I spent over forty years crawling through attics, basements, and half-built homes — running wires, fixing circuits, and making sure the lights came on when people flipped the switch.
I never wore a tie to work. My uniform was steel-toe boots and a tool belt.
And you know what? I was proud of that.
Last spring, my grandson asked me to speak at his school’s “Career Morning.”
There were doctors, software engineers, and one fella who said he “worked in fintech” — whatever that means. I was the only one who brought a voltage tester instead of a PowerPoint.
When it was my turn, I told the kids,
“I didn’t go to college. I went to work.
When storms hit and power lines fall, I’m the guy who helps bring your heat back, your lights back, your normal back.”
They all leaned in a little closer.
One kid raised his hand and said, “So… you fix stuff when everyone else is scared to touch it?”
I grinned. “Pretty much.”
Afterward, a quiet boy came up to me.
He said, “My dad’s a mechanic. He gets dirty every day. People tease him for it.”
I looked him straight in the eye and said,
“Son, the world stops without people like your dad. When your car breaks down, no one’s calling an accountant. They’re calling him.”
Here’s the truth I’ve learned after a lifetime of hard work:
The world runs on skilled hands.
It runs on the people who get up early, stay late, and solve the problems no one else sees.
You can build all the apps you want, but when the furnace dies in January — it’s not a diploma that saves you. It’s the person who shows up with a wrench, a flashlight, and the know-how to make it work again.
We’ve spent too long treating trade work like a backup plan, when really, it’s the foundation everything else stands on.
A few weeks later, my grandson’s teacher emailed me. She said,
“That shy boy you spoke to? He’s joining a trade program next year. He said you made him proud of what his dad does.”
And that right there — that made every sore back and late night worth it.
💡 Here’s what I know now:
Not everyone needs a corner office to make a difference.
Some of us build the rooms those offices sit in.
So the next time you ask a kid what they want to be, don’t just ask, “What college are you going to?”
Ask, “What do you want to build? What do you want to fix? What do you want to make work again?”
Because this world will always need more people who can keep the lights on — in every sense of the word.
⚡ Respect the trades. Teach the pride. Celebrate the work that keeps us all going.
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