The trades aren’t struggling to attract talent—they’re struggling to keep it. Wilson Matthew Betances breaks down how leadership, culture, and education can transform retention and “build builders” for the future.
In this episode of Commercial Grade, host RC Victorino sits down with Wilson Matthew Betances, owner of Energize Us and founder of Energize Us EDU, to break down what’s really holding the skilled trades back—and how to fix it at the cultural level.
Wilson shares why he intentionally took on three different roles in the electrical trade—contractor, inspector, and educator—to understand the entire system and protect himself from the physical demands that burn so many people out. He explains why earning an electrical license is the single biggest unlock in the industry, and why so few apprentices make it there.
RC and Wilson dig into the hard truth: the real crisis isn’t recruiting new people, it’s losing the ones we already have. Wilson details how outdated leadership styles, ego-driven inspections, inconsistent interpretations of electrical code, and a punishing jobsite culture push workers out long before they become experts.
They also explore how Energize Us EDU is redefining training with soft skills, leadership development, digital tools, and fast-growing content designed to surface pain points and guide people toward classes, events, and career pathways.
In this episode you’ll hear: • Why trade culture—not talent—is the biggest barrier
• The licensing bottleneck and why it derails so many apprentices
• How inspection culture creates unnecessary cost and conflict
• Why retention is the real workforce crisis
• The generational gaps shaping leadership and expectations
• How content, storytelling, and digital tools attract new tradespeople
• Why Energize Us EDU focuses on “building builders and leaders”
Episode Timestamps:
(00:00) Trades Change Lives
(00:32) Meet Wilson Matthew Betances
(01:19) Fast‑Track Credentials
(04:40) Sacrifice and Strategy
(07:24) Code Over Ego
(08:57) Challenging Bad Inspections
(12:20) Why He Chose the Trades
(16:00) Falling for Electrical
(17:49) Retention, Not Shortage
(20:30) Fixing Trade Culture
(23:55) Generational Leadership Cycle
(24:43) Waves of Opportunity
(26:01) Breaking Construction Status Quo
(26:46) Why He Creates Content
(27:24) Industry Pain Points and Inspectors
(29:18) Content Strategy and Viral Topics
(32:08) Analytics Wins and Building a Team
(34:10) Energize Us EDU Mission
(35:44) Recruiting Trades in the Digital Age
(38:30) Authenticity and Setting Expectations
(40:51) Lightning Round + AI Workflow
(44:15) Misconceptions and the Future of the Trades
(47:06) Where to Find Energize Us
About the Guest:
Wilson Matthew Betances is the owner of Energize Us and founder of Energize Us EDU, organizations dedicated to modernizing the skilled trades through apprenticeship training, soft skills, leadership development, and content-driven education. With experience as a contractor, inspector, and educator, Wilson has a 360° view of the electrical industry. His mission is to transform trade culture, improve retention, and “build builders and leaders” for the next generation.
Links & Resources:
• Wilson Matthew Betances on LinkedIn
• RC Victorino on LinkedIn
• Learn more at BuildOps.com
[00:00:00] Wilson Matthew Betances: The trades I always knew can give us a life that we wanted everyone jokes around of how we were the CD students, and yet we built a rocket to go to the moon. You know, it's just pretty fascinating throughout history what a builder can accomplish, what a builder can do.
[00:00:20] RC Victorino: Welcome everyone to Commercial Grade, the podcast that honors the unsung heroes of the trades. I'm your host, RC Victorino, and I wanna give a special shout out to build ops for making this podcast possible. Check him out@buildops.com. Now today my guest is Wilson Ante's, owner of Energize Us and founder of Energize us edu.
[00:00:38] RC Victorino: He's on a mission to build builders and leaders in the trades industry educator. Podcaster, public speaker, founder, my goodness, we have the privilege of speaking to him today on how he gets people to unlock their full potential and create lasting success in their business. Wilson, welcome to the show.
[00:00:55] Wilson Matthew Betances: It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:57] RC Victorino: I, I, I, I was kind of joking when I said [00:01:00] my goodness, but my goodness. I mean, there's a lot of, a lot of hats that you wear and helmets, I guess, or hard hats I should say. Um. So before I even dump, jump into my first question that I always ask folks, why, why so many things at a surface level?
[00:01:15] RC Victorino: Like why, why do so many things?
[00:01:17] Wilson Matthew Betances: Ooh, that's a good question. And I think it all started with when I decided to become a contractor. One because I wanted to see what was possible. The trades I always knew can give us a life that we wanted. I always see the good examples of what's possible when you got all these people working together and they can build a beautiful house, build a beautiful building, you know, blue collar, you know, everyone jokes around of, you know, how we were the CD students and yet we built a rocket to go to the moon.
[00:01:53] Wilson Matthew Betances: You know, it's just, it's pretty fascinating throughout history what a builder can accomplish. Yeah. What a [00:02:00] builder can do. Then that led me down this path of like, okay, I want to be a blue collar. I want to be in construction. But then we started seeing the stigmas of the trade. You know, you can't take the good without the bad.
[00:02:14] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm.
[00:02:14] Wilson Matthew Betances: So you start going down the path and you start like, okay, I like that. I like that. I don't like that. I like this, I like that. Maybe I can avoid that. And it started coming down to. Me looking at what the future holds, and I like to call it the life expectancy of a tradesman.
[00:02:34] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:02:34] Wilson Matthew Betances: Basically I start looking down the path and I say, where am I gonna be in 20 to 30 years?
[00:02:39] Wilson Matthew Betances: How long is my job? How long is my career gonna be? I laid it out and I said, in 20 to 30 years, I'm either gonna retire from a job or 20 to 30 years, I'm gonna be a contractor with my knees blown out, my bad back is gonna be killing me. You know, I'm gonna have this unhealthy lifestyle. And I'm like, okay, I don't want that.
[00:02:59] Wilson Matthew Betances: So what [00:03:00] can I do today that can expedite the next 30 years? Because I don't wanna be an educator who's, you know, just talking about the glory days. I don't wanna just be a contractor who's looking back at, oh man, look how amazing the past was.
[00:03:16] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:03:17] Wilson Matthew Betances: I wanted all those achievements, what I could like right now.
[00:03:21] Wilson Matthew Betances: So I looked up, what does it take to become an educator? What does it take to become an inspector? What does it take to be a contractor? And a lot of those things all stem from your electrical license. So I said, okay, if I get my electrical license, I can unlock all these different avenues. So why not get those credentials now instead of waiting 30 years down the road?
[00:03:46] Wilson Matthew Betances: So now I can hold this conversation of I know what the trades can do and I'm living it now because I've done it. So you joke around and you're like all these different hats. It's like, yeah, I did that intentionally. So I can talk to an [00:04:00] educator, I can build my own school, I can talk to an inspector because I've been an inspector.
[00:04:04] Wilson Matthew Betances: 'cause I have my inspector's license and it's just nice. When you talk with somebody who's passionate about the traits like you all, because now you get to show them what the traits truly have to offer. Instead of do what I say, not as I do, or just do it because I've been doing it for 30 years. You know, there's more.
[00:04:23] RC Victorino: Right? Yeah.
[00:04:24] Wilson Matthew Betances: Oh, fine.
[00:04:24] RC Victorino: Right, right, right, right. That's true. But like it is. Is the path that you've taken where you've done so many things, like you're talking about, you're an expector as well, like there's a lot of things that other folks in the trades don't do because they follow a specific path there. It simplifies their life.
[00:04:37] RC Victorino: It's like they can go deep into one, whatever it may be. Uh, is it realistic for like, or I should say, what did you give up, sacrifice, compromise in order to squeeze all. These learnings and education and whatever it may be in such short years. Right? Like you are not 65 in season, right? You are much younger than that.
[00:04:56] RC Victorino: I won't, I won't age you out. I'm not sure how old you're, you can age yourself if you want to, but like, [00:05:00] clearly, like you were hustling for a while to be able to have all these things under your belt. Is that, did you have to sacrifice a lot for that? Did you, like, what was that trade off of that?
[00:05:12] Wilson Matthew Betances: In the grand scheme of things, everything you know, requires effort, uh, time, dedication.
[00:05:18] Wilson Matthew Betances: We all have the same 24 hours on the clock. So yes, just like it takes time and effort out of your day to do a podcast, takes time out of your day to go to the gym. Now, when it comes to everything that I've done, it was very intentional. And you know, I have my family, I gotta thank for that. You can't do it without them, but.
[00:05:40] Wilson Matthew Betances: When I came into this, I was very intentional. I said, Hey, I wanna do X, Y, Z in X, Y, Z amount of time. If we don't get X, Y, Z out of this in X, Y, Z amount of time, I'll hang it all up, I promise. And that's where we went down. So a lot of this, remember stemmed from getting your [00:06:00] electrical license.
[00:06:01] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:06:01] Wilson Matthew Betances: After that, that's the majority of the roadblock. You can become an inspector because they already know you're a craft professional, 'cause you have a license.
[00:06:09] RC Victorino: You
[00:06:10] Wilson Matthew Betances: can now teach it because you're already a trades professional in your license. You can already open up your business because you're a licensed profe.
[00:06:18] Wilson Matthew Betances: So the biggest hurdle was the license.
[00:06:21] RC Victorino: Got it.
[00:06:21] Wilson Matthew Betances: It's just because of the way the construction industry's built, the culture and the flow. It's operating right now, the status quo. It's saying, no, you have to be an inspector or you should be an inspector as your second retirement job. Because you already put all your year, you understand that's just the flow.
[00:06:42] Wilson Matthew Betances: It should go. Or you become a journeyman, you become a licensed master, and then you go into contracting and after your knees start hurting, then you go into inspecting because now you can't keep up with the day-to-day tasks. Right, right,
[00:06:57] RC Victorino: right.
[00:06:58] Wilson Matthew Betances: So I said, no, no, no, no. I [00:07:00] want all of that now. Interesting. And that's where I'm noticing I'm having a lot more conflict with people now.
[00:07:07] Wilson Matthew Betances: Because it was funny, a lot of the pain points I had as a contractor, as I current, I still have my own contracting business. A lot of my pain points and a lot of the stigmas I'm trying to break when it comes to energize us, I can now speak on it. I can argue it because I'm living it now. For example, energize us.
[00:07:26] Wilson Matthew Betances: We tell people we want to build builders. We want you to be proficient in the trade, so we're gonna do the training. We want you to understand code, how it applies to your job.
[00:07:37] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:07:37] Wilson Matthew Betances: Right? Because I don't want you to go into the job site. I don't want you to go to an inspector and the inspector says, do this.
[00:07:45] Wilson Matthew Betances: And I say, excuse me, that's not to code. No, no, no. I tell you what to do. We gotta stop that pattern. An inspector doesn't dictate what happens on a job site. The code applies on the job site, but we have this culture of do what I do, uh, do what [00:08:00] I say now as I do. Inspectors are telling us, do this when they don't realize that's not one a code, that's your preference.
[00:08:07] Wilson Matthew Betances: It's not. But then it all stems from this is what has been building up. So now I can say, excuse me, that's not cold. Well do what I say. I say, absolutely not, bro. I see. So I'm confronting 'em with their own excuse before they can even use it on me. It's just been hilarious how this whole journey has been so.
[00:08:24] Wilson Matthew Betances: I can't that level. So I mean,
[00:08:26] RC Victorino: it's education. You're, you're for yourself. Yes. But what you're trying to do is empower other people to be fully informed. Uh, you know, it's the same as like, like how many of us know the law to the extent that maybe we should in case like, we get pulled over, like, what are our rights?
[00:08:41] RC Victorino: Like we don't actually even know our rights. But if you knew your rights, you could actually like, you know, safely push boundaries within, within your Right. Exactly. You're kind of saying the same thing with, with with electricians as well, right? Like, know, know your rights if you will know the boundaries so you're not being tossed around by somebody else.
[00:08:57] Wilson Matthew Betances: Exactly. Because at the end of the day, that's gonna cost you money [00:09:00] as a contractor. I literally sat down and I said, why did we fail this job? Oh, the inspector failed us. A lot of contractors would be go, okay, move on. Yeah. I'm like, no. What did we fail in? Oh, the inspector wanted us to install this. Why did we install that?
[00:09:18] Wilson Matthew Betances: That's not to code. Well, he said, so, so I need to pay an extra 300 bucks because some dude woke up and just decided I needed something. Absolutely not. We're gonna challenge that. So that's what I'm trying to say. It's like, and of course, you know, there's a time and place for everything. If a cop pulls you over at 10 o'clock at night, do I say argue with him?
[00:09:36] Wilson Matthew Betances: Absolutely not. This is not the time. You, you, you see where I'm going at, right? This is not the time, you know, take the ticket, fight in court. You know what I mean? The same thing with over here, if I fail an inspection, I remember I had an inspection, I failed it, and then the inspector told me, you're supposed to do this.
[00:09:53] Wilson Matthew Betances: And I'm looking at him, I'm like, what's he talking about? What's that code reference? You're telling me to give you a code of reference so [00:10:00] you can fail me with it. I said, bro, no, you, if you're gonna fail me, write it down, because then I can just take it to the state and just challenge it. Right. And then they go overturn it.
[00:10:07] RC Victorino: Smart. Yeah.
[00:10:08] Wilson Matthew Betances: But here's the, here's the caveat and I wanna button it up. Contractors are usually slaves to the homeowners, or they usually slave to the construction culture. They're usually lower bidding prices because they're afraid someone's gonna tell 'em no because of their value. So contractors are already lowering their prices and just bending backwards so they can get the approval from the inspector.
[00:10:35] Wilson Matthew Betances: Because if I said, oh, yes sir, I'll do it. He's gonna get pass me. He just wants that ego fluff. I say, no. Then he's like, you're not gonna get the pass slip, because I don't get my final payment unless I get that pass slip. So he's betting against my need, my sense of urgency to get this job. So I tell contractors, not just the apprentices to know the code, but contractors learn how to price because the inspector's gonna [00:11:00] use that leverage over you because you don't.
[00:11:01] Wilson Matthew Betances: And then he is gonna say, well, it's gonna take two, three weeks for you to take it to the state. That's not fine. I calculated my bills for contractors and inspectors like you, so as a whole. The reason why I got all these certifications, the reason why I went through all of this is because I see what's broken in the field because I'm actively living it.
[00:11:21] Wilson Matthew Betances: And the only way I can argue with these, each individual aspect of what the trades have to offer is by putting myself in those situation. So now I can come back them head to. They can't just say, I've been doing this for 30 years. That's how it is. I'm telling you right now, that's no longer an an A justification for me.
[00:11:39] Wilson Matthew Betances: 30 years, just because you've been doing something means you could be doing it for wrong for 30 years and no one just confronted you.
[00:11:45] RC Victorino: That's interesting. I, I think of that all the time. When I think about, uh, tenured professors and educators, we have like, such protection because of time. I'm like, well, they, they could be awful, awful educators.
[00:11:54] RC Victorino: Like, like now. Now just because they like were able to endure the time each year does not mean like they [00:12:00] should be immune from, from certain, uh. Judgment, if you will. I wanna di at some point soon, I wanna dive into, like, I'm looking at your YouTube channel right now. I wanna dive into a lot of these things which talks about like, you seem what's broken and I, I wanna dive into like why you feel it's so important to share this information with others.
[00:12:15] RC Victorino: 'cause you could do this and apply it to your business. Great, fantastic. What, whatever, like, people do that all the time, but why that choice? But first I do wanna step back for a moment and, and, and, and understand a little bit more about Wilson. So you, you know, you, you had this very clear vision of what you wanted to do, et cetera, but why the trades.
[00:12:32] RC Victorino: To begin with, what got you into the trades? Was it a person? Was it your community? Was it, what was it?
[00:12:38] Wilson Matthew Betances: That's awesome. And it was always from the beginning. I always had I, I can never take anything on my own. I always had mentors in my life and throughout my life. I always had people who always pushed me in the right direction.
[00:12:52] Wilson Matthew Betances: Like for example, I grew up in Queens and in Queens when you go to high school, you have to apply for a high school that you [00:13:00] want to go to, and then you know, your grades dictate if you actually make it into that school or not.
[00:13:05] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:13:05] Wilson Matthew Betances: So in Queens, for example, in New York City specifically, we have a few vocational trade schools left high schools and just like a normal 12, 13-year-old, I just wanted to go with where all my friends were gonna go.
[00:13:19] Wilson Matthew Betances: You know, my zone school. Your zone school is basically, you don't apply, you don't take an effort, you don't do anything. You just get sent to your local school down the block from, you know, where all the kids go, if that makes sense.
[00:13:32] RC Victorino: Yep.
[00:13:33] Wilson Matthew Betances: Very few take the step to actually apply for another school. So there's a few trade schools in Queens.
[00:13:40] Wilson Matthew Betances: I went to Thomas Edison myself, but it almost didn't happen because my mother had a friend that went to Thomas Edison. She said, no, you need to go to this trade school to get a certification to go straight into work. 'cause they hook you up with the MTA, you know, Metro Transit Authority. [00:14:00] The, oh, okay. The city works.
[00:14:01] Wilson Matthew Betances: You get city work basically going to high school after high school.
[00:14:05] RC Victorino: Great.
[00:14:05] Wilson Matthew Betances: So all my friends though, were going to their zone school. So my mother filled out my application and I remember I ripped it up
[00:14:15] RC Victorino: first. How
[00:14:16] Wilson Matthew Betances: old were you at that time? 12.
[00:14:19] RC Victorino: Okay.
[00:14:20] Wilson Matthew Betances: It was right before, it was junior year of, uh, junior high school.
[00:14:25] RC Victorino: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:14:26] Wilson Matthew Betances: So I was like 12, 13, because high school started at 13. So it was that. So I started going to school and for some reason, like I always walked to school for some reason, that was the day my mother decided to take me to school. And for some reason she's like, let me see your high school application, by the way.
[00:14:46] Wilson Matthew Betances: Right at the door. It was so weird. It was like this, some sense was,
[00:14:52] RC Victorino: of course
[00:14:53] Wilson Matthew Betances: we get that. And I said, oh, I don't have it. Oh, interesting. So she goes inside, she fills it out right there on the spot, [00:15:00] gives it to my teacher, and then like two weeks later I get approved to the school. So it was, it was pretty funny.
[00:15:05] Wilson Matthew Betances: So I was kind of forced to go into that. At the time, I didn't see the value. Of course, I'm a 12-year-old kid. I'm like, I'm on, I wanna just hang out with my friends. But I, I always had somebody in my life. And then as I went through the school, uh, I met the instructor, fell in love with the trade, then started growing in the trade.
[00:15:25] Wilson Matthew Betances: I was that kid who loved shop class. You know, Monday to Friday we had, uh, class, you know, our typical school, you know, math, English, social studies. And then the last two periods was shop class, and then Saturdays was shop class. If you missed it during the week. I was the kid going on Saturdays just to do more because I just, I just instantly fell in love.
[00:15:50] Wilson Matthew Betances: So my Saturdays, I was there from nine to 12, taking the morning session just to do more hands-on work. So I, I was just very passionate about it at that point and I started [00:16:00] enjoying it.
[00:16:00] RC Victorino: And then why, uh, so I mean, the trades is, it's kinda a misnomer, right? The trades is, is a very blanket statement for a lot of different disciplines.
[00:16:10] RC Victorino: But you are an electrician specifically, so why that route?
[00:16:15] Wilson Matthew Betances: Uh, I think it just fit with my personality. Everybody says, uh, the electricians are like the divas of the trade. I, I'm like, I'm like very petty when I can be, you know, I'm just like very, if something's irritating me, I'm not gonna stop. I'm going all in.
[00:16:32] Wilson Matthew Betances: Uh, but no, it, I just loved it. I just loved it from the what's possible. You know, water only goes one way. Yeah, it only flows in one direction, you know, unless you add an external force, you know, like a pump electricity. It's crazy what electricity can do. And whenever there's growth in the industry, it all stems from electrical.
[00:16:52] Wilson Matthew Betances: You know, right now we, we have renewables right now. We have battery backup storage. Right now, the growth of ai, [00:17:00] everything stems from electrical water, is still cold or hot. It's dirty or clean. That's not changing. You know, HVAC? Yes, they're growing. Once again, you need electrical to turn it on. Now they're doing like energy savers for HVAC, but for the most part, electrical is its own baby.
[00:17:19] Wilson Matthew Betances: It's its own creation. It can do things that all the other traits can't even touch literally.
[00:17:25] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:17:25] Wilson Matthew Betances: And it's just always fascinated me with like what's possible. And now we got smart home integration, we have low voltage it, it is just amazing what electrical touches and I just wanted to. Be that master of electrical, if you would say,
[00:17:42] RC Victorino: and that's even like when you made this decision was well before this whole AI boom and things like that, that, that these data centers essentially, that are popping up everywhere.
[00:17:49] RC Victorino: Do you, um, I mean labor gap is, is pervasive throughout. What concerns do you have? Or maybe perhaps you don't have any [00:18:00] concerns about this kind of gap in your field, in your, in your specific vertical. Given that everything that's coming through in new is, is electrically based. Like there, there is clearly a bigger demand, right?
[00:18:11] RC Victorino: Yeah. And I don't
[00:18:12] Wilson Matthew Betances: think
[00:18:12] RC Victorino: that we're keeping up with that demand. So what keeps you up at night about, about that?
[00:18:18] Wilson Matthew Betances: I personally, there's a demand. Absolutely. Never gonna take that away. Do I think there's a shortage of workers? Absolutely not. When people say there's a pandemic out there of not enough skilled, I haven't seen companies shut down because there's not enough workers.
[00:18:34] Wilson Matthew Betances: I haven't seen guys turn over a company because nobody decided to go to work today. No, that just supply and demand. That means you're just gonna raise your rates. You understand? I haven't seen that. When I look at the skilled trades as a whole, I see we have a, number one is a retention issue. If you go onto the apprenticeship.org and you look up or.gov.
[00:18:56] Wilson Matthew Betances: If you look up the apprenticeship, uh, retention, [00:19:00] every class is starting off with 30 students. Every class is full. Yet the pipeline is telling us we only have 40 to 50% graduation rate. Why is not, we're losing 40 to 60% in in the entire process. Why is that? And it's stemming from when they're doing their exit interviews.
[00:19:18] Wilson Matthew Betances: People are just saying, I don't wanna put up with it. I don't wanna put up with this construction culture. I don't wanna put up with this. The foreman's telling me this and this. Our content either on YouTube, either on Instagram, either on Facebook, which I would arguably say we have one of the biggest pages in the sense of getting this real exit interview, real feedback.
[00:19:39] Wilson Matthew Betances: People are all saying, why would I put up with this when I can get the same amount of money elsewhere? And it's true. So what keeps me up at night is the fact that we have the opportunity. To blow the trades through the roof, show what it really has to offer. But because of the sense, [00:20:00] because of the culture, because of who we are right now, we're taking that pride away and now we're not making it attractive for people to wanna come in or stay.
[00:20:10] Wilson Matthew Betances: Now the only way to get someone into the trade is saying you can make a lot of money out of it.
[00:20:15] RC Victorino: Yeah. Right. Right.
[00:20:15] Wilson Matthew Betances: But that doesn't retain anybody.
[00:20:17] RC Victorino: Right, right, right.
[00:20:18] Wilson Matthew Betances: You understand.
[00:20:19] RC Victorino: Exactly. Exactly. Right.
[00:20:19] Wilson Matthew Betances: So that's, that's what picks it. You know, pisses me off a little because just I feel like we're wasting so much potential.
[00:20:27] Wilson Matthew Betances: So, because the message,
[00:20:30] RC Victorino: so, so it, what, what is it then? What, what's wrong with the culture is it goes back to this idea of like the lack of ownership or. You mentioned like lack of pride or whatever it may be like, is that what it is? Or is there you have to give every worker more ownership or what is it that's, that is the disconnect here that people that are going through the program realize like, ah, this isn't for me.
[00:20:52] Wilson Matthew Betances: When I say it's the culture, there's a phrase I like to say. What got us here won't get us to the next level. Every time we [00:21:00] have our meetings, our business meetings with our investors, with our team. What got us here won't get us to the next level. What did we do for the last 30 days? Boom. What works? What didn't work?
[00:21:11] Wilson Matthew Betances: Scrap it. Do it again. What got us here won't get us to the next level. I keep repeating that to myself. Why? What got us here with the trades won't get us to the next level. And that's where those stigmas, that's where it comes in. That's where the inspectors do what I say, not as I do. It's a preference.
[00:21:29] Wilson Matthew Betances: It's do this or I'm gonna make you or fail you. You understand? It's just this. Condescending tone to a younger generation who's just, the, the last thing you need to do is upset a 12, 13, 14-year-old, especially on this digital age. They, they don't hold back. They, they, they speak their mind. What I, when people say this next generation, gen z, gen alpha, super lazy.
[00:21:54] Wilson Matthew Betances: I'm like, I don't think so. I think they're just very vo vocal on how they feel. I [00:22:00] haven't seen a, remember when we grew up, I mean. For myself. I remember the show, the kids say the Darnest things.
[00:22:08] RC Victorino: Oh yeah.
[00:22:08] Wilson Matthew Betances: Right.
[00:22:09] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:22:09] Wilson Matthew Betances: And or are you smarter than a fifth grader?
[00:22:12] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:22:13] Wilson Matthew Betances: Right. So you were like, oh wow. That kid said something slick.
[00:22:16] Wilson Matthew Betances: And that would be funny. Right Now you have a whole generation doing that online. Yeah. So, you know, now it's throughout the world you have this group of individuals who are just very expressive and they're, if they see that something doesn't add up, like people. Go viral just on their reactions to things.
[00:22:36] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:22:36] Wilson Matthew Betances: So when you try to say something and the youth don't agree with it, trust me, they're gonna say that what they feel. So what do I see? I see contractors who don't know how to bid. Who don't know how to price properly, who can't then themselves make a profitable business so they can't give the right starting wages, who can't give raises to their team.
[00:22:57] Wilson Matthew Betances: So why is anyone going to jump onto a [00:23:00] sinking ship, if that makes sense? That's how I view things. That's what the con, the construction culture is teaching. It's basically saying nothing's wrong. We're just gonna keep doing the way it is. When I'm saying, Hey, there's different ways to do work, there's different ways to approach it.
[00:23:15] Wilson Matthew Betances: A few of the partners that we work with, uh, like for example, some like CRM platforms, they're saying right now we speak with hundreds of contractors every week and it's incredible. The biggest competition for us is paper and pencils. 'cause contractors don't wanna change.
[00:23:32] RC Victorino: I'll agree. Yeah.
[00:23:33] Wilson Matthew Betances: So if it's like that type of mindset on one aspect of business, you're gonna, you know what I mean?
[00:23:39] Wilson Matthew Betances: There, there's just so much more we can change as a whole when it comes to the trades. To uplift it to better ourselves that we can now pass off. That's why when we say we wanna build builders, that's the apprenticeship side. We wanna build leaders who can retain those builders. Now.
[00:23:54] RC Victorino: Ah, yes. Do you like I, this is also like a constant theme I hear with people, folks I talk to [00:24:00] in that like, culturally based conversation that baby boomers who are obviously retiring in droves here are, you know, they're of a different mindset for sure than let's say like.
[00:24:11] RC Victorino: Gen Alpha and whatever, like, clearly like that. That's just the nature of the environment that we grew up in. But then there's, like me, I'm a Gen X person, uh, the, the, the forgotten generation, which we're more than happy to be forgotten. However, like we definitely have a much more, like we are not baby boomers in terms of our mindset, what we grew up on.
[00:24:27] RC Victorino: We were definitely much more, uh, embracive of, of many different things. Do you think that this, this, the broken system of leadership is. Is getting handed down and like being taught to folks like me and then also the, the elder millennials so that it's, it will become a cycle. Or do you think that the younger generations that are becoming leaders now, the Gen Xers, millennials and what have you, uh, will, will bring in something different just by nature because they are a different generation.
[00:24:55] Wilson Matthew Betances: It's that expression, you know, hard times create hard men and then hard [00:25:00] men create soft times. It is that phrase, you know, where people just keep talking. It's generational. So there's always gonna be waves. There's always gonna be waves. You can't take out human nature, you know?
[00:25:09] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:25:09] Wilson Matthew Betances: Um, but at the same time, each generation also gives another opportunity for growth.
[00:25:16] Wilson Matthew Betances: That's why I'm saying it's the beautiful side. It's the potential, what's out there. You know, imagine having AI right now and being a licensed electrician from the ground up. You can start a business today if you wanted to with a business plan instead of 30 years ago trying to figure out what was available.
[00:25:35] Wilson Matthew Betances: So the potential's there, but I see. I think the ultimate question is, are we going to be the individuals? Are we the people to take. The opportunities with the culture that we currently grew up with or are living in and try to figure it out together. The majority of the people are not gonna do that. You know?
[00:25:58] Wilson Matthew Betances: Right.
[00:25:58] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:25:59] Wilson Matthew Betances: Everyone's just gonna go [00:26:00] with the status quo.
[00:26:00] RC Victorino: Right.
[00:26:01] Wilson Matthew Betances: And that's why's by default, the status quo of currently of the construction industry is not incentivizing anybody to come into it.
[00:26:10] RC Victorino: Which is how we get now to why this is the constant theme with you right now in this conversation. Breaking the status quo.
[00:26:16] RC Victorino: What, what got us here won't get us to the next step, et cetera, et cetera. So I imagine that must be in part, like the inspiration for why you've decided to create all this content. And basically, EDU is what, like, tell me a little bit more about this, this need for, for doing more. What's good for your own company, essentially, like you are, you are now expanding out and ensuring that what you're learning and what you've acquired from your, the road to get to where you are is, is shared with people that you don't even know.
[00:26:42] RC Victorino: Complete strangers. Yeah. What's the, what's the, what's the motivation for that?
[00:26:46] Wilson Matthew Betances: It, it's been fun. It's been fun hearing a lot of the feedback. It's been fun hearing a lot of people, what are they going through? Especially throughout the us, throughout the world, you know, where we, Hmm. It's pretty [00:27:00] interesting to see the pain points from both sides.
[00:27:04] Wilson Matthew Betances: You, we have older generations commenting on our videos, uh, giving their 2 cents, and then we have the younger 18, uh, year old apprentice who just started day one on their page and saying, F you, that's not what I'm dealing with right now. You know, we, we, we see the wide range of what, what's really going on.
[00:27:24] Wilson Matthew Betances: And the reason why I wanted to do that is because nothing gets done if no one communicates. Nothing is gonna, we're we were in, you know, I was always told like, just do it. Don't ruffle feathers. If the inspector says to change it, just change it. You don't wanna, 'cause then you're gonna see 'em on another job site.
[00:27:42] Wilson Matthew Betances: I was told in my apprenticeship, I should leave one thing blatantly that would fail inspection. Because if an inspector sees that the job is done right, he may get jealous. He's gonna look for something to [00:28:00] fail you on, so give him an easy one to fail you on, just so he can write it in his book, just so you can move forward with, I'm like, why?
[00:28:07] Wilson Matthew Betances: Why do I, what's.
[00:28:09] RC Victorino: Right.
[00:28:10] Wilson Matthew Betances: Like it, I made no sense. Yeah. And I'm like, so everyone's saying, whoa, man, we gotta tiptoe around these millennials, right? It's like, I gotta tiptoe around with these inspectors over here. He is like, where's the balance? You know? But guess what? They did it for 30 years, so you have to do it now.
[00:28:25] Wilson Matthew Betances: And I'm just like, something's not making sense guys, you know? So,
[00:28:29] RC Victorino: yeah,
[00:28:30] Wilson Matthew Betances: I, I love this because it's opening up the conversation for things to happen. And then, and guess what? I'm the type of the individual where I don't know where conversation is gonna go. I just have my views, my opinions from my experience.
[00:28:43] Wilson Matthew Betances: I'm not gonna speak on something that I don't know. I'm not gonna argue with someone that I don't know about something. But our experience is to open up the conversation and then hopefully by the end of it, it can motivate somebody to either change or the people who are [00:29:00] reading our videos or reading our comments or reading our reviews are gonna now be like, oh wow, I didn't think about it like that.
[00:29:06] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:29:07] Wilson Matthew Betances: So it's basically just to open up the conversation for individuals, because at the end of the day, the saddest quo is just gonna continue regardless if we make this noise or not.
[00:29:18] RC Victorino: Uh, so I found you from LinkedIn, but as, as you, as you had mentioned, that's perhaps your, your smallest channel. And you have, you have, you have all the, all the platforms, right?
[00:29:28] RC Victorino: The TikTok, et cetera. I'm on your YouTube right now. I'm looking, and a couple things come to mind for me. Uh, I, what I wanna do is I wanna find out what are some of your most. Either the most interesting, uh, videos that you've made or the most impactful, but before I do, I just wanna call out someone, something as a marketer, myself, who, who works in these channels specifically.
[00:29:45] RC Victorino: It's literally my job. Uh, I'm looking at the playlist. I'm seeing like these, the. Video of you really front and center, some big words. You, you, you have unlocked and get the algorithms and you get not just the algorithms, honestly, it's also the human behavior [00:30:00] on like what's gonna make someone click. Right?
[00:30:02] RC Victorino: It's really in, and even like your titles, I'm gonna read some of these titles why my contracting career took off while theirs didn't. Yes.
[00:30:08] Wilson Matthew Betances: Yeah.
[00:30:08] RC Victorino: How to make your first million dollar to sign, dollar sign without tools. I mean, this is fantastically, like this is intelligently marketed in a way to gather.
[00:30:19] RC Victorino: Eyeballs. So I, first I wanna find out what are some of the, your best or most interesting content pieces. Then we'll dive into more of the marketing side of things afterwards. But yeah, give, tell me a little bit more about your content pieces.
[00:30:31] Wilson Matthew Betances: Literally last night we had our, uh, marketing review, and we did our whole download across all our platforms, and it said, our content is, let me see if I can read it word for word for you.
[00:30:42] Wilson Matthew Betances: We literally did the download last night. It said it broke us down into four categories.
[00:30:49] RC Victorino: Okay.
[00:30:49] Wilson Matthew Betances: And it was these four categories. It was licensing, apprenticeship, journeymen, [00:31:00] studying.
[00:31:00] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:01] Wilson Matthew Betances: So five topics, actually. Apprentice slash journeymen, studying tips.
[00:31:08] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:08] Wilson Matthew Betances: Bringing out conflict.
[00:31:11] RC Victorino: Hmm.
[00:31:11] Wilson Matthew Betances: So studying conflict, so pain point.
[00:31:14] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:15] Wilson Matthew Betances: Electrician licensing, intimidation is our second most viral. Third is contractor pricing mistakes.
[00:31:24] RC Victorino: Hmm.
[00:31:25] Wilson Matthew Betances: Fourth electricians. You don't know what you don't know. So tips, daily tricks for electricians daily in the field.
[00:31:33] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:31:34] Wilson Matthew Betances: And five mentors. Accidental versus paid versus where do I go with my career?
[00:31:41] Wilson Matthew Betances: Oh, I like that one. So those are our five videos that people are jumping towards. Those are the five pain points of the industry. People want to know what is available out there. People want to know how to do their job properly. People want to know what contractors are struggling with, which it always comes down to pricing.
[00:31:59] Wilson Matthew Betances: Then [00:32:00] licensing, intimidation, why people aren't going for licensing, and the ones who are going into licensing. What are some study tips?
[00:32:08] RC Victorino: So now putting it on the marketing hat, you've done that first of all, that that you even had this, this look back meeting to begin with is great. So then what do you do with that?
[00:32:16] RC Victorino: Right? You have this information. Are, is that now literally impacting your strategy for 2026? And in what way?
[00:32:24] Wilson Matthew Betances: Well, this is our review for our first 28 days since we started rolling it out since December. Mm-hmm. December. And I have that analytic poll. Literally, I just posted it on our Instagram. That's funny that you said that.
[00:32:37] Wilson Matthew Betances: So this is from I, I'm the type of guy, I always hate New Year's resolutions. Everyone's like, oh, we're gonna start January 1st. I said, everyone, screw that. We're gonna start on Christmas. So December 25th. So December 25th to January 18th. Today, 28th day review, we just hit 10 million views on meta. [00:33:00] It's a 961% increase for the last 28 days.
[00:33:05] Wilson Matthew Betances: So if I waited a January 1st, I probably would've have gotten that number
[00:33:09] RC Victorino: right.
[00:33:09] Wilson Matthew Betances: The day we said, this is our plan, everyone's like, okay, cool. We'll start January 1st. The, the re that one person who said that in our group text triggered me and I said, no. And that's where the petty side came in. I told you, well, I said the, the re you just said January 1st.
[00:33:24] Wilson Matthew Betances: We're gonna start it tonight, guys. Get your cameras ready, we're gonna film. And we just started making content. So from that day, from December. So today we just increased our views on one channel, 961%.
[00:33:40] RC Victorino: Geez. And you, you're, you're, you, you're, you're talking like you have a conversation with other people.
[00:33:45] RC Victorino: What is, do you have a team? What is that?
[00:33:47] Wilson Matthew Betances: Oh, yeah. There's seven of us. No, there's no way I can do this by myself. Like I said, I never take credit for this by myself. I'm just one piece of the entire puzzle.
[00:33:55] RC Victorino: So
[00:33:55] Wilson Matthew Betances: you have an entire team and outta all out of the entire team. I'm the [00:34:00] smallest social media page out of everyone else's.
[00:34:03] RC Victorino: And this entire team, is this all part of Energize us? Eed U
[00:34:08] Wilson Matthew Betances: Ed is
[00:34:08] RC Victorino: all
[00:34:08] Wilson Matthew Betances: correct?
[00:34:09] RC Victorino: Yes. Okay. So tell us a little bit more specifically about then Energize US EDU and why it exists.
[00:34:15] Wilson Matthew Betances: So our number one goal to build builders and leaders in the skilled trades, we wanna build builders to do their job effectively.
[00:34:23] Wilson Matthew Betances: We want leaders to now lead the industry. A lot of our content goes vice versa. We can actually teach leadership qualities during your apprenticeship training
[00:34:33] RC Victorino: Uhhuh.
[00:34:34] Wilson Matthew Betances: So at the end of the day, when I figured out what is my role as a CEO as a founder is to facilitate the needs of what the company needs and or my employees need to accomplish their task.
[00:34:48] Wilson Matthew Betances: When I was an apprentice, my number one goal was facilitate the needs of the journeyman. So it's so funny. I'm shadowing him. I'm making his day easier.
[00:34:57] RC Victorino: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:34:57] Wilson Matthew Betances: If I can get the tools while he talks to the [00:35:00] homeowner, guess what? Now all he has to worry about is the task at hand. So that's why I say as a journeyman, you are learning the qualities that you need to be a successful contractor, educator, or CEO, founder, whatever you decide, because as long as we are blue collar.
[00:35:16] Wilson Matthew Betances: We're home service. We are acting as a service to somebody as long as you can focus that and incorporate these soft skills to a hard skill dominated industry with the focus on self-development. Those are our three pillars that we're pushing when it comes to apprenticeship, training, and education as a whole When it comes to the school.
[00:35:36] RC Victorino: Fantastic. And we'll make sure we, uh, add the links to our show notes as well so folks know where to go to, uh, including the socials and the websites and all that, things like that. Uh, if, if, if, um, if there are folks who are younger and thinking about going to the trades, what is, what do you recommend for them to do?
[00:35:54] Wilson Matthew Betances: That's exactly why we're building off on the social media side.
[00:35:59] RC Victorino: Got,
[00:35:59] Wilson Matthew Betances: [00:36:00] because back in the day we had to do an internship. You had to get your hands dirty, you had to wake up a Saturday, go work with a buddy of yours, you know, uh, a buddy of your friend's that, uh, of your dad's friends, and just go to work with him.
[00:36:11] Wilson Matthew Betances: And of course, that's always the best way because exposure's number one. But we're in the digital age now. We're in what's called the attention currency.
[00:36:19] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:19] Wilson Matthew Betances: You know? Mm-hmm. It do. It doesn't matter how big you are. But if you have a voice online, you can sway, you know, without trying to get too political, people are saying this last election was a hundred percent media based and that was never ever been done before.
[00:36:35] Wilson Matthew Betances: True or not. So it's coming to an, uh, an era. We're coming into this, uh, currency where if you have a voice, you can actually sway people's opinions. You know, for good or bad, you know, uh, my ex would call that toxic behavior, you know? But what I'm trying to say is, uh, well, my wife's gonna kill me. I, [00:37:00] but what I'm trying to say is we have a nice opportunity, just like what we mentioned before, the good and the bad.
[00:37:07] Wilson Matthew Betances: We have an opportunity in this time to showcase what we're doing on a day to day, right? We're showcasing what's available out there. That's why when we went over our analytics, people want to know daily tips. People want to know what does licensing mean? People want to know why is being a contractor so beneficial, but what's the number one pain point?
[00:37:30] Wilson Matthew Betances: What's the catch? That's why people are asking these questions and they're all stem to pain points. So if I can make a video that you don't need to experience the pain I went through, I'm gonna make that video. Guess what? Then people are gonna say, awesome, I want to do that. What's the next step? Well, here we are with Energize Us.
[00:37:50] Wilson Matthew Betances: It's individuals out there who've already been doing it. Like we see Mike Rowe. As much as I love him, what God is here won't get us to the next level. What I love about Mike Row is he showcase that. He [00:38:00] showcase what's involved. What's the pain point? At the same time, that's where it ended. It ended. And catch you next week, guys, on episode 12, you know?
[00:38:09] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:38:10] Wilson Matthew Betances: But now we can have that same media outreach. We're reaching 20 plus million every 30 days, and now we're saying, if you wanna experience this, come to our convention, come to our events, come take a class with us, and we'll show you what's available. We're closing the circle on that ecosystem.
[00:38:29] RC Victorino: Yeah. I and I, I just love, again, from as a content perspective and a brand perspective on my end, just the way that you've done it, the, to look at your thumbnails are, is, is enjoyable and fun, and that's what mm-hmm.
[00:38:40] RC Victorino: People tend to forget about that, about social media and YouTube, et cetera. Like it, like, especially when it comes to likes. Businesses running the thing, like they forget. Like it's, it all came down to like, what's enjoy. Like I'm, I'm choosing to spend my time on this channel for some sort of reason, like, entertain me, like mm-hmm.
[00:38:56] RC Victorino: Give me a chuckle or give me a, oh crap, that's me. But like we, we [00:39:00] tend to water things down and, and try to be safe and that becomes just noise, right? So I really enjoy the way that you word these things. I love. Folks go to the YouTube. The, the channels, uh, thumbnails, I mean, are, are fantastic. There's one that I think is on, I think it's your featured video, basically here on YouTube, which is the fastest path to becoming an electrician.
[00:39:15] RC Victorino: Uh, and it's just you on the job site and there's, and there's, you're talking, but there's, you know, there's captions. 'cause you know, we, you know your audience and this is what we do in videos, but the backdrop is beautiful. You're just wor you're, it's, it's. No glitz and glamor. You're just on the job site doing your thing, do doing some wiring, whatever it may be like.
[00:39:31] RC Victorino: Like, oh yeah, you're in a panel. I think doing something fantastic. I think it's your choices and I dunno about the, the, the rest of the team as well, but your choices specifically are, are well done. Right. They're authentic. Thank you. They're authentic, which is great.
[00:39:44] Wilson Matthew Betances: Thank you. And that's the goal. That's the goal.
[00:39:45] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:39:46] Wilson Matthew Betances: Because they're gonna end up once again, it's like, hey, come into the skilled trades. 'cause you can make a lot of money. Then people saying the skill trades is cool. I keep telling people it's not cool being in an addict mid-July.
[00:39:59] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:39:59] Wilson Matthew Betances: You [00:40:00] know, I'm like, you're sweating. And guess what? They come in because they say, I can make this much money.
[00:40:06] Wilson Matthew Betances: This is not worth it. I'm out. So it's just showing them what's possible once again. Removing that pain point for them. You know, the, the worst part is, is not knowing. So if you can give someone a little glimpse of what's involved, I, I do feel like it does go a long way. And then that builds the trust. You know?
[00:40:24] Wilson Matthew Betances: Yes, I understand. This journey is not overnight, you know, but imagine doing what we're doing and this is us two years in, imagine doing what we're doing, and in the next five years you type in electrical apprenticeship. I don't have to say what's gonna happen.
[00:40:38] RC Victorino: Right. You
[00:40:38] Wilson Matthew Betances: know?
[00:40:39] RC Victorino: Yeah, you get it. You get it.
[00:40:40] RC Victorino: Wilson gets
[00:40:41] Wilson Matthew Betances: it. Yeah. We're having fun. This is a long battle, you know what I mean?
[00:40:45] RC Victorino: A hundred percent. A hundred percent.
[00:40:46] Wilson Matthew Betances: We're just learning the algorithm. We're learning the people, we're learning the pain points, and we're just having fun with it.
[00:40:51] RC Victorino: Uh, well, I'd like to shift over to our lightning round, if you don't mind, which is when I ask a series of questions and you just respond with whatever comes first to your mind.
[00:40:58] RC Victorino: Is that okay?
[00:40:59] Wilson Matthew Betances: Let's [00:41:00] do it.
[00:41:00] RC Victorino: Alright. What is one tool you cannot live without?
[00:41:04] Wilson Matthew Betances: Hmm. I would, sorry, electricians were, I'm saying AI now. A AI took it over.
[00:41:13] RC Victorino: Do you have a specific AI tool that you go to, or is it a variety of like a mix?
[00:41:17] Wilson Matthew Betances: It, it's a, it's a variety. It's just putting thought to paper now, like I'll leave the AI chat feature on and I'm just talking to that thing all day.
[00:41:26] RC Victorino: It's the best report, right? It's the best way.
[00:41:28] Wilson Matthew Betances: Yeah.
[00:41:28] RC Victorino: Yeah.
[00:41:29] Wilson Matthew Betances: And there's points where, I don't know if this is the rapid round, so I'm supposed to go this deep into it, but
[00:41:34] RC Victorino: Yeah. You know, do it, do it, do it please.
[00:41:36] Wilson Matthew Betances: There's times where, uh, when I'm thinking about content or we're thinking about sponsors or we're thinking about, Hey, we have a campaign coming up and I want to focus on things that we do every day.
[00:41:51] Wilson Matthew Betances: For example, we'll, I'll leave the AI on all day, going to the gym, going to the job site, going talking to my buddy, and then I'll be like, [00:42:00] what are the most common things that I talk about today? And then it will transcribe it and it'll be like when I, for example, I'll be like, oh man, my ankle hurts. So it'll be like, you talked about footwear three times today.
[00:42:14] Wilson Matthew Betances: And I'm like, perfect. Let's look for a footwear sponsor. Let's look for a footwear company to see if they wanna do a collaboration on it. And there will be times where it'll be like, I'll talking to one of our, our team members and we always joke around. He's like, you're getting coffee again. Like, and then he is like, you went to the coffee store four times today.
[00:42:34] Wilson Matthew Betances: I'm like, let's look for a coffee guy who specializes in blue collar. Call him up. So I've literally taken every aspect of my life and I'll like review it at the end of the day and I'll. Upgrade myself. Like if I'm a superhero, like on a video game, and I'll be like, oh, I went to the gym and it'll show my progress.
[00:42:52] Wilson Matthew Betances: Bar. I it. I've been having fun with ai
[00:42:55] RC Victorino: Now, now, now, Wilson, I don't know. Have you ever seen the movie Her? I [00:43:00] just, no. Put it up. Okay. Well,
[00:43:02] Wilson Matthew Betances: is that similar?
[00:43:06] RC Victorino: I just want you to go watch her. I, I will tell you that it's a fantastic movie. I'm, it is a fantastic movie. It is, it is. I watched it on flight back from wherever I was last time.
[00:43:16] RC Victorino: Uh, I think I, I don't even know. Uh, it's been on my list forever to watch it, and it is, and I'm a movie person. It is maybe top 10 of the last 30 years for me. Yeah. But, but I, I, I, I recommend you to watch it for other reasons than that. I enjoy that. Okay. Let's move on with the question. Sorry. Uh, best thing you've ever built.
[00:43:37] Wilson Matthew Betances: Ooh. I feel, see if I don't say my children. You know, I, I feel like that, that that's something that's, you know, when you drive down and you've been with somebody who's been in the trades for a while, they can't help but go like, you see that house? I built that. Yeah. Yeah. You know,
[00:43:55] RC Victorino: of course.
[00:43:56] Wilson Matthew Betances: Yeah. My kids are the only ones where I come [00:44:00] home and they're smiling ear to ear for me.
[00:44:02] Wilson Matthew Betances: Like that's the only project I've ever built that smiles back at me. You know? Ooh. Yeah.
[00:44:08] RC Victorino: Okay. Okay. For, to be fair, I would say my son for sure like that. That's a no brainer. So there you go. Uh, biggest misconception people have about the trades.
[00:44:19] Wilson Matthew Betances: Uh, biggest misconception I. There, there's two brands. Well, Mike Rowe always said Dirty Jobs.
[00:44:32] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:32] Wilson Matthew Betances: There's also another brand, I won't mention them. One of their slogans is Dirty Hands, clean Money. You can make a lot of money in the trades and your hands are gonna look very clean. You can do a lot of clean work. There's project managers, you understand? There's engineering, there's company owners.
[00:44:51] Wilson Matthew Betances: There's so much you can do in the trades. Because it has that stigma that it's dirty. People are gonna avoid it. [00:45:00] You can do double the work. You can make twice the money and you can be squeaky clean if you really want to.
[00:45:06] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm. Got it. What's one thing that gets you fired up about the future of the trades?
[00:45:13] Wilson Matthew Betances: Oh, fired up. That's a good one. I think just with the growth and experience and with the technology that we have. I do feel like it's gonna be easier and easier to grow in the trades. What do I mean by that? Before you had to go through a four, five year apprenticeship, you had to go to these locales, sit down and learn.
[00:45:36] Wilson Matthew Betances: We got ai, we got education online, everywhere. To say in 10 years it's gonna be the same. You. You see what they're doing right now with the Department of Education. They're saying, Hey, that's the only facet of our government that hasn't changed since the early 19 hundreds, and they're trying to rev, they're some places trying to shut it down.
[00:45:56] RC Victorino: Mm-hmm.
[00:45:57] Wilson Matthew Betances: Because they're saying a change has to happen. So you're [00:46:00] telling me education as a whole, when it comes to the trade, it's not gonna get a revamping. We're in a very unique time where we're in that little transition period where in the next five, 10 years. Either the licensing requirements are gonna change, educational requirements are gonna change, because now if you have an AI robot in your pocket that can help you with code violations, that can help you with inspections, you don't need to spend five years now on a classroom to know that.
[00:46:30] RC Victorino: Yeah, yeah.
[00:46:30] Wilson Matthew Betances: So we're in a very, I'm excited for them, but it's also another challenge. Now, remember, we're making it easier. So are you gonna be the person that you need to be to take advantage of what. Others didn't have to have others have. So I'm excited for the next generation coming in because the tools that you have now are gonna make you even, there's no excuse moving forward to not come in and be successful, you know?
[00:46:56] Wilson Matthew Betances: And your definition of success is gonna vary, but there's [00:47:00] no excuse on why you can't reach exactly what you want when it comes to the trades.
[00:47:05] RC Victorino: Perfect. Well, with that, Wilson, thank you so much for joining our podcast. Where can folks find out more about you and, and the work that you're doing? By the way,
[00:47:13] Wilson Matthew Betances: I appreciate you.
[00:47:14] Wilson Matthew Betances: You can just search up energize us edu online and you're gonna see all our platforms right there. So if you need anything, what the trades have to offer, we like to highlight it from top to bottom. So feel free to look up energize us edu on all platforms.
[00:47:30] RC Victorino: Wonderful. And again, we'll add it to the show notes and, and perhaps if our producers, uh, remember this, we'll add the link to, uh, go watch her as well, because next time I talk to Wilson, he will.
[00:47:41] RC Victorino: He'll give me his feedback. Uh, but until then, thank you all so much for joining us and, uh, keep building. Awesome.