Ep. 66 - How Storytelling And Simulators Can Close The Trades Labor Gap

The labor gap isn’t just a numbers story; it’s a connection and knowledge story. We bring on JJ Owen, executive director of the Skilled Careers Coalition and Skills Jam, to map a practical playbook for reaching Gen Z, transferring craft wisdom, and rebuilding the trades pipeline with real stories, real training, and real community.

We start by unpacking why five pros exit for every one who enters—and how that compounds into lost know-how on jobsites. JJ shows how to meet young people where they are: TikTok, YouTube, classrooms, and jobsite tours. We talk about peer-to-peer storytelling, mentorship that actually transfers skills, and why polished content loses to authentic day-in-the-life clips that answer two core questions: Will I belong here? Can I grow here?

From SkillsUSA’s Teamworks competition to paid high school apprenticeships, we spotlight models that work and the tools that accelerate learning. Simulators, AR, and VR aren’t toys; they’re bridges to confidence and safer first reps, whether you’re welding or running an excavator. On the retention side, we break down building an internal micro-training library so rookies show up prepared and foremen feel respected, not drained. That small shift creates buy-in on both sides and keeps culture strong.

Along the way, we dig into “fans first” thinking for trades recruiting, partnerships with media and industry, and a mindset reset for leaders who are ready to adapt instead of complain. If you’re serious about hiring, training, and keeping great people, this conversation gives you a blueprint you can start using this week.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow Skills Jam on TikTok and YouTube, visit skilledcareers.org to connect, and subscribe to the show. Share this episode with a fellow builder and drop a review to help more blue-collar pros find us.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Sponsor And Opening Mission
• 1:37 Guest Intro And Background
• 5:11 From Movember To Workforce Impact
• 9:15 Defining The Labor And Connection Gaps
• 14:50 Reaching Gen Z Online And IRL
• 19:20 Fans First Marketing For Trades
• 24:30 Simulators, AR, And Early Training
• 30:05 Bridging Foremen And New Hires
• 36:20 Mentorship, Media, And SkillsUSA
• 41:20 Local Impact Story And Mindset Shift
• 46:00 Calls To Action And Closing Gratitude

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:09

Hey guys, welcome to the Blue Collar Business Podcast where we discuss the realest, rawest, most relevant stories and strategies behind building every corner of a blue-collar business. I'm your host, Cy Kirby, and I want to help you what it took me, trial and error, and a whole lot of money to learn. The information that no one in this industry is willing to share. Whether you're under that shade tree or have your hard hat on, let's expand your toolbox. Guys, welcome back to another episode of the Blue Collar Business Podcast, brought to you and sponsored by our good friends at Thumbtack. They have been with us through this entire end of this year. And I looked and uh believe they will be with us coming into next year. If you guys haven't checked them out yet, you absolutely need to. They are a vital lead gen source for you guys that are starting your businesses. Uh, if you've owned your craft and you care about results, but you're spending too much time chasing leads that just don't fit. You need a solution that connects you with customers who appreciate your skills and jobs that fit your team, schedule, and area. Thumbtack delivers exactly that without subscription fees or pricing surprises. As your business grows, Thumbtack centralized tools and automation keep things running smoothly. Ready to grow, visit thumbtack.com backslash pro and book your personalized strategy session today. Make sure you tell them the blue collar business podcast. Mr. Si sent you over that way. It sure will help the show out. Um, guys, as you know, I am such a huge trades over college advocate. Um, my life just kind of worked out that way, and I ended up straight in the trades, anyways. I had, you know, uh a small chance to go to college, but you guys have heard me. I think we're fixing to clip 70 episodes here. And number one, guys, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the support here as of late. It has been unreal from you guys. Um, but as you guys have been listening to the show, you know for a fact that I'm a huge skilled trades advocate. And this gentleman that I have as a guest today isn't just being about it, or I'm sorry, he's not just talking about it. He is actually being about it. Um, and he's doing it in different ways that, as you guys may see, that I relate to very well, as I'm taking a different approach um to marketing into media and everything that I'm doing. But this gentleman is not just doing it for just a company, but he's doing about the awareness of the issue that I'm so passionate and share, share a passion with him. Um, he is the executive director of the Skilled Careers Coalition and Skills Jam. Uh shout out to their TikTok channel. Just hit 50K Skills Jam. Go check it out, guys. All centered around trades over college and young people getting into the trades. Um, main focus is on reshaping on how youth view the trades through storytelling and strategic media partnerships. This gentleman has helped partner with some big dogs that are out in the marketplace that I couldn't even fathom speaking to, but I'm talking about people like Warner Brothers, the Discovery Channel, TikTok, Type Hennington. These these are huge names. And it's just cool to have another advocate for me to introduce you guys, the one and only JJ Owen. Thank you so much for joining me today, sir.

SPEAKER_01: 3:32

Sorry, it's a I'm pumped to be here. By the way, your last name, Kirby, uh reminds me of one of my all-time favorite baseball coaches. I I played through uh college and a little bit of Pro Ball, and this guy, my Kirby, like I would not have played to the level that I did without this guy. And so, like, just it your vibe, there's something about you too that is like very much uh we call them chief. Like uh, so I might if I call you chief at one point or another during this interview, it's because it's out of love. And this guy was like one of my best baseball coaches of all time.

SPEAKER_00: 4:02

Well, man, I'll that's uh that's a great relation to start with. Normally it's uh Kirby like the vacuum. Yeah, yeah, I wasn't a millennial kid too, man. And um no, man, you were sharing just a little bit beforehand. Give us some background info. Number one, you didn't tell me that you played Pro Ball. That's freaking cool.

SPEAKER_01: 4:21

Um it's independent, all right. Like I don't want anyone to think that I was like playing for the Cubbies or something like that. But I got to I had the privilege of riding in the back of the bus near you know the toilet for 14-hour bus rides with some you know mostly growing men uh in in Evansville, Indiana. So uh but I got a paycheck. Like that's that's what that was.

SPEAKER_00: 4:44

Oh, that is so that is so hilarious. But um maybe share a little bit about your background story, um, where where you came from and how you ended up here. Tell us a little bit about the coalition skills jam. Just give us a brief rundown of where you're at and what you're doing with it.

SPEAKER_01: 4:59

Yeah, I mean, uh I the where I'm at today as the executive director of Skill Careers Coalition. I mean, I I I promise you I could not tell you that I was gonna be here 15 years ago. I mean, hell, I like I said, I was a baseball player. I played college at USC and uh even went to grad school, got my NBA at University of Oregon, was a graduate assistant baseball coach there. And like it, but like that was the whole like I just need to figure my life out, right? Like they say that an athlete dies two deaths, like the day you retire and then the day you die. Uh, I needed to figure out what the hell I wanted to do. And and man, like I happened to just start growing a mustache when I was at University of Oregon um to get involved in the Movember uh foundation and in the men's health campaign. And I think maybe the moral of the story to keep it short is like be careful when you mess around with a mustache, it might turn into a job. Um, I ended up uh getting hired by the Movember Foundation in 2011, um, built the development department uh from the ground up and was there for seven years. We had a million participants grow mustaches for mental health. I and I'm happy to talk about it right now because it is Movember and it's still cooking and it's going full struck full throttle, but we raised like 130 million. It was the most unicorn experience I could possibly have asked for in philanthropy. Never planned on being in philanthropy, but uh you know, fast forward to today. Uh I obviously still working in social impact. I love um the key lessons that I learned in November, which is really like you got to do the hard yard, you got to roll up your sleeve and build the community. Um, you can't just like you know, just pray and go, you know, broad. Like you got to go do the work. And like that's the same approach that we are taking, you know, with the Skilled Careers Coalition, which is like, you know, you can't you can't just you know pitch up a tent and be like, we're the new guys in town, you know, come hang. Um, you gotta bring something to the table. And and and part of that is leading from behind. So like, you know, one of the key things that I learned when I was at Mobumber is like get out on the ground, have the conversations, let other people have the best ideas, and then build that bridge, right? And uh, and so that's funny that that I, you know, like I said, if you would have asked me 15 years ago, like, hey, what do you think if I told you you're gonna be the executive director of the skilled careers coalition, I'd be like, you're crazy, right? Like, I mean, first off, like I'm gonna own my insecurity right here. Like, I've never been on a job site, right? I do, I would say I'm a master craftsman in Yogi Berra's tools of ignorance, which is I was a catcher, right? So I've done the hard, like I, I, I, I I know what it's like to get dinged up and get dirty and work your butt off like that. Um, but yeah, man, like, you know, being here where I'm at now as the executive director, like I have a chance to actually pull together some, like some of my key, you know, past moments. Like, I know I know what it's like to grind and work hard and be up early and like you know, apply your trade. Um, albeit let's say it was baseball. Like, I mean, it could, I could have been on a job site uh, you know, for sure. Uh the other side of it is like pulling together some of my experience from November and building the field, right? Like, so when we launched the Skilled Careers Coalition, um, we have a pr really generous philanthropist, he's an economist at heart, the type of guy that like reads the labor reports, you know what I'm talking about, like and goes, hold up. I know that there's a lot of really good things cooking out there, and everybody's talking about this whole labor gap thing, but it's not closing. If I wanted to actually invest time, talent, and funds into this issue area, where where's where's the white space, right? Where can we wildcat a little bit and like you know, go figure out where we can uh make a dent? And the two areas are one uh looking at it becoming like having a national convener, right? We actually saw really great, remarkable work being done by nonprofits or government or secondary schools, post-secondary schools, uh, and we also saw great work being done regionally or within uh specific sectors, right? But nobody's really talking to each other, right? And you know, I guess sometimes it's like uh like it's a selfish thing. It's I've actually found that it's not that. It's more of a capacity thing. Like people are just like, I don't have the time to go out and make sure that you know construction's learning a thing or two from manufacturing, who's learning a thing or two from you know, techs, who's learning a thing or two from oh my god, the entertainment industry? What? Like uh nobody has that time. So it's like, all right, how can we come in and really affect systems change and build the field by bringing people together? That was the first area. The second area was like, man, there's a huge opportunity to reposition trades as a launch pad for high pay, high purpose careers for young people, right? Because I don't know about you, Syle, but like I'm all I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. That never stops, right? Like, I mean, whether that you you said you're a dad, like, you know, I'm figuring that out, right? I'm about to like in a couple of years, I'll be a a dad to a daughter dad to teenagers, right? Like you're always gonna be figuring that stuff out. But uh from a very young age, though, I I'd probably say that you probably knew what you didn't want to be, right? You start crossing things off your list really, really early. And my hope is that through the work that we're doing with our flagship program Skills Jam, um, our hope is that we're reaching Gen Z where they're at on social media, right? Like on TikTok, on YouTube, and showcasing, hey, like here's the realities of these careers, right? Of the education pathways, like whether you're going into an apprenticeship program, whether you're going to a community college, whether you're going to a trade school, like here's all the pathways, here's the opportunities. Um, here's, yeah, earning potential is part of it, but also like a lot of the Gen Z is really looking for the intrinsic stuff, right? Like they want to feel like they're a part of something, they feel fulfilled. Um, so making sure that you're sharing, like, hey, like this is what it's like to be a part of a union or work for general contractor, or you know what I mean? Like, we want to like highlight the whole story um so that young people don't redline plumber or tech, you know, auto tech off their list just because dad cusses every time he's got a call on, right? You know what I mean? So that those are the two big places that we play as a the skilled careers coalition. Um, you know, how do we bring people together, build the field, and then how do we reposition skilled trades as skilled careers so that Gen Z's lean into it and understands, hey, like, oh, there's a viable career path here, right?

SPEAKER_00: 11:24

It's it's insane, man. Uh two things you said that I gotta highlight real quick is 15 years ago, yeah, there's uh for sure a bunch of stuff I crossed off my list, and it I would have probably crossed off podcaster, quote unquote. I even hate I hate when people say, Well, you're a podcast. I can't even stand listening to it because it's so opposite of the end of the spectrum of where I thought I would be. But the amount of direct messages and emails and impact, you said social impact earlier, and that's kind of where we're we're trending here too, is you know, 15 years ago, I never thought I would have be out on social media and YouTube. Well, it wasn't a thing back then, obviously, but you know, the the Facebooks and all of that stuff, nobody thought it would end up where it is nowadays, but I never thought I would gain enough credibility in doing something wrong or right to be able to share my experience of which other pathway with others to learn from. And so uh testament to you for diving off into something that sounds completely uh opposite end of the spectrum, but you huge impact Mo Vember has. Man, I know I've seen the t-shirts, everybody has, and uh so kudos to you there. But the other thing you said is that we all these industries need to be learning from each other. And I was just uh uh shout out to Durworld. I'm probably gonna be talking about it for a couple of weeks, guys. Bear with me. I learned a lot while I was there. But Jesse Cole, Savannah Bananas was there, and you want to talk about the entertainment and marketing piece, that dude has got it down. And he said something that to 1800 civil infrastructure maintainers, installers, earthwork, 1800 of us. You guys need fans first, customers will come later. And you know, when he said that, it gave me a little bit of reassurance in what I am doing, right? That's cool. I'm different. I am that yellow tuxedo. I'm a red-headed stepchild immigrant kid. Like, dude, I fit that mold to a T. So, but spin around, who would have ever thought that I would have picked that up from him? But he's so right. He's got 4.2 million people waiting on his ticket list for next year. 4.2 because he has this enormous fan base. And, you know, building fans first and being open to learn from somebody that looks goofy as hell, that that probably has no understanding of what I've got going on, but there are soft skills and other things that we can learn. And the and then and the passion that you guys have with the coalition. I'm now a follower on Skills Jam, and I'm so excited to look into that even more because if we can help there, I would love to. But you're right. We we have to start digging. If we're going to fix it, uh, thank God for the gentleman you spoke of earlier, going, hey, how do I share an impact and how can I get involved? And I'm I'm so glad that he is launching into this because there isn't enough awareness being cast. You know, if we're talking about that marketing funnel, we're not even at this consideration phase where people are really starting to think about it. We haven't even drove enough awareness. We need seven points normally in the business sector to even get dropped down to that consideration level. So we've got to put this in front of not just you know the generation that's running it and and telling them, hey, we have got to adapt our mindsets of training, of if you're gonna continue to complain about retainage, all these kids, all this young generation, God, it makes me so mad. I'm like, well, what about maybe, maybe you guys raised us? You tell us, you're supposed to be training us. You parented us to this point, right? So you can't tell me what works and what doesn't work. And you know, times have changed, things now. Don't get me wrong, there's sometimes a good old chewing is what's needed. But a lot of times, is it because are you chewing the guy because he didn't have a clue? Because you didn't train him, because you have some crap hole training program, and with Gen Z's, like we're talking about directly today, JJ, is that video is already where they're at. 82% of the global internet consumption on the interwebs globally is video. And you're telling me, I can tell you straight up that I've gained employees, I've gained customers, I've won jobs, all because I've put myself out there on media. But I am now gaining younger candidates that are coming to me and go, hey, I want to learn a little bit more about this. I thought it was really cool that you're a part of this workforce program. I'm gaining 16, 17, 18-year-olds already putting it in their mindset that, man, I want to go put a fire hydrant in for, you know, or waterline or sewer. Like, we need these people in the five program desperately. Everybody wants to go push dirt, but nobody wants to touch poop. And I get it, we don't have to touch it, but we need plumbers.

SPEAKER_01: 16:32

We need to I got a puppy, a Labrador puppy at home right now. They're touching poop is like part of the part of the deal.

SPEAKER_00: 16:41

But talk a little bit about the mindset.

SPEAKER_01: 16:44

Yeah. So when you talk like the labor gap, what the hell is a labor gap? I mean, it's big and broad. You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of different tributaries to that. Um, and if you want to go after the labor gap like whole hog, like you're gonna be spending or uh going a mile wide and an inch deep, right? You're spreading yourself thin. So it's like looking at like what are the the places where we can make an impact and influence this. And I'd say one huge piece of the labor gap is the connection gap. And when you need to connect with young people, you do it in two places, two venues. One in real life, get your butt in the classroom, right? Like design in time into your schedule or your employees' schedule to make sure that you are doing site visits to the elementary schools, to the middle schools, to the high schools. And you know what? Heck, if it if it works for you, go sponsor the little league team or the high school football team, get on down there and say, hey, listen, I'm gonna throw out a pizza party for y'all, and we're gonna talk about what it is I do because I look at all you guys out there, you know, who's mixing it up. I want some some of the big uglies on the offensive line. Like, I want you to know that there's a job waiting for you. That partially because like, and well, I'm I'm biased because it's team sports, but like you got the durable skills. Some people call them soft skills, which makes people go, What? Like, I call them durable skills, right? Like it's the stuff the teamwork, the communication, the responsibility, the grind, right? Uh, but that is one way to close the connection gap. Show up in real life, right? Go into those classrooms, bring your tools. Uh, like if you have access to simulators, there's nothing more native for a kid right now, right? Like, do you have a Google headset, like AR, VR? Like, go lay a weld for your first time as a you know, as a 10-year-old in in third grade, right? Yeah, you're doing it in a in a simulator, but hell, that's pretty damn cool. It's also what they're doing at home with Minecraft, right? So on one hand, you have the connection gap show up in real life. The other way to close that connection gap in service of the greater labor gap is online. These online communities are massive, right? And I know that I've heard it multiple times, like people kicking rocks. I can't find skilled talent anywhere. It's like, well, where are you looking? Oh, I'm on Indeed, uh, I'm doing some LinkedIn stuff, um, you know, email marketing. I was like, no, no one from Gen Z is A, using email uh effectively, B on LinkedIn or indeed if you're looking for a skilled tradesman uh or a man. It's and if you're not doing any social marketing on TikTok or YouTube, then then you're doing it wrong. Like you need to change your recruitment strategy to a produce more content that goes onto those platforms and B, think about text and mobile first, right? Like that's how Gen Z is communicating. So if you're trying to recruit somebody, like hit them where they're at, right? Like I said earlier, if you're a fish and boat captain, like don't just drop a line in the water and pray. Put the boat on some fish, then you'll go get them. So I'm a big believer in closing the connection gap in service of the labor gap. Um, and that's not to say like that there's a lot of other uh avenues to look at, like there's training for you know, pathways and whatnot that need to happen. But um, for me and and what you're doing, like I I'm big high five, dude. You're living the values right now. Like you you told me you had 45 students on your job site doing a site visit, which is cool. Like you brought them out of the classroom to see the goodness of what you're what you got cooking. And oh, and if there's heavy equipment in the mix, watch out. Like every every every guy had just got transported back to their high chair when they're three, you know. Like, I'm thinking of my my nephew right now, Hank, who's two years old with the most fantastic Brian Bosworth mullet. Like, he is a fantastic human. He will only watch Trash Truck and Monster Trucks, right? Like, so the fact that you're bringing these students out to your job site to see that, to see it in action is is huge. Uh, but also go in there. And you know what? Out of that connection gap, you know what comes? Trust. And and and I think that's a really big piece in anybody who's starting up a business or just managing their day-to-day, is like there's a bit of that while there's a connection gap, there's a trust gap too, right? I if you're an old dog who's used to, you know, the whole like you, you should be so lucky, I got a job for you, right? Like, if you got that mindset, like you're also probably not likely trusting Gen Z and like you know, these young, you're like, I don't want that young, you know, kid on my my job site. Like, they don't know what they're doing, they don't know the tools, they don't know the the teamwork. But if you're doing the hard yard and showing up early and connecting with them and then also sharing stuff about your culture, day in the life, all that on social media, you're gonna be cooking with gas pretty quick, right? You'll you'll have trust of those new hires and that young talent pipeline, and you're also gonna retain them a whole hell of a lot easier because you've managed expectations early on. They know who you are and what you're all about. Like those are two huge things. And we're not even just talking about the know-how of the skills, right? Those that you can you could coach that. Like, if you can't, if you can't coach that, then you got bigger issues. But the retaining stuff, that man, is is a culture thing, it's a communications thing, it's a storytelling thing. And I can't believe I'm saying it in the world of trades, but like, you know, awareness isn't a dirty word, right? Like, there's actually a really amazing infrastructure out there to to get young people into the pipelines. Uh, but driving general awareness and and creating that connection is is gonna is huge. It's it's absolutely huge.

SPEAKER_00: 22:21

I also think, man, that we have been fighting the blue-collar, dumb stigma for so long. Like, oh, you come out of high school and you ended up a plumber, you must be stupid or something. And but it was this nasty stigma, and it's still out there, and it will be out there until we drive enough awareness to fight against it, and there's not enough people willing to put their money where their mouth is and actually freaking do it. And the more folks that we can change their mindset on this younger generation, man. So you said something, you know, that foreman that's out there, been in this trade 20 years, been showing up since high school. Learned how did he learn all of that? Well, by experience, education's expensive, experience is priceless, and so are we gonna expect are we gonna are we going to, you know, expect this 55-year-old man who has learned the trade by just literal experience, and we think we're gonna send this soft hands 18-year-old kid out there to him, and he's gonna be their next right hand man. And that just doesn't even we're all sitting there laughing, listening to me doing that, but we're still doing it without changing anything. And I literally this year, I mentioned earlier about this this little course I've got going on. It's pretty, it's pretty cool. Um, but through filming for that, JJ, I turned around and I I was just sitting there and I was, it's just me and the whiteboard, and I'm going over every every little small thing that we deal with in the blue-collar business space. And it hit me. I'm like, wait a minute. I'm sitting here building these videos for external purpose, but wait a minute, I'm pretty sure I can use about 15 of these that I've already filmed for external purpose for internal purpose of my company. Wait a minute, okay. I have them coming. All right, I literally stop what we're doing. I'm like, dude, we're filming 15 videos right now of the the 10 most pet peeve things or things that cost us money, safety, a job site awareness, machinery, and we just went boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And now exactly, and so now I I'm trying to tell my and most of these guys that are on these crews now have watched these videos, and so now when I'm sending a new guy, say I get uh pull an 18-year-old out of the workforce program down here that has a CDL from high school, has OSHA 30, has a heavy equipment experience. I'm like, all right, so we've got a little bit of experience, but now I want them tailored to my company. And I sit them down and I put 15 videos in front of them. And by the time they get out to there to that 55-year-old man, he actually stands a chance because they've bought they, you know, that 55-year-old man wants to feel like they're bought in. A lot of these guys are like, Well, they're so mean to me. Well, they want there, there's been 20 more of you 18-year-olds that he's already dealt with in the last three years. He cycled through them. He's trying to see if you're gonna even make it to 90 days, let alone teach you anything. And if you can show him some investment and buy-in, but these guys that I'm talking about, the trained up, the video trained, and a little bit of adaptation from an employer back to the younger generation, you're gonna retain that employee. Not only that, you're gonna retain the 55-year-old man to finish out his retirement because he's actually seeing the light of day with oh my gosh, you know, maybe not all these kids are just totally wrote off bad because I'm so sick and tired of hearing it, man. Uh, I I lit I gave up my 20s. But the last thing I want to tell you about is I was again at Dirtworld and shout out to 10 Star Simulators. Uh, really, really cool. Um, full motion setup, three screens or VR. I think there's 70, maybe I'm sorry, 40 completely active, ready to go right now from excavators, cranes, dozers, and in I'm telling you, I've been a lot of equipment in my uh short-term career, you know, but feeling of that simulator, even the auto idol in in a seat. Like I can't even all of it was really cool. But when that machine, I stopped and I took my hands off the joystick and the RPM went from 1600 to 800, and I felt it in my seat. I'm like, whoa, this is this is literally, I'm in the cab out there in the field, and then you stuck that VR on me, and I was like, it was unbelievable. I could not, and I haven't had much experience, I've played, we've all played video games as millennials, but I haven't had much experience in the VR space, so I was blown away. But I get it from the the sight simulation, but it's so much as you hear operators all the time, it's feel, it's all about that feel. And so when I went to grab a rock, a rock in this dig, my seat went forward. And I'm like, oh, we're getting the feel of this now, rather than just like, give it a chance, guys, is what I'm saying. There's a gentleman out of Texas. Oh, I'm blanking on their name right now, but they have a trailer set up. Uh, they're gonna come up to the workforce program and let them use their two simulators in their trailer and spend some time there. They're I can't wait to get them in more in front of people. They're not super affordable, let's put it that way. But man, for training for some of these multi-billion dollar companies that can't retain any of the young youth, hopefully sitting there listening, like, are they really that good? Uh, if so, uh, hit up my boy John Hodge over there if you are looking at him. But what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01: 28:17

Well, uh, first off, I'm I'm going back to the very first time that I jumped into. I think it was a uh uh Volvo X uh heavy equipment excavators on the floor at like Skills USA, and I jumped into the simulator, and it's like it it tallies it up at the end. Uh it's not like high score, it's like how much value add versus value damage. Like, and it's like you basically just broke this thing. Uh so so yeah, so you're you're in the deficit. You you've you've created like a half a million dollar hole for this project. Way to go, pal. It's like uh but um no, I've seen it with like welder simulators too. Welding's uh amazing. I actually had a chance to go out to John Deere Davenport Works uh in Iowa this last spring and was doing a site visit because I'd heard amazing things about they have a really amazing um high school registered apprenticeship program with uh the Quad City, like five Quad Cities high schools in the area. And they got a whole bunch of local employers that are a part of it too. But like they've got this whole welding bay set up. Like 30 individuals come in, young people, like who are literally juniors and seniors in high school, are coming on site, learning how to weld 20 hours a week, paid with benefits, apprenticeship, it's a UAW shop. Like you've got 20 in classroom, 20 on the floor. Over the summer, you're doing 40 hours. By the time you graduate high school, you have about give or take a couple thousand hours, and you're certified. Like, I mean, it's and you've been getting paid. And I was sitting there going, like, whether like the progression for all these high school kids that were a part of this program, they probably did a weld simulator. At some point or another in their like you know middle school years, right? And then they got a chance to go do the real thing, which I mean, pushing or pulling your four your first puddle is like super cool. I don't know. Have you like I I sat there and I was like, this is I could see how I could do this. Like if I if I could go run it back and do it all over again, it'd be like this would be it was oddly therapeutic for me. Uh but uh yeah, man, like I think so. Talking about that and to to bring it all back to some of the stuff that you're talking about is um when you have young people on the floor, right? In apprentices, you know, from you know, like that high school age or even you know, into that 18 and over uh age range, too. You you pair them with that grizzled old dog, the foreman, right? Like um you you actually you you you facilitate that bond, right? Like, because yeah, it is incumbent, you know, to make sure that these apprentices, like they they need to be trained up, right? They need to know the ins and outs, the do's and the don'ts, right? Um, so your video series that you're doing is great, like that helps manage expectations. There's no surprises, right? Like it's like, no, no, no, from from day one, I told you what the expectation is, right? And I'm not lying to you, by the way. Like the you don't get to do all the pretty stuff, like it's not all fun, right? Like, you know, like if you think you're gonna go be an electrician and you're not gonna be carrying around a spool at one point or another, like, or or just you know handling cable, like you're you're wrong. Um but but for the old guy, like for that foreman who's probably not gonna change, like if you have designed time into his schedule or her schedule to be out in the community, to be connecting with young people from a jump, that that that kind of cracks their steeler reserve, right? That makes them they when they go into that eighth grade classroom and they're like, there's probably three out of 30 here that I see, I see something in, right? And that that kind of facilitates that whole relationship build over. Like, and when you're trying to onboard new talent with old existing talent, like like that building that relationship's half half the battle, right?

SPEAKER_00: 32:07

And like we have to do it though. Like, that's what I don't think people are understanding. We're we're talking about it right now because it's fixing to happen, and there's people that realize it. I was talking to a gentleman today. Uh, I was out on a job site. He called me up about some dirt on one of our job sites, moving it to one of his job sites. This gentleman's been doing it 50 years, five decades, very, very well respected in our area. And calling me and going, hey man, you know, most of the people I've been working with, they're they're either playing golf, retired, doing something, or they're not here anymore. And um, you know, this market this year has been totally something different to talk about from the the actual commercial side of it. But that that's a that's a totally different end of the weeds. But he's sitting there talking to me and he's going, uh, from what my boy's telling me, you've got kind of a media presence and you've got things kind of figured out, like if there's some, you know, out-of-towners, we haven't heard, you know, if there's anything we can squeeze on, I heard you're jumping out of the dirt game, and I am, thank the good lord. They can have all that they want, but I'm gonna keep sticking to being a pipe guy, and that's what I know three thick and thin. But a guy that's been doing this five decades blew my mind today, and he's just like, hey man, there's you know, he's he's just doing his job, but at the same time, why is he calling me? Like, who am I? I ain't nobody, but it and it I'm trying, and you know, I was completely ego set aside, super respectful. Thank you so much for calling. It was such a reassurance for me, uh, and what have we been doing up until this point, because there isn't a whole lot of pads on the back of what, as you know, in this space, putting this out consistently every once in a while, there's that one kid, or there's that one guy comes up with a tear in his face and says, you know, if you didn't have that video or you didn't talk about that on that podcast, dude, I don't know what I would have done because that completely changed my way of thinking. And uh man, I was I sold my biggest job because of this, or whatever the case may be, but you're actually impacting people. And um, you know, whether it's local, whether it's regional or on the national base, we have got to start talking about it because the trade, the labor gap isn't going anywhere, and it's only going to get worse as people, you know, definite or what was the other thing? I can't exactly, I think it was Tim Grover from Der World, but not making the decision is the decision. So if you just not make a decision to do anything about it, social market, do anything, I dang sure don't want to see the post of man, this help sucks. There ain't nobody there's I'm going out of business because the help sucks. No, you're going out of business because you didn't freaking pivot and adapt to the business around you that you've been in for 40, 50 years. And there's this massive transition coming, not just in my industry, but all trades industries. And we've got to have the younger generation a part of it, or we're all hosed moving forward.

SPEAKER_01: 35:16

Well, and you want to talk about being hosed, like that. So we talked about all the different gaps that make up that labor gap, right? Like there's a whole, there's there's a lot of different headlines in there. We already talked about connection gap. We beat that one up. Like we know that that's there. Uh, but when you've got on average five pros exiting and only one coming back in, you know what that gap is? That's a knowledge gap, my man, right? You're not getting that knowledge back. So when we haven't brought in enough uh, you know, young early stage talent, you're you're missing out on years and years and years of valuable experience that can be imparted onto that next generation, right? And so that is, I mean, not only is there a connection gap, but the knowledge gap. Like that's why when when we when we film uh Skills Jam, like we're really trying to do two things. One, we're trying to either do peer-to-peer or near-to-peer narratives, right? Which is like, how do I show a student who's 16 that another student who's 16, 18, or even 24 is doing the thing, right? And you can do that, right? Because if you can see it, you can be it. So that's narrative one. Narrative two is mentorship, right? You tell you mentioned Ty Pennington earlier. Ty's the best. Like, we love working with Ty. He's such a good dude, like legitimately, like rolls up his sleeve, always brings a great attitude. Uh he's on, he's on with us at Skills Jam, not because Gen Z knows who Ty Pennington is, right? We're not his guy. I I he's not their guy, right? Uh he's on because a he's really good at connecting with young people where they're at, like on camera, like he's curious, he's at he's witty, he's asking storage. And then he's also imparting knowledge too. Because if we can demonstrate that knowledge transfer in action, right? If there's little life lessons or little, like, hey, you know, like we we do, we love documenting uh the teamworks construction competition for skills USA. Are you familiar with that? Okay. Yeah, so the competition's four four trades. You got carpentry, uh, carpenter, plumber, electrician, and a mason. And you're building various you know aspects of a mini home over a two-day competition. It's awesome. When we bring Ty out to Atlanta and we do all these filming, you know, like a bunch of videos together, he's always leaning in with the Teamworks kids that we're we're we're filming. And he's like, you know, oh, I remember a job where I had to do this on this dormer and that and that. And like the plans are like, what the hell's in these plans? His ability to connect and storytelling and also drop knowledge, like that's that's it. Like that's mentorship and action, right? Like, so we can close the labor gap through the connection gap, which you know, that's one to a few, right? Like there's a you're going into a classroom, you're talking talking to 30, 40, 50. Hopefully you're doing it multiple times a year, and you know, you've reached 200, 300 students a year, right? You've created that touch point in real life. However, if you're documenting that also online and you're putting it out there so that people are curious about the culture or curious about the skills that you're helping people develop or the pathway that they got in front of them, or the first 90 days on the job, right? Now it's not just one to 300, it's one to potentially a million, right? Your video can hit exponentially more people, right? And while it might not benefit you right in your backyard, like might not might not benefit the employer in Arkansas directly, like you're gonna get a few out of there. You might have just inspired some kid in Seattle, right? You know what I mean? So I think, man, it's it takes all sorts, like I said earlier, awareness is not a dirty word in the in this place and space, right? Like get in the get into the classrooms, start like leaning in and investing in your training programs, not from like a like, I'm gonna put a bunch of money into it, but like create space for freedom to think, freedom to act on your your staff, get them in the community, get them volunteering, put tools and resources into the community so that these kids get a chance to see and understand what's going on uh on your job sites, bring them out to the job site, right? Like all of that. Um, I mean, that's that's what's gonna make it happen here.

SPEAKER_00: 39:17

Dude, I was uh you mentioned baseball and you mentioned young people. I gotta tell a quick, quick story as we wrap up here. I uh big advocate. Um, we sponsor our local fields in our small town here in Arkansas. They're volunteer ran, they're not city ran. I've donated a lot of topsoil and a lot of gravel. I've re installed a parking lot for complete for free, not just a gravel parking lot, not going crazy, but um we've ran they're all sprinkler fields now. We ran two-inch water lines throughout, like they all donated, never took a dime. I was even donating some dirt one time, one of my dump trucks flipped and uh didn't even make payment on that dude yet, and uh cost me a dump truck. So I I know all about that, but through all of that, dude, for years, I'd show up on a Saturday work day. There was a young gentleman, he was probably 16, 17, and from a young age, everybody that tells me, you know, I've got young babies now, but even my uncles, my aunts that grew up around me, I was absolutely fascinated with equipment. Always have been. I was that tractor and that uh garbage truck kid. Uh that's what I was absolutely enthralled with. And so I could tell, I can honestly tell when these kids are actually just interested or might be slightly obsessed, like I was. And this this kid was there, and I got out of the skid steer and I'm like, hey man, would you like to hop in it? You know, I'm not really doing anything. And he's like, What are you doing? And and so I took the time and I explained to him, hey, this is a laser, it casts a plane, shows me where level is, and I'm making sure the water's draining off this parking lot, and I'm gonna do the same thing with the field. Well, you know, I'm only talking an inch or two, and he was so curious about how you know, figuring out what those elevations were, and I'm like, man, this kid is really freaking into this. It was like a month ago I posted on uh the team did on our Facebook page, and we don't do a whole lot on meta as we talked about what meta is earlier. Um, as we already know that. His mom posts underneath that. I think it was the 45 high schoolers uh post that I posted up and and made awareness of. He's been running his own show for almost two years now. Got his own skid steer, his own minix, doing his own dirt jobs, doing his own utility jobs here in my local market. And uh it teared me up, dude. It got to me. I'm like, whoa, because you know, we've talked about it here in this episode. It's the impact that we don't even recognize that we're having. And that's I think a lot of people's uh barrier that they can't get over, especially entrepreneurs, we're always looking for ROI immediately. We need it back, and marketing is something that is already on the fence for a lot of us blue-collar guys. Well, if you do good enough work, you get all the work, you know. Well, that is true, guys. It is, but at the same time, times have changed, and but that was such a freaking cool story, man, that affected me personally. He's still rocking and rolling, his mom and his dad are so proud of him, and of course I am too. And us, he was uh sent him a couple of hats, and it was really cool. But the impact that I had on that individual, it's all that matters. And I hope that we're sitting here today, guys, as me and JJ have been talking about this and you feel a little bit of conviction. I hope you do because I I I need your help, and so does JJ in changing what we've got going on in our industry, in our marketplace. We have got to start doing something towards the solution, or you just get to complain about the problem. And nobody likes that kind of person. We need your help. Dive in locally, regionally, or JJ, how can they reach out to you over at the coalition and skills gap over the other than the awesome TikTok page?

SPEAKER_01: 43:26

I mean, you can go to skillcareers.org and drop us a note through through the website, or uh, I mean, we're constantly working on our social medias, whether it's like I mean TikTok and YouTube, like please follow and subscribe. Uh, we're also on Instagram. Like, if you want to drop a message there or you see a video and you you have an idea, like like let us know. Like, give us a give us a holler. But I mean, at the end of the day, like what I what I always am gonna advocate for is like find time to close the connection gap in your community, right? Like, get into the classrooms and then also like you know, get on, like, don't be scared. Like, try and film a few videos, put them up on YouTube, put them up on TikTok. Like, it doesn't have to be pretty and polished. It actually is celebrated to be real, right? Like it keep it real, keep it authentic. It's very cheap to do. People want to learn about the failures just as much as the successes. Um, so just get online, try something different, like in terms of like closing that connection gap. That's where I'd say this is really at when I think the dark horse, you know, to close the labor gap is is closing that connection gap.

SPEAKER_00: 44:28

Blue collar performance marketing's passion is to bring attention to the honest work done in blue-collar industries through effective results-driven marketing tactics. They specialize in comprehensive digital marketing services from paid advertising on Google and Facebook to website development and content strategy. I started working with Ike and the team earlier this year, and they've had a huge impact on our specific marketing campaign and trajectory of our overall company. Their expertise in digital ad management, website development, social media, and overall marketing strategy has been an absolute game changer for our sales and marketing at SciCon. If you're looking to work with a marketing team who does what they say, does it well, and is always looking for ways to help your company grow, book a discovery call with Ike by going to bcperformancemarketing.com backslash BCB podcast, or click the link in the show notes slash description below. Thanks, guys. Last question, boss man. What's a to ask everybody every episode? What's a takeaway for the blue-collar worker who's sick and tired of being stuck in the mud, whether that's emotionally, mentally, or physically?

SPEAKER_01: 45:34

I don't get in the mud in the first place. No. Uh I my man, I like I have a daily practice of of reflecting on and and having gratitude. It's a Bible verse that I always take a look at and I always write it down twice a day. Um, and it is inviting you to actually like sit back and consider the goodness, even amongst all the gripes, right? When you're stuck in the mud, there's still gonna be some silver line in there, right? And there's there's that moment where when you're riding high, this too shall pass. And when you're riding low, this too shall pass. Don't forget it, right? Between dreams and despair, we're protected by faith. And whether that's something bigger and a higher being than you, or that's just faith in the process, just keep having some faith. That's it.

SPEAKER_00: 46:20

Dreams and despair are held up by faith. That is uh, bro, that is some absolute genuism. Brother, I can't thank you enough for what you're doing, what you're involved with. Uh, honestly, personally, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Um, there's not enough people out there doing and being willing to get involved with this trade gap, labor gap that everybody doesn't want to talk about but knows is happening. Um, man, thank you. And I look forward to maybe coming out to the skills competition. Me and Will would come out and throw that all over YouTube, man. I would love to Atlanta, man.

SPEAKER_01: 46:58

Come out to Atlanta, June 1st through the fifth. Skills USA, they're incredible partners of art. Like it just kicks butt. Like it's so much more than that.

SPEAKER_00: 47:05

In June, that sounds wonderful.

SPEAKER_01: 47:09

Man, curves, I appreciate you, dude. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00: 47:14

Of course. Guys, go find them. Uh, go find them and get involved. And uh, till next time, you guys be safe out there. If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to give it a like, share it with the fellas, check out our website to send us any questions and comments about your experience in the blue collar business. Who do you want to hear from? Send them our way, and we'll do our best to answer any questions you may have. Till next time, guys.