The Scott Townsend Show
Conversations, perspectives, and insight from some of the brightest minds, facilitated by everyone's friend, Scott Townsend
The Scott Townsend Show
#240 Wrenches, Mics, And The Blue Collar Wave with Sam DeWitt
We trace how a dining table mic turned into a focused blue-collar podcast and why showing up beats having perfect gear. We dig into trade careers, union vs non-union nuance, and the real time cost of making a quality show while life and work keep moving.
• origins of a three-host shop-floor show
• evolving into interviews, leadership, and growth
• audience focus on hands-on workers and learners
• time cost of editing and tools that help
• consistency over perfection and analytics
• union versus non-union debate and reactions
• reconnecting family through creative work
• trade school pathways and job placement
• AI limits versus hands-on security
• women entering the trades and future segments
• practical starter advice using only a phone
• where to find the show and contact details
Sam DeWitt's contact info: livinthedreampodcast24@gmail.com
Also on YouTube, Spotify (video), Apple Podcasts, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Patreon as Livin The Dream
Livin the Dream podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/6QEMyFlEAP6JojsgPxBEBS?si=82fff83c0f8a4d42
No Dumb Questions podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/5gCTSMHzLofJPzCRKbF37V?si=536974e9c4b94e61
Daily Wire https://open.spotify.com/show/3YMFdNqoNtVcCBKSUvjr8n?si=5e07a5393a544b3b
Blue Collar BS https://open.spotify.com/show/25mPhuG2W4VBkWhyewDvr3?si=f62fc9d7ba1f4a42
The Way I Heard It https://open.spotify.com/show/5cqHs2kCabyijuKOSN2QUS?si=7d4830af45a64dc1
Blue Collar Cash https://amazn.so/Dtc4SOD
I ♥ my podcast host @Buzzsprout. This link will get us both a $20 credit if you upgrade! https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1087190
The Scott Townsend Show Merchandise https://teespring.com/stores/tsts-2
Resources and Links
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My contact info:
LinkedIn https://bit.ly/2ZZ4qwe
Twitter https://bit.ly/3enLDQa
Facebook https://bit.ly/2Od4ItO
Instagram https://bit.ly/2ClncWl
Send me a text: 918-397-0327
Executive Producer: Ben Townsend
Creative Consultant: Matthew Blue Townsend
Shot with a 1080P Webcam with Microphone, https://amzn.to/32gfgAu
Samson Technologies Q2U USB/XLR Dynamic Microphone Recording and Podcasting Pack
https://amzn.to/3TIbACe
Voice Actor: Britney McCullough
Logo by Angie Jordan https://blog.angiejordan.com/contact/
Theme Song by Androzguitar https://www.fiverr.com/inbox/androzguitar
Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show, brought to you by Dizoman Productions.
SPEAKER_01:So here I am today with uh Sam DeWitt. Thanks for joining us, Sam. Sam's a mechanic, turn podcaster. Probably still a mechanic, right? Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh so thanks for joining the show. Uh, we'll start off with uh my usual question what'd you have for breakfast this morning?
SPEAKER_03:Uh I have not had breakfast this morning. And um sadly, the on-call phone is ringing, so hold please. Of course.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, the on call. He must be on call.
SPEAKER_03:And of course it's a spam call. What the crap! Of course it's a freaking spam call.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I apologize. So no breakfast this morning.
SPEAKER_03:No, sir. No breakfast this morning. I I I rolled out of bed and uh, well, I had a Dr. Pepper for breakfast. This would be number two.
SPEAKER_01:Well, so yeah, uh a good friend of mine, uh Glenn Hall, uh reached out, said I should uh get in touch with you. You know, Glenn, I've been in touch with Glenn. Yes. Um, and so based on Glenn's recommendation, I reached out and uh thought it it would be fun to have you on the show and talk about uh the blue collar aspect of podcasting and kind of what you're doing in that uh niche, so to speak. Yep. Um let's start off with uh, you know, so what's inspired you to start? And I should mention, by the way, that your podcast, uh the Livin' the Dream podcast, living L-I-V-I-N. That's right, the podcast, the uh the the dream podcast. How'd you get started?
SPEAKER_03:So it was me and two other guys. We had kind of joked about we were gonna start a podcast, and it was uh basically it was drunk thoughts, and uh we were like, we should start a podcast, and then it kind of it went to the wayside for a while, and then uh Josiah had come up and he's like, you know what? He goes, Let's actually do this. So he went and bought a little microphone, and our first episode, and it's titled The Beginning, is atrocious as far as audio quality goes, because it was one microphone on a dining room table, and all of the echo feedback and audio. But um gotta start somewhere, yeah, yeah. So we've uh and it was just a matter of we were just talking about because it was three different people from three different uh uh areas of work. Uh Joe was is a uh journeyman plumber, now a contract plumber. Uh Tegan is a heavy equipment mechanic, and then I'm a um CNC technician is my primary talent. So what's CNC? Computer numerically controlled. So it's uh lathes, mills, routers, lasers, oh okay. Um robots, any anything along that realm.
SPEAKER_01:That's cool.
SPEAKER_03:I can probably fix it. That's awesome. Yeah, or phone a friend that knows how to fix it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So you started off with three guys talking about uh work, basically.
SPEAKER_03:Basically, your work. Yeah, it was, you know, it was our our experiences in work. Uh, we also had different age ranges. You know, I was the older one of the podcast, they were in their uh mid-20s, mid to early 20s. So it was also a different uh, you know, different viewpoint in the blue collar realm. You know, it's a different generation. Uh that their outlook on the blue-collar community, me being the older one, seeing it as more of the the rough and tumble, and you know, I'll I'll beat you into submission and you're gonna do the work and it's gonna be hard. And then their generation kind of has some of that, but not as much. And so it was it was a good idea. We didn't really have any focus or uh didn't really have any idea what we were trying to accomplish. It was more just three guys sitting around, you know, dumping on about work and just kind of giving our perspective on things that were going on. So that was how it started. I'm trying to refine. We and why it's just me now is we ended up moving, so it was a lot harder for us to get together and do it weekly, right? Um I've gotten some software recently that allows me to be able to reach out, like you know, kind of like you are you and I are now. Right as an option, I realized I might have gone with it, it's probably cheaper, but I I love the Zoom uh format.
SPEAKER_01:Uh been doing it for many years now, the last five years. Okay, and uh it just it puts me anywhere, you know. I uh I've interviewed people in Germany and France and Denmark and all over the United States, and I can do it right here sitting, you know. That's fantastic. Yeah, and uh so it's been a lot of fun. So would you say that your uh uh up up to now your your focus now is still blue-collar focus, your podcast?
SPEAKER_03:So so the podcast is still oriented around evolved. It it's so it's still oriented around the blue-collar community, uh, because it's what I know. But it's kind of grown into more of interviews and trying to get people that are in different trades, different realms, and you know, talk to them about the struggles that they have, uh, leadership things, uh, growth. Uh some of the podcasts that I've done that were just me were talking about my career development, uh, where how I came from an a mechanic to the master mechanic to trying to train myself and grow into a leadership role. So it's just kind of one of those, it's it's I guess blue-collar evolution is what it turned out to be. Uh the the name Live in the Dream, honestly, the reason we went with it and we had no idea that there were so many other live in the dreams out. We might have chosen differently had we known, but because it's hell, it's it's been difficult with visibility. So um, but we chose it because you walk up to somebody and you're like, Hey man, how you doing? And their response is live in the dream. Like, oh, funny, you should say that. I have a podcast that talks about just that. So it was kind of an icebreaker and an easy social, you know, interaction. Uh like I had a previous podcast. This the last one I put out was you know, social networking or uh networking, it's not just social media. So the the the live in the dream title itself is an icebreaker. So that was that was kind of the reason behind the the the naming of the podcast. And you know, we didn't we didn't do any research as to marketability or any of that stuff.
SPEAKER_01:You just launched off and did it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we just dove in and rolled with it. And we're we're about a we're a year, a little over a year and a half into it. I say we're it's me and the mouse in my pocket now.
SPEAKER_01:So are you glad you started?
SPEAKER_03:I am, I am. I'm glad that I started. It's been it's been a lot of fun. Uh I I was a an uh I'm not gonna say an audio engineer, but I I ran sound for a church youth group for 10 years, I think it was, and I really enjoyed that aspect, the mixing of it, and and that was all live. So there was there was little opportunity for screw-ups and stuff like that. So uh that I and I enjoyed that aspect of it, and I hadn't done it in a long time. And uh so I'm I'm really picky about sound quality, how good things sound, how good, you know, does does the audio link together, you know, so on and so forth. So I I try to I I I use this as to kind of scratch that itch.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's awesome. Who do you think uh when you when you're when you're doing your podcast, who uh who do you envision? Who's your ideal listener? Who's uh who's listening uh on the other side? Who do you picture tuning in?
SPEAKER_03:So I honestly it's it's anybody that's touching a tool. If if you're if you're wrenching on something, if you're a carpenter, if you're if you're operating a crane, it it doesn't matter. If you if you're going to work clean and coming home dirty, I'd love, you know, I I would love for them to be on the other side of the other side of the computer screen. And uh, you know, and and the young guys, you know, I a lot of my audience is the 25 to 30 range. And so that's kind of where I've I've tried to throw in some of the learning aspect of it because you know you get into the blue-collar trade and you're like, oh, I want to be CEO. Whoa, there killer. You gotta, you know, there's some steps you gotta go through, and you can be that way, right? But there's an there's another uh oh, I can't remember the name right offhand, but uh blue collar BS, we'll name drop them. They they had a guy on there that he started off as a helper and is now the CEO of a major pipeline company. So, you know, I mean it's it's it's stories like that that I want to share that, you know, if you really dive in, put in the work and the effort, you can you can do anything, but you're not gonna be given it, especially the collar community. You're not gonna get handed a career, you've got to earn the skills and and the effort has to be put in to get there.
SPEAKER_01:What's your uh biggest surprise so far in starting your podcast?
SPEAKER_03:Looking back on it, the amount of time that it that it involves.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, people don't realize how much time it really takes.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:No idea.
SPEAKER_03:The the recording, the recording is the easy part because I'm good at talking, I don't have a problem with that. It's the the editing and scrutinizing and making sure that you know you're putting out the best the best level product that you can, and that takes time. I but but there are there are softwares out there. I've got on the shirt here at Riverside. I found them recently, and are they helpful? So, you know, for anyone out there wanting to start a podcast, it is it so I guess my thing is there's always the statement you've got to spend money to make money. And I mean, obviously, I have not hit the make money part yet, but neither have I. Right, but I've met some incredible people. Um, and but you know, if you want to put out a quality product, you're gonna have to put some money into it. And the uh Riverside, I think it's I think it was like I think it's like$39 a month or something like that. But it does so much of the editing and makes the editing so much simpler. And you can go you can go through and um refine it and make little changes, and uh you can yeah, I mean you can full on edit it if you want to, but they have the ability to kind of chop out some of the ums and ahs, and they can uh because I have a lot of those. Yeah, we all do. But you can the silent moments and stuff like that, it keeps the it keeps the podcast flowing more because if you have a lot of dead air or something like that, and then you end up with moments like that, then you know people lose interest. So right. I'd say the hardest thing about a podcast is keeping someone's attention.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's true. That's very true. I uh the uh time um yeah, I th I I think the rule of thumb is for every hour, for every hour it takes three to four hours. I'd say that's pretty accurate to edit uh audio, yeah. And if it's video, it's like for every hour, it's four to five hours. I can't, I'm I'm I'm close. Uh I could be getting that wrong, but it that's close, and I believe it.
SPEAKER_03:I I would say with my experience, you're accurate.
SPEAKER_01:You know, so if you do an hour podcast, if you do an hour interview, and then you go back and you listen to it once just to get a feel for what happened, right? Then you go back and you are looking for the main theme or what's really being said here, and what can be cut out, that's another hour at least. Then you go back and listen to it again to make sure it all sounds right, and then you hear a mistake or something that you forgot to take out or you left in. Yep. So, you know, and then by the time you uh upload it and create a thumbnail and get your descriptions and transcripts and chapters and all that stuff, yeah, you're you're way into it, you know. Yeah, yeah. It's it's it's gotta be something you really enjoy doing, which I I do, thank goodness. But uh, I don't think people appreciate uh how much time it it takes to do one.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, absolutely, yeah. It well, when I first started into this, I didn't I I had no concept, never really thought about it. And then going through and editing even that first podcast was uh I think I probably had six, seven hours into it because I was really trying to like scrutinize it and make it, you know, the best thing ever. Right. So if going back and listening to it now, it hurts my heart. I mean, from then to now is is is night and day different, right?
SPEAKER_01:And then but you just get better at what you do as you as you practice it over time, and so you've always got to start off sucking, yeah. You know, Pixar Pixar says that when they start their movies, they always start off with the suck, you know, it just sucks. Yeah, but you keep working on it and refine it, and and you get it from a monster's ink when it's just horrible, but you gotta be okay with it being horrible because you gotta start somewhere, yeah. It's always gonna start that way.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and a lot of the things like I've I've watched the unsubscribed podcast, and some of the things that they've talked about on like their journey is is you know, it's when you first start out, even with the YouTube like uh Matt Carricker's one, that just quantity. It's not it's not about quality, it's getting out there, getting your name out there, and and consistency, quality, and or no quantity and consistency, and the quality will come later.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And consistency is the one that's hard for me. I mean, I try to I've tried to hit the one week mark, and I just, you know, for I mean, I it's a hit or miss kind of a thing. Um, and I've been pretty good at it, but then I I I just find that to be actually I find that to be surprisingly for me, that's the most challenging aspect of podcasting is the consistency because you have to have consistency to build an audience. Because, you know, like if you're watching TV when up, we were growing up, you know, if you had uh I'm gonna date myself here, but Hawaii 5 0, you know, comes on at uh eight o'clock on Wednesday night. Right. Well, if they if they miss that eight o'clock slot and you tune in and it's not there, then you're gonna flip the channel something else. Right. So you always have to be there at the same bat channel, same bat time, and let people uh get used to that that time slot or at least that day, you know, so they can anticipate and tell other people about it. But if you're if but if you if you're not there, this is I'm always kicking myself in the butt. If you're not there and they tune in or they expect to see something or hear something and you're not there, right? So then you but then you get guys like uh Dan Carlin uh history. Um come on, uh history. Um the not the history channel, it's uh hardcore history. Okay, and he's got one of the best podcasts. Everybody will say he is his is one of the best podcasts ever. Okay, but he only posts like once every three months or so, or maybe it's four. Yeah, because he does so much research into his his historical story, right? And it just takes a long time for him to get one out. But when he gets one out, it's a home run every time. Yeah, so you got that end of it, you know. And uh, but anyway, yeah. So uh what were we talking about?
SPEAKER_03:I've got I don't know, we rabbit trailed, but that's and that's that's that's my podcast entire entirety is we start off on one topic and then we'll rabbit trail and we'll come back and then we rabbit trail and then we come back. Um we there for a while we had a we had a saying, uh it was a beer thought, because you know, if you if you came up with something just a squirrel moment, it was a beer thought.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So we uh but the there's there's all kinds of other there's a lot of podcasts that have been an inspiration that they're not even weekly, they're they're a monthly podcast, and you know, it's stuff like that that which would be great. And and it I I made it I think eight months where we were posting cons consistently every week, Thursday at 5 a.m. And uh, and then I moved and I think I went I went radio silent for like three or four months, yeah. And and it was just it, you know, it was hard to get back into it. It was one of those deals, it's like, do I want to continue this on because it's just gonna be me? Um and you know, it there was a there was a figuring out is you know, is Living the Dream dead or is it gonna continue on? And so I finally said, forget it, I'm gonna go into it wholehearted, bought studio lighting, bought uh upgraded soundboard. Uh yeah, I've I've invested uh quite a bit more into it, and and it seems to it seems to be getting some attention and some growth. And uh, you know, I have I have my tens of listeners that come in and on the week on the weekly.
SPEAKER_01:And right. Hey, that's that's awesome. If you got tens, you've got a great podcast. Yeah. There's nothing to sneeze out there.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and one of the great things that's been that I've benefited from this was uh I have a half brother that lives in Kentucky, and the podcast started and we hadn't spoken and not because of anything bad, but just because there's a there's a big age difference between us and he I think the last time we had talked, he was seven. So, you know, I was I think I'm 10 years old. No, like 15 years older than him. Um so but we hadn't really spoken a whole lot. Well, he saw the podcast or his wife saw the podcast on social media and he reached out to me but through because of the podcast. So we've and we've talked every day since then. So that was one of those things I'm like, if I if I didn't get anything else from the podcast, that was cool to me.
SPEAKER_01:Right, that's awesome. What uh you know when uh I'm a I'm a huge podcast listener. I mean, I consume a lot of podcasts. What do you listen to? What do you what do you like listening to, or would you recommend so besides Living the Dream?
SPEAKER_03:Right, yeah. Obviously, we'll recommend Living the Dream. Uh the Scott Townsend show. Scott Townsend show. Um, so the blue collar BS podcast, that's a new addition to the the rotation. Uh The Briefing by Albert Moeller. I listened to that one. He's he's a daily podcast uh podcaster, and he's always got it's uh uh news and events from a Christian worldview. So yeah, I what's it called? The briefing? Yes.
SPEAKER_01:I think I know that one.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_01:My brother told me about that one.
SPEAKER_03:It's a really good, it's a really good podcast. It it gives you the news and I mean it gives you the news and events from a Christian worldview. Yeah, and it's it's just a really good source of news in that respect. And it's just 30 minutes or whatever, so that's usually my that's my end-to-work podcast that I listen to. Oh, yeah, okay. Um let's see. The Daily Wire. I listen to, you know, Ben Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, uh what's the other? I I used to listen to another one and I can't remember his name right now, so forgive me on that one. But and then there's uh Smarter Everyday, the a uh No Dumb Questions, that's what it is. Their their podcast is No Dumb Questions, and that one is a great one too, because that's uh Dustin Sadlin, he does Smarter Everyday on YouTube, uh which I have I have an engineering background, and so I'm I'm a bit I'm a bit white collar and a bit blue-collar, so it kind of goes both ways.
SPEAKER_01:I got no stupid questions on my rotation.
SPEAKER_03:No stupid questions?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, by uh what is this? Uh hosted by oh Angela Duckworth and Mike Megan. Megan. Okay, so it's not the same thing. Yeah. But it's probably similar. Okay. Yeah, that's cool.
SPEAKER_03:And then you've got, let's see, uh then Mike Rose. I listen to his sometimes. Uh he's well, he's kind of a he was kind of a big inspiration for all this too. Is that was kind of I think our thoughts on this is it's the audio. It was originally it was intended to just be like the audio version of dirty jobs, and we just talked about the blue-collar jobs, and then we've moved into video and so on and so forth. But right, you know, Mike Rowe, if you if you want to hit us up, uh I wouldn't be sad. As a matter of fact, I'd probably pass out.
SPEAKER_01:But what's the biggest thing you've learned about yourself on this uh year, year and a half uh podcasting journey, blue collar podcasting journey?
SPEAKER_03:I I've learned that well, one that this can be a big uh tool for almost a journaling aspect of you know being able to, this is where I'm at in my life. And that's one of the things that has helped. I I've also learned that I'm not as good a speaker as I thought I was when I started this. Sometimes it's uh it's it's rough listening to the recording. I'm going, oh Lord, that was terrible.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But we I'd say the biggest takeaway from this year was learning that the like we were talking about, the consistency is is very difficult to do. And we've you know, it this is podcasting is a labor of love. If you don't have an already well-known name, this is a labor of love.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And when you're consistent, when you when you when when you uh show up show up week in, week out, or every two weeks, whatever, you just gotta be okay with sometimes it's just not gonna go well. Yeah, you know, you do your best, but sometimes, but you can't let that slow you down, you know. You just gotta you gotta stay on your game and and keep doing it, uh and it gets better. And but then some weeks it's just gonna bomb and and I keep reminding me myself that because if I think about that, I let it slow me down. But yeah, uh, I have a lot of a lot of great episodes out there, but I've also got some ones that I just but you that's what you gotta do, man. You know, yeah, not everyone can be uh a winner, I guess. Yeah, whatever the winner is.
SPEAKER_03:Not all gonna be a rock star. Yeah, I uh another thing I learned is just quit looking at the analytics, just go, just just put it out there. If it's something, if the content you're if you're passionate about the content, just put it out there.
SPEAKER_01:Right. That's that's really good advice.
SPEAKER_03:So it's you know, it's it's not always about the numbers. And and if you're if you continue, just I I believe, but I don't have any proof of this yet, but I believe that if you if you stay consistent and you get the content out there, the numbers will come. And that's just that's what I just keep telling myself. And and it'll be and and it's fun. I enjoy the sitting down here. I've had some episodes. I've had my dad on the podcast to where we've talked about his career. I have good, I've had co-workers that uh I've had on here that we've talked about their careers. Uh I've started some controversy on some on uh union versus non-union, brother.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, great.
SPEAKER_03:You want to stir this pot. Uh have you an episode on there?
SPEAKER_01:And yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that was probably the biggest on the on the social media side. That was probably one of our biggest episodes because my biological father is a retired union pipe fitter. And we had him, that was our first phone-in podcast. That was another some milestone for us, yeah. And uh he was on there and talked about the you know, his experience in the union, and gave he gave a really neutral stance on it, and that was actually surprising for me because I figured he was, you know, pro-union because right family prior to me has been. Not that I'm saying I'm not pro-union, I'm just saying I'm not in a union. So that but uh so he gave a really neutral stance on it, and golly did that piss people off. It was really surprising. So uh it it's just been interesting, the uh the the interactions and seeing uh seeing the reactions to some of the content that we've put out. And that's probably been one of the most enjoyable things for me is I'm kind of I'm a people person, so seeing that reaction and getting that feedback is is one of the things that I enjoy. If I can get if I could get more people to comment and stuff like that, that would be a that would I think would be fun too.
SPEAKER_01:Be careful what you wish for.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, I love a good keyboard warrior. Let's go.
SPEAKER_01:Uh what challenges have you faced in getting started with your podcast? Uh, you know, like this might be a good chance to encourage other new creators listening to the show.
SPEAKER_03:Um well, moving out here, internet. Holy crap. Finding quality internet because I'm not close enough to town to get good internet. So I'm on uh I have uh I'm trying to think of what it is. So it's station, it's stationary wireless, so it's a radio transmitter that bounces off a big tower. And I was real close to going to Starlink because it was getting inconsistent and it never failed. They were down or doing repairs when I'm trying to upload. So man, that's been that's been my biggest hurdle is just being able to stink and upload. Um, so but they're running fiber optic in front of my house right now, so right. I am excited. So internet will not be a hurdle any longer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's awesome. Fiber optics. So, you know, how do you uh live in the dream? How do you know if it has been or will be successful? What's the metric? What what or you know, is there is there a metric? Uh uh
SPEAKER_03:I'll I'll be honest with you that this started off as no expectations for the podcast whatsoever. It was it was intended for three friends sitting around and discussing and maybe just just sharing a little bit of knowledge and maybe talking about some perspectives in the blue-collar community that other people don't talk about. Um the toll it takes on your body. Like, yeah, in the in the the in the community, yeah, we're always like, oh, my back hurts, my knees are gone, my shoulders, toes, blah, blah, blah. You know, that's something that we don't talk about. We also don't talk about some of the emotional strain that it that that our careers put on our families. Uh, that's a lot of things that that nobody really talks about in the blue-collar community because it's just we're out here making money. Sometimes out here making money is 16, 18 hour days.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And that puts that puts a strain on a family. So, you know, it's it's stuff like that we've talked about. It's it's that sounds like a good topic. No, it sounds like yeah, that's actually that's that that may be um maybe one in the next episodes. Yeah. Uh and what's funny is is I have I have a wife that is in the Luke Aller community as well. She's uh maintenance technician for a local company. Oh, okay. So uh so we've got we've got two perspectives, which I'm gonna go ahead and we'll we'll tease this one. That I think we're either gonna do a segment to where it's maybe once a month that her and I do an episode together and kind of talk about women in the blue-collar world. Um because that's becoming more and more of a thing.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_03:Uh my daughter is in automotive vote right now, so she's moving into a quote unquote man's field. And so that's a coming episode or segment or maybe a separate podcast. I don't know just yet. It all depends on how it goes. It'll probably just be a segment on Living the Dream moving forward. Right. Until if it if it really takes off, then maybe it'll become its own thing. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:The listeners. I think the the whole subject of uh blue collar uh is interesting because colleges are just not cutting it uh anymore, and they haven't for quite a while, and so uh they're they're cranking out these students than they have anything.
SPEAKER_03:Uh huh. They've become more of an indoctrination camp than they have an education specifically, right?
SPEAKER_01:And then they turn these kids loose with uh debt up to their eye up to their eyeballs in debt, and then they can't uh you know get a job in the degree that they majored in, and and so they're saddled with you know this debt, and they you know might even have to declare bankruptcy, but even bankruptcy doesn't clear you from the uh college debt. So they're just hung out to dry after this uh four years, six years, whatever, you know. The blue-collar work is great.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, you can go I started in why I stayed in the blue-collar field because I went through school when I got out of school. I couldn't make enough money with the degree to pay the student loan. So I kept working in the factories, which is what I did through college, because I can make more money.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So there you go. And then uh, you know, kids, I say kids, uh, I would yeah, wholeheartedly recommend they go to a vote or something and learn something, uh some trade of some sort, because you can almost go to work immediately after you uh I don't do you get a degree or do you get uh after you get through with your training?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, most of the trade schools actually offer a job shadowing. If it's a two-year program, they offer a job shadowing for the first year, and then the second year they do job placement. So if you're top of your class, then they will help you find a job.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so that's just amazing. And I got a a friend of mine, he's 22 years old, and he's studying to be a lineman and uh climbing poles and uh you know, doing all that kind of stuff, and he's absolutely loving it and driving those big rigs, and yeah, uh it's he's setting up, he's he's getting set up. I mean, that he he's uh already got an internship lined out, and then uh when they get through, when he gets through with that, he'll be knocking down some pretty big bucks. Oh, yeah. And then uh, so I just I I mean a good electrician, go try to find one, you know, a plumber, uh Finnish carpenter. Uh you hear roofer, you hear horror stories of people trying to find someone to come fix something, but you can't get anybody because they're all booked up and there's nobody else to do it, and you have to wait six months to get them to come to your place. Yep, there's a huge market for it. So I'm all in, I'm I'm bought in.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, the the the that was another thing too, is is we, you know, we were trying to talk about some of the the benefits of the blue collar community because I had the two other younger generation, the 20 somethings that were coming into the blue-collar community. So it was, you know, we were also trying to promote the blue-collar community because there's there's a there's a job shortage, or there's a there's not a job shortage, there's a demand for the jobs, there's just not enough people to fill those jobs, right?
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_03:But I really feel like that the Gen Z, like that aspect of it is fixing to shift a lot of that. There's there's been enough of the millennials and stuff like that that have pushed for the um pushed for the blue-collar growth for the trades that we're like going, hey, there's people are retiring, and we don't have people, we don't have people to fill it. So so we've we we've seen it and lived it.
SPEAKER_01:People are scared, running scared right now about AI and AI taking jobs and uh Hollywood, the creators, the writers, uh, they're all and it may be rightfully so because it's doing a pretty good job of coming up with stuff, and so who knows how that's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_03:But something they've been putting out lately. Uh, I think AI could have done better anyhow.
SPEAKER_01:But I think uh I don't see AI coming fixing your electric. I don't see AI fixing your toilet or installing uh whatever, you know. Yeah, um, I think that's pretty good security for a while. Uh when everybody else is running scared from this new AI stuff, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Uh I think anybody into the blue collar community, AI can't touch us.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's not gonna get dirty. And you know, you gotta you gotta love getting dirty and stuff, but you also gotta love making money because you will be making money getting dirty, you know. So I would have a problem with that.
SPEAKER_03:If you look at it in just the comparison, like we were talking about, you know, you come out of college with a degree and you're saddled with all of this debt. So the average college student comes out with somewhere to$30,000,$40,000 worth of debt. At least. And then, and yeah, like I said, that's average$30,000 to$40,000 in debt. And then you get your average blue-collar guy, you can go to Votec, uh, you could go to like OSU Oakmogey or something like that, not sponsored, but here they go. And you come out of there with$20,000,$25,000 in debt, but you're gonna be making$60,000,$70,000 a year, and it's not gonna be hard to pay that off, especially because you're just starting out, you don't have a whole lot of other debt. So you pay that sucker off, and then five years from now, you've got a solid career that's not gonna go anywhere, and you don't have debt.
SPEAKER_01:And you could be having your own business, people working for you, apprenticing under you. Oh, yeah, you know, just you can make it as much as you make it as big as you want to make it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:My daughter asked me when she was when she had taught uh thought about going into the the automotive vote. She asked me, she goes, What do you think about it? I said, You'll never be without a job.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And I mean, and that that's that's the truth because whether you're working for a company or for yourself, you'll always be able to have income. So I was like, I'm 100% for it. I actually have told both of my kids, I've got an older uh son that he's turning 21 this year. Holy cow. Um he's uh I told both of them I I will 100% support you and would happily pay for your trade school. I won't pay for college. So uh that's that's just me and and my perspective on it. So but I because I because I believe that you know you can get your degree in underwater basket weaving and have sixty thousand dollars in debt, or you can have twenty and have a career that'll last a lifetime.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Have you ever heard of Ken Rusk? I have not. So I found out about Ken through uh I can't remember how how that came up. But anyway, so he wrote this book, uh Blue Collar Cash. Oh, okay. Yeah, he's uh ditch digger. He was originally a ditch digger, now he owns uh several several companies worth millions of dollars, and he's all about uh vote, he's all about the blue collar. Um it's a it's a great uh read. I've had him on twice on the show, and he's up in Minnesota or something like that. But uh anyway, he's super big on blue collar and uh helping people uh reach their dreams through blue collar work, whether it's through his company or just you know trying to help a kid get a leg up on the in the world. Yeah, so I'd recommend reading blue collar cash, it's uh he's got a good take on it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, well, I'll definitely have to check that out. Maybe we'll do some exchanging of contact information because I think that would be great to have him on the show. Sure.
SPEAKER_01:You know, if someone listening wanted to start their own podcast, what would you what advice would you give them? How what would you uh tell them to do?
SPEAKER_03:And you don't have to have with the cell phones that we have nowadays, you don't have to have this, you don't have to have this, you don't have to have the camera that I'm staring at, you don't have to have any of that stuff. This is this is the day and age if you want to have a podcast, you've got you you have an entire studio right here in your hand all day. You can which is pretty amazing. You can do the editing, you can do everything on this device. So, and it's it's astonishing. I don't have the skill set to do it on that. That's why I have the mixer, the microphone, right?
SPEAKER_01:Well, you have experience with it, right?
SPEAKER_03:And so that's you know, that's the way I know how to do it, but with you know, don't don't hesitate, man. Just get out there, put your airpods in, and you've got you've got a microphone and a camera right there in front of you. You can have your own podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the entry to the barrier to entry is non-existent anymore.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, there's no there's no nothing is stopping you except for yourself.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Well, any last words, any thoughts on uh your podcast, uh your podcast journey? Uh what are you looking forward to? What's what's coming up? You mentioned you and your wife and your daughter maybe doing some shows.
SPEAKER_03:Um so I you know, I just I'm excited about the the podcast in the future for for Living the Dream. Uh, you know, it's it's also it has it has promoted a lot of connections like with with finding Scott here. And uh I just I look forward to to where it goes from here. It's really kind of finally started to get some traction, I feel like, and you know, people are noticing and wanting to be a part of it. Um so you know, just just stay tuned because I I think I if I can get my consistency straight, then I I think there'll be some I think there'll be some big some big changes and uh some some good growth coming down the pipe.
SPEAKER_01:You know, back to consistency just for a second. You know, I you think well I'll just do it once a week, and that doesn't sound like a hard thing to do. Yeah, that's tough. I'm gonna tell you right now, for those of you starting out thinking you're gonna start a podcast, a weekly podcast. All right, okay, I'm with you. But just know that's a lot harder than it sounds. Yeah, you might want to go for every two weeks, you know, or yeah, maybe once a month, and try that out and then bump it up if you're feeling froggy, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Just uh, but yeah, yeah, working working 60 to 80 hours a week and trying to uh edit a podcast and record a podcast has proved to be very challenging.
SPEAKER_01:Oh man, to say the least. Well, for those who are interested in getting in touch with you, uh how do they how where do they go to find out about you and your podcast?
SPEAKER_03:So we're on YouTube as Living the Dream. You've got to look for the gotta have to look for the logo. Um, it's uh we're on YouTube, we're on Facebook, we're on Patreon. That's where you get all of the behind the scenes and the good juicy little nuggets that may be aired publicly. Um that way if you're paying for it, you can't blame me for it. So um, let's see. So I got Facebook, YouTube, we're on Spotify, Apple Podcast, uh Spotify. We also do the video, uh, we do video and an audio upload, or I think it's it's a video upload on Spotify as well, because they just started doing that recently. Um but yeah, look us up. We're on LinkedIn as well. That was uh that was how I found a lot of my guests. So uh so yeah, look us up everywhere. It's living the dream, it's no g, just living, you know. Um, I wish I would I wish I could remember the actor's name, but that was that's one of the things that I've I wanted to do a sound bite where he does that L-I-V-I-N, baby.
SPEAKER_01:Sounds like Matthew McConaughey.
SPEAKER_03:That that's probably it. That's it. I think that's that's who it is.
SPEAKER_01:So all right. So your email address, living the dream24 at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_03:It's live living the dream podcast24 at gmail.com because uh you know, like I said, uh had we done some market research on Living the Dream, we probably wouldn't have gone with that name. It was difficult getting an email, but yeah, it's Living the Dream. No G again, podcast24 at gmail.com. Drop me a drop me an email if you want to be on the show. I'd love to have you.
SPEAKER_01:And so we'll put all those links in the show notes below uh for everybody. So all right, man. Well, appreciate your time. Thanks for being here, and it was a good conversation. I really enjoyed it. Absolutely, yeah, me as well. Thank you, sir. So for Mr. DeWitt, uh, this is Scott Townsend. Thanks for listening to the Scott Townsend Show. Have a great day. Everything's gonna be all right, and we'll talk to you later.
SPEAKER_00:The Scott Townsend Show is a D So Man production. For more episodes, visit the Scott Townsend Show YouTube channel, listen on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
