Leadership BITES
Leadership BITES
Ken Rusk, The Blue Collar Advocacy
In this episode of Leadership Bites, Ken shares his journey as a blue collar entrepreneur and the inspiration behind his book 'Blue Collar Cash'. He discusses the importance of taking action, setting timelines for goals, and challenges the traditional notion that college is the only path to success. Ken emphasizes the value of blue collar work and the entrepreneurial characteristics that can emerge from it, encouraging listeners to visualize their life's goals and take control of their futures. In this conversation, Ken Rusk discusses the importance of setting clear goals and creating actionable pathways to achieve them. He emphasizes the need for a positive mindset and personal responsibility in shaping one's future. The discussion also touches on the significance of trusting oneself, navigating career transitions, and the critical role of financial literacy in achieving long-term success. Ken shares personal anecdotes and practical advice, encouraging listeners to take control of their lives and pursue their dreams with confidence.
Takeaways
- Ken's journey began with his daughter's illness, inspiring him to write.
- The concept of 'blue collar entrepreneur' reflects resilience and hard work.
- Action and anticipation are key to achieving goals.
- Timelines are essential for turning dreams into reality.
- Many students enter college without a clear purpose.
- Blue collar jobs can be more lucrative than traditional degrees.
- Stigmatization of blue collar work needs to change.
- Entrepreneurial characteristics are inherent in everyone.
- Visualizing life goals can guide personal development.
- Starting young with goal setting can lead to success. Visualizing goals can simplify the path to achieving them.
- Mindset is crucial for personal success and fulfillment.
- Trusting yourself is the first step to creating your vision.
- Creating a vision board can help clarify your goals.
- Sharing your goals with supportive people enhances accountability.
- Many people are influenced by societal norms instead of their own desires.
- Starting a side gig can lead to fulfilling career transitions.
- Financial literacy is essential for long-term independence.
- Understanding compound interest can significantly impact financial security.
- Taking risks is necessary for personal growth and success.
Sound Bites
- "I wanted to happen to life."
- "You can start as soon as you can dream."
- "Why isn't everybody doing this?"
- "Create a Pinterest board if you have to."
- "You can run a business from anywhere."
- "You have to have the faith of it."
- "You can start teaching that to people."
- "Why are you renting money?"
- "I guarantee you it'll change your life."
To find out more about Guy Bloom and his award winning work in Team Coaching, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching click below.
The link to everything CLICK HERE
UK: 07827 953814
Email: guybloom@livingbrave.com
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Ken (00:00.103)
You and me both.
Guy Bloom (00:00.43)
The technology is telling me what to do and I'm looking like a goddamn professional. But on that note, on that note, so listen, Ken, absolutely fabulous to have you on this episode of Leadership Bytes. Welcome.
Ken (00:14.355)
Thanks, Guy. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Guy Bloom (00:16.916)
And as I always do for anybody that listens to this podcast, they're already rolling their eyes and thinking, here he goes, is I know who you are. And I always think rather than do an introduction when I've got the person in front of me who can actually talk for themselves, if you're at a barbecue and somebody said, tell me what you're about, what do you do? Rather than that, you know, launching into a full CV and a full interview response can just bring to life of people that don't know who you are.
This is what I'm about.
Ken (00:48.691)
Well, I would tell you that my proudest moments are I'm a father of one daughter who now has one granddaughter, which is wonderful. I've been married for almost four years, which is wonderful. I've been accused of being a blue collar entrepreneur, okay, whatever that might be, and I love it.
It's something that I'm very proud to wear as a moniker. And I wrote a book called Blue Collar Cache, which kind of details what you should think about life and how your life can be designed the way you want it to be. And I do a little bit of life coaching and some speaking. So yeah, that's kind of who I am.
Guy Bloom (01:26.19)
Well, let's jump into that because that blue collar cash is what attracted me to having this conversation. And I always think a little bit like many things in life, you can't plan something. I mean, you can hope it does well and you can put your best effort into it. But especially with books, you can write them, but it doesn't necessarily mean any buggers going to read them. So it took off a little bit. But to give a sense of just what inspired you to write blue collar cash, because I know having written my own book,
The intellectual idea of doing it and the reality of creating a thing requires some effort. So what kept you going? What was your point? What was your motive?
Ken (02:05.767)
Well, the very first...
I think the very first point was my daughter got sick when she was 12 and I talk about that in the book a little bit. And you know any parent or group of parents I mean it's a nightmare. It's five years of hell when you're watching your daughter recover from an illness. Now she got through it fine but obviously it's you know cancer is not nothing to mess with. So I had a lot of time to think about you know what if I was going to write her a letter about life about what should she be chasing what should she be
What would that look like and you know you're sitting around in doctors offices and oncology rooms and you know ultrasound offices And you have a lot of time to think so the words comfort peace and freedom which is a level that I think everyone should try to achieve I Couldn't lose those words guy if I try they kept showing up everywhere like like seeing a yellow Volkswagen And then now all of sudden you see him everywhere right so those words just kept coming back And I kept trying to think about what that meant to me and what?
What it ultimately meant was everyone has a version or a vision of what they want their life to look like. They don't talk about it a lot. They don't even draw it out. They just kind of have it in the back of their brain. And I thought, well, wouldn't it be cool if we could get people to kind of explore that, put it out there, use the visual side of their brain, and then allow all those powerful systems inside your neurotransmitters to help you find that life. So I started just writing a long letter to her about what I thought was important. And then I started using friends in
mine as examples who are blue collar entrepreneurs who've done crazy good for themselves but had to overcome the most horrific circumstances in order to get through that which is what she was doing and yeah a long letter turned into 80,000 words and then my gosh there's an editor there's an agent there's a publisher and it's a whirlwind and it turned it turned into a bestseller and I'm eternally grateful and horribly blessed to have that happen.
Guy Bloom (04:06.114)
And what was your journey for you? I think it always helps people understand maybe your point of reference if they understand the journey that got you to where you are today. So just give us that sense of, Guy, without taking up too much of your time, my life's journey kind of looked a little bit like this.
Ken (04:23.389)
So, always had part-time jobs when I was 12, 13 years old. Always traded my labour for something I wanted to come into my life, which is how that thought process started early on. Four brothers in a very small house in Amherst, Ohio. My father was a Marine, ran the house like a barracks, which was good sometimes and not good sometimes.
imperfect perfectionism was like the way it was the rule of the day. And yeah, so I started when I was 15 getting my first real job. My high school shared a fence with an industrial park and we used to cut through that fence to go to the carry out after school and hang out. And I one day I walked into one of these businesses and said, what do you do? And they said, we dig ditches. I said, I can do that. So wholly qualified to dig ditches. I did that during the summer and in the winter I worked in the office after school. And that turned into being
me being 18 years old and what am I going to do? And they said we're opening franchises, do you want to help us with that? So I did. I moved to Columbus, Ohio and then Cincinnati and then Chicago and Pittsburgh, six months at a time, opening up businesses for other owners franchises. And then got tired of living out of a suitcase guy and opened my own company here in 1986 in Toledo, Ohio. Started with six people and I think we have over 200 today. So it's been a hell of a ride.
Guy Bloom (05:44.846)
It is incredible how some people never find something that gives them that steerage and then others, you know, I'm wholly qualified to dig ditches is a great phrase that I think should be a t-shirt. I might invest in that. What are you qualified to? I'm wholly qualified to dig ditches. That's my starting point. And I think that's the thing, isn't it? It is about, you know what, sometimes just get going and the world will start to present things to you, you know, and I like
Ken (05:57.629)
Ready?
Guy Bloom (06:14.734)
That's what I hear in there anyway.
Ken (06:16.315)
Yeah, well, you know, for me...
It all started with aluminium baseball bat. You remember when they first came out of aluminium baseball bats? I wanted one of those and my father was like, listen, I got you a wooden bat. All your brothers used it. You can use that when it's good enough. I said, well, I wanted to do this. He said, well, go find a way to make it happen. I either delivered newspapers or shovelled driveways or mowed lawns or whatever. There was always a thing to chase for me. There was always a thing to anticipate.
couldn't believe that I could go give my efforts to somebody and they would give me dollars for that. So then the things got bigger, the goals got bigger, the chase got longer, but the anticipation was awesome because my first car, then my first house and you know joining a golf club and you know collecting cars and doing the things that I do now, it's just been one anticipation, one chase after another. And so I think the important thing is you can get
through just about any job in the world if there's an important enough reason why or a big enough reason why and I don't think we as people start out with the why very often. We kind of wait till something happens and hope life happens to us rather than us happening to life and I think that's that's the biggest difference in the world for me is I wanted to happen to life. I wanted to control every aspect and every outcome of it as much as I could and yeah that's I learned it early on over aluminium baseball bat and just never never stopped doing it.
Guy Bloom (07:50.206)
a couple of things there one is obviously you're saying aluminium incorrectly so I just wanted to point that out what the hell we say aluminium so I don't know what aluminium is I mean I presume it's the same thing I'm joking
Ken (07:56.888)
Yeah, right. Am I saying it correctly or incorrectly?
Ken (08:06.557)
Yeah, I'll leave many of them back. Yeah, that's what I got.
Guy Bloom (08:10.638)
But I do notice that there is something there about, I talk about doing and being. There's what you're going to do and then there's who you're being while you're going to do it. And maybe there is something about that at the start of your career. Because maybe you're not exactly, well you're not exactly where you're probably supposed to be when you first start out, but who you're going to be while you're doing it. Which is somebody that knows that...
I want to have control over my life. I want to actually be proactive. So this may or may not be where I'm going to start and finish. But if I know what I'm actually going to, who I'm being while I'm doing this, that's actually going to set the tone and be the vehicle probably for a lot of things.
Ken (08:50.739)
Well, it is interesting because I always thought that, you know, there's this thing called law of attraction or there's, you know, there's a visualization or there's hopes and wishes and dreams. And then I came quickly to realize that without a timed pathway to any one of these things, hopes and wishes and dreams just stay there. They stay there in that land of never happening. I'm not telling people not to hope, or dream. I'm saying if you're going to do that, attach a timed pathway to every one of those
things
things, the more those transmitters fire faster and faster to the point where they build a bridge. And once they build a bridge, your body almost thinks that it already owns that thing that you're seeking. And so therefore now, involuntarily, your actions, your awareness, your opportunities, all those things get heightened towards the chase of that particular thing. So most people never use that side of their brain, which I think is incredibly
really unfortunate because you know somebody put that software in there for a reason and I think we should all endeavuor to use it. And so I always thought it was something that if you just kind of focused on something it would kind of happen but there's actual real science behind it. There's another human being in the inside of you that can push you towards gaining the things that you want in your life if you just focus on them hard enough. And usually through drawing them out and seeing them on daily basis that's how that happens. I just thought that was a
amazing. And so now I teach that as much as I can.
Guy Bloom (10:54.55)
One of my big things about doing the podcast is to stand on the shoulder of giants and hear people say things that make me go, I'm going to write that down. And so I love hearing that. And I just put there thinking without timelines creates ownership without action. And I'm interested in that, which is just that a lot of people, you talk to them you go, well, you definitely feel like you're owning it.
Ken (11:04.507)
Yeah.
Guy Bloom (11:19.864)
which is where your disappointment sits, my friend, because you're not actually put any timelines on it and there's no action. Right. So, yes, I'll copyright that and use that as my own, clearly. But yeah.
Ken (11:30.897)
You can have it. I stood in front of a 300 road builders last week in North Dakota where it was seven below zero.
not inside, thank God, but I stood in front of them and I told them, said, I want you to write down the words, dream, wish and hope and goal. And they wrote them down. And I said, now next to what I want you to write, booked, scheduled, planned and timed pathway. And I told them to scratch home, hope, wish and dream, just scratch them off the paper. Cause I want those words gone from your vocabulary. And the reason is, is because
without a timed pathway to something, always, it just always remains in dreamland and I think that's unfortunate because so many people waste so much of the most precious asset you own ever, which is time. They waste time in waiting for those things to manifest themselves when in fact they're in control of when they happen.
Guy Bloom (12:30.572)
You've definitely heard this, I'm sure. And I'm not a golfer, so I'm going to even probably say the wrong person. But I've heard that story. I think it's the story goes, it works with any golfer. But Nick Valdo hits the ball, lands on the green, and somebody goes lucky shot. And he goes, it's amazing. The harder I practice, the luckier I get. Which is something around, insert any golfer's name there, probably doesn't matter. But my point is.
Ken (12:52.627)
Sure. Well, I'm a very avid golfer, so I appreciate every word of that.
Guy Bloom (12:57.99)
And I think there's something there, isn't it? Because what is practice? Practice is action. And guess what? know, whether or not it's I get more competent or whether or not I come into contact with more people or whatever it is, action creates output. Even if it's other people impacting against you, it leads and it vibrates and it leads to other things, which is what I think I hear in what you're saying. So I'm...
interested in you challenge the idea that college, let's just say education to a certain degree, should be the only path to success. And I've got a 12 year old now and I look at, if you're going to be a vet or a doctor or a surgeon then yeah, you're probably going to have to go to university because you know, whatever, I get that. But actually
to walk out of education with a sizeable debt with a degree that may or may not be beneficial versus spending five or six years cracking on. I'm very interested in that. So I'd love you to just talk a little bit about that whole college may not be the only path to success.
Ken (14:16.721)
Well, you know, the interesting thing is if colleges had like any business, if they had a stake in what their product came out like, then it would be whole different outlook because right now colleges will take your money. They'll even borrow it from the government. They'll take your money and they don't care what the output is. Like they'll let you study something that is unmarketable. Okay.
Eastern European language translation for whatever I mean they'll It doesn't matter what it is. I mean you could say the same thing about I mean, there's degrees all over the world that are just useless But you know, they may be interesting for the moment, but it's just a reason to say okay now I have a major right the most the most amazing thing about This this whole process guy is
you know, 40 % of kids today go into college without knowing why they're going. They don't have an end game like you just said, a vet, a surgeon, a lawyer, engineer. 25 % of those kids then change their degree because they picked the wrong one. Horribly wasteful and expensive. And then only 33 % of degrees ever get used ever. And those are the ones you mentioned. Doctor to doctor, lawyer to lawyer, mean architect to architect, whatever. So I'm saying to myself, all these
These people are racking up all this debt and they come out the other side and they're like, well wait a minute, I thought I was gonna have this $90,000 a year job now because I did this, that's what I was told. And yet it isn't true, so we're letting these people down year after year after year and now we're overproducing some of these degrees that are unmarketable and underproducing things like blue collar jobs, like mill rights and welders and carpenters.
and plumbers and electricians.
Ken (16:15.315)
But the funny thing is, supply and demand is a funny thing, right? mean, where supply is low and demand is high, that's where the money goes. So now we've got carpenters making $100,000, $150,000, $200,000 a year, and electricians and plumbers, and these people getting out of college are making $50,000 because there's 10 million of them. There's too many. So the pendulum has to swing back, and that's kind of what my point is. There has to be a balance in any economy. And you can't have everyone going to college,
to fix the street light or who's going to do some of these things and so that's my contention is I don't care
My whole thinking is before you put a stigmatism or stigmatize a blue collar career, just remember it doesn't matter so much what you do for a living as it matters what you do with what you do for a living, which is why you're doing it in the first place. And that's where I always say to myself, can you at least think about what you want your life to look like first? Because there's many ways to get there.
Guy Bloom (17:17.742)
I just suddenly thought, you know, it's the curse of knowledge that white collar and blue collar, I know what that's referencing. So if we're going to say white collar is, what would we say, professional kind of vocational and blue collar is more manual, more sort of working sort of out of the office in the real world. Is that how you would draw that distinction?
Ken (17:44.743)
Yeah, so what I mean, if you want to know the history, white collar came from it back in the old days. You would actually have a big white plastic collar that you would snap on to your suit, no matter what suit you were wearing. And that that kind of notated that you were a professional person of some sort. were educated. You were professional. You were in some sort of an office environment. Blue collar was real simple. They used to call them dungarees or blue jeans or Levi's. That's what you wore. You wore a blue shirt and blue pants and you worked out in
wherever you were doing plumbing electrical laying brick or whatever so that's where the original blue collar white collar came from so that's that's how you separate the two
Guy Bloom (18:24.076)
Now, in my mind, in the UK, and I'm pretty sure it feels the same in the US, that I actually think blue collar has been stigmatised. I actually think that it was, there's a kind of a club of university or getting that degree. And I think there's that going on. And I think there needs to be something about reprioritising. I mean, we talk about DEI and all these kind of things. Well, actually, you know what, let's actually
Let's start there at a very simple level. And I also kind of note that one of the things about going to university used to be that regardless of what you did, obviously if it was a vocational, that was clear. But even if it wasn't vocational, the point was that it said you can think and reason and you can hold multiple points of view and you can, you're hardy, you're anti-fragile, you're resilient.
But it also feels now that what's happened is with the way that universities have gone, that actually people are coming out less able to hold an argument. They are more fragile. And that's actually saying you've got this big debt, but you're now less valuable in the same context. I don't know how that resonates with you, but I definitely feel that.
Ken (19:40.433)
Well, I can tell you, I mean...
Good for you because I've been on 301 podcasts in the last two years and no one has put it quite that good. So good for you for doing that. That's 100%. You know, it used to be that you went to college so you could learn to be a problem solver. You could learn to be independent thinker. You could learn to handle your finances. You could do all of those things. You you were becoming an adult, if you will. Now, they're going there and some of these kids are, you know, they're just partying and playing, you know,
Guy Bloom (19:50.958)
Boom there we go this is a clip then.
Ken (20:12.629)
Beer pong for four years and they're getting offended everywhere every time all day long and you know The the open thinking is now gotten closed. Okay, it's our way of thinking or none and I think you're right. I think The person who is out there having it to in a trade if you will They're having to control their input. They're having to control their output. They control their the quality of that output. They control their day their time
their schedule, they control their financial gain because it's them or else. I mean I'm out here doing this job, I'm building a house or I'm know I'm fixing a car or I'm doing and these jobs are paying huge sums of money but it's on me. I I have to get up put on my clothes and go to work and there is some independence in that and they're in mind there is a strength of character that comes out of that which I think you're right we're getting
less of in these nondescript degrees that are coming out of college. So that's why I'm saying, I I was at a party a few nights ago, a few nights, a years ago, and I remember there was three or four moms there, and well my daughter's going to Ohio State University, or my son's going to Michigan State University, and all these really nice colleges, they were, well what's her name's son gonna do? Oh, he's just a plumber. And I'm like, just a plumber, okay.
I know that kid, he's got like, he's got six bands, he's got 12 employees, he's making an absolute killing, but he's just a plumber. So, it's interesting because when you talk about the debt, you know...
Nowadays you can take four years of college and all in with every expense you can possibly imagine. It can be 40, 50 thousand a year. So that's 200,000 on the negative side of your asset base if you borrow that money. And you can go out right now and earn $35 an hour in construction, which is 50, 60, $70,000 a year. That's 200,000 on the plus side of your asset base. That's like a $400,000 swing by the time you're 23 years old.
Ken (22:27.069)
I'm saying is at least consider that for your son or daughter before you just push them in with the herd and hope for the best. So when I tell that story to parents they're like, my god, how come I've never heard that before?
Guy Bloom (22:39.79)
yet it's so clearly obvious. It's not a secret. At 12 my boy kind of, know, he still wants to be a spaceman and a cowboy both at the same time, which is great. So there's not too much pressure that I will be in due course going, son, I just want you to listen to this podcast. It'll be a couple of years yet, but he will be listening to this. So Milo, how are you? You're now about 14, 15. So, but there we go.
But there is something about that recognising the, I guess the social narrative that goes with it. there's something about saying to kids that maybe are educationally competent. they are, I understand in some respects for those that academia is not their path, it'll steer them into that kind of blue collar space. And yeah, they go on and make a blink in fortune.
But actually, what about if you're smart and you are from a certain social strata, but you go into that space? In reality, by that definition, you should clean up. And that's the interesting thing to me, that it is, doesn't matter how you end up there, if you do it well, you're, and you're starting from straight away as opposed to four or five years worth of debt, then actually,
I think there's just massive opportunities for people to go in and turn up on time, do what they say, bring their level of social etiquette to the scenario that they're in, whatever it might be. And actually, by golly, if I was to say anything to my 12-year-old, wrap your head around that son, and by the time you're 24 25, you could be set for life.
Ken (24:27.021)
Yeah, when you look at...
In the United States, there's like this epidemic of people that are 45, 50, 55, 60 years of age that have run businesses, blue collar businesses their whole life. They're entrepreneurs and they've built these amazing companies and they have nobody to leave them to. You know what mean? There is an interest in people coming up behind and trying to take these companies over. And I think to myself, my gosh, if I was 20 years old and I could take over this guy's masonry
company where he's got work for two years because of the demand. He's got the rates that he charges are astronomical but his work is good. If I could just shadow that guy and go to work for him for three or four years, okay, and then he's going to retire, I can take his company over and hit the ground not walking but running. mean I'm talking about sprinting. There's so much of that going on that to your point anyone who's got a
little bit of entrepreneurial characteristics, which I believe we all have, if there's a reason why behind it. You can take advantage of these things because they literally have no, I mean, some of these companies are just closing because there's no one to take them on. And I think to myself, and I wrote this in Blue Collar Cash, I think all of us have about nine characteristics that make up an entrepreneur, whether it's persistence, resilience, faith, courage, hope, initiative, vision,
vision.
Ken (26:00.827)
all those types things, generosity, humility. I think we all have those characteristics that an entrepreneur has. We just need a reason for them to come out. That's why I say, can we start with that picture that's on the puzzle box, and that's your life. If I dump these pieces on your table, if I take that box away, you're have a real hard time building that puzzle, right? Because you start with the box. You always look at the box first, and then you start building.
Why shouldn't that be a metaphor for your life? If you can draw the puzzle box that is to be your best lived life, now you get to see that and that's the driving force. Now you got the pieces that you're assembling and you're looking at that puzzle box 10,000 times to put a thousand piece puzzle together, right? So why wouldn't you let that puzzle box that is to be your life be the driving force and allow those entrepreneurial characteristics to come out of you and then take on one of those hundreds
Guy Bloom (26:55.128)
See.
Ken (27:00.741)
opportunities to help you get them.
Guy Bloom (27:02.638)
So you talk about goal setting and visualization quite a lot and I think that's a classic example of it. I don't know, you know, to bring that to life a little bit more. What is the process for somebody? I mean, how old can you start that? Can you start that as soon as you can dream? As long as you put timelines to it? Talk to me about that.
Ken (27:23.005)
Well, I wanted a baseball bat when I was 12 years old, right? I needed $30.
So I was making a buck 15 hour, I needed to work 20 hours and there's my baseball bat. And I knew that I could work four hours this week and I could work six hours that week, so there's 10. So there was my pathway. I knew that 20 hours from now, I was gonna go to Kmart and buy this baseball bat. I mean, it was as simple as that. And to me, it was so amazingly simple that I'm like, why isn't everybody doing this? This just seems too mathematically simple, right? So that's now in the book.
I talk about how you put a simple baseball bat equation together and there's more steps to it. First off, you have to congratulate yourself because now you're thinking like one of those 1 % people that are willing to go that far to visualize. But you have to dream something very clearly and then step three is you have to put a pathway to it. 20 hours at a dollar, 15 hour gets you there and then you have to put it in action where you're saving this money where nobody can get it. You know what I mean?
put your paws on it if you want to because it's dedicated to that and then you share that goal with somebody else in this case it was my father who would pick me up and push me along if I ever faltered and all that's in the book but I just it was amazing to me because we all have the ability to think this way it's built into our hard drives the software is already pre downloaded when we're born and all you have to do is start using that side and so many people they're actually if when
Well, if I do all this, then maybe I can start living. No, it's not about that. I want to know what the then is first. Then I'll figure out the ifs, right? So I literally want myself to happen to life versus the opposite of that, which I said earlier. And so that's why I think...
Ken (29:18.437)
If we just show people this simple process, they're going to be so much better off than you go, my gosh, I've been living all this time waiting for something to happen when in fact I'm supposed to be making something happen. And it's just through the process of a time path.
Guy Bloom (29:31.758)
So if we talk about mindset and the resistance to... Actually, just pausing for one second, what I do notice is I understand we're talking about blue collar cash and that's the title of the It feels to me that this is a universal truth, which by definition tells me that it's usually true, if it's true everywhere. And that just resonates with me listening to your talk, that actually there's a lot of scenarios where I could talk, I could take all the things that you've said.
and change the heading and it would be completely applicable. And I think that tells me that then doesn't raise itself as a red flag to me. it's only very specifically true in that particular niche if you're doing it. These are human truths and that's why this works. So mindset plays a huge role in success. What's the biggest mental shift people need to make, would you say, take control of their future?
Ken (30:30.515)
Well, I asked the same group of people last week, I said, is there any chance that I could pick one of you in the crowd and know what your favourite colour is? No. Is there any chance I could know the exact car you'd like to drive? Probably not. Is there any chance I could your house the way you see it?
No. Your favourite vacation. Nope. Your favourite pet. A dog or a cat. What colour. What would you name it? There's no way I would know that, but you do.
So, so many times we allow society to influence our pathway. When we're the ones that know this, we know our favourite everything. So why are we allowing other people to dictate or to design or to influence or to shape our lives for us? It drives me crazy because you're relinquishing yourself to the influence, confluence or societal norm of somebody. It just drives me nuts. So the first thing I think of is, you just trust yourself for a second here?
here. You know all these things. You know what your perfect Nirvana would look like. You get some crayons and a big poster board. Start drawing that out.
Create a Pinterest board if you have to. Get brochures and pictures. Whatever you have to do. Create that vision that is your life. The way you want it. The heck with everybody else. And I mean everybody else. Okay? Especially some of your family members who don't want you to succeed. They'd rather have you commiserate with them and just stay in this spot because it's safe and it's comfortable. Right? So, trust yourself. Get that vision that you want for your life. And understand.
Ken (32:15.149)
that all the things that you draw on that board, all the pictures that you put on that board, they're all many timed pathways. Some are six months, some are 16 months, some are six years, some are 16 years. Okay? But they're all pathways that you can embark on. And that way you create a for sure
Scenario. I mean you create a for sure. That's what my life is going to look like You just have to move the timelines to where it's comfortable for you to pull these things off one by one and the confidence that you get guy from doing your first one is my god, this works. This is so simple. Why didn't anybody tell me this before? Now I'm on to my second one. I'm on to my third one It got so so important to me that we put this huge black glass board
in our hallway. It's right on the other side of that door and it's eight feet long and eight feet tall and every one of us has these little you know neon markers that we go out we write these goals up on this board in intricate detail beginning date steps end date sign colours but everything and then everybody else in the building gets to see who's up to see who's up to what and the power of that collective is enormous and it's
It's great because the people you're sharing it with come from all other walks of life. They're not that sister of yours that really wishes you don't get successful because then you might go away or something. You know what I'm saying? They won't sabotage you. The power is amazing. It's frustrating to me that we don't all have, that's just not automatically taught. So I'm doing whatever I can to put the word out.
Guy Bloom (34:04.524)
One of things I hear in there is our council offers us their fears. You want the best for your child, you want them to be safe. So actually, well, go and get a degree, because at least then you'll definitely earn or you'll definitely get a job that will allow you to. And actually, fear you. What's the dream I've got? What's the thing I've got in my head?
being a bum and being on the street homeless if you don't have a degree. You know, there's this anxiety and I think our council offers us our fears and I think that's something I'm very alert to.
Ken (34:42.887)
Well, if you think about it, just take the United States. So there's 167 million people considered full employment. According to our Bureau of Labour Statistics, which I looked at painstakingly, 77 million people do something with their hands to this day.
So if tomorrow we start shoving 100 % of our future kids into college, we're in big trouble, right? Because half the population still does something to keep the population going, right? And so it could never be true that a high school would say, well, everyone has to go to college. They're not telling you the truth when they say that. In fact, I spoke in front of a whole bunch of guidance counsellors, high school guidance counsellors,
in Columbus, Ohio a few years back. And they came up to me in the book signing line, and I'm signing books, and they would very quietly say to me, we're not allowed to tell someone he should be a carpenter even though he's really good at it, because we have to tell everyone they have to go to college. So please keep talking out loud, because we're not allowed to say that. It's insidious. It's terrible. And so.
Guy Bloom (35:49.72)
Fascinating, isn't it?
Guy Bloom (35:54.766)
This is a machine, it? The reality of this is, I'll say it, is there's George Carlin, the comedian, said there doesn't need to be...
Guy Bloom (36:08.174)
plot, I'm butchering his words, but there doesn't need to be a plot if everybody's outcomes or requirements of outcomes are the same.
Ken (36:10.77)
Right.
Ken (36:17.585)
Yeah, he was a genius by the way. What people don't know about George Carlin is how much of a genius he actually was. Beyond the humour. mean, that guy was just straight up smart. Right, yeah, exactly. Because he knows how to take those life situations and turn them into common sense humour. Right.
Guy Bloom (36:27.884)
I think that's what allows you to be that funny, right?
Guy Bloom (36:36.386)
Conspiracy, that was the word he used. Well, there doesn't need to be a conspiracy if everybody's future outcomes are shared. We don't all need to attend the conspiracy meeting because we all want that to happen. So we all want them to go to that university because actually that keeps this whole machine going.
Ken (36:53.659)
Yeah, and you know.
We could go off on college for a long period of time. I'm not anti-college. mean, if you want operate on my shoulder so I can get back out on the golf course, I want you to know everything about a knife there is before you pick it up and come at me. But it is a little disheartening when all these kids are borrowing all this money to go to school. And yet, some of these colleges have $8, $10, $15, $20, $30 billion in their endowment funds. And when you ask them, what's that for? Student service.
Guy Bloom (36:59.116)
No, not me.
Guy Bloom (37:06.894)
100 percent.
Ken (37:25.461)
They can't give you an answer. They're just managing cash. So that's a little scary to me, hopefully the pendulum is swinging the other way.
Guy Bloom (37:35.096)
So I think it's, I wouldn't say it's easy, but if you're younger you might have some associated risks, yes, with your career choices, but you might go if I'm going to do it, let's do it now. I can maybe always shift in due course. What about for people that are in jobs that are, they're a little bit further along the pattern of their life and they feel trapped?
And maybe what are your thoughts around somebody that wants to shift into something that actually, do know what I think I could do? I think I should be doing it. I don't even know why I'm doing this, but I've just financially got myself into a rut and I'm fearful.
Ken (38:20.423)
Well, I can tell you that's a great question. So I've had so many people that have said, Ken, I read your book and quit my job. But I would say this. So.
One particular gentleman he was there was two particular people that I that are very memorable one of them was a plumber's assistant when he was in college Loved working in the field loved working with people loved being outside Went to school became a medical salesman was in a cubicle on the 15th floor some building hated it read my book Went back went back joined the plumbing firm now. He has his own business never been happier You know thinks I walk on water because of the book that I wrote the other one the other one was
pretty cool because this guy, he loved building furniture and he built these things called river edge tables where you take a piece of wood and you put epoxy in the middle of it and they're beautiful. Yeah. So.
Guy Bloom (39:15.872)
I see that on TikTok and so I love those. They're amazing. And by golly, there's a price attached to it as well. Yeah.
Ken (39:24.387)
There is and so what he did was as he wound up his river edge business He wound down his other career and you can do that because like when I started my business We had long form graph paper and pencils. We'd keep them in our numbers on now with you know a cell phone and a pickup truck You can run a business from anywhere So the side gig is very powerful right now and what he did was he would build the
these tables at night on the weekends and then he would go sell them at county fairs and shows and furniture shows and whatever and then pretty soon that started taking off and he downsized his current job so that flop there's like an X factor in the middle and that's what you have to find. When you get to the X factor you can make the jump and it was so cool to see him do that because he's so happy now. He has a barn in his backyard he gets up for work and walks
Back to his barn. He doesn't even have to get in this car anymore and he builds these beautiful pieces and sells them all over the place and I've seen I've seen gals who are welders who started doing welding art and One gal's make selling art for a million dollars a copy. It's insane So it's just you just have to take you have to have the faith of it You have to have the wise there has to be a lot of wise out there That that picture that vision board has to be driving you
then you can take that risk and do it. today is the first day of the rest of your life, right? And you got to take that jump.
Guy Bloom (41:00.622)
And I think there is something about the wise being important because when somebody says to me, I'd love to become a coach because I can be self-employed and I can just set my own hours. go, well, I just want to pause there for a minute, Sonny boy. Right. Because in reality, yeah, when you've got where you need to go, perhaps. Yeah. So I do like what I hear from you saying that run two horses at the same time. Yeah, it probably will be
Ken (41:13.651)
Exactly.
Ken (41:21.139)
Right.
Guy Bloom (41:30.498)
harder work but actually if you're not prepared to do that it's probably not for you.
Ken (41:36.305)
Yeah, that's right. So many people have said, hey Ken, when they found out that I wrote this bestselling book, which again, I'm still blown away even when I say that, yeah, I'm gonna write a book. And I'm like, okay, yeah, good. You do that. And then like a year later, how's that? Yeah, I'm gonna write that book. I'm like, okay, you do that. It has to be something to your point that there's a lot of whys behind it. And those have to be very powerful.
Guy Bloom (41:56.28)
Yeah.
Guy Bloom (42:04.558)
Yeah, definitely don't give up your day job. Sit there for a year and a half writing a book with no income, presuming it's going to be a bestseller. Yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe some, maybe some stepping, but it is, isn't it? It's about getting up momentum. It's about understanding how that lands. It's about seeing, do you know what? It's like, oh, I'm going to be, I'm going to be a singer. Yeah. Well, planning to be a pop star is slightly different too. You might be working the bars. You might be doing weddings and bar mitzvahs.
Ken (42:06.675)
Right. Exactly, yeah.
Ken (42:28.339)
Thank
Yeah. Run the whole scenario first. Yeah. Sure, of course.
Guy Bloom (42:32.174)
run the horse alongside where you are first, right? But do it with intent. Yeah, but do it with intent, right? Put that time in and then you'll know. And also you might find, do know what? In my mind, that was a beautiful thing. Now that I'm doing it, a hobby isn't always your job, you know?
Ken (42:51.955)
That's exactly right. And you know, it's funny because I love comedians and I know you do too because we talked about it. But if you look at Nate Bargatze, hilarious comedian in the United States, look back, you know, 10, 15 years ago, he's exactly what you're saying. He's in some frozen town in Peoria, Illinois on a Friday night talking to eight people and he's breaking his chops in order to get this happen. But look at him now.
You know, he was passionate and he's amazing. So there is a path to everything. And some people's paths are quicker and some are longer, but as long as you're on the path, that's all that matters.
Guy Bloom (43:22.562)
Yeah.
Guy Bloom (43:30.978)
Yeah, that really resonates with me that especially with comedians, go look how quick they are. Yeah, because that's 10 years of being just them and three people in the audience that made them that good. It's not like they didn't give up the job last Monday and suddenly go, hey, look, me, I'm a phenomenon on TikTok. didn't, it doesn't happen like that. So just being alert to time and just one or two questions. Are there any...
know, we talk about sort of myths around what financial security might look like and how it might hold people back. Is that something we've covered or are there any things in there that actually know? I think there are some myths in there about what that might be that are worth just mentioning.
Ken (44:16.346)
Well, more simple math for your audience, okay? From the time you're age 21 to the time you're 63, right? That's 42 years. If you divide 42 years by 7, that equals 6. Now, if your money doubles every 7 years, then you have 6 doubles in your lifetime. 6 periods of 7 years, right? So if you start when you're 21,
your last double, I mean I can paint a scenario for you where if you save 60 bucks a week for 10 years, you're going to have a million two in your account by the time you're 63 years of age.
and it's because of the doubling. But I will tell you this, if you start at 28 or you start at 34, you've missed the first two doubles. But more importantly, you've missed the last two doubles where they're the biggest. Because your last double, your money could go from 600,000 to a million too. So if you miss that, you're only gonna walk away with 600,000, not that that's not a lot of money, or 300,000, right? If you start late. So all I can say is,
Can we start using the power of young money? Can we start teaching that to people so that when they're 21 years of age they can put their first 60 bucks away? Forget about it. You never had it. You never saw it. You never spent it. You never miss it. Can we start talking about the power of that so that we can build independent people who don't have to worry about these social safety nets that are gonna who knows that they're even gonna be around? It's silly that we're not teaching that and it drives me crazy, but I like to put that out in simple terms because when I do people go
Holy cow, I can't believe I assembled that. It is? There it is right there for you.
Guy Bloom (46:02.646)
I think I see these things on some of the social media things that I look at and people that focus on helping people with their finances and people's finance. I mean, you don't need to be an expert in compound interest, but people's literal lack of understanding about how a credit card works or just at that baseline level is absolutely horrific, but actually just goes to show how
Ken (46:19.994)
yeah.
Guy Bloom (46:29.57)
financially illiterate people are, you know? I don't think you'll need to be able to read the Wall Street Journal or whatever it is, but I think that at the baseline level people just don't understand the basics.
Ken (46:39.571)
I this analogy for credit cards and it was real simple. Let's assume you're renting a table and chairs for a party in your backyard this weekend, right? And you have the party and you're renting the table and chairs and they charge you by the day, right? So when you're done with the party, are you going to leave those tables and chairs sit in your backyard for three, four, five months? No, you're going to return them immediately, right? Because you're paying rent on them every single day. Well, then why are you doing that with your money?
Guy Bloom (47:08.28)
Yeah.
Ken (47:09.125)
If you don't understand why you're renting money for all that period of time on a credit card with such high interest when you could just return the tables. And when you look at, go, people look at that and they go, holy cow, why would I do that? So yeah, I mean, there's a reason for a credit card. I get that, but certainly not to waste it like renting tables and leave them in your backyard.
Guy Bloom (47:17.038)
Yeah.
Guy Bloom (47:29.75)
get it. So listen, you've written blue collar cash, what's coming next Ken?
Ken (47:36.413)
Well, I just completed a course, my version 2.0 of my course called The Path to a Successful Life. You can find it at KenRusk.com. And it's a simple course. It's not one of those $2,000 courses where you have to give me your whole life. It's eight sessions at 45 minutes a session. I guarantee you that it'll change the way you see your life this afternoon. I mean, like today in three hours. It's not something you
have to do and then hope that six months from now your life has changed. You'll start looking at your life differently because it's filled with a lot of the stuff that you and I have talked about today. So that's at KenRoss.com. also, in the middle of my next book, the working title now is called Talent Rules, Blue-collar tactics in a white-collar world. That's more from the perspective of how can companies create amazing cultures so they can attract really great people.
So yeah, that should come out in the fall and yeah, we're real excited about it.
Guy Bloom (48:40.142)
Are you prepared to come back and talk about the new book when it comes out? See what I've done there? I've trapped you live. Fantastic. So listen, I again say this, I have some great guests and I think if I lived local, I'd now be taking you out and saying, right, and then I want to hear more, I want to talk more, but you know. So people go to kenrust.com, correct? If they want to connect with you.
Ken (48:43.207)
love to absolutely no I'm for sure a guy I'll be there
Ken (49:07.057)
Yeah, RUSK, KenRusk.com.
Guy Bloom (49:09.902)
and that'll be in the notes that go with the podcast. So listen, I am going to round us off just because I can keep on going and I'm alert to that. So listen, from everybody listening, Ken, I found this a joyous conversation. I've enjoyed it. I've been smiling all the way through and agreeing with every word that you've said. I haven't had to pretend or just keep a veneer on just in case you say something, thinking, I don't know if I agree with that, but no, it resonates. So for me and everybody else that's listening, thank you so much for that time.
Ken (49:18.29)
Yeah.
Ken (49:31.698)
Yeah.
Ken (49:39.756)
Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's been fun talking to you as well.
Guy Bloom (49:42.83)
I'm just going press the stop button, stay on, and we'll make sure everything does what it does. But thank you very much,