and I got to say STEM, because you're saying it, and so maybe. Anyways, my point in that?
Speaker 1:No, that's a really good point of view. It's coming from the same institutionalized folks that were saying like it's either auto shop welding or jail. We're now telling you like weren't you talking about it with STEM?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I get it.
Speaker 1:That's a really good point.
Speaker 2:Now, what I think is super valuable that the L&M family can take away from your response to the people that are getting emotional about welding being stemmed Because I agree 100 percent it is Don't let them steal your energy, right, they're not your people. Let them go do what they need to do. Focus on your message and like when you're clear and this is something I just recently started practicing, and this is something I just recently started practicing there's no need for me to soften any of my message, because when I'm clear about what I'm saying, I'm going to attract the people that like my flavor of crazy and I'm going to repel the ones that don't, and that's all I need.
Speaker 1:So my reason in saying it is again I'm not an influencer and I'm certainly not, I'm certainly not an influencer or content creator of going for the like fest on whatever social media. And, trust me, I see them out there and it drives me absolutely bonkers because I'm like all you're doing is repurposing the stats and then getting this emotional response and you're doing nothing about the solution, so nothing will drive you crazier than when you do that.
Speaker 1:And so if anybody puts me in, that category I will double down cleaner, faster, stronger, better and be like out in the field doing a deal or like teaching somebody, or you know what I mean. You just got to be in the trenches. But why I say welding is STEM is because there's just such this huge opportunity of recruiting the next generation for that pipeline we talked about. When we're looking at that long range pipeline of saying why have you been separated out of this? Because you are the varsity squad. You are a scientist, a technologist, an engineer. You're an engineer more than anything in welding.
Speaker 1:I mean really we have a welding engineering degree and, yes, I know you go to new levels to get that, but I'm telling you, go to any welder in the field. They love to have that argument too Are you a welder? What about the welders when they get with the engineers? And there is definitely that the farmers and the cowmen must be friends, like Oklahoma have a musical, but they really are, and they use an engineer's brain to do everything they have to do. So I get into some interesting conversations there, but so they're doing all the things, especially in welding. It's more of saying, it's de-stigmatizing it to parents that would have been or guidance counselors that would have been, and trying to talk them into the college prep thing when they clearly are kids who are looking for hands-on, want to explore, do the things. If that STEM narrative helps them, so that we get more of these diverse populations into it, I'm all here for it, but I also know that's one way to do it out of many ways recruiting this next generation. So I think you bring up a great point.
Speaker 1:It is not the only hashtag. We need a lot of hashtags to be able to just give them exposure at this pipeline age, which I'm advocating for that too is I saw that the funding was gone Even for nonprofits. Right now the funding is gone for that early eight to 14 and 15 year olds. They want the butts in seats statistics and I think that's what's being disputed is okay, great. We love these workforce development like real solve the Delta right now for butts in seats programs. But we've left this huge pipeline which anybody who's ever worked in a company knows. Your pipeline is your most precious resource. Like how are we doing?
Speaker 1:the recruiting right now for three years from now. So, unless we start, putting our Pell grants and the funding and it shouldn't all be nonprofits, by the way all of us are putting that effort and energy into that. I look at it like 12 to 16, because the guidance counselors get to them at 17 and 18. And again, if there's guidance counselors on here like you do amazing work, but I just know there's many more rewards in the college prep arena from states than there are with career readiness.
Speaker 1:So, unfortunately, that's the hands they're tied, are bound to, but knowing that they are more influenceable at 12 to 16. And then, if we add on to that, they've never been exposed to a power tool, they've never exposed to a welding torch, for whatever reason. It's dangerous or no danger. All the things we talked about earlier. Those two things need to happen exposure to all of these cool things and then hands-on activities to where they can start saying, oh, as they do, get into those conversations about what are we thinking here and take those little assessment things of what's your career going to be? That's going to pop up and they can defend it.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, with me it wasn't defensible. It was like, oh, I guess I could be Katie Couric, which she's done amazing things, but ultimately that was not my path. But I got talked into like journalism school and maybe you could be a broadcast major because you speak. Well, If I had just had enough to stand my ground and say, no, I really want to do this trade thing. Yeah, more kids can do that.
Speaker 1:And then again you're just naturally organically solving this pipeline issue and that's what other industries have done. So that's why I say I am not doing anything new. I am not groundbreaking. I'm just saying look at what some of these other industries that have had success. Look at tech they have 30% to 40% women. Now I know they still struggle with certain things like leadership positions etc. But they're still miles ahead from a diversified perspective than manufacturing and trade. So you could look at multiple industries that way and just say we're just taking a page to your point on playbooks and making plays. It's just the playbooks here. We just need to agree that there is a playbook and we need to start following one. We can't just be like scratching our heads and talking about statistics for infinity.
Speaker 2:This will resonate with you when I'm helping clients and folks twisting brains and they're discontent, dissatisfied, irritated or just plain pissed off at their outcomes. Here's the deal is the system in which you are operating maintaining, reinforcing is perfectly designed to continue producing the outcomes that you have right now. Are you saying it's my fault? Nope, I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm saying that you are operating within the system, that you're not changing and there are buttons and levers that you can push and pull in your system, that you have control over as the decision maker, et cetera, to change the system, to produce different outcomes.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And change agency is scary and hard to a lot of people. It's so funny you say that because it was a very real world conversation with a couple of different parties. In the last couple of weeks, since Nate and my world science lab, the five day has been out and about and we have been very much about. Hey, listen, we are not competing with 900 hour, 400 hour, two to four year programs in CTE. This is a supplement to that right.
Speaker 1:This isn't a we are trying to kill the institution. You know there is a lot of funding, there are unions, there are things that are doing great work to actually put out great students into the world coming out of these programs. We're trying to say, if there's really adults to be solved for, like real butts in seats right now, we want to put out good humans that have grit, determination and also show up to the job every day and they've got the basic skills that they're willing. These employers are willing to take on the rest of the last mile and say, okay, now you've got a MIG welder on our hands, we're going to get them into our three-month program to be in shipbuilding, but they need the humans. That's what we're hearing is they need the humans. So if that's the case, that's what I'm solving for.
Speaker 1:Now the challenge becomes with those folks is if they want to because I have had these conversations too and there's a lot of dialogue around this right now and many of the manufacturers it's saying is the employer willing to pay for it? And if they're not willing to pay for it, then they don't want change. And that's in any industry. You have to be willing to put your money on the line and invest in it. Investment has dividends. So you need to invest in your future pipeline, whether that's the advocacy piece of the 12 to 16 year olds right now, or that's also the butts in seats training that your company requires, or both. But you need to invest. And if you're telling me no after complaining about the problem, then I just found your problem right there.
Speaker 2:Yep, there's some people that want to solve a problem and there's some people that want attention about their problem forever. I mean maybe they just need to vent.
Speaker 1:I don't know, but I can't imagine being in the business owner seat, which all of the pressure that entails, your financial wherewithal on the line as a human and your family and whatever else, and then your employees why you wouldn't be open to change and there's gotta be some way to unpack that for them. But again, like that's more of the, if those are the people right now, those aren't my people. I'm more of the. I don't wanna call them bleeding edge. I'm more of the. I don't want to call them bleeding edge, but they are the first responders to the problem of saying, yeah, you know what the pain is real for me, that I need to invest in something, so we are willing to be the first ones on this boat and then the other people are like, whoa, we need to jump off the Titanic too, Like we got to get on the boat.
Speaker 1:but they need to see an actual proof of concept from somebody else to say, okay, if so-and-so did it, and that's just society, right? I mean, we do that in movies or whatever thing we're wearing and handbag.
Speaker 1:Early adopters are who we look for these things, and then the others will come, and there will always be that percentage that chooses not to, and unfortunately, I think. I would love to look at your books for profitability, et cetera, or just growth. You might be able to stay the same in the same city and be a small shop and do the thing, and if that's your prerogative, then awesome, good for you. I don't have any reason to say no to that. But if you are in saying this company or this part of the industry is going to last beyond me, you need to be investing in the future technology, and then you also need to be investing in your people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 10, 4. Okay, I know that you've got a hard stop, so I got two things so I can let you go. Otherwise I'm going to keep pulling all the value out of your head. So one where can people find you? Because I know you got a book coming. It's in the process. You got a lot of amazing things. You're a valuable asset to the industry and just to the world, and so where can people find you? And then I want to ask you the super secret closing question. Oh, it sounds like pressure.
Speaker 1:Tell my kids that, by the way, that, like you're an amazing human, all the things. Like everybody should hear that every day and also read your own bio. We talked about that earlier. Like everyone should go and read their bio in the morning. It's just a puff up your shoulders a little. You earned it, you own it, right. But you can find me on DemiKnightClarkcom that is my new website. Also, find me on LinkedIn.
Speaker 1:I love connecting with people because this is a very real conversation and I love getting different lenses. I mean, there's so many ways to unpack these things that there's no right or wrong and just opening the dialogue, right, because that's how community is. When you have community, I think you really can have tougher conversations and crucial conversations. So find me on my website. Find me, especially right now, after an election. We all lean into each other and be like okay, especially in manufacturing. Let's just what's the path forward? Like how do we go? No matter what side of the aisle you sat on. So anyway, I think it's all interconnected that way. So please connect me I'm Demi and I Clark on LinkedIn, yeah, and we go from there. So I'm ready. I feel like I've got to answer this question.
Speaker 2:I think you're more than ready. We said it in the intro You've accomplished, conquered, many amazing things. You continue to be a trailblazer, be on the bleeding edge, like throughout your career. I got some of those details before we hit record, and so I'm like man. This response is going to blow some people's socks off. So here's the question what is the promise that you are intended to be?
Speaker 1:Promise Like, I promise this or.
Speaker 2:Not your promise. I'll give you an example. The promise I am intended to be is to share my gifts and talents and service to others and help them, escort them, walk with them down the path of self-discovery. That's the promise I am supposed to be.
Speaker 1:Got it. Okay, you have do the damn thing, which is awesome, and I think, rather than it being like this awesome list of accomplishments, I just always made the choice to do the hardest thing. And so if I have any legacy at all, whether that's, it's always my daughter's first. I think anybody as parents you're like if my kids learned this, then I can be dust someday and you don't have to be a parent to feel that way. There is legacy in it, in anyone. But I think my legacy is definitely carrying on the same kind of just.
Speaker 1:It's not fearlessness and that's my book is from fearless to unethical is everyone needs to be able to figure out that you face your fears, do the hard things, face the fears that are innately going to come, and if they don't come, it's probably not hard enough. You should be scared every day that you're making big business decisions or family decisions, or move across the country or run a marathon or whatever the thing is. Do the damn thing. But then also, if the gut check is there, I say the gut check and the heart check, you know, if the gut check is there, to where? Like it's the like that is the fork in the road. If it's the fork, go with the fork and then the heart check is like it sits, with all the morals and values and ethics that I believe in, that I want to stand on this wall and do this thing, whether that's speaking to people about the thing or that's advocating, or that's starting a class or that's whatever it is for the next generation.
Speaker 1:I think that's my legacy is that people not only do the damn thing, but they do the hard thing, because the hard thing is what people are going to remember and see that and be like well, I can do the hard thing and everything that's a hard thing is just broken down into little bites of the elephant, so you end up doing this really hard thing. I love Trailblazer and Groundbreaker. It's just choosing to say nobody's stepping into this blue ocean, so just step into the ocean. I don't want to be in the red ocean where everybody's like bloody sharks fighting over the same old thing. Go, define the thing. That's the blue ocean.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love it. Damn it. Amazing. Of course Do hard things and I know you're inspiring me to continue and we'll make sure that our listeners get the same inspiration. Did you have fun?
Speaker 1:I did, and I will add one thing to that. Somebody gave me this nugget today that I talked to, who is a former gold medalist soccer player, who, she, she's incredibly inspirational again in and of herself. But she said to me it's up to us to stand on the wall. So we were talking in context of women and fight the good fight, you know, and show girls that they can be doing these things in sports or in trades, or doing all the things. But we need to know when we need to step back. And this is her stepping back and me stepping forward, or Demi stepping back and Recharge and somebody else stepping forward. So I think that would probably be my next piece of the do the hard thing. You need to know where your community is and when you need to step back for a minute and then jump right back into the arena. So, yeah, I did have fun and I hope everybody remembers that in the next evolution of years coming forward. But do the hard thing.