Jesse hosts the Learnings and Missteps podcast and interviews Manja Horner, founder and CEO of Boost Learning Design, about solving skilled-trades workforce shortages driven by retirements and the long push toward college over trades. Manja introduces her book, “Pass the Torch: A Call to Rescue the Future of Trades,” and explains her “talent flywheel” for retention: strong onboarding, trained supervisors who give clear feedback, clear expectations and standards, and career pathways with training and advancement. They discuss why training succeeds only with leadership buy-in, clear business impact, and protected time, contrasting failed and successful rollout examples. Manja outlines a learning ecosystem (attitude, strategy, content/knowledge capture, trainers/technology, and skill practice with deliberate repetition). They cover apprenticeships as an industry responsibility, Manja’s path from violin teaching to trades training via her family’s restoration business, and close on thinking bigger.

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00:00 Apprenticeship Wake Up Call

00:27 Meet Mana Horner

02:43 The Skilled Labor Cliff

05:52 Pass the Torch Book

06:54 Retention Talent Flywheel

13:10 Career Pathways That Work

17:38 Training Buy In Story

24:14 Learning Ecosystem Framework

32:19 Why Apprenticeships Matter

33:31 From Violin To Trades

39:29 Transferable Skills Mindset

41:10 Collecting Experiences Lesson

42:25 No Credentials Needed

43:20 Preboarding To Orientation

46:11 Role Onboarding Structure

47:25 AI And Constant Learning

48:29 Talent Choice And Culture

54:17 Let Kids Figure It Out

59:00 Skill Stacking Plan

01:03:35 School Mismatch Insights

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