Empowering Lives Through the Trades with Kate Cinnamo and Toni Bower
In this special episode of From the Yellow Chair, brand ambassador Lupita and head of operations Andrea sit down with Kate Cinnamo and Toni Bower from Explore the Trades! They discuss encouraging career growth in the trades, personal stories of professional discovery, and the opportunity to develop a career even without a college degree.
0:08 - Exploring Trade Careers for Students
14:50 - Supporting Explore the Trades Through Collaboration
22:11 - Importance of Skilled Trades Industry
If you would like to learn more about Explore the Trades, make sure to check out their website and support their cause!
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We’ll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
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Speaker 1: 0:08
What's up, lemonhead? Well, today is going to be a little different. As you can see, crystal and Emily is not doing the podcast, as it is in me and Andrea who will be leading this. Andrea, would you like to introduce yourself?
Speaker 2: 0:31
Yeah, hi everybody.
Speaker 1: 0:31
I'm Andrea Reagan and I'm the head of operations here at Lemon Seed Marketing and most of you guys know who I am. I'm Lapita. We are going to be talking about opportunities and careers pathways in the trade industry with our special guest, tony Bauer and Kate. Go ahead and say your last name name, because I do not want to mess this up.
Speaker 3: 0:49
Cinemo is the last name.
Speaker 1: 0:51
Cinemo.
Speaker 3: 0:52
Okay.
Speaker 1: 0:53
All right, and they are from Explore the Trades, hi guys, thanks for having us.
Speaker 4: 0:59
Yeah, happy to be here.
Speaker 1: 1:02
All right, guys. Now let's sip some lemonade.
Speaker 2: 1:09
So, Kate, you've been the executive director of Explore the Trade since 2017. Can you tell us a bit about your journey with the organization and your role?
Speaker 3: 1:18
Sure, like you said, andrea, I came to this role in April of 2017. So I've been here for seven years. I came to this role in April of 2017. So I've been here for seven years and, like so many people's journeys into the trades, I can say that I sort of fell into mine. With a background in senior health care and housing, I worked in that arena for quite a while and had one of those moments one day where I felt like I wanted a new challenge and and so came across this role, and I have learned so much about the industry, along with everybody else, and I think that's a really big opportunity, not only for myself but for the organization, to say well, if we want to get the trades out in front of the upcoming generation, what do they need to know and what would be really interesting to them. And so I think, because of my journey, understanding that I have seen all the facets and how one can develop such an affinity for the trades, and that's how I got where I am- Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 1: 2:18
All right, tony. So you joined the Explore the Trades in May of 2023. What drew you to this organization and what is your focus on the donor engagement specialist?
Speaker 4: 2:31
Yeah, thank you. So yeah, I'm the donor engagement specialist. I'm the newest addition to the Explore the Trades team and my primary focus is, of course, fundraising, but ultimately, more than that, it's fostering relationships with our donors and industry partners. And I, like many others, kind of stumbled into the trades world as well. I took the traditional path and went to a four-year college, because that was what was expected.
Speaker 1: 3:03
Right.
Speaker 4: 3:04
Found myself kind of unfulfilled with the results of that and was presented an opportunity to volunteer doing disaster relief, repairing damaged homes after some flooding down in Louisiana. And you know, thought to myself, I don't have any skilled trades experience. You know, I've barely used power tools.
Speaker 3: 3:27
I was kind of out of my element, right.
Speaker 4: 3:29
Yeah, and I was pleasantly surprised, I and realized hey, you know, if I discovered accidentally that I have an aptitude for this, I bet there's other people out there that do as well, and they just don't realize it, right.
Speaker 2: 3:54
Right.
Speaker 4: 3:54
So that really excited me and the opportunity to work with Explore the Trades to promote the skilled trades to the next generation really excited me because I believe that there's a lot of young people out there that have the aptitude for the skilled trades and they just need the information and they need the exposure to it.
Speaker 1: 4:13
Yeah, that's what I was going to say. The exposure is like a big part of it, cause if they're not exposed to it, then they don't know.
Speaker 4: 4:21
Yeah, it's it's tactical right, like being a technician you don't know if you like it unless you try it Right.
Speaker 1: 4:29
Unless you try it. Yep, yep, no, that is true, and you can't be scared either to get your hands dirty.
Speaker 2: 4:38
Nope, that's. That's one of the things that I've really spoken a lot with Tony about in our one-on-one meetings is the importance of putting to light how valuable it is to have a skilled trade, and, you know, not everybody needs or should want to explore a four-year university, especially with the high demand that home services and skilled trades offer right now. There's just such a high demand for it and yet so many young students or high school students think that the only way they can make a decent salary and a decent, livable wage is by going to a four-year college. So just putting some numbers together, because I'm a little bit I'm older than I appear, but I did graduate in 2011.
Speaker 1: 5:41
Wait a minute, hold on, okay. No, I was going to say wait a minute. Don't you dare say high school, but college, okay, okay.
Speaker 2: 5:53
I so wish, but no, the uh. No, I'm not. I don't look that young, but the average cost of a four-year public school right now, in 2023, was $104,000. And that's only if you're in state. To go to a four-year private school in state, you can be looking at up to $223,000. And that's purely for an undergraduate degree. And so Tony and Kate were kind enough to send an Explore the Trades poster kit that they use for advocacy of the trades.
Speaker 1: 6:29
I don't know if y'all can see it, but it's, I got it there. It is yes.
Speaker 2: 6:38
And it was so enlightening to me to see that a junior CSR starting out could potentially make between $17 and $20 an hour, because, in reality, when I was in college, I really had the impression that when I graduated, I could easily find a job making a minimum of $75,000 a year and that is just, of course, a year, and that is just of course.
Speaker 2: 7:08
We shoot for the stars but I didn't end up after college anywhere near that number. In fact, what I ended up with was a decent bit of student loan debt and making I hate to say it because it was 2011, but I was making what a junior CSR could be making straight out of high school or with a GED. So, to me, just that knowledge and education about the potential income and everything that could be offered without such a financial investment with the same success levels, is huge, and so, for that reason alone, I'm so excited that Kate and Tony had the opportunity to talk about that on our podcast, because education really is key, and that's not something that I received when I was in high school and now, as times have changed, of course we are talking more about being in the trades and whatnot, but that was not something that was even an option for me, because it wasn't presented to me when I was in high school.
Speaker 2: 8:08
So I love this poster kit. I love it.
Speaker 3: 8:12
That's that's endorsement we're looking for. So thank you.
Speaker 2: 8:18
It's so. It's so exciting to talk to Tony and Kate because I have a 19 year old who has made the conscious decision while he does have incredible opportunities, he made the conscious decision that I do not want to attend a four-year university. I want to become skilled at something that I truly love and find an honest future in. I mean, how many people? For example, I graduated with a double major in psychology and criminal justice and here I am at an amazing marketing agency, but if I tried to apply what I've learned in college to this, it's very minimal. So it's so important that you there is good job training, there is good skilled labor training and whatnot, and so I just I love, I love this nonprofit organization for that reason alone. So, kate, let's explore the trades. It really focuses on bringing the trades career possibilities to students and educators. So tell us a little bit about the impact your organization has made in terms of reaching schools and students.
Speaker 3: 9:32
Yeah, that's a good question and I think you know the conversation we just had. You know how we're organically talking about students, right, and the four of us right now. My bet is that we went through high school and if your school counselor talked about going to a trade school or right into the workforce, it was probably because it was with the perception of oh, I'm sorry, you weren't smart enough to get into a four-year college. How?
Speaker 3: 10:01
about these options, you know. So it's very much on the side and I think if you follow that idea back you know it was in the over. But yes, yes, many people went to college. There's not a lot of us who would have had exposure, like Tony said, to those classes in college. You know, sort of the late 90s, early 2000s is when all of these schools took out shop class and it was probably because the longtime instructor finally retired and maybe that was the opportunity to say hey, you know what?
Speaker 3: 10:59
We're not going to put any more budget funds towards this. It's too expensive. How do we get someone from the field to come in and teach? And so that's the opportunity to shift everybody over here, and now we're on the flip side. Now the pendulum has swung so far that we don't have any of these craftsmen and women to do the work that is so necessary for our day-to-day lives, and so what we want to do is kind of figure out how can Explore the Trades fit into that conversation to say, well, we want to be part of the reason why you're bringing trades education back into the school.
Speaker 3: 11:37
Through some of the efforts we have. How can we assist either a local company, set up a partnership with the local school, how can we be of service to get equipment into the school so students can really try that? How do I fix the furnace? What does a furnace do? I think we have to remember that we are starting from square one in terms of these students understanding what these tradespeople do. A plumber does not come and clean your toilet. That is not true, right, and that's the perception. So how can we break it down so that they understand how important these tradespeople are, what they do? Did you know that there's someone who ensures that you have clean water and hot water in your home every day? So know. So there's all these different things that we take for granted, that we already know because we're in the industry. But how can we ensure that those adults in those students' lives, whether they're uninformed or under-informed, how can we give them the tools they need to have those conversations? So that's really what we're focused on.
Speaker 2: 12:44
Yes, one of the things that I just realized while we're on here is that we're all very obviously different, but the one thing that we have in common is we are women in what is truly once a male dominated industry.
Speaker 2: 12:59
So, as I'm sitting here thinking, I was reflecting onto the poster kit, and I love the fact that it is so gender neutral, meaning that you are not just targeting high school males, it is targeting everybody, men, women alike, and that also breaks those barriers of the perception of, hey, success does not just lie within college and you know what Neither does a man, neither does being a man.
Speaker 2: 13:29
You can actually be in the service industry, in the trades, as a female doing, you know, doing, the exact same thing, that what would traditionally be a male role, and there is nothing in this poster kit to imply that that is, you know, for male students only to, to, to start thinking about. And so I really liked that. I love the idea of presenting that to females because, as I was telling Tony, and now that I'm looking at it, you know, I did have very good grades, I did, I did get scholarships, so maybe that conversation about any other options wasn't given to me, but at the same time, had I seen the numbers and the salary figures and the opportunities that are there, that could have very easily swayed me outside of attending a four-year university. So I love that we're putting in front of people, both male and female alike, all of the opportunities that are really at their disposal with just a little effort, hard work and some willpower and discipline. And so I love.
Speaker 2: 14:36
I love that, tony. Obviously you know receiving sponsorships and whatnot supports the mission for Explore the Trades. But what else can be done for our listeners that say, man, I might not be able to support financially but I love this cause, how can I come in and help?
Speaker 4: 15:07
Sure, let's see. Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, as a nonprofit, we certainly can't, we can't operate our you know our programs without donations, right, so we are relying upon those to do our work. However, we're always very open to engaging in conversations about. However, we're always very open to engaging in conversations about, you know, other ways, creative ways that we can collaborate. You know, if we can be an arm to another organization, if we're filling a gap, maybe that is missing in someone else's work or whatever. I mean, yeah, I don't know if I answered that correctly.
Speaker 3: 16:04
Yeah, I don't know if I answered that correctly, but, and you know, I great to have them call us or email us to say, hey, I saw your website, your social media. Do you mind if I grab one of those kits for my kids' schools? 100% right. So if we can sort of build out sort of those informal ambassadors on behalf of the organization, of build out sort of those informal ambassadors on behalf of the organization, on behalf of the industry, I think again, if we can just get the information into the hands of the people who can make a difference, you know, I think that's great.
Speaker 3: 16:35
And naturally the conversation turns to oh, wait a second. You know we have, we know, a contractor in the community. They're interested in the school connection. You guys seem to be interested in the community, they're interested in the school connection. You guys seem to be interested in the trade. And if we can be sort of the liaison between that potential partnership is really exciting. Like how can we match up industry and institution? And I think that's one small win that we can take advantage of.
Speaker 1: 17:05
Yeah, no doubt. It kind of it reminds me of mac williams and son um, which is it's crystal's family's company and here recently they went to a school and did a job fair so I look, I saw their facebook post and they brought flex and I mean all kinds of stuff. And you had the kids like seeing what a furnace really looked like, what the flex really looked like, what was the reason for the flex? And I mean we need more of that in schools.
Speaker 3: 17:39
Yes, yeah, absolutely. I think back to STEM fair. A colleague and I did probably five years ago it was before COVID and we had the chance to go to a STEM fair with eighth graders in in Minneapolis, st Paul, and it's. We brought all these handheld tools right and we brought a snake camera. Can I tell you how much the eighth graders love the snake camera? You know they're messing around with it and looking in everyone's ears, it's. You know what eighth graders do.
Speaker 3: 18:08
But it was interesting to say well, did you know that when a plumber comes to your home, this is why they use that? Oh, you know. So then you slowly start to see the wheels turn and then the conversation gravitates towards well, this is the type of education you need as a plumber. You don't, you wouldn't go to college. So that sort of piqued their interest, you know. And then you talk about the salary, the potential salary they can make, and so it's, little by little, if you can get their hands on a small tool, if they can see it and understand it in use, that's, that's really all it is. Let me touch it, let me see it, it's more of a visual effect to them.
Speaker 1: 18:50
Yeah, absolutely yeah, all right, hang on, time out, andrea. Where did we leave off? Because I just roll with it.
Speaker 2: 19:07
That is okay, lupita. I'm over here imagining how, at 35, I would feel if I was looking at one of those snake cameras.
Speaker 1: 19:19
My mind automatically goes to like once you told the kids what exactly was the snake camera was, do they like freak out because they were trying to put it in their ear? That was my thing, that's the. That's the thought that ran through my head was like they were trying to put it, but then again you had to explain what kind of tool that was you didn't really go past an ear or a nose, okay.
Speaker 1: 19:50
Okay, we're good, we're safe, we're safe, everyone all right. And I don't know, andrea, if you asked this question or not, but, tony, how are you? How are you building and maintaining stronger donor relationships and why is it important for the organization to keep that bond?
Speaker 4: 20:10
Right, yeah, so we do a lot of outreach to industry players to understand, you know, do they have a community or philanthropic approach? Do they have a community or philanthropic approach? You know, are they making any efforts in their community or communities to build a strong network to support trades related efforts? What is their approach, what are their priorities and valuable conversations can occur about? You know how we can collaborate to strengthen the message about the skilled trades and how we can collaborate to strengthen the message about the skilled trades. And you know, the more we are in alignment with with goals to support the industry, the more I think impactful that we can be for the industries overall. So you know, ideally it's about seeking out a partnership that's a win across the board. You know it contributes to the overall economic health of communities and businesses and the like and the industry as a whole.
Speaker 1: 21:10
That is right. I love that.
Speaker 2: 21:15
Absolutely so. As far as being a receiver for the poster kit and being a donor, are there any? Is there anything? Any qualifications that our listeners need to review before reaching out to you for donations, or anything that they need to know before they make a commitment to donate?
Speaker 3: 21:48
No, I you know to that point, andrea. Our, our donor base stems from individuals to businesses in the small community, to industry, manufacturers, distributors, and it's really enjoyable for us to see, certainly, the gratitude we have for that financial support. We certainly have that for all of our donors. What's really gratifying is if there's someone, an individual, who makes a gift. It's really encouraging to hear their story as to why you know they. They have some connection that either they used to work in the trades themselves, they had a family connection, their family owned business. So, like any nonprofit that you might support, obviously there's a personal connection to that.
Speaker 3: 22:35
So it's it's certainly a challenge but also, at the same time, an opportunity for our team to create momentum behind the trades as to why they are so important, you know, and to create those illustrations and really think about how the greatest invention for public health was plumbing, you know, if you think about it like, think about your history lessons, and so it's enjoyable to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and then share those stories.
Speaker 2: 23:12
I think that's so, so valid and so important, and it also gives us a good little pivot and direction to our next topic, which is the importance of the trades industry. So let's talk about we understand, especially Kate, as you're talking about the invention of plumbing but let's talk about why the trades industry is essential for our economy and society and some common misconceptions that Explore the Trades is helping address.
Speaker 3: 23:47
Sure, you know some of those common misperceptions. I think we've heard it all the time. I think we've heard it for the past 50 years everyone going through school, everyone who's going through high school, high school, graduation it's dirty, it's not fulfilling, it's uneducated, you know you're not going to earn a great living and I think finally it all sort of peaked and everyone in the industry is saying hold on a second. You know that's not true. And, and I think, as much as we don't want to talk about it, I think COVID really put a light on the essential nature of these roles.
Speaker 3: 24:30
You know, because I think everyone remembers when it hit social media. You know on Facebook, the cartoon, the illustration with all of the superheroes, and then you have the plumber coming to join the group. You know a great visual of these people ensure that we have clean drinking water, it's hot water, we have indoor air quality and that was certainly a topic that everybody started talking about during COVID, that we probably talked about. Right, In terms of electrical, everyone's working from home.
Speaker 3: 25:01
This is what we need and I think you know you can certainly go up and down the chain, but I think, with the economic health of the trades, it's so easy to think of the neighborhood companies. You know the family owned multi-generation company in your community and you think, well, I know those people, I went to school with them, you know we've been family friends for a long time. And those employers, those employers of choice in those communities, those are good jobs, those are essential jobs in the community and I think it's that's such a great example, homegrown, of what the trades can do locally. And you know you go up the food chain, down the food chain, however you want to look at it, but with all the distributors, all the manufacturers, the number of jobs that are tied up in this industry and all of the technology and all of those advances, there's a lot of things happening that no one knows about, and now it's sort of the stever pitch, and now we get to talk about it. Now it's okay for us to talk about it.
Speaker 3: 26:05
So you know, I think the health and vitality of communities can be wrapped up in this and again we finally get to talk about it. You know where it's sort of been under wraps for a long time.
Speaker 2: 26:18
Yeah, yeah, that's so valid. I love. I love it because you know, we don't we often don't think. I think a lot of people try not to think about 2020 and COVID, and we're just trying to, we're just trying to count the ceiling tiles as we walk past those conversations, because that's just.
Speaker 2: 26:37
We don't. We don't even want to jinx it and have something like that happen again, but it really did shine a big spotlight on people that are essential for the things that we take advantage of daily. And so when we're talking about recession-proof careers because it you know, it happens you know our economy is always wavering one way or the other, and so with that, the one thing that we really don't see is a lower demand for essential jobs such as healthcare and the home service industry and skilled labor and trade. So I think that's just such a valid point to bring up as we take a look back, as we look forward what future trends and challenges do you see in the trades industry, and how can Explore the Trades begin working on addressing them?
Speaker 3: 27:39
You know, I think that's a great question, and not only with you know, I think when we talk about advances, I think your mind immediately goes to equipment and things like that.
Speaker 3: 27:51
But, you know specifically with what our team does. You know if we're focused on that K-12 population and how can we be of service to that group. One area that our team has been focused on is the rise of C or strengthen any sort of workforce development that they would have within the school district. And like anything you know the more you read into the fine print, the more interesting it is. And you know what's been sort of eye opening for us is. You know schools in the state have this funding but it's all managed differently. It's not managed the same across the board. So you realize the students over in state A receive more opportunity than the students in state B just because of how their funding formula works.
Speaker 3: 28:50
And I think there's an opportunity for Explore the Trade in our materials that if we can position it correctly, we can say the bolster kit that we have is certainly complementary to any workforce and career development that you have in the school. And I think that if we can help get the message across industry that in your community your business can absolutely be a partner to them. And if the school doesn't have all of the budget funds to make something happen, you can step in as an industry player and say we, you know what, we have a great training facility, we have extra materials, we can donate to this. You know we have staff who can be a guest speaker that day. So how can we, with boots on the ground, how can we immediately make an impact to the school? And no doubt the school will love it, you know, to have a guest come in and oh, a hundred percent.
Speaker 3: 29:47
Yeah. So how can we, how can we sort of wrap that up, put a bow on it and say, hey, industry, education, let's, let's meet. How how can we, how can we help facilitate that?
Speaker 1: 30:02
education. Let's meet. How can we help facilitate that Right? Right, and it leads me in. It leads me into the next question it's going to be how can organizations like explore the trade and power the next generations of tradespeople and build a skilled workforce, tony, anyone?
Speaker 4: 30:25
workforce, tony, anyone, anyone? Yeah, I mean, if you ask us. I think we feel that the key to building the future skilled trades workforce is just reaching people earlier in their education journey. Right, and you know, on our end, especially making sure that educators, school counselors and parents have the trades information. And, you know, ideally also disprove some of those negative stereotypes as well along the way, but have the right information to support young people in exploring these opportunities that are available. But I think you know, beyond that too, like industry players, playing a role is essential as well. I think it's key that everybody work together. Who you know support these efforts to feed the talent pipeline and you know it takes a village as they say it does.
Speaker 2: 31:17
Well, ladies, this has just been so amazing. I mean, we've explored career opportunities in the skilled trades. We've talked about how vital it connect with rewarding careers in the trades and the next generation of trades people, why it's important and just get, get that advocacy out, because it is.
Speaker 2: 31:41
It is the future of you know, our children shoot my child like 19, he is, he is there, he is actively looking and he has friends that are currently entering this, this workforce, through the, the trades, and so he's, he's sitting there saying, well, maybe I should do that, maybe I'm sitting there, yes, yes you should.
Speaker 2: 32:24
Let's do that, and so I, I love, I love that the minds are budding and we're really thinking outside of these, these perceptions that our generation and the previous generations have been taught. You know, we're breaking gender barriers, we're breaking educational barriers, and that is what Explore the Trades is all about. So we're so excited to continue working with you to spread the word and the importance of your organization, and so it's just been a pleasure having you both on the show with us. We're just, we're so happy that you're here and we appreciate everything that you're doing for our next generation and future generations to come.
Speaker 3: 33:14
Thank you so much, thank you.
Speaker 1: 33:15
Thank you, katie and Tony. How can listeners learn more about Explore the Trades or how can they contact you guys?
Speaker 3: 33:33
Yeah, great question. So our website is explorethetradesorg and our handle on social media is at Explore the Trades and on our website we have our contact information on there, so we'll welcome an email or a phone call anytime.
Speaker 1: 33:41
Perfect, perfect, all right. Well, thank you guys for listening to another episode from the yellow chair, and I hope everybody can understand me with, uh, my hay bale sounding accent. I feel like it's really strong right now, so I do apologize if anyone has a hard time understanding this episode. Um, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. And also thanks for sipping some lemonade with us. We'll see you next time.
