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.

Pass the Torch: https://www.boostld.com/pass-the-torch-book

Get Your On Boarding Blue Print ://www.boostld.com/onboarding-blueprint

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

Link to purchase Pass the Torch: A Rallying Call to Rescue the Future of Trades
https://www.boostld.com/pass-the-torch-book

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