What does it actually take to make it in the trades?

What is the industry getting wrong about the next generation coming up behind us?

In this episode, Ryan sits down with Josh Nieves, a New York City-raised IBEW Local 3 master electrician and the youngest card-carrying superintendent in the local's 15,000-member history. Josh's father, a Light Heavyweight Golden Glove champion turned signatory contractor, had maintenance contracts inside both World Trade Center towers on 9/11 and survived only because of a doctor's appointment that morning. Years later, at 24 years old, Josh got the call to be sub-foreman on the Freedom Tower while standing on top of the Empire State Building looking directly at the build.

Together, Josh and Ryan dig into what a real union meeting looks like when brotherhood is alive and well, the leadership gap that's quietly eroding organized labor from the inside, why Josh sold his brand new house to buy a 160-acre farm in search of purpose, how he built a coaching practice and workforce development career from a single LinkedIn post, and what every contractor needs to hear about recruiting the next generation.

Topics covered:

The Freedom Tower call that came in while Josh was standing on the Empire State Building
What an IBEW Local 3 union meeting felt like at 18: "a scene out of Goodfellas"
The CBA gut check Josh ran with 80 field leaders, and what it revealed about union leadership today
Why the skills gap is really a leadership gap and what the difference looks like in practice
The boxing analogy every aspiring leader in the trades needs to hear
Why "construction workers don't want another pizza party", and what they actually want
How to flip the recruiting question from "why should I hire you?" to "why should I come work for you?"
Mental health in the trades and why the industry can't keep sitting back

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⚡️GUEST: JOSH NIEVES⚡️

LinkedIn: ⁠Josh Nieves⁠

Instagram: ⁠@joshnieves_

🎙️HOST: RYAN LUCAS🎙️