Episode Zero: Our Very First Episode

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's going on, y'all? Jesse here, and welcome to the very first episode of the Learnings and Missteps podcast. Renee and I will be going over what the general reason and purpose is for the podcast. Uh, talk about the inception, how the ideating went, and how we got to where we're at now. Audio quality is not the greatest. We got some popping peas in there, we got some hissing, we got some volume issues. Heads up. For a hot second, we thought about re-recording, and then we said, hey, why don't we just put it out there and improve along the way, and our listeners can see us develop and grow and improve, and and maybe encourage some folks to just get out there, jump on the deep end, and make something happen. Also, there's a little bit of touchy-feely stuff in here, so if that is not your flavor, feel free to fast forward and let's jump on in. Okay, so this is the kickoff recording of the Learnins and Missteps podcast, which is currently going to be an audio podcast because we're doing it in the bedroom. My co-host, Renee Duron, who is my baby brother and my hero, is also here. Say hello, Renee.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Good afternoon, Jesse.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

So, you know, kicking it off, testing, experimenting this idea. Uh, again, you know, the reason I mentioned we're in my bedroom at the house is is because we had an idea of of doing a podcast. And I shared it with Renee, and then that evolved into, hey, well, would you like a co-host? And I said, Man, that sounds good. What are you thinking? He says, Well, I'm pretty good at being a dummy.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

That's exactly what I said, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

No, but it was, you know, we we both listen to podcasts, and one of our favorite podcasters is Jocko Willink and um Echo Charles. The gist of this podcast is gonna be around the amazing people that work in the the craft workers, the the construction workers, the service and maintenance people, the utility workers. We're gonna be talking about the lives that they live. The purpose to having this conversation is to change the perspective that the community at large has about people that work in those industries, in the trades. Um now, with that, the the people that we're gonna be interviewing in the future, we're likely gonna have a conversation that's gonna be very detailed and specific about the work or the jobs that they're in. And we don't want to leave the audience out, we don't want to leave you out. Um, and so Renee said, Hey, well, I could ask those questions about, hey, what are y'all talking about? And the purpose of that is to help you help everybody understand, at least have a frame of reference for what it is we're discussing. And I said, Man, Renee, that's a freaking fantastic idea. Not only that, but the opportunity to create something um new and uncomfortable and get out into this really untried space for me, anyways. For you too, huh? And so being able to have you by my side and participate in this with me was really meaningful and really special. So there, that's as touchy feely as I get. That is why we're here. So, Renee, again, Rene Duron, he's my brother, he is my hero. And and the reality, you know, I introduced him as my hero, and some people might wonder, like, he's your baby brother, how's your hero? And the reason he's my hero is ever since he was a little guy, you know, we everybody lives challenging lives. And he has he has overcome, or maybe not even overcome, just lived through and worked it through some tremendous burdens that have broken many people. And he just continues to be a decent human being, practical thinker, he's a committed family man, um, amazing father, amazing husband, although his beautiful wife may disagree at times, and I'll agree with her on some of those times. Uh, but by and large, you know, looking at it big picture, he's he's the type of human being I wish to be. Uh, and that's why he's my hero. And again, it's a pleasure to have him as my co-host and and co-contributor to the development and evolution of this of this podcast, whatever it ends up being. And I mean that, Renee. And now it's recorded. So anytime you need to hear a nice thing from me, just listen to this.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Got it. I have it bookmarked when any pick me up.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Awesome, awesome.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

I'd like to add that, like a little bit about the dynamic here. I mean, pretty much uh I want to talk about the the story of our little text conversation. Remember when uh you were you were just introducing me to the idea that you wanted to do a podcast, and you text me, right? And uh and you text me, and I forgot what exactly you said, but I remember saying, Are you asking me to be your echo, Charles? That's right. Yeah, man. So I mean, I love those that dynamic, man. The echo to the jocko, and I'm extremely humbled to have that opportunity here. So I'm really happy to be here too. Good. Thank you for having me along.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yeah, man. Echo to the jocko. Good deal. I guess the question is where do we start, right? And why why am I taking up your time, listeners? Why are why do I think it's valuable or even worth you listening? And I guess to to attempt to explain that, I want to start with back when I made my decision to work in construction. I'm a plumber by trade, you know, San Antonio native, born and raised, still live here. My career has evolved such that I'm no longer out in the field, and I guess I could be or I classify myself as a carpet dweller because I'm like in the office now, not necessarily out in the field as much as I used to be, and have a deep respect for the men and women that are out there in the elements working to build and maintain the buildings that bring us comfort and security. Now, I didn't always have that feeling about this type of work, about this career. You know, the immense respect and appreciation for the work and the people that do this work. When I was in you know, middle school and high school, what the messages I was getting was go to college or flip burgers. And I believe that 100%. I'm a nerdy guy, believe it or not. I've always been a nerd, um, but kind of a closet nerd, right? It was it was something that I wasn't proud of and didn't fully embrace. Uh so but what that really means is in in elementary school, I was, or when I went to middle school, me and a bunch of my friends, amazing people that still that are still in my life now, we got into a program that was called the multilingual program. So we went to a specific school within the district, a magnet, right now the magnet schools are all over the place. And the idea was that we would be all the courses and stuff that we studied were uh college-geared courses, and we studied a different language, and so it was multilingual because the assumption was we were Hispanic urban kids, so we knew two languages, and we're gonna add a third, and it's multilingual. Um, now I only knew one, right? I only knew English at that point in my life, but you know, whatever. And and so through middle school and high school, we were not allowed to take vocational courses. And back then, vocational courses were a thing. There was metal shop and wood shop and different things, and for a long period of time since then, those things weren't accessible, and now they're starting to be a part of the curriculum again, which is critically important. Anyhow, so go to college or flip burgers. And I was, you know, doing good, took all my classes, I had some behavioral problems, right? I I couldn't sit still, I got bored quickly, I was in trouble a lot, I loved attention. So, you know, the there were many, many teachers that were amazing and impacted my life, but there were a whole lot more that said, Jess, you just need to get a you need to plan on entering the workforce, which was short for you don't have what it takes to be in college. And that didn't feel good, right? Like that made me feel less than, but the reality was I didn't have what it took, right? Because I couldn't sit my damn ass down and I couldn't focus, and so on and so forth. So, anyways, got to second semester of my senior year in high school, and I thought like these colleges were just gonna come and recruit me to go play baseball for them and give me money, a full ride to go play ball. I wasn't that good. Like I just wasn't. Um then it's like, okay, so they kind of they didn't get a chance to witness my talent, so now I need to go and start finding a school to go to. But I I didn't, like I really didn't know that FAFSA and all of these things I should have been applying and submitting applications and da da da. Like at the beginning of my senior year, not at the end. Anyhow, got accepted to a couple of universities and a junior college, and then the reality of paying for it came up. So it's like, okay, mom, dad, ready for y'all to pay. And they said, we ain't got no money for you. I said, What? Like that was a shock. Like, what do you mean? You've been telling me to behave and make good damn grades, and now you're telling me you ain't got money to pay me for me to go to college. Like, I don't, I don't, okay, I feel a little cheated, but it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Like, all for what? What's that? Like for what?

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Like, why did you Yeah, you made me do all this stuff, and and now like you can't even help me close the deal. I'm glad they didn't, right? Because it's my deal. It's not their responsibility, it's my responsibility. I didn't see it that way at the time. Um so I got a summer job uh with my dad working uh plumbing as a laborer, right? And the idea was I was gonna work that summer to save up money to pay for I ended up getting like a Pell Grant that was gonna cover my um cover part of my cost, but I but I needed to cover my room and board because I was gonna be, you know, living off out of away from San Antonio. And so I got this summer job, and we're working on a job site. It was the first time I ever worked in a commercial construction site. I was 18 years old. You know, I'd helped my dad doing plumbing on houses and side jobs that he would do to, you know, make extra money, but never like on a commercial building with a whole bunch of men. And you know, at that time it was like you didn't really see any women out on the on the job side. And I remember like the first week, first you know, you're intimidated, right? There's all these old dudes, and you they have a different way about them, and they're a bunch of hard asses. And so by day two or three, I was like, hey, these people these dudes are pretty cool. Like they're grown-ass men. I'm this 18-year-old high school kid that didn't know how to interact with adults except for teachers, and now I'm interacting with men, right? Construction workers, tough guys. And by the middle to the end of the week, what really stood out to me was man, the physicality of the work, right? Like it's it's all you work. You're all your your your my whole body was necessary to execute this work, which really felt good because I was a jock also. And so sports, gym, hitting the gym, lifting weights, running, all of that stuff. I loved it. Like, like, you know, working out till you puke, like, yeah, that's a good workout. So now I'm more doing this job where that component that's important to me was fulfilled. I didn't think of it in terms that in those terms back in that that point in time, but looking back, right, I can see that. So that was, man, this is awesome. You know, the other part was there's so much going on, so many people working, so much, I guess it was the risk that's involved on a job site, right? You walk on a job site, it's super loud, there's drills, there's saws, there's people working, people working on heights, climbing on things, like made big giant equipment. So all of this sensory input was going on around me that also, like, oh man, this is so this is awesome. It was like a playground, you know. Communicating with the guys, I didn't have to raise my hand to talk. I just talked. I said what I needed to say. I, you know, I could, I didn't have to wait in line, I didn't have these restrictive, maybe not restrictive, but the common rules of or expectations around behavior that are in a classroom were not present out on the job site. So now I'm like, ooh, like I'm out of a cage all of a sudden. Like, oh, I'm digging this. I could cuss. Right? Like I could cuss and not get in trouble for it. So, you know, looking back, it was this environment, it was the environment that really made me feel okay. It made me feel comfortable and acceptable. I didn't have that feeling when I was in the classroom. Right? Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm some wise thing that knew I should pick construction because I'll it's a nurturing environment for my growth. Like I didn't know that. Yeah, it's just what happened. Uh, but looking back, it was it was it was a very important and pivotal moment. And and so I worked, you know, I had a little bit of experience because Chewy, my dad taught me things, and I had one one foreman, Johnny Martinez, who who took me under his wing and and he started teaching me things. And he gave me a little bit of responsibility. You know, at the time I thought it was responsibility, but looking back, he gave me some work that was like way back in the corner away from everybody. So maybe he was just trying to get me the hell out of his hair. I don't who knows. We'll never know. I said, I think it was that. It was that, yeah, it probably was. Anyhow, but I listened to him, right? I took his direction and I started, I would he made me buy a tool every week. He said, Jesse, you get paid, you gotta buy a brand new tool. If you don't have that new tool, you're going home. I don't care if it's a dollar ninety-nine tool, you need a tool. Yeah, yeah, whatever. And he asked me to fill out a piece of paper. He said, Man, fill this application out and bring it back to me. I'm like, well, whatever. I filled it out. What I didn't know, what I really didn't realize was that piece of paper was to get my um my apprentice's card, be a certified apprentice for the state of Texas with the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. So as soon as I got that card, my pay, I was making like six bucks an hour, right? Um, which back then, like that was more than minimum wage, baby. I'm 18 and I'm banking. Like, right? It's good. I'm working 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday. I'm not working nights, I'm not working weekends, like you know, this is good.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Yeah, you can buy two video games now.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Exactly. Yes. Video games were cheaper back then, by the way. And when I got that apprentices card, my pay went from $6 an hour to $13 an hour.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Money, right? I think minimum wage was like $5.15 or something at the time.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Yeah, it's a big difference.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Yeah. I'm an 18-year-old guy. $18 year old. Living at mommy's house, like no bills, making $13 an hour. And in an environment that I I just felt that felt like home.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Totally. I get that. I totally understand that.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Right?

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

So I'm I'm like, man, this is everything was a new experience. It was all fun. You know, I was building things that I could turn around and see. Like, I did that. And I could, you know, I was like, how could I do it faster? How could I do it better? Right. So it really triggered that internal competitiveness that I had to learn and adapt and so forth. So I started making all that money. 18 years old. Right? Then school's coming, right? The summer's ending. And I remember thinking, like, man, I I really, you know, I want the reason I wanted to go to college was to play baseball. I knew I wasn't that good, right? I just knew. And you know, the one I was gonna go to, I was gonna try to be a walk-on. And I had an opportunity to be a walk-on. But man, I you know, it was like, this is, you know, maybe part of it was a little, not a little, maybe I was a little scared, not a little, but scared of doing that, you know, traveling away or whatever. I don't remember thinking that, but it's probably true. But I was really enjoying the work I was doing, and I also had made some life decisions, got married, right? Because of true love. That's why we got married. Um, and you know, when you're making $13 an hour, the only logical thing to do is go and get into $18 an hour worth of debt. Yeah, I mean, right? No, so that like no. But that's what I did. But I still, so I'm working construction. I'm a construction worker, I'm a plumber's apprentice, right? First year apprentice, and I enjoyed it, but what I believed was I was a failure. Because all my buddies, all my friends that I went to school with, they're all going out to university. And I'm a damn construction worker. Bottom of the barrel, right? So that was hard. It was a conflict I dealt with for about three or four years after that. Now, back then we didn't have direct deposit, right? So when you got your check, they would you would on Fridays, your foreman would give you your check, right? Uh, and a check is like a piece of paper for people that don't know that. There's a piece of paper in an envelope, and then I'd drive over to the bank that was about five minutes down the road and stand in line to cash my check or or to deposit it. I never really deposited it, right? Because I was gonna go spend that damn money. And I I it was there was these there was a crew of like three dudes that were, we always kind of ended up there at the same time, and they were about the same age, they were young cats, and they were dressed nice, right? They had like nice clothes, nice slacks, and you know, and I was in there all sweaty and dirty, salt stains on my jeans, and hairs all jacked up because I had to wear a hard hat. And I I know like they didn't do anything to to make this happen. It was me. I felt less than because I wasn't shiny like them, right? And I just assumed like they went, and they did, they like they were talking about, hey man, we're going to the game, uh, you know, at my alma mater or going to whatever it was, whatever universities they went to. And I'm like, man, that's really what I was supposed to do, right? And then one day I I was able to kind of peek over their shoulders and look at their check. And I looked at their check and I was like, man, that's peanuts. Like, I'm I looked at mine and I looked at theirs. I said, okay. Maybe not a total failure. I'm making more money, right? Because back then, in my brain, that's how I that was my um equation to success is money. I'm making money.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

So that true love, the marriage I was in, it was, you know, amazing human being she is still. I was not, I should not have gotten married, right? We both had different expectations, whatever. So the relationship dissolved, and I I had the opportunity of staying with all the debt. Right?

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

So so I had to, you know, I I was making, I went from making $13.72 an hour to six dollars an hour because that project I was on ended, and it was a scale project, so they had to pay a certain wage, right? There was a minimum they could pay. And then I went back to a regular project where you know I went back to my mint my base pay, which I agreed to. So now I got $15 worth of debt. I'm making $6 an hour. So I had to work. And I and I had to work a couple, like I had my full-time job as a first-year apprentice, and and I was working at churches fried chicken, I was selling corn at the flea market. Like I had to pay off my debt.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

And but really, I wasn't going to school. I wasn't going to college. And like that didn't feel good, right? People, hey man, so what are you up to? Oh, you know, oh, oh, you're working in construction. It's like, yeah, that's what I'm doing. Now, One thing that while I was working, I got to observe all the people around me. One thing I noticed was most of the guys that were in my same category, right? Apprentice, they were in their 30s or 40s. I was 18. And we were making about, you know, they were making a couple dollars more than me, maybe a dollar more than me. But in terms of responsibility and so forth, we had the we were on the same plane. And I remember thinking, like, man, I don't want to be an apprentice forever. And so that foreman, Johnny, I was like, hey, what he's like, dude, you need to find an apprenticeship program. Like, what do you mean? He's like, yeah, you can go to learn about plumbing. Like there's you think you know everything, you don't. There's a lot to learn. Oh, shit. So okay, so I went and found an apprenticeship program. Fast forward, right? I went to the apprenticeship for four years. I was going, and then I started going to night school at St. Philip's at the community college, right? I finally learned how to behave a little bit more. But there was still that stigma of you're a damn construction worker, Jess, you're a failure. Now, by the time I got my journeyman's license, this is five years into it now, I started having an appreciation for the fact that this was a profession, right? It wasn't a dead end. You know, I went from my base pay of making six bucks an hour to $13 an hour and then back down, and then that you know fluctuated. Um, but I had full benefits, right? Now I jumped through a couple of companies and ended up with a company with TD Industries that I worked with for 17 years, which was an amazing company. Like they were all about servant leadership and they had a specific culture in mind, and they were about developing people. That was corporate, right? That was a corporate view, and there were some shortcomings at the local business units and so forth, which is to be expected. But at that point I realized, man, I could really turn this into something, right? This is this is really, really, really something. I started getting exposed to phenomenal leaders, right? Men and women that were, and when I say leaders, I don't mean people that have a had a position and they were a manager, right? They approved timesheets. That's not a leader, you're a manager. People that were invested in developing people, right? And through that exposure, I was like, okay, like I looked up to them. And the way they lived and operated motivated me to want to learn something and grow, right, grow. But they're construction workers, right? So I still had that thing in me that said, Jesse, you're a damn construction worker. And when I talked to people, still, it was like, oh, oh, right, you're a construction worker. Now, so we'll fast forward past that, right? My feelings got so basically we're doing this podcast because my feelings got hurt. Now, since then, what I've learned about myself and about many, many people is man, there's just some amazing, like heroic stories and lives out there in this industry, in maintenance, in utilities, in construction, in service. Like those people out there, they're not just employees of a damn construction or service company. There's people that are involved in nonprofit organizations, in their church, in their community, in their family. Like, they do things that are like, oh my, how in the world do you do that? And that made me realize, like, wow, you know, I read these stories of you know, CEOs or, you know, these things that are publicized of different people that do amazing things. I was like, hey, my friends do that too. But maybe on a different scale, but they do that too. Then the reality, so you know, if we think about pay and and career growth, it wasn't until maybe seven or eight years into it that I really got over that conflict of I'm just a damn construction worker, to like I have a pretty damn amazing career. And and it's endless. I can continue growing it. So eight years after I got to high school, I realized that story that go to college or flip burgers is false. It's a lie. I'm proof of that. Okay? So that evolved into me talking to, you know, finding opportunities to talk to high school students and talk to middle school students about the diverse number of careers and opportunities that are in this industry. And and which is good, right? Like, like now, there's a few high schools, Construction Careers Academy, Lanier High School. There's a bunch of schools here in town now that have these trade-based programs and helping expose kids to this type of stuff so they can get out and and enter the workforce and have a fulfilling career. Um, now, you know, another thing, I remember back in the day when I was in in middle school and high school, like the people that picked shop, rather, the people that were recommended to take metal shop or wood shop, they there was almost, I can't prove it, I don't have any data on this, but it was almost like, you know what, just go over there. You belong with them. Right? Right. It wasn't aspirational, it wasn't like, hey, you've got a skill set that we should further develop because you could really thrive in this environment. No, it was like, well, you're not gonna succeed anywhere else, go over there. And so that's changed, right? Like again, I mentioned Construction Careers Academy. They have an amazing program. People have to apply for students, got to apply for it. Really intelligent, high-performance students that are in these programs. So it's not the bottom of the barrel, right? It's it's challenging, and it really is. So I got to do that a little bit, and then and it's like, okay, so I could have some effect in exposing high school students and middle school students and some of their faculty and staff at the at the campuses about the amazing opportunities out here, right? So I kept kind of grinding on that. But then the reality was, what about the parents? Right? Like I had no access to the parents. And I was thinking, I've been thinking about that. Like, how could I get through to the parents? Because if a middle school or high school student has an aspiration to do something as a career, what a parent is typically typically gonna say is well, that's not practical. Right? Like there's this focus on you gotta make money, and rightly so. I get it. You want the damn kid to get educated so they can get the hell out of the house. I get it, right? Yeah, um, but then what is the right profession for them? Right? I thought I wanted to be uh an engineer. I didn't know what an engineer was, I didn't even know what a damn engineer looked like, but I was told that I was pretty good at math and I should be an engineer. Now I've learned that there's kind of different variations of what that means, but what I would have studied would have put me in an office. And though I have matured a little bit, I still don't know how to behave in an office classroom setting. I can't sit down, I can't stay quiet, I'm I'm rem I have energy that that seeps out and distracts others, still to this day. So then it's like, okay, I can talk to students, I can talk to faculty, I can talk to staff, I'm struggling to connect with teachers. And how do we get people to get excited about this type of work? Because it's it's it's really not sexy work, right? It's hot. You're in the elements. It you're sweating, man, you're sweating. And when it's cold, it's damn cold. Right? You gotta be up, you gotta be on site at 7 a.m. or whatever start time is, wherever the job site is at. Right? Like it's not the most hospitable environment. You gotta have thick skin, right? Because there's a bunch of you know, um, rough and tumble personalities. We'll say that night. There are a bunch of assholes out there.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

Yeah, a lot of macho men. Ah very well said, macho men, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:31

There's there's that mentality. So you you gotta be ready for the hazing and the you know that type of harassment, which is fun, but maybe not always uh uh appropriate or appreciated.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Um, it always feels better looking back and when you're doing it to the next person, yeah, yeah. Totally. Right? And again, like what do people think? And I would ask these the students, like, what do you when you think of construction, construction workers, what do you what picture do you see in your head? And they would say, oh, you know, um big, big, big fat guy, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Sweaty, butt crack.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

But crack plumber's crack, right? Yeah, plumber's crack. The word plumber's crack. Yep, yep. Anybody can have a crack, right? But this is special. Yeah, it's a plumber's crack.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Plumber has a especially disgusting crack. You got it. You got it.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Thank you for that contribution, Renee. Um, and so that's the vision. That's what people see when they think of construction workers. Is that an attractive vision? It's not.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Right? Is is it an enticing, like, I want to be that big, heavy dude with this crack sticking out? Like, it's not. And at the same time, what we have going on is an uh like enormous shortage of manpower or or people to execute and do the work that we have. Like we just don't have enough people. People are exiting the industries faster than they're entering, or at a higher rate than they're entering, and there's that time period where people have to learn the work, right? So if one master retires, and for everyone that retires, there's 0.25 new people coming in, and there's there's at least four years for them to even get to like a journeyman level, not even master level. Like there's just this huge gap of experience and knowledge that is growing every day. Again, how do we get people back into the industry? And here in Texas, you know, they've made some changes to the to edge to the system so that kids can choose that track and and go into um the CTE pro construction uh trades? It's not trades, it's like construction technology education, or I don't know what it stands for, but CTE programs. I know that much, which is good. That's a fundamental change that can help the pro help the situation, policy change. But why the hell would a kid get into that if all they think of is is sweaty nalgas and a big heavy dude, right? Right. And then I think of you know, when I watch movies and watch TV and you know, think back when commercials, like what other image would they like what other image should I expect them to see?

SPEAKER_03 33:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

If that's all that's being displayed. You follow me?

SPEAKER_02 33:38

Yeah, totally. Like the whole Homer Simpson character is totally like that.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Right? Yeah. So so they were they're characterized in this way. I was like, okay, so that's this is a problem. Like, how, like, I need to change that. And honestly, like that really had a big effect on my butt my behavior to where I I just carry myself differently because I am a representative of those men and women, right? I try to be professional, uh I try to be respectful. Not try, I put a lot of effort into being professional and respectful and humble. Now that one I fail at quite a bit. That one maybe I try. Humble? Um but but again, as a representative of the industry, right? I I have that responsibility to present a positive image. But how the hell do I change that image? So now I'm I'm sharing all of this. This is kind of what's bubbling in my head over years and years and years. Like, how do I do da da da da da da? And I finally got to to where we're at now, to this podcast, right? Now, when these this idea or this question was in my head, podcasts weren't even a thing. I think iPods weren't even a thing back in the day, which are now I think obsolete.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

Yeah, what was the thing? Razor phones?

SPEAKER_00 34:59

Hey, hey, that was top of the line, dog. That was big time, baby. Yeah, um, yeah, you know, flip phones, maybe Blackberry. Yeah. Anyhow, thinking again, how can I how can I change that? Because I really, I really want to change that, right? My my what I believe, what I've decided that my purpose is is to speak to the young men and women out there about the careers and the trades, because it's important. And they can be very impactful in their life. I mean, I have friends, some of whom I intend to have as as um guests on this show, that had a corporate job and discovered they hated it and came into construction, right? Or in in and through some avenue or other. Now, when I'm when I talk about construction, I'm talking broad terms. Not like absolutely, I want to highlight the field, the installers, the people out there doing the damn work, providing the value that people are seeking, right? But I'm also talking about the um talent acquisition specialists and the finance managers, uh HR, because there's all of these different careers in this industry that people just aren't, they don't think of that. They think of sweaty nalgas. Yeah. Am I wrong? That's it. And that's it.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

That's it. That's all there is.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

And that's not it. There's so much more. You know, one I know one person who's a mentor that I look up to immensely, who started off as a plumber pipe fitter, who is now a pretty heavy-hitting executive. And he made tremendous sacrifice to get there, right? He did his apprenticeship, he did his time installing, did his time forming superintendent, da da da da da. So that is uh one that is proof positive that it can happen, depending on what you're willing to put into it. So, how do I change the perspective, right? That was the thing. How do I expose more people to just to the amazing? I mean, it's freaking awesome. This is an awesome space to work at, right? There's amazing people. Then um, Mati, another amazing, she's an educator, she's a principal now. Not too long ago, this was just a few weeks ago. So today we're recording this. It's August 8th, Saturday, 2020. And man, it was maybe a couple or a few weeks ago. She sent me, she's like, Hey Jess, you need to watch this um documentary on Danny Trejo. Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Oh, you gotta see it. I want to see it. You gotta see it. And my takeaway from that, it was amazing. It's a beautiful story, you gotta watch it. Um, he was in trouble, right? He was in prison, he dealt with addiction. So there was a lot of parallels between he and I, or his life and my life. Except for the Hollywood part, right? Yeah, yes, yet. Yeah, yeah, not yet. That's next. But there's a lot of parallels between his life and my life, and what I got from that story, like I always thought, like, that dude's a you know, he's a Hollywood guy. He may not be a Tom Cruise, but he's done like two hundred hundreds of movies. Yeah, man. And he has cool roles. He has cool roles. Now, some people would think, yeah, but he's he's always the prison, right? Like, and that there's some truth to that. He's been typecast, whatever. I always thought his goal was to be a Hollywood superstar and and be a you know leading man. No. No. His perspective is like, yeah, I I do whatever role, whatever. They pay me. Right? Yeah, but more importantly, it wasn't, yeah, they pay me. It was, and I can go and help people. He spends most of his time talking to people that are incarcerated, talking to people about addiction, and testifying, giving his testimony of I made it out.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

You can make it out, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:11

That's totally cool.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

And that's what it's all about, right? And so, like, it was a beautiful story to trigger, like, man, you know, I've got a new job, I got this amazing job where I get to travel the country now and and work and help people find different ways to do their work and hopefully spend less time at work and more time at home. But I haven't done anything to give back, right? Like, I've I've I've lost touch. And so when I saw that, I'm like, oh man, what the hell am I doing? Like, what about my mission? And then I was thinking, like, okay, how do we get back at it? And the idea of podcasts, because I listen to them all the time. I said, I why don't I do a podcast? And and what am I gonna do it about, right? And so that you know, that takes us to the content of what this podcast is. The name, again, is learnings and missteps. And I chose that name because you know, along the way, kind of I I touched on a few of those things, right? Of the things that I really learned, not what I was taught, what I learned. I learned that choosing a career based on what felt meaningful and and felt right for the person that I am was a critical learning. That never that wasn't in any curriculum, right? You go get a job to make this much money, and and you know, whatever job you pick, this is the money you're gonna make. That was my frame. What I learned was no, I need to pick a job that the work is meaningful, where I feel like I'm contributing, where people are challenging me, and where I have the opportunity to help other people grow. That was a learning. Okay. The missteps, I accumulated a whole hell of a lot of debt that kind of forced me to stay in this industry at first, right? Because honestly, if I didn't have that debt, my ass would have gone to school. Like, like there's no doubt. Yeah, because man, it's freaking hard work, and and I didn't, I had no confidence about being a construction worker, but I had debt, man. I had the damn debt, so I was handcuffed, right? I had to do the work, and then I repeated that cycle. Then I went and and started making more money, right? So I went to apprenticeship, got got promotions, and da da da da. And I bought house and I got another car and a truck and good vacations to Vegas, you know, all of that stuff that conventional thinking or says that's what you're supposed to do. And I remember at that point feeling kind of like Scarface, right? Is this it? Is this what I've been working for? And it was like, man, I'm doing, I have all this stuff, and I'm not happy. I have all like I got all this shiny bullshit at the house, except for my at then time, my PS2, like that was important. Hey, don't hate. You used to play on it when you were. You still have it. Oh, yeah. You owe me. I had all of this crap, and I was not happy. But I had to do the job because of all the debt I had accumulated, right? That those are missteps. And yeah, learnings and missteps are kind of you don't have one without the other, maybe, right? You you learn a lot when you have the missteps. And so I want to talk about, I want to talk to people, the the human beings, the beautiful people out there doing this work, to think through where they were when they in middle school and high school, what was on their mind? What did they think? How did they see the world? What was their path to get to where they are now? What did they learn? What did they glean? What have they contributed? I want to share that with all of the listeners so they can understand and really be exposed to wow, now that's what a construction worker looks like. That's what a craft worker looks like, that's what a trades person looks like. That's the purpose of this podcast. Um, and I think the only way to achieve that is through sharing other people's stories. Now, I've got a lot of stories, right? I've I've done a lot of things, I've made a lot of poor, short sighted, selfish decisions, I've I've damaged people. hurt people, I've helped people, I've contributed to people's rate of income, I've contributed to their career development. You know, I've done a lot of things. Not all of them are positive. A lot of them are learnings. A lot of them, a lot more of them are missteps. I'm pretty damn good at those missteps. So, you know, I I want to I want to interview people. I want to share their stories. I want to highlight them, right? Because when you when I think about the stuff that they've been through and the things that they still do like they should have a freaking movie about them. You know? Yeah totally totally and and they're probably not there there's probably you know very high possibility that there is not going to be a movie made about them. And so I want to be able to highlight those things those stories and all for changing the perspective of workers in this industry. Is that crazy?

SPEAKER_02 45:02

No I I think it's important.

SPEAKER_00 45:04

Yeah?

SPEAKER_02 45:05

Yeah maybe it is crazy but crazy important I would say I like that I like that because I I know all of my friends like almost all of my friends that are not in the trades the the the friends that I have that never worked in the trades they don't want to work in the trades and never wanted to and they're doing what they're doing now because because of that bad taste in their mouth that we've got fed to us you know our whole lives when as young as you oh so you got the same story too oh yeah definitely definitely and that's that's kind of like part of the value I I'd like to bring to this podcast as the co-host is I'm kind of in a as of right now I I wound up in the trades too myself with that bad taste and I I had the same similar things going on in my life where I felt like I was stuck and I had to work this because of the debt right to up to keep yeah because I know you're in debt to somebody pretty deep. Yeah maybe to one other person on this podcast and so but yeah I I I uh I felt like I had to stay in the trades so to maintain the lifestyle that I've accrued right because and no one put me there but my but myself right so I just I think it's important that we have these conversations because I'm here now and I was on the path to college. I I was quite the opposite of you I was a nerd I was a I know because I paid for a couple of your semesters fool I went to I and you know a lot of people I let me just let me just squash something right now uh there's a I've heard from people that oh well you you know you work in construction because you're not educated right I've heard that I've heard that or like they didn't do good in high school but whatever I had like almost a 4.0 GPA the whole my whole first 12 years of school man and plus in between college college preparatory classes in the summer I hated you for freaking making my mom our mom making our mom make me go to those dang things I wanted to hang out with my buddies you know negative on that so you know I wanted I I I was ready man I mean really I was ready to go to college I was quite the opposite I could sit down all day and you know taking a test sitting down listening to a lesson was easy for me. Yeah you know it it still pretty much is I wrote I recently wrote a 15 page manual for my my my team right now uh in the trades that I do which is a skill I learned in school and it can apply in the trades.

SPEAKER_00 47:51

So by the way I went to college and well I think you you made a uh you made an important point right is and it's part of the purpose of this podcast is it's not like you are in in the industry not because of a lack of capability to learn and and thrive in an educational setting like and you could still apply what you had there and and so that's an important point. I want to stress this point because I don't want people to get it twisted I am not saying trades are better than college and I am not saying college is better than trades. What I am saying is the idea that go to college or flip burgers I'm saying that is 100% false. Right there are other options. I didn't go to college right out of high school I have gone to night school since then right I've taken different classes and and so forth and more importantly it took a while but I discovered that once I got over making money and buying shiny shit I discovered that I had a I had a skill or and an interest in helping people teaching people things but I had to develop that skill so I had to study and learn and and so I think not I think I know regardless of what career path you go down you have to absolutely have be committed to further develop yourself all the time not against college not saying anything about that except for the fact that if you don't go to college right out of high school it is not a frickin' prison sentence I know I've lived it made lots of money and like I said now I travel the country right and I have this opportunity to really affect people it helped me discover it helped me discover my purpose right to develop people and and contribute to people expanding their influence within their careers and their communities. I learned that that was one of the learnings I had working in this industry.

SPEAKER_02 50:17

And that's kind of how I feel now you know I landed in this I I landed in this utility company and I I feel like I'm in the infant stages of what you did. Right? I I'm in a position now I started digging holes digging trenches I was we call it the hole we were in the hole and making repairs on water mains right and that's where I started and that I started there about three years ago doing that. And under your mentorship and the mentorship of great leaders that I've met along the way in my company I'm experiencing like this rapid growth and I'm experiencing opportunities to develop the people around me. And uh I think that's one thing too I I'd like to share in this podcast as well is like your I'd like to be uh a sample if you will of your journey and maybe what it could have been with your mentorship. No I'm I'm you when you were 25 but except as good looking just yeah better but now I have your perspective of the future you and what is that gonna look like and we can we can watch that right here I'm loving testimony and we'll see what happens. Awesome and I'm loving it I'm loving it. It's super gratifying work I'm applying a lot of the things I've learned in in high school and college even to to the trades and what we're doing now.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

Good so our you know the the guests that we'll have as we progress through this many of them are going to be people that I know through from the construction industry you're gonna bring in some of your people um that work in in uh utilities and and maintenance and so forth. You know I guess up front I want to I I want to say that this show it's important to me and and as it grows I I would love to hear people's feedback like our listeners what do they think what is what what ideas do they want us to explore I want to you know we may have to fill in so like not have guests and me blab and blab about my stuff and maybe you blab about your stuff and and I'm okay with that. So one my purpose is to change the purpose of this is to change the perspective but also to serve our our customers right whoever our our listeners are if they have an appetite for something specific or to to explore something more deeply I'd like to hear back from them so that so we can start working in that direction right uh again there's there's so many things you know as we're talking I keep thinking of ooh I should have made that point or I could tell this story um but I don't want to bore the hell out of everybody on episode one yeah right so so we'll spread some of those things out but not but we'll say end being able to do this together right you're my baby brother and somehow we got to figure out how to bring Ernest into this is really special uh and we need to stay stay the path right we know what our path is we know what our purpose is I don't know how we'll measure how much impact we've had and maybe our listeners will be able to tell us that so you got any last words no you good I think I'm good yeah okay well that is episode one there'll be more to come and that are it that's it finito se acabo done end of this episode we want your feedback we want your thoughts we want your ideas we want to steal them and use them so please shoot us an email at Jesse J E S S E at learnins and missteps L E A R N I N S N M M I S S T E P S dot com to talk at you next time.