Transcript

00:00:04 Todd

The.

00:00:07 Todd

One great thing about social media is the opportunity to learn from those outside of your immediate circle.

00:00:12 Todd

How many of us go to social media to ask a question about our hobbies or?

00:00:16 Todd

And even our work.

00:00:17 Todd

What if you could do?

00:00:18 Todd

If it was focused on your professional trade while at the recent recent Nikka Convention I was introduced to some of the team at trade hounds, including John Clark, CTO, and.

00:00:28 Todd

Vice President of social and content.

00:00:31 Todd

Now imagine LinkedIn and Instagram had a baby.

00:00:34 Todd

This would be tradehounds now, however, instead of focusing on the office team like LinkedIn, it focuses on the tradespeople in the field, not just for electrical though multiple trades in all areas.

00:00:47 Todd

Now I I really had a great time getting to know them and talking with them and learning about their vision and how it's already improving the lives of tradespeople.

00:00:54 Todd

Welcome to keeping the lights on.

00:00:56 Todd

I'm your host, Todd Reed, and on this podcast I connect with the owners and pros who design, build and maintain our electrical, communications, and industrial world to explore the best ways forward.

00:01:06 Todd

Let's get into the show.

00:01:07 Todd

Yeah.

00:01:10 Todd

Well, as you know, we're our recording from Nika in 2024 and normally I set up interviews beforehand and we kind of plan things out. But someone suggested I go see this booth called trade hounds. Interesting name.

00:01:22 Todd

And so I walked over there and started asking.

00:01:24 Todd

Like, who could I interview because it seemed like a pretty interesting concept.

00:01:28 Todd

I met Jeanette over there and she so she and I started talking.

00:01:30 Todd

Then we wrote John into the.

00:01:32 Todd

So here we are the next day having a little different kind of interview format than I normally do, but we're going to talk about an online community for trades people, which is.

00:01:40 Todd

Pretty cool concept and something I've.

00:01:41 Todd

Thought about for I've been in this kind of industry for like 25 years and thought, man, they got why does this not?

00:01:47 Todd

And they I think they have been forums and stuff around as they've kind of gone online chat boards probably, but seeing what trade unions doing was very interesting. John started talking Jeanette everyone.

00:01:56 Todd

All started getting pumped up and excited. We got to capture this.

00:01:58 Todd

Then now here we are capturing.

00:02:00 Todd

So I appreciate you both coming on here, so.

00:02:03 Todd

First of all, we're going to do a little.

00:02:05 Todd

Do a little introduction. First we get to know who you.

00:02:08 Todd

And so we'll start, John, start over there with you. So tell us your name and kind of what your role is with the company, maybe like a minute background.

00:02:14 Todd

On who you.

00:02:15 Todd

And where you come from? Sure. Yeah.

00:02:17 Jon

John Clark was responsible for technology really was one of the cofounders of the company.

00:02:23 Jon

And my background's always been in.

00:02:25 Jon

I started a number of software companies over the year. I was a kid of the 80s playing with technology and building software, and I guess it was a good time and it was something I really enjoyed.

00:02:37 Jon

And so, you know, this was an opportunity when I met the gentleman, David, that had the idea for trade.

00:02:44 Jon

Sounds this just seemed like a Greenfield opportunity to build some great software and in meaningful space and do some good for the world.

00:02:53 Jon

My family was always in the.

00:02:55 Jon

I should have been lifting bags of shingles on roofs in the New England winters, but I was probably too scrawny for that.

00:02:55 Todd

No go.

00:03:02 Jon

The keyboard spoke to me and kind of a software path took off.

00:03:05 Todd

That's great. Once I get done well for you.

00:03:07 Jon

Been great for a great time.

00:03:08 Todd

Yeah, that's awesome.

00:03:09 Todd

So jeanetta, what about you?

00:03:10 Todd

Little bit about.

00:03:11 Todd

Yeah.

00:03:11 Jeanette

I'm Jeanette.

00:03:12 Jeanette

I'm the vice President of social and content at trade.

00:03:16 Jeanette

So my background is more in in.

00:03:18 Jeanette

I also love technology, but more on the video and social media side. I started really in TV news and in newspapers and then when social media platforms started coming out, I was really excited about using cell phones to record videos and for storytelling and.

00:03:22 Todd

OK.

00:03:35 Jeanette

Launched a lot of the social media platforms that my media companies and then I became a teacher at the University of South Florida and started teaching students how to use social media platforms and.

00:03:46 Jeanette

Cell phones to record videos and tell.

00:03:48 Todd

Oh wow. OK.

00:03:48 Jeanette

And I was really passionate about how you could use cell phones to create communities.

00:03:55 Jeanette

And I also have a background with trades in my family. I feel like everybody in the trade House community.

00:04:02 Jeanette

Has a lot of family history.

00:04:03 Jeanette

I watched my dad do a lot of construction growing up and carve my name in the wet cement underneath every room that that we built in the house.

00:04:11 Jon

Son Jeanette was here.

00:04:12 Jeanette

Yeah, Jeanette was.

00:04:14 Jeanette

So I love my mark.

00:04:14 Todd

Oh, that's awesome.

00:04:16 Jeanette

Had a deep appreciation for the trades and I always loved building things.

00:04:21 Todd

Wow, that's.

00:04:21 Todd

Yeah, I obviously a lot of people, I.

00:04:23 Todd

To have that story.

00:04:24 Todd

I have like no trades in my background.

00:04:27 Todd

I'm not sure they're somewhere in the bloodline, so it's just.

00:04:30 Todd

It's definitely one that's in the blood of people, and people often end up back in the trades, so I always like to start out with a little bit of ice breaking questions kind of get to know you.

00:04:38 Todd

Since we start with John, we'll start with Jeanette this time.

00:04:40 Todd

Jeanette, what advice?

00:04:41 Todd

18 year old Jeanette.

00:04:44 Jeanette

So I I guess I was already pretty ambitious at 18.

00:04:47 Jeanette

But I think I would probably say like continue to be ambitious.

00:04:51 Jeanette

Don't be stressed out about.

00:04:53 Jeanette

It's gonna work out. I think technology changes.

00:04:56 Jeanette

You know you can't really plan for the future, and I think I think that's like a really a place where I become really comfortable if you live on that cutting edge of techn.

00:05:05 Jeanette

You kind of become comfortable not knowing what's next and and that's okay. And I think just being really excited and staying enthusiastic and not worrying about not knowing everything is important.

00:05:08 Todd

Right.

00:05:17 Jeanette

Think a lot of people are afraid of technology because they feel like they don't know.

00:05:21 Jeanette

Everything, and especially when technology evolved and things change and non social platforms we all talk about how the algorithm changes every day.

00:05:21 Todd

Right.

00:05:28 Todd

Yeah.

00:05:28 Jeanette

You're never going to know everything, but that's OK.

00:05:31 Todd

Yeah, John's in question.

00:05:33 Jon

1818 year old girl, you know, just do what you love to do.

00:05:33 Todd

What, 18 year old John?

00:05:35 Todd

What would you tell him?

00:05:38 Jon

Do it well and continue to dream and.

00:05:42 Jon

Just just work with great people and never be fearful of anything.

00:05:47 Todd

Yeah, it's good stuff.

00:05:49 Todd

All right, so now the the next.

00:05:50 Todd

So John, if I were to visit you in your hometown or someone of these viewers or come to visit you where?

00:05:55 Jon

Might you take them out to eat if you come to Boston, I'm probably gonna take you to place. That's not on the map called Santopio's Pizza.

00:06:01 Todd

OK.

00:06:02 Jon

It's in East Boston, definitely in a bit of a mob joint.

00:06:06 Todd

OK.

00:06:07 Jon

****** Bulger hang out from back in the day, but Great Lamb kebabs and pizza. Cash only, and it's usually quite a line up the door to get in.

00:06:16 Jon

It's a wonderful place. That's super.

00:06:18 Todd

That's why I love this question, because I find I'm finding all these places that.

00:06:20 Todd

Fantastic.

00:06:22 Todd

Same to you.

00:06:23 Jeanette

I would take you to Norway. That's where I'm from and.

00:06:25 Todd

Norway. Holy cow.

00:06:27 Todd

It's gonna be expensive. That's fine.

00:06:28 Jeanette

OK, it's worth.

00:06:30 Jeanette

I would take you to a bakery in Norway where they have the best pastries and ice cream and chocolate.

00:06:36 Jeanette

Amazing I.

00:06:37 Jeanette

Norway has hands down the best pastries.

00:06:40 Todd

Wow.

00:06:40 Jeanette

And chocolate and ice cream.

00:06:41 Todd

In the world, that's a very that's a great. I don't think I've had a question.

00:06:44 Todd

We have to travel outside the country yet.

00:06:45 Jeanette

We have to. Sorry. It's gonna be worth it, though. You love it.

00:06:47 Todd

Think about.

00:06:47 Todd

That's awesome. That's great.

00:06:49 Todd

You for that.

00:06:50 Todd

So I was walking.

00:06:52 Todd

I saw trade hounds, I said it's an online community for trades people.

00:06:57 Todd

John, you're kind of around at the founding of it.

00:06:59 Todd

Maybe you just give a little history about.

00:07:01 Todd

Know kind of why it was founded originally and kind of a little bit of the story.

00:07:04 Jon

About where? Where it's come. Yeah, it was. It was interesting. Back at the end of 2017, I was actually looking.

00:07:11 Jon

Some real estate and.

00:07:13 Jon

My wife was.

00:07:13 Jon

We're looking at some real estate, and the realtor had a friend.

00:07:18 Jon

And this happened happens a lot he.

00:07:20 Jon

Oh, I have a friend that wants to build an app and he, you know, he could you connect with them because my background's always been in tech, and of course, he said he's looking for investments, OK?

00:07:29 Jon

We go again.

00:07:30 Todd

Yeah, I am.

00:07:31 Jon

But I, you know, kind of reluctantly met with.

00:07:35 Jon

David, who had this idea to create a jobs board with this concept of?

00:07:44 Jon

A video resume was it was really the original idea.

00:07:48 Jon

And we had lines and I'm thinking about it and I said, I don't know.

00:07:52 Jon

You know, he was from Australia and he had come here for his MBA.

00:07:54 Todd

Hmm.

00:07:56 Jon

And I'm thinking my family are all in trades.

00:07:59 Jon

Don't really need a jobs board.

00:08:01 Jon

They they there's plenty of work to go around and they have a network among themselves. But what?

00:08:03 Todd

Yeah, right.

00:08:06 Jon

Said at that lunch.

00:08:08 Jon

It struck me and it never left, he said.

00:08:11 Jon

No digital home for the worker.

00:08:14 Jon

And.

00:08:14 Jon

And it was tough because I didn't want to get involved, frankly.

00:08:17 Jon

And I went home and I was thinking about this for a long time about there's no digital home for the worker.

00:08:23 Jon

And I said he's right.

00:08:24 Jon

Really, really. Right.

00:08:26 Jon

And so the more I thought about it, the original idea maybe of the radio resume, the idea itself wasn't so as important as this concept of can we provide a digital home for the worker?

00:08:37 Jon

And it was such a great Greenfield opportunity.

00:08:41 Jon

Nobody was doing it. You're.

00:08:42 Jon

There was forums out there, there was chat boards, but there was no vertical community and.

00:08:43 Todd

Yeah.

00:08:48 Jon

What that could produce if we got people in the trades together in other features that could be delivered, that was really the start of it.

00:08:55 Jon

We built a prototype and 2018 and launched it.

00:09:00 Jon

Just to see what it stick, we spent three months building something we had some of my engineers get together and build this and all of a sudden 10s of thousands of users were on the platform in short order and it seemed like there was this had something that.

00:09:13 Todd

Sticky. So it was more just a kind of a community to talk and share.

00:09:18 Jon

Yeah, instead of instead of.

00:09:18 Todd

Through video with.

00:09:19 Jon

Jobs board we we were worried that they would be, you know, a lot of people either looking for jobs and there was no jobs or vice versa.

00:09:27 Jon

Don't want to have a lopsided?

00:09:29 Jon

Sure. So we, we we spent a lot of time brainstorming on liquidity.

00:09:32 Jon

Said let's let's build the community first.

00:09:35 Jon

And then wrap it with features and utility afterwards.

00:09:38 Jon

And that's what we.

00:09:39 Jon

So instead of a jobs board, we set out to create a social community that was image first video first.

00:09:48 Jon

That people in the trades, you know, they were using their phone for some killer features, right?

00:09:53 Jon

Because a lot of these guys are calling in places and that was a killer feature actually of the mobile phone.

00:09:54 Todd

Yep, Yep.

00:09:59 Jon

In modern modern phones and the camera to write the camera so ubiquitously used. So we said let's let's do something that that really replicates that. So it became more of a social image based feed and built the community.

00:10:04 Todd

Oh.

00:10:05 Todd

Right.

00:10:12 Todd

OK.

00:10:13 Jon

Around that.

00:10:14 Todd

Right. I think something you said to me yesterday that really made it stick LinkedIn and Instagram.

00:10:19 Jon

Yeah, they had a baby like LinkedIn and Instagram had a baby. And to create my digital persona and profile in this community and then had that kind of Instagram like experience. And that was the really the V1 of the product.

00:10:20 Todd

Yeah, yeah.

00:10:30 Todd

OK. And So what?

00:10:32 Todd

How's it evolved and where are we today in 20?

00:10:35 Todd

Four, when we're doing this.

00:10:36 Jon

Yeah, I mean, you know, we're we're well over 350,000 users on the platform that continues to grow every month.

00:10:44 Jon

We've seen great growth, even even at events like this.

00:10:47 Jon

Just a number of us.

00:10:49 Jon

You know are have used the product or learning about it the first time is a ton.

00:10:54 Jon

Had room.

00:10:55 Jon

The community's grown, but more importantly, the team is really built features around that community to deliver.

00:11:04 Jon

Functionality that benefits the worker cradle to grave, whether they're in trade school or whether they've got their license, or whether they're nearing retirement. You know, we're trying to bring value to the worker at all different.

00:11:16 Jon

Stages and and deliver those those features and utilities, even even things like how can they get materials quickly, get things on the job site?

00:11:23 Jon

OK.

00:11:25 Jon

Practical things, you know, they're being paid fairly.

00:11:26 Todd

Right.

00:11:28 Jon

Those, those are features of this community that really no one else is doing.

00:11:32 Todd

Yeah, I think I saw someone.

00:11:34 Todd

They had.

00:11:34 Todd

You had a really cool display, like a huge phone, you know in your booth and was showing like taking pictures of equipment or something like that.

00:11:39 Jon

Yeah, we're using AI now. You can take pictures of.

00:11:43 Jon

Of material equipment electrical box. It'll it'll even tell you what the Breakers are and help you in you. Just you snap a picture.

00:11:51 Jon

It figures out what you're looking at, and it'll actually.

00:11:54 Jon

It'll show you the supply houses near you, wherever you are, that act. Have those in stock.

00:12:00 Todd

That's wild. That is pretty cool.

00:12:01 Jon

Yeah, it's really an awesome intersection of, like, some of the latest technology that just wasn't available 5 or 10 years ago in trying to put that as one click or a button in the palm of your hand.

00:12:14 Todd

So we're at an electrical trade show, obviously, but it's not just electricians on there.

00:12:18 Todd

It's all trades. Yeah. OK. Because I I did download it yesterday on your suggestion. Kind of, but very quickly, Bruce, I haven't seen spend a lot of time in it, but I did think I saw many other trade, many other trade.

00:12:19 Jon

With all.

00:12:20 Jon

All trades.

00:12:22 Todd

No.

00:12:28 Jon

Yeah, all the hard trades are in.

00:12:31 Jon

And you know, we have workers from really almost every a lot of times they say can you add our trade?

00:12:37 Jon

You know, they they're excited to get in there 'cause they, you know, there's a there's a sense of pride and excitement.

00:12:37 Todd

Oh, really? OK.

00:12:43 Jon

As they.

00:12:43 Jon

You know someone that's working on glass and you know is very different than someone that's maybe digging dirt or or laying concrete or, you know, running.

00:12:52 Jon

Electrical some of the some of the material that we've seen posted its art and the bends and curves and the amazing attention to detail. You know, all these, all these folks in the trades, they really are artists of their craft.

00:12:57 Todd

Oh Oh yeah.

00:13:07 Todd

They take a lot of pride.

00:13:09 Todd

Things on social media and yeah, the bins.

00:13:12 Jon

It's unreal.

00:13:14 Jon

Yeah. Exciting to see.

00:13:15 Todd

So my wife's lying designer in every room she walks in, she goes, she looks up to look at the lights.

00:13:19 Todd

Now I do it to look at the bin and the balls. Even the HVAC and all that stuff.

00:13:23 Todd

That's pretty awesome.

00:13:24 Todd

Well, Jeanette, let's talk with you a little bit because.

00:13:27 Todd

You like you said you handle.

00:13:29 Todd

Social media and media.

00:13:31 Todd

So talk to me a little bit about some of the users.

00:13:34 Todd

Is.

00:13:34 Todd

Is it just young people using it because you know, social media and younger generation? Are you seeing all ages or?

00:13:40 Todd

What's going on there?

00:13:40 Jeanette

We do have all ages, which is pretty cool, but I think we probably skew a little younger just because it's more natural for digital natives to be even looking for something like this.

00:13:42 Todd

Yeah.

00:13:45 Jon

Sure. Yeah.

00:13:46 Todd

Makes sense?

00:13:51 Jeanette

So I think they're the ones you probably find it. Discover it and share it with their.

00:13:56 Jeanette

But we have users of all ages, and I think that's that's kind of the really cool part about it is that especially.

00:14:01 Jeanette

People who tend to be a little older, maybe farther along in their experience, maybe their master electricians and they're able to give advice to people who are apprentices coming in.

00:14:12 Jeanette

That's one of the tools that I like a lot in the community.

00:14:13 Todd

Yeah.

00:14:14 Jeanette

People.

00:14:15 Jeanette

Just ask questions like I see a lot of apprentices or people who are younger.

00:14:19 Jeanette

Coming in and saying like, I'm going to do my first job interview. Like, does anybody have any advice or I'm going to try to take my test to become, you know, certified electrician. And does anybody have any advice for me? And so then a lot of the older.

00:14:33 Jeanette

See them in the comments jumping in sharing advice, helping really.

00:14:38 Jeanette

Really helped grow the next generation of electricians and and any skilled trades person for that matter.

00:14:45 Jeanette

So that's pretty.

00:14:46 Jeanette

It's nice to have the combination, so it's not just young people and I think the community benefits from people at all stages in their career.

00:14:53 Todd

Yeah, I mean, like, you're saying retirement, you know, school to retirement.

00:14:56 Jon

All the whole spectrum.

00:14:57 Todd

Yeah, that'd be.

00:14:58 Todd

And it'll take time and people.

00:15:00 Todd

When they see the benefits of it, I think one of the things you shared with me yesterday was talking about negotiating salary and doing it in a professional way instead of just like I'm leaving, OK.

00:15:08 Todd

A.

00:15:09 Todd

It's but doing it in a more professional manner to.

00:15:10 Jon

Think they're even having features around that you know of people being paid.

00:15:15 Jon

How do you compare to others in in your industry, in your location and you know, it's funny, we got comments.

00:15:23 Jon

I got a raise because I use trade hounds to show my boss that maybe I'm underpaid.

00:15:30 Jon

We also had the exact opposite. We had people saying.

00:15:33 Jon

I'm being paid really.

00:15:34 Jon

I probably should treat my my boss a company better.

00:15:37 Todd

Oh, wow, that's interesting. OK.

00:15:42 Todd

So is it just trades people on there?

00:15:44 Todd

I mean other who are some of the other user groups or whatever.

00:15:45 Jeanette

No, I'm glad you.

00:15:48 Jeanette

That's how it really started with trades people. And then as we started rolling out more utilities, our users were asking for tools that would help them.

00:15:57 Jeanette

Like find material near them.

00:15:59 Jeanette

And so we started meeting with distributors and manufacturers and we realized that they have a lot of really good insights and they have a lot of knowledge that that's really valuable to share with the community.

00:16:09 Jeanette

So now we're growing the community, we're expanding it. We're encouraging people.

00:16:14 Jeanette

In any position, even if you're a purchasing manager in the office or if you work at a supply house, you have the counter to join the community.

00:16:22 Todd

Good.

00:16:23 Jeanette

Not only can you share your advice and promote your business, but you can also learn a lot more about what your customers are experiencing.

00:16:32 Jeanette

It's kind of like social listening on steroids I feel because it's kind of difficult for manufacturers or distributors for that matter.

00:16:36 Todd

Yeah.

00:16:40 Jeanette

To to really get close to the customer and Instagram or Facebook. Or I love all these other platforms, but they're just.

00:16:48 Jeanette

They're not concentrated with their exact target audience, and so this is a good platform for them to join and hear the pain points and maybe offer solutions or create solutions based.

00:16:51 Todd

Yeah.

00:16:58 Jeanette

Of what?

00:16:59 Jeanette

Are talking about what? Their experience?

00:17:01 Jeanette

So it's I think it becomes a stronger community when other members also join.

00:17:07 Jeanette

And share their sometimes it's just friendly and fun social community, but other times they're like how do?

00:17:08 Todd

Start.

00:17:13 Jeanette

Fix this.

00:17:14 Jeanette

What tool should I be?

00:17:15 Todd

OK.

00:17:15 Jeanette

And in that case, it's really valuable to have people who are like, why built this or?

00:17:21 Jeanette

Sell this and I know this product in an hour and they can jump in and help people learn how to to do their jobs better and more efficient.

00:17:27 Todd

OK, is.

00:17:29 Todd

Is it regionalized at?

00:17:30 Todd

Like, I mean obviously it's the whole country.

00:17:32 Todd

Think it's mainly us, right? Right now.

00:17:33 Jon

Right now it's in the US App Store.

00:17:35 Todd

Yeah, right. OK.

00:17:37 Todd

Anyway, so region like we're here in San Diego, can California or kind of kind of group together. So they kind of can communicate about that 'cause obviously the I don't want to Boston distributor come reaching out to me because I can't really help me, I mean ship things.

00:17:49 Jeanette

Yeah.

00:17:50 Jeanette

You.

00:17:51 Jeanette

You can meet with other people on the app too, but the way that we're also starting to work with the manufacturers and the distributors to help target users that are either in their ZIP code or in their area, it helps ensure that people are all communicating to some.

00:18:04 Jeanette

Relevant to you?

00:18:05 Todd

Right. OK.

00:18:06 Jeanette

And like the supply House map too, you can open a map and it's. I love the idea of it being mapped first. And so you open it up and you see where you're located and then you can find like supply houses near you. Because in that instance it.

00:18:19 Jeanette

More important that.

00:18:20 Jeanette

It's like geographically.

00:18:22 Jon

Relevant.

00:18:22 Jeanette

Close to you as opposed to the social aspect, you might want to just be.

00:18:26 Jeanette

With people all over the country.

00:18:27 Jeanette

You.

00:18:27 Todd

Sure.

00:18:28 Jeanette

They can choose depending on what.

00:18:29 Jeanette

Looking for yeah.

00:18:30 Jon

And I think that's kind of also we benefit in such a major way from the phones, right.

00:18:36 Jon

IOS, Android and in these devices that get GPS built in.

00:18:42 Jon

You know, maps were a new user experience that before we we probably remember the days where you'd have directions just listed out kind of.

00:18:49 Jon

Boring list, but you saw the proliferation of new forms of technology and applications like Uber and others that are these map 1st.

00:19:00 Jon

So while the community is is nationwide, the software really allows you to when you want to work nationally, to be able to, you know, cut across.

00:19:10 Jon

And communicate with people anywhere but at the same time when I need something locally, you know it's smart enough to use those same tools that other those other platforms are using to.

00:19:11 Todd

Right.

00:19:19 Jon

Regionalize it for me and make it, you know, really accessible to as the worker to what I need right now, where I'm located, whatever that wherever that job.

00:19:29 Jon

Might be.

00:19:30 Todd

Well, the great thing is just hit me while you're talking. Like a lot of these people, a lot of trades people travel around the country and do work around the.

00:19:37 Todd

So if I'm communicating with you in Boston, we've chatted for a couple years on this app and then I go there right now. Have I have an instant friend that I can maybe connect with?

00:19:46 Jon

Now you have access to local regional data that you wouldn't have otherwise had before.

00:19:46 Todd

And whatever.

00:19:48 Todd

Yeah.

00:19:50 Jeanette

Yeah. To compare your pay features also map based. So like if you're thinking about moving like you look at the map and you think, oh, I'm not.

00:19:50 Todd

That's fantastic.

00:19:54 Todd

Oh, OK.

00:19:57 Jeanette

Making a lot of money.

00:19:59 Jeanette

Maybe I want to move to a part of the country where I could earn more money.

00:20:02 Jeanette

You can look at the map and kind of compare benefits and wages compared to your experience level.

00:20:04 Todd

Of course.

00:20:08 Todd

And.

00:20:08 Jon

Yeah, it's not even state.

00:20:09 Jon

You know, this is really regionalized, right?

00:20:11 Jon

Yeah.

00:20:11 Jon

We know in our area.

00:20:13 Jon

You know, in toward Boston at Cambridge is.

00:20:17 Jon

Own different spot compared to, you know just 5 or 10 miles out and some some areas you know you might have a you know a couple hours span.

00:20:26 Jon

It you know as a.

00:20:27 Jon

So we really have tried to listen to users and make it what what they want like all a lot of the even how we use maps and how we regionalize data.

00:20:36 Jon

Was based on feedback from.

00:20:37 Jon

User it wasn't something we just came up with. We put it out there and said you.

00:20:41 Jon

What's going to benefit you?

00:20:43 Jon

How's it going to make improve your life and then use that data as kind of the seed to get?

00:20:48 Todd

Things started. So you're pretty tied in with your user base, I assume. And in your future design elements and all that's kind of the way that works I think.

00:20:55 Jon

Rob, on our team is really takes the lead and connecting on the product side and you know I think the team as a whole it's it's part of the team's DNA has always been to talk to the user.

00:21:01 Todd

OK.

00:21:07 Jon

Work with the use I remember in the early days of the company we used to once a month have this Wednesday night. There's this little burger place that we would go to when we'd fight.

00:21:14 Todd

Hmm.

00:21:16 Jon

People in the trades, you know, come for a burger and a beer and and just talk about things and look at software and and get feedback.

00:21:23 Jon

Amazing. You know the difference of seeing someone and talking and listening?

00:21:30 Jon

Just the small things and details that you can obsess over and software to make it better. That makes good software great.

00:21:37 Jon

Or, you know, it's a software mediocre and in being with users and getting that feedback I think is one of the things that it's been part of the team.

00:21:44 Jon

DNA from day one.

00:21:45 Jeanette

Yeah. And as it scaled to the full thing is that the team has developed new features that has allowed the the new members of the team to also be able to communicate and like learn more.

00:21:55 Jeanette

So we have a couple of the members of the team here. So like Claire and Sonu and they do a lot of like community outreach.

00:22:01 Jeanette

And they do polling and they work with Rob as well to do really figuring out what are the users want, what are their pain points, what they need. We do a lot of polling in the app and some of them are really fun polls. But so they're Eng.

00:22:13 Jeanette

But a lot of times it's like.

00:22:15 Jeanette

What's your biggest problem?

00:22:16 Jeanette

That we could maybe solve and then share in the comments.

00:22:20 Jeanette

You know how you feel about this?

00:22:23 Jeanette

And so we're constantly, like, asking these questions about their jobs and maybe kind of trying to discover opportunities for us to solve those problems with technology.

00:22:35 Jeanette

And that's that's really cool, because now that we have so many users, you get so many.

00:22:39 Jeanette

So you get like all this great like qualitative and quantitative data you can look at it make really strategic decisions about where the app is going to grow.

00:22:39 Todd

Yeah.

00:22:48 Jeanette

I think that's like a really important part of the process that we work together as a team to.

00:22:53 Jeanette

To really make sure that the community is telling us what they want their.

00:22:57 Jeanette

They're up to be.

00:22:59 Jon

Because they're home.

00:23:00 Todd

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:23:00 Jon

You know, they're digital home.

00:23:02 Todd

And like I said, now you I mean 350,000.

00:23:04 Todd

A lot of people to tap into.

00:23:06 Todd

Let's let's Speaking of users, let's talk a little bit about a couple super users.

00:23:10 Todd

Shared a couple stories with me.

00:23:12 Todd

We'll probably put some little clips up here of them who they are, so you maybe share a couple of those stories that you're talking with me. I think Lexi and Kim are.

00:23:18 Todd

Case sparks case, sparky. Yeah, yeah.

00:23:18 Jeanette

Marquis Goodwin, tulia. I'm happy to.

00:23:21 Jeanette

Actually very.

00:23:22 Jeanette

That 3 lbs is partnered with a couple of really, really awesome people who started his influencers pretty early on.

00:23:29 Jeanette

On in in the electrical.

00:23:32 Jeanette

So I think when people think about social media influencers, at least outside of the skilled trades, you may not realize that there are like actual influencers that are real electricians.

00:23:43 Jeanette

Like that's their.

00:23:44 Jeanette

And then they also teach other people how to do all these things.

00:23:48 Jeanette

In addition to doing their full time job.

00:23:51 Jeanette

Also, recording video and teaching other people.

00:23:54 Jeanette

To do.

00:23:54 Jeanette

And so there's this really awesome.

00:23:57 Jeanette

Spirit of like giving back and showing others and helping younger people learn.

00:24:01 Jeanette

I really love that part of.

00:24:03 Jeanette

And so we were drawn to many of.

00:24:06 Jeanette

But Lexie is a great example. So she goes by Lexie electrician. If you guys want to check her out, I think she already has more than a million followers on TikTok alone.

00:24:14 Jeanette

So she has a ton of followers, and she's on every social platform, and so she has a really good audience.

00:24:19 Jon

Sure.

00:24:22 Jeanette

But when we put her content inside of trade homes, it's a it's a different experience for for the community, but also for the influencers, because those are all.

00:24:31 Jeanette

Uh, that's your target.

00:24:33 Jeanette

So like a lot of the apprentices may not have found her on social, they may not have even known to look for her.

00:24:38 Jeanette

But when they come into the app, they can see the videos of her fixing things.

00:24:42 Jeanette

They can learn from her.

00:24:44 Jeanette

And I also think it's important.

00:24:45 Jeanette

People like Lexi are.

00:24:47 Jeanette

You represent women in the trades.

00:24:49 Jeanette

I think that's something that.

00:24:51 Jeanette

It's no secret that there aren't a lot of women in the field.

00:24:54 Jeanette

The representation isn't there.

00:24:55 Jeanette

But we do have a really big shortage of skilled labor. And so one of the big issues that our entire ecosystem is kind of battling is that we don't have enough people to do the jobs and.

00:24:58 Todd

Yeah.

00:25:06 Jeanette

Think.

00:25:06 Todd

100%.

00:25:07 Jeanette

That's a very easy way that we can start incre.

00:25:10 Jeanette

More workers and just encouraging women to come into the field unless he does a great job of doing that.

00:25:15 Jeanette

I appreci.

00:25:16 Jeanette

She shows other women and you'll see a lot of comments like I just hadn't seen women do that before. Now I feel like maybe a little more comfortable going after that career path and maybe I didn.

00:25:26 Todd

Yeah.

00:25:29 Jeanette

Think about it or I didn't see myself there and you know, see people who look like me. And so I do think representation is really important.

00:25:37 Jeanette

And then case Sparky too, in his own way. I mean, he does a great job of representing a lot of like the Mexican American community. He also is speaks Spanish, which is really important to ensure that a lot of the construction.

00:25:50 Jeanette

A lot of still treats people have a platform that that feels like.

00:25:54 Jeanette

Can come in there and communicate with him.

00:25:57 Jeanette

He's just a wonderful person too, which is nice that he's genuinely wonderful human being. But you see it in the videos and the way that they communicate.

00:26:00 Todd

Yeah.

00:26:06 Jeanette

With the.

00:26:07 Jeanette

The community, it's just, it's really nice that they just want to teach and share and encourage people and, like, celebrate people in the trades.

00:26:14 Todd

Yeah. What I noticed about.

00:26:17 Todd

Lexie, now the sound was.

00:26:19 Todd

So I couldn't hear what was, you know, being said in that. But I saw her son or kid, I don't know what kind of, but I thought I thought it was cool.

00:26:23 Todd

Yeah.

00:26:25 Todd

Kind of showing her whole self, right?

00:26:26 Jeanette

Yep.

00:26:27 Todd

This is people out there.

00:26:28 Todd

We have kids, we have lives and you got.

00:26:30 Todd

Balance the two and so she has that.

00:26:32 Todd

That imagery, and I'm sure she's talking about it in there too.

00:26:35 Todd

Think I'm.

00:26:36 Jon

It's very real, right?

00:26:36 Todd

Gonna well.

00:26:37 Jon

And it's the same as the rest on the community. Everyone has lives and hobbies and experiences, and and they they have their craft as well, that they continue to hold.

00:26:40 Todd

Yeah, they're.

00:26:41 Todd

Gonna get that.

00:26:46 Todd

Yeah.

00:26:48 Jon

It's it's great to see all of that, you know, from the from the users and you know these influences. I think you were just saying about the lack.

00:26:57 Jon

Need for more trains, people.

00:26:58 Jon

Know it.

00:26:59 Jon

That the trades people are hidden somewhere we there's absolutely a shortage, you know, and this is a long game here and, you know, using platforms like this to really get kids excited about being in the trades because this isn't going to get solved overnight.

00:27:15 Jon

It has to start somewhere and I think that's, you know, when I think back to.

00:27:19 Jon

The earliest days of some of our ideas, the, the, the core team that was working on trade.

00:27:24 Jon

It was also thinking that this isn't an overnight fix where we just need to use technology and sign everybody up.

00:27:30 Jon

Because they're missing, is not.

00:27:32 Jon

We need, you know, many, you know multiple X23X what's already there.

00:27:38 Jon

And then think of all those that are retiring to replace.

00:27:41 Jon

So you know, platforms like this and these influences, I think it's a great opportunity for kids to see this is a viable and exciting career path.

00:27:49 Jeanette

Yeah, and that authenticity too, I think really resonates with younger people especially, and I think they kind of almost expect or demand that now and they're not really.

00:27:59 Jeanette

Going to be can.

00:28:01 Jeanette

Convinced to do something the way that we used to be would really Polish and refine, and I love video, but we have to be honest.

00:28:09 Jeanette

When you see people like Lexi in their living room in their kitchen cooking for their kid.

00:28:14 Jeanette

That authenticity is so important, I think, especially to younger people, it really, really.

00:28:20 Jeanette

And so in addition to having that part of the community, I think it also helps for us to grow.

00:28:28 Jeanette

The sponsors of the.

00:28:29 Jeanette

Because of course, in order for us to grow and for us to be able to support the Community with the tools that they want to do their jobs, we need to be able to pay for that.

00:28:30 Todd

Right, yeah.

00:28:38 Jeanette

So what's pretty cool is that a lot of the sponsors.

00:28:38 Todd

Yeah.

00:28:42 Jeanette

Look to people like Lexi or like Kate Sparky who have that authenticity. And so in addition to them being able to create content for the Community, they can also create content that's like sponsored branded content where they're teaching you how to do something that maybe they're using like.

00:28:56 Jeanette

Client tool.

00:28:57 Todd

Sure. Yeah, I.

00:28:57 Jeanette

And so yeah, and the tool companies on that and they need that authenticity.

00:28:58 Todd

Tool companies are on there.

00:29:00 Todd

Good, good companies to be on there, I mean.

00:29:04 Jeanette

And they're trying to reach those younger.

00:29:04 Todd

Sure.

00:29:06 Jeanette

They understand that like to have real people like the lefties in the case Barclays of the world representing your brand is really where the industry is going and for us to be able to work with manufacturers in that way is such a win, win, distributors too, because then.

00:29:18 Todd

Yeah.

00:29:20 Jeanette

All benefit and we're able to put that money back into the app to create tools that the users can.

00:29:25 Jeanette

Can use to make their jobs easier, like the AI image search. Like a lot of the apprentices we saw.

00:29:29 Jeanette

They were like this is.

00:29:31 Jeanette

Great 'cause, I don't have to memorize.

00:29:32 Jeanette

Name of every tool.

00:29:32 Jon

Of course not.

00:29:33 Todd

No.

00:29:33 Jeanette

It's really gonna be helpful for them as they enter the field to be able to take a picture of something and immediately see what is this called and all those tools. It takes money. So it's great that we can.

00:29:40 Todd

Yep.

00:29:45 Jeanette

Grow in a way that's really beneficial to everyone in the ecosystem.

00:29:49 Todd

Yeah.

00:29:49 Todd

Well.

00:29:50 Todd

Look, we're kind of running up against time here. If some other people want to talk, but I I could talk to you all for a long time.

00:29:55 Todd

Think the energy is awesome? So I want to have you on.

00:29:57 Todd

I'm definitely have to get Lexie in case Sparky on the show.

00:29:59 Todd

Think it'd?

00:30:00 Todd

Be fun to chat with them and.

00:30:00 Jon

You said.

00:30:02 Todd

Kind of get more of their story and what they're seeing, but thank you so much for.

00:30:06 Todd

On the show.

00:30:06 Jon

Thanks for having us here.

00:30:06 Todd

It's been awesome and look forward to posting this and hearing about it, so be great.

00:30:10 Jon

Thanks a lot. Excellent.

00:30:12 Todd

Well, that was my conversation with John.

00:30:14 Todd

CTO and Jeanette Abramson, vice President of social and content.

00:30:18 Todd

Both at trade hounds you can connect with John and Jeanette and learn what they're working on by heading to the links in the show notes.

00:30:24 Todd

But so trade downs is free, and I've recently signed up for the app and would love to connect with you on there.

00:30:30 Todd

But if not there, you can still e-mail me at podcast@graybar.com.

00:30:34 Todd

If you enjoyed this episode, you can help us grow the show.

00:30:37 Todd

Subscribing and.

00:30:38 Todd

Leaving a five star rating in your favorite podcast player and on YouTube.

00:30:42 Todd

Thanks for listening to this episode of keeping the lights on.

00:30:45 Todd

We'll see you next time.