Finding My Passion:

The Story Behind Advancing the Trades

A long time ago, my dad taught me how important it was to help people. The trades do exactly that. At a young age, I understood our job was important. If we didn't do things right and protect people, we would be a third world country. He instilled pride in what we do. We improved people's lifestyles with technology and modern day comforts. I was able to find passion in helping people from the start.

The early glimpses

Throughout my life, I would feel and see glimpses of that passion. Completing homes and projects, then actually watching people get to enjoy and experience what I built. The older I got, the more clarity I was able to extract about what that passion really was.

As a plumbing and HVAC business owner, I was able to teach my team this same thing. Training them to ask deeper questions with homeowners, to really understand how they wanted to live. These weren't just service questions. They were lifestyle questions, designed to help homeowners understand everything we could actually provide for them. We helped with water quality. We provided hot water through different systems. We gave homeowners real improvements in indoor air quality, and more.

I became more involved in my community too. Giving back became part of the passion as well. Helping my community, my homeowners, and my team filled that passion completely.

Losing it, and finding it again

When I had to sell my business due to health reasons, I was uncertain how I was ever going to fill that passion again. People say you should find work in what you love. The truth is, a lot of us struggle to actually name what that is. I had spent years doing something without being able to quickly articulate what my passion really was.

If I had not gone through those health issues, I might never have figured it out. That was my gold nugget from a dark time in my life.

I went to work at ServiceTitan as a Program Facilitator, teaching other contractors how to use a genuinely complex piece of software. It was there I realized I was back in the tech training room. Back to helping and teaching, back to educating the people who wanted the deeper details. I was able to make a real impact because I understood the why behind every part of the software. I had used it at my own company for over seven years. I did not just know the software. I knew the trades, which made it easy to explain the why, and that why is the change management piece behind most of business.

I learned the value of the why fairly quickly. Now, in almost every session, I start the same way. What is the why here? Then it becomes about the questions. Some days I get to drop in my own pro tips from my time in the trades, and that extra value helps these contractors move their own companies forward. Those are the days I feel the passion again. I get to celebrate the teaching, the helping, and their success, the same way I once did with a homeowner or my own team.

Full circle

Now I realize there might be something more for me. I love the trades. I love helping people. I think I still have more to give.

This has come full circle, from where I started to where I am now, promoting the things I am most passionate about. Join me.

I am starting with one of the biggest blockers any business or individual has to work through: failure, mistakes, fear, and the beliefs and thoughts we carry about all of it. I want to rebrand failure the way I had to rebrand it for myself. Make it a process, not a destination. That is my passion behind sharing Failing to Fail with everyone. It can help more than just the trades. But I am starting a new movement in the trades first. I call it Advancing the Trades.

Watch for more to come. The Live Cast, social media, more books, speaking, and training and education for the next generation.

See you there.

I am not a politician, I am not in the military, But as a Plumber, I protect your world… Without me, your world smells a whole lot different!

TimmyBoy Founder, Advancing the Trades | Author, Failing to Fail