Drew Simpson: When Plan A Goes Away, Build A Better Plan

In this episode, we sit down with Drew Simpson, a former youth wrestling stud who would take his athletic talents to the University of Kentucky. This top recruit's collegiate career was cut short when UK ended its wrestling program. Now what???

With Plan A gone, Drew would eventually make his way to northeast Pennsylvania and become a carpenter. During this conversation, Drew discusses his journey from wrestling to construction, focusing on resilience and how athletic qualities translate to successful careers in construction.

When wrestling went away, Plan A, Drew built a better plan, a successful career in the Carpenters Union. He has ascended into a top leader in the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. With retirement nearing in the future, Drew reflected on his career sharing a sense of pride on the quality construction projects he was involved with, supporting the Carpenter members' livelihoods and advising aspiring apprentices too - plus he stayed coachable along the way.

For information on joining the EAS Carpenters Union:  https://eascarpenters.org/become-a-member/.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to another episode of the Coachable Close Podcast. Our mission is simple. We believe the most successful athletes, employees, coaches, business leaders, and parents all have one thing in common. They are coachable. Today's guest has spent decades helping build not only incredible projects across Pennsylvania, but more most importantly, helping build people across Pennsylvania. I'm talking about Drew Simpson, one of the top leaders of the Eastern Atlantic State's Regional Council of Carpenters. Drew has mentored countless apprentices and leaders throughout his career. And retirement is getting close. He's had an incredible career of service, and the industry's better off because of it. But before construction and before becoming a labor leader, he was a wrestler. And like many young athletes, he had a vision for where life was headed until one day his plan A disappeared. The University of Kentucky discontinued its wrestling program while he was there. Many people would have let that define them. Instead, Drew built an even better plan. Today we're going to talk with Drew Simpson about resiliency, leadership, wrestling, construction, and why sometimes life's biggest disappointments become our greatest opportunities. Also, before we jump to the interview, I want to mention that one of the things I'm excited to discuss today is how qualities that make great athletes, you know, discipline, resiliency, teamwork, accountability, coachability, are very much the same qualities that make outstanding carpenters and construction professionals. If you're a young athlete wondering what's next after sports, this episode might introduce you to a career path you haven't even considered yet. Welcome to the show, Drew. Thank you, John. Appreciate it. Pleasure to be here with you. Awesome. Awesome. Well, let's get going. You ready? Absolutely. I'd say we start at the mat. Let's start at wrestling here. So let's start where every coachable player story begins and sports. What kind of drew you to wrestling as a kid?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

I started wrestling when I was five years old. My father was the coach of a what we call midget wrestling program, just like the youth football or youth uh baseball. And so he was the coach. He had been a wrestler in high school and and college. So he started this program, small town, South Jersey. And uh we became so I started uh wrestling when I was five and you know took it all the way up. And you know, we wrestled in you know the AAUs and the Junior Olympics and all those things. And we were a rag tag bunch of kids that you know wore sneakers and gym shorts or sweatpants and t-shirts, uh, didn't have the the nice fancy uniforms as everybody else did. And uh, you know, we we started working hard that day and continued on for years.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

So so what kind of wrestler was Drew?

SPEAKER_01 3:09

I did pretty well. Uh you know, uh I was second in the state uh at that, you know. I I was living in Florida. I graduated high school in Florida. I was second in the state in Florida. Uh I think my record for my overall record was 106 and six for my career.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

And uh, you know, so that gave me afforded me the opportunity to get a scholarship at the University of Kentucky. That's awesome. So I don't like to I don't like to talk too much about, you know, who how I how good I was, that's up for other people to say. But I think I think it was pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Well, you're a humble leader, that comes across very yeah. But for people who never wrestled, myself included, uh I am getting exposed because I have a lot of wrestling parents I'm friends with, their kids wrestle, so I'm learning a little bit about it over the years, you know. But people that never wrestled, it is a very uh demanding sport, um, and there's a lot of lessons that come from it. You know, like what sort of life lessons came from wrestling that still influence you today?

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Wrestling is tough. I would say, and I've played lots of sports football, baseball, lots of other sports at different times. And wrestling, I would say, is the most individualized sport there is. It's you and your opponent out on a wrestling mat. Uh, you can't blame anybody else for mistakes, you can't blame anybody else. You know, you also, you know, you know, you take those successes with that as well, as being an individual person. So it is very tough. Um practices are long and hard. I was fortunate always to not have to cut weight, uh, which, you know, some I know that in today's world there's there's rules and regulations about having to lose weight and drop weight classes and things like that. But um to me, wrestling is the ultimate uh sport and ultimate individual sport. Uh there is nobody there to help you. You're out there for you know six minutes, and uh it's all you and your and the opponent. Uh and it's tough. I mean, practices are tough. Getting in shape is tough. Um, you know, I spent many days in, you know, in the in the rubber sauna suits back then to get in sh get in shape and get in better shape. And I actually, when I went to the University of Kentucky, I I weighed about 250 pounds and I dropped down to 190 in a very short period of time, which probably wasn't that great. But uh so it it's very tough, it's very individual, and it teaches you a lot. Um, I I had some injuries when I was a sophomore in high school. I was 12-1, 12-0. And uh in wrestling practice one day I took a step back and dislocated my knee. So that ended my my my year right there. Had to have a knee operation, chips and bones, had to take the bone chips out and things like that. Uh, we had moved to from to Tampa, Florida, and my sophomore year of high school, I was wrestling in the state semifinals. Same thing. I took a step back and dislocated my knee again. So I was done there um, you know, in the semifinals of the of the of the states. And I dislocated it one more time playing football. But, you know, injuries, rehabbing, you know, I I I put my knee back in all three times by myself. Uh don't know quite no how, but I just kicked my leg out and and the knee went back into play. So um, but again, the the wrestling, the the resiliency that you learn in being a wrestler, uh the toughness uh that you have to have to be a wrestler uh is probably what has has crafted my my personality and my career.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

And and you mentioned some of your records and you had more W's than L's. But from the L's, from the losses, were the did you learn from them at all?

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Absolutely. Um when I lost the state championship my senior year, uh that was tough. I was 30, 31-0 at the time. Um and you know, talk about again injuries, and in the semifinals I had an asthma attack, which I hadn't had in years. And anybody who has asthma knows what it takes out of you uh when you have an asthma attack. So um in in the finals, um, I was wrestling somebody who was also undefeated. Did very well the first period or two, and then my energy just died out, took it to overtime and lost in overtime, and was not happy at all about about that result. And to be honest with you, still not happy about it this day today. Uh so um, but you have to learn, you know, everything happens for a reason. Um, and you know, I think that loss, you know, was for a reason. And uh, you know, as was the closing of the Kentucky Wrestling Program happened for a reason. So all of those losses all mean something in my life uh and in my career. You build yourself up, you don't let those losses define you, and you make yourself better from those losses.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Speaking of the loss of the const uh the Kentucky wrestling program, after that you found your way to construction? How how did construction enter into your life?

SPEAKER_01 8:05

After after I left Kentucky, um, you know, I college was not my career path. You know, I I was going to college to play sports, to be honest with you. Um I had a game plan, um, you know, hopefully to get a degree in in teaching and be a uh a uh a coach and you know phys ALS ed gym teacher, yeah. Um so that was the goal at the time. When that goal ended and and that you know door closed, I worked, moved a couple different places, moved to San Antonio, lived there for a couple years, moved back to Orlando, worked at Disney World for a couple years, and then it was time to probably figure out what I really wanted to do. I was still in my early 20s, uh, moved up to Scrant, Pennsylvania to help take care of my grandparents. And that is where I had found the Carpenter's Unit. Um I had drafting experience in high school. I took drafting. So I was working for a neighbor as a as a draftsman, draftsman, he was an architect, and did some stuff there. And I I met my future wife, and my future wife's father was the um business agent for the carpenters unit and talked to me about the apprenticeship program. My grandfather was an electrician in the Navy, and uh so there was a little bit of um you know construction history there. Uh, but uh I had none. I had no yeah, I didn't have any construction history at all. But uh so that was that was where, you know, when I you know again, you know, you you look back on things and you know, I've moved all over this country, I've lived all over this country and come back to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and meet my future wife and and get the opportunity to enter the four-year apprenticeship program was you know, you look back at things and say, you know, how did I get here from there? And uh it was a pretty amazing trip and has been. It's cool.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

So you went when you went from wrestling, where where you probably had some amazing coaches and some great coaches, some impressionable influence you, you coaches, and then you mentioned yourself. You said, Oh, perhaps after Kentucky I might end up coaching or something. But now that you're in construction, after that segment of your life, you know, Northeast, join the Carpenters Union, that's construction really is coaching every day, and and and there's a lot of coaching involved in that. Um correct?

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Did you did you find it the Absolutely, absolutely? Um, you know, as I as I you know graduated my apprenticeship program and worked out in the field of determinement and actually got a job as an estimator and project manager for one of our signatory general contractors, uh, that's really where you start picking up, you know, as a as an as a project manager on the job sites, you know, dealing with your superintendents, dealing with your foreman, you know, working with them on making sure the the end meets you know the meets the what it's supposed to. And uh everybody has different ways to to make the end product look the way it's supposed to look. And it's you know, it's it's it's the teaching and and working with those people to make sure that you're doing it properly and make sure they're doing it properly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

So so you learn from the losses in wrestling, and then when it comes to construction, um, how did you approach mistakes, mishaps, losses with the mentor?

SPEAKER_01 11:14

How did the mentor mistakes happen? You know, on job sites, mistakes happen all the time. You try to limit them to the best of your ability, but you know, there's a problem that happens, you you define it, you figure out what it is, you find out how you fix it, and you get it done. You don't dwell on it, you don't look back on it, you know, you that doesn't do anything for you. It doesn't help the job, doesn't help the carpenters that you're working with. Just fix it and get the job done and get it done right. And uh and and do whatever we need to do to get it done.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

So so you've as a in the field, let's let's put your field hat on here as an apprentice and then a journeyman. What kind of separated the good carpenters from from your field uh from your field eyes from your field hat on? What separated the good ones from from kind of the great ones?

SPEAKER_01 12:04

I guess a lot of it has to do with attitude. Um the attitude is the biggest thing. I mean, we work hard every day, eight hours a day or more. Uh we work when it's you know below zero, we work when it's above a hundred. Um today we're working out in in smoke from Canada. So uh, you know, job sites are tough, and you know the attitude is what is important. You know, if you have a bad attitude when you walk on the job site, that bad attitude is gonna go across that job site and and affect everybody on the job site. Because if your partner's having a bad day, you know, and and is you know, doesn't have the proper attitude, then you know it's gonna affect you as his as his partner, it's gonna affect everybody else working around them. So I think the attitude is the biggest thing on the construction sites. You gotta have the uh the proper attitude to work hard every day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

And I do I do want to look at more field work and as you moved up the ladder within, but but I just want to take a step back here because this podcast, you know, our goal is to encourage young athletes to kind of realize the competitive career in sports may eventually end. You know, you might not be on the mat, you might not be on the football field forever, you know. Um but there's lessons that they learn through sports, launch the lessons that they learn in sports can launch an amazing career. Um, you've worked with thousands of carpenters over your career, you've kind of seen it all. How often have you seen former athletes become some of the best apprentices, journeymen, leaders?

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Surprising enough, and I don't know what it is, but you can usually tell a wrestler when he walks in the door. Yeah. And I don't really know what it is, and especially the smaller guys. The smaller guys, the the wrestlers who who wrestle the lighter weights and things like that. You can tell when a wrestler walks in the door. Uh, and I'm not talking about when they have the cauliflower ear and things like that. I mean, you know, um, you can tell there's there's a swagger, there's a walk to them. Um, so you know, you can pick up on and not just wrestlers. I mean, athletes, you know, I don't uh at all athletes. Um, you can tell a little bit, uh, they carry themselves a little differently, uh, their attitudes are a little different when you go through the interview process. You can tell somebody who's been an athlete uh compared to somebody who hasn't been an athlete. And you know, I know we're talking about athletes and coachability and things like that, but I don't want it, I don't want it to seem like you know only athletes can be in the carpet as you can.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah. Um, but I think having been coached, you know, the that goes right in with working for a foreman, uh, working on a job site, you know, you're being coached every day on a job site. So people who have you know been successful in sports, I think that's what makes them carry on being successful in the construction industry. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

And and we are talking about coachability and coachable, but that that's doesn't only apply to sports. You know, and whether you're a youth or a journeyman or a professional or wherever you are on the spectrum. You can be you can be coachable, you know. And one thing we say on this podcast all the time is being coachable doesn't stop if you're an athlete, it doesn't stop on the field, it doesn't stop if you're in college, you know, or an apprenticeship school, you know, you you carry that coachability with you. Um how have you stayed? How did you stay coachable during your career?

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Well, I think, you know, especially in the carpentry field, you know, you stay coachable by you know continuing to learn every day. Um we have journey of upgrade training uh uh all the time to make sure that our qualifications and certifications uh are up to speed and up to standards uh in the construction industry. So our contractors get certified, qualified members. Um and again, it's just every day is something different. You know, you you may be doing sheetrock for three, four months, and then you go to a different contractor and you're doing concrete forms and something like that. So, you know, you you take that coachability when you switch different parts of the carpentry field that uh you know it may take you a couple days to get back in the swing of things and and work with the guys and the girls who have been doing that for a little bit. And so the coachability in in the construction continues uh throughout your whole career, even today.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yeah. And and speaking of that, how is it amongst the levels of of the job site, you know, from the apprentice up to the journeyman to the superintendent, is there a a transfer of knowledge up and down? I think there has to be.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

There has to be. Um, you know, the apprentices and and and even the young journeyman. Um they're the future of the organization. So if you don't, you know, if the superintendents, the foreman, the journeyman that are there that are working with these younger younger uh members don't show that to them and don't make sure that they're being trained properly and you know, and that knowledge is brought down, you know, then then you know the success of the industry is is going to fail at some point in time. So that's what's uh is really important that we make sure that you know us older guys who are leaving in the in a in a period of time have have you know given as much knowledge and everything else that we can to the younger people.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Speaking of the experienced leaders like yourself, how do you feel leadership has changed you over the years?

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Um it it certainly makes you humble, yeah, as does sports. Um you know, you uh you do the best you can, you you hope your decisions that are made that you make are the right decisions. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't, to be honest with you. And uh, you know, so it's uh that's tough, you know, especially when you're working with people's livelihoods. And um, having been an estimator, um I know the contractor side of this industry as well as I know the worker side is of this industry. So, you know, we have to make sure that we do what's best for both sides, both our members and also the contractors, because that partnership is what makes us successful.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

And I asked earlier about what's a what's a good trait for a carpenter in the field. But take it a step farther, what's a good trait for a either a leader, a current leader of the carpenters, or a potential future leader? What's it?

SPEAKER_01 18:01

I I think understanding. You know, um when I first got in 38 years ago, um, you know, the foreman, the superintendents, they were tough. You know, they didn't catch any slack and there'd be yelling and there'd be all that stuff, and and and that has changed over the years. So, you know, today's leaders, you know, have to understand that that that approach, and and it's the same with coaching. You know, Jesus, I remember playing football and things like that, the coach would grab you by the face mask and scream right in your face with a mouthful of chewing tobacco. Um, so uh and then hug you after.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

And then hug you afterwards.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

That's exactly right. So um, so yeah, that's you know, the it's it's the same thing in in work. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

You've had a remarkable career that's that's still going strong. Retirement is uh on the horizon. Around the corner? Yeah, yeah. And the Keystone Contractors has uh appreciated this great relationship we've had with you and loved your leadership over the years. It's been awesome. Um, it's all very exciting for you, and we're we're happy for you. But it also comes with uh reflection. When you look back, what are some of the accomplishments that that make you smile the most?

SPEAKER_01 19:18

One of the nice things about being in the construction industry in the carpentry field is being able to look at the buildings that you worked on and and built. Uh I remember one of my first jobs was the uh Triple A baseball stadiums, which was then for the Phillies, uh, which is now the Yankees. So uh you look at those things and you look at the legacy of the buildings you built that are still standing today. Uh and and that's a great thing. I I also hope that I did everything I could for the members because in reality it's the members who you know it's it's their livelihoods, uh it's their family's livelihood livelihoods. So, you know, you do the best you can. Again, it's not always perfect. Everybody's not always happy with decisions that have to be made. Um, but you know, it's the guys and the girls with tool belt on every day that we work hard for to make sure that that their lives are changed by this by this union.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

And how do you want this union to remember you?

SPEAKER_01 20:15

I be honest with you, uh I don't it it doesn't really matter to me whether they whether they remember me or not. Um I would hope that as you said, we have a great relationship uh with the contractors association here and the other contractors associations throughout the state that I cover, throughout the Commonwealth. Um it's not about me. It's not you know if if somebody you know wants to say that, hey, you know, he was a good guy, he did, you know, good did did good for both sides, that's great. Um, but uh it's not about me and it's not about that. It's about making sure that everybody was treated right.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

If you could give one piece of advice to that, whether it's a whether it's an athlete or a non-athlete or anyone thinking about entering the apprenticeship program, what's what's one thing you would say to them?

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Keep your head up. Um There's gonna be good days, there's certainly gonna be bad days. Don't let the bad days affect the good days. Um again, it's it's always a battle out there, uh, whether it's on the field, on the court, uh, or on a construction site. And you know, you're gonna be fine, everything's gonna work out. If you mess up, own up to it and fix it. And uh, you know, those losses that come on the on the field or on the mat or on the court, they're tough to live with sometimes. Um 30 or 40 some years later, and I still can't. I'm still I still don't live very well without one loss. But uh so it's you you just gotta keep your head up. Um, you know, the young the young people today have to understand that this is a tough business. Um, but it's a fair business and it's a very, very profitable business that you can stay in for a lot of years and retire with dignity with with pensions and annuities.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

Absolutely. Well said, well said indeed. What a tremendous conversation. I think today today's takeaway is something every listener can relate to. Sometimes we spend too much time holding on to plan A that we realize plan B may become the greatest opportunity of our life. Absolutely. As witnessed here. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Plan B has worked out very well for me.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Yes, absolutely. Drew, your story didn't disappoint. You didn't let it define you, and you made an awesome life of yourself, and you helped thousands across Pennsylvania. You have a friend of the contractors, you were on the contractor side, and and you excelled there, and you excelled in the field, and we're appreciative uh for everything you've done and stayed coachable along the way too. Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, you found your purpose in building careers, strengthening the construction industry, and mentoring the next generation. That's what this podcast is all about. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, leave a re leave a review, and share it with someone you may be facing a detour in their own life. Remember, being coachable isn't just a sports skill, it's a life skill. Thanks for listening, and until next time, stay humble, stay hungry, and stay coachable.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

Thank you.