Well, Nush Ahmed. Thank you for coming in today. Sisterhood of the Trades is who you're with. And you've come in from Buffalo area to come talk to us today. So thank you for making the trip. Excited to talk to you. As we were just talking before this, you've had a just like kind of a whirlwind, I would say last, I'll say five years, just to keep it easy, eight years maybe. But anyway, tell us what you're doing currently, Sister of the Trades, just kind of get us up to speed on what's happening right now. Yeah, well, thank you for having me. First of all, I am the CEO and co -founder of an organization of women in the trades. We have over 1 ,040 members right now, and it's basically just a platform where the girls interact with each other. They learn about each other's trades. They learn about tools they can use. They rant to each other about work -related or not work -related things. There's like a hobby section. So we really emphasize connecting with each other on like a sister level. So that kind of it out when I joined this group chat and I was like there's a there's an underlying mission here we can bring visibility to these girls voices I have been blessed to host my own podcast and be invited on podcasts like this with production levels such as like this so I figured this is legit this is really nice you guys snapped with this one yeah but it made me realize there's so much potential out there for these women like hearing their stories it's just there might be a disconnect when it comes to finding them I'm on TikTok of course on the right page of 22 so a lot of my guests come from TikTok and a lot of them are very big on TikTok they are very big in advocacy and like trades work so I specifically target them because I want them to know that the corporate world the white collar world so to speak is also supporting you like they really like hearing your story and they want more of you they sometimes I noticed a lot of the times it seems like there aren't that many young people going into the trades and while there is a very significant skills gap I think there's a lot of people that are in the trades that don't get noticed so I'm hoping that with our platforms we can close that divide and make it seem like there are more more of us. Interesting comments. So what is the importance of being noticed? Visibility. Knowing that you're supported by other people. Like for example, IMTS, I got to go last year and it was the most life -changing moment of my life, really. And one of the things that really stood out to me were all these older folks that I thought maybe didn't support me or didn't really care that I was there. they were coming up to me. They were asking me for my story. They were talking to me. And I faintly remember, you know, on social media, remembering comments from other people's videos or on other people's videos about like, people don't want you in the industry or this, that, and the third. And I'm like, that's false. I'm standing here in front of people who are actually, like, very important, who are telling me that I belong here. I have a space here. And my voice is important. And that made me realize like hearing that like as someone else could probably change the whole course of their career it could probably give them the confidence that they need to continue and and it just kind of snowballed from there okay so notice in the way that like maybe an athlete gets recognized for being good and it it encourages them to stick with the game exactly exactly and it makes them realize like I'm not alone also like I there's people in my corner right and so there's because of rundown, which is just sort of casually past, past, went past the idea of skills gap. And that's, that's been something that, you know, like the likes of Mike Roe have been beating that drum for like 20 years, a really long time. And do you feel like his message that this is, it's coming home to Roost, like this is actually occurring? I think a lot of people are talking about the skills gap and I hope this doesn't sound crazy, but I feel like nobody's doing anything about it. Oh, so backing up, but you believe there is one. There is one, yes, and nobody's doing anything about it. They're just talking about it. They're just saying, we have one. I think it's less of a skills gap and more of, I've posted about this a lot. It's more of a respect gap. It's also more of a education gap. I don't see people uplifting the trades as much as they should be, and yet they're, you know, they're claiming that no one wants to work in the industry. That's true, because sometimes the industry doesn't seem like it wants them to work there, you know? Well, I think you have an intersection of what, just kind of the, the culture of, you know, you have, you have, let me get this thought out correctly, which is you have social media that, which is, I think, sort of spawn a culture of recognition, right? And the trades generally have been like, I go to work, I get my shit done, I go home. And, you know, that's what I did. And that's historically, there's a certain amount of recognition that is sort of expected as we go through our days. Right. And so it feels like the trades have fallen behind because it is people look around and they're like, well, I want to go do something where I get recognized. And so trades are actually a great path forward career -wise, but fall short in the feel -good category. And I think I definitely struggled with that in the beginning a lot because I wasn't recognized. I made myself recognized. And then I realized how much love I have for the industry because being able to be a part of, like, for example, motorsport or the defense industry, like being part of making something happen, that is so inspiring. But a lot of people don't feel that because a lot of people don't feel connected to the trade because they're not recognized. They don't see it as a, like you said, they see it as a job that they clock in and clock out of. And I think the white collar industry is really good at recognizing their employees and recognizing their team members. We're getting there. We're getting there. I think we just need to emphasize that we care about our employees. Like that's what Gen Z at least is really looking for. And I feel like a lot of people are going to take this negatively and be like, well, Gen Z is super sensitive. Gen Z is bratty and has so many needs. Yes, we do. And things are changing. Change is inevitable. And in order to grow, you need to change. And this has to happen. So Let's wheel back to the skills gap. So tell me what does the skills gap look like to you? Like, when you think about that, what do you see? I think I fall into the skills gap, really, because, like, for example, there's so many machinists and older folks in machine shops that know so much, and I don't know as much as them. Well, I've also not had training, but I feel like a lot of kids that come out of CNC machining school also have that very big gap because there's so much that there's so much experience that that older machinist has that isn't translated yet because they haven't had time with a younger person. So I fall into that skills gap because I haven't had that much time with my trainer, you know? And The way to close it is to actually build those relationships. Get a younger person in the door. Have them apprentice under somebody that's been there for a while. And then also treat your older employees with respect because they make or break your shop too. And I feel like a lot of shops don't respect the people that do the work. Yeah, there's a lot you said there. But let me back up and kind of contextualize. Like, okay, So for people who are listening, they maybe don't realize that you know your way around a machine shop that you went to technical school. So let's, because without that key piece of information, it could be like, well, she's just sort of commentating from afar. Right. So tell us about, what was your path? And I want to circle back to where we were, but let's just give some baseline information here, which is how did you get to where you are currently? Yeah. So for context, I was always into cars growing up and really wanted to work on my car. I didn't really know how to. So I took some high school automotive classes and my teachers got in my ear about maybe applying to tech school and that I would get a lot of support. Coming from a Muslim family, it was more difficult to like explain to my parents about how great of a opportunity this would be. So, like, how did you bring that? Oh, my God. Your family cultures, you just said was like, okay, this is what we do in this family. Yes, exactly. We want to go to college because we didn't get a chance to go to college. Now we're in America. We want a four -year degree. And I was like, I'm so burnt out from high school. I don't think I can do it for another four years at a higher level. Also, like, when I was in high school, I just took whatever classes other people took. I didn't have anything I really wanted to focus on. I took APUS history because my sister took APUS history two years prior. And that's probably pretty common. I think so, yeah. Where it's just like, sure, I'll go there. And I just got into automotive by chance because I was getting a car, learning how to drive and figured I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road. And also, like, during this time, my TikTok was blowing up with cars. So I was like, you know what, I, this is cool. I want to get into this. I want to learn how to drive stick. I want to do all this stuff. So I did. And I told my dad, I was like, Dad, I don't see myself in a four -year college. Was it like, Dad, I need to talk to you. Yeah, it was like, Dad, let's sit down and have a conversation. Because I remember very vividly, my sister sitting down with my dad two years ago and having the conversation about what college in Boston she was going to go to. And so I knew that I was not going to have that same conversation. I told my dad, dad, I applied to two colleges and I applied to six tech schools. And he goes, what's a tech school? Like technology. So that's how you broke it. Yes. Okay. Yeah. You're not like, this is happening. No, I was like, dad, I did not apply to college. I like dad this is not for me I I can't do what Sabrina's doing so much respect to her but I don't want to live in a dorm with strangers and I I don't want to go to school every day for God knows how many hours a day I also don't even know like I barely got past high school like I'm going to be real with you you thought I did good because I had all A's I was scraping by by the hair of my teeth you know yeah and or the skin on my teeth. So I, yeah, just broke the news that I only applied to text school. I'm done with it. My brother was also like, you know what, maybe it's a good idea. Like she applied for a lot of scholarships too and I was telling them like my teachers really support it. The first ever high school teachers that have ever supported me by the way. So I was like, look like they got my back. Like look, this is a $10 ,000 grant. This is another $5 ,000 one, like pretty soon I'm not going to have to pay for school at all. Making it rain. Exactly. And if like if it doesn't work out, I could just drop out and it doesn't cost anyone anything. And I could go to college. I'll go to college. You know, I didn't have really gone to college if you dropped out. No, but I also wouldn't have dropped out. Like I'm not, even if I didn't like it, I would have stuck through because I knew I'm not going to college. Like unless it was for something that I genuinely thought I wanted to pursue and study, which right now I cannot think of anything I would want to go to college for. So I'm pretty happy with my dusty associates degree, by the way, because I don't use it. I don't work in automotive. But being at NASCAR Tech helped me find my next opportunity. I don't think I mentioned, by the way, that I went to NASCAR Tech or how I picked that. Oh, okay. You didn't. interrupted you because I wonder, I was curious how the conversation went at the house. Yeah, it was, I read that USA Today article and it was like, they were kind of thinking more like med school kind of thing. Yeah, and I was like, dad, I'm dumb. No one's going to trust me with their life. I don't even trust me with mine. So let's not even do that. He was like, maybe law school then. He's like, can I get a law school? No, I'm not going to break my back. And also like, I get really stressed. So I know I'm going to like lash out and I don't want to do that. Yeah, there's risks there. Exactly, there's risks there. You might lose your family, sir. Like, come on. And so I was looking at the list of automotive schools because that's what I wanted to pursue. And one stood out to me was NASCAR tech. You're talking NASCAR and stock car racing. Yes, exactly, which, spoiler alert, I've not gone to a NASCAR race ever. NASCAR isn't actually my thing. I really enjoy, like, a sport. It's just not my thing. Sure. I prefer more, like, formula drive. But you ended up going to school there. Exactly, because I was like, someone's going to look at my resume, see NASCAR, and immediately be interested in that. Yeah, it's got a brand. Exactly. And like, hello, if I'm applying for automotive and the first thing they see is NASCAR, I think they're going to pick me over somebody else that, like, works at it, or went to a different school. So That was my plan. I attended NASCAR, I think maybe like six months into my time at school, I was like, okay, I need to get a job because I have rent to pay. Unlike, I don't know if college is the same, but like we have rent to pay in an apartment with roommates that also pay their rent. So I'm like, okay, I need to figure it out. And I also have to pay for my groceries and like all the other bills. So I am like a mini adult right now. I need to get a job. Like I need to not get a mini adult job. I need to get an actual job. And I was working at CBS. I need a baller job. And for an entry level automotive technician position, someone who doesn't know anything, it's like $13, $14 an hour. That is not going to cut it. I also had school. Yeah. That doesn't work. You need to get paid. You need to get paid. And I was seeing these signs at the school that said, CNC machinist, $19 an hour. And in my head, I'm like, okay, if this isn't an automotive school, how hard could it be? You know, like, I think I could do it. And I was right. I didn't know anything about CNC, like, this shit can't be hard. It can't be hard, it's literally, it's pushing a button. Yeah, as long as you know that. I've been pushing people's buttons my whole life. Thank you, I was like, I'm a professional button pusher. Like, that is my thing. My dad can also attest for that. So I applied and I got the job. I very much bullshit my way through the interview. I was like, yeah, I can wrench. I'm in school for automotive. I know how to work on a car. I know my way around a tool or two. Like, it's offensive. You're even asking. Exactly. And and they hired me on. They paid me $19 an hour. I was a very happy 18 year old. Did you have a clue? I mean, you said you bullshit your way through so you get the job and were you like okay well they they gave me a trainer which was nice they gave me a trainer because they knew I was entry level so they were like okay this is actually perfect because you don't know much we can actually meld you into the kind of person we want you to be you have no bad habits and I was like I'm going to use that from now on so whenever I go to apply for you don't know shit no literally whenever I go to apply for a job I'm like I actually have no bad habits I'm very teachable and that's my first thing I say like I do I do know about manufacturing but I know very little and I'm very teachable easy to teach whatever yeah so I think that is what got them they had me start off on a lathe I was literally just pushing buttons checking parts calling it a day and I realized my production numbers are really high and I was like yeah I'm like really good at this and then I was like, wait a minute, this is a car part for like a transmission. Am I not into cars? Hello? Yeah. And then I thought even more, I was like, they make race car parts this way. Yeah. They make race car parts this way. I have a race car. I don't. But, you know, in my heart, I do. I could, exactly. I could build my own race car. This hasn't been chosen yet. Now, how cool is that machining your own parts for your race car? That's pretty cool. That was what really pushed me over the edge, and I started to hyperfixing. A bit of a eureka moment for you? Yeah, exactly. I was a wake -up call, and I started to look for motorsport machining jobs. I was hyper -fixated on videos. We're talking unhealthy here? Very unhealthy. Like, I'm talking, like, you want to know my LinkedIn usage? Yeah. It's like eight hours per week. Yeah, That's a good bit. It's like, oh, my God. Like, I don't, that's my most use of social media, which is, honestly, for my age, I think that's really great, actually. Yeah, that's like having, that's like telling someone you've got, like, a library card or something. You know, it's like, it's sort of, like, the hierarchy of, like, what's the most mature place you could be? Yeah, actually. And I think it's great. Like, it is my biggest flex. And One of my friends, Brooke, she likes to call us LinkedIn Warriors because of how much time we spend writing posts and, like, scrolling through. So what are you doing? Like, on LinkedIn? Well, yeah. I mean, I know what you're doing, but like, what is, as you approach LinkedIn, like, what's your thought? I'm doing, like, what am I doing here? How is it a tool for you? I'm going to talk. I'm just going to share things about myself because I know that people on TikTok do that a lot. I'm going to keep bringing up social media because I'm very heavily inspired by the people I see on that app because they're doing a day in my life. They're posting about themselves. And I'm like, okay, I need to do that. But I don't think I'm going to do it on TikTok because I don't want to get bullied by people. It's also really saturated. Exactly. So I started on LinkedIn because I was like I figured the people that I want to reach also are on this app like the business owners are making parts and making softwares they're going to be on this app more than they're going to be on TikTok so I was right um again again within my like second month of being on LinkedIn I think I had over 800 connections so I was like okay there's people here that want like to teach me and they want to see me succeed and it's like just been a diary since then really like I don't I'm not professional on my LinkedIn at all well authenticity translates exactly and if if you just it's it's almost like a natural phenomenon where people just know if something's contrived or if it's authentic exactly and I think I think that's what's translates right And so, okay, so you were at NASCAR, and then what happened, where do you go after that? So after I graduated, I worked as a machine operator at a valve shop, and I kind of, like, got a promotion. Like trumpet valves or? Sorry, race car valves. Oh, drag cars. Yeah, so I, like, went straight, head into it, like, motorsport. I was like, okay, this is perfect. Like now I get to possibly even meet race car drivers when they come in to get parts. Hello, that's the coolest thing. And like in the middle of NASCAR City, by the way. Maybe, you know, maybe get some free tickets too. Yeah. Whatever it may be. And I actually ended up getting like somewhat of a promotion. I got to switch over to the Swiss operating side. So Swiss machines and I was doing more setup. So less button pushing and more of getting the machine ready to run production parts. And do you like that more? Oh, 100 % more. I mean, button pushing is great. CNC operating is great. Don't get me wrong. It's very easy, good money and very, very entry level. Anybody could do it. I think my little brother could even do it very well. Yeah. But I wanted something more. I was like, okay, I'm like, I'm getting bored. I want to do something more. and like I saw the older guy and he was like very nice he was always wanting to teach somebody he was alone running the machine so whenever I had like five minutes I would go over there and I would talk to him until I was told to go back to run my machine yeah and I would keep doing that and I think upper management notice and they were like let's just throw her on there and she's literally not going to stop doing it she's like I literally would not stop and like even after shift was over. Yeah, I could have got overtime and stayed operating the machine, but instead I walked, I actually clocked out because I wasn't supposed to be working with him. I clocked out, didn't get overtime, and I would stay and work on the other side. Just trying to learn like what he's doing. I wouldn't touch anything because, again, I don't know anything. I'm just asking him questions, ripping it off. Like, so what does this button do? Why are you doing it this way? Why does the bar bar going like this. Mine doesn't have bars. Why doesn't mine have bars? Like stuff that I could very much Google, but I had him in front of me right now. You know, might as well ask him. And I think he's actually the one that talked to do upper management about moving me over because he's like, she won't stop. She wants to do this. Like she, I need help. She might as well be the help. And yeah, I went from there. Okay. So you're at NASCAR. Then you go work at a machine shop for drag, for, God, I was going to say a drag strip, but basically drag cars, valves. And you're buddying up to learn how to make certain parts from a guy who's been there for a really long time. Yeah. He's been machining for 30 years. So I was like, this is the perfect man to leach onto and learn everything I can. Yeah. I'm going to take everything out of this guy's head and put it in mind. exactly okay so what happens so you get you get moved from like there to here at that company and then he unfortunately had gotten fired so I was like three weeks into this didn't even know how to turn on the machine after like a night's run so I had to call him and like have him walk me through it I you know called him to have him walk me through yeah I know you just got yeah I know you're not here no more but like how do I turn the machine on after it's been running all night and Exactly. So I was like, okay, I'm going to figure this out. And I went to YouTube. I went to LinkedIn, because, again, LinkedIn network had helped me so much. So I was like, this is maybe the perfect time for me to tell them that I'm looking for a trainer. Like, I need help. I want to do this. And they came back with so much force. It was amazing. I got so much support. So it's what's amazing, there was how much people, as soon as you sort of raise the flag that I want, I'm trying to do something or need help doing this. It's, it's just like people like to help. Yeah, they, they're so supportive and like, you don't think. That's like the world's biggest secret, by the way. You don't think that they're going to help you, and they are. They're so excited. Because just like the guy at the machine shop, it's because people love it when they have a knowledge set that is actually of interest to interest to somebody else. Actually, that is the perfect way to put it, exactly. And that's how it felt at IMTS. Like, these people were excited to see someone eager and happy to be there and, like, taking pictures of everything. And I think that's why they kept talking to me is because they were like, oh, she wants to be here. She's just not, like, she's not a driven dog. Like, why you end up with friends with people? It's like common interests, right? And it's kind of that simple, which is, it shouldn't be surprising because that's how we make friends in the And it was because in the beginning there was only guys around. I did make one really good friend, Lucy. I love her so much. And she was my only one female friend from tech school. And I look back and I'm like, I'm hitting myself in the head because I know that there was so many girls in those classes. And I just, I could have went and talked to them. I don't know what stopped me from talking about. So you can actually attest to the fact. So let me set this up, which is I'm in a band. And so we got a band practice and I come home. My wife's like, so what did you guys talk about? I'm like literally nothing. Like we walked in and said, hey, turned on our shit. We played for two and a half hours and I came home. Like that's actually what you can attest to that. That's probably what actually occurred. Right, exactly. And I'm not like withholding a bunch of information. It's just literally nothing was like, hey, I'm fine. How are you? And, yeah, no, Literally, and I love that for you. I've actually been lucky enough to find my friend group pretty recently. It's really hard to find people who are as passionate in, like, what you're doing, and they don't judge you for putting as much work in something as you do. Same wavelength. Right, and, like, I noticed a lot in the beginning, like, I spent a lot of time in the sisterhood. Like, I spend 40 hours at work, and then 20 hours when I'm not at work in the discord or planning things. And I know that that can get really irritating sometimes when you're friends with somebody, they're like, you don't have time for me, you know? But these five girls that I met recently make so much time just for the sisterhood that we're able, like that is a hangout sometimes. Like we have a meeting, after the meeting, we stay on a little bit longer, we talk, we chill, act like sisters and yeah i'm very blessed that even though it took me 22 years to find a good solid friendship and like a good friend group i found that and they're all very mature like it we're not like it's not like it doesn't feel like high school like it feels like we are in it for the long run you know yeah it's a more cerebral exactly exactly um well it did give you the ability to acknowledge when the real thing was coming along. Exactly. You know, it sounds like it was a pretty bright contrast. So back to, so let's just say, we've set the context that you know your way around the machine shop and we can circle back to that. But so back to the skills gaps. So when you're looking at it, what do you see, You said I may be part of it, and that's kind of interrupted. Yeah, I'm most definitely a part of it because he left three weeks in. There's so much that I haven't learned from him. And still to this day, actually, when I text him, because I have, like, I reach out to him. He's a mentor of mine. There's still so much that I'm like, I still have yet to learn from you. Like, if I had a chance to work with him again in the future, I'd be really excited to. Because The older generation is a wealth of knowledge that I don't think anybody really realize it. I mean, actually, we do realize it, but we don't put an emphasis on it. We don't put as much of an emphasis as we should on it. So do you think, so when you're talking about skills gap, it's like people just not knowing how to do what a generation before them knew how to do. Exactly. Or It's also, I think you have a couple of moving parts. One is there's just this feeling of people who are probably of age or whatever to enter the skills or the trades. It's kind of a disenfranchised feeling, I think, which is they're like, well, no, I mean, I feel like this is kind of, you know, I want something more. But at the same time, what gives you a better feeling of achievement than, like, building stuff? And that's ultimately it's about it. Some people argue that happiness resides in their side of achievement, and that's so important. So I think you have, you know, women and men who just feel that need, effectively, the industries need, the trades need what you're doing which is like okay if the real under one of the real underlying issues here is that people just don't feel like they're getting recognized for the hard work that they're doing let's create those pipelines for the for that let's just do that and let's get past it right and it's it's not that hard to shout out somebody like it's you don't need to hire somebody to do that it's literally just make one post take a picture go go talk to them on the floor even have a little mini interview how are you doing how's the work doing do you mind if we make a little post about you and it costs nothing and it takes maybe like an hour and the return is a loyal employee yeah and it's interesting because you you remember these things from growing up there was just kind of that passing comment one day that you still remember like it happened five seconds ago, and that for some reason it turned out to be a guidepost in the way that you think. And it just kind of got dropped right there. And that's sort of what you're talking about, which is sort of these sort of acknowledgments and sort of anchor points for them where they can, you know, push forward off of it. And So what do you view is, I don't want to put words in your mouth, like what are you viewing as, if there are separate components to causing the skills gap, what do you view them to be? Because I think it's, I think what the sisterhood is talking about is sort of a layer of the bigger picture, right? Which is like, but I don't want to put words in your mouth. So what do you think? I'm like, how do I answer this? You think it's like, people are lazy and they don't want to get up? No, I don't think it's that. I think it's people thinking that also harms. Yes. A hundred percent harms it. I think, again, people, guidance counselors in high schools tend to always market the trades is dark, dirty, dangerous, and they still do it to this day. And they're always quick to, don't go to tech school. Don't go to tech school. Like, you have so much potential. What does that mean? What do you mean I have so much potential and I shouldn't go to tech school? I feel like that's where my potential shines, you know, going into doing something that is better for the world. What do you think they mean? They mean that I'm, your grades are too good. you should go study humanities or go study English and do what with the rest of my life be depressed no I want to do stuff I want to make stuff I want to be part of the change you know and there's other ways to be part of the change but I feel like the trades are like the biggest one because you are building the next generation you're building things that are people are going to use on a day -to -day basis that is So inspiring, but nobody ever really highlights that. Or they do, but they don't highlight it at the high school level. And I think that's where the gap begins because they don't want to learn because they don't think it's the right thing for them. So they don't get that education. The apprentices that come in sometimes don't have the best education. I actually can't speak for that. I'm not going to speak for that because I am not an apprentice but I've heard things about like sometimes tech school students don't have all the experience that they say they do that's fine that's why you teach them that's why you train them that's why that's a thing and people always expect these students to come out with like five six years of experience and that doesn't help close the skills gap. That just makes it way harder for them to even enter in. I got lucky I was able to talk my way through my interview. A lot of people, a lot of shops aren't like that. They want to see you have five years of experience. That's not closing the skills gap at all. I hope that answered your question. I feel like I'm like dancing around it. I'm like not really sure how to answer it. Let me ask you a point as a question, which is, if the internet got turned off, what would happen to the skills gap? I don't know. I don't think it would... If they didn't see other people, every time they had something in their hand getting acknowledged, do you think that they wouldn't have an expectation of getting the same acknowledgement for the things that they do yeah i don't think they would like i don't think for one they would even know about the trades or about the people so yeah they wouldn't know about that acknowledgement but i also at the same time i kind of feel like if the technology went away for a day more people might turn to the traits and they would because other people wouldn't know and they would just now be focused on probably earning money for their family. Exactly. So I'm like, well, now there's like, there's two sides of that. So honestly, I don't know that answer that. Maybe maybe think on that because I think that a big part of it is the exposure to kind of fame and fortune. And whether it's true or not, it's being experienced through the phone. And I'm not advocating or not advocating for it. It just seems like an observation that these things seem to be kind of lockstep. Yeah, kind of inadvertently connected. Yeah. Well, when did the internet come around? And, you know, so it just seems like, I don't know, maybe it's a coincidence. I actually, I kind of do get where you're coming from. I don't know maybe you should put this in the podcast. It might be a little bit controversial. But like, as soon as YouTube came out, a lot more kids are like, I'm going to become a content creator. I'm going to become a YouTuber. I'm not going to really either go to college or work with my hands. I'm going to be a YouTuber. And I think a lot of issues come from that. Well, what would be an issue that would come from that? You, the kid invest so much time into creating content that they don't really, one, have a niche or two, have an idea what they're doing because you're not. You You have an inexperienced voice. You should find something to do and YouTube about that. But I'm very much like a social media should be your second thing. Like you should do social media with your day job and like use it to help your day job, but it shouldn't become your day job. At the same time, like the people who do make social media their job, that's really awesome. Like great, like good for you. No, I think it's it's fabulous. And you know, but here's the thing is it is a job. Like those people who really do like really get that done in a meaningful way. That's, that is no joke to do that. So it's maybe didn't start there, but they're like, whoa, I'm getting a lot of money from YouTube. If I double down what happens and you know, now you've got a business. Right. But sometimes I've also noticed, like, that can backfire, like, doubling down and, like, fully focusing on content creation. Yeah, sometimes you lose the essence. Yeah, exactly. You lose the authenticity. That's why I'm, like, I, again, I'm, like, a really big fan of social media because I want more people that are in the trades to post about them. Because I, like, I really enjoy seeing that stuff. You know, I enjoy watching videos about that stuff. And while I might not want to be the one that makes the videos, I like tuning in. And I like, I'm sure there's so many other people who are like, I like seeing the process. I like seeing how it happens. Well, no, I think it's going to catch on. I hope so. I hope so. No, I think social media is probably going to be here for a bit. So winding it back. So getting past the skills gap. So tell me about, I know you have a lot of partners that you're working with. And you're creating this podcast sort of network. So tell me about that. So, okay, I'll start with the first podcast, I guess. Just take your time. It's a lot to unpack. So we have NextGen MFG and that's the podcast I host. It's mainly for people in the skilled trades, both men and women. So far, I've only interviewed women. But I have an episode with Eric coming out soon. Eric is my friend's fiance. And so I interview people in the STEM industries and people who are entrepreneurs just to kind of give the next generation an idea of other careers that don't require four years of college. And also, it's kind of like targeted to parents too because like my parents didn't really believe in tech school. And I'm sure other people's parents have the same beliefs. And it's kind of like, hey, look, this person was very successful, very fulfilled, and isn't depressed, and they didn't go to college. They didn't have their degree, you know? So that's that podcast. And as I met and started the Sisterhood of Trades with the other four co -founder, or the other three co -founders, I realized we could start a podcast for our sisterhood called The Sisterhood Takes the mic, and it's basically us taking the mic and bringing it to one of our members. We interview them on their story, any advice that they have. And we would eventually actually like to invite allies and partners to join our podcast so that maybe if they want to like promote their job and like say, hey, we're looking for more women to be hired. We could do that. And our end goal with the sisterhood is kind of to be like a resume system. Like if you are looking for a woman that's in Pennsylvania that knows how to weld and you want to kind of get in contact with her, I want the sisterhood to be able to be that platform that could do that. So we have that podcast and you can tune into that on Spotify and YouTube. And we have a third podcast. Our CSO, Brooke Lang, has started her own podcast with her fiancŽe Eric. It's called Two Bolts Short of a Flange. You love it. I love the name. They really, right? I'm like, that is perfect. And like the last question they ask in every episode really ties into the name too, so it's perfect. And they're two steam fitters out of Toronto, so it's cool to like see that relationship dynamic and see the trades and how they play a role in their relationship and then also they interview other people in the trades both the men and women to again hear their advice talk to them about their story like goes back to visibility we're really big on visibility we want as many voices to be heard as possible and then our most recent podcast it's our most recent podcast it's coming out soon it's called the And Mike, it's hosted by Carly, who is our C -O. She is in the union. She's basically interviewing people that are in the union and people that are like in the organizational structure to spread awareness, educate people like me because I don't know anything about the union. So I go to her a lot when I have questions or when someone asks me something about the union, my first person a tag is Carly. So that that'll be that podcast. And maybe there's going to be more in the future. I'm not sure, but those are our biggest podcast. Yeah, it is. And then also we have articles. We have newsletters that we post weekly for the Sisterhood of Trades. You can find it on our website and our LinkedIn. And then our what's your website? Sisterhoodot of Trades .com. Okay. You can find our podcast and our blogs and our sisterhood special shoutouts or our sisterhood spotlight shoutouts, which is like learn about some of our members and like what they do and how old they are or whatever. And so our website is really cool. I spent a ton of time designing that and figuring out how exactly I wanted it to highlight our mission and our members. And I think it does it pretty well. but But Brooke and Carly post bi -weekly articles on different weeks and different days. That's twice a week? No, no, no, I'm sorry. By -weekly is once every two weeks. Two weeks? And then - Is it bi -monthly? By -monthly is like once every two months. By -weekly is like bi -weekly pay once every two weeks. One of these days I'll get that straight. Dude, it's so confusing to me because I also was like, bi -weekly, twice a week. No, it's definitely not. When I was applying to a job that paid bi -weekly, I realized it's not. That's not what that means. But, yeah, sure. And then my Nush Makes Chip Happen article comes out weekly. So we try to have like a good amount of content coming out. Mm -hmm. Like you just break it. Might as well. Sorry, sorry, sorry. A good amount of content coming around, whether it be about our experiences or random stories that happened. or like I you use a generated picture like that, especially if you're someone who has the means to go to your machine shop, grab your phone, and snap a picture, and like, nothing proprietary in the way, that, like, why don't you do that? Or bring it back to visibility, why don't you grab an actual person on the floor, ask them to, like, pose for a picture? And I bet you they would really, like, love to. They wouldn't mind. So like that, I feel like it would get you a lot more, not just interactions, but support, too, because nobody wants to see, at least I don't want to see an AI generated. Which means nobody. Yeah, nobody. That applies to all. It's like, and it's very, it's so obvious because it's so lazy. All you did was write the post and then here. Did you really write it? Yeah, hold on. Let's backtrack to that. Did you even really write it? Because I've had some issues lately where I'm like, I know that's AI generated. Yeah. And I like, I don't report it, but I like hide it from my feed because I don't care about that. I don't care for something that you didn't write. And, and I think that's something that our members do really well. Like our admin team is very much, we cuss in our LinkedIn post sometimes, you know? Sometimes they're not grammatical. And that's okay. That's real. We're not, I'm not putting my skills gap. I'm not a huge, like, I don't, I don't spend a lot of time talking about, but in this context, it just all sort of leads back to that in my head, which is now you compound it with AI, and you were talking earlier about, like, entry -level jobs and things like that, and pushing a button and so forth. Do you have a grasp on, or have you formulated any thinking around what AI is do in that in that world i've listened to a lot of podcasts that talk about it and i'm like i'm not really worried that a i's going to take jobs because i think what it's going to do is take more monotonous tasks away that way people can do stuff like pursue quality inspection or program parts like you don't actually have to be the one pushing pushing the buttons, you can do something more. And I think it'll force the people who got complacent and who got comfortable getting paid $19 to $18 an hour, just push them on. I think it'll force them to be hungrier for more, you know, do more. Like, don't just settle for, don't just settle for pushing this green button. Learn how to program the part that's in there. Learn how to write code. Learn how to set the machine up so that way the next person has it easier or learn how to train somebody learn how to help the next generation be useful be useful that's simple so if in terms of like let's say okay so let's say the us economy takes you use just simple numbers let's say it takes a hundred workers to make the whole economy work do you think that AI is going to make it so we only need like 80 workers? I hope that AI makes it so that way all of the people who were working in like less than ideal conditions are now working in more higher up positions where they're doing things that are more, not high risk, but like high risk, high reward. Like I, that's where I see them. I see that same hundred people. they're just promoted moving up doing things that I don't want to say are more important but are more important you know I understand I know what you mean so there's going to be so but do you not think that there's going to be then become overlap like there are only so many I guess rungs of a of a given organization and so because you know You know, they're for -profit businesses. Okay, we've got three people now in the same place. I think there will definitely be rough conversations to be had about, like, laying off people. Uh -huh. But I also think, like, there's going to need, we need people to also understand what the AI and what the robots are doing. So it might be an opportunity for being useful in that, you know, area. Well, you raise a good point, which is just because this job doesn't exist anymore, doesn't mean another one won't. Exactly. They're always neat jobs. There's always going to be something else. That's what's really nice about manufacturing, too, is, like, there's so much. Like, you can never know, you will never know one thing about everything, because There's always going to be another revision. There's always going to be the next thing. There's always going to be a new update. So you think you'd switch from being the dog to watching the dog. Exactly, exactly. And then when you have more time because you're watching the dog, you can train another dog. You can buy another dog. That would be like a great strategy. Like there's a coworker you don't like. Yeah. Train that dog to do exactly what what they do? Like, I don't know if you notice, but this software does exactly what they do. Just raising that point. Yeah. Just letting you know. Just going to roll that ball in the play for you. But then maybe they can find a role somewhere else, you know? Yeah. No, that's an option. Maybe like a resume builder you could make for them. Exactly. Exactly. So what are, so the sisterhood, what are your goals? I heard what you said, but are They're sort of these transcending goals for this. Yes. So our dream, like our end goal, is to fund scholarships for women in the trade. So we were looking to partner with existing nonprofits, get our name out there, and hopefully change a young girl's life. Because scholarships changed my life. They basically opened the whole world to me. I was able to actually pursue this career because of all the scholarships, and I'm sure there's other girls that are going through the same thing, or even like tooling scholarships to be able to gift someone who needs it with a toolbox. Because again, growing up, I didn't have tools. Like, I think my dad had like a box of like hammers and stuff, you know? Yeah. So like we didn't do that stuff. All the tools that I bought were on my own when I was in school, and I feel like, you know, a scholarship would have helped a lot, and that is what I would like to do for other girls, especially other girls that were in situations like me. And then our other dream is to attend workshops and, like, attend trade shows, because, again, trade shows are life -changing, and all that connecting and networking and support makes me realize like I want to be here more than anything. So I'm sure that, you know, other people hearing that will solidify them to stay here as well. And back to workshops, teaching the next generation is also invaluable. You cannot put a price on that. Who's the dream partner for this? Anybody, literally anybody. Anybody that cares about the next generation, snap on, Snap -on, Milwaukee, like, send us cool. Nike, like, whoever. Shoot, if Nike wanted to collab with us, that would be something I'm open to. Like, anybody. Anybody, literally anybody. Because also manufacturing is vast. If you really think about it, I could partner with, what's that paper company? Shoot. The one that, who but W .B. Mason, I think, right? Okay. I could even partner with with them because they manufacture paper like really like if they make the cut if they make the cut that was funny you know what i did there i do i do that was good that was a good one but um honestly we're really open to partnering with anybody because we have 50 trades in our discord server so i'm sure if not manufacturing it aligns with one of the trades that are there and our admin team we have a pipe fitter a steam fitter, a welder, and a mason, and someone who is... A partridge in a pear tree. Literally. Actually, matter of fact, basically a partridge and a pair of tree. She is a heavy equipment mechanic, and now she's transitioning to her iron worker apprentice, or to be an iron worker. So let me kind of pull this conversation together, which is you started this, what, is eight years ago, fair? Is that fair? That might be a little bit too much. I think I started in the trades. How old am I? I started in tech school at 18, 22. Almost 23. Almost 23. Yeah. Getting kind of old. Don't remind me. Don't remind me. Okay, so you started this journey with telling your dad, I'm not going to And is just kind of evaluate this for me, which is you started off five years ago with an idea in your head, which was I'm going to technical school and I'm going to, you know, learn how to be machining things and things like that, which I know you still enjoy and you still do. But it could just kind of evaluate your journey for me. Like, is it where, are you where you thought you'd be? and says, yeah, it's kind of walk me through kind of what the starting idea was, and then where are we? Yeah, I had no idea I was going to end up here. If you told me when I was 16 that I was going to, one, host a podcast, I would have said, you're on something. And two, if you would have told me that I'm meeting all these people, all these older folks that are like, that have business cards. Like, that's what threw me for a loop. I made a business card. I've never thought that I would ever be important enough. And I say that in quotations because I feel like that is something that's important. I've never felt like that would be me. And so now all of a sudden I'm doing this stuff. Yeah, no, 16 -year -old me would have laughed at you and said, okay, goodbye. And I'm also, like, not working on cars like I thought I was going to do. I fully am doing something I've never thought like I never thought I was going to be in manufacturing I knew I was going to like do stuff with my hands like I would love to make things was really into fabricating but I could not have assumed that this is the the way I would end up going and now to like be in an advocacy role where I'm actually meeting people all the time and scheduling things. Yeah, you're spirit tipping. Yeah, I'm like, different. This is very, very new, but also very exciting. And I could see that it's a good thing because I'm getting messages from the sisterhood members who are like, this is life -changing. Like, I needed this, and, like, thank you for looking over my resume. Messages from the hood. Right, like, except messages from the hood, exactly. You know what? I might take that. I might start a little TikTok series. Messages from the hood. So how's your dad doing with this? Is he like caught his breath and he's kind of come full circle? To be honest, he's still like, I don't know what you're doing in those meetings all day long. Like I still don't understand it, but good job. Like, I don't think I've ever seen it before. And like, I'm not going to speak for my whole family, because it's a lot, it's a big family, you know, brown people are big, but I don't think anybody's been in like a newspaper about trades before, like, or like in a magazine about trades before. So my dad was like immediately when he first saw that magazine, he was like, oh, this is what you're doing. You're not just working with your hands, but you're doing something like. Yeah what and like apparently he's always had like an inkling that I was going to do something Public like with my voice so he I guess knew I never like I grew up I avoided people in high school Like the plague like I went to school because you thought they're dumbasses actually no I was just very anxious like very It got to the point where it got in the way of like school a lot like I would just head anxiety about it very bad like actually one of my friends me and her like still connect about this a lot because i'm like i'm still a little part of me is still very scared of going back to my high school it's just that like fear i don't know what it is it makes no sense but there's also might be like this sort of it's kind of like when families get back together there's a tendency to revert as well like could you really walk in there and like mic drop it or would that just be like you know so there's just sort of that your mind has sort of been contextualized so like different times of your life when i go back to my hometown i feel like i'm 16 again so i actually avoid my hometown like the plague that's pretty serious yeah because i'm like i don't really want to and it's crazy to think about because like bitch you're literally on podcasts and you can't go to your hometown for a weekend. Or, I mean, to build on what you said, you could also say, this is actually what made me who I am. True, true. I think it did, for sure. I think I would love, like, to go back to my high school and award a scholarship to somebody in my high school. After you get your award. Now, you're right, after I give my award. Yeah. Where's my participation award? You know what I mean? Right. Yeah, and then maybe I'll start participating, You know, so well I want to say thank you for coming in today. It was really fun to learn about the various things that you're doing and I know it's a lot of stuff, but it's clearly has a direction. And I would say, yeah, keep going. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. This is a crazy setup that you guys have here. I'm like, this is legit. This is how you do it. This is how you do it. So I'm taking notes. Thank you so much for inviting me and having me up here. You bet. Thanks.