WEBVTT - Blue Collar Work Can Generate More Wealth with Ken Rusk #277 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.800 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:05.840 Matt's and today we're talking blue collar work and how 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:28.240 it can generate more wealth with Ken Rusk. I guess 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.239 today is Ken Rusk. Ken. He specializes in mentoring and 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:36.360 has coached hundreds of young people in goal setting, life visualization, 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.800 career paths, and some sound financial planning as well. He 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:44.080 is passionate about helping folks achieve their dreams regardless of 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.400 their educational background and and now with his recently published 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.600 book Blue Collar Cash, Ken explains that blue collar trades 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.440 are a source of pride and how you can find 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.640 your version of happiness by pursuing a good old fashioned craft. 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.640 Our economy is in desperate need of skilled trades people 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.440 and we are pumped to talk about that as well. Ken, 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.520 thank you for joining us here on the podcast. Great guys, 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:08.679 thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. Hey, We're 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:10.640 glad to have you Ken. And the first question we 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:12.720 ask everybody that comes on the show, Matt and I 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:15.280 we love craft beer. We're drinking one now. It's it's 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.080 something that we do. We're willing to spend extra money 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.840 on great beers. You know, while we're intentionally saving and 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.240 investing for the future. So like, what's your splurge, what's 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.720 your craft beer equivalent? Well, you know, it's funny because 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.640 I I'm I'm a golfer and I really love the 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.160 game of golf, and I have a bunch of buddies 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.560 and we traveled around the country playing it from great 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.840 courses and it's just one of those things where invariably 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.400 I have to come home with a golf shirt. And 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.160 I gotta tell you, I probably have way too many 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.479 golf shirts in my closet, and every time I come home, 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.240 my wife is like, okay, another golf shirt. So now 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.120 the new rule is if I buy one, I have 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:53.559 to donate one to somebody else. And that's just fine 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.520 by me. Keep the closet not two packed? Right exactly 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:00.080 where all have you played? Me? What I really to 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.240 ask is have you ever traveled abroad to play? Because 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.640 I hear, you know about folks sometimes taking trips to 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:07.640 Scotland and you know, playing on some of those old 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.200 courses and it's supposed to be amazing. You know, we 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.200 just got back from Scotland. We we did play the 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:17.520 old course, and um we played in Ireland and we've 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.640 been all over the place. I mean, it's it's I've 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:23.280 played in the Caribbean. I've played you know, Pete Die 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.480 courses and Cabos and Lucas and all over the place. 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.720 So it's it's it's just a lot of fun. It's 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:30.840 kind of a passion of ours, and it just gives 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.600 you one more reason to travel, you know, Yeah, I 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.240 love it alright. Well, can tell us about your your 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.359 path into blue collar work? You know, did you go 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:41.360 to a four year university or did you know early 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.880 on that you weren't interested in that road more traveled? 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.440 You know, it's for me, it was pretty simple. I 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.320 got into working with my hands really early. I started 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.120 digging ditches when I was fifteen years old at a 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.480 company that was located right next to my high school. 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.960 And um, you know, I just always like being outside. 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.080 I like, you know, having my jeans and my boots 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:05.400 on and you know, my t shirt and going outside 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.480 and just grinding out a good solid day. And I 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.799 did landscaping, and I did all kinds of I did hardscaping, 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.480 all kinds of things that that required me to work 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:18.120 with my hands. And I just really loved the control 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:20.800 of that. I loved that I could control my input 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.200 and my own output. And and so I tried going 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.120 to college, but it just didn't work for me. And 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:30.480 so Ken like, what what job was it that made 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.760 you think, I think I'm gonna stick to blue collar 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:35.480 work for the rest of my life. Like, this isn't 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.600 something that's just fun for now. I like get in 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:39.360 my hands dirty, but it's something I want to dedicate 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.920 my life too. Well, you know, the the the company 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.600 that um I worked for where we repaired foundations on 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.920 old basements, and it was, you know, it was dirty, 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.360 sloppy work, it was hard work. It was almost like 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:56.640 one of those micro dirty jobs situations where you're running 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:59.600 jackhammers and you're breathing in dust and it's it was 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.640 just one of those things. But the greatest part about 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.160 it was it was very lucrative. And you know, I 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.000 tended to do that in the summertime when I was 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:11.120 in in you know, office school, and in the wintertime 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.680 I worked in the office. And it was really a neat, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.599 neat place to work because no matter what position you had, 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.040 you could kind of control your own income through how 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.360 much how much work you were willing to put in 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:24.160 and bonus programs and incentives and that kind of thing. 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:27.200 So I just kept earning my way up and and 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.400 and seeing that I could again set my own income levels. 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.240 And it was good because you know, I wanted the 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.280 same things as everybody else did. I wanted, you know, 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:37.480 my first used car. I wanted to be able to 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:40.719 take my wife or at my girlfriend at the time 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.400 out to dinner and buy a pizza or whatever the 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.359 heck we wanted to do, go to the movies. And 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:47.320 and it was it was neat because I could work 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.320 and then reward myself, and then I could dream a 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.560 little bit bigger and work and then reward myself. So 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:55.039 I've been with that same company now, um, for you know, 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.560 almost forty years or Okay, So then you know, why 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:02.680 are you still to believer and more people pursuing blue 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.560 collar work in our society? Well, yeah, I look at 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.800 it this way. I am a huge believer in supply 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:11.919 and demand and and that is then is a a 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.120 power force in our economy that it just can never 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.320 really be denied. And and um, you know, some people 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:20.960 argue it can, but that's only usually when it's manipulated 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.919 one for one reason or another. But for me. You know, 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.320 I I've always kind of been like a contrarian thinker 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.520 when it comes to opportunities. So I looked at the 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:36.400 fact that you know, nearly everybody um is getting you know, 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:40.120 corralled into going to college, whether they need to or 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.560 want to, whether they have a specific reason too or not. 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:47.200 And I always say from the outset guys that I'm 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:49.680 not an anti college guy. I'm more of an anti 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.880 college is for everybody guy. And and and the reason 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:54.839 is simple. I mean, if you're going to operate on 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.039 my knee, or if you're gonna build a building or 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.279 engineer something, or if you're going to teach somebody something 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:02.760 or manage people's money, yeah, you need to know everything 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:06.960 there is to know about those particular situations. But notwithstanding that, 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:12.440 there's such an amazing shift towards everybody's got to go 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.560 to school. And and again, I like to be kind 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.000 of contrarian in my in my thinking there when it 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.200 comes to those opportunities, because you know, if if we 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:25.039 are over supplying the market with non specific degrees, and 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.400 what I mean by that is those degrees where people 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.600 just go to school to get something they're never going 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.000 to use, you know, they get really good at beer 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:35.160 pong for four years, but they don't really come out 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.839 with anything that's really solid. If we're gonna oversupply society 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:42.240 with that, then that means we're undersupplying society with welders 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.920 and plumbers and carpenters and electricians, and so the money 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.440 has to naturally flow that way because we're supply is 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:51.520 low and demand is high. That's usually where it goes. 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.400 I feel like you're underselling the usefulness of beer pong 0:06:54.480 --> 0:07:00.040 as a light skilled you know, so, uh, just kidding it. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.320 It seems like too candidate that we put such a 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:06.360 high priority on high school students. We used to experiencing 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.200 something like shop class when I was in high school, 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:11.800 even you know, twenty years ago, shop class was kind 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.760 of on its way out, and so working with your 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.400 hands that that's just not something that people even have 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.680 access to as they're growing up in school. So why 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:22.240 why do you think there's not so much of an 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.120 emphasis on things like shop class or or learning how 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.240 to fix things like as you're growing up these days. Well, 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.520 it's it's real simple. We had this kind of confluence 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.560 of of of three two or three different factors that 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.400 are causing this. So so if you look back into 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.720 the seventies and eighties, they decided to eliminate shop class 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.240 in favor of you know, getting computers in classes. And 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:48.120 you know, again, we had to learn computers. That's really important, 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.560 I understand that, but not at the expense of of 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:56.880 shop class, of millions of kids discovering, you know, even 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:01.760 accidentally how cool carpentry can be, or a mechanics, home economics, whatever. 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.040 And so you know, you couple that with the with 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.480 the situation that now kids instead of you know, going 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.600 in their backyards and building tree forts, you know, they're 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.320 building it on computer screens like with like Minecraft and 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:19.239 stuff like that, so they're not really experiencing the real 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:23.440 sense of hammering a nail, okay, and or or you know, 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.200 changing the oil in a car or whatever it might be. 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.480 So I think what happens there is if you couple 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:34.880 those two situations with again this this societal expectation that 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.760 if you don't go to school, you won't amount too much, 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:41.880 which is crazy on the surface. You kind of have 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.640 this whole stigma that comes out of oh, you know, 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.360 well my kids going to this school, my kids going 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.960 to that school. Well you know her kids just gonna 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.720 be a plumber. Well, okay, let's talk about just gonna 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:56.800 be a plumber. I know that kid, and that kid 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.360 now has four vans and you know a half a 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.800 dozen guy and he's making a killing doing plumbing. So 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:05.920 you have to think of it in terms of really 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:07.520 what you want your life to look like and then 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.040 how to go get it. Yeah, it's it's unfortunate right 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:12.520 that there is such a stigma around I think some 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.840 of these, some of these trades at least, and it 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.120 makes me too. It makes me wonder when I was 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.040 a kid growing up, we didn't have shop class like 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.199 we had tech lab. Shot class was replaced with tech 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.880 lab and it was almost maybe a blend between shop 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:29.000 class and computers a little bit. But it makes me wonder, 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:31.800 you know, how different my life could be right now 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:33.719 had I actually gone to shop class. When when you're 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:35.520 not exposed to some of those things early on, like 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:37.600 I love what I'm doing now, however, you do kind 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.640 of wonder had you learned different skills early on, what 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:42.840 kind of effect that would have on you. Well, you know, 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:45.079 I can tell you that I've I've had some amazing 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.080 feedback from the book and some of it has been surprising. 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.400 I've had emails from people who said, you know, I'm 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.080 stuck in a cubicle. I'm in my mid thirties, what 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.880 do I do? Can you help me? And uh, you know, 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:00.480 it's it's one of those situations where I look at 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.680 you know, how sorry that situation is. I remember I 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:07.040 rented a car not too long ago, and this is 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:09.720 when I first started writing the book, and I had 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.280 to leave this my car at the shop for like 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.200 three weeks because they had a big complicated repair they 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.960 were making under the dashboard. So they sent me to 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:20.559 rent this car. I get to the rental place and 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.520 there's a kid standing behind the counter and he's trying 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.839 to put his best foot forward. He's got like three 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:30.120 different pieces of suits on and and he's he's doing 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.280 the thing. You know, he's really trying to make it work. 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.520 Fifteen minutes into talking to this kid, he's like, you know, 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.560 I'm eighty thousand in debt. I went for just a 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:42.000 regular old bland business degree. I don't know why I 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:44.360 did that. Now I'm making, you know, twenty eight thousand 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:46.640 at this car rental place, and I don't know how 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:48.200 I'm ever going to pay that off that could have 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:52.000 been my first house. And I just feel really bad 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.640 for for those situations where people just kind of like 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:59.800 blindly follow again this societal this new societal norm that 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:02.080 they that's your only path, because nothing could be further 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:04.880 from the truth there. Yeah, can I want to ask 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:09.839 you to, um, the how has COVID nineteen impacted maybe 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.720 your advice in regards to people pursuing blue collar work, 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.640 Like have the those blue collar jobs in any way 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:20.839 been been affected by by the coronavirus and kind of yeah, 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.400 and on your advice for people pursuing blue collar work 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:27.439 in general. This is an amazing, um silver lining if 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.800 there is one, because so many people are staying home 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:35.120 and they're realizing you know, um, I think part of 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.160 the greatest part about COVID is, you know, now I'm 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:41.880 seeing kids ride their bikes in the neighborhood and dogs walked, 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:44.600 and you know, hey, how about that frisbee that we 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.400 used to play with. I mean, those things are being 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:51.400 thrown around, and you know, backyards are being used, barbecues, whatever, 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.559 had whatever you want to do. But the cool thing 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.200 is is families are staying home and they're looking around 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.360 and they're realizing, you know, there's so many things I 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.199 could do to make my place better. Right, So now 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.360 all of a sudden, those people are realizing, I tried 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.360 to hire a guide to work on my deck and 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:12.800 he can't get to me for four months. You know, 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.439 I tried to get this plumber over here, and he's 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.720 charging me a fortune to come now, but he'll charge 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.360 me less if if I if I wait for ninety days. 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.080 So it's it's insane how how people are coming to 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.600 terms real quickly with man. You know, I got three 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:32.360 or four kids. There's no way that all of them 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.600 can be meant for school if if, in fact, some 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.200 of them happen to be more tactle type, you know, 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.120 people a gal or or a guy where they would 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.160 rather work with their hands or pursue a skill or 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.160 a craft or something like that. So I think if 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.520 there is a silver lining here, it is anything having 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:53.200 to do with recreation or repair or improvement or replacement. 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.840 Those things are so hot right now that some of 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.959 these parents are going, you know, maybe we should rethink 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.840 this automatic process of us just going into debt and 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:05.240 sending you know, kid number two, three and four into college. Yeah, 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:07.800 so you know, you hinted a little bit about supply 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:09.840 and demand. So we're gonna take a quick break, but 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.600 after that break, we're gonna talk about the demand for 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.440 these trade jobs. We're gonna talk about the opportunity that's 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:17.560 there and even to you how much one might be 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.240 able to make. And so we'll get to that right 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:30.240 after the break. Alright, we're back from break. We're talking 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.720 with Ken Rusk about blue collar work and how it 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.600 can actually generate more wealth and and can um let's 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:39.880 talk about the opportunity that individuals have with blue collar work, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.959 and let's talk a little bit more about supply and demand. You, um, 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.480 you can you give us some specifics on the supply 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:49.400 of college graduates and the demand of their industries with 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.520 that of like the supply of blue collar work and 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.160 then the demand for for those killed trades. Can you 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.520 give us any any more specifics on that? Well? Yeah, 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.760 I mean I can point to one example. You know, um, 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.959 we are right now at one of the highest most 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:07.600 record home building periods um in many many years. And 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.880 you know, I personally know of of some large track 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.959 home builders that are setting all time records. Well, that 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:16.840 requires a lot of people doing a lot of things 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:21.880 with their hands, from from concrete to you know, to fabrication, 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:26.840 to carpentry, to plumbing, to electricians too ruffers, to landscapers 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:30.880 to road builders to anything that you can see that 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.880 that creates or build something. You know, they're they're talking 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:38.000 about they want to put together this new infrastructure stimulus 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.520 bill with with within the government that's gonna put even 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.680 more pressure on a blue collar crisis that already exists. 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:50.200 So again, you know, it's it's it's it's a funny thing, 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:54.040 but you actually have finished carpenters now that are making 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:57.920 more money than family doctors. And guess what they're doing 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.440 it without two fift thousand dollars of college debt that 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:03.920 will take twenty years to pay off. One of the 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.760 things that I like to talk about is I call it, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.080 you know, this this asset swing. And it's a real 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.200 simple story. But let's assume I go into college and 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.240 I'm spending forty to fifty thousand a year. Okay, four 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.440 years later, that's what a hundred sixty to two hundred 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.440 thousand dollars. Right now, I'm paying that money and I'm 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.800 not earning anything at the time. So let's let's Conversely, 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:31.000 UM talk about a high demand job like UM like carpentry, 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:35.160 for example, or or plumbing or electricians. So those folks 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:38.360 are going right into a job that pays them forty 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:42.360 to fifty dollars a year to start. So four years 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:46.160 later their asset base is plus two hundred. The other 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.600 guy or gal their asset base is negative two hundred. 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:52.360 So you're talking about a four hundred thousand dollars swing 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.680 in the first four years of a young person's life. 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.480 That's that's huge when you think about a house, a car, 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:02.160 starting a you know, you're you're saving these accounts, maybe 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.400 you're four one k. Yeah, that's a big swing. And 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.920 and and I when I whenever I tell that story, 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:09.520 I get a lot of parents that look at each 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:13.440 other like, Holy God, what were we thinking? And it's 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.880 just it's just one of those things where it's it's 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:17.880 the information is right there. I mean, I'm not making 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:19.840 this up. It's it's right there. You just have to 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:22.680 look at and really take a good look at you know, 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.240 what am I really doing for my kid in his 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:27.840 financial future? Yeah? I mean, and like you said, you're 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:29.960 not against college, right, Like, if if that's something that 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:31.440 you want to pursue and you know you want to 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.080 pursue it, then yes, higher education is the right answer there. 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.520 But yeah, I agree with you. I think you know, 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:38.680 blindly kind of going down the path of college and 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:40.840 not exactly knowing what you want to do, you know, 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:44.080 and paying a lot of money for that isn't the 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.720 you know, the most wise move. Yeah, and not assessing 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.760 the alternatives, yeah, which is Yeah, that's why we're talking 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:51.760 with you, Ken. You know, you're you're talking about like 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:53.920 some of these skill trades, right, you talk about carpentry, 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.120 like an electrician. What other industries are going to need 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:59.360 more workers here in the future. You call what's currently 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.000 happening in the of her market essentially a crisis, you know, 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.560 in the American workforce, but you also consider the crisis 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.200 to be this golden opportunity for many folks. So yeah, 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.400 can you talk to us more about about this growing 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:14.520 demand and like specific industries and jobs as well? Well? Sure? 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.119 I mean I can tell you that any anything in energy, 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:21.280 whether it's um new energy or existing energy. You know, 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.440 you're talking about windmills and solar and and and all 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:28.080 those kinds of things. Um you're talking about even even 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.040 still natural gas and oil extraction. I mean those those 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.840 things are red hot and out in certain areas of 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.200 the country. You can make a killing doing that. We're 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.560 seeing for welders and mill rights, we're seeing just an 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:45.399 incredible amounts of money. I know a gal she was 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.720 fighting to get through her two year degree and it 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:50.960 took her like several years, and she had a couple 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.639 of kids and so that interrupted it and whatever, and 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.840 she needed one more class to get over, um, the 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.359 finish line on this two year degree. And and she 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:01.600 had asked her friend, she says, what should I do here? 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:03.560 And her friend said, you know, I took this welding class. 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:05.080 It was a blast. You should you should give it 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.439 a shot. And um, So she took this welding class. 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.960 And she was very detailed, and she was very calm, 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.760 and she was very patient, and she was a really 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:15.800 you know, she was really a good at welding. And 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.919 before she finished the class, she had a job. And 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.560 now she stands on top of three foot windmills and 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:26.160 she she, uh, she's making about a hundred fifty dollars 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.520 a year doing that. And she never thought for a 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:30.840 second that would be anything she wanted to do. So 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.200 it's incredible. I mean when when you when you think 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:36.200 of that, you know, we're seeing thirty eight forty two, 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:43.280 forty six fifty two an hour for you know, electricians, plumbers, welders, um, carpenters, 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.160 and those are the people that are just working within 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.560 some other company. I mean, if you know, Lord knows that, 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.720 if if you find a way to maybe get busy 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.600 enough and you have a couple of people working for you, 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:57.720 well then you know, the sky's the limit at that point. 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.120 Now you're talking about you know, big money there. Yeah. Yeah, 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.840 in in your book, can you mention that some plumbers 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.280 in Atlanta coming straight out of tech school or making 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:09.720 ninety dollars a year? Yeah, I was like, wow, okay, 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:12.560 all right, so that's pretty good. Yeah, that's pretty insane. Um. 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:16.600 And obviously there are lots of blue collar workers who 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.120 make less than doctors and lawyers. You kind of made 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.240 that distinction. But but what sets apart the blue collar 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:25.159 workers who end up being able to make higher salaries 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:27.800 from the ones who end up having a career where 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:30.560 they where they make more of like an average income. Well, 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.679 you know, that's that's the first three chapters. Because to me, 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.840 what what what sets people apart. Is what I call 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:40.719 the entrepreneurial spirit of spirit. And you can be an 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:45.880 entrepreneurial employee for somebody else as well. But whenever I think, 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:47.679 and this is what I do when I coach people. 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:50.439 One of the first things that I talked about is, 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:52.760 you know, why are you here? Why are you working? 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.159 What's your endgame look like? And they look at you 0:19:55.240 --> 0:20:00.240 like you know you're from Mars when you asknet you live? Really, 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:02.640 I literally get them to draw it out. I will 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:05.119 tell you that I've I've had many many people in 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:08.320 my in my day, I get a white post board 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:10.320 in a box of Crayola crans, you know, the old 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:13.720 sixty or four box of Creola crans, and I have them, 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:15.840 I have them draw out what they want their life 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.040 to look like. And I'm talking about are you a 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:21.160 house person, a condo person, an apartment person in the city. 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:23.760 Are you a pickup truck person or a minivan person 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.600 or electric car person? You know, let's get some detail here. 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:31.080 Are you a a dog person or a cat person? 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.080 And if so, what kind of dog and what would 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.960 you name it? What's your hobbies look like? What's your 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:39.640 give back moment look like? To society, draw all that out. 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.080 You know, what are your vacations feel like to you? 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:44.680 And then you create that old that that that that 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:47.639 puzzle of nirvana that you would really want to go after. 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.520 And I can tell you, guys that to the person, 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:53.880 once they get that picture completed in their mind, they 0:20:53.920 --> 0:21:00.400 begin to discover all the entrepreneurial characteristics like perseverance and 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:05.359 and you know, resilience and uh and morals and character 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:10.520 and all those things that you know, drive and and um, 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:13.119 all the things that you need to become an entrepreneur. 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.520 It's almost like those characteristics are just buried in your 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:21.120 closet behind the shoes you haven't worn in a long time. Yeah, 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:25.200 they're stuck behind the golf shirts. And and it's amazing 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:28.320 the evolution of the human of the human mind when 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:32.520 someone sees exactly where they're going, because then the entrepreneurial 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:34.920 spirit kicks in and they basically look at you and say, hey, 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:36.600 thanks for the training. Can I just get out of 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:39.480 my way and let me go do it? And I 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:41.879 can tell you that that sets them apart is is 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.440 people that that know what they want from their life. 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:47.040 They have their comfort, peace and freedom, picture all drawn 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:51.360 out and those that don't, those that just live for Friday. Yeah, 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:54.200 I mean. So on how the money. We often talk 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:57.280 about the why behind your money, and I think sometimes 0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:00.480 folks might be tired of hearing us talk about that, 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:03.040 but we feel it is so important to identify that 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:05.840 why because once you have that purpose, once you have 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:08.760 something that you're working towards, like, you figure everything else out, 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:10.639 like all the details, all the nuts and bolts kind 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:13.320 of fall into place, and you figure out how it 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:15.720 is that you want to achieve, you know, the vision 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.040 that you have for your future. So those goals of 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:21.439 saving and investing more become less onerous, less burden some 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:23.760 and they're more like they're freeing. It's like, oh, yeah, 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:25.720 I'm doing that because it's for me, you know, as 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:29.640 opposed to because some financial person and somebody who thinks 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:32.000 about money a lot told me that I should. You know, 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:34.479 we could go on with this particular part for hours. 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.360 Because one of the things that I try to do 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:40.800 um with anyone, especially young people that that I meet with, 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:43.040 is I try to get the retirement part of their 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:45.360 life out of the way. And what I mean by 0:22:45.400 --> 0:22:47.479 that is if somebody walks up to you or you're 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:49.880 going to an interview and some or someone says, Hey, 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:52.680 I'm gonna pay you forty five tho dollars a year 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:54.679 to do this job. The first thing I want you 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:57.040 to say is thank you for paying me forty two 0:22:57.040 --> 0:23:01.560 thous dollars a year, because I want you to eliminate 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:04.159 that first three thousand from your mind. You never had it, 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:06.920 you never got it. It was never in your paycheck, 0:23:07.000 --> 0:23:09.280 you never saw it, you never experienced it. So therefore 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:12.400 you can't spend it. Because if you take the first 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:14.720 sixty bucks of your money and throw it into a 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.159 four oh one K when you're twenty one, by the 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:19.480 time you're thirty one, you can stop saving money and 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:21.280 have over a million dollars in your four o one 0:23:21.320 --> 0:23:25.040 K account. So imagine being twenty one and sitting at 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:27.040 the bar with your buddy and you're sharing, you know, 0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:28.800 a couple of beers, and you look over to him 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:31.840 and you say, yeah, I'm twenty one. My retirement is covered, 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:34.680 it's spoken for, it's done. I mean, your light years 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:38.159 ahead of everybody else on the planet who frets saving 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.600 for retirement almost their entire life. Yeah, that's true. When 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:44.880 you think of the power of young money. It's it's 0:23:44.880 --> 0:23:49.080 really insane, you know, how how you can make those 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:51.240 things happen for yourself and just not even think about 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:54.240 it anymore. And this is simple, This is simple stuff 0:23:54.280 --> 0:23:58.240 that it's so intensely powerful that it amazes me that 0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:02.400 they don't teach this stuff school. Yeah, I agree, it's 0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:04.240 um I think. Yeah. A lot of our listeners have 0:24:04.280 --> 0:24:06.120 reached out and they're like, man, I've never I've never 0:24:06.640 --> 0:24:08.600 heard some of these things, like some of the things 0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:10.000 that that Matt and I talked about on the show 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:12.359 what or what two seventy episodes in and it's like, 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:14.800 it's just a shame that that people that there's no 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:17.399 shop class in school, and that there's no personal finance 0:24:17.400 --> 0:24:19.680 class in school. Um hey, can we have so many 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:21.199 more questions for you that we want to get to, 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:24.760 including like how people make that transition into a skilled 0:24:24.760 --> 0:24:26.840 trade or into blue collar work. And we'll get to 0:24:26.960 --> 0:24:38.919 a few of those questions right after this break. Al Right, 0:24:38.960 --> 0:24:40.800 we are back from the break and we are talking 0:24:40.840 --> 0:24:44.480 with Can Rusk, author of Blue Collar Cash and Can 0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:47.439 we've been talking about kind of how the world sees 0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:50.399 blue collar work. We've talked about now the opportunity that 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:53.600 exists out there right just how I think many many 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:57.239 more folks need to consider a skilled trade over just 0:24:57.520 --> 0:25:00.480 blindly going to college. Let's talk now a about how 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:02.240 to kind of make that happen. You know, you you 0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:04.960 touched a little bit on just some the different degrees 0:25:04.960 --> 0:25:06.760 from the different programs that you need to take in 0:25:06.880 --> 0:25:09.760 order to partake in some of these skilled trades. What 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:11.480 does that normally look like? You know, what are the 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:14.880 education requirements for a lot of these jobs? Like, obviously 0:25:14.960 --> 0:25:16.560 you don't need that four year degree, but you know, 0:25:16.720 --> 0:25:18.880 do you need to attend like a two year trade 0:25:18.920 --> 0:25:22.040 school typically? Well, you know, it's it's it's funny because 0:25:22.080 --> 0:25:25.560 on my Facebook page, you know, we have um a 0:25:25.600 --> 0:25:28.639 long discussion, We've had it for for years now about 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:31.280 you know, the best ways to do this, And every 0:25:31.280 --> 0:25:33.560 time I put up the question, you know, is it 0:25:33.560 --> 0:25:36.000 better to go to a tech school or to an apprenticeship? 0:25:36.240 --> 0:25:39.040 It's crazy the amount of engagement that I get on 0:25:39.080 --> 0:25:42.919 that question from oh my god, is it ever? I 0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:46.879 can tell you it appears though that the apprenticeship wins. 0:25:46.960 --> 0:25:50.200 And and I'll tell you why, um and and both 0:25:50.240 --> 0:25:52.639 of these pasts are perfectly correct just so you know, 0:25:53.080 --> 0:25:57.440 but because there's such a demand for anyone who's willing 0:25:57.440 --> 0:26:02.200 to put down their their game boy and and pick 0:26:02.320 --> 0:26:06.200 and pick up a hammer. Um, once you find an 0:26:06.200 --> 0:26:09.240 individual like this as a boss, you tend to throw 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:12.160 everything you have at that person in like a really 0:26:12.200 --> 0:26:16.960 concentrated way. So instead of taking maybe you know, seven 0:26:17.040 --> 0:26:19.359 or eight years to to learn and get good at something, 0:26:19.400 --> 0:26:21.680 you can accomplish that same goal in just a couple 0:26:21.680 --> 0:26:25.280 of thousand, maybe three or four thousand hours. And so 0:26:25.920 --> 0:26:28.720 there there's a lot of people that say, jump right in, 0:26:29.160 --> 0:26:31.200 you know, find someone that's good at what they're doing, 0:26:31.240 --> 0:26:33.560 and just you know, glean everything you can off of 0:26:33.640 --> 0:26:35.840 somebody like that. And one of the reasons that is 0:26:35.840 --> 0:26:39.199 is because you know, the other issue that we have 0:26:39.520 --> 0:26:43.159 is the skilled tradesmen are beginning to retire, tradesmen and 0:26:43.200 --> 0:26:48.159 trades women. And you know, for every five electricians that 0:26:48.200 --> 0:26:51.040 retires right now, only one is coming on board to 0:26:51.119 --> 0:26:54.760 replace them. So and this is going to create even 0:26:54.760 --> 0:26:58.120 more pressure on that industry. So yeah, it's a good 0:26:58.160 --> 0:27:01.360 idea to go to school, to go to a tech school. Um, 0:27:01.400 --> 0:27:04.600 if you're gonna do something really detailed, real specific, like 0:27:04.680 --> 0:27:08.080 electrical work, that kind of thing, UM, welding, that kind 0:27:08.080 --> 0:27:11.240 of thing. If you're doing something more handsy where you're 0:27:11.280 --> 0:27:13.560 you know, it's it's more of like a carpenter trade 0:27:13.720 --> 0:27:17.240 or uh you know, brick laying or stonemasonry work that 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:19.200 kind of thing. You know you can do a little 0:27:19.200 --> 0:27:23.120 more apprentice work with that, and um, you know it's 0:27:23.160 --> 0:27:25.760 it's insane. I have a guy that um that worked 0:27:25.800 --> 0:27:29.119 on an outdoor grill area in my house and he 0:27:29.160 --> 0:27:32.600 works with with hand cut stone. He's an artist. It's 0:27:32.640 --> 0:27:35.840 amazing to watch this guy work. And just to give 0:27:35.880 --> 0:27:38.760 you an opport, an idea on the opportunity, here's the 0:27:38.760 --> 0:27:41.240 guy that shows up in my my art every every 0:27:41.320 --> 0:27:44.240 day with his brand new pickup truck and he comes 0:27:44.280 --> 0:27:46.040 out with his jeans and his work boots and his 0:27:46.080 --> 0:27:48.320 T shirt and he's he's got his coffee in his hand, 0:27:48.320 --> 0:27:51.800 he's got led Zepplin cranked up really loud, and he's 0:27:51.800 --> 0:27:53.720 got his three or four people that come to work 0:27:53.760 --> 0:27:58.679 with them, and they build these amazing pieces of art, 0:27:58.720 --> 0:28:01.600 whether it's stone fences or gates or kitchens or whatever. 0:28:02.400 --> 0:28:05.439 And this guy wants to retire. He's making north of 0:28:06.080 --> 0:28:09.040 um six figures in a big way like not just 0:28:09.080 --> 0:28:11.960 a hundred, he's making north the two and he does 0:28:12.080 --> 0:28:15.520 no one to leave this company too. Wow. So so 0:28:15.640 --> 0:28:17.720 you just imagine this guy. I had to wait six 0:28:17.720 --> 0:28:21.760 months for this guy. You just imagine the reputation and 0:28:21.800 --> 0:28:23.840 the work that this guy has and the list of 0:28:23.920 --> 0:28:27.480 customers that are constantly calling him back to do more, 0:28:27.680 --> 0:28:31.159 more stuff. And if you were, you know, a bright 0:28:31.200 --> 0:28:33.720 eyed young guy or gal that said, hey, you know 0:28:33.800 --> 0:28:36.480 what I'm I think I see an opportunity here. You 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:38.040 could work with this guy for a couple of years 0:28:38.080 --> 0:28:40.280 and take over his company and have your life set 0:28:40.320 --> 0:28:42.800 for you. So and that's happening all over the place. 0:28:42.800 --> 0:28:45.320 I hear that story all the time. Yeah, and various 0:28:45.360 --> 0:28:47.960 different industries, right right, Yeah, I think we're all four. 0:28:48.000 --> 0:28:50.440 We could like the idea of jumping into something, jumping 0:28:50.480 --> 0:28:52.480 in the deep end, immediately making some money, even if 0:28:52.480 --> 0:28:54.600 you're not making a lot. But it's man, it feels 0:28:54.640 --> 0:28:56.400 so good to not have to fork out a lot 0:28:56.400 --> 0:28:58.760 of money for education. But that being said, you know 0:28:58.800 --> 0:29:01.800 you mentioned house of these skills like they do require 0:29:01.840 --> 0:29:04.920 some specialized training. What is the what is the range 0:29:04.920 --> 0:29:06.880 of costs on some of these different programs that folks 0:29:06.880 --> 0:29:08.160 and you go to is it is it all over 0:29:08.160 --> 0:29:10.800 the board or yeah? Is it within like a tighter 0:29:10.880 --> 0:29:13.640 range than we would think. Yeah, it's it's typically for 0:29:14.560 --> 0:29:16.200 I read the other day that a lot of these 0:29:16.400 --> 0:29:19.960 these tech schools are between eight and twelve, sometimes thirteen 0:29:19.960 --> 0:29:22.560 thousand dollars a year to get that done. But here's 0:29:22.560 --> 0:29:26.160 the difference. The difference is when you're going to these places, 0:29:26.200 --> 0:29:29.120 you're also working, and so you're making money at the 0:29:29.160 --> 0:29:31.880 same time while you're doing this, and you can work. 0:29:32.840 --> 0:29:34.880 You can work a lot of hours while you're in 0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:38.560 some of these schools, So it's kind of a school 0:29:38.600 --> 0:29:41.800 and work combination in many cases. So it's not like 0:29:41.880 --> 0:29:44.520 you're you know, you're you're going to Uncle Sam and 0:29:44.560 --> 0:29:47.680 borrowing all this money for for for this these classes 0:29:47.720 --> 0:29:50.240 that you're never gonna have to repay because you don't 0:29:50.240 --> 0:29:52.280 have to think about, you know, some of these people 0:29:52.320 --> 0:29:54.400 then they go to school, they're they're also borrowing room 0:29:54.440 --> 0:29:56.280 and board and the borrowing meal plans and everything else. 0:29:56.320 --> 0:29:57.840 But you don't have to you don't have to do 0:29:57.880 --> 0:29:59.800 that in this case. So it's it's it's a much 0:30:00.360 --> 0:30:02.480 much slimmer way to get through an education. And then 0:30:02.520 --> 0:30:05.080 get right to work making some really good money. So 0:30:05.320 --> 0:30:08.520 ken for our younger listeners who haven't really started their 0:30:08.600 --> 0:30:12.440 career yet, or for the parents of like late middle school, 0:30:12.520 --> 0:30:14.760 high school kids, and they're like, oh man, they're good 0:30:14.760 --> 0:30:18.719 with their hands, they really enjoy building stuff. What are 0:30:18.720 --> 0:30:21.080 the next steps to getting started right? We've talked about 0:30:21.120 --> 0:30:23.800 trade schools, but but what are the what are the 0:30:23.840 --> 0:30:27.240 best ways for for these the younger generation. If they're like, man, 0:30:27.280 --> 0:30:28.880 that sounds good and I want to avoid the debt. 0:30:28.920 --> 0:30:31.640 I see how bad things have gotten for my peers 0:30:31.640 --> 0:30:34.040 who have graduated college with tons of debt and then 0:30:34.080 --> 0:30:35.800 don't have a job lined up. How do they get 0:30:35.840 --> 0:30:38.480 started in the blue in a blue collar career. Well, 0:30:38.520 --> 0:30:41.000 you know that this is this is probably one of 0:30:41.040 --> 0:30:45.040 the most heartening um kind of feedback that I've gotten 0:30:45.520 --> 0:30:47.920 um from the book, because what's happening is parents are 0:30:48.000 --> 0:30:50.480 reading this book and then they're they're reading it first, 0:30:50.560 --> 0:30:52.120 and they're giving it to their kids to read, and 0:30:52.360 --> 0:30:56.960 they're having these amazing conversations, honest conversations from their kids 0:30:56.960 --> 0:31:00.600 that they wouldn't have had otherwise, because it just opens 0:31:00.680 --> 0:31:02.920 up a whole new line of thinking. That is, you 0:31:02.920 --> 0:31:06.719 know that is anti the typical societal norm of just 0:31:06.800 --> 0:31:10.240 corralling people through. So in that situation, I think what 0:31:10.320 --> 0:31:12.800 you do is is real simple. You get either part 0:31:12.800 --> 0:31:15.479 time jobs or you get summer jobs in in areas 0:31:15.480 --> 0:31:17.760 that you have some interest. You know, if if you 0:31:17.880 --> 0:31:21.280 leave my office and go the two miles to the 0:31:21.280 --> 0:31:25.680 three way, you're gonna pass you know, forty help wanted signs. 0:31:25.720 --> 0:31:28.560 So you have the ability to job shop like you've 0:31:28.600 --> 0:31:31.720 never had before, especially if you're willing to do something 0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:35.160 and work with your hands and be outside and do 0:31:35.240 --> 0:31:37.600 those kinds of things. So you can always be a 0:31:37.720 --> 0:31:40.680 very an intern or a very part time apprentice for 0:31:41.200 --> 0:31:43.640 you know, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, any of those types of 0:31:43.680 --> 0:31:46.040 trades and just just immerse yourself in it and see 0:31:46.040 --> 0:31:49.440 if any of those things grab your attention. Okay, that's 0:31:49.480 --> 0:31:51.360 a really good way to do it. Another thing that's 0:31:51.400 --> 0:31:55.160 gaining gaining steam and popularity are these gap years where 0:31:55.800 --> 0:31:59.520 instead of jumping right into school, you tend to take 0:31:59.560 --> 0:32:01.680 a little time off and you experience some of these 0:32:01.680 --> 0:32:03.840 things and see if there's anything out there that that 0:32:03.920 --> 0:32:06.880 really that hits you. But I can tell you if 0:32:07.360 --> 0:32:09.840 you spend any time around a construction site or any 0:32:09.840 --> 0:32:13.160 time even in in in some of these manufacturing places 0:32:13.160 --> 0:32:15.920 where they make these cool things. There's just there's just 0:32:15.960 --> 0:32:18.800 this way of you kind of understanding and kind of 0:32:19.360 --> 0:32:21.840 almost your mind draws itself to what you might be 0:32:21.880 --> 0:32:24.400 good at and and and the problem is is that 0:32:25.000 --> 0:32:27.480 only you know what you could be good at, only 0:32:27.560 --> 0:32:30.840 you know what you were meant to be, Only you know, um, 0:32:31.000 --> 0:32:33.480 what your life could look like. So if you pair 0:32:33.600 --> 0:32:37.120 up I always call it this way, instead of waiting 0:32:37.160 --> 0:32:39.120 for life to happen to you, you have to happen 0:32:39.160 --> 0:32:41.440 to life. So I think if you can find a 0:32:41.520 --> 0:32:45.240 vocational passion and pair that up with with some really 0:32:45.280 --> 0:32:48.320 great opportunities that are out there right now, um, you're 0:32:48.360 --> 0:32:51.120 gonna have your true value, your true comfort, peace and freedom, 0:32:51.120 --> 0:32:54.000 that's for sure. Ken Like several times there, you know, 0:32:54.080 --> 0:32:57.760 when you're talking about folks considering blue collar trades. You know, 0:32:57.800 --> 0:33:00.440 you say, a guy or a gal, can you speak 0:33:00.480 --> 0:33:03.120 specifically to what it looks like for a woman to 0:33:03.280 --> 0:33:05.120 enter the blue collar world? What do you think are 0:33:05.160 --> 0:33:08.600 the best opportunities for women in the blue collar space. 0:33:09.360 --> 0:33:12.960 You know, I've had the opportunity to interview three or 0:33:13.000 --> 0:33:15.680 four gals that they have done just that. One of 0:33:15.720 --> 0:33:18.600 them was a YouTube influencer, and UM, you know, there's 0:33:18.600 --> 0:33:20.680 a heck of a lot of that going on. You know, 0:33:20.720 --> 0:33:22.560 I don't know much about it. It's kind of the 0:33:22.560 --> 0:33:26.000 wild West, but there's a whole lot of um incubator 0:33:26.080 --> 0:33:29.400 businesses that are happening um on the internet and um 0:33:29.480 --> 0:33:31.560 and again those are things that people start right out 0:33:31.560 --> 0:33:34.600 of their houses, um and and and they've done some 0:33:34.800 --> 0:33:37.480 just amazing things. I've talked to some influencers who you 0:33:37.760 --> 0:33:40.280 just can't even believe what they're doing. The other gal 0:33:40.360 --> 0:33:42.840 that I mentioned earlier was the welder. I mean, you know, 0:33:42.960 --> 0:33:46.280 women seem to have patients that men don't have in detail, 0:33:46.440 --> 0:33:48.840 so when it comes to welding, that's a really really 0:33:48.840 --> 0:33:52.320 sought after characteristic. And I think there's all kinds of 0:33:52.360 --> 0:33:56.640 opportunities in that particular space. And once again, you can 0:33:56.720 --> 0:33:59.880 even see some some gal welders on the internet, and 0:34:00.000 --> 0:34:02.680 we've built these whole communities around what they're doing. It's 0:34:02.920 --> 0:34:05.760 it's really cool. I I UM. I interviewed a gal 0:34:05.840 --> 0:34:09.279 who left a waitress job to start selling bread for 0:34:09.320 --> 0:34:12.480 a bread baker. He retired and now she built She 0:34:12.600 --> 0:34:17.040 built her own um bread store where she's now baking 0:34:17.400 --> 0:34:20.680 two thousand loaves a week for the local businesses around 0:34:21.320 --> 0:34:25.840 um And and she had no skills, no education whatsoever. 0:34:26.400 --> 0:34:29.080 And then another gal. You know, one of the things 0:34:29.080 --> 0:34:31.360 that I talked a lot about is be willing to 0:34:31.440 --> 0:34:35.640 do things that other people aren't. Okay, Um, this gal, 0:34:35.880 --> 0:34:38.680 believe it or not, started driving a gravel truck, a 0:34:38.760 --> 0:34:42.520 dump truck, and now she's got twelve trucks. She runs 0:34:42.520 --> 0:34:45.239 her own gravel truck company and she's killing it. And 0:34:45.320 --> 0:34:48.160 I just I just love it because here's this, here's 0:34:48.200 --> 0:34:51.480 this really nice, petite gal with his hard hat on, 0:34:51.920 --> 0:34:54.279 and she stands in front with her arms crossed in 0:34:54.320 --> 0:34:57.360 front of her fleet of these huge twelve ken Where's 0:34:57.440 --> 0:35:00.400 that she's got? And it's just a really awesome photo. 0:35:00.440 --> 0:35:02.520 And I'm just so I'm so proud of her. But 0:35:03.239 --> 0:35:05.680 you gotta remember this. If there's a shortage of blue 0:35:05.680 --> 0:35:08.040 collar workers, and most people typically think of that as 0:35:08.040 --> 0:35:11.040 a male dominated industry, then if you're if you're a 0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:12.879 gal and you're willing to do it, man, you can 0:35:12.920 --> 0:35:15.200 write your own ticket right now. You're probably gonna stand 0:35:15.200 --> 0:35:18.600 out absolutely. Yeah, Yeah, that's cool. Hey, can I know too, 0:35:18.600 --> 0:35:20.319 that we have a lot of listeners who are work 0:35:20.360 --> 0:35:22.560 in a desk job and maybe they're working from home 0:35:22.680 --> 0:35:25.640 right now, and maybe they're even making decent money, but 0:35:26.320 --> 0:35:28.520 they're also a lot of people are just tired of it. 0:35:28.880 --> 0:35:31.279 And you know, just the way you feel working in 0:35:31.280 --> 0:35:33.080 front of a computer for eight to ten hours a day, 0:35:33.160 --> 0:35:36.120 right and blue collar work, especially after this conversation, might 0:35:36.200 --> 0:35:38.880 start to sound more appealing. So so how do you 0:35:38.920 --> 0:35:42.600 suggest people who feel that poll start to make that transition? 0:35:43.080 --> 0:35:44.960 You know, what one of the things that you can 0:35:45.000 --> 0:35:48.960 do um nowadays that you couldn't do years ago. You know, 0:35:49.160 --> 0:35:52.040 if you're trying to open your own company years ago, 0:35:52.680 --> 0:35:55.680 you know it required accountants and lawyers and you know 0:35:56.400 --> 0:36:00.120 bookkeeping and you know pieces of graph paper and pencil 0:36:00.200 --> 0:36:02.719 and all that other adding machines and all that. Well, 0:36:02.760 --> 0:36:05.319 now you know you can run your own business off 0:36:05.360 --> 0:36:08.160 of a cell phone. That has made it the barrier 0:36:08.280 --> 0:36:11.200 to entry just kind of disappear for a lot of people. 0:36:11.280 --> 0:36:13.520 So what I've seen a lot of which I think 0:36:13.560 --> 0:36:17.359 is really cool, is almost like a transitioning from the 0:36:17.440 --> 0:36:20.799 cubicle to being your own your own boss. And what 0:36:20.840 --> 0:36:23.120 I've seen, like I'll give you a great example. There's 0:36:23.120 --> 0:36:27.879 an entire community out there that does woodworking and they 0:36:27.920 --> 0:36:32.080 build and they build furniture, they build tables, they reclaim 0:36:32.120 --> 0:36:35.160 old barns, they work with wood and they love it. 0:36:35.239 --> 0:36:37.400 And what they did is they took like a weekend 0:36:37.480 --> 0:36:41.040 hobby and they turned it into a side hustle and 0:36:41.520 --> 0:36:45.120 they literally started and I'm talking about hundreds of different 0:36:45.120 --> 0:36:47.640 people here, not just not just a few. They have 0:36:47.680 --> 0:36:51.360 a community now. And you know, one guy is building 0:36:51.360 --> 0:36:54.680 these amazing you know, river tables with with lacquer in 0:36:54.760 --> 0:36:57.000 them and they're just gorgeous. And another one is doing 0:36:57.080 --> 0:36:59.759 rocking chairs, another one's doing this and doing that. But 0:37:00.040 --> 0:37:02.520 what they did was, you know, they got on the internet, 0:37:02.560 --> 0:37:06.239 they built themselves a website, they put these products out there, 0:37:06.280 --> 0:37:09.120 they sold them on the weekends, and then slowly they 0:37:09.200 --> 0:37:13.120 transitioned away from their day job to just doing this 0:37:13.120 --> 0:37:16.560 wood working for a living. And again why because no 0:37:16.600 --> 0:37:19.160 one else is doing it and there's demand for it. 0:37:19.560 --> 0:37:22.239 So you know, I think, I think if you're sitting 0:37:22.280 --> 0:37:24.719 in a in a cubicle right now wondering, or you 0:37:24.760 --> 0:37:26.880 have a weekend hobby or a skill or a craft 0:37:26.880 --> 0:37:29.319 that you really like, you might want to try that 0:37:29.400 --> 0:37:32.000 slow transition away from what you're doing and getting that 0:37:32.120 --> 0:37:34.960 side hustle to be lucrative enough that that it can 0:37:35.000 --> 0:37:37.600 support you and what you need to do. Yeah. I 0:37:37.640 --> 0:37:40.440 love that it doesn't necessarily have to be a hard transition, 0:37:40.480 --> 0:37:42.359 you know, like a clear mark where Okay, I used 0:37:42.400 --> 0:37:44.600 to be an attorney, but now I paint watercolors, you know, 0:37:44.640 --> 0:37:46.799 Like it doesn't need to be this dramatic thing, you know, 0:37:46.960 --> 0:37:49.319 or not water colors. But yeah, now I'm a stonemason. 0:37:49.719 --> 0:37:52.400 I like how it truly can be something that is 0:37:52.440 --> 0:37:55.360 more transitional. And that's something too that you can do 0:37:55.880 --> 0:37:59.359 when you have put yourself in a good position financially. Right. 0:37:59.760 --> 0:38:02.160 Uh So, if you have taken those steps early on 0:38:02.200 --> 0:38:03.600 to make sure that your tirement is going to be 0:38:03.600 --> 0:38:05.760 in a good place, there is a little less pressure 0:38:05.760 --> 0:38:08.280 to continue down that professional path that might be causing 0:38:08.280 --> 0:38:11.360 you so much stress or literally sitting at a desk, 0:38:11.800 --> 0:38:13.719 you know, for eight hours, like Joel talked about, like 0:38:13.760 --> 0:38:16.959 that like might literally be killing you and instead being 0:38:16.960 --> 0:38:19.919 able to get outside would just do so much for yourself. Yeah, 0:38:19.960 --> 0:38:22.279 and this is a really important point. And if you know, 0:38:22.480 --> 0:38:24.920 for the for the listeners out there, one of the 0:38:24.920 --> 0:38:26.880 things that you have to make sure that you do 0:38:27.200 --> 0:38:29.759 if you're going to do this, is you have to 0:38:29.760 --> 0:38:32.480 turn this from a Sunday goal into a two day goal. 0:38:32.520 --> 0:38:34.880 I mean, this is something that you need to say, Okay, 0:38:34.920 --> 0:38:37.120 I'm gonna start working on this right now, and you 0:38:37.160 --> 0:38:39.719 need to give yourself a finite amount of time to 0:38:39.760 --> 0:38:43.240 make that happen. Like let's assume you say, okay, I'm 0:38:43.239 --> 0:38:47.400 gonna transition over four years. Okay, so now you're working 0:38:47.440 --> 0:38:51.360 from four years from now backward towards today. So you 0:38:51.520 --> 0:38:56.000 literally have you know, two hundred weeks to figure out 0:38:56.400 --> 0:38:59.839 um from where that transition ends and you're in your 0:38:59.840 --> 0:39:02.520 new career back up all the way to today, and 0:39:02.560 --> 0:39:04.960 what little mini goals you have to hit along the 0:39:04.960 --> 0:39:07.920 way to make that happen. You mentioned financially, you mentioned, 0:39:08.120 --> 0:39:10.880 you know, product wise, you mentioned the marketing wise, setting 0:39:10.960 --> 0:39:14.440 up your company, getting the website done, and just working 0:39:14.480 --> 0:39:17.520 yourself back to now, you know, setting up weekend places 0:39:17.520 --> 0:39:19.800 where you can sell these crafts or these these products 0:39:19.840 --> 0:39:22.439 wherever that might be, and work your way from four 0:39:22.520 --> 0:39:24.600 years or three years or five years whatever you want 0:39:24.640 --> 0:39:28.400 it to be, working that backwards towards today. So you 0:39:28.440 --> 0:39:31.640 have a really clear begin date and end date and 0:39:31.680 --> 0:39:34.880 an absolutely path to get there. Otherwise this would just 0:39:34.920 --> 0:39:37.160 be one of those frustrations that kind of haunts you 0:39:37.200 --> 0:39:39.200 for the next tent or fifteen years that you never 0:39:39.239 --> 0:39:42.920 really get done. Well, can that's some awesome practical advice 0:39:43.080 --> 0:39:46.080 to wrap this conversation up. Thank you so much for 0:39:46.160 --> 0:39:48.680 joining us today. And where can our listeners find out 0:39:48.680 --> 0:39:51.000 more about you and what you're up to? Well, if 0:39:51.040 --> 0:39:54.200 you go to um ken rust dot com that's Ken 0:39:54.280 --> 0:39:56.399 Rusk dot com. You can see what we're doing there. 0:39:56.800 --> 0:40:00.160 You can also go to uh Ken Rusk Official, which 0:40:00.160 --> 0:40:02.520 is my Facebook page, which has a lot of great 0:40:02.560 --> 0:40:05.040 stuff there. We we post um every couple of days 0:40:05.040 --> 0:40:08.120 and we have a blog as well. And uh and um. 0:40:08.160 --> 0:40:10.160 You know you'll you'll see the book you at Amazon, 0:40:10.360 --> 0:40:13.080 You'll see it at Barnes and Noble's indie books as well. 0:40:13.120 --> 0:40:16.640 Don't forget to support those individual book bookstores. You can 0:40:16.640 --> 0:40:19.520 find it pretty much anywhere books are sold. Awesome, Well, Ken, 0:40:19.560 --> 0:40:21.920 thanks so much man for joining us on this. You know, 0:40:21.920 --> 0:40:23.600 for this conversation, I feel like there's been a lot 0:40:23.600 --> 0:40:25.640 of insight here that our listeners, you know, it's going 0:40:25.719 --> 0:40:27.799 to cause them to think through things in a way 0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:30.080 that they haven't before. And uh, and I think that 0:40:30.080 --> 0:40:32.280 can only be a good thing. So we really appreciate 0:40:32.280 --> 0:40:34.760 your time. Thank you. Well, you're welcome, and to everybody 0:40:34.760 --> 0:40:36.719 out there, you got this and let's let's let's go 0:40:36.840 --> 0:40:39.360 make it happen. You you know, I've got confidence in you. 0:40:39.440 --> 0:40:41.400 I know you can make it happen. So just start 0:40:41.440 --> 0:40:43.920 today and get her done. You're the man. Thanks Ken, 0:40:44.200 --> 0:40:47.279 You're welcome. Thank you, Joel Maye. What a great conversation 0:40:47.640 --> 0:40:49.920 we just had here with Ken rusk Uh. You know, 0:40:49.960 --> 0:40:52.160 when we talk about money here on the show, like 0:40:52.200 --> 0:40:53.840 we can talk about it in a few different ways, 0:40:53.880 --> 0:40:55.880 like you can there's different ways that you can earn money. 0:40:56.360 --> 0:40:58.360 There's different ways that you can manage your money, and 0:40:58.400 --> 0:41:00.480 so spending is you know, included in that and being 0:41:00.480 --> 0:41:02.759 frugal and whatnot. And then there's things that you can 0:41:02.800 --> 0:41:04.560 do on the back end of that as well, which 0:41:04.560 --> 0:41:06.880 is like investing your money for the long term. And 0:41:06.920 --> 0:41:09.920 we don't often talk about some alternate ways that you 0:41:09.960 --> 0:41:13.040 can earn money, right, Like we talk about side gigs 0:41:13.080 --> 0:41:14.840 and things like that and starting your own business some 0:41:15.239 --> 0:41:17.520 but we're getting a raise and talking to your employer 0:41:17.520 --> 0:41:19.760 about that, Yeah, exactly, Like those are all good avenues, 0:41:19.800 --> 0:41:21.680 but we have not yet talked about you know, not 0:41:21.719 --> 0:41:24.960 going to college. Uh, and just the opportunities that exist 0:41:25.000 --> 0:41:27.880 out there for skilled trades. And I'm so glad that 0:41:27.880 --> 0:41:30.440 we got to talk with Ken and a true professional. 0:41:30.480 --> 0:41:33.000 He's lived it and he's advising others on this as well, 0:41:33.120 --> 0:41:35.080 and he's got a balanced approach to it. He's like, 0:41:35.320 --> 0:41:37.399 I'm not the anti college guy, and that's great because 0:41:37.400 --> 0:41:39.520 college is for a lot of people, but it's also 0:41:39.600 --> 0:41:41.560 a lot of professions. Like there's some professions that you 0:41:41.560 --> 0:41:43.880 absolutely need it, I'm not Yeah, like he said, I 0:41:43.880 --> 0:41:46.400 don't want a surgeon operating on any who hasn't been 0:41:46.400 --> 0:41:49.279 to college, and I completely agree with him, But there 0:41:49.320 --> 0:41:51.160 are a lot of people who a blue collar career 0:41:51.200 --> 0:41:53.640 makes a whole lot more sense. And my big takeaway, 0:41:53.680 --> 0:41:55.960 but let's get to that's here is the supply and 0:41:56.000 --> 0:41:59.680 demand factor, and supplying demand basic economic principle. And when 0:41:59.680 --> 0:42:03.359 you look at the supply in the labor force right now, um, 0:42:03.400 --> 0:42:05.160 there's not a whole lot of supply when it comes 0:42:05.200 --> 0:42:08.240 to people that are willing to work in blue collar industries. 0:42:08.400 --> 0:42:10.239 But there's a whole lot of demand. And so that 0:42:10.320 --> 0:42:12.040 does mean you'll be able to make a whole lot 0:42:12.040 --> 0:42:14.880 more money often times in the blue collar space than 0:42:14.920 --> 0:42:17.520 you would be even after getting a four year college degree. 0:42:17.560 --> 0:42:20.120 One of the things I read in Ken's book, he 0:42:20.160 --> 0:42:24.200 said that one in four college graduates makes just as 0:42:24.280 --> 0:42:26.520 much as a high school graduate does. Um. That that 0:42:26.840 --> 0:42:29.560 people go through all that work, all that time, all 0:42:29.560 --> 0:42:31.759 the all the debt load that they take on, and 0:42:31.800 --> 0:42:33.799 then at the end what they have to show for 0:42:33.840 --> 0:42:36.080 it is they're making just as much as someone who 0:42:36.120 --> 0:42:38.520 didn't even spend there or four years in that way 0:42:38.560 --> 0:42:41.080 and take on all that debt. That's a sobering statistic. 0:42:41.320 --> 0:42:44.160 And so yeah, it's really important, especially for for young 0:42:44.239 --> 0:42:47.160 kids or people maybe feeling like they're in a debt 0:42:47.239 --> 0:42:49.440 end career that they don't enjoy anymore. Well, look at 0:42:49.440 --> 0:42:51.720 the demand out there and be part of the supply, 0:42:52.160 --> 0:42:54.560 part of the supply that potentially makes a whole lot 0:42:54.600 --> 0:42:56.960 more money, um than you're currently making or than you 0:42:57.000 --> 0:42:59.759 otherwise might if you took the traditional career path. I 0:42:59.840 --> 0:43:01.560 love a dude. I'm glad that was your takeaway. Yeah, 0:43:01.600 --> 0:43:04.000 you want to be that supply. You want to be 0:43:04.040 --> 0:43:05.560 able to meet that demand that's out there, you know, 0:43:05.600 --> 0:43:08.479 Like he even talked about the Stonemason's He's planning his 0:43:08.480 --> 0:43:11.360 his workout for six months in advance, Like that is insane. 0:43:11.760 --> 0:43:14.279 And it's a perfect example that that demand is there. 0:43:14.520 --> 0:43:15.960 All right. But now it's my turn, time for my 0:43:16.000 --> 0:43:18.359 little takeaway. And I say a little take away because 0:43:18.360 --> 0:43:22.320 I feel like it wasn't this huge, you know, complex idea, 0:43:22.920 --> 0:43:24.480 but it was rather simple. And it was when he 0:43:24.520 --> 0:43:27.520 was talking about a gap here, right. I think in 0:43:27.600 --> 0:43:31.319 our culture, we don't value, we don't prize the gap here. 0:43:31.480 --> 0:43:32.840 I think a lot of times if you hear somebody's 0:43:32.840 --> 0:43:34.319 taking a gap here, they're just like, oh, you're just 0:43:34.360 --> 0:43:37.320 wasting time. Yeah, you see that as like, oh, you 0:43:37.400 --> 0:43:39.880 must be trying to go find yourself. If you're lucky, 0:43:40.200 --> 0:43:42.200 maybe you can do some traveling that kind of thing. 0:43:42.360 --> 0:43:44.400 But instead, the way Ken presented it, this is a 0:43:44.480 --> 0:43:48.080 great opportunity to decide, uh, and to really think through 0:43:48.120 --> 0:43:51.000 if it makes sense to take on a boatload of 0:43:51.000 --> 0:43:53.359 student loan debt, which most folks are are doing these days, 0:43:53.520 --> 0:43:55.560 if it makes sense to dedicate four years of your 0:43:55.560 --> 0:43:58.200 life towards something that you're not even totally sure, word, 0:43:58.200 --> 0:44:00.399 that's gonna go. And so I loved how he's that 0:44:00.600 --> 0:44:02.239 gap year script and you kind of flipped it on 0:44:02.280 --> 0:44:03.839 his head a little bit. And he pointed out how 0:44:03.880 --> 0:44:07.200 this is a great opportunity to maybe discover something that 0:44:07.239 --> 0:44:10.080 you have never even considered doing before. It's not something 0:44:10.120 --> 0:44:12.200 that you learned about in high school because they're not 0:44:12.239 --> 0:44:14.960 teaching it in high schools anymore. But it's an opportunity 0:44:15.000 --> 0:44:17.880 for you to discover a passion of yours, something that 0:44:17.920 --> 0:44:20.080 you're really good at, and something that could also allow 0:44:20.120 --> 0:44:22.080 you to make a lot of money. This just gets 0:44:22.080 --> 0:44:23.759 me excited for all the high school students out there 0:44:23.760 --> 0:44:26.279 who might be hearing this, because I think this really 0:44:26.320 --> 0:44:28.520 could be life changing. This. This doesn't have to be 0:44:29.000 --> 0:44:30.480 gap here and now I'm going to go to New 0:44:30.560 --> 0:44:32.319 Zealand kind of thing. This could be like gap here. 0:44:32.440 --> 0:44:35.239 Let's think about what trade I could potentially do, uh, 0:44:35.360 --> 0:44:37.799 something that I already have an inclination towards. I don't 0:44:37.840 --> 0:44:41.319 think Americans are allowed in New Zealand anyway, right not now? Yeah, 0:44:41.800 --> 0:44:43.719 But I liked how he said just being on a 0:44:43.760 --> 0:44:46.839 work site, sometimes your mind will naturally find what it 0:44:46.920 --> 0:44:49.000 is that you want to do. Like you naturally will 0:44:49.040 --> 0:44:51.400 gravitate towards it. It's sort of like, you know, like 0:44:51.440 --> 0:44:54.680 Harry Potter, when the like the wand chooses him. I 0:44:54.680 --> 0:44:57.600 think maybe the skill can choose the individual as you're 0:44:57.640 --> 0:44:59.319 kind of drawn to that, and I like how that 0:44:59.360 --> 0:45:01.759 can maybe just a different approach to a career. Yeah. 0:45:01.760 --> 0:45:03.759 I think that's a great takeaway. Man. I feel like 0:45:03.800 --> 0:45:06.840 he framed a gap year in in just a wonderful 0:45:06.840 --> 0:45:09.879 way where a gap here makes a whole lot of sense, 0:45:09.880 --> 0:45:11.359 and I think it makes sense for more and more 0:45:11.400 --> 0:45:13.960 people right now as the value of a college degree 0:45:14.000 --> 0:45:17.719 with coronavirus remote learning is coming into question even more. 0:45:18.280 --> 0:45:20.160 Exactly good stuff. All right, Let's get back to the 0:45:20.160 --> 0:45:21.719 beer that we had on the show today, Matt. This 0:45:21.719 --> 0:45:25.680 one was called rhymes with Purple from Bromari Brewing. You 0:45:25.680 --> 0:45:28.279 you picked this berliner of ice with a bunch of 0:45:28.320 --> 0:45:30.600 different berries in it up for us while you were 0:45:30.880 --> 0:45:34.319 in Asheville recently. What were your thoughts on this beer? Well, first, 0:45:34.360 --> 0:45:37.040 I will say it is very very purple. It's it's 0:45:37.040 --> 0:45:38.520 like as we poured it. I don't know if I've 0:45:38.520 --> 0:45:41.399 ever seen a more purple red beer, but it's called 0:45:41.440 --> 0:45:43.760 it rhymes with purple, and it's got with like six 0:45:43.960 --> 0:45:47.319 different berries going on in it, and it is very tart. Man. 0:45:47.400 --> 0:45:49.680 That's that's the first thing that I noticed. Um, it 0:45:49.760 --> 0:45:51.759 was really tart, but at the same time it had 0:45:51.840 --> 0:45:55.160 like a nice medium body and so it's kind of lush, uh, 0:45:55.320 --> 0:45:57.839 kind of coated your tongue a nice little bit, but 0:45:57.960 --> 0:46:00.520 with it being a Berlin device as well. And then 0:46:00.600 --> 0:46:03.120 it had that kind of chewy, weedy finish on the tail, 0:46:03.200 --> 0:46:04.839 and so it was a fun, kind of refreshing beer, 0:46:04.880 --> 0:46:06.160 but while at the same time, you know, it had 0:46:06.239 --> 0:46:08.080 that substance to back it up. I really enjoyed it 0:46:08.120 --> 0:46:11.440 many It was like a bouquet of berries, I would say, yeah, 0:46:11.600 --> 0:46:14.239 but not like overly perfume, you know, like it was 0:46:14.280 --> 0:46:16.400 all in the flavor. Not because sometimes you smell it, 0:46:16.440 --> 0:46:17.719 you know, you kind of give it a sniff before 0:46:17.719 --> 0:46:19.640 you taste it and you're like, oh, it's like too 0:46:19.719 --> 0:46:21.799 much perfume, you know, But not this one. It's all 0:46:21.800 --> 0:46:23.720 it's all on the taste. Yeah, a little bit velvety, 0:46:23.760 --> 0:46:26.840 I thought, but just like a richness from all the 0:46:26.880 --> 0:46:29.440 fruits that's present, and definitely a nice amount of tartness 0:46:29.440 --> 0:46:32.120 at the same time. This was a well balanced Berlin 0:46:32.280 --> 0:46:35.200 vice that that I really enjoyed. I love fruited beers, 0:46:35.360 --> 0:46:38.520 I love fruited sours. This one was was really tasty, 0:46:38.560 --> 0:46:41.680 So yeah, Mad props to Bramari for this one, and 0:46:41.719 --> 0:46:44.360 thanks to you for picking it up. Yeah, man, Happy Tomari. 0:46:44.400 --> 0:46:46.040 They're making a lot of good beer up that way 0:46:46.120 --> 0:46:48.239 up there in Asheville, North Carolina, so look them up 0:46:48.239 --> 0:46:49.960 if you happen to be in the area. And dude, 0:46:49.960 --> 0:46:51.799 that's gonna be it for this episode. Listeners can find 0:46:51.800 --> 0:46:53.560 our show notes up on our website at how to 0:46:53.680 --> 0:46:55.920 money dot com and we'll make sure to link to 0:46:56.160 --> 0:46:59.319 Kin's sites there as well. Yeah, and if you're a 0:46:59.320 --> 0:47:01.960 new listener and you enjoyed this conversation with Kendall, we 0:47:02.000 --> 0:47:04.640 have a lot of other interviews that you can check 0:47:04.640 --> 0:47:07.400 out as well, with with lots of interesting people. And 0:47:07.440 --> 0:47:09.440 you can check out all of our episodes up on 0:47:09.480 --> 0:47:11.719 how to Money dot com. And don't forget to subscribe 0:47:11.719 --> 0:47:15.239 on your podcast or so you never miss an upcoming episode. Alright, Matt, 0:47:15.320 --> 0:47:18.359 Until next time, Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out.