51: Lessons from a six-figure earning blue collar worker with Dallas Swain

Dallas Swain dropped out of High School at the age of 17 and had
to pull himself up by the bootstraps to live. Even running miles
between jobs. Throughout it all, he has remained determined,
knowing the only thing that could hold him back was
himself. Dallas now works full time in North Dakota as a
maintenance contractor and he has worked his way up through the
skilled labor force without a high school degree. At 23 his
future looks bright with big plans for the future as he lays the
groundwork for his new business. 


I enjoyed this episode because Dallas is really the first "blue
collar" guest we've had on the show. He's a great example of the
fact that you can have a lot of success in the skilled labor and
trade industries without a college degree or even a high school
diploma. It was great to chat with him because one of my first
jobs and eventually my first business was in the trades, so we
had that in common. I notice that a lot of people tend to shy
away from blue collar work, or they view it as less desirable
than, say, working at a startup. But there is a lot of value in
learning a trade, and if you enjoy hands-on work plus instant and
tangible results, you would probably enjoy a career in the
trades, and developing a great career here is very
possible!