January 24, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode, Paul was asked to comment on a listener’s situation where they want to go into business for themselves but are not sure they are ready. Listen as Paul gives them guidance on being your own boss and how to look forward rather than behind. This episode will inspire you to succeed.
Listen as Paul Abernathy, CEO, and Founder of Electrical Code Academy, Inc., the leading electrical educator in the country, discusses electrical code, electrical trade, and electrical business-related topics to help electricians maximize their knowledge and industry investment.
If you are looking to learn more about the National Electrical Code, for electrical exam preparation, or to better your knowledge of the NEC then visit https://fasttraxsystem.com for all the electrical code training you will ever need by the leading electrical educator in the country with the best NEC learning program on the planet.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ask-paul-national-electrical-code--4971115/support.
Listen as Paul Abernathy, CEO, and Founder of Electrical Code Academy, Inc., the leading electrical educator in the country, discusses electrical code, electrical trade, and electrical business-related topics to help electricians maximize their knowledge and industry investment.
If you are looking to learn more about the National Electrical Code, for electrical exam preparation, or to better your knowledge of the NEC then visit https://fasttraxsystem.com for all the electrical code training you will ever need by the leading electrical educator in the country with the best NEC learning program on the planet.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ask-paul-national-electrical-code--4971115/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
What's up, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to another episode of Let's Ask Paul, the podcast
where you get to ask me Paul Abernathy anything you
want about the National Electrical Code. Of course, all things
electrically related are fair game on the Let's Ask Paul podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Now, if you want to get your questions answered.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
On the podcast, and all you got to do is
go to Paul Abernathy dot com. That's p a U
l A b E r n A t h y
dot com and it's a free serve provided by WIS.
You just put in your name, email and put in
your question and you may get in a response via
email or if selected, you will get used as a podcast.
(01:12):
And as always, I never give your name unless you
state that you're okay with giving your name.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I think we think I've ever said that before.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But if you want me to include your name and
your podcast in your company or where you're from, please
do so. Let us know and I'll be more than
happy to give you the shout out during the podcast
if it is selected. Okay, Okay, So today's podcast, we're
gonna be talking answering a question for a gentleman about
his future about he's asking for advice and he would
(01:44):
like a phone call.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I probably will follow up with a phone call.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But most of the stuff I can give some advice
just based on the information he's provided, and it may
be relative to you. You might be thinking, well, I've
worked for somebody and I'm to go out on my own.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I want to start my own business.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
And you know, you're not poaching any work from your
current employer, which I don't recommend you do, but.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Sometimes you can't help.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
But have builders come to you and say, hey, if
you were on your own, you know, I throw a
bone your way or something like that. Or maybe you
want to do something totally different, and like maybe you
want to do service work and the company you work
for doesn't do service work. But that's a great way
to get started in the business, is expanding your horizons
and doing it that way. So again, many ways to
(02:30):
get started into the industry. But we're gonna look at
this question and I'm going to try to answer this
question for everybody, and especially driven to this individual that
submitted this, and this one was picked quite early and
Jeff and Darling both pinned to this one. For me
to answer this, this is why you're getting the podcast
Okay number one. It says, Hey, Paul, I have been
(02:52):
a fan of yours for many years now. I love
the knowledge you bring to the codebook and just being
a better electrician. I would love a chance to talk
with you on the phone on what you believe I
should make my next move in my electrical career.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
He says.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I quit my job to move to blank blank over
three years ago and worked for Blank Electric in the
town where he's at. I got my master Journeyman's license
a year and a half ago, and I am just
tired of being looked at a as a new journeyman when.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I have good ideas myself.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It sounds like they're not listening to him and not
listening to his ideas. And that's a fundamental flaw of
a company thinking that experience is the only catalyst for growth,
when you need to listen to ideas, fresh ideas. Good
example is Trump listening to Baron Trump when it came
to social media. You see how that worked out for him, right,
And that worked out pretty pretty darn good for.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Him, didn't it. So again, listen to new ideas.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And that's why I believe companies should have what we
call a think tank means that you're willing to take
ideas from anybody from the journeyman to the apprentice, all
the way up to the master ken nobody knows it all.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
We have to foster learning.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
And again, you can discount anybody's submission, but you should
have a way to do that. So unfortunate that sounds
like the company that he works for does not have
that creative thinking ability. And that is something that I
talk about when I do talk to companies and I
talk to the ownership or the leadership, I talk about
funneling and remember that sometimes the best ideas come from
(04:33):
people that are not so beaten down and worn down
in the industry that they can't think creatively. For example,
a lot of my patents that I have with on
COO Wire, the patents are because I don't come from
the wiring cable industry. I'm just I'm an electrician. And
so I went there and saying, well, why don't we
have this, why don't.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
We have that? Why don't they make this?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
And so I was very inquisitive where somebody that might
have forty years and it might go settle down, young man,
you know what I'm saying. You don't know everything, tiger,
but at the end of the day, sometimes fresh thinkers
can come up with some of the greatest things. So
it's unfortunate this gentleman is having to deal with that.
But anyway, it says. He says, I have built quite
(05:15):
an inventory of tools and electrical experience for myself, and
I feel like I have enough knowledge to go on
my own. But I believe a managing role would be
good for me first, but no one takes me seriously
being twenty four years old.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Let me stop right there real quick.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Okay, Look, I'm gonna talk to you, and I'm not
the you know, not the Ramsey guy that gives the
advice over for investing, because I don't always believe in
what Ramsey says. To be honest with you, and you
don't have to take everything I say, but I'm gonna
loot me.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Look at you.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
The first words out of your mouth here is that
you believe you've got the experience, You believe you've got
the knowledge. It's okay to fail. You can always get
another job. And I hope people out there and say, well,
jobs are hard to come by. No, not if you're good,
Not if you're good at selling yourself. You're good, and
you leave on positive terms anywhere you don't want to
leave on a negative thing. And you never leave one
(06:12):
job unless you have another one already in the bag.
That type of scenario. So in this case, you've built
an inventory, so you have a mindset that you wanted
to be your own boss. You built your tools, you
have diligently gained experience. Hell, you've been listening to us
for years, so you're probably already ahead of everybody else.
(06:32):
So you already are ahead of the curve.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Here.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You're a little scared and you think, well, I'll manage
on somebody else's dime, and if I screw up, it's
their dime.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I get it. It happens.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
But you don't necessarily have to be a manager of
a company in order to establish the fact that you've
got the knowledge, you've got the skills, that type of thing.
You can start small, start very controlled, unless you're in
a situation where your income is entirely dependent. I mean
you're living paycheck to paycheck. If you're living paycheck to
paycheck type of scenario, and you don't have savings, because
(07:08):
if you're going to start a business, you need to
have enough money to sustain that business and to sustain
your needs for at least six months. That's critical for
anybody starting a business. So one way to do this
would be to start as a side hustle. Get the licenses,
get everything you need. Okay, get your business. Like you
can start your business and not do it. Be a
(07:29):
sole proprietor. You don't have to really actively. You can
work for somebody else, but but get your own business,
get your licenses, get what you need, get your insurance,
get what you need, and then you can start doing
some side hustle stuff to kind of dip your toe
into it. But I think you don't need a managing
role with anybody, you know what.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I know.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I work for other companies. I wasn't the manager. I
wasn't when I worked for W. Brown back when I
was very young. Before I started with my brother, we
went right into ownership.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I said, dude, I've got the skills, I've got the equipment,
I've got the talent, I got the desire, the motivation,
the drive. I have people behind me. Failure is just
part of success, man. So you know it can be
different for different people. If you're living paycheck to paycheck,
then you really should think of a side hustle. Get
(08:21):
all the stuff you need. It's gonna be a cash
out lay. It seems like you got some funds because
you're buying tools and all this kind of stuff. Find
Out what you need to have for a license in
your area, maybe like a business license. Find out what
you need to go with whatever you're at your journeyman.
Find out whatever it takes to be Now, in many places,
the journeyman can't own their company.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
They have to be a master.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
So the first thing I'd say is, if you're in
some area where they have master licensing and they're licensing
to be an owner requires you to be a master,
then your focus needs to be shift off of management
and shift.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
On getting your masters.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
If you're in an area where the journeyman can hold
the license kind of like Ohio, whereas the journeyman there's
a contractor's license, if you qualify, you meet all the qualifications,
then dude, I say go for it. It doesn't mean
you have to leave your employment right now. This is
it can be a side hustle. You can be working
on this throwing out these breadcrumbs on the side right,
(09:18):
it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And you know, I know plenty of people.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
That have contractors license that don't utilize it. They work
for somebody else, but they have it. That means if
they do want to take some side work, guess what,
they get to do it and they get to make
money at it. So again, at the end of the day,
let it be a side hustle if that's the thing.
But being a journeyman in some states you have to
be a master. So I don't know your state, so
we'll just leave it there, right, and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
You might say which state you're in. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
We haven't gotten there yet, but anyway, and I probably
could find out. But at the end of the day,
there's many avenues for that. But don't don't don't let
this creep into your mind that you're not ready. And
everybody's not ready until they're ready. There's a lot of
people that manage electoral contracting businesses that I'd be damn
if i'd want them to be the owner.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Right, they're good at managing other.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
People's money, but they'd be sucky at managing their own. Okay,
So I tell you, look at somebody that's managing the company,
managing the day to day, and then look and see
what their lifestyle is like. Are they living paycheck to
paycheck themselves? Then that's not an owner mentality. So just
because you're managing something does not make you owner mentality. Okay,
(10:31):
so again a lot of great advice right there. But
let's dig deeper. Let's go a little deeper. And you're young.
You're twenty four years old. So hey, look, don't anybody,
don't let anybody ever tell you that age is a
limiting factor. I don't give a shit whether you're eighty
years old or you're nineteen years old. It knowledge is knowledge,
skill and skill. When I was going through apprenticeship or
I was going through my vocational school, I was the
(10:53):
valedictorian of the school. I was the top electrical student
in the school's history because I drove for it. You
don't believe me, go ask It's Charlottesville album All Vocational School.
My instructor was Bob Barrett. I am in their Hall
of fame. I have the stuff to show that I
was a number one student in that school's history. Not
because I was special, It's because I knew what I
(11:16):
wanted to do. At eighteen years old, I was taking
summer classes on code.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
I got the certificates.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Still I kept all that stuff to show it. This
is what I wanted to do my whole life. I
didn't want to do anything else. I've owned other businesses.
I've owned boarding kennels, dog grooming kennels. I've been dedicated
to that type of stuff. I've had private I've been
a private investigator. I've done a lot of stuff, but
it's always circular around electrical.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I've always had the electrical business somewhere in the picture.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So yeah, don't let that stop you, and don't let
age stop you, dude, don't let anybody tell you that
they tell you that that's not a person you want
to that's a Debbie downer, That is a.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Screw that person.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
We don't need that negativity in our life, that type
of thing, all right. So anyway it says I get
told I need ten years of field experience as a
journeyman to even be considered for the position.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
That just seems absurd.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I agree with you now again, A good company, and
this is out there to all you companies out there
that hire you should not be looking at age. You
should be looking at. What really matters is what work
do they do? Merit based? That's what Trump and them
have said again, getting rid of this DEI crap. It's
all about what you do and are you worthy. I
don't care if you're black, white, green, red, blue, Chinese, Mexican.
(12:36):
It doesn't matter to me, male, female, identify as a
as a rock. I don't care. It's can you do
the job? And I hire people that do the job.
That's it. So I don't care. So if you show
me you're doing the job, you step up to the plate.
(12:56):
Maybe you're Are you stepping up to the plate even
at twenty four? Are you? Are you taking on projects?
Are you saying I got this or I'll handle this,
or who wants to get in that trench? I'll take
it even when it's four degrees outside, You're like, shit,
I got this, I'll get it. That's a go getter man.
That's what I look for.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Now.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I can't control your managers. I can't control your bosses
or the companies that they don't see that type of
desire and want, then it's time for you to be
looking for another company anyway. Now, I'm not talking about
some little company that's in the middle of Pole Bunk, Arkansas,
that maybe only has three employees and they might do
two projects a year. Maybe there's no other choice for
(13:35):
you out there. Maybe you know, but then that's a
perfect opportunity for you to raise up and do your
own thing. So again, take all these things, play this back,
listen to the advice I've given you up to this point.
Listen to this again because there's a lot of good
tidbits in there, and I don't want to rehash them.
But again, don't let age be a barrier. You got
the tools, you got the experience, you got the drive,
(13:56):
the motivation to desire. You're not living paid to to paycheck.
Just do this, bro st it now. Not everybody is
meant to be a leader. Not everybody is meant to
be the boss. We need followers as well as we
need leaders. So again, don't let me put anybody down.
If you want to work somewhere for somebody for the
rest of your life as a management management role and
(14:17):
not on your own company, God bless you, that's fine,
that's what we need that. It doesn't make you any
less of electrician, But we do need people that are
willing to take that chance and lead in owned businesses
and don't be afraid to fail. Dude.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It's you know, I get things.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Change depending on whether you're feast or famine, you're leaving
from paycheck to paycheck and things like that. But again,
it doesn't sound like you are. You're just on that
curve of am I good enough? Do I have that
self doubt syndrome? Whereas am I good enough?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Am I?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
You know that old imposter syndrome where you everybody thinks
you know a lot and then inside you're like.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Well maybe I don't know as much.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Everybody goes to that, dude, Everybody, Okay, I go through that.
I'm like, God, I'm well known all over the country,
but do I really know what I should know?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Am I the best that I can be? That's why
I am in this shit every day, every freaking day.
I'm in the code.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Why One because I love it, two because I was
destined to do it. Three I love helping other people,
and four it's just electrical is just freaking amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I don't want to be a plumber, no disrespect to
the plumber. I don't want to be HVAC guy. I
don't want to be a builder, dude. I'm an electrician.
I love electrical work. I love the Code. I love
teaching electricians about the code because, whether they know it
or not, everything you do on a day in and
day out basis is revolved around a standard. It's a
(15:46):
raw and so you may take it for granted. But
all I'm here to do is sprinkle that fairy dust
of knowledge onto your head as you do your day
to day TSK. Think of me as the NEC Code
fairy well, I can already tell you that that piece
of this broadcast is going to be cut and pasted
(16:07):
and used against me in all types of podcasts out
there from my haters. Paul says that he's the NEC
Code faery. Wow, okay, anyway, screw it.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I don't care. We're not cutting that. We're letting it go.
All right, Let's go on with your situation.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Let's see here it says, I just want your insight
on my situation because I really want to start my
own business. That's where you stop. You want your own business,
think about how you do that. If you're living paycheck
to paycheck, then you think about get my licenses that
I need on the side, my own bosses don't need
to know what I'm doing. Get my licenses, get my
(16:42):
crap in orders, get what I need, make sure I qualify,
get the contractor's license, pay the minimal insurance is cheap
for contractor's license nowadays. For electrical can break it in
over every month. It is going to be some outlay.
Make sure you have enough cash to last you for
six months. If you're ready to do all that, then
start it as a side hustle. Start doing service work.
(17:03):
Go listen to my podcast where I talk about marketing.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
On the cheap. Again.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
You should be digging into all of my podcasts because
I have over a thousand, and I talk about bidding, estimating, budgeting,
how to do, how to do marketing at a grassroots
save your money, how to target areas. Dude, if you
first time you've ever listened to my podcast, if it's
the first time you've ever listened, go back to the
archives and just start listening. Because all of that stuff
(17:28):
is golden. Okay, and I'm not just saying it's because
it's me. It's all golden. It's great information to learn from, Okay,
So anyway, let's keep on. Let's look on it says Okay,
you want to have your own boss, that should be it,
right there. Do whatever you have to do to be
your own boss. If you think about management, then that's
just eating up time. You're twenty four. Life is short, baby.
(17:50):
I was owning my own electrical contracting business at nineteen
years old with my brother double a electric You can
google it, look it up. Still in business, by the way,
he's still business. One of the best electricians I ever met.
He's what I call them a guy ver. He can
make anything work. That's why I'm the code guy because
I'd say, Todd, I know that'll work, Bro, but that's
against the code. He go, yeah, but I can make
(18:11):
it work. And I'm like, d Todd, don't do it.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Don't do it. He always listens. He's a good brother.
He's an older brother. Okay, let's see here. It says
uh I again.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
He said, I just want your insight and situations because
I really want to start my own business. But everyone
says that I need more experience. You go with your gut, bro,
You go with your gut. It's okay to fail, and
it just makes failure just makes us. His success is
so much sweeter. It really does what's that old saying
about Jordan? Michael Jordan, which to me is the greatest
(18:45):
basketball player of all time. I'm not gonna say anything
negative about Lebron. I don't really watch basketball, but i
can tell you right now, in my generation, Michael Jordan
was the shit. I mean, he was the dude. The
dude looks like he just glide air, and he's for me,
he's the best of all time. But he has this
little thing where he tells you how many misses. You
(19:07):
only see the baskets that he made. You only see
the championships of the You don't see the stuff that
he lost. That is failure, and he used that failure
to drive him for success.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Tiger Woods is the same way.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I'm a Jack Nicholas fan, but statistically wise, Tiger Wood
is the goat. I'm just saying, so, anyway, let's see here,
let's see here, let's see okay, and remember there are
also people that are always out there. I think it
was a post on TikTok volcause I'm doing this podcast
and I'm also streaming on TikTok. Case the folks on
(19:40):
TikTok ever listened to this podcast, There you are, you
know you're there. You know there's always somebody out there
that wants to beat you down. There is always a
Debbie Downer in your life. It may even be your spouse,
but you know you love him anyway. You just ignore
them and you take it for what it is. I'm
a big believer. I support my wife. She's always I
would not be here today if it was not for
(20:00):
my wife. So if y'all want to if y'all appreciate
what I do, you need to think my wife because
she has been by my side since day one, and
uh and it has always been there and always been
my biggest supporter. When I was traveling around the country,
she was always there helping me load stuff, take stuff,
teaching on stages, she's booking, doing everything. Without her, I
(20:21):
wouldn't be anywhere. Okay, But anywhere you go in a company,
you're gonna have people that work with you, coworkers that
just because they don't have the same knowledge, they don't
have the same skills, they're gonna be Debbie Downers.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Right. Well, yeah, they're gonna.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Tell you can't do this, you can't do this, Oh
you can't get this. Don't listen to what people say,
you'd be your own judge, you do your own.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Research, you strive to be the better person.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Okay, they're just living in this swallowing in their world
of negativeness. And you know what, we get that with
podcasters too. We have our podcasters or there are other
educators who who couldn't do what we do, so it's
easier for them to just say negative stuff. And again,
that's their own world and that's what they live for,
and that's okay. I've gotten beyond that now, but it's
always funny to see them and laugh at them in
(21:05):
that scenario because we're always pressing forward, dude. But podcasts, blogs,
interactive courses. Now over on Fast Tracks two we have
the introduction of those interactive courses that are coming. We
have one up there now, go check it out. It
deals with closets and lighting. It's an amazing interactive course.
We're just constantly pressing forward.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Dude. I don't believe in going backwards, and you shouldn't either.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
If you have that gut feeling you want to be something,
you want to achieve something, dude, go for it. But again,
if you're living paycheck to paycheck, do it as a
side hustle.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Just make sure you do everything on the up and up.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Let's see here it says I am tired of sitting
sitting on their high chairs saying the job is too hard.
You need way more time when I already have the
general understanding of how to do the job. Dude, you're ready.
Just the way you talk, You're ready. I believe in you.
I don't even know you, but you, bro, I believe
(22:01):
that you can do it. I have failed multiple times
in my life, and I have been at the highest
peak of euphoria over successes and writing books and achieving
things that I never thought that I could achieve.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
And I've had my negatives.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You know, no off, no, no publisher today wants me
to write a book for them because they know that
I'll say what needs to be said in it.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I am not filtered.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So when they have that little clause in there about
certain things or what I can say in podcasts or whatever,
because I'm protecting their interest and their investment in the book,
I tell them, piss off. I'm not gonna I'm not
writing your book. I'm not going to write anything for you.
Why Because I will not cave in order to do
this I was told early on by somebody that said, Paul,
(22:44):
you're gonna you know, I'm gonna give you this this
book deal. But when you get this book deal and
you sign it and you write it. Moving forward, you
can't do certain things on social media. You can't say
certain things. You can't say this about certain people. You
can't criticize n FPA, you can't do this.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
That's what I did.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I said, forget you. I said that is not going
to work for me. Bro So anyway, I told him,
I said forget that, Jack. So at the end of
the day, Uh, you don't be your own man. Do
your own thing. Don't listen to those debbie downers.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Do your thing. All right, let's se here. You got
some more stuff here.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It says I am willing to travel anywhere or even
relocate if it means I can't achieve the next step
in my career.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Dude, dude, let me tell you something.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Whoever's out there listening, if you have half the drive
that this guy has, and if you're out there listening
your podcast, you're listening to this dude, you've got what
it takes to be a success. Failures are just going
to be blocks for you to step onto so that
you can look over the heads.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Of everybody else. You got it, bro, you have got
what it takes. I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
You to tell you you're going to be somebody. Don't
care what those people say around you. Don't listen to
anybody else. You need to start small. Start small, get
your license, get what you need, get all the stuff
that you need to have to own your company. Start
that company on the shoestring budget. Keep it sitting here
to the side. Start using my grassroots marketing techniques. They're available.
(24:14):
You can listen to them on our podcast, really cost
effective ways to get your name out there and start slow.
You're going to do it. It's no time like now, buddy.
Right now, we're in a golden age. Things are going
to only get better. It's is your opportunity to do it.
Failure again, failure is just part of success, that's it.
(24:36):
And the fact that you can relocate, so relocation. Think
about this. You have electrical contracting companies all over the country,
so you should be gooickly on.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Indeed, you should be looking on LinkedIn.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
You should be looking all places all over and at
least apply for an interview and let them know you're
willing to relocate and remember, be very bullish on your experience.
Say I might have you a journeyman. I might be
twenty four, but I'm the best damn journeyman out there.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Brother.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Hey, look when people toot their own horn, there's a
lot of people out there that say that's cocky, a
lot of people that say that's they're full of themselves.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I've had this through the years.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
You know, back when I had the Electrical Guru, you
would not believe the grief that I got over on
Mike Holt's forum. You would not believe the crap that
I took for years on that. Oh he thinks he's
the guru. The electrical Guru. They that just goes to
show you they're just electricians. They didn't have the mindset
of success because to me, that was marketing. You're not
(25:35):
gonna remember paul Avernathy, but you're gonna remember the Electrical Guru,
and that was the whole goal. But I was younger
and I really bought into this. I was like, dude,
they're just tearing me down. I'm just trying to build
an empire here. So I let the name go right
Whereas now roll this forward fifteen twenty years. I'm like, dude, now,
(25:56):
if I go get that url the tham damn they
wont fifteen grand for that damn thing.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I'm like, Hey, ain'ty happening. So my point.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Is is, don't let anybody stand in your way, right
if it means relocating it to achieve your goal. And
you're twenty four, dude, So you're young enough, Dude. You
you're you're just you're You're wet behind the ears, but
full of knowledge that that's going to be overcome very quickly.
And if you learn to speak and learn to convey
(26:24):
it to somebody, learn to say again, there's a big
difference between being confident in cocky. I'm confident in what
I've done. You know, I've had on my I've had
on the forums. People go, did Paul Abernathy really win
Mike Holt's top gun? Why would I make that ship up?
Go ask Mike. It's it's all over the place. Absolutely,
(26:45):
I want his top gun. Did Mike call me the
other day to ask a question about listing of product?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Absolutely? He did.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I communicate with all educators. I communicate with Ryan Jackson's
great guy, Mike.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
All of us. We're all here to help. That's it.
We're all here to make you better.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
That's why we put out books, that's why we put
out blogs, that's why we put out courses, that's why
we give advice. That's why we hold these podcasts. It's
to make you better. Look, fella, I think you're going
to be successful. And if I could buy if you
were a stock option right now, and I could buy
stock in somebody's success, then I would be doing some
insider trading right now. Because I got your email and
(27:26):
I've been able to read it, I would invest in
you every day of the week. You got this, bro,
no problem at all. So if you want me to
still call you, I'm more than happy to call you.
I'm gonna tell you the same thing over the phone.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
That I would have told you in this podcast.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
So hopefully you get something out of it and it
spawned you on to be something.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Great and I get more.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I'll enjoy more out of hearing that you've become a success,
that you started your own business, that you've been successful,
that you've grown that business, whether you're a one man
show and you're making a living or you've got a
thousand people working for you.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
To me doesn't matter your success.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Size of the company is not always a contributing factor
to the success. It's the lifestyle that you can live,
enjoy getting up every day going to work. My brother
is a one man show. Now after all these years
we started back many years ago. Now he gets to
set his own time frame, do what he wants to do,
set his own hours. That was his goal and he's
(28:25):
living the dream. You can do that too, because that
sounds like what your dream is. You want to be
your own boss, So I'm encourage you to do it.
Just do it very slowly. If you are living paycheck
to paycheck. If you got a little bit, you got
six months in the bank that you could live and
you could still start. Do some side hustles. Get all
the stuff you.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Don't have to quit.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Don't quit one job to do another one. Right now,
keep your job. Work on the side hustle, get everything
you need to get in place so that you can
flip the switch when you're ready.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
You get me all right, all right.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
My brother, that's it for this episode of I guess
it was I can't remember if this was.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
I think this was Master, then ec I think this
is what it was.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
So at any rate, folks, that's all I've got till
next time. Stay safe, God bless them.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We'll catch you.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Another episode of Master of the n C or Let's
Ask Paul podcast. I think that's what it was. I
think it was a Let's Sask Paul. I get confused.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Take care, God bless
What's up, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to another episode of Let's Ask Paul, the podcast
where you get to ask me Paul Abernathy anything you
want about the National Electrical Code. Of course, all things
electrically related are fair game on the Let's Ask Paul podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Now, if you want to get your questions answered.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
On the podcast, and all you got to do is
go to Paul Abernathy dot com. That's p a U
l A b E r n A t h y
dot com and it's a free serve provided by WIS.
You just put in your name, email and put in
your question and you may get in a response via
email or if selected, you will get used as a podcast.
(01:12):
And as always, I never give your name unless you
state that you're okay with giving your name.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I think we think I've ever said that before.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But if you want me to include your name and
your podcast in your company or where you're from, please
do so. Let us know and I'll be more than
happy to give you the shout out during the podcast
if it is selected. Okay, Okay, So today's podcast, we're
gonna be talking answering a question for a gentleman about
his future about he's asking for advice and he would
(01:44):
like a phone call.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I probably will follow up with a phone call.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But most of the stuff I can give some advice
just based on the information he's provided, and it may
be relative to you. You might be thinking, well, I've
worked for somebody and I'm to go out on my own.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I want to start my own business.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
And you know, you're not poaching any work from your
current employer, which I don't recommend you do, but.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Sometimes you can't help.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
But have builders come to you and say, hey, if
you were on your own, you know, I throw a
bone your way or something like that. Or maybe you
want to do something totally different, and like maybe you
want to do service work and the company you work
for doesn't do service work. But that's a great way
to get started in the business, is expanding your horizons
and doing it that way. So again, many ways to
(02:30):
get started into the industry. But we're gonna look at
this question and I'm going to try to answer this
question for everybody, and especially driven to this individual that
submitted this, and this one was picked quite early and
Jeff and Darling both pinned to this one. For me
to answer this, this is why you're getting the podcast
Okay number one. It says, Hey, Paul, I have been
(02:52):
a fan of yours for many years now. I love
the knowledge you bring to the codebook and just being
a better electrician. I would love a chance to talk
with you on the phone on what you believe I
should make my next move in my electrical career.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
He says.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I quit my job to move to blank blank over
three years ago and worked for Blank Electric in the
town where he's at. I got my master Journeyman's license
a year and a half ago, and I am just
tired of being looked at a as a new journeyman when.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I have good ideas myself.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It sounds like they're not listening to him and not
listening to his ideas. And that's a fundamental flaw of
a company thinking that experience is the only catalyst for growth,
when you need to listen to ideas, fresh ideas. Good
example is Trump listening to Baron Trump when it came
to social media. You see how that worked out for him, right,
And that worked out pretty pretty darn good for.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Him, didn't it. So again, listen to new ideas.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And that's why I believe companies should have what we
call a think tank means that you're willing to take
ideas from anybody from the journeyman to the apprentice, all
the way up to the master ken nobody knows it all.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
We have to foster learning.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
And again, you can discount anybody's submission, but you should
have a way to do that. So unfortunate that sounds
like the company that he works for does not have
that creative thinking ability. And that is something that I
talk about when I do talk to companies and I
talk to the ownership or the leadership, I talk about
funneling and remember that sometimes the best ideas come from
(04:33):
people that are not so beaten down and worn down
in the industry that they can't think creatively. For example,
a lot of my patents that I have with on
COO Wire, the patents are because I don't come from
the wiring cable industry. I'm just I'm an electrician. And
so I went there and saying, well, why don't we
have this, why don't.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
We have that? Why don't they make this?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
And so I was very inquisitive where somebody that might
have forty years and it might go settle down, young man,
you know what I'm saying. You don't know everything, tiger,
but at the end of the day, sometimes fresh thinkers
can come up with some of the greatest things. So
it's unfortunate this gentleman is having to deal with that.
But anyway, it says. He says, I have built quite
(05:15):
an inventory of tools and electrical experience for myself, and
I feel like I have enough knowledge to go on
my own. But I believe a managing role would be
good for me first, but no one takes me seriously
being twenty four years old.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Let me stop right there real quick.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Okay, Look, I'm gonna talk to you, and I'm not
the you know, not the Ramsey guy that gives the
advice over for investing, because I don't always believe in
what Ramsey says. To be honest with you, and you
don't have to take everything I say, but I'm gonna
loot me.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Look at you.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
The first words out of your mouth here is that
you believe you've got the experience, You believe you've got
the knowledge. It's okay to fail. You can always get
another job. And I hope people out there and say, well,
jobs are hard to come by. No, not if you're good,
Not if you're good at selling yourself. You're good, and
you leave on positive terms anywhere you don't want to
leave on a negative thing. And you never leave one
(06:12):
job unless you have another one already in the bag.
That type of scenario. So in this case, you've built
an inventory, so you have a mindset that you wanted
to be your own boss. You built your tools, you
have diligently gained experience. Hell, you've been listening to us
for years, so you're probably already ahead of everybody else.
(06:32):
So you already are ahead of the curve.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Here.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You're a little scared and you think, well, I'll manage
on somebody else's dime, and if I screw up, it's
their dime.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I get it. It happens.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
But you don't necessarily have to be a manager of
a company in order to establish the fact that you've
got the knowledge, you've got the skills, that type of thing.
You can start small, start very controlled, unless you're in
a situation where your income is entirely dependent. I mean
you're living paycheck to paycheck. If you're living paycheck to
paycheck type of scenario, and you don't have savings, because
(07:08):
if you're going to start a business, you need to
have enough money to sustain that business and to sustain
your needs for at least six months. That's critical for
anybody starting a business. So one way to do this
would be to start as a side hustle. Get the licenses,
get everything you need. Okay, get your business. Like you
can start your business and not do it. Be a
(07:29):
sole proprietor. You don't have to really actively. You can
work for somebody else, but but get your own business,
get your licenses, get what you need, get your insurance,
get what you need, and then you can start doing
some side hustle stuff to kind of dip your toe
into it. But I think you don't need a managing
role with anybody, you know what.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I know.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I work for other companies. I wasn't the manager. I
wasn't when I worked for W. Brown back when I
was very young. Before I started with my brother, we
went right into ownership.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I said, dude, I've got the skills, I've got the equipment,
I've got the talent, I got the desire, the motivation,
the drive. I have people behind me. Failure is just
part of success, man. So you know it can be
different for different people. If you're living paycheck to paycheck,
then you really should think of a side hustle. Get
(08:21):
all the stuff you need. It's gonna be a cash
out lay. It seems like you got some funds because
you're buying tools and all this kind of stuff. Find
Out what you need to have for a license in
your area, maybe like a business license. Find out what
you need to go with whatever you're at your journeyman.
Find out whatever it takes to be Now, in many places,
the journeyman can't own their company.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
They have to be a master.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
So the first thing I'd say is, if you're in
some area where they have master licensing and they're licensing
to be an owner requires you to be a master,
then your focus needs to be shift off of management
and shift.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
On getting your masters.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
If you're in an area where the journeyman can hold
the license kind of like Ohio, whereas the journeyman there's
a contractor's license, if you qualify, you meet all the qualifications,
then dude, I say go for it. It doesn't mean
you have to leave your employment right now. This is
it can be a side hustle. You can be working
on this throwing out these breadcrumbs on the side right,
(09:18):
it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And you know, I know plenty of people.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
That have contractors license that don't utilize it. They work
for somebody else, but they have it. That means if
they do want to take some side work, guess what,
they get to do it and they get to make
money at it. So again, at the end of the day,
let it be a side hustle if that's the thing.
But being a journeyman in some states you have to
be a master. So I don't know your state, so
we'll just leave it there, right, and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
You might say which state you're in. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
We haven't gotten there yet, but anyway, and I probably
could find out. But at the end of the day,
there's many avenues for that. But don't don't don't let
this creep into your mind that you're not ready. And
everybody's not ready until they're ready. There's a lot of
people that manage electoral contracting businesses that I'd be damn
if i'd want them to be the owner.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Right, they're good at managing other.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
People's money, but they'd be sucky at managing their own. Okay,
So I tell you, look at somebody that's managing the company,
managing the day to day, and then look and see
what their lifestyle is like. Are they living paycheck to
paycheck themselves? Then that's not an owner mentality. So just
because you're managing something does not make you owner mentality. Okay,
(10:31):
so again a lot of great advice right there. But
let's dig deeper. Let's go a little deeper. And you're young.
You're twenty four years old. So hey, look, don't anybody,
don't let anybody ever tell you that age is a
limiting factor. I don't give a shit whether you're eighty
years old or you're nineteen years old. It knowledge is knowledge,
skill and skill. When I was going through apprenticeship or
I was going through my vocational school, I was the
(10:53):
valedictorian of the school. I was the top electrical student
in the school's history because I drove for it. You
don't believe me, go ask It's Charlottesville album All Vocational School.
My instructor was Bob Barrett. I am in their Hall
of fame. I have the stuff to show that I
was a number one student in that school's history. Not
because I was special, It's because I knew what I
(11:16):
wanted to do. At eighteen years old, I was taking
summer classes on code.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
I got the certificates.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Still I kept all that stuff to show it. This
is what I wanted to do my whole life. I
didn't want to do anything else. I've owned other businesses.
I've owned boarding kennels, dog grooming kennels. I've been dedicated
to that type of stuff. I've had private I've been
a private investigator. I've done a lot of stuff, but
it's always circular around electrical.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I've always had the electrical business somewhere in the picture.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So yeah, don't let that stop you, and don't let
age stop you, dude, don't let anybody tell you that
they tell you that that's not a person you want
to that's a Debbie downer, That is a.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Screw that person.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
We don't need that negativity in our life, that type
of thing, all right. So anyway it says I get
told I need ten years of field experience as a
journeyman to even be considered for the position.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
That just seems absurd.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I agree with you now again, A good company, and
this is out there to all you companies out there
that hire you should not be looking at age. You
should be looking at. What really matters is what work
do they do? Merit based? That's what Trump and them
have said again, getting rid of this DEI crap. It's
all about what you do and are you worthy. I
don't care if you're black, white, green, red, blue, Chinese, Mexican.
(12:36):
It doesn't matter to me, male, female, identify as a
as a rock. I don't care. It's can you do
the job? And I hire people that do the job.
That's it. So I don't care. So if you show
me you're doing the job, you step up to the plate.
(12:56):
Maybe you're Are you stepping up to the plate even
at twenty four? Are you? Are you taking on projects?
Are you saying I got this or I'll handle this,
or who wants to get in that trench? I'll take
it even when it's four degrees outside, You're like, shit,
I got this, I'll get it. That's a go getter man.
That's what I look for.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Now.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I can't control your managers. I can't control your bosses
or the companies that they don't see that type of
desire and want, then it's time for you to be
looking for another company anyway. Now, I'm not talking about
some little company that's in the middle of Pole Bunk, Arkansas,
that maybe only has three employees and they might do
two projects a year. Maybe there's no other choice for
(13:35):
you out there. Maybe you know, but then that's a
perfect opportunity for you to raise up and do your
own thing. So again, take all these things, play this back,
listen to the advice I've given you up to this point.
Listen to this again because there's a lot of good
tidbits in there, and I don't want to rehash them.
But again, don't let age be a barrier. You got
the tools, you got the experience, you got the drive,
(13:56):
the motivation to desire. You're not living paid to to paycheck.
Just do this, bro st it now. Not everybody is
meant to be a leader. Not everybody is meant to
be the boss. We need followers as well as we
need leaders. So again, don't let me put anybody down.
If you want to work somewhere for somebody for the
rest of your life as a management management role and
(14:17):
not on your own company, God bless you, that's fine,
that's what we need that. It doesn't make you any
less of electrician, But we do need people that are
willing to take that chance and lead in owned businesses
and don't be afraid to fail. Dude.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It's you know, I get things.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Change depending on whether you're feast or famine, you're leaving
from paycheck to paycheck and things like that. But again,
it doesn't sound like you are. You're just on that
curve of am I good enough? Do I have that
self doubt syndrome? Whereas am I good enough?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Am I?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
You know that old imposter syndrome where you everybody thinks
you know a lot and then inside you're like.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Well maybe I don't know as much.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Everybody goes to that, dude, Everybody, Okay, I go through that.
I'm like, God, I'm well known all over the country,
but do I really know what I should know?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Am I the best that I can be? That's why
I am in this shit every day, every freaking day.
I'm in the code.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Why One because I love it, two because I was
destined to do it. Three I love helping other people,
and four it's just electrical is just freaking amazing.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I don't want to be a plumber, no disrespect to
the plumber. I don't want to be HVAC guy. I
don't want to be a builder, dude. I'm an electrician.
I love electrical work. I love the Code. I love
teaching electricians about the code because, whether they know it
or not, everything you do on a day in and
day out basis is revolved around a standard. It's a
(15:46):
raw and so you may take it for granted. But
all I'm here to do is sprinkle that fairy dust
of knowledge onto your head as you do your day
to day TSK. Think of me as the NEC Code
fairy well, I can already tell you that that piece
of this broadcast is going to be cut and pasted
(16:07):
and used against me in all types of podcasts out
there from my haters. Paul says that he's the NEC
Code faery. Wow, okay, anyway, screw it.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I don't care. We're not cutting that. We're letting it go.
All right, Let's go on with your situation.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Let's see here it says, I just want your insight
on my situation because I really want to start my
own business. That's where you stop. You want your own business,
think about how you do that. If you're living paycheck
to paycheck, then you think about get my licenses that
I need on the side, my own bosses don't need
to know what I'm doing. Get my licenses, get my
(16:42):
crap in orders, get what I need, make sure I qualify,
get the contractor's license, pay the minimal insurance is cheap
for contractor's license nowadays. For electrical can break it in
over every month. It is going to be some outlay.
Make sure you have enough cash to last you for
six months. If you're ready to do all that, then
start it as a side hustle. Start doing service work.
(17:03):
Go listen to my podcast where I talk about marketing.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
On the cheap. Again.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
You should be digging into all of my podcasts because
I have over a thousand, and I talk about bidding, estimating, budgeting,
how to do, how to do marketing at a grassroots
save your money, how to target areas. Dude, if you
first time you've ever listened to my podcast, if it's
the first time you've ever listened, go back to the
archives and just start listening. Because all of that stuff
(17:28):
is golden. Okay, and I'm not just saying it's because
it's me. It's all golden. It's great information to learn from, Okay,
So anyway, let's keep on. Let's look on it says Okay,
you want to have your own boss, that should be it,
right there. Do whatever you have to do to be
your own boss. If you think about management, then that's
just eating up time. You're twenty four. Life is short, baby.
(17:50):
I was owning my own electrical contracting business at nineteen
years old with my brother double a electric You can
google it, look it up. Still in business, by the way,
he's still business. One of the best electricians I ever met.
He's what I call them a guy ver. He can
make anything work. That's why I'm the code guy because
I'd say, Todd, I know that'll work, Bro, but that's
against the code. He go, yeah, but I can make
(18:11):
it work. And I'm like, d Todd, don't do it.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Don't do it. He always listens. He's a good brother.
He's an older brother. Okay, let's see here. It says
uh I again.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
He said, I just want your insight and situations because
I really want to start my own business. But everyone
says that I need more experience. You go with your gut, bro,
You go with your gut. It's okay to fail, and
it just makes failure just makes us. His success is
so much sweeter. It really does what's that old saying
about Jordan? Michael Jordan, which to me is the greatest
(18:45):
basketball player of all time. I'm not gonna say anything
negative about Lebron. I don't really watch basketball, but i
can tell you right now, in my generation, Michael Jordan
was the shit. I mean, he was the dude. The
dude looks like he just glide air, and he's for me,
he's the best of all time. But he has this
little thing where he tells you how many misses. You
(19:07):
only see the baskets that he made. You only see
the championships of the You don't see the stuff that
he lost. That is failure, and he used that failure
to drive him for success.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Tiger Woods is the same way.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I'm a Jack Nicholas fan, but statistically wise, Tiger Wood
is the goat. I'm just saying, so, anyway, let's see here,
let's see here, let's see okay, and remember there are
also people that are always out there. I think it
was a post on TikTok volcause I'm doing this podcast
and I'm also streaming on TikTok. Case the folks on
(19:40):
TikTok ever listened to this podcast, There you are, you
know you're there. You know there's always somebody out there
that wants to beat you down. There is always a
Debbie Downer in your life. It may even be your spouse,
but you know you love him anyway. You just ignore
them and you take it for what it is. I'm
a big believer. I support my wife. She's always I
would not be here today if it was not for
(20:00):
my wife. So if y'all want to if y'all appreciate
what I do, you need to think my wife because
she has been by my side since day one, and
uh and it has always been there and always been
my biggest supporter. When I was traveling around the country,
she was always there helping me load stuff, take stuff,
teaching on stages, she's booking, doing everything. Without her, I
(20:21):
wouldn't be anywhere. Okay, But anywhere you go in a company,
you're gonna have people that work with you, coworkers that
just because they don't have the same knowledge, they don't
have the same skills, they're gonna be Debbie Downers.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Right. Well, yeah, they're gonna.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Tell you can't do this, you can't do this, Oh
you can't get this. Don't listen to what people say,
you'd be your own judge, you do your own.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Research, you strive to be the better person.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Okay, they're just living in this swallowing in their world
of negativeness. And you know what, we get that with
podcasters too. We have our podcasters or there are other
educators who who couldn't do what we do, so it's
easier for them to just say negative stuff. And again,
that's their own world and that's what they live for,
and that's okay. I've gotten beyond that now, but it's
always funny to see them and laugh at them in
(21:05):
that scenario because we're always pressing forward, dude. But podcasts, blogs,
interactive courses. Now over on Fast Tracks two we have
the introduction of those interactive courses that are coming. We
have one up there now, go check it out. It
deals with closets and lighting. It's an amazing interactive course.
We're just constantly pressing forward.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Dude. I don't believe in going backwards, and you shouldn't either.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
If you have that gut feeling you want to be something,
you want to achieve something, dude, go for it. But again,
if you're living paycheck to paycheck, do it as a
side hustle.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Just make sure you do everything on the up and up.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Let's see here it says I am tired of sitting
sitting on their high chairs saying the job is too hard.
You need way more time when I already have the
general understanding of how to do the job. Dude, you're ready.
Just the way you talk, You're ready. I believe in you.
I don't even know you, but you, bro, I believe
(22:01):
that you can do it. I have failed multiple times
in my life, and I have been at the highest
peak of euphoria over successes and writing books and achieving
things that I never thought that I could achieve.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
And I've had my negatives.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You know, no off, no, no publisher today wants me
to write a book for them because they know that
I'll say what needs to be said in it.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I am not filtered.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So when they have that little clause in there about
certain things or what I can say in podcasts or whatever,
because I'm protecting their interest and their investment in the book,
I tell them, piss off. I'm not gonna I'm not
writing your book. I'm not going to write anything for you.
Why Because I will not cave in order to do
this I was told early on by somebody that said, Paul,
(22:44):
you're gonna you know, I'm gonna give you this this
book deal. But when you get this book deal and
you sign it and you write it. Moving forward, you
can't do certain things on social media. You can't say
certain things. You can't say this about certain people. You
can't criticize n FPA, you can't do this.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
That's what I did.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I said, forget you. I said that is not going
to work for me. Bro So anyway, I told him,
I said forget that, Jack. So at the end of
the day, Uh, you don't be your own man. Do
your own thing. Don't listen to those debbie downers.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Do your thing. All right, let's se here. You got
some more stuff here.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It says I am willing to travel anywhere or even
relocate if it means I can't achieve the next step
in my career.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Dude, dude, let me tell you something.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Whoever's out there listening, if you have half the drive
that this guy has, and if you're out there listening
your podcast, you're listening to this dude, you've got what
it takes to be a success. Failures are just going
to be blocks for you to step onto so that
you can look over the heads.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Of everybody else. You got it, bro, you have got
what it takes. I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
You to tell you you're going to be somebody. Don't
care what those people say around you. Don't listen to
anybody else. You need to start small. Start small, get
your license, get what you need, get all the stuff
that you need to have to own your company. Start
that company on the shoestring budget. Keep it sitting here
to the side. Start using my grassroots marketing techniques. They're available.
(24:14):
You can listen to them on our podcast, really cost
effective ways to get your name out there and start slow.
You're going to do it. It's no time like now, buddy.
Right now, we're in a golden age. Things are going
to only get better. It's is your opportunity to do it.
Failure again, failure is just part of success, that's it.
(24:36):
And the fact that you can relocate, so relocation. Think
about this. You have electrical contracting companies all over the country,
so you should be gooickly on.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Indeed, you should be looking on LinkedIn.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
You should be looking all places all over and at
least apply for an interview and let them know you're
willing to relocate and remember, be very bullish on your experience.
Say I might have you a journeyman. I might be
twenty four, but I'm the best damn journeyman out there.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Brother.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Hey, look when people toot their own horn, there's a
lot of people out there that say that's cocky, a
lot of people that say that's they're full of themselves.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I've had this through the years.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
You know, back when I had the Electrical Guru, you
would not believe the grief that I got over on
Mike Holt's forum. You would not believe the crap that
I took for years on that. Oh he thinks he's
the guru. The electrical Guru. They that just goes to
show you they're just electricians. They didn't have the mindset
of success because to me, that was marketing. You're not
(25:35):
gonna remember paul Avernathy, but you're gonna remember the Electrical Guru,
and that was the whole goal. But I was younger
and I really bought into this. I was like, dude,
they're just tearing me down. I'm just trying to build
an empire here. So I let the name go right
Whereas now roll this forward fifteen twenty years. I'm like, dude, now,
(25:56):
if I go get that url the tham damn they
wont fifteen grand for that damn thing.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I'm like, Hey, ain'ty happening. So my point.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Is is, don't let anybody stand in your way, right
if it means relocating it to achieve your goal. And
you're twenty four, dude, So you're young enough, Dude. You
you're you're just you're You're wet behind the ears, but
full of knowledge that that's going to be overcome very quickly.
And if you learn to speak and learn to convey
(26:24):
it to somebody, learn to say again, there's a big
difference between being confident in cocky. I'm confident in what
I've done. You know, I've had on my I've had
on the forums. People go, did Paul Abernathy really win
Mike Holt's top gun? Why would I make that ship up?
Go ask Mike. It's it's all over the place. Absolutely,
(26:45):
I want his top gun. Did Mike call me the
other day to ask a question about listing of product?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Absolutely? He did.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I communicate with all educators. I communicate with Ryan Jackson's
great guy, Mike.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
All of us. We're all here to help. That's it.
We're all here to make you better.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
That's why we put out books, that's why we put
out blogs, that's why we put out courses, that's why
we give advice. That's why we hold these podcasts. It's
to make you better. Look, fella, I think you're going
to be successful. And if I could buy if you
were a stock option right now, and I could buy
stock in somebody's success, then I would be doing some
insider trading right now. Because I got your email and
(27:26):
I've been able to read it, I would invest in
you every day of the week. You got this, bro,
no problem at all. So if you want me to
still call you, I'm more than happy to call you.
I'm gonna tell you the same thing over the phone.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
That I would have told you in this podcast.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
So hopefully you get something out of it and it
spawned you on to be something.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Great and I get more.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I'll enjoy more out of hearing that you've become a success,
that you started your own business, that you've been successful,
that you've grown that business, whether you're a one man
show and you're making a living or you've got a
thousand people working for you.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
To me doesn't matter your success.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Size of the company is not always a contributing factor
to the success. It's the lifestyle that you can live,
enjoy getting up every day going to work. My brother
is a one man show. Now after all these years
we started back many years ago. Now he gets to
set his own time frame, do what he wants to do,
set his own hours. That was his goal and he's
(28:25):
living the dream. You can do that too, because that
sounds like what your dream is. You want to be
your own boss, So I'm encourage you to do it.
Just do it very slowly. If you are living paycheck
to paycheck. If you got a little bit, you got
six months in the bank that you could live and
you could still start. Do some side hustles. Get all
the stuff you.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Don't have to quit.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Don't quit one job to do another one. Right now,
keep your job. Work on the side hustle, get everything
you need to get in place so that you can
flip the switch when you're ready.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
You get me all right, all right.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
My brother, that's it for this episode of I guess
it was I can't remember if this was.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
I think this was Master, then ec I think this
is what it was.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
So at any rate, folks, that's all I've got till
next time. Stay safe, God bless them.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We'll catch you.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Another episode of Master of the n C or Let's
Ask Paul podcast. I think that's what it was. I
think it was a Let's Sask Paul. I get confused.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Take care, God bless
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.