[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around

[00:00:05] Kevin O'Connor: the house. Yep. We just dropped a new 13 part series, 13 half hour episodes, uh, streaming free on the Roku channel called Team Rubicon follows, uh, and displays the exploits of a phenomenal volunteer organization. Uh, by the same name, Team Rubicon, veteran founded, veteran led, uh, although there are plenty of civilians and it's a hundred and seventy thousand person strong volunteer group here in the U.

[00:00:33] Kevin O'Connor: S. Uh, and they collectively respond to natural disasters. So hurricanes and tornadoes come in, sweep through a community, cause lots of damage, pain and suffering. Um, Team Rubicon and their volunteers who are called gray shirts are deployed. to help clean up, rebuild, uh, and get homeowners safe and secure back home.

[00:00:56] Kevin O'Connor: When it comes to remodeling and renovating your

[00:00:58] Eric Goranson: home, there is a lot to [00:01:00] know, but we've got you covered. This is Around the House. Today, we are lucky to home improvement world, Kevin O'Connor, my friend. Welcome to Around the House.

[00:01:13] Kevin O'Connor: Thank you, Eric. Nice to be back with you.

[00:01:15] Eric Goranson: Yeah, thanks, man. Uh, how's this old house been treating you, man?

[00:01:18] Eric Goranson: You've been, uh, As the longest running host now, right? For a lot of years, you got the most years in. It's amazing how time flies.

[00:01:27] Kevin O'Connor: Let's just mean they haven't figured out a way to get rid of me yet. Just kind of keep, uh, just skirting around, dodging the bullet. It's good. You know, we're still cranking. 44th season or something like that, uh, that we just started.

[00:01:37] Kevin O'Connor: Two new projects. One local, one out of state. Same crew, pretty much. Going at it. Um, no complaints.

[00:01:46] Eric Goranson: Yeah, it's great. I mean, it is the most hands down, the most honest show on television. As far as home improvement goes, it is the gold standard. And, uh, you guys have just, it's amazing talking about what a team you have to [00:02:00] keep it running, you know, 40 plus years.

[00:02:03] Eric Goranson: As the most honest show on television. It's, it's a really a test of the hard work you guys have put into that

[00:02:10] Kevin O'Connor: show. I like the word honest. Uh, I think we believe the same thing. I think it stems from the fact that, you know, all the folks on the show, uh, who we work with, they're all professional contractors.

[00:02:20] Kevin O'Connor: You know, their primary job is not television. I'm the only one who's in that business, you know, first and foremost, um, the primary jobs are, you know, the contractors that they are, uh, and. It lends a certain level of credibility. Uh, but also that honesty that you're talking about, these are, you know, men and women who know what they're talking about because they put food on their table, uh, from their contracting

[00:02:42] Eric Goranson: businesses.

[00:02:44] Eric Goranson: Yeah. And over the years, you know, you're starting to see kind of the new guard come on the show as well. Cause you know, you've had the same crew forever and I, you know, you guys are sliding in some new people, which is always tough because when you've got a show literally of home improvement legends.

[00:02:59] Eric Goranson: That's a tough [00:03:00] switch out.

[00:03:01] Kevin O'Connor: We've always been an ensemble cast, which has always, I think, helped us, you know, Norm Abram from the very first episode is often thought as sort of the leader, the grandfather, the first person out in this genre. But, you know, Norm worked shoulder to shoulder with Tommy for 20, 30 years.

[00:03:20] Kevin O'Connor: Richard's been there from the very first episode, still with us as is Tommy. Um, I'm the third host, you know, new guy. So we have the ability to, because of an ensemble to bring more people into the folds. And there are a lot of, I guess when you're on the, on the air for 44 years, people who've shown up in the last 10 are considered new faces.

[00:03:41] Kevin O'Connor: Um, so there are a lot of new faces, although people like Jen and Mark and Morrow and Heath and Ross and Nathan and such, they're not that new, you know, they've been with us for five, 10 years now.

[00:03:51] Eric Goranson: And I love Ross. He's been on the show here before with us and, uh, he's a good friend. And I love that, uh, he's the next generation.

[00:03:58] Eric Goranson: We call him the good

[00:03:59] Kevin O'Connor: [00:04:00] Chathuri. I only say that cause we love Richard. Um, Ross is, as you know, Richard's son. Um, he's got a brother Evan, who's in the business as well. Uh, Ross has taken the engineering techie track where he's a super smart house technology, efficiency, um, healthy house kind of guy. So he contributes on the show quite a bit.

[00:04:20] Kevin O'Connor: Um, but you know, his brother Evan's in the business too. He just doesn't happen to want to be on TV. It's nice. It's nice to have the Trithui family behind us. He'll be the, Richard was the fourth generation Trithui, uh, plumber in his family. Ross will be the fifth generation. He's not a plumber necessarily, but is in that new expanded world that plumbing has given us, which is comfort, HVAC, safety.

[00:04:43] Eric Goranson: Exactly. Exactly. That is great. And then you guys have a whole new venture over on, uh, Roku, isn't it, with, uh, Team Rubicon. Correct. That just came

[00:04:52] Kevin O'Connor: out. Yep. We just dropped a new 13 part series, 13 half hour episodes, uh, streaming free on the Roku channel called Team [00:05:00] Rubicon, follows, uh, and displays the exploits of a phenomenal volunteer organization, uh, by the same name, Team Rubicon.

[00:05:09] Kevin O'Connor: Veteran founded, veteran led, uh, although there are plenty of civilians and it's a 170, 000 person strong volunteer group here in the U S uh, and they collectively respond to natural disasters. So hurricanes and tornadoes come in, sweep through a community, cause lots of damage, pain and suffering. Um, team Rubicon and their volunteers who are called gray shirts are deployed to help clean up.

[00:05:39] Kevin O'Connor: Rebuilds and get homeowners safe and secure back in their homes as quickly as possible. It's a, it's a, it's an unbelievable organization, which I can go on and on about for a long time. I won't, but the show exposes the audience to who they are, their good deeds. And we embed, I embed with them, become a gray shirt and we follow them [00:06:00] around and we watch how they respond to these natural disasters.

[00:06:03] Kevin O'Connor: And really, yeah. make a very meaningful impact on people who have had their worst days. Just, just random Americans who have signed up to serve, um, who work side by side with fellow volunteers, um, doing hard work for complete strangers who have had their worst day.

[00:06:20] Eric Goranson: I gotta ask you, you're not afraid to jump in and grab the tool belt and get your hands dirty.

[00:06:25] Eric Goranson: What was it like working with them down there in those, you know, difficult situations, because it's not like, you know, you're at the four star hotel. You're at places where, where disasters happened. And there's a lot of emotion tapped around a lot of hard work. The situations

[00:06:39] Kevin O'Connor: that we were in were, were tough.

[00:06:40] Kevin O'Connor: You know, you, you roll up into a town in, um, Mississippi or Selma, Alabama after a tornado. Tornadoes are nasty. The destruction is real. Yeah, in some cases, sadly, there's loss of life, um, powers out, supplies are short. Um, and the work is [00:07:00] hard. You sleep it on the floor of a local YMCA or VFW hall on a Red Cross cot.

[00:07:08] Kevin O'Connor: You bring your own stuff, your own sleeping bag. Um, you get out there and you spend 8 hours, 10 hours a day working and volunteering. Um, so, you know, by that definition, it's it's hard. Um. Emotionally, it's extremely uplifting. You wake up every morning tired and sore from the night before, but just surrounded by 20 or 30 other gray shirt volunteers who are jazzed.

[00:07:34] Kevin O'Connor: You know, great attitude, ready to get some done. It's infectious. And it, you'd like, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how tired or sore you are. You're just like, all right, let's get after this. And you're right back at it the very next day. And you know, then you meet the survivors, the homeowners who have had the damage to their house and are out of the house or living with a leaky roof or whatever the case may be.

[00:07:56] Kevin O'Connor: And their gratitude is just overwhelming. Um, sometimes [00:08:00] Team Rubicon and Grayshirt are the first people to show up, um, to help these folks out, uh, in a very dire situation. So you can imagine how grateful they are. The whole thing is emotional, um, but the whole thing is extremely, extremely uplifting.

[00:08:14] Eric Goranson: That is awesome.

[00:08:16] Eric Goranson: And, uh, and you know, those, those, you know, military veterans, they know what hard work is about because that's what got them through.

[00:08:25] Kevin O'Connor: I think the organization is founded on somewhat of that premise, you know, Eric, which is a lot of highly trained, highly skilled, highly motivated people who, um, have been in military service.

[00:08:41] Kevin O'Connor: They've learned the skills, they've got the attitude, they've proven themselves. And then upon leaving and they enter sort of the life that us civilians are used to. I, I. I never served, so I, you know, I'm a civilian, um, and it's a, it's a, probably in many cases, a big transition, you know, they, they've [00:09:00] been, uh, in a strong community, lots of camaraderie, lots of activity, highly competent.

[00:09:05] Kevin O'Connor: And then they're asked to use a whole different set of skills. Team Rubicon pulls those people together and channels their exceptional, uh, attitude and the skills that they have. It channels them into a very worthy cause, which is helping out their fellow Americans, um, after these natural disasters. If, if you, you'd be surprised how much spending, you know, eight, 10 hours a day for five days.

[00:09:31] Kevin O'Connor: Florida, helping clean up after Hurricane Ian. You would be surprised how much doing that work gives back to you as a volunteer. It's

[00:09:39] Eric Goranson: extremely rewarding. What's up? This is Dick Hanna

[00:09:58] Eric Goranson: and [00:10:00] Satchel from Steel Panther. And you are listening to Around the House with Eric G. Yeah. We love Eric G and you should too. Welcome to the round the house show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information education. Thanks for joining me today. Well, let's get back to our conversation with Kevin O'Connor from this old house and the new team Rubicon television show.

[00:10:26] Eric Goranson: Let's get back at it.

[00:10:28] Kevin O'Connor: I think the organization is founded on somewhat of that premise, you know, Eric, which is a lot of. Highly trained, highly skilled, highly motivated people who, um, have been in military service. They've learned the skills, they've got the attitude, they've proven themselves. And then upon leaving and they enter sort of the life that us civilians are used to.

[00:10:54] Kevin O'Connor: I, I, I never served, so I, you know, I'm a civilian, um, and it's a. It's a probably [00:11:00] in many cases, a big transition. You know, they've been in a strong community, lots of camaraderie, lots of activity, highly competent. And then they're asked to use a whole different set of skills. Team Rubicon pulls those people together and channels their exceptional.

[00:11:17] Kevin O'Connor: Uh, attitude and the skills that they have, it channels them into a very worthy cause, which is helping out their fellow Americans, um, after these natural disasters. If, if you, you'd be surprised how much spending, you know, eight, 10 hours a day for five days in Florida, helping clean up after Hurricane Ian, you wouldn't be surprised how much.

[00:11:39] Kevin O'Connor: Doing that work gives back to you as a volunteer. It's extremely rewarding work.

[00:11:45] Eric Goranson: That is great. Yeah. I've heard some crazy stories. I've got a friend that does operation barbecue relief that was down in Florida and they were down serving first responders and, uh, you know, I I've never experienced the natural disasters at that level, but, uh, it's [00:12:00] pretty epic when you look at the video and stuff of, of what a tornado can do and, and what it does to the community.

[00:12:06] Eric Goranson: And the residents there, and it's great that you guys could put to, you know, as a team come in there and make a difference. Uh, sadly,

[00:12:13] Kevin O'Connor: given, you know, what I do and have done for this old house, we've covered several rebuilds after natural disasters, um, after Katrina and Sandy, um, work in Houston after Harvey, so we're not unfamiliar with them.

[00:12:27] Kevin O'Connor: It doesn't get old, though, like when we rolled into Amory, Mississippi within 48 hours, 24 to 48 hours of the tornado devastating that town. Um, it's a sight to see. It is extremely discouraging to see. The devastation wrought by some of these storms. Um, it's fortunately for us, you know, we were always safe, but when we walk into a town, you know, 24, 48 hours prior to that, the residents weren't safe.

[00:12:57] Kevin O'Connor: You know, they were in a dire situation. [00:13:00] Uh, and then when you see the results of tornadoes and hurricanes, um, it's an eyeopener, you don't get used to it.

[00:13:06] Eric Goranson: Now, and you guys have been all over with this old house from the fires out in Northern California. To all of it. You kind of seen a little bit of everything with that whole mix you did.

[00:13:14] Eric Goranson: And that was one of your best series, I think, was that, uh, episodes you guys did a few years ago with the, with the wildfires in

[00:13:21] Kevin O'Connor: California. We did a, uh, rebuilds of two homes, uh, after the paradise, the campfire. Uh, we focused on a town of paradise. The campfire was bigger than that, but, um. The only thing that I've seen, we see a lot of hurricanes because I'm from New England, so we see that results.

[00:13:41] Kevin O'Connor: Tornadoes are a lot nastier. They're just nasty. Wildfire is apolectic. Apo, apa, apa, it's horrific. Horrific, there we go. Apocalyptic, sorry, apocalyptic. Apocalyptic, there we go. Cars, you know, that have been [00:14:00] melted and are oozing into the asphalt, complete ruined devastation. That was something. Uh, the Paradise Rebuild was something being up there, you know, a year after the Camp Fire

[00:14:09] Eric Goranson: was dramatic.

[00:14:11] Eric Goranson: Yeah, we live in the forests like that here and, uh, it's a, it's an annual event for us. Uh, you guys got to get a little bit of taste of that smoke here recently. And that's, we call that August now in the Pacific Northwest.

[00:14:23] Kevin O'Connor: Lucky you. I like the attitude. Yeah.

[00:14:27] Eric Goranson: So what's coming up on this old house, man? Uh, what's, uh, what's new with you guys on that?

[00:14:31] Eric Goranson: Any, uh, you guys are off doing it. You guys always have a house or two in the works, right? We do. We

[00:14:36] Kevin O'Connor: just, uh, if people are following along on PBS, they're seeing the. Final episodes of our last project, which was the oldest home we worked on, um, what they call a first period home, Ipswich, Massachusetts, which is up on the northeast coast of the state, um, built in the mid 1700s, um, that one we put to bed and we immediately [00:15:00] stood up two others.

[00:15:01] Kevin O'Connor: We've got a mid century modern home. In Lexington, Massachusetts, so a 1960s low slung ranch that had a big sort of ugly addition put on in the 80s. Um, so that's getting a pretty big renovation and the theme there is accessibility. The homeowners, uh, who just recently purchased the home have three young children.

[00:15:24] Kevin O'Connor: Uh, and sadly, uh, the youngest, um, has got a physical condition that's going to lead to him being in a wheelchair in the very near future and for the rest of his life. So they are renovating this house with an eye towards making it as accessible and as accommodating for that disability as possible. So it's a heartwarming story for the family, but, you know, being who we are, we're going to do a high quality renovation and we're going to use that story.

[00:15:53] Kevin O'Connor: To tell the audience, um, all the ways that you can make a house safer and more accessible. So that's a sixties [00:16:00] mid century modern, which is also a style that I think is very popular with people. Um, sort of an eye catching style. And then

[00:16:07] Eric Goranson: that's what I got on my house. I love that look, you know, but, uh, boy, you guys bounced off the rails there because you're like.

[00:16:14] Eric Goranson: Okay. We're going into the early 1700s to mid century, you know, it's like jamming off from, you know, opposite ends of the spectrum here in the, in North America, as far as homes

[00:16:25] Kevin O'Connor: where, I mean, we're allowed to, you know, we've got licensed to sort of go anywhere with this stuff. And so we mix it up. Um, it's a nice change up, you know, from the oldest house ever to a nice mid century, modern, uh, and then while that's going on, we're, we're, we're back to the old Victorians.

[00:16:38] Kevin O'Connor: We're down in New Jersey. 1887 victorian, uh, that's getting a redo as well. And in that situation, it's a story about multi generational living So homeowners who have been in the house for nearly 30 years. They raised their kids um, and they are going to instead of downsize and move out mom and dad are actually going to stay Uh, but the [00:17:00] renovation is going to create a situation where their daughter and her husband are able to move in and both families can live there together with room for the newer family to expand if and when they have children.

[00:17:12] Kevin O'Connor: And for mom and dad to be comfortable, uh, and to sort of be in a situation where the daughter and the son in law can take care of them as they age. So we've got two of those that are keeping us busy. Like I said, just, we're just right back at it. You know, it's just doing what we do.

[00:17:26] Eric Goranson: And then, uh, then you got, so you got three, four shows going right now, almost because you have the, this old house with two projects, right?

[00:17:33] Eric Goranson: Then you got asked this old house. And then of course you've got, uh, your, uh, team Rubicon going. You're a busy

[00:17:39] Kevin O'Connor: man. There's a lot going on. We got to, we got a tremendous production crew that keeps all of these balls in the air for us. Well,

[00:17:46] Eric Goranson: we're running out of time, Kevin, where do people find team Rubicon, your newest show?

[00:17:51] Kevin O'Connor: So anybody can, um, watch it. You can stream it for free on the Roku channel. You can get the Roku app on any smart TV or [00:18:00] the little stick or the little box. Um, you can put it on your computer, your phone. Free streaming of Team Rubicon. All 13 episodes were dropped about a week or two ago. So you can binge on it or you can, uh, you can savor it over the course of 13 half hour episodes.

[00:18:18] Eric Goranson: Perfect. And then everybody can just go to this old house. com to find all the, this old house information. Yep. Still

[00:18:23] Kevin O'Connor: on PBS, but also that streaming free on Roku as well. Um, you know, this old house is all over the Roku app, all over the Roku channel and obviously PBS

[00:18:31] Eric Goranson: nationwide. Perfect. Kevin, thanks for coming on today, man.

[00:18:34] Eric Goranson: I appreciate the time. I know you're a busy man, Eric. I

[00:18:36] Kevin O'Connor: appreciate it. Always going to be back with you. Around

[00:18:41] Eric Goranson: the House, we'll be right back. Don't go anywhere.

[00:18:59] Eric Goranson: Hey, this is [00:19:00] Ron Keel, the metal cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel band and Steeler, we are rocking Around the House with Eric T. You know, if you've ever tried hiring a contractor out there, even finding one, it can be a hard battle these days. And we've got some big reasons why. So I brought on my good friend, Kayleen McCabe.

[00:19:21] Eric Goranson: You might've seen her on any one of the home improvement channels out there on TV, but she's also a speaker, a skills trade ambassador. Welcome to Around the House, my friend. Thanks

[00:19:34] Kayleen McCabe: for having me, Eric. It's always awesome to get the chance to hang out with you and catch up.

[00:19:38] Eric Goranson: Oh, it's always fun. It's been too long.

[00:19:41] Eric Goranson: I miss those days of us hitting the trade shows so often. I, you know,

[00:19:45] Kayleen McCabe: I do too. And then some days I don't cause you know, we're suffering a skilled trade gap across all trades while, you know, you and I, I'm a possessed with a sawdust and mechanics, but we're [00:20:00] seeing it in the auto or the aerospace industry as well.

[00:20:02] Kayleen McCabe: And so traveling nowadays is a test in

[00:20:05] Eric Goranson: patience. Yes, it is. And we're going to have to get some more trades out there because, you know, we're seeing it's, it's one of those things that's bad for the homeowner. It's great for the trades person, right? You know, all of a sudden now you've got electricians and plumbers making six figures a year and, uh, they're not having to pay for college.

[00:20:22] Eric Goranson: It's a really great deal for them, but the homeowners are now going, Hey, why are things so expensive? And it's because, well, there's a employment battle for people in the trades these days.

[00:20:33] Kayleen McCabe: Absolutely. And we've been seeing this battle for a few years and honestly, we should have seen it coming. I mean, a lot of us did years ago because we had been pushing forever.

[00:20:41] Kayleen McCabe: That the only pathway to success was college. And as somebody who didn't go to college, but became quite successful because of the trades, I knew this was a lie. So, you know, we're a few years outside of really things turning around. There has been a lot of movement. A lot of funding has come into [00:21:00] career and technical education, which is great.

[00:21:02] Kayleen McCabe: And now we are starting to see schools. You know, in high school, starting to promote all options for great careers. So, you know, yeah, I know it's great. We've been seeing it for a while, but gosh, is it challenging because we just need more awareness and really, hi, are you breathing? Uh, come join us in the trades.

[00:21:20] Kayleen McCabe: Cause we have a career for you. What do you want to do? We got it all.

[00:21:23] Eric Goranson: Yeah, absolutely. And, and, you know, we're getting ready as well, those to lose another generation that's getting ready to retire again. You know, that, uh, you know, 60 year old contractor out there. That's like, Hey, I think I'm about ready to head to the beach.

[00:21:38] Eric Goranson: You know, for good and, uh, keep the boat out going all year long instead of just a couple of days a year. Cause they're working as we got to get the people in there to replace those cats.

[00:21:48] Kayleen McCabe: We do. And I'm really concerned because with the folks retiring, we're losing brain power. You know, we're losing the folks who know how to pass on this knowledge.

[00:21:58] Kayleen McCabe: And so I'm requesting a [00:22:00] few things. So for all of your viewers and your fans, um, if you know the trains, if you're thinking about retiring, consider teaching. Come into the school systems. Um, there's been a lot to make the transition easier coming off the job site into a classroom as far as credentialing and training and look, teenagers are always going to be teenagers, but in all fairness, teenagers are just like apprentices.

[00:22:22] Kayleen McCabe: So it's fine. Uh, so please. Don't retire without passing on some of that brain power. Um, but it's also, all right, you know, let's get students and parents excited about this. How do we let the other gatekeepers know that there are great careers out there? You mentioned it earlier that the lack of debt that we're seeing our feather, like fellow coworkers with.

[00:22:46] Kayleen McCabe: It's impressive. And you know, we know from research studies like N-C-C-E-R had a really good one on restoring the dignity to work that on average you're not paying off that simple bachelor's degree that you [00:23:00] think you might have to have until you're 45. And so as a parent, how in good conscience can you encourage your child to have to go to college to become successful?

[00:23:11] Kayleen McCabe: When there are some great career opportunities that will eventually most likely pay for college. We want smart people in this industry. Um, and so I'm working with a lot of employers who want to educate, want to employ, want to give benefits to, they want long term employees. So we're coming together with some good things, but, um, yeah, if you're going to retire.

[00:23:33] Kayleen McCabe: Just please share a bit of your knowledge before you get on that boat and go fishing.

[00:23:39] Eric Goranson: That's a good call because we do, we have so many good people out there that are just getting ready to call it a year, you know, and say, okay, I'm going to hit retirement. Why don't you get some more benefits head to the head to the schools and.

[00:23:51] Eric Goranson: You know, get yourself some insurance and stuff like that, that many contractors of that age just kind of went, ah, we'll be fine. And, and that's a big change in [00:24:00] the, in the trades as well. It's just the benefits package. Cause you know, I know an electrician right now here in the Portland metro area where this show is broadcast and he's had for a couple of years now, a 20, 000 signing bonus.

[00:24:12] Eric Goranson: Just to hire an electrician.

[00:24:13] Kayleen McCabe: Well, then you, you'd be pretty bright to take that, uh, but it's true. I mean, you know, we're looking at the supply and demand issue. We're looking at long term things. And so employers are really incentivized right now to have great long lasting employees and by being creative.

[00:24:38] Kayleen McCabe: I mean, I come out of residential construction, we didn't have health insurance. Or retirement plans or sick days. That's not a real thing. Sorry, but it's not. But now I'm looking at a lot of commercial and industrial job sites and companies, even some of the larger residential contractors. Do you want to know who they are?

[00:24:58] Kayleen McCabe: They just all formed a [00:25:00] nonprofit called Building Talent Foundation. And 20 residential contractors in the U. S. And like number 20 had like 1. 2 billion worth of work. These So if you want to go into residential construction, you want to work for one of those top 20 because they are offering benefits and furthering education.

[00:25:18] Kayleen McCabe: You know, we're looking at groups who are going to provide for their employees, certificates, credentialing, you know, you will leave some places as a journeyman with your license. What? Now you can take that and go anywhere in the world, you know, stay home and make a bunch of money. It's awesome. It's a win win.

[00:25:36] Kayleen McCabe: And so. I don't know if I had to do it over again, holy cannoli. I would in a heartbeat sign up to be an industrial construction. Uh, I love residential forever and ever, but here's how it's going to go. Now I'm going to go into industrial construction. I'm going to make a bunch of money. I'm going to have benefits and then I might time off.

[00:25:54] Kayleen McCabe: I'm going to start flipping houses in residential. Um, totally like that would have [00:26:00] been the business plan that I would have come into it because I would have had right financial backing. Cause sometimes working in residential is a little like freelance artist. Um, so, I mean, I can't lie, I love it. It's my passion.

[00:26:12] Kayleen McCabe: I just like, yeah, things around me, but I had to do it over again. That's how I would have ensured that I would have been a millionaire earlier. Yeah,

[00:26:20] Eric Goranson: that's a smart call. That's a smart call because that's just one of those things. And nowadays, I mean, even if people don't want to work out in the heat and the cold, there are places where you can be out there with these modular home people out there that are doing this, where you can be working inside the 70 degree temperature, 24 seven, whether you got the day shift or the night shift and you're still building homes, you're just doing it inside.

[00:26:42] Kayleen McCabe: And here's the best part. You know, let's say one of your viewers right now is a parent and they're like, well, my child really likes playing video games and being inside. Uh, I have a hard hat that has a windows 10 computer on the back hollow lens that fold down, and now I can modify and work [00:27:00] with my. BIM, building information modular, whatever, like my new friend in real time.

[00:27:06] Kayleen McCabe: I mean, I need to conference call in any level of construction. I need to conference call people back to the offices. I also need to work with doctors and lawyers. And so when we think of working in the trades, you can be on a job site in all fairness. Oh, Eric is so much fun on the job site because now we're in an industry where they're making it safer by taking the cords off of the job site, you know, the battery powered.

[00:27:31] Kayleen McCabe: They're also making things ergonomic. I mean, I put on a suit not long ago where me with my stature, I could pick up a 300 pound person, you know, technology really evolving things and there's way to keep us cool. Some of the heavy. If I could do heavy highway, some of that machinery drives itself and you have air conditioning.

[00:27:51] Kayleen McCabe: So this whole notion of, you know, it's hard work. Yeah. All work is hard. All of it. Now, why would [00:28:00] you want to be in recycled air, making, you know, the same as all the other people in recycled air in cubicles, when you the real world, experience how gravity works in real life, and make a ton of money.

[00:28:12] Eric Goranson: Right?

[00:28:13] Eric Goranson: Perfect. Instead of being in the office, it's like living in the movie office space. You could be out playing and have time to yourself and be creating things. To me, that's a lot of fun. Don't go anywhere around the house. Be

[00:28:25] Kayleen McCabe: right[00:29:00]

[00:29:00] Eric Goranson: end of the show drinking down people. It's time to go. It's last call. Welcome back to the round the house show. Now we've been talking with my friend Kayleen McCabe about everything with contracting the trades. Now let's get back and wrap up this interview and, uh, talk about what she's been working with out there.

[00:29:22] Eric Goranson: I mean, I just have to say, I'm so proud of her working with the kids and the trades and really helping. Get that career path for people that might not want to go to college that, um, want to make as much money or more doing stuff with their hands and their brands. Right. It's perfect. Instead of being in the office, it's like living in the movie office space.

[00:29:43] Eric Goranson: You could be out playing and have time to yourself and be creating things. To me, that's a lot of fun. And that's, I

[00:29:49] Kayleen McCabe: mean, obviously it is our, but I don't want to diss it. Cause I do need people who work in offices. I need project managers. I need architects. I need engineers. But place for everyone there [00:30:00] is, and really, I think the better architects and engineers are the ones who on their summer break came out and framed for a few summers and learned how really gravity works in real life outside of those CAD programs.

[00:30:11] Eric Goranson: See, that's what I did with my, when I had all my kitchen designers that were working for me for my different design companies, I would make them as part of their training, go out and spend 2 weeks installing kitchens so they could understand. Oh, wait a minute. Those fillers are our friends. I need to leave room for crown molding.

[00:30:26] Eric Goranson: All those little things that, uh, that, uh, maybe they didn't teach in design school, but you need to figure it out in the field because you're either going to figure it out there when you're doing it or making mistakes and ordering things twice. Yes, and

[00:30:38] Kayleen McCabe: that's also how you gain respect of your colleagues.

[00:30:40] Kayleen McCabe: If you're coming out doing a bad job and you don't really know how the job's done, you aren't going to be respected in the bigger term. And I really believe that there's a lot of value in any career path. Believe me, I've, I've had quite a few, you know, carpenter. Television host, I was a 9 1 1 dispatcher.

[00:30:57] Kayleen McCabe: I was also a call in psychic. That's what [00:31:00] I can tell. I'm so bad at that. Uh, um, but all these careers, minus being psychic, uh, I worked my way up. I worked my way up from the mailroom and then eventually was either the owner of the company or the boss. And I just found so much more value in that because I could speak with authority.

[00:31:19] Kayleen McCabe: As I was going about my tasks, I knew when I was talking and designing kitchens that like, yeah, all those things you talk about are so critically important because I'd experienced it in real life. So, bravo, and thank you for educating your employees because I guarantee they were, I guarantee they were more respected.

[00:31:36] Kayleen McCabe: That they have now found major longevity in this career path. Cause they see how to problem solve. I mean, when I'm talking to parents about making sure their student takes the CTE program for me, that's great careers. That's awesome. But these classes are also teaching communication and how to problem solve and how to critically think and how to communicate.

[00:31:57] Kayleen McCabe: And these are skills that we need in [00:32:00] society. I need these that are just humans. To be pleasant around. And so where can we learn this in school now? Is it an English class? Probably not. How about small engine repair? Totally. Because you're going to make that lawnmower either run or not, and you're going to fail and then you have to problem solve and you have to talk to other people and educate yourself.

[00:32:22] Kayleen McCabe: And so these are just, to me, lessons on how to be a good human. And what a cool bonus that it can also turn into a great career that we know. Has a lot of great potential and

[00:32:34] Eric Goranson: opportunities. Absolutely. And if we look out there, if we notice, you know, everybody's scared of AI. The AI is taking the white collar jobs.

[00:32:43] Eric Goranson: It's not taking the blue collar jobs right now. Completely.

[00:32:46] Kayleen McCabe: And I'm looking at it, compliment. First of all, check GPT, switching out your own toilet. Never going to happen. You weren't going to like, uh, AI, uh, your [00:33:00] leaky faucet that is going to require skilled, it's hands on in real life. Now, some of the components that I work with are technology based.

[00:33:07] Kayleen McCabe: It's awesome, but it's enhancing and it's creating longevity in my career where, you know, Oh, I mean, there are students now who can actually go to a university in Phoenix and it's not the University of Phoenix, but then, um, to learn how to 3d print houses at a concrete. How

[00:33:27] Eric Goranson: cool is that? It's awesome.

[00:33:30] Kayleen McCabe: And while it's run by robots, and we'll eventually see this technology being in place on Mars or other terrestrial places that we want to colonize or do things with.

[00:33:41] Kayleen McCabe: Yeah. We still need people on site. So that's how it works.

[00:33:48] Eric Goranson: So Caitlin, we're going to run out of time here. What's the best way for people to track you down? And, uh, you know, if there's a parent out there, that's maybe thinking about something for their kid that might not be the best fit for [00:34:00] college and they're really good with what they do.

[00:34:02] Eric Goranson: And you maybe want to enhance that a little bit. What do you recommend?

[00:34:05] Kayleen McCabe: KayleenMcCabe. com that has links to all my social sites. You can directly email me on there is also information on the free webinar that I give to school districts and to parents talking about the five pathways after high school graduation, where I normally talk about that.

[00:34:21] Kayleen McCabe: And then I connect you locally, like with business and industry. So you can find all that information out on my website and then yeah, feel free to email me. I will encourage. Uh, and harass strangers to get into the trades. Probably tell all my hair goes gray.

[00:34:38] Eric Goranson: Kaylee, my friend, thanks for coming on today.

[00:34:40] Eric Goranson: And thank you for what you're doing out there. Cause you're making a huge difference out there.

[00:34:46] Kayleen McCabe: I appreciate it, Eric, as always. Thank you for giving me this platform to share my message with. And I hope you have a great. Rest your year.

[00:34:53] Eric Goranson: You too. We'll see each other this year. We'll make it happen.

[00:34:59] Eric Goranson: Now, [00:35:00] guys, let's talk about for a minute what we can do to help with this trade skills gap. You know, we got millions of people out there that could be filling jobs in the construction trades and, uh, you know, an industry out there. So really we need to focus back to what we were doing in the seventies and eighties.

[00:35:15] Eric Goranson: That is having trade programs in high schools or have a trade high school that people can go to. This, uh, one size fits all program that we tried to do to get every kid to go to college has been, uh, you know, quite the boom for college education out there. Who's been making in. Billions in dollars, but that's the that's the problem is that not everybody fits that mold and we've done a really poor job in many areas across the country, preparing kids for life.

[00:35:45] Eric Goranson: You know, we got rid of the home at classes where people learned how to cook. We, we've taken a lot of common sense out of education and I'm going to jump up on the soapbox here for a little bit and talk about that because. You know, there are some school districts out there that do a killer job. [00:36:00] They have not strayed at all of educating kids and they've done a good job and how it can see those are ones that have the wood shop.

[00:36:07] Eric Goranson: They have construction trades, automotive, all these different, you know, career paths. And the ones that are failing, the kids are the ones that have taken all those. You know, buildings and turn them into computer labs and things like that, but eliminated all the different things from wood shop to metal shop to automotive to, to all the building trades to all of those things.

[00:36:30] Eric Goranson: Those are the ones that we're failing at. And if you have kids in a school district or live in a school district like that, I do. It's a battle we have here. We do not teach the trades like we should. And that's a problem in my school district and something that I want to change and I'm going to work with people to keep doing this to really do it.

[00:36:48] Eric Goranson: So I'm asking everybody out there as a parent. If you're a parent out there, or you're active in your school programs, make sure that every kid is getting a good education and we need lots of [00:37:00] people going into the construction trades out there and you can make a ton of money. So if you if you don't want to go to college, or if you want to go out and just.

[00:37:08] Eric Goranson: You know, be the best you can be out there. Take a look at those construction trades. You know, um, there's a lot of great programs like over in the Trey cities, uh, eastern Washington hats off to you guys because you have the, uh, area vocational skills center. I took that I took auto body over there and I took radio TV production and I would not be doing the things I'm doing today without that trade program.

[00:37:31] Eric Goranson: So, make sure that we've got those programs out there for people and, uh, it's really important. There's other ones around here in my metro area. Portland has some stuff with there, but they could sure do a lot more, uh, the Portland public schools, but we've got stuff here. Forest Grove. They have their Viking house where they're teaching kids how to do it.

[00:37:50] Eric Goranson: And, uh, so across the country, there's a lot of great programs. But I think equally, there's a lot of programs that aren't doing it. So all the parents and people out there, if you [00:38:00] want to help, please take some time, get involved. I'm going to do better myself and getting involved here with my local school district to make sure that they're teaching kids.

[00:38:09] Eric Goranson: And that's the only way we're going to get this. You know, there are so many people out there that could be working great jobs that are going out and spending a hundred grand on a college education and then come to find out they didn't need it. For what they're doing, and I don't want to saddle 100 grand with a debt on somebody because I tell you what, as we've been seeing with the student loan stuff out there, there's a lot of kids that got sold that they could go get a crazy degree that wasn't going to get them a career.

[00:38:35] Eric Goranson: And, um, you know, they found out that wait a minute. I just spent 100 grand. On education to get a 40, 000 a year job that I'm gonna barely scrape by with. And, uh, you know, that's a big problem that we need to address out there. We need to make sure the kids getting loans for schools have the opportunity to actually earn money with that degree, especially if we're loaning it to him.

[00:38:57] Eric Goranson: So. I think we need to add some common [00:39:00] sense into that whole system. All right, everybody. Well, thanks for tuning in. That's the end of our two. We'll see you next week. Catch us on the midweek special podcast. Thanks for tuning in to Around the

[00:39:20] Eric Goranson: House.