E{emum} | Why your first CDL job doesn’t need to be your dream job

In high school, every year they do this like assessment quiz or whatever for one of their teachers.

Just kind of like what job suits you best, you know?

And the majority of her class got good answers, normal answers.

You know what her answer was?

What, a magician.

No.

But I wonder, in that process, where are the.

Where are the trades?

Well, seen students do that before where they're kind of holding out for the best job, right?

And they're like, well, I want to make this much and I want to be this much.

And it's like, whoa, you're right out of school there, bucko.

All right.

And you're going to be all picky, choosy.

Don't do it.

This is literally the start.

We've given you the key to open the door, but you have to open the door and you have to walk through it.

If you're thinking about a career in the trades and you want to know what employers actually look for, what the work is really like, and what nobody tells you before you get started.

You're in the right place.

Built in the Midwest features conversations that'll help you figure out if this path is for you.

Thank you.

Welcome, Kat, to the Built in the Midwest podcast.

I think this is the first time it is we've had you on the show.

I'm actually kind of surprised by that.

I figured we would have had you a few times, but finally we just.

I'm all busy.

Yes, I know you are.

You're very busy.

So trying to track you down and line this up, I finally was like, all right, Kat, we gotta secure ya because the listeners want to hear from you.

All right, all right.

So just like perspective, just like the YouTube live we did a little while back, you know that, which your kids, I still watch, they're a big YouTube family.

So for their mom to be on YouTube, it was.

Well, and now she's gonna be on other social media platforms, you know, that's so exciting.

Exactly.

Well, let's dive right in.

So if you could start by just talking about kind of your role at the school and kind of some of the differences that you make in these students lives.

Because these students talk to you all the time.

They do, they do.

So I, I don't know, I wear a lot of different hats.

You do in the building.

I am a mom.

I have four kids, you know, so I understand the need for, for them to have like a go to person to kind of help ease some of their concerns, some of their.

It's just, it's a big adjustment for a lot of Them to come into a program and.

And some of them have never done anything like this.

So I try to just make sure that they have access to the resources that they need or if they have questions that they have, I try to find the answers for them, which we get all sorts of questions.

Oh, yeah, all the time.

It's like a revolving door in your.

I say kind of office, but you're like the first person that people see when they come into the school.

But their students, it's all day.

All day.

What are they asking you?

What do they want from you?

Just that motherly figure.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Sometimes.

Sometimes they're truck questions.

Sometimes they're looking for their instructors.

Sometimes it's a process.

So, like, what do they do after they get their permit or how do they get their endorsements onto their cdl?

Things like that.

Just kind of a. Yeah, yeah.

You're just like the go to for pretty much anything and everything, it seems like.

And if you don't know the answer, it seems like you always know somebody that has the answer.

So you can guide them in the right direction.

Right.

Well, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't at least know where to find the answer or who to ask.

That's great.

You know, I do have a couple people in my back pocket that are my go to people.

You're one of them.

Ian is my lifeline.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

I don't know what I would do without him, but it really does help.

And he knows.

He knows everything that's going on all the time?

Absolutely.

I tell people all the time.

He's the first mate on the ship.

He knows everything.

It's amazing.

Figure it out.

It's amazing on everything too.

Like, he knows we have a breakdown over in the woods with a piece of heavy equipment.

He's the first to know.

Yes.

I don't know why, but he is.

I don't know either.

It's always crazy to me.

Crazy to me.

So with all these students that come in, you know, something that you mentioned, which is interesting, is like, you know, they come in with a lot of uncertainty, you know, so what do you tell them?

To give them some reassurance that everything's gonna be okay.

Because it is nerve wracking going to a brand new place, a brand new area, a brand new school.

And for a lot of these students, it's a brand new city.

And some of them never even been to the up and they're like, they still live in Michigan, but never been to the upper peninsula of Michigan.

What do you tell them to calm their nerves?

I do tell them that it's gonna be okay, that I see it all the time, that it's okay to be nervous, too, that.

That it is a hard program.

But we have a very good team of staff instructors that will work with you until you get there.

Like, we're not trying to put out drivers that are uncertain about anything.

So if they need extra time with somebody, I make sure that they get that too.

Just to keep plugging away, Just to get up every day, show up, take it all in, and work hard and they will eventually get where they want to be.

I love that.

Do you think you were a motivational speaker in a previous life?

No, I just have a lot of experience in customer service.

Well, and I think having four kids as well, I mean, you gotta be that pusher at home and that motivator and to push people.

I've been through a lot, so I know life throws hard things at you all the time, all the time.

But when you least expect it, it's going to show up.

And the only thing you can do is keep going, just to push forward, get up one more day, do the best that you can, and it eventually gets a little bit easier.

Absolutely, absolutely.

So, you know, with talking to all these students, is there a lot of times an underlying question or a theme that they ask about?

It varies, actually.

Some of them have like, either medical questions before their dot physical.

Some of them want to know what they do after they get out of the classroom because they're anxious to get behind the wheel.

Sure.

Okay.

Yeah.

I don't know.

They're just so.

So many individual questions and different things.

So, you know, some question that somebody asked me here recently is, who goes through the school?

Who goes to the school?

And it was kind of a hard question for me to answer a little bit because, I mean, you can say, okay, a little bit of everybody.

How would you answer that question?

It is a little bit of everybody.

We have young ones that are fresh out of high school.

Last class, I think it was a June class, actually, I had to make a poster for a boy for a graduation party because he had already signed up for the program and his parents had wanted something to.

To put up at his graduation party.

And I was like, yeah, absolutely.

Let me see what I can get to you.

We have older people that are semi retired that kind of just want something else to put under their belt.

We have people that recently were incarcerated now want to get back on their feet.

We have women, you know, we have mothers.

We have business owners.

We do have a little bit of everybody that comes through.

Yeah.

So when I said that, I was kind of somewhat accurate.

Like, it's a little bit of everybody.

Young, old, and I think of like.

And yeah, we actually have a retired person in this class right now.

Shout out to Brandon out there, who retired from, I believe, the Coast Guard.

Yes.

And he's now looking at, okay, what does he want to do with the rest of his life?

And he's like, let's get a CDL and heavy equipment.

And like, he says, heavy equipment.

Bill's covering it, so let's get all these certifications to see what's next.

I actually just asked Brandon if he was sick of us yet.

And he's like, no, never, never.

He's super laid back, relaxed, you know.

And when he said he's friends with Kyle, I was kind of surprised by that.

I didn't think Kyle had any friends.

Stop.

Just kidding.

Kyle.

He knows Kyle very well.

No.

Yeah, they know each other really, really well.

I think they serve together.

I. Yeah, no, that's really, really cool relationship there.

I had no idea.

Which was fun.

I can't imagine the bond that those guys get when they do serve together.

Oh, yeah.

Well, even just going through, I have a lot of friends that have been in the military and just going through boot camp or being stationed in different areas or on different ships.

Yeah.

I mean, you spend that much time with people, you get really close to them.

Right.

And you get to know him well.

You know, it's something that I think a lot of people are surprised to hear, but a lot of people that come here come from, like, all over the Midwest.

Right.

You know, is there any advice you would give somebody that's in Milwaukee or Duluth or Lansing or Detroit or Indianola or Chicago, you know, about coming to a brand new city, brand new town, brand new place.

You know what.

What words of encouragement do you give students that are coming from that far away?

I mean, it's great up here.

Yeah.

You know, we have fishing, hunting, ATV trails.

Like there's no tomorrow.

Right.

We try to make sure that they are comfortable when they're here.

So it is a harder thing.

But it's not forever.

It's not forever.

You can do hard things.

You can move somewhere and not know anybody.

You'll make friends real fast.

In this program, they spend a lot of time, and I just always try to be approachable so they don't feel so isolated.

Absolutely.

Try to answer the questions Try to make sure they know where to get food and things like that.

That's one thing that I just, I guess I wasn't surprised about.

But it was really interesting to see the close bonds that these students get with each other.

And because these are not traditional programs and the fact that they're not two hours a day or three hours a day, but these are eight hours a day.

And so when you're putting your nose to the grindstone with the same people every single day and you're both working hard and working through it and studying at nighttime and waking up early to do pre trips or do your homework for this program or that program, you get to know those people really well.

And, you know, this is something I've seen over the last several years where some of these students, best friends in their life, absolutely.

Came from the, you know, say the lineman program or the CDL program.

And I know if I looked back, you would see, you know, a lot of these guys are probably in each other's weddings and they come from very different backgrounds.

Oh, yeah.

Totally.

Different age ranges are wild.

You know, you'll have a 47 year old and a 21 year old and they just click.

They just jive.

Yeah.

And they're helping each other out and they're staying late and they're going over pre trips.

And it's just a really nice thing to see them bond over a good work ethic, over prospects for their future.

You know, it's really kind of takes away all of those extra things in life that maybe you wouldn't allow them to meet and communicate, but you do.

They make real lifelong friends.

That we are all close at work and we are all very different.

Oh, yes.

You've got me and Courtney in the office, the only females.

But we love our guys and we know that they would do anything for us.

Well, and we love you guys too.

Yeah, you kind of take away all of that outside world and you just get to the work and people show up.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, something that just made me think of this is, you know, some people that come to these programs, and I know you've seen that quite a few times, is we work with a handful of people every class that literally this is like their last chance for success.

Right.

And it's, you know, how do you, how do you handle that?

Because I've seen you have a lot of conversations with these individuals and it's, you know, to people there that don't realize.

But there's a lot of people out there that, you know, like, this is the last thing that they're trying to do.

And they got all their eggs in this basket.

And that's probably why we see some of the passionate outbursts, maybe, and the anger when somebody fails, because it's like everything is riding on this.

You know, talk about how, you know, how you've seen that a little bit.

Well, for a lot of them that are like that, it really is their last chance to do something with your life.

It's a real career, it's a real income, and it's absolutely doable.

Even if you do struggle, the guys are always more than willing to take that extra time to put in the work with them to make sure that they succeed.

Because at the end of the day, everybody's human.

Everybody deserves a fair shot at success.

And it's actually really rewarding to see that from our side, you know?

Absolutely.

We treat everybody the same.

Everybody is equal when they walk through that door.

It doesn't matter what happened before.

We're here to support you in this journey that you have chosen for yourself.

And we want them to be successful so that we're successful.

It doesn't do us any good to not be there to support them.

Absolutely.

I think your passion for this, I think, is.

It's obviously there and important.

But even so much if somebody were to fail their CDL test, it beat you up and you gotta, you know, or when somebody maybe doesn't get that job they really wanted, or on the other side, when somebody does, when somebody, hey, so and so passed or so and so, you know, got into 8, 7, 6 or so, and so just became alignment, apprenticeship, or we got two guys going to Mo Valley.

Like, that's a.

That's a big deal.

And we celebrate those successes.

And so, you know, there is a.

There's an intrinsic reward there that I really haven't felt in a lot of different jobs, but the ability to really help people.

And take people, for instance, some of the.

It's not prisoner reentry.

Os reentry, but people right out of prison that really are trying to get their life turned around and maybe went through a bad path in their life, but they're trying to get turned around.

They're doing everything they can.

No one will give them any opportunities.

And.

And they come through the program and then we.

We work out if they're a great student, we'll give them a letter of recommendation, we'll call around, we'll get some references.

And you know what?

Seeing them be successful is just huge.

That is a.

That I. I can't imagine how hard of a transition it is to go from one world to another and to be able to be that bridge for them, to get them back to where they deserve to be as human beings and is rewarding on our side.

Like, everybody makes mistakes.

We're not here to judge.

We're not here to dig into your past.

You're here now, and we're here to support you through that.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And I think that's important.

It's like, you know, whatever happened in the past, let's leave it there.

Right.

Assuming it's not a disqualifying suspense in the last 36 months to get a CDL.

But I tell people, hey, you know what?

You're a human being.

We're going to treat you the same perspective as anyone else, and I'm going to push you with the same kind of energy and drive as I push everybody else to be successful.

In all honesty, a lot of those people that come through with the reentry program, they already have the drive, they already have the motivation.

They are at this point.

They're ready to start their life.

And what a great opportunity we have to give them that.

Absolutely.

Well.

And they've been through the really hard stuff and they've hit rock bottom and they know they don't want to go back.

And we've even heard from a few different counselors on this that literally our recidivism rate for these OS reentry individuals is zero.

Zero.

You know, once they graduate the program, got a job and are working, there's almost a 0% chance they're going to go back to prison or jail, because they're not life.

They have a goal, they have a career.

They have a career that can sustain their life.

They don't have to resort to maybe things that they've chosen in the past that hasn't worked well for them, because this works.

It works.

And that's the thing, is it gets them out, gives them a steady paycheck, gets them structure.

They're actually working.

There's so many benefits to it.

And we've seen people be successful because at the end of the day, you get out of prison and.

And you have no money, you have no job, you have, you know, maybe skill sets that don't apply legally.

And, you know, so it's like, it's like.

And your friend group maybe shouldn't be your friend group, you know, or a.

Lot of times that isn't their friend group anymore.

The deck is stacked against you.

Like, really, it really is.

And so.

And no housing.

Right.

Like we're going to live, we're going to survive.

And so it's one of those things that a program like this could really be that springboard for success for these individuals.

But you know, as weird as it is, I do see some similarities between people getting right out of prison and people getting right out of the military in the sense that there.

It's a completely different lifestyle change.

Yes.

And you get out of the military.

Well, a lot of those guys are living on bases and stuff.

And once you're done, okay, you gotta figure out where you're gonna live, where I'm gonna move to, what I'm gonna do for work now.

Like what you know is the skills that I learned in the military are gonna.

Can they be applied to the civilian life?

And a lot of times yes, and a lot of times no.

Or do I need some short term vocational training to get me there?

You know, I think that there's.

That's why a lot of veterans go with the lineman program or get the CDL or their heavy equipment license, because it's short term vocational programs.

And they can get out of the military GI Bill covers, and get back in the workforce with something that they like and enjoy doing.

But really all kinds of kinds kind of come through the program.

Yes, absolutely.

But it's not a bad thing.

It really isn't.

Well, kind of getting back to you, working with the students.

Somebody calls a school, a lot of times, you or Zach or Courtney are one of the first people that they talk to.

What do those conversations look like as far as maybe what they want out of the program?

A lot of times people just call, kind of like dipping their toes in the water.

They want a little bit of information.

They ask about the employment process after they graduate the program.

People want to know that there is work available before they make that big commitment to come to something like this.

But we do have recruiters that come every single month.

We also have employers that call at least once a week looking for workers.

And we always try to make sure that we provide those opportunities to the students.

So if somebody calls, I'll pull up our spreadsheets and see if they're anywhere in that area.

I'll shoot them a text, give them a call, send them an email, just letting them know that these opportunities are there for them.

A lot of times they're already working.

But I do like to make those options available.

I do.

That's one of my favorite things about our school, is that we do try to get something for you or help you get to that point so you're not just like out of the program.

And now what, what do I do?

Where do I go?

Where do I start?

It's something that we put pride in saying, hey, we can help you find work.

Absolutely, absolutely.

No, I love that.

And talking about like the recruiters and different things.

Like, I love seeing recruiters come in and really all the programs, you know, I know recently we had a variety of recruiters for both the CDL training program, heavy equipment operator program, and the lineman program.

And that's really the goal at the end of the day is like, hey, you know, what can we get you this short term vocational training to be able to get you employed.

And what does that look like at the end of the day?

We want to get you employed.

Yeah.

You know, successfully.

Like, we don't want to throw incompetent drivers out there to these employers.

I also feel like the employers would not be reaching out to us if that's the training that we provided.

Yeah, absolutely.

We don't say that they are tenured professional, but they know the basics, they know the safety.

They can do this stuff.

They got a strong foundation.

Yeah.

Strong foundation to build off of.

I tell all the students that you get done with the CDL program, you're not a professional driver.

Right.

You're an entry level professional driver.

You have a foundation and you have all the skills and core competencies needed to be successful on the job.

But that's where those finishing programs come into play.

And it's no different on the operator side.

You know, those aren't professional operators when they graduate the program, but they're entry level professional operators.

And that stuff just takes time.

It does, Absolutely.

Absolutely.

It's.

It's time behind the wheel is what it comes down to.

And being in different situations.

And of course we don't have all that time to get them to that point, but we can develop a strong foundation and then have a finishing program take them.

Yeah.

Teach them the safety skills to the rest of the way so that they, they don't harm themselves or others.

And just.

Absolutely.

From, from a student's perspective, what can a student do to make himself or herself more attractive to employers.

Before or after a program?

Maybe both, you know what I mean?

But probably particularly after graduating the program or during the program.

Yeah, I mean, consistent work history is always good for employers, you know what I mean?

They don't want to see you jump from job to job to job every month or two.

Our name on the resumes does go pretty far because we do have almost 30 years of experience in training.

Employers are always more than welcome to call us and see how their performance was during the program.

I know you spoke to somebody just last week over a heavy equipment student that had come through a year ago.

Do you remember that?

Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Well, and I.

And I love that.

I love that if there's any employers out there that says, hey, this John Smith applied and, you know, you can absolutely call and I can pull his attendance records, I can pull his training records and see how he or she was as a student.

And I'm gonna be very upfront, you know what I mean?

And very transparent that this is what you have to work with here.

And I've worked with a lot of these students as well, so I know kind of where they're at.

And are they gonna be a good employee for you, a good team member for that company?

And that's why I tell the students, too, like, hey, you know what?

I don't give out letters of recommendation to everybody.

You gotta prove yourself.

You gotta show up on time, you gotta be there all day, not miss days.

Give it a good or if not, a great effort.

Like, that's really important.

This is not gonna come easy, but the effort you put in will determine whether or not you're successful in this as well as whether you're going to get that letter of recommendation.

Right.

The other thing I would recommend is getting to work sooner than later.

Keep those skills fresh in your head.

Maybe it's not the best paying or the best hours, but get to work.

Start using those skills that you've learned to make sure that you solidify that in yourself, and then you're only going to get better from there.

And then more opportunities will present themselves as you continue to grow.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And we've both seen students do that before where they're kind of holding out for the best job, Right.

And they're like, well, I want to make this much and I want to be home this much.

And it's like, whoa, you're right out of school there, bucko.

All right?

And you're going to be all picky, choosy.

Don't do it.

No.

We have some really good companies that we work with that will take you right out of school and then also continue to grow your skills.

You don't have to stay there forever.

No.

But get to work as soon as you can so you don't forget some of these trainings that we've provided for.

You absolutely, absolutely don't be, you know, so my advice to any of those graduates is don't be picky choosy.

You know, you gotta get your experience under your belt and just know there's still gonna be companies out there right now that will require one year or two years of verifiable experience.

Correct.

So right outta school, don't be picky choosy.

Get your experience under your belt.

Get some time behind the wheel.

And it's that right there, that initial experience will be the springboard to all these other job opportunities.

But if you're too picky choosy and all of a sudden months are gonna go by and you're gonna forget some of what you've learned, Right.

You wanna keep learning, keep growing, and you get that verifiable experience, all of a sudden now you can start being a little bit choosier and pickier as.

Far as you want.

A not so great employer is still experience.

It still teaches you what you want or don't want.

It still gets you time behind the wheel.

It still gets you a paycheck.

Try it out.

Absolutely.

There's also.

You could be the difference for this company.

Maybe they really connect with you and maybe they decide to change things because of.

Of how you bring yourself to the company.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

And you never know what you're gonna learn with that company.

I've talked to a lot of students that get into all different types of trucking.

They're like, I had no idea what a Conestoga was, and now I'm hauling that.

Or I'm hauling different non hazmat chemicals in unbaffled tankers.

That is cool.

Just talked to a student recently and he's doing.

He actually had a question on load securement, on chaining down a processor and kind of what that looked like and how many chains does he need and everything else.

And he's like, I'm just loving it.

Like, this is wild.

Like big oversized loads.

Not to mention dry van or reefer or flatbed or drop deck.

I mean, there's so many different things with the trucking industry as well as the heavy equipment world.

Did I tell you I talked to a guy here recently and he is a snow groomer at Marquette Mountain.

Okay, I love that.

Yeah.

And he's literally.

So they're building actually like leveling out or filling in the big bumps in the hills and stuff at the mountain right now.

And then he'll be literally, that's what he does, making snow and then grooming the snow.

At night times and stuff.

And I'm like.

I'm like.

And he's like, but because of what I learned at the heavy equipment school enabled me to be successful at this.

And I'm like, we've all had jobs that we weren't crazy about.

We've all had employers that, like, it's rough, you know, but they're some of the hardest employers that I've had.

I've also gained the most experience.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

There's always something to learn.

Yep, absolutely.

Well, and that's what I tell students as well, is like, just because you graduated the program, you know, or when they graduate, like, this is when your learning has just begun.

Absolutely.

This is literally the start of your learning.

We've given you the key to open the door, but you have to open the door and you have to walk through it.

Exactly, exactly.

And that's what that CDL is, or that heavy equipment operator's license or, you know, that's all that is, a key that'll open the door.

But you still gotta perform, you still gotta show up on time, you still gotta have a work ethic, you have ambition, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Open mind, open mind.

It's all a part of it.

You know, Just because you have your CDL doesn't mean a job will be given to you.

You still have to work.

Right.

You still have to work for it, or any one of these other things.

You know, something that you mentioned, which I thought was interesting, is.

Yeah, don't have a big gap in employment.

Right.

And that's important, I guess, from your perspective.

Why is that important?

Just over the years, I've learned employers aren't really crazy about that.

They want to know what you were doing with that time.

It kind of just like, what are.

You doing with your life?

Seriously?

Like.

Like, as adults, we have to work to pay our bills.

If you have gaps in your employment, how do you.

How do you pay your bills?

How do you.

How do you show up as reliable if you don't have consistent work history?

And like that.

That is something that employers really look for.

And I'm not talking a month here, two months here, but at least six months.

Yeah, six months to a year.

You know, try it out, see if you like it at that point.

If you don't like it, find something else.

Absolutely.

But.

But you can start that process before you leave your employer, you know, and you can leave on a professional way as well, too.

Like, I'm not saying just up and quit, but you always do need to take Care of yourself.

And you always do need to be mindful of what is good for you, but also gain that experience along the way, too.

Absolutely.

Just an open mind about it.

Like, okay, this employer is not great.

This is what I like.

This is what I don't like.

Moving forward, I'm going to find something that is more attuned to my taste, and I think that employers respect those decisions.

Absolutely.

I think so, too.

And part of that is just understanding that, you know what?

Just because you might not like it or it might be hard doesn't mean you're not learning and growing and progressing in that position.

Right.

I'll tell you what.

Some of the things that I hated doing in my previous life, if I could go back, I would probably do them again.

Right.

Just because of the.

Whether it's leadership or management or whatever.

You know what I mean?

Interpersonal skills.

Right.

It was the things that you learned in those positions that enabled you to grow.

Management is a whole different ball game.

You think that you know it.

Oh, yeah.

Think that you can do it until you're in it, and then things come up that you would have never thought that you had to deal with.

No, exactly.

And then it's like, oh, my God.

And then.

And a lot of that is, like, learning on the go and, like.

Absolutely, it is.

You know, I mean, we just had a nice shrm, you know, issue the other day, and, you know, looking at, like, HR and different things and how many different problems you can run into.

So just because you don't like something, it doesn't mean you're not learning a lot in that role that's gonna help you in your career.

Like, it's not a negative thing.

It's not a negative thing.

So too many people, oh, I hate my job.

It's like, well, do you.

Or are you.

Can you use this as an opportunity to learn, to grow and then utilize that in the next role, perhaps?

Absolutely.

Well, I want to be respectful of your time, Kat, but I will tell you, I think you definitely offered some really interesting perspectives on this stuff.

And.

And is there anything else that you would add to a prospective students out there that are maybe on the fence a little.

They're him and Han.

They're nervous.

But I will tell you, Kat will make you feel comfortable.

She makes.

Her and Courtney are amazing.

They make everybody feel comfortable.

And that's kind of what I like to tell the students on the first day.

And I hope you don't mind that I say this, but I do anyway.

Is like, Kat and Courtney, are your go tos if you guys have questions or you need a little pep talk or.

Or you are not sure about this or not sure about that?

I was like, they know.

Right?

Next to Ian, I would say it's you and Courtney know what's going on, right?

You guys know what's going on all the time.

A lot of times I go to you or you tell me like, hey, this.

It's like, you know first.

You always know first.

So it's like, you know what?

The students know that too.

So they go to you because they know that.

I appreciate that because they deserve to have somebody to be able to ask questions to.

If I started a program and I was nervous or something, I would love to have a go to person, any random question, you know, I think it just kind of makes us a little bit more approachable.

If you're on the fence, come in and see us show up, you know, walk through that door, and we will give you all the information that we have.

I know you've said before, we'll put you in a semi right now if you want to.

Absolutely, absolutely.

We do tours all the time.

It's like, almost every week, if not multiple times a week, people stop in like, hey, can I take a tour of the school?

Come on in.

Let's show you around.

We have schools and ISD programs that now we're getting into.

Hey, we were there about this time last year.

We want to know if we can come back.

Absolutely.

It's awesome.

Bring your students over.

Actually, I just saw Barbara has a big group coming, coming again here, coming up, so shout out to her.

Thank you, Barbara.

All right.

We appreciate you come see us.

Yeah, well, and it's.

I think it's so cool because I never had that in high school.

Did you?

Like, like, never.

And what a great opportunity in high school for these young people to be thinking about these different career opportunities and exploring these different careers, because I never had that.

Not one.

Did we go visit an employer or a trade school or anything like that to say, hey, did you.

Do you.

Do you know what alignment is?

Or do you know what a professional truck driver is?

How to get your cdl?

Yeah, like, what's that?

What is a cdl?

Right?

I mean, some of those questions are trivial, but.

But they're.

They're there to.

To be able to answer these questions.

So my daughter, my junior in high school, every year they do this, like, assessment quiz or whatever for one of their teachers.

Just kind of like, what job suits you best, you know, and the majority of her class got good answers, normal answers.

You know what her answer was?

What?

A magician?

No.

What kind of assessment are they taking in school where the number one job opportunity that suits you best is a magician?

Boy, oh boy.

I think there's maybe some rational conversations that need to happen.

How is that even an option?

I mean, there was also like costumes and I in special effects.

She's very artistic.

Magician, but a magician.

A magician.

I was like, wow, that was a,.

Like a stage performer magician.

Yeah.

That was a complete waste of your time yesterday.

Penn and Teller kind of stuff.

You know that.

Yeah.

Like the next Criss Angel, I guess.

But I wonder, in that process, where are the trades?

Are they in there?

Yeah, I mean, to a certain extent, maybe, but it would be nice to kind of see what those look like.

I don't really think that we get enough exposure in the school system.

No, for sure.

No.

And I think that's what this is all about, is to be able to give these young people an opportunity to explore these different careers, to touch them, feel them and understand them.

And maybe it's for them, great.

If not, that's fine too.

But we're glad you had fun today.

Yeah.

Glad you had a good time.

And I'm sure they related it to maybe other families that are in different trades and different careers and.

But if you're never exposed to it, if you're never exposed to it, you would never know whether that might have been a great fit for you.

And so that's the whole idea.

And where we live, we have a lot of opportunities for those jobs.

We have the logging up here and things like that.

We're kind of more in rural America and these are rural, more blue collar jobs.

And there's a lot of them.

There's a lot of great blue collar jobs up here.

Take advantage of it.

And these blue collar jobs are making six figures, you know what I mean?

So they're making more than doctors in some places.

So, you know, and then maybe our kids are exposed to it.

But, but what about the schools that are in lower Michigan or Milwaukee, Green Bay, those bigger cities where, where those aren't things that are just readily available for them to get information on.

So it's good to just be here to almost be an advocate for the trades.

Hey, you don't have to go to college.

Yeah, there's.

Give us six weeks, 10 weeks, 16 weeks, four weeks, and you can make some real money.

Whether you like it or not, you're young enough to go ahead and just do this.

Just try it.

And now you can live on your own, pay your bills, travel the country if you want.

You know,.

I love that.

I love that.

I gotta give a shout out to Linus here over in Newberry because he is just amazing on how he puts all this.

And, you know, kind of what he tells his students is essentially, you know, what he wants.

He pushes them, motivates them to be successful.

But he says, you know what?

Let's figure out what works for you.

And he looks at every type of career path you can think of.

So you know what he says?

All right, you're interested in the military?

What branch?

I think about the army, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Marines.

What.

What are you thinking about?

All right, how can we take a step closer to that?

All right, Are you in sports?

Are you working out?

Do you know what the PT looks like in that?

And he's done that with welding and linemen and truck driving and all these different things, but he's like, you know what?

And maybe college is an avenue for some people.

Okay, perfect.

What college are you going to?

What program is it?

Is that your cheapest option?

Is it the best option?

All right, what kind of ranking do they have?

How long is that going to take?

I mean, just very detailed questions.

And I just think those conversations need to happen more.

Absolutely.

Because it really sets those individuals up for success right from the get go.

But shout out to Linus, with what he has going on, I think it's just amazing.

I know Linus is good.

He is.

And, you know, and he sets up his students for success.

And I don't think his students have any idea what he's doing and tailoring.

They will.

Yeah.

No, exactly.

Exactly.

You know, you never know your best teachers until seems like decades later.

The seeds that they planted in you, it take a long time to grow, but they will grow.

You sit there and you try to guide them the best to your ability.

They're going to fight you on it sometimes.

Absolutely.

But we're not their friends.

We're their parents.

Same with the CDL instructors.

They're not your friends.

They're your instructors.

They're your.

Your coaches, your leaders.

They want you to succeed.

And you're not gonna like them all the time.

No, but guess what?

They do have your best interests in mind, 100%.

And that's important to recognize and realize that.

Okay.

Yeah.

It might not be all roses and rainbows.

Right.

I don't like what he's saying.

I'm gonna push it.

But he's right.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you so much, Kat.

Can we do this again?

Can I get a. Yeah, you know what I want.