December 27, 2025 • 29 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Michael Barry Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Degree free dot Com. This woman helps folks get jobs
without buying college degree tech to trades, she describes it.
She's based in Montgomery, Texas, and that gives me occasion
to pay tribute to I believe the late Great I
(00:23):
think he passed because I never got to meet him,
and I was bummed about this relatively recently.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Right, Oh, it is not right.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Francis Rodney Zambone, I believe it was his name. Francis
Rodney Zambone was from Montgomery. He wrote under the name
Mark James. I wish he'd kept Zambone because I think
that's a I mean, Frank Zambone. I like that better
than Mark Jane. Mark James is just anyway. He wrote
always on my Mind that Elvis made famous Moody Blue
(00:53):
Suspicious Minds the only Elvis song ramone that I ever
know of being covered with with any facility, with any success,
and that was Dwight Yoakum's version. And that's because he
kind of he took it to punk country, and so
that changed the style, and I think that's the only
reason I tolerated.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
He wrote, hooked on a feeling for what's his name?
For bj Thomas. Anyway. He was from Montgomery, She's from.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
What that's all he wrote, just a few of what
he wrote. Her name is Hannah or Hannah? Before we
ask her, what do you think it is? You're gonna
go Hannah? Okay, Hannah Mario Maru Yama. Maru Yama probably
a good Japanese name. The website is degree Free. This
(01:42):
is the kind of thing that I think could help
a lot of folks. So, Hannah or Hannah?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Which is it?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's Hannah, It's Hannah. Thank you so much for having
me on.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Michael, Now tell me you reached out to me with
a kind of here's what I do or PR person
did or whatever. Did you know this is something that
don't lie? Did you know this is something that I
talk about often?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Or were you just scattershotting out there to everybody that
might put you on.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
No, sir, I had a list and you were on it,
and I did. I did do a little bit of
research prior before I gave I gave instructions to my
guy to reach out.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Okay, your site degree free dot com. The book you
can get wherever you buy books. It's called Degree Free
Way Workbook.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Parent What is your purpose here? What are you trying
to accomplish?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
What I am trying to do is I am trying
to keep the next generation of Americans out of unnecessary
student loan debt, and I am trying to save them
hundreds of thousands of dollars in years of their lives
that they do not have to spend on a college
campus learning from people who have never done the things
that they are teaching them how to do.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
And what got you interest? Did you have experience with
your in your own life or with your children with this?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I do so. I personally just finished working in AI
and machine learning for the past three and a half
almost four years, and I built a fairly successful tech
career where I out earned the media and PhD by
I would say probably about two hundred and fifty percent.
And I did that without buying a college degree myself.
And seeing what I saw when I was doing that
(03:23):
really helped me to understand how employers are hiring. And
then the disconnect and the amount of misinformation there is
around what parents think their kids have to do to
get the jobs that are actually going to help them
live the way they want to.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Wait a minute, you're a redhead. Did you know she's
a redhead. She doesn't sound like a redhead. What is
your maiden name?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
O'Shaughnessy or I'm it's Shattck.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
But yes, I am very Irish. My husband's the Hawaiian
Japanese one.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well, Hawaiian Japanese is our executive producer, Chad Makanishi. So
you're in good company. I'm looking at you at your house.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, he's he's thicker than Chad, but I think Chad
could take him because Chad fights every day. And what
what is mister box What is mister he's a boxer?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
No, no, no, I was asking if Chad was a boxer.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
No, he's really more a ground game guy. Although if
I brag on him at this point, he says, I'm
not any good anymore. But he's got the cauliflower ears.
He trains every day, but he can't strike anymore because
his shoulder is destroyed and he doesn't want to have
another surgery on it. He he uh, he has absolutely
ruined his body by fighting so much, so long. He
(04:38):
came back the other day and he had a big
old scrape across his leg and he leaves in the
middle of the day, so we work like two shit.
He gets in insanely early. He gets up and works
out at two thirty he gets in it I think
four or four thirty, who knows, nobody's here yet.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
And he preps all the.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Way up till eleven thirty, leaves, goes and trains, and
then comes back at two and then he's here for
who knows however many hours, like he works a graveyard
she have compared to the rest of us, because it's
all he has to get his training in. So what
does mister Maruyama do.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Mister Mariyama runs all of the other side of the business,
so that all I get to do is talk about
the problems that I see, the solutions that we can make,
and then work with the young adults. And so he
does all the boring back of the house stuff for
the business so I can do all the fun stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
So I looked y'all up, and it says, I don't
know how old you are now, but y'all were twenty
nine and twenty six at the time, and you were
living in Honolulu. I'm assuming that's where he's from. Chad's
from the Big Island by the way. And then and
you're from Montgomery. Y'all decided to come back here.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
So I'm actually not from Montgomery myself, my husband, and
my husband is from Hawaii. He his entire family is
from there. I lived there when my dad was in
the military, and that's actually how we ended up meeting.
But we moved to Montgomery during COVID because I got
pretty crazy during the lockdowns, and so we decided that
(06:03):
that was not a fit for our family and the
things that we wanted to the way we wanted to
live our lives, and so we came here. We picked
it off a spreadsheet, We did a bunch of research
about places that were good to live, and this is
the place that we ended up and we've been here
for four years and we love it.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Nobody's in Montgomery from Hawaii because they found people were
in Montgomery because they got a job, their family lived there,
and they they're there and they like it. But nobody
looks at the mountain says, well, I guess we'll end
up in Montgomery, Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
That is nuts.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
We did Okay, it was top of the list. It
was top of the Excel sheet.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Did you go to college?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I did not I'm degree free, so I guess technically
I did like how you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Make it sound like it's a disease. I'm degree free.
I'm safe.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Well have you have you? If you've met a recent
college graduate, you know it is a little bit, but
you know, I went for about I actually got into
a university when I was sixteen. I do well enrolled
where I grew up in Savannah, Georgia, because my dad
was stationed there in between me moving back to Hooi,
and I ended up fully dual enrolled. And then my
(07:10):
experience in college was that I did not do well
because I ask why too often, and my professors were
not interested in people that ask why and don't adhere
to the orthodoxy that's present on campus. And because of that,
I wasn't. I think that the way that I thought,
or the questions that I asked were more of an inconvenience,
(07:33):
which kind of shocked me because I wasn't expecting it
to be so anti intellectual when I went on a
college campus.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Hold on just a moment.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Our guest is Hannah Mariyama. The website is degree free.
I was poking around on it during the break. There's
a lot there and you can learn a lot about her.
And then she's got books. There's a one on one.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You can do with her. And yes it will cost money.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I know people, nobody has a problem paying for some things,
but they don't want to pay for other things. To're
crazy thing that legal work is the funniest one for me, Hannah. People, Hey,
you have a lawyer who just looked this over me
real quick? Yeah, before I do that, what's your budget
of what you're willing to pay? Well, I don't need
to hire me, and I just wanted to look it over.
But you understand they're looking it over because they spend
all this money to go to law school. Lawyering is
(08:17):
the one thing people think they ought to get for free,
Like they want to walk right up to the edge
of what when they'll ever have to spend a dollar
and then pull back so they get enough legal advice
but never have to pay for it. Nobody says I'm
gonna go to the dentist. He can clean about half
my teeth, but don't give me the floor, eide rans
or any of that.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Just half it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
And when it's not free anymore, let me know and
I'll get up and run out it's the weirdest thing anyway.
I like what you're doing here, Hannah. What are some
the ten cool careers teens can land without a degree.
Let's talk about what kind of careers we're talking about.
It's not all digging ditches.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
No, it's definitely not, Michael, And that's actually one of
the things that while I do appreciate a lot of
a lot of the people who do talk about this,
people who have done a lot of work raising awareness
about the trades, people like micro and that comes to
mind where he frequently talks about this. But the thing
for me that stands out is a lot of kids
(09:13):
already know about the trades. They can see the trades,
they already know about jobs they can see. One of
the things that we found when we work with young
adults a degree free is that they are very limited.
They only really can name about six to eight jobs,
sometimes twelve on the high end, but they're all jobs
you can see. There's a reason they all want to
be cops, firefighters, teachers, doctors, nurses. And then every girl
(09:34):
you meet right now, every teenage girl wants to be
a psychologist. And I think it's because a lot of
the teachers just wish they had become psychologists.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Well, and because these they're all going to therapy.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yes, that's right, So it's it's something they can see.
And so one of the things that's such a rub
for me is that people a lot of these kids
know about the trades. The problem is that now everybody
wants to go into the trades. And there's nothing wrong
with that. And so Ryan, my husband, was a firefighter.
Actually he has an economics degree that he didn't use
(10:05):
and then he became a firefighter later in life. My
own youngest sister is actually a structural welder at a
steel company. She currently works on rocket chips. She makes
more than a master's degree. Holders it's very she's the
only it is hot, and she's also the only girl
at the whole steel company.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Oh no, I mean in terms of you know, it's
really you can sweat a lot at that job.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Oh no, she she does. She gets burned all the
time too, but she she think that's.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Cool and I do think it's hard. So let's talk
about some more of these. Let's talk about some more.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Of these coolers.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
One that I really think people need to know about
that doesn't fall into I'm going to give you a bunch.
All of them are going to out earn the average
master's degree holder. None of them require college degrees. You
do not, your child does not to buy a college
degree to do these things, and none of them are
actually trade. So the first one is a pilot. Right now,
is not a single US airline that still requires a
college degree to become a pilot. Delta is the last
(11:04):
one to remove it in twenty twenty two. So it's
old news, which is probably surprisingly is awesome. I think
a lot of people don't know that because people tend
to be pretty surprised when I say it. Also, there
are flight schools. Your average flight school right now, with
a guaranteed pipeline into one of these airlines is going
to cost you less than the average bachelor's degree, which
(11:25):
is going to run you about one hundred and four
to one hundred piy six k. And so if you
want your child to have a high earning skill that's
tied to a legal license, then pilot a pilot's license
is definitely a good one. The next in Houston specifically, too,
is going to be cloud computing specialist, which is a
type of it's a type of data tech certification and
Houston is getting an inflow of data centers. There's a
(11:48):
ton of work in those. It's a little bit of software,
a little bit of hardware, a little bit of electrical work,
but it's not a trade necessarily. It also crosses into cybersecurity,
high paying, high demand. A lot of peop people will
train on the job for that. Surgical technologists also high demand.
That's very medical. You assist in operating rooms and it's
a start program Q shortage of fire alarm installation texts
(12:12):
so nice at certifications where they go in and train
them how to actually uh you know, do low voltage
low voltage installation and that leads directly into business ownership
for a lot of kids too.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Can I interrupt you, Hannah.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I have a friend Lee has a company called Platinum Environmental,
and they've got you said.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Nicis or nisis, however you want to pronounce it.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
He got certified for environmental remediation and environmental consulting.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
They're working on the border wall.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
He's doing city, county, state work, federal. It's it's amazing.
Hold on sing degree free, dot Com, stay tuned.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Lifeless, black Eyes, take a dolls.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Hannah Maruyama is our guest degree free dot Com. I
want to go back to those careers you talked about,
but I want to talk about what the one on
one sessions look like.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Sure, so do you want me to do the careers
first and finish up that list?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
How many more did you have?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I got five more?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Okay, why don't you do one career and then like
a minute on the one on one and then one career.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I'm just sitting finish the careers, go.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Ahead, gotcha my next one. I have a young lady
pursuing this right now. Actually she's in Louisiana. Is court
reporting and stenography, which is a really really good, great job,
a lot of flexibility. She wants to be a mom
long term, so that's something that really fit into what
she wants in the futures for as flexible work. Actuary
(13:38):
is one that people are often surprised does not require
a college degree. It's a series of very difficult tests,
but it is in fact, there is no degree that
is legally required for that job. Just persistence and heavy math,
heavy math, heavy stats. Another one that people are overlooking,
but there's a lot of retirement in is construction and
(13:58):
oil field scheduling, and that's something that's a little bit
like project management, but you can get assistant in junior roles.
There a ton of people retiring a great opportunity, great
industry often that pays over one hundred thousand dollars as well,
so great six figure job audio engineering which is big
as you know, broadcasting, film, podcast production, and then digital marketing,
(14:21):
which is one that can often be got through very inexpensive,
very very accessible certifications online. And then it's just a
matter of you know, applying to enough jobs.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Well, and then we take for granted. And I think
people get burned.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
On this when I talk about sales jobs, which I
know salesmen that make a lot of money, a lot
hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars that may or
may not have college degrees and certainly weren't required to
have one. Is everybody that wants to get into sales
sees a sign while the drive down the road it says,
you know, you can make up to X amount of money,
and they never go into and it ends up being telemarketing,
(14:57):
and nobody wants to do that. They've all seeing Glengarry
Glenn Ross and they don't want to end up Jack
Lemon's character. But there are lots of small companies and
mid sized companies that are looking for people that are
presentable and that can present, that can communicate, that can
show up to work every day. As you know, Hannah,
half the battle and being successful is showing up, not
(15:21):
being drunk, not being under the influence, not having a
bad attitude, looking people in the eyes, delivering on what
you're told to do, and managing to show up to work.
That is so hard for people to do, especially early
in their careers. And if you can do that consistently,
especially small owner operated, you can end up rising through
the ranks.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
But who am I telling you? Tell me about the
one on one sessions?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Sure, so, my, I'm very proud of the process that
we've created, both, mostly because we've done it through just
trial and error, put hundreds of kids through this process
at this point, and basically the way we teach young
adults to pick careers now is kind of insane. We've
completely just regarded Masslo's Higer group needs. We don't think
about what they actually need to make, where they want
to live, how much you know, what kind of schedule
(16:06):
they want to have, and so instead we do the
opposite because right now in high schools, high schools are
just college pipelines. All they do is cell degrees, All
they do is sell paper, and all they do is push.
They push one hundred percent of these kids into college.
If they don't want to do that, they ignore them,
They let them fall through the cracks. And then if
the only o the tool they have is the military,
now they're kind of using trade schools a little bit.
But instead we go, oh, like follow your heart, Oh
(16:28):
your test scores are this, so you can be an
engineer or you know, here's some random personality tests. Do
you like to work with your hands, So go be
an electrician. That's a terrible crazy way to have seventeen
and eighteen year olds choose what they're going to do
first after they graduate. And so instead we've done the opposite.
So it's a complete one to eighty, which is what
do you want your life to look like? Where do
you want to live? Do you want to stay in
(16:48):
your hometown? Do you want to move somewhere? You know
if and this is a huge one, but schedule you know,
a long term Do you want to have a family.
Do you want to be home with your kids. And
this is for boys and girls, but one thing that's
completely under addressed to women for sure, is is that
a priority for you. If so, we're looking at a
different set of skills, different set of work that's going
to help you to accomplish that in your life, because
(17:11):
that's what's going to make them actually fulfilled by their job,
because their jobs not their life. And then after that
we talked about, you know, how much money do you
want to make to do the things that you want
the right A good example is is Chad, You're you're
you know, you're you're in your your in house Hawaiian
uh he you know, he trains and it costs money
to train. And so I worked with the young man
(17:31):
who really wanted to spend a lot of time training
in jiu jitsu, but that's expensive. You know, as he
moves out of his parents' house, he's responsible for his
own bills. He's got to make enough money that he
can pay to train, you know, and that's something that
he cares about, and so we were looking at jobs
that will fulfill that so he can pay, you know,
pay for his rent, pay for his food, lot of protein,
and then you know, go train and then we also
(17:53):
think about the type of schedule that they want to have.
You know, do they want to work you know, they
want to work swingshifts, they want to work oil field work,
do they want to work for it weak? You know,
because that's going to give you a different set of jobs,
and what's the priority to them. And once we put
those things in order, then our team goes out and
we just research. We just go out to the whole internet.
There's three thousands, six thousand different jobs out there. We
(18:14):
add hundreds more every single month, and we go through
and we find where they live or where they want
to live, what jobs are going to fit those things,
and then what skills employers actually need them to learn,
and then we give them options to learn those things.
All of them are faster and cheaper than a college degree,
because a college degree really just slows you down nowadays,
and it costs way too much for what they're going
(18:34):
to teach you, and they're actually not going to teach
you anything employable, So you're going to get out and
have to do the exact same process that we do
a degree free. You know what, eighteen year olds.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
What you're talking about there, and this is very important
that people here is that you have agency over your life.
I know so many people, and I've known since I
graduated high school that they get out of school and
they're like being blown about like a leaf because they
don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Nobody told them. And where did you go to work? Well,
so and so was hiring. What did you do?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Well?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
They put me over here doing this. What were your hours? Well,
they had me working overnights. When you create, we live
in a glorious time for this. When you create that
skill set, that ideal life for you, and you consider
your skill set and passions and all those sorts of
things and you go looking for it, it's amazing. And
it might be a dog rumor, it might be a
karate instructor. It might be a oilfield scheduling, or actuary
(19:28):
or court reporter or any number of other things.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
That's what I love is the idea.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Of planning the life you want and then going to
find it rather than who's hiring. Well, that's not a
long term that's not a long term success goal. I
love your approach here, and I absolutely love it. I
think this is fantastic. It's degree free dot com. Degree
free dot Com coming up I'm going to ask Hannah Maryama.
(19:54):
I'm going to ask her the however many minutes we
have available the most, the things that most people don't
know that would make the biggest difference. So the low
hanging fruit, the things that come up the most that
she helps people with, and how you can get started
today as a parent or as a young person. I'm
a person a big one forgetting your kids involved in
(20:14):
this process. Mommy, don't do it all for them, Okay,
Hannah Maruyama, the redhead married to the Honolulu Native, I
want to know what are the issues that come up
the most when people start their one on one training.
By the way, you can have one on one training
with her, or you can.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Buy the book, or there are workshops and workbooks and
all sorts of stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
It's all at degree free dot com. And I'm not
saying don't go to college, folks. I'm saying, just explore
your options, plan your life. Don't be blown about by
the winds. Okay, what are the low hanging fruit, Hannah.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
So low hanging fruit? Well, there's a few things that
parents need to know, I think, and that's parents are
the biggest drivers of whether or not they're kids buy
college degrees, but a lot of parents just don't have
the right information. They think their kids can only get
good jobs if they go to college. But really that's
just not the reality of it anymore. The market right
now shows that a zippercruiter's quarterly reports came out fourteen
(21:13):
point five percent of job listings mentioned college degrees at all,
and then on indeed it's eighteen percent, so it's a
less than one in five that even say a college
degree is preferred. We actually went through the Bureau of
Labor Statistics and we counted and found that only seven
point seven percent of jobs in our entire country actually
legally require the purchase of a college degree to get. Interestingly,
(21:35):
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania, he removed degree requirements from
all state jobs that weren't necessary. There's i think twenty
four states that have done this so far in the
last two years. But when he did that, it mirrored
our data and it freed up ninety two percent of
the state jobs in Pennsylvania. So almost a direct you know,
directly related to our data, which is ninety two point
(21:56):
three percent of jobs don't require degrees. So it's just staggering.
A lot of parents just think, oh, this is the
only way for my child to be successful. It's the
only way for them to get a spouse. I'm sure
you've heard that. Actually, Michael, how how many people do
you think meet their spouse on a college campus these days?
I have a good one for you.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
For people who go to If you don't go to college,
you can't meet your spouse there. But let's say for
people who go to college, I'll best fifty.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Eight percent meet the person while they're at college.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Point seven four percent of people meet their spouse on
a college campus.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
R Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Okay, so even just going to just god, wow, that
is very interesting, very you know, there's so much. I
have so many friends that are big ut families or
big Texas A and M families, or big Alabama family
I talked to one of my dogs yesterday and his
daughter's graduating from Auburn, so I sent him war Eagle
(22:54):
and they're so proud. And families invest in the image,
you know. I know people that the most important thing
they want you to know about them is they went
to UT or they went to A and M. And
they're seventy five, right, And it's their identity, the way
somebody's a Vietnam bet, that's their identity. I'm an aggie
and you go, okay, well that's great. But I think
(23:17):
that people see that and they take from it the
wrong thing.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
I would agree with that, and I completely see why
people do. It's because it's such an emotional purchase for them. Right,
they're spending so much money so early in their life,
or their families are and nowadays, I mean the goal,
and this is the thing we all should be asking,
is why is there so much pressure on high schoolers
to do this? This is the only kind of debt
that is bankruptcy exempt, and it is bankruptcy exempt specifically
(23:47):
for seventeen and eighteen year old kids whose parents are
co signing on these loans. Why in the world is
there so much pressure on these kids to do this
so young. College is not going anywhere. Colleges are businesses,
they're hedge funds. They're always going to take your money.
They was going to take your kids money because it's
bankruptcy ex In debt, it's six figures on average, Like,
why don't you wait until your child's twenty five because
(24:08):
you might be able to cover the whole cost of
their degree if they actually need it at that point,
because no longer will your income be determining how much
your child's getting charged, because they're not trying to reach
through your child to get you. The largest group right
now that's taken out student loans is actually grandparents because
they've tapped the parents out. The parents have their own
student loans, and now they're going to the grandparents to
(24:28):
get them to take out loans. And now you're threatening homes,
you know, pensions, all kinds of different things because of
the amount of debt panner and and they're not questioning value.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
How's your kid going to be a sigma co if
they're not in college?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
You know what? You know what, Michael, I'll say you
my my middle sister, she was actually in the military,
because there's no my family didn't have the money to
pay for four kids to go to college. You know,
I was paying my own way when I did go
before I broke out. But my youngest, my middle s
not the welder, but the other one was actually an
officer in the military. She still has student loans she's
paying off even though she had rot you know, she
(25:07):
went ROTC. But just you know, taking on loans to
live the life, to live the college life that you
haven't earned yet. And so many kids get caught up
in that and parents are the ones that are on
the hook for it. But the parents are the ones
that told them they had to go in the first place,
and so they can avoid that. And it's not you
don't go, just don't go until you actually need to
or until you're sure what you're doing, because so many
(25:29):
of these kids have no idea what's out there. And
that's that's the biggest thing we've found. But in the meantime,
I'm a huge fan of sales. I think that all
kids should go into into sales. I think that if
you're looking for how can you equip your child now
for the future of work. And because I just came
from AI, one thing I tell parents is there's three
big things you can do. One thing is Postmasters or
(25:51):
local small business Chamber of Commerce. Amazing everybody has access
to those things. Find those groups. It doesn't matter how
small of the town that you live in. I know
there's one of Montgomery. I don't it's a small town,
but there's Toastmasters. Go take your kids and teach them
how to public speak if you want them to be
able to conquer the world, because these kids cannot a
lot of them. They can't look people in the eye,
(26:12):
you know, you know, just they can't look people in
the eye. They can't speak. And all your child has
to be able to do is do that and let
them use AI tools heavily, because colleges are punishing them
for doing that right now. And it's like watching somebody
pay somebody one hundred thousand dollars to kick them in
the knees before they have to go run a marathon.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Okay, glad you said. I'm I didn't think you were
going to say knees. And I love what you've done.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
You know, I'm from Savannah, so I love.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
What you've done.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
And in the midst of it, not lost on me
is you have done exactly what you're teaching other people
to do. You have you and Ryan have created a business,
right and you've you've used technology. You're obviously the face
of the company. You're a great communicator, you're you're you're
good at this.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
You're good online.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
And so in the midst of all this, here is
yet another business that is being created, and some people
are uncomfortable with that, you know. I like to talk
about making money and how we make money, and how
much money you want to make, and how you want
to live and what you want to do with that
money and all the fun you can have and things
you but love.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I love that you have set this up, that y'all
have created this.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Life, that you find a spot on the map based
on all the factors you want.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
You know, low cost of living.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Close to an airport, you know, all the things that
probably went for you, low crime rates. It's how you
want to live. And it's even beyond your career. It's
a question of what kind of life do you want
to live? What kind of person do you want to marry?
Whoever shows up next to you at the bar and
you sleep with and you wake up the next morning
why not? Or somebody that shares your values that you
(27:47):
would want to go on a road trip with, what
you want to do for a career, where you want
to live.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I love it, Hannah. We should have you back. You're wonderful.
Tell Ryan thanks for sharing you with us for has
it been an hour? Wow? Whole hour?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Michael Berry Show. If you like The.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Michael Berry Show and podcast, please tell one friend, and
if you're so inclined, write a nice review of our podcast. Comments, suggestions, questions,
and interest in being a corporate sponsor and partner can
be communicated directly to the show at our email address,
Michael at Michael Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking
(28:24):
on our website Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry
Show and Podcast is produced by Ramon Roeblis, the King
of Ding. Executive producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim Mudd is
the creative director. Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided
(28:50):
by Chance McLain. Director of Research is Sandy Peterson. Emily
Bull is our assistant listener and superfan. Some contributions are
appreciated and often incorporated into our production. Where possible, we
give credit, Where not, we take all the credit for ourselves.
(29:10):
God bless the memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis,
be a simple man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and
God bless America. Finally, if you know a veteran suffering
from PTSD, call Camp Hope at eight seven seven seven
(29:31):
one seven PTSD and a combat veteran will answer the
phone to provide free counseling,
The Michael Barry Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Degree free dot Com. This woman helps folks get jobs
without buying college degree tech to trades, she describes it.
She's based in Montgomery, Texas, and that gives me occasion
to pay tribute to I believe the late Great I
(00:23):
think he passed because I never got to meet him,
and I was bummed about this relatively recently.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Right, Oh, it is not right.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Francis Rodney Zambone, I believe it was his name. Francis
Rodney Zambone was from Montgomery. He wrote under the name
Mark James. I wish he'd kept Zambone because I think
that's a I mean, Frank Zambone. I like that better
than Mark Jane. Mark James is just anyway. He wrote
always on my Mind that Elvis made famous Moody Blue
(00:53):
Suspicious Minds the only Elvis song ramone that I ever
know of being covered with with any facility, with any success,
and that was Dwight Yoakum's version. And that's because he
kind of he took it to punk country, and so
that changed the style, and I think that's the only
reason I tolerated.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
He wrote, hooked on a feeling for what's his name?
For bj Thomas. Anyway. He was from Montgomery, She's from.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
What that's all he wrote, just a few of what
he wrote. Her name is Hannah or Hannah? Before we
ask her, what do you think it is? You're gonna
go Hannah? Okay, Hannah Mario Maru Yama. Maru Yama probably
a good Japanese name. The website is degree Free. This
(01:42):
is the kind of thing that I think could help
a lot of folks. So, Hannah or Hannah?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Which is it?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's Hannah, It's Hannah. Thank you so much for having
me on.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Michael, Now tell me you reached out to me with
a kind of here's what I do or PR person
did or whatever. Did you know this is something that
don't lie? Did you know this is something that I
talk about often?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Or were you just scattershotting out there to everybody that
might put you on.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
No, sir, I had a list and you were on it,
and I did. I did do a little bit of
research prior before I gave I gave instructions to my
guy to reach out.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Okay, your site degree free dot com. The book you
can get wherever you buy books. It's called Degree Free
Way Workbook.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Parent What is your purpose here? What are you trying
to accomplish?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
What I am trying to do is I am trying
to keep the next generation of Americans out of unnecessary
student loan debt, and I am trying to save them
hundreds of thousands of dollars in years of their lives
that they do not have to spend on a college
campus learning from people who have never done the things
that they are teaching them how to do.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
And what got you interest? Did you have experience with
your in your own life or with your children with this?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I do so. I personally just finished working in AI
and machine learning for the past three and a half
almost four years, and I built a fairly successful tech
career where I out earned the media and PhD by
I would say probably about two hundred and fifty percent.
And I did that without buying a college degree myself.
And seeing what I saw when I was doing that
(03:23):
really helped me to understand how employers are hiring. And
then the disconnect and the amount of misinformation there is
around what parents think their kids have to do to
get the jobs that are actually going to help them
live the way they want to.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Wait a minute, you're a redhead. Did you know she's
a redhead. She doesn't sound like a redhead. What is
your maiden name?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
O'Shaughnessy or I'm it's Shattck.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
But yes, I am very Irish. My husband's the Hawaiian
Japanese one.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well, Hawaiian Japanese is our executive producer, Chad Makanishi. So
you're in good company. I'm looking at you at your house.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, he's he's thicker than Chad, but I think Chad
could take him because Chad fights every day. And what
what is mister box What is mister he's a boxer?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
No, no, no, I was asking if Chad was a boxer.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
No, he's really more a ground game guy. Although if
I brag on him at this point, he says, I'm
not any good anymore. But he's got the cauliflower ears.
He trains every day, but he can't strike anymore because
his shoulder is destroyed and he doesn't want to have
another surgery on it. He he uh, he has absolutely
ruined his body by fighting so much, so long. He
(04:38):
came back the other day and he had a big
old scrape across his leg and he leaves in the
middle of the day, so we work like two shit.
He gets in insanely early. He gets up and works
out at two thirty he gets in it I think
four or four thirty, who knows, nobody's here yet.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
And he preps all the.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Way up till eleven thirty, leaves, goes and trains, and
then comes back at two and then he's here for
who knows however many hours, like he works a graveyard
she have compared to the rest of us, because it's
all he has to get his training in. So what
does mister Maruyama do.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Mister Mariyama runs all of the other side of the business,
so that all I get to do is talk about
the problems that I see, the solutions that we can make,
and then work with the young adults. And so he
does all the boring back of the house stuff for
the business so I can do all the fun stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
So I looked y'all up, and it says, I don't
know how old you are now, but y'all were twenty
nine and twenty six at the time, and you were
living in Honolulu. I'm assuming that's where he's from. Chad's
from the Big Island by the way. And then and
you're from Montgomery. Y'all decided to come back here.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
So I'm actually not from Montgomery myself, my husband, and
my husband is from Hawaii. He his entire family is
from there. I lived there when my dad was in
the military, and that's actually how we ended up meeting.
But we moved to Montgomery during COVID because I got
pretty crazy during the lockdowns, and so we decided that
(06:03):
that was not a fit for our family and the
things that we wanted to the way we wanted to
live our lives, and so we came here. We picked
it off a spreadsheet, We did a bunch of research
about places that were good to live, and this is
the place that we ended up and we've been here
for four years and we love it.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Nobody's in Montgomery from Hawaii because they found people were
in Montgomery because they got a job, their family lived there,
and they they're there and they like it. But nobody
looks at the mountain says, well, I guess we'll end
up in Montgomery, Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
That is nuts.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
We did Okay, it was top of the list. It
was top of the Excel sheet.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Did you go to college?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I did not I'm degree free, so I guess technically
I did like how you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Make it sound like it's a disease. I'm degree free.
I'm safe.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Well have you have you? If you've met a recent
college graduate, you know it is a little bit, but
you know, I went for about I actually got into
a university when I was sixteen. I do well enrolled
where I grew up in Savannah, Georgia, because my dad
was stationed there in between me moving back to Hooi,
and I ended up fully dual enrolled. And then my
(07:10):
experience in college was that I did not do well
because I ask why too often, and my professors were
not interested in people that ask why and don't adhere
to the orthodoxy that's present on campus. And because of that,
I wasn't. I think that the way that I thought,
or the questions that I asked were more of an inconvenience,
(07:33):
which kind of shocked me because I wasn't expecting it
to be so anti intellectual when I went on a
college campus.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Hold on just a moment.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Our guest is Hannah Mariyama. The website is degree free.
I was poking around on it during the break. There's
a lot there and you can learn a lot about her.
And then she's got books. There's a one on one.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You can do with her. And yes it will cost money.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I know people, nobody has a problem paying for some things,
but they don't want to pay for other things. To're
crazy thing that legal work is the funniest one for me, Hannah. People, Hey,
you have a lawyer who just looked this over me
real quick? Yeah, before I do that, what's your budget
of what you're willing to pay? Well, I don't need
to hire me, and I just wanted to look it over.
But you understand they're looking it over because they spend
all this money to go to law school. Lawyering is
(08:17):
the one thing people think they ought to get for free,
Like they want to walk right up to the edge
of what when they'll ever have to spend a dollar
and then pull back so they get enough legal advice
but never have to pay for it. Nobody says I'm
gonna go to the dentist. He can clean about half
my teeth, but don't give me the floor, eide rans
or any of that.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Just half it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
And when it's not free anymore, let me know and
I'll get up and run out it's the weirdest thing anyway.
I like what you're doing here, Hannah. What are some
the ten cool careers teens can land without a degree.
Let's talk about what kind of careers we're talking about.
It's not all digging ditches.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
No, it's definitely not, Michael, And that's actually one of
the things that while I do appreciate a lot of
a lot of the people who do talk about this,
people who have done a lot of work raising awareness
about the trades, people like micro and that comes to
mind where he frequently talks about this. But the thing
for me that stands out is a lot of kids
(09:13):
already know about the trades. They can see the trades,
they already know about jobs they can see. One of
the things that we found when we work with young
adults a degree free is that they are very limited.
They only really can name about six to eight jobs,
sometimes twelve on the high end, but they're all jobs
you can see. There's a reason they all want to
be cops, firefighters, teachers, doctors, nurses. And then every girl
(09:34):
you meet right now, every teenage girl wants to be
a psychologist. And I think it's because a lot of
the teachers just wish they had become psychologists.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Well, and because these they're all going to therapy.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yes, that's right, So it's it's something they can see.
And so one of the things that's such a rub
for me is that people a lot of these kids
know about the trades. The problem is that now everybody
wants to go into the trades. And there's nothing wrong
with that. And so Ryan, my husband, was a firefighter.
Actually he has an economics degree that he didn't use
(10:05):
and then he became a firefighter later in life. My
own youngest sister is actually a structural welder at a
steel company. She currently works on rocket chips. She makes
more than a master's degree. Holders it's very she's the
only it is hot, and she's also the only girl
at the whole steel company.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Oh no, I mean in terms of you know, it's
really you can sweat a lot at that job.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Oh no, she she does. She gets burned all the
time too, but she she think that's.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Cool and I do think it's hard. So let's talk
about some more of these. Let's talk about some more.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Of these coolers.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
One that I really think people need to know about
that doesn't fall into I'm going to give you a bunch.
All of them are going to out earn the average
master's degree holder. None of them require college degrees. You
do not, your child does not to buy a college
degree to do these things, and none of them are
actually trade. So the first one is a pilot. Right now,
is not a single US airline that still requires a
college degree to become a pilot. Delta is the last
(11:04):
one to remove it in twenty twenty two. So it's
old news, which is probably surprisingly is awesome. I think
a lot of people don't know that because people tend
to be pretty surprised when I say it. Also, there
are flight schools. Your average flight school right now, with
a guaranteed pipeline into one of these airlines is going
to cost you less than the average bachelor's degree, which
(11:25):
is going to run you about one hundred and four
to one hundred piy six k. And so if you
want your child to have a high earning skill that's
tied to a legal license, then pilot a pilot's license
is definitely a good one. The next in Houston specifically, too,
is going to be cloud computing specialist, which is a
type of it's a type of data tech certification and
Houston is getting an inflow of data centers. There's a
(11:48):
ton of work in those. It's a little bit of software,
a little bit of hardware, a little bit of electrical work,
but it's not a trade necessarily. It also crosses into cybersecurity,
high paying, high demand. A lot of peop people will
train on the job for that. Surgical technologists also high demand.
That's very medical. You assist in operating rooms and it's
a start program Q shortage of fire alarm installation texts
(12:12):
so nice at certifications where they go in and train
them how to actually uh you know, do low voltage
low voltage installation and that leads directly into business ownership
for a lot of kids too.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Can I interrupt you, Hannah.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I have a friend Lee has a company called Platinum Environmental,
and they've got you said.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Nicis or nisis, however you want to pronounce it.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
He got certified for environmental remediation and environmental consulting.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
They're working on the border wall.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
He's doing city, county, state work, federal. It's it's amazing.
Hold on sing degree free, dot Com, stay tuned.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Lifeless, black Eyes, take a dolls.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Hannah Maruyama is our guest degree free dot Com. I
want to go back to those careers you talked about,
but I want to talk about what the one on
one sessions look like.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Sure, so do you want me to do the careers
first and finish up that list?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
How many more did you have?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I got five more?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Okay, why don't you do one career and then like
a minute on the one on one and then one career.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I'm just sitting finish the careers, go.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Ahead, gotcha my next one. I have a young lady
pursuing this right now. Actually she's in Louisiana. Is court
reporting and stenography, which is a really really good, great job,
a lot of flexibility. She wants to be a mom
long term, so that's something that really fit into what
she wants in the futures for as flexible work. Actuary
(13:38):
is one that people are often surprised does not require
a college degree. It's a series of very difficult tests,
but it is in fact, there is no degree that
is legally required for that job. Just persistence and heavy math,
heavy math, heavy stats. Another one that people are overlooking,
but there's a lot of retirement in is construction and
(13:58):
oil field scheduling, and that's something that's a little bit
like project management, but you can get assistant in junior roles.
There a ton of people retiring a great opportunity, great
industry often that pays over one hundred thousand dollars as well,
so great six figure job audio engineering which is big
as you know, broadcasting, film, podcast production, and then digital marketing,
(14:21):
which is one that can often be got through very inexpensive,
very very accessible certifications online. And then it's just a
matter of you know, applying to enough jobs.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Well, and then we take for granted. And I think
people get burned.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
On this when I talk about sales jobs, which I
know salesmen that make a lot of money, a lot
hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars that may or
may not have college degrees and certainly weren't required to
have one. Is everybody that wants to get into sales
sees a sign while the drive down the road it says,
you know, you can make up to X amount of money,
and they never go into and it ends up being telemarketing,
(14:57):
and nobody wants to do that. They've all seeing Glengarry
Glenn Ross and they don't want to end up Jack
Lemon's character. But there are lots of small companies and
mid sized companies that are looking for people that are
presentable and that can present, that can communicate, that can
show up to work every day. As you know, Hannah,
half the battle and being successful is showing up, not
(15:21):
being drunk, not being under the influence, not having a
bad attitude, looking people in the eyes, delivering on what
you're told to do, and managing to show up to work.
That is so hard for people to do, especially early
in their careers. And if you can do that consistently,
especially small owner operated, you can end up rising through
the ranks.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
But who am I telling you? Tell me about the
one on one sessions?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Sure, so, my, I'm very proud of the process that
we've created, both, mostly because we've done it through just
trial and error, put hundreds of kids through this process
at this point, and basically the way we teach young
adults to pick careers now is kind of insane. We've
completely just regarded Masslo's Higer group needs. We don't think
about what they actually need to make, where they want
to live, how much you know, what kind of schedule
(16:06):
they want to have, and so instead we do the
opposite because right now in high schools, high schools are
just college pipelines. All they do is cell degrees, All
they do is sell paper, and all they do is push.
They push one hundred percent of these kids into college.
If they don't want to do that, they ignore them,
They let them fall through the cracks. And then if
the only o the tool they have is the military,
now they're kind of using trade schools a little bit.
But instead we go, oh, like follow your heart, Oh
(16:28):
your test scores are this, so you can be an
engineer or you know, here's some random personality tests. Do
you like to work with your hands, So go be
an electrician. That's a terrible crazy way to have seventeen
and eighteen year olds choose what they're going to do
first after they graduate. And so instead we've done the opposite.
So it's a complete one to eighty, which is what
do you want your life to look like? Where do
you want to live? Do you want to stay in
(16:48):
your hometown? Do you want to move somewhere? You know
if and this is a huge one, but schedule you know,
a long term Do you want to have a family.
Do you want to be home with your kids. And
this is for boys and girls, but one thing that's
completely under addressed to women for sure, is is that
a priority for you. If so, we're looking at a
different set of skills, different set of work that's going
to help you to accomplish that in your life, because
(17:11):
that's what's going to make them actually fulfilled by their job,
because their jobs not their life. And then after that
we talked about, you know, how much money do you
want to make to do the things that you want
the right A good example is is Chad, You're you're
you know, you're you're in your your in house Hawaiian
uh he you know, he trains and it costs money
to train. And so I worked with the young man
(17:31):
who really wanted to spend a lot of time training
in jiu jitsu, but that's expensive. You know, as he
moves out of his parents' house, he's responsible for his
own bills. He's got to make enough money that he
can pay to train, you know, and that's something that
he cares about, and so we were looking at jobs
that will fulfill that so he can pay, you know,
pay for his rent, pay for his food, lot of protein,
and then you know, go train and then we also
(17:53):
think about the type of schedule that they want to have.
You know, do they want to work you know, they
want to work swingshifts, they want to work oil field work,
do they want to work for it weak? You know,
because that's going to give you a different set of jobs,
and what's the priority to them. And once we put
those things in order, then our team goes out and
we just research. We just go out to the whole internet.
There's three thousands, six thousand different jobs out there. We
(18:14):
add hundreds more every single month, and we go through
and we find where they live or where they want
to live, what jobs are going to fit those things,
and then what skills employers actually need them to learn,
and then we give them options to learn those things.
All of them are faster and cheaper than a college degree,
because a college degree really just slows you down nowadays,
and it costs way too much for what they're going
(18:34):
to teach you, and they're actually not going to teach
you anything employable, So you're going to get out and
have to do the exact same process that we do
a degree free. You know what, eighteen year olds.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
What you're talking about there, and this is very important
that people here is that you have agency over your life.
I know so many people, and I've known since I
graduated high school that they get out of school and
they're like being blown about like a leaf because they
don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Nobody told them. And where did you go to work? Well,
so and so was hiring. What did you do?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Well?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
They put me over here doing this. What were your hours? Well,
they had me working overnights. When you create, we live
in a glorious time for this. When you create that
skill set, that ideal life for you, and you consider
your skill set and passions and all those sorts of
things and you go looking for it, it's amazing. And
it might be a dog rumor, it might be a
karate instructor. It might be a oilfield scheduling, or actuary
(19:28):
or court reporter or any number of other things.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
That's what I love is the idea.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Of planning the life you want and then going to
find it rather than who's hiring. Well, that's not a
long term that's not a long term success goal. I
love your approach here, and I absolutely love it. I
think this is fantastic. It's degree free dot com. Degree
free dot Com coming up I'm going to ask Hannah Maryama.
(19:54):
I'm going to ask her the however many minutes we
have available the most, the things that most people don't
know that would make the biggest difference. So the low
hanging fruit, the things that come up the most that
she helps people with, and how you can get started
today as a parent or as a young person. I'm
a person a big one forgetting your kids involved in
(20:14):
this process. Mommy, don't do it all for them, Okay,
Hannah Maruyama, the redhead married to the Honolulu Native, I
want to know what are the issues that come up
the most when people start their one on one training.
By the way, you can have one on one training
with her, or you can.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Buy the book, or there are workshops and workbooks and
all sorts of stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
It's all at degree free dot com. And I'm not
saying don't go to college, folks. I'm saying, just explore
your options, plan your life. Don't be blown about by
the winds. Okay, what are the low hanging fruit, Hannah.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
So low hanging fruit? Well, there's a few things that
parents need to know, I think, and that's parents are
the biggest drivers of whether or not they're kids buy
college degrees, but a lot of parents just don't have
the right information. They think their kids can only get
good jobs if they go to college. But really that's
just not the reality of it anymore. The market right
now shows that a zippercruiter's quarterly reports came out fourteen
(21:13):
point five percent of job listings mentioned college degrees at all,
and then on indeed it's eighteen percent, so it's a
less than one in five that even say a college
degree is preferred. We actually went through the Bureau of
Labor Statistics and we counted and found that only seven
point seven percent of jobs in our entire country actually
legally require the purchase of a college degree to get. Interestingly,
(21:35):
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania, he removed degree requirements from
all state jobs that weren't necessary. There's i think twenty
four states that have done this so far in the
last two years. But when he did that, it mirrored
our data and it freed up ninety two percent of
the state jobs in Pennsylvania. So almost a direct you know,
directly related to our data, which is ninety two point
(21:56):
three percent of jobs don't require degrees. So it's just staggering.
A lot of parents just think, oh, this is the
only way for my child to be successful. It's the
only way for them to get a spouse. I'm sure
you've heard that. Actually, Michael, how how many people do
you think meet their spouse on a college campus these days?
I have a good one for you.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
For people who go to If you don't go to college,
you can't meet your spouse there. But let's say for
people who go to college, I'll best fifty.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Eight percent meet the person while they're at college.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Point seven four percent of people meet their spouse on
a college campus.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
R Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Okay, so even just going to just god, wow, that
is very interesting, very you know, there's so much. I
have so many friends that are big ut families or
big Texas A and M families, or big Alabama family
I talked to one of my dogs yesterday and his
daughter's graduating from Auburn, so I sent him war Eagle
(22:54):
and they're so proud. And families invest in the image,
you know. I know people that the most important thing
they want you to know about them is they went
to UT or they went to A and M. And
they're seventy five, right, And it's their identity, the way
somebody's a Vietnam bet, that's their identity. I'm an aggie
and you go, okay, well that's great. But I think
(23:17):
that people see that and they take from it the
wrong thing.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
I would agree with that, and I completely see why
people do. It's because it's such an emotional purchase for them. Right,
they're spending so much money so early in their life,
or their families are and nowadays, I mean the goal,
and this is the thing we all should be asking,
is why is there so much pressure on high schoolers
to do this? This is the only kind of debt
that is bankruptcy exempt, and it is bankruptcy exempt specifically
(23:47):
for seventeen and eighteen year old kids whose parents are
co signing on these loans. Why in the world is
there so much pressure on these kids to do this
so young. College is not going anywhere. Colleges are businesses,
they're hedge funds. They're always going to take your money.
They was going to take your kids money because it's
bankruptcy ex In debt, it's six figures on average, Like,
why don't you wait until your child's twenty five because
(24:08):
you might be able to cover the whole cost of
their degree if they actually need it at that point,
because no longer will your income be determining how much
your child's getting charged, because they're not trying to reach
through your child to get you. The largest group right
now that's taken out student loans is actually grandparents because
they've tapped the parents out. The parents have their own
student loans, and now they're going to the grandparents to
(24:28):
get them to take out loans. And now you're threatening homes,
you know, pensions, all kinds of different things because of
the amount of debt panner and and they're not questioning value.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
How's your kid going to be a sigma co if
they're not in college?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
You know what? You know what, Michael, I'll say you
my my middle sister, she was actually in the military,
because there's no my family didn't have the money to
pay for four kids to go to college. You know,
I was paying my own way when I did go
before I broke out. But my youngest, my middle s
not the welder, but the other one was actually an
officer in the military. She still has student loans she's
paying off even though she had rot you know, she
(25:07):
went ROTC. But just you know, taking on loans to
live the life, to live the college life that you
haven't earned yet. And so many kids get caught up
in that and parents are the ones that are on
the hook for it. But the parents are the ones
that told them they had to go in the first place,
and so they can avoid that. And it's not you
don't go, just don't go until you actually need to
or until you're sure what you're doing, because so many
(25:29):
of these kids have no idea what's out there. And
that's that's the biggest thing we've found. But in the meantime,
I'm a huge fan of sales. I think that all
kids should go into into sales. I think that if
you're looking for how can you equip your child now
for the future of work. And because I just came
from AI, one thing I tell parents is there's three
big things you can do. One thing is Postmasters or
(25:51):
local small business Chamber of Commerce. Amazing everybody has access
to those things. Find those groups. It doesn't matter how
small of the town that you live in. I know
there's one of Montgomery. I don't it's a small town,
but there's Toastmasters. Go take your kids and teach them
how to public speak if you want them to be
able to conquer the world, because these kids cannot a
lot of them. They can't look people in the eye,
(26:12):
you know, you know, just they can't look people in
the eye. They can't speak. And all your child has
to be able to do is do that and let
them use AI tools heavily, because colleges are punishing them
for doing that right now. And it's like watching somebody
pay somebody one hundred thousand dollars to kick them in
the knees before they have to go run a marathon.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Okay, glad you said. I'm I didn't think you were
going to say knees. And I love what you've done.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
You know, I'm from Savannah, so I love.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
What you've done.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
And in the midst of it, not lost on me
is you have done exactly what you're teaching other people
to do. You have you and Ryan have created a business,
right and you've you've used technology. You're obviously the face
of the company. You're a great communicator, you're you're you're
good at this.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
You're good online.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
And so in the midst of all this, here is
yet another business that is being created, and some people
are uncomfortable with that, you know. I like to talk
about making money and how we make money, and how
much money you want to make, and how you want
to live and what you want to do with that
money and all the fun you can have and things
you but love.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I love that you have set this up, that y'all
have created this.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Life, that you find a spot on the map based
on all the factors you want.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
You know, low cost of living.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Close to an airport, you know, all the things that
probably went for you, low crime rates. It's how you
want to live. And it's even beyond your career. It's
a question of what kind of life do you want
to live? What kind of person do you want to marry?
Whoever shows up next to you at the bar and
you sleep with and you wake up the next morning
why not? Or somebody that shares your values that you
(27:47):
would want to go on a road trip with, what
you want to do for a career, where you want
to live.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I love it, Hannah. We should have you back. You're wonderful.
Tell Ryan thanks for sharing you with us for has
it been an hour? Wow? Whole hour?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Michael Berry Show. If you like The.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Michael Berry Show and podcast, please tell one friend, and
if you're so inclined, write a nice review of our podcast. Comments, suggestions, questions,
and interest in being a corporate sponsor and partner can
be communicated directly to the show at our email address,
Michael at Michael Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking
(28:24):
on our website Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry
Show and Podcast is produced by Ramon Roeblis, the King
of Ding. Executive producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim Mudd is
the creative director. Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided
(28:50):
by Chance McLain. Director of Research is Sandy Peterson. Emily
Bull is our assistant listener and superfan. Some contributions are
appreciated and often incorporated into our production. Where possible, we
give credit, Where not, we take all the credit for ourselves.
(29:10):
God bless the memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis,
be a simple man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and
God bless America. Finally, if you know a veteran suffering
from PTSD, call Camp Hope at eight seven seven seven
(29:31):
one seven PTSD and a combat veteran will answer the
phone to provide free counseling,
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