Latest / Learnings and Missteps by Depth Builder / Mental Health Breaks, Switching Jobs, & Inspiring the Next Generation with Aaron Gibson
Transcript
- 0:00They just don't know how amazing it is and how amazing the people in the industry.
- 0:06I said, this is what I wanna do.
- 0:07I wanna celebrate them.
- 0:09And so, bam, here we are,.
- 0:10And that's, that's kind of like HVAC the whole intent behind that is to open a more exclusive and in depth detailed school.
- 0:21Cuz.
- 0:21You know, as well as I do that when you get that journeyman ticket, you're, the expectation just goes right up here.
- 0:27Now you're expected to know it all . And that in itself can be overwhelming.
- 0:32And that's when I was like, you know what, like I wanna, I wanna open a school where literally, okay, you've got your journeyman ticket.
- 0:39You as an owner have this new journeyman on your hands and you're starving for acs.
- 0:45So let's send you off for two weeks to the school.
- 0:49We'll get you trained up from mounting brackets to the wiring to the commission.
- 0:53So that, that way after those two weeks, I can send you back to your boss and you can be moldable into that position where you got the knowledge, you're losing that frustration.
- 1:03Cause you're not being left last minute to just, Oh, well guess what?
- 1:06You gotta do this and you have no clue what this is, what is, what is entailed, what are the materials, What's the setup?
- 1:12You know?
- 1:13Yes.
- 1:13So that's where, that's where I've been pushing.
- 1:15That's why I've been pushing just off the cuff, is I want, I wanna get at that school open.
- 1:20It's gonna start just as.
- 1:22An HVAC school.
- 1:23Cause obviously that's where my, my forte is.
- 1:25But the, the plan with that school is not just to limit to hvac.
- 1:29Oh man.
- 1:30I just love talking to people and having that very first conversation and discovering like, Man, I gotta spend more time with that dude.
- 1:39Uh, that is Mr.
- 1:40Aaron Gibbs the creator of just off the cuff, H V A C, and I ran into him, or maybe not ran into him, but found his content on LinkedIn.
- 1:51Uh, he has this mental health break that he posts every so often and.
- 1:57Two things.
- 1:58One, they're funny, they're entertaining.
- 2:00two, his awareness and the action that he's taken about advocating for mental wellness and self care was like, Man, I gotta reach out to this dude.
- 2:11So we connected and he, he committed to having a conversation.
- 2:15So we got the chance to interview him all the way from Canada.
- 2:18through the conversation it was super clear that he really does care.
- 2:21Like he has a deep.
- 2:23Sentiment for the trades and for teaching people.
- 2:27So take some time, let this be a nice long stretch of a mental wellness break, uh, and get to know our buddy, Mr.
- 2:34Aaron Gibbs Oh my goodness.
- 2:37I almost forgot about the shout out for our patrons.
- 2:40I didn't almost, I actually did forget I had to come back and record this and cut it back in.
- 2:44shout out to all the patrons out there.
- 2:46Who have been supporting.
- 2:48I don't know if you see us on, on the YouTube, you can see I added a fancy little backlight and I learned that from my buddies over at Lion's Legacy.
- 2:55I think it's cool.
- 2:56I don't know.
- 2:56We'll check it out.
- 2:58But thank you for your contributions because the money that you're contributing helps us maintain the show also we're spreading the love with Skilled Trades Alliance.
- 3:06if you're interested in being a patron, go ahead and head to the website, learning to missteps.com.
- 3:12Hit the Become a Member button and blah, blah, blah.
- 3:15You already know the deal.
- 3:16Click the thing.
- 3:17And if you're feeling like super brave, head on over, like my new website, depth builder.com, which is.
- 3:25My website for the business that I'm running, cuz if y'all didn't know I'm a consultant coach.
- 3:31And while you're on that website, click on the books link.
- 3:35Guess what, there's a link to lean in.
- 3:38Love fives, love letters, Uh, and if you're new to the show, I'm kind of fancy cuz officially I'm an author, now, co-author with my really great friend, Jennifer Lacey.
- 3:49So check those things out and if you don't check 'em out, it's okay.
- 3:52I love you, man.
- 3:53Thank you for giving us your time to listen to this episode and here we go.
- 4:01If we could get plumbers, if we could get electricians into that school, then we'll have that same capability that I'm presenting with HVAC to plumbers.
- 4:09It's like, okay, well guess what?
- 4:11We're gonna send you off to the school and we're gonna teach you roughens or finals for.
- 4:15Yes.
- 4:15For, you know, the next two weeks course refreshers, stuff like that you know, companies profess that they're all about training, but they don't wanna execute that time because it costs them, it's an yes, it's an invest.
- 4:26They miss, they miss, they always miss that point that, you know, you're, you're gonna cost the employee.
- 4:33Right.
- 4:33And you're gonna cost that employee his, his, his career because you're not giving him or her that, that opportunity to just do without any sort of overbearing, looming evil force over top, I mean, pressure.
- 4:47Yes.
- 4:48Yeah.
- 4:48So yeah.
- 4:49That's where, So when I seen your show, I like, Yeah.
- 4:51This, I, I love it.
- 4:53This is, this is where we need to be.
- 4:55We as trades need to be going.
- 4:57power numbers, you know, that was one thing that I was always taught in the Army is, you know, you get enough people, like-minded people together, there's nothing you can't accomplish.
- 5:05Right?
- 5:06100% like in service to others.
- 5:09Joined and connected with other like-minded human beings, like limitless, 100% limitless.
- 5:16So this school that you're working on, is it gonna be.
- 5:19Like, is it an in person thing?
- 5:21Is it a virtual thing?
- 5:22Is it like a hybrid?
- 5:24What are you thinking there?
- 5:25I, you know what, I'm a firm believer of hands on, it's gonna be an in person school.
- 5:29Obviously Covid killed that.
- 5:31But the thing that scares me most is what I hear is that most of these courses that are currently scale trades and were skilled trades during that covid time that it was all online stuff.
- 5:42And that concerns me greatly because Okay, what application have you used?
- 5:46It's okay to think about this and plan about this, but we need to actually apply it, practice it, and get better, right?
- 5:52Yeah.
- 5:52I mean there's value, like there's different, you know, I learned way too late, man, and I wish I knew this well, maybe not.
- 5:58I wouldn't have made a difference cuz I was a knockoff in school.
- 6:01But I learned maybe 10, 15 years ago, a buddy of mine, Louis Rodriguez here in San Antonio, he's like, Hey man, you need to check out this.
- 6:09I was like, What is it?
- 6:10He's like, It's books.
- 6:11Like you don't have to read 'em.
- 6:12They read the books.
- 6:14I was like, That's dumb.
- 6:15He's like, Try it.
- 6:16And I tried it.
- 6:17I was like, Oh my.
- 6:18It was the best thing that I like audio.
- 6:21I'm an audible learner, like mm-hmm . And then I was like flashing back to when I was in school.
- 6:26Like I wouldn't take notes and I rarely did homework.
- 6:29Cuz to me homework was practice.
- 6:31Like if I already got it, why am I gonna practice it But listening I would learn through, listen.
- 6:36And then I would learn through kind of watching, like if I need a little extra, I would watch whatever they're drawing up on the board and tactile, like I had to put my hands on things, not everything.
- 6:46But to your point, like there are, yes.
- 6:49Watching it, thinking about it, listening to learning it and applying it, applying it, the application.
- 6:55And that's, I think that's like the key.
- 6:58Is the application of the knowledge that we've digested, putting it into practice, knowing what it smells like, feels like, tastes like doing it under duress, under pressure.
- 7:10Like that's a whole other level of actual under understanding.
- 7:15oh man, I'm loving this.
- 7:16All right, so Mr.
- 7:17Aaron, I think you're in Alberta, Canada.
- 7:20Is that.
- 7:20Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
- 7:22All right.
- 7:22And that's closer to the mid or west western side of.
- 7:27We share a border with BC so we're not too far from the ocean, and then we share the other border with Saskatchewan.
- 7:35So we're not too far from the prairies, so we're kind of stuck in the middle.
- 7:38We got a nice kind of, we got a nice view from both sides of the fence, so.
- 7:43We're stuck right in the middle and it's it's, it's a beautiful province.
- 7:46I, I can imagine, you know, I have not been to Canada yet, but it is absolutely on my bucket and it's inter, you know, one thing that really intrigues me about Canada is, especially what I can see on like social media, on LinkedIn and stuff, is there is a huge investment.
- 8:01In around careers, in the trades.
- 8:04And when I say investment, I guess the human beings, like Bob Baker, I was able to interview him.
- 8:09He's got his business and he's doing his thing very very visible in social media.
- 8:14But it also seems like broader support from industry and government are really investing in messaging around the value of the trades.
- 8:23Does it feel that way?
- 8:24I mean, you're there, it looks like that to me.
- 8:27For, for me, I don't think it's so much, I, I'm kind of a different cat for me when I, when I see talent on LinkedIn.
- 8:36And it's not, you know, it's not exclusive.
- 8:38It's this sheer of human talent.
- 8:40I watch, I see, you know, what that person's presenting.
- 8:43Bob is an amazing guy.
- 8:44He's actually about 15 minutes away from me way.
- 8:47Oh, awesome cat.
- 8:49And I share a lot of the fact, like, you know, he's he's, he's integral.
- 8:55He, he sticks to his guns.
- 8:57He does what's right.
- 8:59And he doesn't deviate.
- 9:00He, he doesn't mind spending that time that little bit of extra time to make sure that it's done right.
- 9:05And there's peace of mind both not only on the customer side, but on his side too.
- 9:09And yeah, that's why I call the, and yeah, just amazing.
- 9:13But I find that the support.
- 9:15I think the support is coming from fellow trades.
- 9:18Okay.
- 9:19I don't feel that, I don't feel that the, the support right now is coming enough from the government.
- 9:25Steve Turner, who's doing the bring back the trades initiative.
- 9:29Great, awesome initiative and we, we are desperate right now.
- 9:34And that's why it's important that like individuals such as yourself and myself are getting, like, we're not gonna be around forever, but at least what we're gonna be able to do is leave a generation of knowledge to the next generation.
- 9:45And if we can do that, then the next generation is gonna be a little bit better.
- 9:50To face the new adversity.
- 9:51So they're gonna come their way during their generation.
- 9:54So, you know, if we give them, if we give these people these tools and, and give 'em the education, then you know, we can, we could probably, definitely fill those quotas a lot quicker.
- 10:04But we need, I feel that there needs to be a lot more promotion for skill trades right now.
- 10:10And it, it has to be universal.
- 10:12I'm a big time quarian.
- 10:14I, I, I like to see an equal fence on everybody's front yard.
- 10:19And that everybody's treating, being treated fair and equal regardless of where you come from, what you do, what color you are.
- 10:24You could be purple and you know from Mars, you know, if you can do the job and you've got the skills and you've got the talent, then by, by all means, come on board, let's do this.
- 10:33Let's get you, you know, wisen up and then the, then you can flourish just like we are.
- 10:39Right?
- 10:40Absolutely.
- 10:40Absolutely.
- 10:41And that's just it, There's a lot of angles, there's a lot of problems in terms of getting expanding the, the workforce in the trades.
- 10:48And for me, where I'm really targeting my effort is like helping people understand what is available.
- 10:55I was, I, I was at a high school this week on Wednesday.
- 10:58I got to speak to two groups of students, like 30 kids.
- 11:01It was so like that is, I love doing that.
- 11:04That's, I, if I could do that like all day, every day, I would be one happy person.
- 11:09Young, receptive minds.
- 11:11Yeah.
- 11:12Yeah.
- 11:12And, and they're just, they're just fun, right?
- 11:14Like they're just real.
- 11:15There's no, there's not a lot of The baggage that adults bring, Right?
- 11:19The, the calculated thinking and agenda pushing, like, they're just like, they don't know what they wanna do and, and they're interested.
- 11:26But one of the, one of the career counselors one of the slides that I show, kind of says, Okay, you can come into the trades at this level and installer level and become a journeyman and start your own business.
- 11:37That's absolutely a pathway, but it's also.
- 11:40All these other careers.
- 11:41There's marketing career, there's talent acquisition, there's hr, there's finance, there's like all of these different career pathways that are also in construction or in the trades.
- 11:53And she, she says, I just never, like, that was like news to me.
- 11:57I was like, Ah.
- 11:58Like, we just don't think about that.
- 11:59I had a friend of mine Diana Wong who amazing recruiter talent acquisition.
- 12:06And when she, she was working for the company I was working for back then and she was like, You know, Jess, a lot of my friends thought I was crazy for working with the construction company.
- 12:16Like they couldn't, like, why would you do that?
- 12:18But the company we were working with was like a Fortune 100 company year after year after year, top 100 company to work for, and just an amazing environment.
- 12:27But people don't know.
- 12:28And so I wanna focus on like elevating the awareness of, of the amazingness that is here and like the super cool, awesome people like you that are in Detroit because like it's a, like, I'm gonna get to the, I wanna know about the, your mindful or your, was it your wellness operate mental health break?
- 12:49Yes.
- 12:49But before I get to that, so you mentioned you were in the army.
- 12:53You live in a beautiful part of Canada that's between the water and the prairies.
- 12:58What else should the LnM Family know about you, man?
- 13:01, I I love to educate.
- 13:03I love passing along this knowledge and making life easier because, I did not have an easy time either coming through my trade and still even to this day, somewhat thrown to the wolves with no direction.
- 13:14But I've got the skills and capability to, you know, okay, well if they're not gonna gimme this, then I still need to stick to my, my basic fundamentals and, and get the job done using what I've learned over the past.
- 13:27So, you know, yeah.
- 13:29They may not give me the inform.
- 13:30But I'll find somebody else that'll get me that information, and I won't just sit stagnant and wait for somebody to hand me that information.
- 13:36It's like, No, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna commit to doing this.
- 13:39And I think it also boils down to just people who treat this rather than a job as a career.
- 13:45Oh, man.
- 13:46And the stigma that's behind construction.
- 13:48Like, I, I still don't get this, this, you know well, you know, Don't, don't, don't get into construction.
- 13:54You know, that guy, you know, he looks like bu and it's like, do you know that I make more than a mechanic, like an auto mechanic right now?
- 14:01. Yeah.
- 14:02So you gotta get rid of that stigma that there's, there is so much opportunity and just as you said, like, just because you're in, in the trades doesn't mean that you're stuck in that one position forever.
- 14:13There's obviously, like you and I have done, like you can do videos, you can educate when you feel that that comfortability, that knowing that the knowledge that you're passing on is good sound knowledge.
- 14:25I have yet to see what I, we refer to as hacks on LinkedIn.
- 14:28I haven't seen a hack job yet.
- 14:30Yeah, but, and I think that's where the benefit of LinkedIn comes in is, you know, obviously we, we get likeminded individuals that are all wanting to.
- 14:38To educate, and that for me is, that's the same boat that I'm in.
- 14:41So for me, yeah, I just about getting that education out there, getting this school up and running, and rather than spending my life twerking up 350 pound ACS onto brackets, I'd rather be talking to these kids and showing these kids how to do that stuff on their own.
- 14:57Like, it's like, yeah, you know, the bo it starts to take a toll after a while, I gotta start looking end.
- 15:03So it's like, yeah, you know, I'll do this for the next little while.
- 15:05But yeah, we gotta start looking to not completely get out of the field, but get a little bit more administration on, you know, go back to the administration stuff.
- 15:14I did do administration for a while.
- 15:16And I, the sad part was, is we were going through again, another struggling time out here in Alberta where, you know unfortunately the people that were coming on to work.
- 15:24Needed incentive to work.
- 15:26And it's like, well, no, we're paying you to do this.
- 15:30How come you're not doing it?
- 15:31Whereas in our generation, like, if you didn't do something right, oh, you were, you were to into the office and hold onto the seat, man, we might land afterwards, you know?
- 15:41Mm-hmm.
- 15:42. So yeah, no.
- 15:44Yeah, I, I'm a pretty humble guy.
- 15:46I don't like to talk too much about myself.
- 15:48Yeah.
- 15:48I like, I like, I like talking about other people and, and that's where I like I love inter promotion.
- 15:55People like Bob Baker, Sean Bidel.
- 15:58Donald Baker as well.
- 16:01Gary McReedy, Like, we've got all this talent coming on, and I'm pretty sure that you see the talent coming on for, for, and I know Bob Baker's plumbing too.
- 16:09But if we all get all these people together, like.
- 16:13Open up link school, like we could have some, some, we could create that next evolution for technicians, right?
- 16:19Oh man.
- 16:20Yes, absolutely.
- 16:22You know, I think what's interesting, and you're, you're in the social media space, right?
- 16:28Like, technically we're like influencers, bro.
- 16:30Like who would've thought?
- 16:32And that's where it's also important too, and we get enough people, Together, then we can start to push that evolution.
- 16:42Like, okay, yes.
- 16:43And, and, and it's not like it's gonna happen overnight, but simple things like, Okay, well we're in a mechanical room.
- 16:49Maybe we should have a light that's over top of the equipment rather than the back corner so we can actually back behind us.
- 16:55Right.
- 16:56Simple things.
- 16:57So, Those little, little things that just make your job go that much easier.
- 17:01If we get enough of us together and start, really we can power numbers and create a voice to start maybe pushing back on some of the, the treatments that you hear about out in the field and it's, some of the treatments are.
- 17:15Remember I was talking earlier, we might just not talk on some things and I'll be like, No, I feel you, man.
- 17:20It's, it.
- 17:20There is, it's an amazing place to be in the trades and there's a lot of room for improvement.
- 17:27I mean, I think that's the fairest way to say it.
- 17:29There's a lot of room for improvement in terms of appreciating or demonstrating appreciation for the men and women that are doing the work.
- 17:37Like it's, it's real.
- 17:39and it's freaking amazing.
- 17:40Like it can be amazing.
- 17:42You know, one of the things that's interesting about, I think that I learned, but nobody told me this is what I was learning, building my career in the trades, was you just kind of end up , developing this inherent skill to figure things out.
- 17:58Like whatever it is, you can just figure it out.
- 18:01Like now podcasting and live streaming and pushing content.
- 18:05I was having a conversation with a friend of mine that I've known since elementary school.
- 18:09She's got her own business and she was like, Hey, like I see you very active on social media.
- 18:13Like can you show me some of the tools?
- 18:15I'm like, Yeah, this, and she's like, Oh my God, this almost seems like this is has been your career.
- 18:21I'm like, Well, it kind of is now kind of, kind of.
- 18:24Because of the value in the marketing value of being visible.
- 18:27And then that guy's, like, I don't really understand what you're saying.
- 18:30It's like Jesse, like I need you to come talk to my team cuz I'm trying to get my team to get comfortable with social media.
- 18:37And what you just described to me is like the pathway to do that.
- 18:41It's like, how did you learn that?
- 18:42It's like, I don't know, I just look, watched some YouTube videos, tested some experimented and, and like, this is my recipe.
- 18:49And so obviously you've applied that same skill that you learned through installing, like learning how to figure things out and just dealing with it.
- 18:58It gets messy, it's funky, but with practice you get really good at it.
- 19:03Can you tell us a little bit about that, like making that leap.
- 19:07Because putting yourself out there in video or even in voice for the world to critique is not the most comfortable thing.
- 19:14What did that feel like for you, brother?
- 19:16You know what?
- 19:16It's funny.
- 19:17When I was first my first YouTube video and I was just I was just, at first I was just gonna, it was, it was my pilot.
- 19:25I literally set my phone up on a mattress straight across from my thermostat.
- 19:30It, it is on, so on YouTube, I, and I kept it because at first I was kind of like, maybe I should redo this video.
- 19:36And I'm like, Yeah, you know, like it wouldn't be too bad because obviously like, this is my first video, so maybe I should redo it.
- 19:43And then I was like, you know what, no.
- 19:45I wanna remember where, where I started with.
- 19:48It took about, I did about eight to 12 takes.
- 19:52But what I was trying to strive for, and that's why I called it just off the cuff, was literally, and that's what we do in scale traits, is we've, we're given a fountain of knowledge.
- 20:01We're expected to go into these customers and we are literally blasting them just off the cuff.
- 20:06So that's why I ended up.
- 20:07Cohen, You know what, I'm just gonna call this just off the coffee, hvac, you know?
- 20:11And well it was just off the cuff at first.
- 20:13I was like, No, we'll throw the HVAC in there.
- 20:15And yeah, it was it was a big step to do that first video and to literally throw my face out there and go, Oh, you know, I ain't the prettiest guy.
- 20:23Right , for me, it's not about the looks, it's.
- 20:25Having that what I that one good journey person, you know, the one mentor that you need to support you and encourage you and to drive you to do better for your career and that's where I was like, you know what?
- 20:38That's kind of, that's kind of where I wanna take it.
- 20:40Except now, rather than just having one apprentice, I've got whole social media platform to, to basically throw that education out there with, use it if you want, if you can develop a better method off of that, that system, then do it.
- 20:53That's if you can surpass me.
- 20:56Yes.
- 20:56All the power, right, Because that, that means that that person's gonna be that much more smarter and that much more able to deal with whatever comes their way.
- 21:44Hundred percent.
- 21:45Oh dude, there's so much in there.
- 21:47This, So there's another, one of the magical gifts of being a craft person or tradesperson is the opportunity to help develop other people, right?
- 21:57Like sharing or transferring the knowledge that we've gained and seeing them grow as individuals is like the ultimate.
- 22:06I mean, I remember.
- 22:07You know, you probably have a list of the journeymen that you worked with that totally shifted the way you saw life and like Oh yeah.
- 22:15Gave you confidence and momentum to go forward.
- 22:18So one you ex, I experienced that as an apprentice and then all of a sudden I wasn't the apprentice anymore.
- 22:24I'm the journeyman now, and I've been able to do that, like help people expand their, There was one guy, he was a.
- 22:31General labor.
- 22:33We had him on the project and he was, he was on a project not in the best circumstance, and the leader of that project was very shortsighted.
- 22:41So he kept him at the general labor level for over a year.
- 22:45But this, this man had skill, like he showed up every day.
- 22:49He was whatever you asked him to do, he was hungry to learn.
- 22:53And so you shared knowledge with him.
- 22:55He would do it.
- 22:55You gave him a broom to push.
- 22:57He would push the broom like it didn't matter.
- 22:59Anyways, fast forward general labor.
- 23:02Now, his master's license is the license that this huge company is operating under, right?
- 23:09He, I had a conversation, like I said, Dude, we need sheet metal mechanics, sheet metal, sheet metal leadership.
- 23:14I, why don't you think about getting in the sheet metal apprenticeship?
- 23:18He said, Nope, I'm gonna be a plumber.
- 23:20I said, Man, we got a lot of plumbers.
- 23:22He said, That's what I wanna do.
- 23:24I said, Okay, so get you into plumbing apprenticeship.
- 23:27He went through the apprenticeship, knocked that out of the park, got his med gas endorsement, got his master's license, did the schooling to become a responsible master, and now the company is functioning under his.
- 23:39And you know, I played a small role in it, actually.
- 23:41I was trying to push him to another trade, but being able to know like, man, I was a party.
- 23:46To that, to that growth.
- 23:48Like him as an individual, growing his family, like the earning potential that, that we can support and, and, and grow within the individual.
- 23:58Like they talk about fulfillment, right?
- 24:01like right.
- 24:01Gratifying.
- 24:02So gratifying.
- 24:03That's it.
- 24:03That's it.
- 24:05And so back to the social media piece, it is uncomfortable and there's a lot of space.
- 24:10For us, us craft workers, our US trade professionals, construction professionals, to.
- 24:17Demonstrate how awesome it is, right?
- 24:19Like we can make it sexy.
- 24:20And I'm, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of making it sexy.
- 24:23I, I whole, I wholeheartedly concur with that.
- 24:25Like I said, your, your, your messages are deep and impactful.
- 24:29They, they reach you.
- 24:30It's not, it's not what, what people Some, I think it's the words fluff.
- 24:34It's not fluff, you know, It's, this is, this is good meat and potatoes on the table, so.
- 24:39Yeah.
- 24:40Beautiful work.
- 24:41And kudos to you, my friend, because Yeah.
- 24:43We need more of you out there.
- 24:45Yeah.
- 24:45And we need to again, bring this energy and this excitement back to the trades because you know for me, at this phase of the game, There's no bad days.
- 24:55There's long days, but you never have a bad day anymore.
- 24:58And it's like, why couldn't I have this at the beginning?
- 25:01Why didn't people teach me this stuff so I could spend the next 23 years Absolutely.
- 25:06Living a gravy life, you know?
- 25:07So, but that's, yeah.
- 25:09Guys like you and some of the other great platforms that are on LinkedIn.
- 25:14Yeah.
- 25:15Like there's, there's so much here that you can resource off of and, and educate and inspire that next generation.
- 25:23Yeah, man.
- 25:23And you're doing it too, right?
- 25:25Like, and so what I want the LnM Family to take away from this is you, you, you shared how uncomfortable it was to do the first one.
- 25:32Yes.
- 25:32But since then, you've built momentum.
- 25:35And everybody's gonna respond to a different flavor.
- 25:38That's another thing like I used to get hung up on, man.
- 25:41I'm kind of saying the same thing other people have said, and it's true.
- 25:44I am.
- 25:45However, everybody has a different palette, right?
- 25:48Some people like my style.
- 25:50Everybody's got, Everybody's got an angle.
- 25:52Exactly.
- 25:53And so get your message out there.
- 25:55Doesn't matter if it's the same thing because some people really need your.
- 26:01Style, your message, your perspective.
- 26:05We can all say exactly the same thing.
- 26:06We're all gonna say it differently, and we're gonna tie it to our own personal experiences that other people are having.
- 26:13And they are just looking for somebody to connect with so it brings me to the mental wellness breaks.
- 26:21That was the first I saw.
- 26:22So it came across my feet.
- 26:23I said, Oh, this is interesting.
- 26:25And then it was, it was funny.
- 26:27It was cool.
- 26:28I was like, Man, this is awesome.
- 26:29I gotta connect with this guy.
- 26:31So how did you, like, how did you get to that subject?
- 26:35For me, I, I because my past military career I do live with ptsd.
- 26:40Okay.
- 26:41So it, it does have a major impact on how you function and operate.
- 26:45It doesn't, it doesn't make you any less capable, but it just gives you, it sometimes can be challenging.
- 26:51A lot more challenging on certain times than occasions to get stuff done or motivate yourself and, and stuff like that.
- 26:56And for me a lot of, I feel that mental health has been kind of hmm.
- 27:02What's the best word?
- 27:04A touchy subject in the skill trades industry.
- 27:07It's not vocalized as much and it's not recognized as much.
- 27:11And for me being the guy that I am I'm very protective of my connections.
- 27:16And it was actually one, one of my connections Veronica.
- 27:21She was just on there and she was doing a a post about her and her mom and celebrating her mom and, and, The, the experiences that you had with her mom and some person . Just had to get on there and say, Well, this, this belongs on Facebook.
- 27:35Okay.
- 27:36And, and I was like, negative.
- 27:38Okay.
- 27:39Okay.
- 27:40I'm sorry.
- 27:40Who are you?
- 27:41Yep.
- 27:41Yep.
- 27:42Who asked you for this opinion?
- 27:44Do you think that was supportive of the person that you're talking?
- 27:47Do you know what that person's going through right now?
- 27:50So when I seen that and it wasn't the first, that was the first occasion that I caught it, that I got on there right away and I said, What work doesn't have breaks?
- 27:58Hmm.
- 27:59We are entitled to a break.
- 28:01Yes.
- 28:01And more and more I started seeing these posts and some of my connections were actually afraid of posting some of their stuff.
- 28:08You know, they were like, you know, I, I don't know if I should post this.
- 28:11And I was like, You know what?
- 28:12That should never be a question.
- 28:13Yes, it's all in the eye of the beholder and a prospective view.
- 28:18Post it.
- 28:19Now obviously we've got those negative Nels out there, you know, that can't see the benefit of what that is.
- 28:25So, I don't know.
- 28:26If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it.
- 28:28Yeah.
- 28:29, you know, and you're not gonna be supportive.
- 28:31Then scroll along.
- 28:32Like it's just that easy.
- 28:34So when it up path happening is, after I seen enough of these, I was like, Okay, that's it, you know?
- 28:40There's, there's no more of this.
- 28:42You wanna see something?
- 28:43Let's show exactly what a mental health break is, is literally something that is applied on a daily basis.
- 28:50It can be applied every hour if you need to.
- 28:52It's literally a three minute set.
- 28:54Well, however you, however long you need to basically recover.
- 28:58Mentally, because again, we take all these physical breaks, but we don't stop to recover our brains because when we're sitting on our breaks where our minds are still going, right, and we're, and we're not essentially taking that break, our bodies are getting the rest, but our mind is still worked up.
- 29:12So, Mental health break became literally taking that moment away from your work to remove yourself from all of the negativity or adversities of what your job is doing or what the weather's like, and literally giving your brain that second to go, You know what?
- 29:29It's okay.
- 29:30Yeah.
- 29:30To take five minutes to myself to not think about work.
- 29:34All right.
- 29:35And maybe support some people on LinkedIn or watch some videos on LinkedIn.
- 29:39Learn something.
- 29:40Remove yourself from that problem.
- 29:43Give your mind that break.
- 29:44The same way that you give your physical break, and then you can come back and tackle whatever it is generally well motivated and re-energize to do it.
- 29:52Yes.
- 29:52Whereas before, if you just take that break and then, Oh, Jesus now breaks.
- 29:56I gotta go back into it.
- 29:58Yes.
- 29:58Now I got that.
- 29:59That's, You're already defeated, right?
- 30:01So, Yes.
- 30:02Yeah, I ended up talk, I basically wanted to do it worldwide.
- 30:06And you know, I've got several, I, I've got, I don't know how many.
- 30:10Fabulous talented doctors as connections that are promoting the same thing, Positive energy promotion.
- 30:18I call 'em my positive energy promoters actually.
- 30:21Yeah.
- 30:22Nice, nice.
- 30:23And I'm always, I'm always like with my platform.
- 30:27Like that's why I repost this stuff because they are just as much involved in my skilled trade world as could be involved in somebody else's world.
- 30:36But they, they do give people that opportunity that, you know, checking me out and I've got one on the, their post up.
- 30:43They're insightful people and they can really re-energize you.
- 30:47Change your perspective, right?
- 30:48Yeah.
- 30:48Start you thinking a little bit more the same way that when we first get our tools for doing our, our work, Okay, well we've got these tools now guess what?
- 30:57We're gonna give you some more tools, but these are gonna be up here.
- 30:59Yeah.
- 31:00So that, you know, you're not drained by the end of that day.
- 31:03You can literally I had this conversation actually with a, a fellow coworker that I had worked with 10 years ago at this, this new company.
- 31:10I seen him and he's like, You're looking amazing.
- 31:13And I'm like, Well, thanks.
- 31:14He's like, So what?
- 31:15What you doing differently?
- 31:16I was like, Oh, I drop work soon, soon, soon.
- 31:20As I, I had spent.
- 31:22The rest of my career literally go on 18, 19 hour days.
- 31:26Constantly thinking about this.
- 31:26How can I be better?
- 31:27How can I make sure that the product I'm providing is good, sound quality product will last for life to make sure that, you know that person is understanding of the, the service that I've given them and understands the knowledge that I've given them and will be able to apply that knowledge I've given.
- 31:43I've given.
- 31:43Yeah, that's, that's, yeah.
- 31:46That's it, man.
- 31:47Thank you for that description and like the appreciating your, your network and highlighting other people's stuff because that's what it's about, right?
- 31:54It's about supporting each other.
- 31:56And the reason that this mental wellness break like resonated with me is I've, I've, I've got a therapist and I finally figured out how to.
- 32:06In my own mental wellness after 43 years, like it took me a long time and because it was never, I can't blame it, but one of the contributors was, it was never discussed, right?
- 32:18Yeah.
- 32:18Like if I had problems, if I had mental, emotional baggage, You just suck it up and deal with it.
- 32:24Right?
- 32:24That's, that was the message.
- 32:26That was, that was the attitude.
- 32:27That was, that was the way it was across the world.
- 32:30Right.
- 32:30And yes, you know, it was, it was almost just another kind of, we wanna sweep this under the carpet.
- 32:36We don't wanna really, We'll let you deal with that at home, because really, at that point, and to be fair, The tools weren't out there.
- 32:43Nobody had started unless you were a psychologist, right?
- 32:47Yes, Yes.
- 32:48What do we have in skilled traits?
- 32:49Well, we've got hr, but that's not a skill oncologist, , right?
- 32:53Yes.
- 32:54So, It was, again, there was, there was almost a stigma behind mental health too.
- 32:59You know, like, well if you have, if you have depression or anxiety, then you're, you're this mm-hmm.
- 33:04that's not the case, you know?
- 33:06Unless you've done the research and stuff like that, you know, it, it, it is a huge challenge, but it can be you overcome and me, myself, having done therapy for as long as I have I can tell you that when you.
- 33:19When you are genuinely happy with yourself, then you have the ability to project that energy onto others.
- 33:26Yes.
- 33:27And help start that, that river going for them.
- 33:30So all my friends, like, and I, I do, I, I get somewhat over worded at times, but it's because I, I, I can now see the value of where I started, where I've ended up, and the fact that I'm content being me.
- 33:43Okay.
- 33:43I, you know, You can call me all the names of the book.
- 33:46It's literally gonna go in one ear together, maybe under the hat, but under the hat say for later to go.
- 33:51Hmm.
- 33:52But yeah, when you have that ability to actually wake up every morning, I mean, I.
- 33:58You don't, it's not perfect life.
- 33:59You still have, you know draining days and sure times where you, you are not as fit as you'd like to be, but you're human.
- 34:08So cut yourself some breaks, right?
- 34:10We, we drive ourselves so hard over our careers that we, we do, we get complacent on forgetting to take care of ourselves and forgetting that if we don't take care of ourselves, then we can't take care of others.
- 34:23Oh my god.
- 34:24Mic drop.
- 34:25Like all I could say is Amen.
- 34:28Yeah.
- 34:28Like, Yes, sir.
- 34:30Man, I love it.
- 34:31Please.
- 34:31At LnM Family, you're listening.
- 34:33You're watching.
- 34:35Share this message.
- 34:36Embrace the message.
- 34:37Because we don't have to suffer alone.
- 34:39We don't have to suffer in silence.
- 34:41Right?
- 34:42And, and you, you nailed it.
- 34:44The we're trades people, we're craftspeople.
- 34:47This is a new tool to add to your toolbox and it can bring you joy.
- 34:52100%.
- 34:54Damn it, man.
- 34:54I'm so glad we got to talk.
- 34:56Oh, I love this conversation.
- 34:57I love a, I, like I say, I love a great conversation and meeting new people and people with the same passions and energy.
- 35:05Yeah.
- 35:06You get enough of us together, it can be a bonfire of good time.
- 35:10?
- 35:10Yes.
- 35:10We'll start us a real good fire.
- 35:12Ten four.
- 35:13So here's a good, here's my favorite question.
- 35:16Well, I got two favorite questions.
- 35:18This one is, you know, you've, you've got a lot of experience, right?
- 35:21You've come through the trades.
- 35:22You were in the military.
- 35:24Now you're kind of, you're focused on serving others and sharing your knowledge.
- 35:28And so along that pathway, there was a ton of learning.
- 35:31And there was probably some missteps.
- 35:33And so, Oh yes.
- 35:34Is there a significant learning that you had as a result of a painful misstep?
- 35:40From, from one perspective view.
- 35:42You know what?
- 35:43A painful misstep for me through my career was the fact that I had Oh yeah.
- 35:50I gotta interrupt the flow just a little bit.
- 35:53Can you hear that music in the background?
- 35:56Little groovy music.
- 35:59Anyhow, this little segment of this interview exists and is only available on the YouTube.
- 36:08That's right.
- 36:08We got a YouTube channel learnings and missteps, check it out.
- 36:12Or you can go to learnings and missteps.com and find our YouTube channel there.
- 36:19And while you're.
- 36:20You can also click on, become a member, uh, to, to contribute some money, like funds straight up.
- 36:27I'm just gonna say it, 80% of that is going to be donated to the skilled trades Alliance because the skilled trades Alliance mission is very much in line with the learnings and missteps mission.
- 36:39Uh, and we're going to support great things and great people.
- 36:43And you signing up as a patron.
- 36:45we'll contribute to that effort.
- 36:47So we appreciate you deeply for doing that.
- 36:50Also.
- 36:51I dunno if y'all heard or not just in case you missed it.
- 36:55I'm an author now, Jennifer Lacey and I have, co-authored a book you gotta check it out.
- 37:00Lean in love five S love letters.
- 37:02It's on the Amazon.
- 37:04The whole goal of that book is to just help one person.
- 37:08And so far, we've gotten several, several people from the nobs tribe, from the LnM Family that have indicated to us that something at least one little thing in the book has helped.
- 37:20And so we've kind of exceeded our goals, but to exceed the goal and continue helping people that is the ultimate privilege in the world.
- 37:29So while you're out there on the Amazon, on the YouTube, on the LinkedIn, all the socials, leave us some reviews, leave us some comments, let us know you're out there.
- 37:38I know you're there.
- 37:39I see the statistics, the data, but I don't get to interact with John.
- 37:43That makes me a little bit sad.
- 37:44Anyhow, I'm gonna stop my whining.
- 37:46Appreciate.
- 37:47Y'all very much go to the YouTube to catch this learning and misstep backstage pass.
- 37:54And here we go back to the.
- 37:58that aren't gonna help you diversify your knowledge.
- 38:01And it's unfortunate that you might have to go and leave one place to another.
- 38:07Start all over again.
- 38:08Build your network, build your trust, earn that credibility.
- 38:13And so like, there are some companies, and maybe that's the takeaway, right?
- 38:16For, for the young apprentices out there, you're looking to get into the industry, find you a company that has programs that will help you develop and be very clear.
- 38:28You wanna, I mean, how many people have you met that have 15 years of experience?
- 38:32But it's 15 years of the same skill, the same single one skill.
- 38:38You ever come across that Right.
- 38:40.
- 38:40Right.
- 38:40And it's all, it's, you know exactly where we're stabbing with that one too, which is the exposure like, Great, you've had one experience for 15 years or 12 years.
- 38:51What other exposures have you had?
- 38:53How do you know that that system or method is correct?
- 38:56Yes.
- 38:57Right.
- 38:57If you, And how do you know if you've never explored those options?
- 39:01Yes.
- 39:01You run into a ton of companies like that, that they're literally.
- 39:0520 years back from like, you know, from where we, you jump, you go, you go to one company and it's like, Oh no, we're up to speed here.
- 39:12But you go to another company, it's just like, well, they're doing things like we did 20 years ago.
- 39:16Yep.
- 39:16Well, why is this?
- 39:17We've got new pat, we've got new, Well, well this is what saves money and this is what Yep.
- 39:22Well, is it though, right?
- 39:24That's why I get into these conversations.
- 39:26Well, you know, oh, well this, this coil is this ac co.
- 39:31No, my current company, of course, but, the C Coil this was with other companies.
- 39:35This AC coil doesn't come with a TX valve on it, so we're saving this much money.
- 39:40Are you though, because now your technician who hasn't, who may not be educated as well, is most technicians is now gonna spend maybe an hour.
- 39:49It shouldn't take an hour, obviously, but.
- 39:51If you don't have that exposure, you're potentially putting your company at risk for something as little as a TX valve.
- 39:57Yes, right.
- 39:58Putting on that TX valve, you know?
- 40:00Well, if we've already got one on there, then we're not paying the extra labor time of somebody having to install a TX valve, which it's so much easier to put on a OTX valve onto the factory than it is when it's all encased in.
- 40:12Right.
- 40:12Oh yeah.
- 40:13. So, yeah.
- 40:14Yeah.
- 40:14And then obviously now with this is something that's been driving me crazy for years and I, I'm not afraid to say it is.
- 40:21Actually, I know.
- 40:22I think I've seen one furnace so far.
- 40:24What is with these furnaces, if you're designing furnaces, why can you not make sure that the AC ports are away from the venting of the furnaces?
- 40:32Why do the AC port have to be directly in behind either the PVC or the avs venting somebody?
- 40:40It's just making as hard, as tight as possible to get in there and do the damn work.
- 40:44Yep.
- 40:45Right.
- 40:45Come on.
- 40:46And that's the same thing like with one of my videos is, you know, we've got and it's not everyone again, but we've got people sending low voltage out with the line, which is, you know, great if you can put some distance between those line sets.
- 40:59But we're braising with over 400 degrees a flame.
- 41:03Yes.
- 41:04So we've.
- 41:05Plastic sitting on hot metal, what's gonna happen?
- 41:08Right.
- 41:08And I, I don't know.
- 41:10There was a company about seven years ago, that's what I ran into, and every one of them, I ended up turning around and they were looking at me to fix it.
- 41:18And I was like, I'm sorry.
- 41:19I do not run the low voltage.
- 41:21The low voltage is the responsibility of your electricians.
- 41:24We do not carry the UV resistance while you're with us.
- 41:27You're gonna have to get your, your electricians well, can you cut the whole.
- 41:30No.
- 41:31Yeah, not a good idea.
- 41:32like we're cut.
- 41:33Well, and there it's cutting into to the nice finished stock or steepled ceilings, right?
- 41:37Yep, yep.
- 41:38At that point, because we need to get access and, or we've gotta cut the outside of the house and it's, I know that you see it in plumbing too, with some of these outside hoses that have burst from, from freezing and stuff like that, where you've gotta get in there and it's not the easiest access to the world, and it's like, no, you know?
- 41:55I'll fix, I'll fix the line if the line are done.
- 41:58But there's some clear and obvious things that need to be thought about when we're doing this stuff.
- 42:03And now you see the, you see with other builders, they're starting to get, and other trades is, they're starting to get wise.
- 42:09It's like, okay, let's move that low voltage wire away so we don't have to spend over a thousand dollars repairing the ceiling.
- 42:16. Yeah, some of these repairs are like super invasive.
- 42:19And I honestly, I can, I can patch a Sheetrock wall, but it's gonna look like a plumber.
- 42:26Patch the sheetrock wall.
- 42:27like Right.
- 42:28You don't want me to do that?
- 42:30It's not gonna be attractive.
- 42:31. Oh man.
- 42:32This beautiful conversation.
- 42:34So, Yeah.
- 42:35And I get one thing as you're talking, right?
- 42:37Your trade's, H V A C, you're talking about the tx TX valve, the thermal expansion valve.
- 42:42Yes.
- 42:42You're talking about low voltage wiring.
- 42:44We're talking about gas, you're talking about PBC and for the drain, the condensate drain and such.
- 42:50And, and like we talk about it like it's just, It's a hamburger, right?
- 42:55Like it's nothing.
- 42:55Mm-hmm.
- 42:56. But for, for folks out there, I hope what you, what you can kind of, as you were asking yourself that question, like, when in the world are they talking about that is the complexity of systems that that's in your house.
- 43:08Like, we're not talking about stadiums or sky rises.
- 43:11We're talking about a house.
- 43:12And the amount of expertise and knowledge and skill it takes to be able to install these very complex systems is immense and, and like it's so easy to take it for granted.
- 43:25So I've, I mean, I've wanted to point that out, like you got real skill men and for folks out there listening.
- 43:32That may think that getting into the trades is like easy.
- 43:35It's not.
- 43:36If you think you can get into the trades and it's not gonna be like mentally taxing, you are wrong cuz you're going to have to learn a bunch of stuff and you start thinking in terms of if I do this, the next three things could go really badly.
- 43:50So your time horizon expands.
- 43:54You start understanding the implication of this decision, how that's going to impact and make your day longer or shorter or better.
- 44:01So I just wanna throw that out there for people that might think, you know, the trades, ah, you know, that sounds like fun.
- 44:06I'm gonna go do it as a hobby.
- 44:07Like it's a career.
- 44:08It's absolutely a career.
- 44:10It's a, it's a way of life.
- 44:13I mean, straight up.
- 44:15And it's a gratifying, rewarding career too, in the fact that.
- 44:18You do, you and you yourself can definitely, you come in hot water tank is leaking like a siv.
- 44:26Yes.
- 44:26Who's there with a brand new hot water tank and literally maybe worst case scenario, depending on access your an hour later, they're all warm and fuzzy.
- 44:37You're all warm and fuzzy.
- 44:39You've saved the.
- 44:40And, you know, you can give your own self, your, your, your own pat on the back because you know that there's peace of mind that you've done the right job.
- 44:48Yeah.
- 44:48You've done your due diligence and that you've given these people a good quality product the same way that they could go and go and get their car serviced.
- 44:55It's the same thing, right?
- 44:56Every, every field, every field has.
- 44:59It's always gonna have its lemons and it's bad apples.
- 45:02Of course.
- 45:02Get enough of that push, then yeah, we're gonna start to really encourage people to get it and yeah, it's, it's totally challenging.
- 45:08But it's doable.
- 45:10Hundred percent.
- 45:10So, so people should not be intimidated whatsoever about getting into skill trade that I've got.
- 45:15I don't know how many people I've encouraged over the years to, to push themselves and get into skill trades and it, it, you know, I obviously, I push'em like, you wanna come work in hvac?
- 45:24Like, we can get you up there and Yeah.
- 45:27But take some time and think about what you are passionate about and what you enjoy doing.
- 45:31You know, if maybe, and maybe if you like learning about all this stuff, you might want to, you know, pursue engineering or joining, you know, a major manufacturing company and, and you.
- 45:40Pressing to see if you can become one of those people actually designing the next line of furnace.
- 45:44. Or hot water tank or direct line or hydrogen cell or whatever we're doing these days.
- 45:50Ex.
- 45:50All of it.
- 45:51All of it.
- 45:52Hot air balloon.
- 45:53We always go back to hot air balloon.
- 45:54Everybody could inside a hot air balloon.
- 45:56Oh, yeah.
- 45:56It's amazing how rapidly technology evolves and, and it like trades are 100% impacted by that.
- 46:04So you're a pretty influential human being, Aaron.
- 46:07You've already had an influence on me.
- 46:09I think your message is one that, that a lot of people are gonna benefit from.
- 46:13And so on that line of thinking what footprint do you intend to leave on the world?
- 46:19Obviously if I can, I'd love to leave a school pardon me.
- 46:23Choking on coffee.
- 46:24I'd love to leave a school behind for those, to educate those so that again, they, they don't go to the same challenges as us.
- 46:31And if that school can go world, By, by all means, you know we all, we all, again, we're not just limited to one talent.
- 46:38If you've got other talents out there, why not explore them?
- 46:41Let's develop those talents.
- 46:42Let's not let, let's not waste talent because see that all too often.
- 46:47And the other thing is just to keep my angle of I grew up watching a lot of red green and Mac Iver growing up.
- 46:53So that's why with, with me, I think it's important that we add, you know, if we're gonna be delivering this information out there, we've got a little bit of element of humor to bo up to what we're about to receive.
- 47:04So it's nice to throw in a little bit of a, again, had mental health break just before you start to blossom with some knowledge.
- 47:10And yeah, for me I loved.
- 47:13Red, green, and MacGyver growing up.
- 47:15So I just kind of keep on running it like that.
- 47:17With some humor.
- 47:18Some, yeah.
- 47:20Some knowhow.
- 47:20And if you can't go point A to point B, maybe we should go point B to point A.
- 47:24Oh man.
- 47:25Yes, Yes, 100%.
- 47:28So your YouTube channel, what's the name of your YouTube channel so people can go and check this?
- 47:33Just off the cuff, hvac, everything from Tick Talk to, everything's called just off the cuff hvac.
- 47:38It is simply about opening the school.
- 47:40I didn't want obviously I throw out my name at the bottom just so you know who's talking to you.
- 47:44But it's, it's all about the education for me and getting that knowledge out there and helping individuals flourish and, and blossom into, you know, some amazing, remarkable people.
- 47:56didn't I tell you doesn't it just come across how clearly and deeply he cares about people, just like human beings in general, and then this idea he has around the school?
- 48:06I think it's fantastic, especially like his energy around.
- 48:12Banding all these other people out there to really make an impact, a long lasting impact on the future of the trades.
- 48:19As always, we're gonna give a shout out to that LnM Family member that went out of their way to leave us a comment, leave us a review.
- 48:26And so this one goes out to Miss Melissa, also known as Izzy.
- 48:31I'm gonna have to put my glasses on for this one.
- 48:34Miss Melissa says, Much appreciated how this breaks down.
- 48:38Communication on and off the job site.
- 48:41Applying the fives concept into our day to day conversations to build healthier relationships can be a heavy concept.
- 48:50Hope she wasn't talking about my belly, but the stories in playful workbook feel shifts the heavy to relatable, a quick read for an ever growing mind.
- 49:01Thanks, Jesus and Jennifer.
- 49:03Thank you Miss Izzy for living us a review and being supportive all the way through because you were also there behind the scenes asking questions and, and.
- 49:13Helping tinker around with my brain as we were producing the book.
- 49:16Uh, to the rest of y'all, love y'all very much.
- 49:18Be kind to yourself and we'll talk at you next time.
- 49:22Peace.
- 49:27Oh my goodness.
- 49:28You're either driving down the road or just so enthralled with, uh, with this whole podcast that you went all the way down to the very, very, very, very end of it.
- 49:37And we appreciate you and just, we're going to take this as an indication of your dedication so we got a little special request of you, a call to action, because everybody tells us that like, you need to have a call to action.
- 49:51So here's the call to action.
- 49:53Be kind to yourself, go out there and share a smile with someone