43:32
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
manufacturing, people, jake, industry, millennials, manufacturers, linkedin, content, manufacturing processes, create, damon, leverage, company, product, social media, technology, welder, automation, gen z, posting
SPEAKERS
Damon Pistulka, Curt Anderson, Jake Hall
Damon Pistulka 00:05
All right, everyone. Welcome once again, the manufacturing ecommerce success series. We are so excited today to be here. I’m Damon Pistulka One of your co hosts. And with me today I’m going to turn this over to my brother from another mother partner in crime. Kurt Anderson. Take it away my friend.
Curt Anderson 00:26
Hey, I caught the ball. Thank you Damon. Hey guys, happy Friday men were to January go. I have not like it was like I blinked and also like we’re, we’re knee deep into 2022 already guys. Happy Friday. What an honor. What a privilege. What a blessing today that we are with a man V.
V capital th e manufacturing millennial. Now before I do the introduction, Jake. I know Dave and I look older but we are millennials right Damon? Were Millennials minus 20 years or so. Yeah, like that? I’m not sure. Like, we just missed it. Jake. We just we missed it. So you guys are right on. Top Runner right on. Jay call the manufacturer millennial, welcome to the program. How are you doing?
Jake Hall 01:10
I’m doing wonderful. It was it was it’s been a crazy week. Um, you know that this week was the first official tradeshow conference of 2022 that I went to. So you know, one down probably 23 more to go this year. But I’m excited that you know, manufacturing’s got a lot of stuff going from in 2022.
Curt Anderson 01:31
And now that’s fantastic, dude. So hey, we have so much to cover in such a short period of time. So I like that let’s take a step back in time, just so I know, like you’ve had a great career manufacturing. And now you’re just really foot to the pedal as far as this whole digital transformation, really setting the bar high for other folks to file. Share a little bit on your background, how you got here, your your whole mission, passion, purpose and manufacturing. Let’s hear a little bit about Jake and your background.
Jake Hall 01:57
Yeah, I mean, so my passion for manufacturing and building things goes back to my childhood. I mean, you can see behind me I got Lego behind me up on the wall. I mean, so by my passion for Lego hasn’t gone away. If anything, it’s increased as my you know, expending spending has been able to increase as well. But I’m going into high school I was in first robotics. I did a lot of curricular activities.
I worked for machine builders when I was in high school. Junior automation was a ginormous machine builder. Now I started out on the floor, sweeping floors cleaning, CNC and manual meat labor equipment, went to college, I got a manufacturing engineering degree in Biomedical Engineering degree.
After college, I stepped into the world of automation distribution, did that for seven and a half years or so. And from then, about a year, about a year and a half ago, I took my next step in journey and really did two things. I went and joined a really awesome company called Find Zastrow. We’re an industrial tech company that helps manufacturers modernize their existing equipment and also leverage new technology to make them a much more digitally running digitally transforming digitally transformed manufacturer.
And during that time period, as well, during the pandemic, I started a personal brand, the manufacturing millennial where I love to share and advocate the incredible opportunities that manufacturing has, not only for new technologies and innovation, but also for future generations like millennials and Gen Z’s that manufacturing has so many avenues to be a phenomenal skill from being and engineers to people in skilled trades who are welders, you know, machine tending people who are doing machining work or robotics programmers, there’s just so many different opportunities in the manufacturing space. And I love to create content and advocate and that’s what I do.
Curt Anderson 03:54
That’s all so you don’t so much uncover a third Yeah. So let’s, let’s do this did you have okay? So, as a millennial, you come into manufacturing, it’s in your hearts in your blood, it’s in your passion of being a dedicated manufacturer. Talk about your digital journey a little bit, you know, again, for us older guys, you know, like trying to play catch up. Was there the manufacturing millennial talk? Was there an aha moment? Was this a gradual process? Where did you wake up one night you’re like, Man, I’m going for I’m going to brand myself as the manufacturer millennial, just what was that journey that Trent that transition for you?
Jake Hall 04:27
Yeah, um, great, great question. So, um, the manufacturing millennial came about what I was actually at a conference. And it was a, you know, get together of a bunch of distributors across the US. And as I was sitting in this conference, I was maybe I would count at current David, I would say I was one of one of one.
Millennials in this entire audience out of the 500 people there. I was probably the only one under 40. Really, and that’s really when it clicked for me where I never really felt thought about it until that time where there’s no younger people in the manufacturing space. And, and so that’s kind of how well I’m millennial, I love manufacturing, and I gave myself on the manufacturing millennial, I didn’t act on that until really, when the pandemic of 2020 happened.
Um, I mean, here in Michigan, we got closed down hard in March of 2020, where basically, everyone’s working from home, unless you are a, you know, certified or approved, you know, I forgot what the terminology was, um, you know, employing, you’re working from home, and well, that really hurt me when I was in outside sales, selling automation equipment, I couldn’t see my people anymore, and emails and phone calls and trying to host webinars as a company would only go so far, people are like, Oh, this is great for the first two or three weeks. But after that, it’s gone.
So I said, Well, I have like 200 people, 300 people I’m connected with on LinkedIn. Some of them are like my customers. I’m just going to start posting on LinkedIn, it’s, it’s, and the reason why I did that is because it’s a non aggressive approach. I think a lot of times when we’re trying to reach out to people through email, it’s always a sales reason.
It’s always that we’re with a social media, it’s more along the lines of they’re on social media, because they want to, and they have every right to scroll past by content as quickly as they want to. So I said, Well, what’s gonna prevent people from not scrolling past my content, and being engaging. And I think the biggest thing that I took away from that right away is, I’m going to talk less about myself, I’m going to talk less about my products. And I’m gonna talk about more about what other people are doing and more about what problems are being solved.
And so from that philosophy, it’s the idea of stop selling, and start solving. And if I can start helping and sharing how problems are being solved in the industry, people will like that. And over a I don’t know where we’re at now, guys, you know, yeah, month period of time since I started that I’ve grown from a couple 100 connections on LinkedIn to well over 30,000 followers. And that’s just by, you know, authentic growth. I mean, I have, I don’t have that many connections. It’s just all people who are following me because of my con. Yeah.
Damon Pistulka 07:22
Yeah. Which is huge. Right. You know, it’s, yeah, it’s good to
Curt Anderson 07:27
repeat that. We like let’s let’s we got to repeat that one. Jake. So you had a couple 100 connections two years ago. So you just Yep.
Jake Hall 07:34
Yeah, right in I actually wrote it down, or when I first started, so it’s hard to go back to like March of 2020. I had under 500 connections.
Curt Anderson 07:45
Dude, you’re a case study, man. Any screenshots of that? Because I’m going to use you in our LinkedIn and our LinkedIn programs and workshops. So Jake, and I absolutely love what you said. It’s a non aggressive approach. In Daymond. I had we had the honor of doing a great interview on Monday with Michelle Jones and shot this bomb, I just want to share and see what you think.
She said, You know, everybody has a brand. So any manufacturers you know, you know, if your website’s from ever, whatever, that is your brand. Like every no books, her quote was no brand is a brand. I absolutely love what you did in it. And I apologize. And you just said so much juicy stuff right there. Why LinkedIn? Why did you why did you quadruple down on LinkedIn? Why not? You know, if like, older folks or book or other platforms, why did you quadruple down on LinkedIn?
Jake Hall 08:36
Great, great question. Um, the reason why I chose the LinkedIn platform is because that’s where currently the manufacturing industry is. Yep. And and that’s, that’s not saying much, because the we’re not the manufacturing industry really isn’t on LinkedIn. But some people are people, there’s a little bit or I could even begin looking at other social media platforms, which is part of my 2022 strategy, I had to first create a audience that was around the manufacturing space.
And that’s where most companies live, where I could find people to talk with, and to network with, because that’s a social profile, professional social profile, where on YouTube, it could be, you know, new master 69 or whatever, who who’s in, you know, the adventures, you know, gain title, but that’s not a person that’s just a name or a title. There’s no value created behind that follower, where now I can create content and know that my engagement is coming from my industry. And that’s valuable. And so what I’m not saying is, other social media platforms are extremely important.
And in some industries, from a b2b perspective, or b2c perspective, other industries are assuming other social platforms might be more valuable than LinkedIn. Right? But LinkedIn creates that opportunity, create passion Social Networks, professional conversations, professional opportunities for us to have live podcast like we’re doing right now. I manufacture ecommerce success, and you know, and create those conversations that we can then generate more content from. And yeah, push to other platforms.
Curt Anderson 10:17
Man, this would Yes, the taste study right here. So under $500, you’ve built it up over 30,000. Walk us through so Okay, so in you launched this pre COVID. Right, I think I saw like January of 2020 is when you actually started are kind of right in that mix.
Jake Hall 10:33
I mean, right around March, actually. I mean, I think I think my first I mean, I was posting on LinkedIn before, but it was like, once a month of like, Hey, here’s our updated line card. Yeah. Typical faulty salesman of like, Hey, here’s a new product video. We do that and we get one or two likes. Yeah, we, you know, we’ve all we’ve all been at fault for that. What? Yeah, I mean, really, I think my first like content post was the day after the shutdown. Oh, okay. Yeah, I mean, that’s really where my timeline starts, I can go back to well, when the Michigan shut down on COVID, that’s when they started the manufacturer millennial,
Curt Anderson 11:12
right? Okay. So you’re like this non aggressive approach, you’re gonna, you know, educate, entertain, inform, you know, just keep people posted, as opposed to, you know, trying to sell. And I have John Leno’s with us today. He loves it, call it Hunter relationships. So you’re out there just hunting the relationships. Jake, did you have walk us through like March 2020? Like through 2020? Did you have aha moments during the process where you’re like, hey, that didn’t work. So well. But man, this really worked. This worked. Like how did like how did you graduate to like, being the video King? Like, can you walk through that?
Jake Hall 11:45
Um, you know, a lot of it was a learning experience, right? Where a lot of times I tried to create longer content that might not have been engaged. And the one thing we didn’t realize, with LinkedIn, it’s a scrolling platform, right? A scrolling platform is different than a YouTube platform, a YouTube platform, I click on a video, and I stay on that video. And it takes a lot of effort for me to go and click on another video to start watching that content.
With LinkedIn. It’s literally just taking your thumb and doing this. Yeah. Right. So if you are not creating content, or videos or pictures or something that’s going to draw the person’s attention within the first three seconds of that video, you lost her scroll stopper, right? Yeah. Yes, that’s the big thing. Right? You know, so I think the big thing that we look at right away is, what is your first sentence on any content?
If your first sentence is not your grammar, you lost them? You know, so like, for me, personally, when I’m doing my content, I always like to relate back to the industry, back to the manufacturing industry, back to the automation industry back to skilled trades, with some factor that people can be educated on and want to learn more. Is a sec exact same thing with videos, right? I I always give companies a really hard times who literally spent 10s, if not hundreds of 1000s of dollars to produce video content, post it on social media, and then they wonder why they don’t get any views?
Well, the first 15 seconds of that is just some fancy schmancy animation. Yeah, your company logo spinning in circles with stars around it. And well, no one cares. I’m sorry. And you already lost their audience. Right? And, and I get it right company. Branding is important. It’s important that people understand your video. But maybe you need to repurpose that content. And that’s what I’ve done successfully on LinkedIn is repurpose that content to be more socially media engaging, right in front. And
Damon Pistulka 13:43
it’s funny, though, how companies still think you guys spent 1000s of dollars on a video to get engagement in it. And you’re right. It’s just a lot of times, it’s a waste of time and effort. Yeah, because a simple video will get way more engagement and produce way better results, if it’s just salt, like you said, solving. And simple. Yeah,
Jake Hall 14:05
I mean, I’ve I’ve literally made posts that I’ve drawn and PowerPoint, taken a screenshot of that picture, posted it and gotten a half a million views. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so I mean, that let’s let’s put that let’s put that in perspective, real quick. content on social media is so engaging. And, and it’s not one of those things where it’s, it’s either social media, or it’s in person events, or it’s social media, or it’s this type of marketing. It’s, it’s a collaboration of both.
And I think that’s what we’re running into recognize is millennials and Gen Z’s find content, find information, create decision making differently than what other generations had. And the decision making isn’t always going to be made through social media and content, but it’s a gateway to drive brand awareness to learn more. Right? Social media is Great opportunity to get a first taste on what your company does. And if companies focus so much into the details right away or what the product is and features, they’re limiting their ability to scale an audience that can drive more views and leads into them.
Curt Anderson 15:21
Are you capable of repeating that sentence?
Jake Hall 15:23
Probably not. Oh, go back. And let’s record it.
Curt Anderson 15:27
Hey, Damon, where’s the rewind button? Because I’m going
Damon Pistulka 15:29
to rewind that
Curt Anderson 15:32
correctly when we focus on our features and our benefits, right, as opposed to delivering value? Just you know, man, I wish I could summarize what your some of what you just said. But that was that was a dropped on mic moment, right
Jake Hall 15:45
there. Yeah, I mean, really, really wanted summary comes down to is, with social media, the focus should be on reaching a generalized audience that creates brand awareness around what your solution is not about your product. Right. And it goes back to here’s, here’s another takeaway you like, this company should worry more about finding out what the problems are in the industry, and focus less on trying to sell their product, right? Because every problem needs a product. Not every product addresses.
The you know, and I think that’s one of the things that people look at is the way we’ve done or companies have done social media content for so long is there like posting a new line card or posting another video highlight of, you know, product XYZ and the lab going, you know, of doing a feature? Well, I don’t care about that.
Show me what it’s doing in a manufacturing environment. Show me what problem it’s actually solving, rather than you just giving me a technical spec readout of all the latest features and updates. Right. So right near you, here’s the thing, those features and updates are great. I’m not trying to take that away. And for people who already know your product, great, they’re super excited, because they’re passionate about that. But is that your audience? If your audience is only educating and creating excitement around your current customer, then great, but for people in marketing, it’s a lot of times about how do I create new audiences? And that’s a different approach.
Curt Anderson 17:26
Man, this is like the 2000 demon, isn’t it? Man? Yeah, Jake’s like hitting homeruns. And so this is it? Is this juicy? So Jake, let’s do this talk about how do you find your videos? How do you find your content? How are you approaching this?
Jake Hall 17:42
Yeah, I mean, so when I first started my video content was literally being found on like Reddit, and like searching YouTube videos of like, cool manufacturing processes. Or like, I would literally walk around the grocery store or the Home Depot, and like, Oh, that’s cool. I wonder how they made that product. And then it would go on YouTube, and I would find that video. Now my content with my audiences engaged where I just get so many videos now, people to send me content, you know, and I become a curator of and, and, and the one thing is 80% of the content I get sent, I’m like, Hey, appreciate, it doesn’t fit the brand. And they’re like, Well, what do you mean?
And I’m like, Well, I’m not going to share content, that’s all you’re doing is a product, highlight video, or they want me to share a, like a company, like 2000 a highlight, this is who we are, you know, with like, a super like, backdrop with a person off to the side talking like this, you know, and you know, they have their PowerPoint embedded thing over there. Like, it’s just one of those things. Where is it? You don’t get it? You know, and until you get it, you’re not going to get that reach. And that reaches huge on LinkedIn. You know, right now, I’m averaging 150,000 views a week on my content
Curt Anderson 18:59
here. 150,000 views a week. Okay, so if somebody is out there, and they have just man, just phenomenal content, that boy, I would love it. You know, like, get that message out there. Like Who are you looking for what type of content like what are what is content that you receive? You’re like, man, thank you for that one. That was great. Yeah.
Jake Hall 19:21
I mean, for the content that I love, it’s, it’s really it’s a fun manufacturing process that’s adapting new automation. I mean, that’s what I love, is, you know, new ways to address problems that have been around for a long time. Um, I think of, there’s a company out there called soft robotics. And they make a IPC gripper that can grab chicken wings off of a conveyor belt. Well, for a long time, the food and beverage industry was a non. It was not a heavily autonomous industry because there’s so much variation in that chicken wing. We’ve all been to Buffalo Wild Wings that you everyone’s a different size. Everyone’s a different length.
Everyone’s a different width. Well, if you can create flexibility within your manufacturing processes you could automate. So what they’re doing is they’re leveraging now, new solutions to automate the food and beverage industry. That’s exciting. You know, um, and I still go back to old school histologia as well, if I run across a cool manufacturing video from like the 1940s, or 50s, I love sharing that, because that’s where the roots came from. What I don’t like doing is sharing a manufacturing process that is being used today.
That obviously could be automated, by some sort of means. And it goes back to the kind of the other thing, I want to help manufacturers drive brand awareness and market accessibility by leveraging social media. But the other half of it as well is we need to attract the future workforce, the millennials, the Gen Z’s into our industry. And we’re not going to do that unless we’re showing to them, the new innovation and the new technology that is becoming available in our industry, because right now, people who are not in the manufacturing space view us as the 3d is of the 40s, the dark, dirty, dangerous doll industry, it’s where your grandparents worked.
It’s not where I work, because I’m going to go to a four year education, and I’m going to become a tick tock influencer, you know, and and, you know, that’s that’s the idea that a lot of these younger generations have what we need to educate them and say, No, listen, there’s some of the greatest and most innovative technology we’re playing with artificial intelligence, we’re playing with robotics, we’re playing with autonomous robots, we’re doing more it ot space and playing with data than anywhere else.
Companies like Amazon who deliver your packages are also building out industry 4.0 solution kits to help first time small to medium sized manufacturers adapt new technology, you know, so we need to at the same time, hit it from two parts. One is, how do we create manufacturers? How do we leverage manufacturers and show them new automation that’s going to make them more competitive, and a highly, you know, competitive slow supply chain right now of products and also a supply chain of labor? And then how do we attract a future workforce? And that’s kind of my, my vision and focus of my brand, I guess you could say?
Curt Anderson 22:17
I absolutely love it. So Jake, so everybody understands. So yeah, you’re apz During the day, you’re Clark Kent with apz During the day, Superman at night and on weekends, and so you are a full fledge, you know, social media consultant provider, you have multiple clients, you’re helping folks, you know, figure out this whole social media thing. So for folks, you know, Damon and I, we are Gen X.
So digital immigrants have, you know, your message to folks on, you know, social media is no longer a nice to have, it is an absolute critical. What do you tell folks that are a little bit resistant? Or, you know, obviously, you probably move on to the next client. But for folks that are a little bit resistant, how do you kind of break that barrier down for Gen X and baby boomers?
Jake Hall 23:03
Yeah, well, let’s let’s do this. So there was a comment in here. It just says LinkedIn user on my screen, but it’s an old school manufacturers are paranoid of changing technology. You know, who’s not paranoid of changing technology? Millennials and Gen z’s. Why? Because since they were four years old, yeah. Learn how to leverage technology growing up. That isn’t current Damon around and they have the typewriter. You know, we
Curt Anderson 23:27
interact, Jake. eight tracks a track PC, gaming, right.
Jake Hall 23:34
But it’s one of those things back in black manufacturers are a paradigm changing technology, you know, who’s not paranoid of changing technology, new people, you know, who’s not paranoid of being active on social media, millennials. So why aren’t millennials?
Why aren’t manufacturers leveraging millennials who aren’t afraid to do something new, who aren’t afraid to fail who aren’t afraid to pick up a robot teach pendant and teach themselves? Because that’s our mindset we go when we can buy a $40, Raspberry Pi or arduino board and sit at our, you know, computer at home or take a 3d printer like one behind me and make something new because we can’t. You know, that’s where the old school mindset of Gen Xers and Boomers can leverage the ability of millennials and Gen Z’s to adapt to those new solutions.
Damon Pistulka 24:25
And that’s yours. This is This is so great, because, you know, Jake, you’ve just laid out the roadmap for people that are wondering how the hell they’re going to implement and adopt this technology going forward. Because it is truly that I don’t have to learn it. I just need to get the right people around me that want to play with it and learn it and adapt it and over you know, and just really utilize it and then guide them into into really putting in in the places where it makes the most difference in my in my manufacturing processes.
Jake Hall 24:55
Absolutely. I mean, millennials and Gen Z’s they like they like purpose. They like Average due to the like impact. And if you can take a brand new person and say, Listen, we never introduced a robot in our manufacturing process before, are we gonna let you take this robot, this industrial robot, this collaborative robot, we want you to find spaces that we can automate our manufacturing processes.
Yeah, or leverage software. It’s not just as a physical, it could be digital work instructions on my phone, where instead of going out and 3d printing, my work instructions, or my to do list for that, I know we’re going to leverage a software that’s going to print out our work instructions for the day or work setup or tool setup or machine setup, and have this process where we can leverage this out.
And the great part about that, as well as not just the benefit of that is, now you’re reducing a ton of risks. I mean, I’ve had stories, right when the manufacturers and they’ve literally had to scrap $100,000 worth of components that they made over an eight hour shift, because the guy when they set up the tool, they changed them, they changed the machine setup.
Well, the guy who’s been there for 45 years, who has his own three inch ring binder notebook went out there, and he fouled through, you know, flip to this page. I’m running this tool. Okay, well, this is the setup. Yeah, he didn’t get the update. So they just scrapped a bunch of parts, you know that? Yeah, that’s where digital based work instructions and tools can Yeah, you know, hugely impactful. So there’s all different ways we can leverage new technology and existing manufacturing processes to attract a future workforce. At the same time it make manufacturers more innovative. And simplify
Damon Pistulka 26:34
it and simplify. Simplify it. That’s the other thing. It makes it easier. Because yeah, so what are what are some of the things that you I just I wanted to ask this because I know we’re gonna get get going here, but what are some of the things that you go? Holy heck, that is cool as hell. I got it. I just can’t wait to see that applied someplace.
Jake Hall 26:57
I mean, for me, I mean, I would say Boston Dynamics robots are freaking awesome. Oh, God. I have 3d printed Boston Dynamics robots behind me and I’m trying to work with bus dynamics to get a, you know, one to play with for a little bit. Um, but yeah, I mean for me, adaption of robotics and artificial intelligence is absolutely incredible.
For autonomous picking to depalletizing to picking components out of a randomize structure Ben is is absolutely amazing. Um, you know, autonomous welding, the fact that right now, the average welder in the United States is 55 years old, and I like 2022 or 2020 2320 24. There’ll be 400,000 welders that will retire. Yeah, where we needed a demand. So how do we take new technologies and leverage autonomous welding to have robots while these components instead of the people who are no longer available to make product?
Damon Pistulka 28:02
Yeah, man.
Curt Anderson 28:03
So Jake, would that right there? So we’re cut we’re at the top of the hour. I know some folks might if they have a hard stop, they’re cutting out again, guys. Follow Jake on LinkedIn, follow his content, amazing videos. Awesome stuff going on here. Jake, let’s throw on your millennial to millennial hat if you will. Yeah. Love your passion. You know, speaking to us older guys, right? Let’s flip the script a little bit. What’s the story that you share for millennials for your generation? Why manufacturing is so amazing, so cool. You’re making manufacturing, you’re bringing sexy back to manufacturing? What’s your message to millennials?
Jake Hall 28:37
There’s, there’s opportunity in so many directions, and there’s opportunity to create change and a lot of directions. Um, you don’t need to go to college and get a four year degree and graduate with $45,000 in student debt to make six figures. You know, that six figure number is something that oh, people have always changed.
But in realistic terms, you can go and get an apprentice become a welder. And with a little bit of experience in welding, you can easily turn six figures with no problem provide for your family and do some really cool projects. I was just talking to a guy who was doing welding and now he’s a welder at starship down in Boca Chica for SpaceX. Like, sweet, right? No, I think it’s one of those things is for future generations.
Manufacturing like I said, Isn’t this dark, dirty, dangerous environment are there going to be those industries within manufacturing? That you know you’re going to go down to Gary and Gary Indiana and that’s just going to be the dirty part of you know, metal manufacturing? Absolutely. There’s gonna be but there’s a lot of other industries as well that are really cool from all these different solutions that we kind of classify as industry 4.0 You know, all the different products and opportunities that are out there to make manufacturing great
Damon Pistulka 29:51
yeah, that’s that’s something man. The Go ahead, Kurt. My head just swimming right now.
Curt Anderson 29:58
No, this is awesome. So check About about this for folks out there. Well, let me ask you this for your direction. Like, you know, what you’ve done in the past two years is not there’s nothing short of absolutely amazing. What’s your plan for 2022? What are what are your goals? What are heights that you’re going to hit? You know, moving forward with your initiative?
Jake Hall 30:17
Yeah, I mean, a few things. Great question. One is, um, um, via a lot of trade shows and conferences I, for a guy who’s on social media, I think it the impact of in person events, and networking is just as important as social media still. So social media is not going to replace trade shows social media is not going to replace in person events. It’s not going to happen. So what I’m gonna be at a lot of great trade shows and conferences this year.
Another big thing for me is social media diversification, I plan on doing a lot of other content on tick tock and Instagram. And you know, Twitter, I think I was at the Avery Business Forum Monday through Wednesday, this week in Orlando, I probably pushed out over 30 tweets on you know, two days, three days just talking about cool stuff that’s happening in the industry.
Um, uh, yeah, I mean, I have that I hope to get rolling on my own live video, podcast and do that presentation once a week. It’s just the time and the energy is not only so much for scalability, but a plan to grow that and, you know, just continue to really advocate manufacturing and advocate, all the people in the industry who are doing such an incredible job, because I’m one of hundreds of other people right now on LinkedIn, who are really passionate about growing the industry, and not just about, you know, creating more awareness for themselves. And that’s why I think that’s what manufacturing needs to really make our industry great again.
Curt Anderson 31:47
And this is awesome. And it is, go ahead.
Damon Pistulka 31:52
Well, I mean, it is like the, you’re out there fighting the fight, showing young people that it’s a great place for our career, it’s a great place, if you’re going to college and want to work on something, it’s a great place if you want to learn a trade and go on something. And it’s a great place. Hey, if you’re out of high school, and you just want you got a pair of hands and a good mind, you know that the the thing is, it’s not, as you said, dark, dirty and dangerous.
It’s a place where you can you can have a wonderful career and work on some crazy stuff. I mean, I just look back at how lucky I am in the in the years I had manufacturing. I mean, I I watched the Mars, I don’t even know the right the old Mars rover that they show the the wheels with the holes in it. I was manager that company that made those wheels.
Oh, really? How do you how you go? I was like, somebody showed it to me. And I was like, Holy hell we made this. This is the you know, this is gonna be on Mars. And I’m like, this kind of stuff is crazy. When you when you think about some of the stuff you talked about SpaceX. And these are these are things that some of these people only, they don’t realize it’s happening right beside them first of all, yeah. And they never can. They never consider the fact that I can go to a trade school. I can come out of high school and I can work in a place that does that kind of stuff.
Jake Hall 33:12
Yeah. Funny. Funny you mention that. I’m Adam Stelzner. Who is the chief engineer at JPL? Yep, was one of the speakers I listened to Tuesday this week. And he talked about he talked about all of the different rovers and perseverance and curiosity and all the different roses rovers that were out there so funny, you mentioned that I saw the exact wheels you’re probably talking about, on the pictures that he shared.
Damon Pistulka 33:37
They started out as big chunks of aluminum on a lathe and we you know, it comes down into whatever up you know, pound and a half or something crazy like that. When you absolutely it’s it’s so interesting when you when you see the possibilities and and and you know, just everything from everyday products to automotive and aerospace and space stuff now and just different pieces of technology.
Jake Hall 34:01
Yep. Do we have another minute? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. What are questions? So Don out there said, what are we going to do to find labor sources for manufacturing? We create them and recreate them by manufacturers and end users investing locally and their education? Yeah, through their high schools through their colleges and their universities, to educate the teachers, the guidance counselor’s and the professors to create an advocate manufacturing opportunity. Yep. That’s how we grow that the industry isn’t going to magically create more people, especially when more and more industries are popping up. That are pulling general labor out of manufacturing.
So in order for us to create to get that labor, we need to create that labor, and we need to invest in that labor. So if you can’t find people who are passionate about manufacturing want to be industry, then go create that passion for people who are going to be a manufacturing industry. Go get involved with high schools who have first robotics programs, if they don’t have FIRST Robotics, Co Op programs, be one of those people who creates that program for those high school students. So they can learn the importance of science and technology and engineering and math.
That’s how change is created. Changing manufacturing is not going to be created on this global scale by some president or a kind of, you know, congressional decision that’s going to make manufacturing grow in the industry, again, it’s going to grow by local manufacturers, local companies, investing locally, to create a better future for manufacturing. That’s how it’s gonna happen.
Damon Pistulka 35:39
100% That’s so great that you said that, Jake, and you brought it up, you know, I look at people like Matt Guzzi at Mrs. machining. They’re in Wisconsin. And he, he I think his dad even started working with the local high school. And he’s been doing it for years. And that’s he said, his average age of machinists, and his average age of employees in his company was like, 2728 years old. And I’m like, how the heck do you do that?
You literally can’t face it up? Well, this is how we do it. And this is we’ve been doing it for a long time. You’re exactly right. It takes local people doing this, to get the the young younger people in their area interested in manufacturing, because most of them don’t know it’s an option.
Jake Hall 36:19
Yeah. And, and a couple things as well, it’s not just focusing just on the education facilities, it’s making our industry more attractive to people who aren’t anyway, what I mean by that is, you know, women in the industry, when when manufacturing is an industry that’s like 80%, dominated by males, you want to know how you get more workforce? Well, you even out those numbers. So it’s a 5050. And boom, you just have a million more, you know, women engineers, or people with women, manufacturing, or minority groups.
Why is manufacturing this like right now, when you look at the geographic 65% are, you know, white males over the age of 55? Because that’s the case. So there’s a guy, Andrew Crowe, on his job, and he might he might be a great guest for you guys, if you haven’t been on there before. Um, but you know, he’s advocating manufacturing for minorities, and inner city programs. I mean, so like, you want to make change, find the people who aren’t even in the industry. Yeah, right.
Curt Anderson 37:21
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Like yourself, Jake. Chris Lukey Andrew Crowe, you guys are doing amazing. Winters and young guys, by Andrew Crowe. If you guys aren’t connected with Andrew, you need to connect with him. Like follow his videos, man is like Chris Lukey. The other day was like, Man, I feel like running through a wall after watching one of Andrews videos. He’s just absolutely awesome. So Jake, I know you’re super busy. You had a hectic, hectic week. Last question for you. Folks want to work with you and get a slice of your superpowers.
Just as amazing job that you’re that was your directory? What an amazing success story. You are over a two year span, dude. I mean, kudos, you congratulations, you, thank you for what you’re doing for manufacturing, being such a positive influence what a shining a bright light. Talk a little bit about like, if somebody wants to work with you, like, Hey, man, I need help. I want to I want to get some of this magic that you’re performing. What’s that process look like when someone a client comes out in your world?
Jake Hall 38:18
Yeah, I mean, I would say first step, reach out to me on LinkedIn, let’s just have a conversation about what you’re doing in the industry, and what you’re doing to change the industry. I think that’s the big thing as well, if you’re just there, and you’re not doing much, and I don’t see innovation or passion for advocating manufacturing, and you’re just here for a product pitch or a promotion. Yeah. You know, it’s one of those things is, yeah. Would it be great to pull in more clients and stuff? Yeah. But that’s not what I’m advocating for.
You’re not? It’s manufacturing first. And I think if more people have that same ideology of manufacturing, first, we all win. Right? Yeah, absolutely. So reach out to me on LinkedIn, let’s have a conversation if we can work out, or if I just can give you a few pointers for you to grow your own personal brand. I don’t see for me, I’d rather not be the one of the faces on manufacturing, I’d rather have 50,000 other people be the faces of manufacturing, that are a lot. They have a lot more diversity than what this panel has right now. That’s you know, yeah. And And honestly, like that, that would be the biggest win for me.
Curt Anderson 39:27
Yeah. In Oregon, there’s a lot of right there. We’re getting big push, you know, there’s a big push and people are on board and I think what’s great, Jake, if you ever catch up the main demon, you know, manufacture is going to look a lot different, you know, in different scopes in different shapes, sizes. So it’s the future is so optimistic for manufacturing. And I think the big thing is, guys like you Mike Womack at the New Jersey MEP. We’re interviewing Jeanette Stevens from Gen edge, you know, young, bright woman.
She’s minority she’s, she’s speaking with us. I’m not about all the great work that the MEP is doing in Virginia so again there’s there’s a huge a lot of momentum behind manufacturing as you’re saying diversity our friend Megan Megan yeah Zimba you know she started out you know so i There’s a lot of momentum where again previous generation was like manufacturing is dirty don’t do that. We’re flipping the script and again it’s a big thing so guys like you last thought for manufacturers out there parting thoughts words of wisdom little Jake ism, what do you what are last parting thoughts for our manufacturers out there,
Jake Hall 40:36
um encourage people who are trying to create a voice in manufacturing. You know, and and, you know, people who might not have a huge voice or might not be comfortable because there’s so much negativity with old thoughts of how manufacturing used to be, you know, take a person under your wing, and encourage them to grow to what they want to envision manufacturing to be. And if you can help someone else, they’ll help someone else and they’ll help someone else so that would be my advice.
Curt Anderson 41:10
Yeah, dude, what a great way to end a show man that was trapped on mic Jake. That was awesome. Drop the mic Damon. That was phenomenal. So guys, let’s wrap up on this. So Jake, thank you crazy hectic week. We are so fortunate blessed I know how busy you are that you took time to share with us.
Thank you for being a driving force for manufacturers for made in USA products. Dude, man keep your foot on the pedal. We as old dudes need your your your motivation, your passion, your inspiration. So thank you guys. Thank you for everybody joining us today you are a blessing to all of us. We thank you so much every week for hanging out with me and Damon. Damon take it away brother.
Damon Pistulka 41:52
Well, this is a great one. Thanks so much. And thanks so much Jake for being here today. It was awesome talking with you and man again if people aren’t following Jay call on LinkedIn get out there hit that follow button and follow us content it’s good stuff and it’ll be inspiring and teach and informational
Curt Anderson 42:09
one if Dan bigger still with us. I have so Dan bigger has a new clothing line for our show. You ready Jake? You’re
Damon Pistulka 42:16
ready. What’s this dress? You’re
Curt Anderson 42:17
sitting down for this one Jake? So I’m always like, you know, not that I have no intention of trying to be Gary Vee guy but I’m always like guys, we need to go out and crush it right they might say that. Yeah, squat Crusher, go and crush it. Well, here’s Dan Biggers new line for us. You guys ready? Jay call?
Consider it crushed. Dude, you just crushed it. You did a phenomenal job. What we’re talking in the past tense, they’re not talking in the future tense. You did an amazing job. Thank you guys next Friday, Damon we have John janss. The author of duct tape marketing I mean if anybody’s business out there and you guys have read duct tape marketing, the small business marketing guru is with us next Friday to help you guys consider crushed again. So Jake, thank you, brother. Appreciate you guys
Jake Hall 43:01
appreciate it.
Curt Anderson 43:02
Hang out for one second. David. Take it away, dude. Alright, everyone.
Damon Pistulka 43:05
Thanks. The chat was going wild today. Comments. Thanks so much for being there. John. Emily, Dan Gale. Da it’s there’s so many I can’t even remember them all. Michael, just hey, thanks so much for showing up every week and doing what you do and adding to the conversation and thanks for being there. We’ll be back again next week. And with another interesting guests. Thanks so much. Bye for now.
