Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Veteran Elevator Mechanic Talks Michael Jordan, Trump Tower, & 46 Years in the Trade | Jim Lembesis

Transcript

Veteran Elevator Mechanic Talks Michael Jordan, Trump Tower, & 46 Years in the Trade | Jim Lembesis · The Elevator Careers Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_02: If you want an exciting career, if you want a chance to advance yourself, if you if you want a chance to to travel, there's there's so many different aspects to this trade.
0:17
SPEAKER_02: I know guys that worked in Australia, Singapore, all over the all over the world, all over the globe.
0:25
SPEAKER_02: And if that's what you want, it's there for the taking.
0:30
SPEAKER_02: All you have to do is apply yourself, right?
0:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
0:33
SPEAKER_02: And and there's not many jobs that I know of that offer that, right?
0:38
SPEAKER_01: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Matt Allred.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: When talent is mission critical, call the All-Red Group.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: With industry expertise, top talent, and exceptional customer service, you need the All-Red Group on your side.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: Your priority is their priority.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: Call now.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: 404-890-0445.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: In a world of rapidly changing technology, some professions remain timeless.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: And today we're diving into the fascinating world of elevator mechanics with a true industry veteran.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Meet Jim Lambizas, a professional who spent 46 years mastering vertical transportation.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: From working alongside sports legends at the United Center to installing elevators in Chicago's iconic Trump Tower.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: With a career spanning construction, maintenance, and modernization, Jim's journey is a testament to passion, continuous learning, and the incredible opportunities hidden in skilled trades.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Get ready for an inspiring conversation about innovation, mentorship, and why some professionals never want to retire.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Jim, welcome to the show.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me, Matt.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Glad to be here.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
2:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
2:09
SPEAKER_01: It's always a pleasure to talk to you.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: And uh I'm excited to have you on the show today.
2:15
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: Looking forward to this.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: And especially after after a hard work, you know, a hard day of work, right?
2:22
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you've been at it.
2:24
SPEAKER_02: Yes, absolutely.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: Probably started super early in the morning, right?
2:29
SPEAKER_01: My day starts at 3 a.m.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Oh my.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Oh my.
2:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: No complaints.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: Well, and you said you said you've been at this 46 years.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Going on 46 years, yes.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: That's that's a little while.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: So, how did you get started in the first place?
2:47
SPEAKER_02: My father was an elevator mechanic.
2:50
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
2:50
SPEAKER_02: And I followed in his footsteps getting into the trade.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: Did you ever say to yourself, heck no, there's no way I'm gonna be doing what my dad did?
3:00
SPEAKER_02: I no, not really.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: As a as a little kid, I you know, you heard all the stories, and and when he we put together with other elevator guys, you know, it's I kind of knew that's what I wanted to do.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Cool, very cool.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so from an early age, did he get to take you to work sometimes, or did you my older brothers, not me as much.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: Did you had enough exposure that you're like, all right?
3:24
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, absolutely, absolutely.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: How old were you when you actually got in?
3:29
SPEAKER_02: I was 18 years old, right out of high school.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: Right on, right on.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: Never looked back, you've never said, Man, I wish I'd have done something else.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: No, no, to be honest with you, I had a a scholarship to be an engineer, and I and I bypassed that to do this.
3:45
SPEAKER_02: Okay, but this is what I wanted to do, and you know, yeah, no, no, no regrets.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, in a way, you you are an engineer, right?
3:53
SPEAKER_01: You're I mean you're engineering vertical transportation.
3:56
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, every every single day.
3:58
SPEAKER_02: Every single day.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: We have to make the elevator fit in the an existing building, and that's not easy.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, even after you started, or I'm sure there were hard days, and you know, especially as a as an apprentice, or you know, did you ever uh wonder what you gotten into?
4:14
SPEAKER_02: And and uh a little bit at at first, you know, because it was overwhelming.
4:19
SPEAKER_02: Oh, sure.
4:20
SPEAKER_02: Walking in, overwhelming, and you know, you you're tall buildings, and uh you're wondering if you were ever able gonna be able to succeed in it, right?
4:31
SPEAKER_02: Right.
4:32
SPEAKER_02: And the the more I the more I worked at it and the more I learned, that just erased out of my mind.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what what was it that first really clicked that you were like, oh yeah, oh yeah, this is it.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: Well, I knew tools and stuff like that before I got in the trade.
4:50
SPEAKER_02: So that part was easy for me.
4:52
SPEAKER_02: It was um being able to take direction and follow through, because that's the biggest thing as a as a young constructor, yeah, is to be able to follow through and somebody tells you to do something, and they could put their they can put their I can't think of the word, when they know that you can perform the duty that they've asked you to do, and then you follow through, and that's like you didn't get many pets on the on the back with the old timers, but when they gave you one, it it felt good, you know what I mean?
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, and I'm sure that that uh especially as they give you that nod, like, all right, hey, you you came through for me, you did what I needed to do.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's gotta be huge, right?
5:38
SPEAKER_02: And just building your confidence that that's absolutely exactly, exactly.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Who who are some of your you know, your mentors, maybe your mechanic that just that you felt like really believed in you and and really helped you get to where you needed to be.
5:54
SPEAKER_02: There's a gentleman by the name of Ed Rudag.
5:57
SPEAKER_02: He's been doing this 63 years, he's still active.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, he's 83 years old, and he's still an elevator mechanic.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: But uh that was probably my first guy, and and he ended up, he was actually my my my father's apprentice back in the in the 50s.
6:20
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
6:21
SPEAKER_02: So that was my my first mentor, you know, and he was like the top guy back in the back in the day.
6:30
SPEAKER_02: And and um he took me in and he showed me things, and I was able to keep up with what he was teaching me, yeah.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: And um and it just blossomed from there.
6:46
SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: That's all that's amazing.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: What what were some of your uh maybe hard lessons?
6:52
SPEAKER_01: Were there were there some things that were like difficult to learn or maybe you know painful in the project?
6:58
SPEAKER_02: The electrical the electrical part was hard for me because I didn't have no background whatsoever in that.
7:04
SPEAKER_02: Right.
7:04
SPEAKER_02: But the building the building the components and stuff like that, I was able to perform pretty easily, not not easily, I don't want to make that sound arrogant or nothing, but I was able to grasp maybe yeah, I was able to grasp it and and perform that that part of it.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: The electrical took took more more time for me to get comfortable with, you know what I'm saying?
7:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, in a way it's kind of uh kind of invisible, right?
7:31
SPEAKER_01: And if you if you get it just wrong, you're it's gonna light you up.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, absolutely.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: There's some hidden danger there and make that contact.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
7:40
SPEAKER_02: And it's not so much that it's just making making all the apparatuses work electrically, you know.
7:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, build it, you gotta build it, and then electrically you gotta get it to work, you know what I'm saying?
7:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, and if you go fry on a controller board or something, I mean that's that's a big deal.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so what was your like your progression through the through the trade?
8:03
SPEAKER_02: My progression through the trade was I was an apprentice.
8:06
SPEAKER_02: Back then we called them helpers, they weren't called appremises, and I was a helper for the minimum of four years, which was the standard back then.
8:17
SPEAKER_02: And then I was on a big project, and uh they needed guys that know how to get that were certified welders, so I was very good at that part, and so they put you on a temporary mechanic.
8:34
SPEAKER_02: Temporary mechanic gets gets the pay of a mechanic, he performs all the duties of mechanic, but I was just there to strictly weld, so walking beams and welding brackets and things to that nature.
8:50
SPEAKER_02: And right from right from that, I did that for a year, and I went as uh as a foreman installing my own my own jobs, and uh I was a um a big project foreman as at the age of 22 years old, 23 years old.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: That's big, yeah.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was an opportunity, and my boss put some faith in me, and I I did good, the job did good, the install went pretty well on time, and I got another project and another project, and I did that for I was a former about 11 years, and then um I went into the maintenance part of it.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool, cool.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: So so uh obviously a lot of construction up front, and then you moved to maintenance and did that for a while, is that right?
9:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I did that for 21 years, and then I went into the um modernization part of it where I was in a modernization adjuster.
9:57
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and I've and I've been doing that for probably the last 11 years or so.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so it's still in that mod adjuster role.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: You've really kind of done everything.
10:06
SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
10:07
SPEAKER_02: I've I've hit all the bases.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh tell me what what would you say is is uh one of the most exciting projects you've ever worked on.
10:21
SPEAKER_02: Well, I had the United Center in Chicago where the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls play.
10:27
SPEAKER_02: So it was exciting.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: Like when the Blackhawks went to the Stanley Cup against the Boston Bruins, I was at every home game.
10:33
SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
10:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because in case something went wrong, you're getting paid to be there, right?
10:38
SPEAKER_01: It's like, hey, something's gotta be here.
10:40
SPEAKER_02: We had uh Kamiski Park, Chicago uh White Sox baseball team.
10:46
SPEAKER_02: And we were there a lot during games and stuff.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: That was kind of neat.
10:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, I was part of a lot of big office building projects.
10:56
SPEAKER_02: Uh the Trump Tower in Chicago.
10:59
SPEAKER_02: That was a um that was the first hundred-story building that that was built in Chicago since the Sears Tower.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
11:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so that was that was huge.
11:09
SPEAKER_02: That was I went in there as a maintenance man though.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: Right after the right after the installation, I took all control of that building.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
11:18
SPEAKER_01: Well, in a lot of ways, you you've kind of got a a backstage pass, right?
11:22
SPEAKER_01: You get to see everything that's going on.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's there's kind of no place you can't go in there because you got to make sure that it's it's gonna be a good thing.
11:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
11:31
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
11:32
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you're rubbing elbows with movie stars and you know, music performers that you'd never, you know, think about before, you know.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone, thank you for listening.
11:43
SPEAKER_01: This is Matt with a brief message from our sponsor.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: The All Red Group has been recruiting elevator industry talent for over 14 years.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: If you are looking to grow your business and hire great people, contact the all-red group at allredgroup.com.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: That's a l-l-r-ed, g-r-o-up.com, and talk with Matt and his team about how they can assist you.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: And now, back to the show.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: So you you told me uh about a little bit about uh you know being in the United Center, rubbing shoulders with with sports heroes.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: What was that?
12:13
SPEAKER_02: That was the that was a blast.
12:15
SPEAKER_02: I mean, like I like I was telling you, Michael Jordan scored 35 points in a game, and the next the next morning we're razzing him as he's going in for practice at the United Center.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: Then he couldn't score more than 35.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: But he was a good sport, he was very good sport about it.
12:34
SPEAKER_02: You know, we're we would go back and forth, put it that way.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: No, that's awesome.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just that you had that opportunity.
12:41
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, you know, that you were there and and could you know, could get to know a little bit and especially park park parking my little service van next to their uh$150,000 vehicle.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh sure.
12:55
SPEAKER_02: And they always say, Don't scratch my truck.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: Right, right, right.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, it's it's just that's something I hadn't really thought of.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: Is is you know, that again, back to the backstage past, right?
13:08
SPEAKER_01: You you're gonna you're gonna be there when no one else is, probably, you know, working on it and right to know the team gets in, you know.
13:15
SPEAKER_02: Well, they they see your face, and once they see your face over and over again, that's the small talk starts, you know what I mean?
13:22
SPEAKER_02: Like the morning and stuff like that, and then next thing you're you're you're having a conversation, and it's kind of neat, you know.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, it's it's not an experience I've ever had, and and most probably people would probably get.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, right.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Because you're you're in in those important important places, and it's like and they know that, you know, and they they know you're important you're you're part of the building, you know what I mean?
13:46
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
13:47
SPEAKER_02: So it's it's it's really neat.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: Well, and if you know the elevator acts up, he'd probably raz you a little bit about it too.
13:54
SPEAKER_02: Like, my elevators don't act up.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it's good.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: That's good.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you're on it.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: Um what uh what would you say?
14:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you talked about you know the gentleman that's in his 80s still doing this work.
14:08
SPEAKER_01: What is it that drives elevator mechanics?
14:12
SPEAKER_01: Not all of them, right?
14:13
SPEAKER_01: But a lot of them to to stay and do the work.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: I know a guy in his 90s.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: I asked him if he's ever gonna retire.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: He's like, I don't want to retire.
14:21
SPEAKER_01: What is that that from what you're from what you see?
14:25
SPEAKER_01: It's just a love of being around the guys, the being good at what you do.
14:31
SPEAKER_02: You know, once you get good at what you do, and nobody's ever great, but everybody you can be good at what you do, and then you're teaching younger guys, and everybody kind of looks up to you for for the knowledge, you know what I mean?
14:46
SPEAKER_02: I think that keep kind of keeps you going, you know.
14:49
SPEAKER_02: Like, hey, I'm having a problem.
14:51
SPEAKER_02: Can you help me fix it?
14:52
SPEAKER_02: Either it's on the telephone or you go to that job site and help that person in person.
14:59
SPEAKER_02: That that kind of keeps you going, you know what I mean?
15:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, and I mean in 46 years, you've probably seen a few problems that you're like, you know what, I can help you with that because absolutely I've worked on that.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, there aren't that many people throughout the world that that they could call, except people like you, they're like, hey, you know, you've been on this, I need your help.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
15:23
SPEAKER_02: I have people from different parts of the country that call me, they see my profile on LinkedIn.
15:29
SPEAKER_02: Let me give this guy a try.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to work on an elevator here in Mobile, Alabama, and I looked to you.
15:36
SPEAKER_02: It happens, it happens, and it's like a guy from Miami, you know, and it's it's I had a guy in the Bahamas calling, and the company was thrown out of a hotel that was under construction just getting up in a in a resort, and I helped them through the whole process of getting those cars ready to for the public use, yeah.
15:58
SPEAKER_02: And I I had uh an uh uh a standing invitation to go to that hotel whenever I wanted.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: I never took them up on it, but it was funny, you know.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: I said, No, we're just here to help each other, you know what I'm saying?
16:13
SPEAKER_01: No, it's amazing.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, even if you did take them up on it, it probably build the build the relationship.
16:18
SPEAKER_01: It's like all right, sure, you know, sure come look me up when you're in Chicago, right?
16:21
SPEAKER_02: But he's calling me, he's called me after that, running into problems and stuff.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: So it's good, it's good.
16:27
SPEAKER_02: It makes you feel good when you can help somebody, right?
16:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, somebody that's struggling and trying to find the answer.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: And I think I think that has to be part of what makes it so rewarding.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, that's part of what drives my my interest and my desire in talking to people like you that get so excited and and love what you do.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: To be able to say you love what you do after that many years.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's a lot of people that that can't say that.
16:52
SPEAKER_02: I have co-workers that look at me cross-eyed when I say that.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they they just haven't maybe maybe gone over that hump yet where they it might not have clicked yet.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: The confidence and the the years of experience and the the opportunity to give and to you know just the the interaction.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's uh it's a special community.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: And and I I'm wondering, you know, just in my own mind, like uh I'm wondering if other industries could learn something from this from the elevator industry, right?
17:24
SPEAKER_01: To have employees that are happy to go to work, that are willing to get up at 3 a.m.
17:28
SPEAKER_02: That are willing to, you know, you probably could have retired a few years ago and here you are just when it's time I I will, but I don't know when that time's gonna be, you know.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no hurry, right?
17:40
SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
17:42
SPEAKER_01: So uh what do you what would you say you love the most?
17:46
SPEAKER_01: I mean you brought up a few people, uh sorry, a few things.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: What what do you love the most about the work you do?
17:51
SPEAKER_02: The most I love about the elevator industry is the constant changing of technology, and it forces you to either learn or fall back, right?
18:03
SPEAKER_02: So if you don't, if if you say I've learned as all I'm gonna learn, you're gonna fall back.
18:10
SPEAKER_02: And other people, other people are going to get ahead of you is not not as far like it's a race or anything, but they're gonna get the the big projects.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: And if you want to be the the guy that they lean on to solve problems, you're gonna want that that that knowledge, right?
18:29
SPEAKER_02: So you're gonna keep changing with the times.
18:31
SPEAKER_02: And when I started, it was all relay logic.
18:35
SPEAKER_02: The microprocessor part of it wasn't invented yet, right?
18:38
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't out there for us.
18:40
SPEAKER_02: And and then when that came on board, I said, Oh, I think I could do this, you know, and I learned my my way around it.
18:50
SPEAKER_02: And so the knowledge thing is is to me is number one.
18:56
SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm I'm always looking to learn something new, and learning something new is exciting.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about how you how do how do you, I guess, apply yourself, you know, what what is it that you do to kind of push into new knowledge and and you know, is it is it about books, is it about hands-on?
19:13
SPEAKER_01: Is it a combination?
19:14
SPEAKER_01: Do you take classes?
19:15
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what is it?
19:16
SPEAKER_02: It's absolutely it's absolutely a combination of everything you just said.
19:20
SPEAKER_02: It's um sometimes they have they send us to school.
19:24
SPEAKER_02: I was just at school six months ago for something that we were working on.
19:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, it wasn't a long class, it was just you know, introduction, and then we take it from there, right?
19:36
SPEAKER_02: Your common sense can pretty much solve the rest of it.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: It's just different different processes, different terminology.
19:47
SPEAKER_02: And you just got to you sometimes you need a little help grasping that part of it.
19:52
SPEAKER_02: And then once you get it, once you know how it works on one thing, you could pretty much solve going down the line.
19:59
SPEAKER_02: It's just symbols are different, or like um languages, like languages are different, right?
20:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so you go to you go to a different country, you have to learn how to communicate in a different language, right?
20:14
SPEAKER_02: And that's basically what it is with different different um companies and processes, you know.
20:21
SPEAKER_02: For sure.
20:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so that's that's a big part of it.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: So do you it sounds like you, you know, when when there's a new class opportunity, you're one of the first to raise your hand and say, hey, sign me up.
20:31
SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: I always have been, always have been.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's awesome that you're that you're hungry for that knowledge.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: Because I, you know, I do know people that that sometimes it's like, oh my gosh, if I have to learn one more thing, why can't I stick with the old way?
20:44
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I just stay with what I know and isn't that good enough?
20:48
SPEAKER_01: And then it's easy to fall behind, right?
20:50
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: And that's exactly what I was saying.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: You you do fall behind, and if you fall behind, it makes it that much harder to get back up there, right?
20:58
SPEAKER_02: Oh, so if as long as as long as you try to keep up with the stuff that's that's happening around you that's changing, I mean the rest is gravy, right?
21:09
SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, and I mean technology is changing constantly, right?
21:12
SPEAKER_01: So even absolutely, so it's never doesn't take long to fall behind.
21:17
SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
21:18
SPEAKER_02: So if you were a switchboard operator and you didn't want to go into the new way that they they did it, you fell behind, you never caught up, right?
21:27
SPEAKER_01: You got laid off a long time ago, right?
21:28
SPEAKER_01: And it's like game over.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: For sure, for sure.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: So, how how often do you do you go to classes?
21:36
SPEAKER_01: I mean, is this like every six months?
21:38
SPEAKER_01: Is it every three months?
21:39
SPEAKER_01: Is it every once twice a year?
21:41
SPEAKER_02: It it depends when like if the company has a new product they're rolling out.
21:46
SPEAKER_02: Okay, they'll they'll send certain individuals to training to make you aware of of all the changes that that the new product's gonna have.
21:57
SPEAKER_02: And and then they they rely on us.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: To spread that training to the field technicians.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: And we kind of we bring it out to them in real life, right?
22:11
SPEAKER_02: And on job sites to help them jump into that new stuff.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: So you you uh and I don't know how much you can say about this, maybe it's totally confidential, but you talked about working on some new equipment that you've never you've never seen.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: It's pretty different from right.
22:27
SPEAKER_02: Well, it's not confidential.
22:29
SPEAKER_02: It's um my company was bought by a major company.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: I was in I was working for an independent company and it's Schindler Elevator.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: And my background, I've never had a background of working on Schindler elevator equipment.
22:46
SPEAKER_02: So now I'm I'm tasked with installing it and then commissioning it to turn over to the public.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just just a different flavor of of equipment.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Does the same thing essentially, but absolutely if you've never right, and the technical part of it is this is the part that I'm learning, and and I'm I'm I'm having a blast, right?
23:09
SPEAKER_02: Um I had an engineer on my job site last week, and he taught me so many things, I probably forgot half of them, but the things he was teaching me was was exciting, right?
23:20
SPEAKER_02: It was it was it was neat learning how somebody else does something, right?
23:25
SPEAKER_02: I I could do it somebody else's equipment, the stuff I already knew, but to learn it in a whole different set of eyes, right?
23:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, how's how they're doing it.
23:38
SPEAKER_02: I thought it was cool.
23:39
SPEAKER_02: I thought it was really neat.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: So, like a field engineer, Sue, uh, you know, I don't know if he designed it, it's probably his job to to go out and and teach everybody, hey, this is how this works.
23:49
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
23:50
SPEAKER_02: He goes job to job all over the country.
23:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it was neat.
23:54
SPEAKER_02: It was it was it was very educational.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: Well, and then it's up to you to like you said, to to Justin, to hand it off.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're ultimately responsible, you and your your team, to make sure that this is absolutely and I'm and I'm passing that down to the to the people on my job that are working with me, you know.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: So uh I'm just curious, how many, how many different uh like apprentices have you trained over the years?
24:26
SPEAKER_01: Any uh any guess?
24:30
SPEAKER_02: In the hundreds, in the hundreds.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: When a guy that's it's been with you and you tried to teach him everything that you think you know, and he gets he's successful later on, that's that's really rewarding, right?
24:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because yeah, because you had a little hand in that, and then every time you see him he thanks you or shakes your hand, you know, and it's like that's awesome, you know what I mean?
24:58
SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: How how much do you I mean are you able to keep up with, or you know, do they reach out a lot?
25:03
SPEAKER_02: The ones that you've kind of absolutely, absolutely.
25:06
SPEAKER_02: They want to see how you're doing, you know, and they still want to bounce questions off you.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure, I'm sure.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: In some ways, it you know, it's almost like a parent-child thing.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: Like, I raised that person.
25:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
25:19
SPEAKER_02: I remember you when you were a young kid, you know.
25:22
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, yeah, like 20, 30 years later, right?
25:25
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, there's guys that helped me and are already retiring.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, yeah.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, well, and honestly, you know, just talking about kind of new people coming in and and the new generation, that's that's part of the reason you know, I wanted to have this conversation with you, is just that sure, you know, it seems like from my perspective, you know, there's uh sometimes it's hard to attract the right the right talent.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: I think I think there are a lot of super sharp, smart uh, you know, people coming up, but they may not always know that, oh, there's an amazing career there.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: I uh they never guessed, right?
26:03
SPEAKER_01: So just getting that message out that the fact that you've been at it, that you still love it, that you love learning, that you're constantly learning, um, I think is is a message that certainly a lot of the youth coming up would would benefit to hear.
26:17
SPEAKER_02: Sure, sure.
26:18
SPEAKER_02: Like for me myself, I had a little bit of a disconnect with the younger people coming in, and now that I'm working with them again, and all these young, young bodies, right?
26:32
SPEAKER_02: It's kind of it's kind of cool because they have a different spin on on what they grew up knowing, right?
26:39
SPEAKER_02: Computers and stuff.
26:40
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's all second nature to them.
26:43
SPEAKER_02: And and and to show them how it applies to elevator work is it's it's kind of it's kind of neat, you know.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: That is neat.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: And it's probably like, yeah, they can they can teach you how to use some app on their phone and you can teach them how to you know how to apply that knowledge elsewhere.
27:01
SPEAKER_02: I had my phone fixed today, matter of fact.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, I yeah, I have to I have to go to my 16-year-old to get help with my phone all the time, right?
27:10
SPEAKER_01: Exactly, exactly.
27:11
SPEAKER_02: It's just a it's just a whole different breed of guys or technicians coming in, you know, and it and they they got the they got the the computer part down, and now I'm trying to teach them the mechanical part, right?
27:30
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
27:31
SPEAKER_02: They'll catch on to the computer part without a problem.
27:34
SPEAKER_02: For sure, but they still have to know how the gears mesh, you know what I'm saying?
27:39
SPEAKER_01: Well, and the safety, right?
27:41
SPEAKER_01: Maybe maybe they haven't been exposed to some of the risks of of whatever high change points, you know, enclosed spaces.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm sure that's a whole whole new world for that.
27:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
27:55
SPEAKER_02: And that's that's how you gotta, you know, reel them in a little bit and so they don't get too far ahead and they learn that part first, first and foremost.
28:06
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, Jim, we're getting kind of close, you know, to on our time here, but um last question I want to ask you is uh, you know, kind of talking about the the new generation coming in, what advice would you give to somebody who's maybe thinking about the industry or maybe they're just starting out?
28:23
SPEAKER_01: What would you say to them?
28:24
SPEAKER_02: If you want an exciting career, if you want a chance to advance yourself, if you if you want a chance to travel, there's there's so many different aspects to this trade.
28:42
SPEAKER_02: I know guys that work in Australia, Singapore, all over the all over the world, all over the globe.
28:50
SPEAKER_02: And if that's what you want, it's there for the taking, all you have to do is apply yourself, right?
28:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and there's not many jobs that I know of that offer that, right?
29:04
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, yeah.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: And I've talked to people kind of the same way, right?
29:07
SPEAKER_01: Once you learn your trade, you can write your ticket so many different directions.
29:12
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
29:13
SPEAKER_02: And that's that's the point I was trying to make, you know.
29:17
SPEAKER_02: To me, that's that's that's you can't pay for something like that, you know what I mean?
29:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
29:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's but that's that's the that's the thing that keeps the job interesting.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
29:31
SPEAKER_01: Jim, thank you for being with me today.
29:33
SPEAKER_01: I've enjoyed it.
29:34
SPEAKER_02: Hugh, I I enjoyed it as well.
29:36
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
29:37
SPEAKER_01: You bet good luck to you and stay safe out there.
29:39
SPEAKER_02: You as well.
29:40
SPEAKER_02: Thanks, buddy.
29:41
SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
29:42
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the All Red Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: Please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: Please like and subscribe.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: And until next time, stay safe.