How to Launch a Trades Training Academy

What if the biggest fix for your workforce shortage wasn’t another hire, but a training academy you built in-house?

In this episode of Titans of the Trades: Stories of How to Win from Construction Powerhouses, Ryan Englin talks with Danielle Wernert, Owner of Upskilled Consulting and a leader in trades education, about how home service contractors can develop their own internal universities, even if they’ve never done it before.

Danielle shares her story of going from an executive assistant to running one of the first home service academies in the industry, and how that experience evolved into helping businesses nationwide build training programs that actually work. You’ll learn how to fill your training classes, overcome tech resistance, and turn seasoned techs into effective mentors.

Whether you’re just getting started or ready to take your academy to the next level, this episode will give you a practical roadmap to launch, scale, and succeed.

Episode Takeaways

• [00:25] Danielle’s journey from executive assistant to industry training expert.
• [01:54] How she built one of the first in-house training academies in the home services space.
• [03:53] Why “ride-along training” is failing new hires, and what to do instead.
• [05:29] The critical mistake most companies make: not training the trainers.
• [07:21] What to do if you’re afraid to train because “they might leave.”
• [10:35] How gamified training boosts engagement and knowledge retention.
• [16:11] Capturing tribal knowledge before your top techs retire.
• [19:17] How to overcome team resistance to new training tech and processes.
• [23:07] How to fill your training classes - Danielle had 2,000 applicants for 43 seats.
• [26:32] Details on Danielle’s upcoming book and how to connect with her directly.

Connect With Danielle:

Website: https://upskilledconsulting.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-wernert/

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