Inside The Trades

If you ever wonder how stores open back up after a hurricane, fire, flood, civil unrest or COVID it's companies like NEST and their network of providers that do the hard work.  NEST is not only a major figure in facilities management they're also dedicated to closing the talent gap in the skilled trades, led by their CEO, Rob Almond. Rob has spend most of his career at NEST and seen all...

Growing up in construction and being part of multiple generations of builders offered Kristi Allen the mentoring and pathway to a life in the trades.  As owner of Woodcastle Builders and one of the inspirations for The House That She Built , Kristi has leveraged her career as a general contractor to pay it forward and show a new generation of girls the benefits of the blue collar life.  She also c...

One of the first things that becomes apparent in talking with Ken Midgett, besides being incredibly knowledgeable, is how caring he is. You can hear it in his voice, how carefully-thought out his answers are to questions, the way he talks about former students and the love he has for his work.   It was truly a pleasure to have him on the show and hear how he's taken over 40 years as a master...

In what can only be described as a modern day Shakespearean tale, this week's episode explores Chris Gutkes' ascendency from reluctantly following the family legacy, in the elevator industry,  to running the business literally overnight.  Suddenly losing a family member thrust Chris into a role he was not prepared to assume and it took all his skills as a technician, lifelong learner and...

It's not everyday you get to host an Instagram influencer,  horse manicuring mogul AND break a major story all in one episode so this one's special! This week we're excited to welcome a member of the trades that hasn't fallen into the customary lines of business and we learn a bit about the equine and entrepreneurship world from Jess the Farrier. Jess breaks down what farriers...

If you're looking for an avatar of someone who's made a great career for themselves in the skilled trades then it should look like Josh Zolin.  He's not only built a career from the ground up he's taken the pains to educate himself to learn the business and people side of ownership.  Josh is one of those rare people you sit down with and know within a few minutes of talking tha...

EP27: Returning to the House That She Built Episode 27 Stefani Thatcher is the Owner and Lead Designer of Domani Home Design, a residential design firm that puts the homeowner’s personal stories and unique lifestyle at the heart of the finished product. In part two of our conversation with Stefani, we take a look at why she is “training her competition” and how she is supporting workforce developm...

Stefani Thatcher – Domani Home Design (Part 1) Episode 26   When you think about male-dominated industries, construction might be one of the first that comes to mind. Today’s guest believes that, by utilizing skilled tradeswomen and women-owned companies at all stages of your residential construction project, your home will not only be more beautiful but more holistically attuned to your unique ne...

Filling up the Skill Stadium with Keith Williams Episode 25 Part 2   When you think about the jobs our society glorifies, what first runs through your mind? Maybe a doctor, investment banker, or architect — all careers require years of expensive college tuition and, sometimes, a small pool of jobs available. Why, then, are we not promoting the in-demand skilled trades?  After decades of saturating...

In episode one of a special two-part series, Inside the Trade hosts, Derek and Matt, are joined by fellow podcaster Keith Williams. Since creating Skill Stadium, an online job platform directed at skilled trades, Keith has connected skilled tradespeople to employers. Keith has brought opportunities to people in a struggling job market, but this is just one part of his mission to bring skilled trad...

Boldly Going Where the Trades Need to Go Episode 23  Listen to this episode to hear Derek makes one of his biggest dreams come true! After admiring him for years, Derek gets to discuss energy development and the importance of skilled trades with talented engineer, Jeremy Hollman.  With an impressive resume that includes testing and designing for groundbreaking projects at Boeing, SpaceX and Aurora...

It may not be a surprise to know the oil and gas industries are major employers for students of the Tulsa Welding School, but what about wind and solar companies and SpaceX?  We really loved hearing these stories from Chris Schuler of Tulsa Welding School and how his love of video games aided in the implementation of a new virtual reality simulator program. If you're ever in the Tulsa area it...

Today’s episode is going to be a little different. We are turning the lens from inside the trades to taking a snapshot from the outside in.  We have invited an extremely passionate and talented person on today’s show who has been capturing the people that make up the trades industry to honor their work and commitment to building our nation.  Tara Garner is an incredible photographer, content creat...

The stories we like to share through this show highlight successes professionals in the trades have experienced and also provide a blueprint for others to follow.  When we attended the SkillsUSA Conference we knew there were folks attending that could supply those stories and, man, we were not disappointed with this one! At 24 years old, Jonel Murray was making a 6-figure salary and traveled all o...

We love hearing stories how the people serving in the armed forces are transferring skills learned during service into civilian life.  We also love a good meal.   What if there's a way to mix both? On today’s episode, we continue on with our fantastic time at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Competition and speak with Ed Fuchs and Cleveland Knowles of the US Coast Guard Culinary P...

There is a palpable confidence within any SkillsUSA alumni that we want to touch on.  It is something that isn’t explicitly talked about, but can be felt when in the room with these extremely talented and driven young people. What this comes from is the willingness to learn and the framework received by SkillsUSA that they can’t get from anywhere else.  The drive comes from a supportive team belie...

Closing the skills gap and getting students excited about being part of the trades as a career takes more than just providing them with information. It takes having students exposed to the trades through advanced technology, virtual reality simulators, and hands-on instruction and learning. Not only does this give young people the opportunity to try something new, but it can be the spark of someth...

The unparalleled commitment SkillsUSA has taken on to solve the skills gap is creating a major ripple effect across the entire trades industry with what we affectionately call the "Trades Olympics." Bringing in new young talent that are passionate about the skilled trades is not only helping the industry, but it's helping to steer young people into professions that are highly lucrat...

The skills gap alarm has been sounding in the trades industry for some time now, causing companies to rethink how they structure their future business plans, and inspire people to consider a career in trades at a young age. The fact is, 3 million jobs will be vacant in 2028, which will arrive in a blink of an eye, so solutions are the main concern for many trades companies. The good thing is, the...

“It's an opportunity for so many small players. It’s a great place to get your start, to build a business, to be your own boss.” - Evan Iverson As the skills gap gets wider, we have to ask ourselves why and how. The answer isn’t simple, but the point is, what are we doing about it? Recruiting talent poses a challenge in the trades industry which has been one part of the inspiration behind Fro...

Kate Cinnamo joins us on location at the 2022 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, GA. Kate is the Executive Director of Explore the Trades, a nonprofit working to bridge the technical talent gap in the service trades of plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical.  With a network of over 1,000 residential service companies throughout the United States and Canada, Explore...

On this episode we're back with the Father Judge welding program in Philadelphia, speaking to the instructor and architect of the program, Joe Williams. Joe has decades of experience as a welder, working on national defense systems in private industry, as a teacher at his alma mater, and has even constructed Hollywood movie sets and props! Most recently, he was tasked with architecting Father...

Ryan Englin, CEO of The Core Matters, joins us on the program to talk about the state of talent in the blue collar world today and what owner/operators need to do build a top-flight team. A fellow white collar dropout, Ryan is passionate about supporting growing businesses in blue collar industries to build amazingly productive companies by hiring the right people. Growing up, he saw his own fathe...

Brian Patrick King, President of Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, PA, joins us to talk about the recent success that they've had with their welding program. Father Judge is a Catholic, all-boys college preparatory school, but when Brian took over as president in 2016 he noticed that 66% of students were lacking clear, actionable career options post-graduation.  That led to the school...

Matt and Derek discuss the most common business challenge facing the trades today - the shortage in talent. We cover the root causes contributing to the shortage starting all the way back in high school classrooms, discuss common misperceptions that exist in the blue collar vs. white collar debate, review the escalating crisis in college debt, and finally wrap with some real world examples that ca...