Why Young People Aren't Choosing the Trades | Zeb Beard and Benjie Burris - Ep 19

Consistency is key - heard that! But, consistency is HARD. That's why I gave up on trying and let the experts handle it. Detect Auto. Let them clean up your estimating process and raise your ARO - like they did for me! CLICK HERE TO BOOK A DEMO You can almost taste the cornbread listening to this episode!!! Boy oh boy, Benjie Burris and Zeb Beard on the same podcast for the first time ever??? Yes way. Today, Tonnika and the guys talk leadership, training, and the future of the trades. Benjie and Zeb reflect on their similar upbringings, sharing how old-school mentorship and tough love shaped their approach to running successful shops. The crew digs deep into why young people aren't entering the industry like they used to, pointing to a breakdown of family structure, lack of respect, and a missing "village" mentality. Timestamps: 00:00 Why feelings and political correctness are overrated 01:02 How Benjie & Zeb’s shop life and upbringings shaped their leadership 05:32 Did they ever dream they’d get this far? Facing doubts and never dialing it back 08:45 Biggest lessons learned—they’ve made *every* mistake so you don’t have to 12:00 How screwing up (and getting up again) builds better techs 15:04 Tough love truth: The best AND worst thing about this business is people 18:05 Coaching up a new generation—pushing young techs out of their comfort zones 25:00 Why there aren’t enough young people in the trades (and what’s REALLY to blame) 31:40 “It Takes a Village”—what happened to respect and community? 35:00 Petting vs. pounding: Can you train techs if you’re too soft? 40:03 Whose responsibility is it when things go wrong in the shop? 44:00 Why shop owners bear ALL the risk and how that shapes leadership 47:00 Investing in real training—who’s actually willing to learn? 52:00 Not all shop owners are created equal (and why some are holding you back) 55:00 Independents vs. dealerships: what the next-gen needs to know 58:15 Level up or get out—finding and keeping the hungry ones 1:03:00 Final tough love: Stay real and keep growing—this industry needs YOU