Everything They Don't Tell You

Today we sit down with someone close to my realm of the industry. Matt McMahon is the President of S&K Oil and a former restaurateur who literally built hundreds of restaurants including Chi-Chi's and Outback Steakhouse. Matt gives us a glimpse of the trades from an end user perspective and talks all about his experiences over the years in the restaurant industry. Tune in to hear us talk all about...

Our guest today gives a perspective on a very unique trade. Siobhan Colleen is a former entertainment rigger with a ton of great insight on what it takes to make it in that industry, what's involved in the day to day duties, and what she loved most about it. We talk about the value of college, the ROI of Certifications, and her incredible start up Industry Explorers. We also have a very real conve...

I'm so excited to introduce our next guest today. His name is Ryline Monkman and he has such an incredible story about hard work, perseverance, and overcoming circumstances. Ryline grew up in a bad way. With difficult situations surrounding both parents, getting kicked out of his house at age 14, and becoming a father at age 16, he was still able to dig deep within himself and find the will to pur...

Today we sit down with another fellow podcaster and skilled trades advocate, Mr Cal Wiebe. Cal grew up in a skilled trades family with his dad and uncle driving truck and another uncle as an electrician. He knew from an early age that the path for him would be a blue collar one, and never thought twice about it. Despite completing his first level apprenticeship in electrical before graduating high...

Today I get to sit down with someone who is well known behind the scenes in my industry. Jenn Davis, President of Davisware, a robust software for commercial service companies. Jenn grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, not unlike myself, and her dad was a serial entrepreneur always with his hands on something. So, needless to say, her blue collar ties have deep roots. Because of this she always had a t...

Stepping out of realm a little bit today to get a different perspective of the trades. Lisa Zalenski is the Media Manager/Creator of Video Imagines/Producer of Social Things at Malachy Parts and Service/FEDD Group/Everything else Rich Malachy does to push the industry forward. Lisa starts her journey with us in high school and describes what most would consider the typical path, go to school, get...

Today we're talking to our first member of CAREERS: The Next Generation, Mr Gord King. Make sure to catch our second episode with Ryline Monkman on April 30 th ! Gord started out on the traditional path, graduating highschool, and going right to college for business. Even though his dad was the school's shop teacher. Gord didn't really have an interest in pursuing the trades in high school or ther...

Today's guest is someone I've had the pleasure of getting to know virtually over the past couple years. A practitioner of the skilled trades, a believer in Blue is the New White, and truly an asset to the industry. As heard in his OWN podcast, Straight Outta Crumpton, Mr Greg Crumpton finally gets his spot on the guest list for BITNW and shares his incredible story with us. He grew up in the trade...

Today's guest is a huge voice in the skilled trades. Growing up around construction, Jon Isaacson has found a fulfilling career in the trades that has allowed him to work with his hands and help those around him. Not only is he accomplished in his craft, but he also speaks professionally, hosts his own podcast (The DYOJO Podcast), and has written two books (Be Intentional; Estimating & Be Intentio...

Today we get to sit down with a couple of experts in the trade careers. Wood Boyles & Dan Baker run Blue Collar Talent scouts and have a first hand perspective of what makes for a good career in the trades. Not only do they recruit great technicians, they also promote the benefits of the industry to the up and coming generations, AND they consult with companies to help them structure in a way they...

Today's guests are blazing new trails in the food equipment industry. Ray and David Bartolomucci (CEO & Founder respectively) are two brothers with strong entrepreneurial spirits looking to solve a problem that plagues almost all small business owners in this space. Their software Roopairs aims to provide a long awaited solution to adding simplicity to service management, connecting the industry t...

Today's guest is someone who I've had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few months. An extraordinary wealth of knowledge and incredible thought leader in the industry. Gyner Ozgul is the Sr VP of Operations for Smart Care Equipment Solutions. Gyner grew up in the restaurant industry working for Burger King for 11 years starting at the age of 16. He moved up the ranks for the franchisee...

Today we sit down with Jillian Hubbard, an electrical apprentice from Connecticut. Jillian loved to work with her hands from a young age and made the decision to go to a CTE high school. She tried different trades and fell in love with electrical. Life, as it happens, gave her a husband and two children shortly thereafter and she found herself on the opposite coast in Washington State. Her dreams...

My guest today has one of the most interesting stories I've ever heard. Max Ceron is the Executive Director of the CWB Association in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. But it was a long and winding road to this point. Max and his family immigrated to Canada because of a political coupe in Chile, where they are from. He found his first love at 14 which was cars. Through high school that love switched t...

Today's guest has a wonderful, relatable story about how he fell into the trades at 16 years old and never looked back. Zack Hartle is an electrical apprentice instructor at SAIT, and also hosts a Youtube channel that teaches electrical code & theory. Zack was only looking for a way to stay out of the classroom in high school so he found the best course of action was to enroll in an apprenticeship...

Today we have two very special and innovative guests on the show with a wonderful idea on how to connect and empower blue collar workers from all over. Robert Birch & Barb Hansen are the founders of Thinkin Blue, A career network that connects blue-collar and service workers to each other, educational and skills develop opportunities, new jobs and to companies that help them work and live. Robert...

Today I have 3 guests on the show, all from the same company, Gary's East Coast Service. Of course Gary Petitti himself, his wife Angela, and one of his 3 daughters, Lyndsi. And yes, they all work under the same roof. I wanted to sit down with them to have a very real conversation about how the business was started and what it's like working so closely with so many family members. Their short answ...

Today's guest hails all the way from Istanbul, Turkey. Yasemin Somuncu is an expert in Energy Efficiency and believe me, expert is an understatement. Yasemin has such a pure and vast understanding of her field coupled with a strong desire to pass her knowledge to anyone who will listen. She went to school to be an Architect and never stopped learning. She ended up continuing her education in Engla...

My guest today is yet another awesome woman in the trades. Her name is Darci Spiteri. Darci grew up in the typical way, wanted to do graphic design because it's something she thought she was passionate about. She was never really introduced to the trades in high school so she pursued graphic design for about 1 semester after high school. She quickly realized that labeling her passion as work wasn'...

Today I sit down with an awesome partner of mine in the trades. His name Scott McGrath (McGraw) and he is a Director at Origo BPO. Him and his offshore teams help service companies to plug their profit leaks by offering a solution to many of the common headaches for these organizations. Including, but not limited to: Providing additional support for technicians in the field. Ensuring quick and acc...

Today I sit down with someone who has spent his life doing a very unique trade. Joe Cadwell was a commercial diver for over 30 years. Growing up he loved the sense of freedom that came from the underwater world so, in lieu of pursuing a typical college education, Joe enrolled in the US Navy as a diver. After being one of only a handful of recruits who graduated, he continued his career as an instr...

Today I get to sit down with another great ambassador for Kick Ass Careers! Courtney Chard is a UA Local 46 Steamfitter & welder. In her spare time she puts her skills to use in an unconventional way by sculpting art from scrap metal. Make sure you head over to her Instagram page after the show, or during the show to see her creations. And now, her 7 year old daughter is ALSO a Kick Ass ambassador...

Today's guest is an interesting one. As you all know, I usually talk to blue collar trades people or advocates, but my definition of the skilled trades extends far beyond that. Basically, anything that requires some form of formal education that isn't a typical 4 year college. So I sit down with Mike Roberts, a 32 year veteran in software coding, and founder of San Diego Code School. Mike had an i...

I want to introduce my guest today as a Heat & Frost Insulator, but he's so much more than that. First off, Do you even know what a heat & frost insulator is or does? Adam Melnick joins me on the show to talk about his journey through the trades and to share his thoughts on the rewards, benefits, and opportunities that exist in the industry. Adam was academically gifted in high school but, to the...

Today's guest is none other than Jill Timushka or, as she's otherwise known, Jill the Welder. Jill has had such a remarkable career full of accomplishments and reward. She is a 4 th generation welder and knew she wanted to follow in the family footsteps pretty early on. You can just tell the kind of passion she has for her trade by listening to her talk. For 25 years she has been saying that getti...