Trade Life by Point Load Media
May 15, 2026 · 43 min · 25 segments
Shortage of workers or shortage of skill? On this episode of Trade Life Podcast, the guys pour a Carlsberg and dig into the skilled trades shortage from every angle: the stigma that's followed…
When I first started in the industry, one of the things that I noticed was the stigma within the skilled trades.
And as a kid, I remember my dad talking about it, and he said he did this fundraiser, this charity fundraiser years, years ago.
Um, and there was a bunch of firefighters there, and they were kind of like auctioning off dates with the firefighters, and he was a contractor.
I'll never forget this story, is he said, "You know, I was in my overalls and, like, the women were liking that.
But then they found out I was a contractor, and that instantly, like, it turned people off."
You're not smart enough." And I experienced that within my career in the skilled trades because as I started, I was very proud to be a contractor, and I could...
I noticed that difference when I would say to someone, "I'm a contractor," or, you know, uh, yeah, "I, I'm a contractor." That's how I would introduce myself 'cause I didn't wanna introduce myself as, "I work in television."
And I noticed real early saying, "I'm a contractor" getting the reaction from people versus saying, "I'm in television." There was like a stark contrast of excitement versus, "Oh."
When I first started in the industry, one of the things that I noticed was the stigma within the skilled trades.
And as a kid, I remember my dad talking about it, and he said he did this fundraiser, this charity fundraiser years, years ago.
Um, and there was a bunch of firefighters there, and they were kind of like auctioning off dates with the firefighters, and he was a contractor.
I'll never forget this story, is he said, "You know, I was in my overalls and, like, the women were liking that.
But then they found out I was a contractor, and that instantly, like, it turned people off."
You're not smart enough." And I experienced that within my career in the skilled trades because as I started, I was very proud to be a contractor, and I could...
I noticed that difference when I would say to someone, "I'm a contractor," or, you know, uh, yeah, "I, I'm a contractor." That's how I would introduce myself 'cause I didn't wanna introduce myself as, "I work in television."
And I noticed real early saying, "I'm a contractor" getting the reaction from people versus saying, "I'm in television." There was like a stark contrast of excitement versus, "Oh."
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
