Life In Twenty

LIT Episode 17:  After serving in the Navy, Ryan didn't know what to do with his life - then his grandpa mentioned 'the trades'.  Twenty-four years later and now a plumbing foreman, Ryan talks about how hard work pays off, the apprenticeship to journeyman pay scale, his regrets around being fearful at times in his career - holding him back - why he may now have the nickname 'ol...

LIT Episode 16: What would you do if your spouse was facilitating a serious crime? William is Deputy Director at Prison Ministries and served time in federal prison for wire fraud after operating as CFO for a company in NY.  In this vulnerable conversation, William opens up about the biggest mistake in his life, his life before his role in the Ponzi-scheme, and how he's dedicating the rest of...

LIT Episode 15:  Chad is Vice President/Partner at Red Sky and helps companies and organizations tell their story and connect the auidences that matter most.  Find out how he learned about the importance of reliability and work ethic watching his mom and dad own and operate a 24/7hr business, the difference between fixed and growth mindset and why being a lifelong learner helps you expand your kno...

LIT Episode 14:  John, aka "Shep", is a New Business Engineer and has been at NxEdge (semiconductor company) for the past 6 years.  In this interview, Shep talks about his path to where he's at now, including starting in the Army, becoming a mechanic, and then Service Manager at Phil Smart Mercedes Benz in Seattle for 15 years. Shep shares the starting salary of engineers in his ind...

LIT Episode 13:  Zach is an audio-visual manager and runs his own DJ company.  Zach's story is fascinating.  He was kicked out of high school his sophomore year, went back to get his GED, was an underwater welder making over $200,000 per year, and then the recession hit.  When he had $3k left to his name he reinvented himself, started an annual one-month roadtrip tradition, became a DJ and ca...

LIT Episode 12:  Katie is a Dental Hygene Professor at Shoreline Community College since 2005.  Katie openly talks about some of her mistakes early in her career regarding accumulating debt, her passion for volunteering, and how she knew this would be her profession since middle school.  Find out how you can make $90,000 out of college, the advantage to you going into this field because of the sho...

LIT Episode 11:  Andrew is an Emergency Room Nurse in the Seattle area and has spent 30+ years in the industry.  Andrew talks about how his military experience helped prepare him for things he witnessed coming in through the emergency room doors.  Find out who Andrew believes this career is for, what the starting and ending salary of the profession is, the other amazing benefits of the job, his bi...

LIT Episode 10:  Steph Whatmore is a Quality Assurance Specialist for a bank.  She makes sure before you get your loan that there are no errors in the paperwork, she's the gatekeeper before you sign your mortgage.  Over the span of 25 years, she has survived 5 layoffs in the high volatility, high risk/reward mortgage industry.  Find out how Steph uses her organizational skill mastery to set h...

LIT Episode 9:  James is a residential plumber.  The best decision he made in his life was leaving a dead-end retail auto parts position in favor of the plumbing trait.  James talks about how his mistakes as a plumber led to him not being able to stand the smell of curry, why not loving school doesn't mean you cant have a high life score, and how he recently seized the opportunity of ownershi...

LIT Episode 8:  Jenny is a licensed optician - the pharmacists of the optical world - and has spent 30 years in the industry.  Jenny talks about the huge need for licensed opticians, how working alongside her father for 15 years helped shape her career, and why her life score currently sits in the mid 80's.  Find out who her biggest influences are, why her superpower is 'witchy', an...

LIT Episode 7:  Cheryl is a Project Manager Consultant for Microsoft.  In her role, Cheryl has learned to become a subject matter expert at the things that bring high value to the project team and everyone she interacts with.  Find out how you can make $50,000 - $80,000 a year out of college and quickly elevate to a junior project manager making over 6 figures.  Cheryl offers must-hear tips to bec...

LIT Episode 6:  "If you are standing still, you will never win." Jesse went from GED to Creative Director of Mojang.  He's been with Microsoft for 25 years, specifically focused on video games for the past 12.  He once repaired former President Jimmy Carter's computer.  Want a career at Microsoft?  Jesse delivers 3 amazing tips for Gen Z on what he looks for when hiring to fill...

LIT Episode 5:  Mandi has spent 24 years as a Senior Underwriter, assessing the risk of school districts, their history of claims pertaining to wrongful terminations, building/property deficiencies, and others.  Find out how she's 5x'd her income, works from home, rates her life score in the low 80's, how going to school with her father influenced her, and much more... If this episo...

LIT Episode 4:  Jeff is a Engineering Technician for the city.  He reviews plans for permits, conducts field inspections, makes sure projects in the city are up to code.  Jeff talks about how he took a pay cut to join the city, married too young but landed the right one, and why he rates his life score in the high 70's.  Find out how you can start at the city with no college at $70,000 per ye...

LIT Episode 3:  Do you want a career that offers you full benefits, a pension, the weekends off, the summers off, and earns over $100,000 per year?  Jackie is a teacher with special education endorsement, find out how she got to where she's at, why it's ok to fail (under one condition), what she believes school doesnt teach, and more... If this episode moves you in any way, please share...

LIT Episode 2 :  Patty works for the Renton School District as an Office Assistant at Lakeridge Elementary.  She helps remove the barriers that keep students from attending school on a regular basis.  Patty also invests her time as the bargaining chair for Renton Education Support Professionals.  Patty has a tremendous passion for what's right and awesome advice for Gen Z you dont want to mis...

LIT Episode 1.  Tim LaBlanc is the father of the Life In Twenty Podcast host Paul and the grandfather ("Papa") of co-hosts Carsyn and McCoy.  In this interview, Tim talks about coming from a split home, growing up in the Rainier Valley of Seattle, what it was like sharing a house with 8 others, three to a bedroom, with one bathroom.  Tim didn't like  bookkeeping as a career because...

LIT Episode 0.  In one of our only episodes we plan to have without a featured guest, we wanted to first introduce the hosts of the Life In Twenty (LIT) podcast, our mission and purpose, and a few questions around the frustrations of school for Gen Z.  In this introductory episode, you will learn the 6 reasons Paul wanted to start the podcast with his daughter Carsyn and son McCoy.  What Carsyn an...