Latest / The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast / Episode 320. Celebrating World Refrigeration Day

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Episode 320. Celebrating World Refrigeration Day · The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast

• 0:00
  Trevor: Welcome to World Refrigeration Day. Hanging out with some of my good friends who really care about the industry. Diving into what we love, what we do best is refrigeration.
• 0:01
  I'm gonna get each of you to introduce yourself. I, I'll start with John. John, why don't you do a quick introduction to yourself.
• 0:02
  Noah: Yeah. Hey guys. My name is Noah Walker, and I work for PTS Refrigeration. I've been in the industry for about six years. I'm a first generation refrigeration tech. I have, none of my family was in the trade, so this was something that I just, I went to trade school right outta high school and this was something I wanted to do.
• 0:03
  Andrew: Do you wanna do? Oh, fantastic.
• 0:04
  And today's the day of celebration. If you're listening on the podcast, you're watching on two YouTube channel, it doesn't really matter. You should be celebrating with the people in the industry. What we do, we take care of people all around the planet from preserving food, medicine working at air conditioning conditioned spaces, like in a surgical room.
• 0:05
  I just, I followed him around. I, I was there holding the flashlight, whatever it may be, you know. So yeah, my dad is really the one that pushed me to do something. And I was like, man, why? Why not? Why not? I. Do what he does. I obviously love it. I watched him do it. So as I got, got older and older he started taking me out to job sites.
• 0:06
  Aidan: in the industry? I mean, I never really knew anything about it, right? Like most people, I went to the store, I got cold milk, bought frozen pizzas. Never put any more thought into it unless it wasn't working.
• 0:07
  Trevor: I, I love that. And that, and that's so, so important. Like it's. When I first started getting into the industry, it wasn't something that I knew about and it wasn't something I was passionate about or loved about that I am, like today, I, I heard I could make a pile of money and it, and I did, and I have, and I still do.
• 0:08
  Noah: Yeah, so for me, like I, I knew I didn't wanna go into college and I didn't want to be in debt.
• 0:09
  And we continue to see globally. We work and I talk with people all around the world about refrigeration. And one of the things is, is that, you know, there's a lot of challenges in in the industry and you know, a lot of people say, oh, well that's, it's just so difficult today. It's way harder than it was before.
• 0:10
  And it's not just, just refrigeration. I mean, there's many, many trades out there construction. I mean, I, I encourage everyone to get out there and at least try it. Just go out there and attempt to get your hands dirty if you like working with your hands. I mean, getting out there and getting yourself exposed to.
• 0:11
  Noah: So, for me, I feel like one of the biggest challenges as I said, like being a supermarket tech would be, you know, the, the grind of on call, especially in the summer, that can be a challenge or even just working in the summer. 'cause usually summers are the busiest time of the year for us. You're usually working like sun, up to sun down most nights.
• 0:12
  With refrigeration, you can go in and work from the morning to night. Weekends, you get the opportunity to make as much money as you want. And I think that those challenges re you reap the benefit in, in, in both financial career and progression in your career. John, what are some of the things that you love about the industry?
• 0:13
  Getting them to that next level. That's what brings me joy. And obviously I see it in their, their reactions. They, they love being able to figure things out for themselves and provide services to the end user. So I think growth is what I love about it the most.
• 0:14
  Like, you got to come home and tell my kids, oh yeah, stop by the side of the road today. You know, just checking on the van into driving a bear popped outta the woods, you know, 20 feet away. And they're like, what a bear. That's cool. I love. Then if you're, you know, say you're working with new apprentices and you're explaining new concepts and just that moment when you see the light bulb go off, when they get it and you've explained it the proper way that makes them understand, which is very rewarding.
• 0:15
  Andrew: The, the amount of different things day in and day out. I like the grind that it can give. One day you're going in, changing out a fan motor, the next day you're, you have to reprogram a whole rack controller. So the, the variety of everything that this trade has to offer is.
• 0:16
  I, I just absolutely love that and I got a soft spot for him, you know? 'cause I, yeah, we all been there as far as starting off in this trade. We didn't, I mean, you don't wake up knowing everything when you get out. Here it is, it's trial and error and, having a mentor in your back pocket is always nice, and, and being able to do that for these guys with, you know, is, is what I really love about this trade, is helping, helping the younger guys and always something different every day.
• 0:17
  And that's what is so much fun. It's recession proof. I mean, no matter what, you're gonna have refrigeration, you're gonna have HVAC out there that will never, ever stop. And you can go anywhere in the world for that ton of money. There's definitely money involved. So if you're money hungry, I mean, come and get it.
• 0:18
  And then you get to take it home and kind of show off your skills too. So, yeah.
• 0:19
  So there's a lot of, a lot of strong character traits that you build in this career.
• 0:20
  You max out your abilities and refrigeration you could keep on going. There's always a lack of skill trade at the top. So the more you learn, the more valuable you are and the more they want to keep you. So it's definitely a long-term plan.
• 0:21
  So it made sense to me to learn this and know this. So then it got you more interested. Like when I, when I first went back to trade school, after years of not being there, my first math test, I got like 30%. But then by the end, after getting interest, putting the work in, getting a tutor. I got 80 and it just made more sense to me.
• 0:22
  You need to know stuff. So it's, we're looking for our industry are looking for smart people. Maybe you don't like the structure of school. Yeah. And that's fair. That's, and this is the difference when I talk to people about, oh, well, you know, people that aren't good in school, they go to the blue collar, right?
• 0:23
  John: Yeah, that brings up a good point. Some of the old techs, you know, they get that they're just set in their ways or whatever, and they, they're smart, don't get me wrong, but that's us.
• 0:24
  So, yeah, it, it's amazing to watch. But you just gotta recognize it and give them the opportunity. Don't hold them back. Don't, don't wait. It's like, well, you're an apprentice for four years. Well, hold on. What's this guy's talent? Let that guy grow. Don't hold them back.
• 0:25
  Huge opportunity. So. Noah, what advice would you give to a new tech who just starting out in refrigeration, so they're just, they maybe finished school, maybe they got a year or two in. What advice would you give them?
• 0:26
  And then in one year. That's a lot of, lot of hours of education and training and development. How about you, Andrew? What is some advice you'd give to a, a technician just starting out in the refrigeration industry?
• 0:27
  And then, and then when I would get in trouble per se, or get into a situation where I did not know what was going on, I would call them up. I already had all those answers for 'em. So we, I would just go bang, bang, bang, right off that checklist because I had it, I had it for them. 'cause I knew that that, that they were gonna ask.
• 0:28
  I'm talking about just 15 minutes a day will be game changer for you. Minimum 15 minutes a day. So those are my advices to, for the younger guys or people just getting into the trade or, or even investing today. I mean, I still do that. I don't know it all, and I'm, you know, but yeah. 15 minutes a day.
• 0:29
  'cause you can't figure something out when it's not working. If you don't know how it's meant to work in the first place, you don't know what it's doing wrong. So just know your order of operations. And it doesn't matter how big it is, like if it's an undercounter cooler or if it's the rack, it's the same principles.
• 0:30
  Because then they get stuck in a company that doesn't promote them. So be mindful of that. It's hard sometimes you have to work for a company that might not pay as much as somebody else, but they're investing in you. And then in the future, like me, I'm a good example. You know, I didn't get raises for a long time and then I got that new position, which came with a raise, and then I would go again and then the next position.
• 0:31
  And now think about it, how much are you working? Is it 2000? So you make $8,000 more a year. That's okay. $8,000 more a year is good, but what is your quality life and what's that opportunity next? Can you go in four or five years and make $50,000 more a year in, in that advancement? You get a ba you become the sales project manager.
• 0:32
  Get into the industry and then plan your career path. Don't let anyone else plan it and decide it. Just like we ta I talked about earlier, belts and filters. If, if you're doing belts and filters now, and that's all you're doing, I. Why aren't you cleaning the condensers? Why aren't you moving to piping? Why aren't you into the construction team or service team or whatever?
• 0:33
  I'd love to ask a question here. I've made a lot of mistakes. Industry. I, I broke a lot of compressors. I ordered the wrong parts. I've ordered the wrong equipment. I've did a lot of things that, that I wish I would've known if I had someone to bounce ideas off or if I had a mentor. What are the most common mistakes you see as a newer technician and how that they make and how could they avoid 'em?
• 0:34
  Don't be too shy to ask for help sometimes because I, I've got technicians that we just talk about things and a lot of times I solve my own problem just by asking the question. So find mentors, find friends, find people to bounce ideas off of, and don't think any problem is too big because at the end of the day, everything we do boils down to a simple step.
• 0:35
  They love when you're transparent with them and when you just include them, the concerns of the customer in the solution. An another, another thing I would say is that, like I see newer techs, like as soon as they get to a job, they will just, they have a, a case running warm and they'll just call their service manager or another technician right away.
• 0:36
  Because I see this all the time. Newer, newer journeyman, a newer technician that call one guy for one opinion to call the next guy for another opinion. That you don't need to do that. That's a, that's a mistake. You, you, you do what Noah says. You take, give you your best crack at it and then you make that phone call like Andrew And John said, how about you Andrew?
• 0:37
  Trevor: Yeah. And I think that's that's something that is so, so important. We talk about this all the time. This is why refrigeration, engineers uplift the industry, uplift the technician, the people inside it so we all get better.
• 0:38
  In the case, is the air conditioning running in the store? We had one the other day where it was set for heat, 75 degrees, and all our open cases were freezing up. You know, might not even be related to anything you're looking at. Or before you leave the wholesaler check you got the right parts, the right filters.
• 0:39
  Now, back in 2019, I wasn't a big reader. I used to tell myself, I'm no good at reading. I don't like reading. And same with names. I meet so many people that say, oh, I'm terrible with names. Well, if you keep telling yourself that you're gonna be terrible with names, if you keep telling me, I don't, I'm no good at reading, you're gonna be bad at it.
• 0:40
  So I think the biggest tips are, are investing in yourself. Do that review, find the mentors, everything you guys said. I, I just love all that. It's so, so important. Aiden, how important is communication? I know Noah spent talked about this already, but how important is communication, teamwork when working in our industry?
• 0:41
  John: It, it's actually more important than our technical ability. And I explain it like this. If you go to a restaurant that has a real good cook, best food in town.
• 0:42
  I should be going to that more difficult one, or whatever it is. I, I always did it different. I became friends with the dispatchers because all of a sudden I got the calls I wanted, I got, you know, the, the, the better, the better outcomes because I took care of my team including the dispatchers. So learning how to communicate better with them and making a friend will allow you to go way farther, way quicker.
• 0:43
  Or went in and say, ah, just ask them, how was your day? Or a thank you. You know what I mean? That that goes such a long way with this, that team. You know? 'cause you are a team. If there was no dispatch, there would be no you sir, doing calls and because, and then if there was no you doing calls, there would be no dispatch.
• 0:44
  So yeah, just knowing that you have your team to support you in whatever circumstance you may find yourself in, that's what's, and that involves community communication. So, yeah, to me that, I mean, it's, it's one of the biggest parts of this industry to keep you going, keep you excited, keep you moving forward.
• 0:45
  But like, for teamwork I would say like all guys and all technicians, they all have like, you know, different skill sets. Like some guys are better electrically, some are better mechanically. Each person may have a different background. You know, people may have came from like HVAC or. Installation.
• 0:46
  Help them. If you're good at electrical and you're complaining, help that person don't need to complain about it. And the. It goes both ways. If you're good mechanically, teach them how to burn in a TX valve, you know, even though they've been doing it for six years and you're like, oh, they should know how to burn in a tx If you don't burn one in, you do one a year.
• 0:47
  Trevor: I know. That's why we're here and we're chatting about it. Andrew, what does being a refrigerate being, a refrigeration technician mean to you and how do you see this this industry evolving?
• 0:48
  I mean, that's where this industry's gonna go. I, I could see it. I mean, it's already headed that way. In California, that's where I'm at currently. They're definitely pushing for supermarket refrigeration, CO2. So yeah, I'm, I'm ready. I'm excited for it. I, I'm just, the new how it reacts is different than the, the.
• 0:49
  We're there in the background providing a service and you know, we're serving at communities, we're in, to me, without us, nothing would be cold. Or if you're in the heating side, nothing would be hot, right? So, I mean, it can, if you put the time into this trade and the effort, you could get. Whatever you want back out of it.
• 0:50
  There's multiple problems usually on every system. So the good technicians, the good refrigeration technicians, don't just find the one thing, fix that and move on. They take the time to make sure the whole thing is working like it's supposed to. Then for the future where it's going, everything's digital now.
• 0:51
  And it, it's amazing and I'm excited for all, all this. I love to hear final thoughts. I'll start with Andrew, what are your final thoughts? World Refrigeration Day. Welcome. What's the last piece of advice you can give anybody listening today?
• 0:52
  I mean, those are, those are my key components there.
• 0:53
  John: Well, thank you for inviting me and letting me be a part of this. But what I want to do is everybody needs to drop adopt the growth mindset, because before I did, it's what was limiting me in the trade.
• 0:54
  I wanna thank all of you. I, I appreciate all of you and the listeners. If you're out there today I knew you heard this and you're listening to this that, happy World Refrigeration Day. You're making a difference for the planet. You are helping people that don't even know you are helping them. We're not looking for, I'm not looking for a, a thank you or a pat on back.