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HIRED! The Podcast With Travis Miller
Welcome to HIRED! The Podcast, where host Travis Miller dives deep into dynamic dialogues with top hiring experts. Join us for candid conversations that transform companies into coveted destinations for talent and empower candidates to stand out from the crowd.
HIRED! The Podcast With Travis Miller
Redefining Standards: The New Industrial Era (Ft. Jacob Sanchez) | Ep. #40
In this episode, host Travis Miller delves into the captivating world of industrial technology and next-gen advocacy with special guest Jacob Sanchez. From igniting passion in young minds through hands-on experiences to navigating the intricacies of workplace autonomy and learning, Travis and Jacob share invaluable insights drawn from their own journeys.
They discuss the pivotal role of education in shaping the future of manufacturing and robotics, highlighting the importance of fostering curiosity and allowing room for exploration and growth, even amidst inevitable mistakes. Jacob's rebellious spirit and passion for engineering shine through as they emphasize the significance of autonomy in learning and development, urging CEOs to trust their employees and provide opportunities for hands-on learning.
Join us on this enlightening journey as Travis and Jacob explore topics ranging from attracting young talent to the industrial manufacturing industry to the evolving landscape of AI's role in education and industry. Plus, discover Jacob's advocacy for creating positive work environments where employees thrive.
Jacob is a industry awareness and next generation advocate for skilled trades and our industry. With 10+ years of hands on experience in manufacturing and automation he uses his knowledge to revolutionize how our industry creates digital content for the world. He believes through education and creative thinking we can reshape the image of our industry to the world
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Connect with Jacob Sanchez
LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/3IkGD00
MSC Industrial Supply Co. - https://www.mscdirect.com
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7hKveeJMS3882H5LvWkW0cDBSNpKl8RI&si=WnI6t5lfupPvigWv
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In our industry, man we've been, we've been kept in the shadows for so long.
Travis Miller:Welcome to HIRED! The Podcast, a conversation about the world of work with some of the best and brightest minds in the industry. I'm Travis Miller and today, very excited to have Jacob Sanchez with me. Jacobs in industry awareness and next gen advocate for skilled trades in our industry. He's got 10 years of experience revolutionising the industrial industry for the next generation. He believes that through education and creative thinking, we can reshape the industrial world, one voice at a time. He's one of the top top voices of Gen Z in the industrial technology industry. He's the host of how to the How to show for MSC industrial supply. And he's really bringing the world of manufacturing to the next gen. Jacob, you got so much stuff coming up so much stuff planned, but out folded, but you were just telling me before before we hit record, that you've got one of the coolest events coming up that I am so jealous of that you've been invited to emcee and judge a high school BattleBots competition.
Jacob Sanchez:Yes. So and this was this was reached out to me like this wasn't something I found. This wasn't something I was looking for. But like I needed in my life, and I am hyped. It may be high school and college because it's a school in Ohio called AWT. It's kind of like a trade school where people can go and they reached out to me because I actually filmed some of my How To series from season one. In that facility to episodes, I helped them get their newest robot arm. So now they're teaching robot programming. And yeah, they reached down with like, hey, we do this battle bot competition is it hasn't happened since like, I don't know, like 2019 I think was what I saw on the YouTube video. And I thought it was like first robotics or Vex, because that's what I judge. And that's more objective based on no battling. And I went to watch the YouTube video and I saw sparks, I was like, there's no friggin way. That is gonna be amazing. April, the weekend after April 17, I think is when I'm gonna try to fit that in this year.
Travis Miller:And the reason I brought that up to start the conversation is because I think I think stuff like that is so so important. I mean, we we all know about the current incoming labor shortage with all of the baby boomers, leaving the industry, our generation, we ain't been making babies fast enough to replace them. generation ahead of us, they weren't making babies fast enough to replace them. So there's going to be less people for the workforce. And what are the things that we and the industry can do now? To not only get the next generation interested in manufacturing and industrial tech, but the generation beyond that, and the generation beyond that? What am I my son he's he's developing a growing interest in in robotics and technology. From his five from watching the movie, Big Hero Six, and there's a scene in the in the very beginning of the movie with with bot fighting, and he's all about it. And BattleBots he loves that shit. And it makes me think that and you're you're the expert, how do we get kids? I mean, really, really little kids excited about this industry excited about this as a possible career.
Jacob Sanchez:I mean, dude, the biggest thing that I've done, I've got to see, I'll start with what I've done, because I go out and I speak at schools, colleges. So I'll do anything from elementary all the way up to college. And I have a robot arm at home. It's a six axis robot arm, it goes from the ground, probably like up to here six axes. It's awesome. And I'll take that to events. And I had this little girl. And I don't have kids. I'm 25 I don't understand age. Well, so I think she was like, in like, whatever age, third grade is.
Travis Miller:Eight or nine.
Jacob Sanchez:Okay, yeah. So she was like eight or nine, maybe a little younger, because I thought I thought she was let's go with six. And I was like, Hey, you want to like program this robot. And so I show her. This is how you move it on the laptop that you can grab this and move it here. And then you can watch it move here. And I turned down the speed. Because like I didn't want her like moving too fast. And I guess she was of the age where like, if you they see you do something, they'll just undo it. As soon as I stepped away, she bumped the speed back up. And I was like, Oh no, let me fix it. I tried to fix it again. And she bumped it up and I was like, You know what? I was like if that's how she wants to learn. That's how she's gonna learn. So I let her move it around. full speed, I had my hand on the east stop. And I let her do her thing as I'm trying to talk to mom walks the robot. And she starts moving towards this big 65 inch TV. And so I slammed on the stop and stopped the robot and told her what happened and rearranged it. And I just let her play. And I think that's a testament to, we shouldn't try to filter their learning and creativity at all times, just to make us feel comfortable. I think you really just have to let them explore and do with the tools that they have. That's something that I learned in that instance. And I take that with me when I go out and do more of my things like what I'm in first robotics. And FIRST Robotics goes all the way down to kindergarten. So from K through 12, you have these three different FLL FTC and FRC, I've tried them all. And something that I'll learn with the younger younger ones. So FLL, which is like kindergarten through sixth grade or something like that, is to not, not try to just talk to them as like, not every time you talk to a child does it have to be a learning experience for them. Like, every time you talk to a kid, especially when they're in our industry, they're doing something that could really like get them excited. Talk to them as it's fun, talk to them to get them excited, don't everything out of your mouth, don't make it something that has to be a teaching moment or a learning moment for that kid because like, in their shoes, this is just a fun day for them. You know what I mean? And if you can keep feeding into that, I think they're more receptive to like, look at you as like a cool role model or somebody that like, can inspire them, instead of just like, their teacher, you know what I mean? Or just some random stranger talking to them about something?
Travis Miller:I'm not sure your advice has to stop it kids, you know, as leaders in industry working with people who are newer to the job newer to the industry, or even veterans who have been around for years, if you're only spending all of your time, trying to teach, trying to, to not control, but sometimes you just want to let people play. And that's, that's kind of how you got your start. You know, I'm not sure I want to do the whole Tell me your story. You know, well, my parents met in the summer of 19. But you got a pretty interesting journey in how you ended up in manufacturing in tech. And it came from a place of play, isn't that right?
Jacob Sanchez:Yeah, I have learned to sum this up faster and faster. With every new podcast, every new speech I do. Long story short, man. The reason that I got into the engineering class in high school because up until high school, I knew zero about this industry. I thought engineers were Iron Man, which means that they're fake, I'll never be that. Bobody in my family was ever that. They all worked two jobs in like, office jobs, janitor jobs, like nobody was in engineering. Nobody went to college. This stuff was not for me. And I knew that I was a little cool. Again, one of your colleagues wrote an article on VA and said something about being like a rebel without a cause or is up in me growing up. And that was that was true. Until I got to high school I tried to sign up for the cooking class. cooking class was full because I wanted an ECA and they threw me into engineering. And I was pissed. I was a c minus kid new school new area. They throw me into engineering, I couldn't be Mater. I had a mouth on me to dude, ever since I was in like first grade I fired I told my teacher she was fired in first grade. I've always had a mouth on me. And I was upset. And long story short with that. i The teacher spent time with me outside of class outside of the structure. And I got to learn was my own autonomy and ask the questions I wanted to ask and learn at my pace. And once I made my first ring, my first part on a manual lathe. It never stopped for me. I spent every single waking moment in that classroom whenever I could, I would leave other classes after doing the work and saying hey, can I go to Frank's class engineering class and I would leave and go back to engineering class. That was the rest of high school for me, man and I got picked up by titans of CNC Academy. I'm one of the founding members for helping build up the academy that people use today. I'm I one of the first kids in the entire world to ever make a titans of CNC part when I was 16. And it just kept going from there, man. I kept learning I kept wanting to know more I would go to to industry meet up events for local businesses at 17. Telling CEOs of companies how I think they should help their, their workers and do better. That was the rest of my life. Until here we are.
Travis Miller:So what are you telling them now? What are you telling these CEOs now?
Jacob Sanchez:It's changed since then I've gotten better at talking to them and not just mouthing off. I mean, now, dude, I really tried to harp on that autonomy bit, especially when a company asked me to come and say, Jacob, can you help us with some of our professional development? Like, we want to do more for our workers? How can we do more for our workers. And when it comes to training, aside from structuring that, and having that actually documented or documented, and not just something in the ether, which is a lot of companies have, when people are learning, they need autonomy. And that doesn't mean it's a free for all. That doesn't mean you just go and do whatever you want, and you don't help the company make money. But it also doesn't mean that you promised them a three month onboarding process. They're only a month in and you say, Hey, we got this hot job, we need you on this job. And now it's trial by fire. That's not how you do it. So really bringing autonomy to the workplace when it comes to learning and making people feel that they're moving at their own pace. But they're on a path set by you, I think is really impactful for growth and making people feel like there's some type of structure but they're also getting the freedom to learn if that makes sense.
Travis Miller:How do you set that up, because then that takes a lot of trust for somebody that's new to come in and say, we've got some guardrails here for you. But you're the one responsible for heading down the path.
Jacob Sanchez:So the trust thing is a big thing. And that's something that gets brought up all the time. And this won't work for everybody, but nothing works for everyone. So why is this any different than any other process that you implement, just because you say, oh, like some people can't be trusted, some people will never be able to be trusted. And if that person is not able to be trusted with this, they're probably not going to be able to be trusted with a lot of other things. So that raises that point. But at the end of the day, it does really come from starting. And it doesn't have to be some harebrained new found curriculum that you spend the next year on, pick something that like if you're a job shop, we'll we'll start there, your job shop CNC machining, you want a better program for getting younger machinist in and started quicker on your shop floor. So set aside a time in their onboarding process where they you teach them programming, you can either use some academies that are out there like Master cam, titans of CNC, there's some free courses out there where people post like CAD models, and then you can program it, or let them go to GrabCAD. Let them come up with their own design and say, Hey, I really want to make this brake pad for my car, and then help them program it that way. So that's something that you're structuring, where it's like, Hey, you're going to come in, you're going to spend two months learning Mastercam, this is something you are have to that you have to do this is what you're going to do, we have our head programmer that is going to make sure you are learning how to do 3d Adaptive milling, do all this stuff feeds and speeds. But the freedom is you bring us what you want to make, if you want to grab a power off GrabCAD if you want to help designing like a brake pad or something, that's what we're gonna do. So that's something that is structured. And it's easily it's easy to transfer that knowledge because your head programmer, he has that knowledge of programming in his head, and then he's guiding the person through a project they already want to do. You know.
Travis Miller:So how does somebody, how does somebody start starting that industry? You know, how do they how do they take that path? Or how do they be a better question? How do they find companies and organizations that are going to allow them to head walk down that path?
Jacob Sanchez:So that that is going to be something that is part- It's mostly on us, there's two different ways. So if you're a company and you want those people that are going to be on that path, and they're excited about our industry, we're assuming that they already know about the industry, go to places where they are like, there's so much of us out there that we're talking about the skills gap, right? There's this and the skills gap is usually viewed as people don't know about us. So they're not coming here. Which is true. It was more true the past 10 to 15 years and it is now okay, because if you're a business and you go to one of these organizations Like FIRST Robotics events or SkillsUSA events, that's a that's a competition with hundreds and 1000s of participants around the world. And you're telling me that if you went to your local FIRST Robotics event in any state you're in, because they're everywhere, that you're not going to find a group of kids, it's made up of kids that are in this industry and excited, but nobody's talking to them. industry doesn't go to these events, barely ever, there was an event. And I know the impact that can happen when industry goes, because I went to an event in St. Joseph Michigan, near the headquarters of Whirlpool, where you get your fridges and washer dryers and stuff. And Whirlpool sponsors this event, they had one of their representatives there, with the mic talking to these kids in the stand had, this guy had these kids screaming whirlpools name saying who wants to work at Whirlpool and all these kids were like, please look at our around like that's the power that you can have as a business going to where kids are already excited about our industry, but they don't have a guide, and be that guide for them. That that's one aspect where you're going where people already know a little bit about the industry, and you're guiding them towards you or towards us in general. The other way is where industry has to step up a little more. And it's not easy. Anything we do, do we make freakin spaceship parts, and nothing we do is easy. But all I'm saying is industry has to step up a little bit when it comes to being more visible to other young people or new people to the industry. Doesn't matter what age they are, if they're new to the industry, they can always come in, I know people that quit a therapy job and are now a marketing manager and an EDM company. But it's gonna take us stepping up on social, it's going to take us stepping up at community events. So not just like trade shows, but public community events being shown off there to a kind of mystery audience, but at least you're building visibility, and you're getting people to get that spark in them, get that click where Oh, this is something I can do. And I don't have to be an engineer, or I don't have to have a degree, or I don't have to be technical I can do like the sales, I can do marketing, I can be a project manager, like that's the conversations we need to start having in these public settings as as industry professionals.
Travis Miller:Well, it's the long game. And so it's really hard, even as a leader to do a task now that you know, will have no impact on your business in the next three to five years. This isn't about shaping the industry 10, 15 years from now. And I understand the difficulty in investing the time and money in that. But if there's not enough of us that do it now, the industry is going to suffer dramatically in the not too distant future.
Jacob Sanchez:And in the defense of all businesses and the defense of every industry sector, everybody is allowed to run their business however they want. You're the owner, that's your baby, that's what you do. If your goal in starting the company that you have was to, hey, I want this to eventually make me money. So I can retire at 50 plus 40. Plus wherever the age is, and I want to get my paycheck from this company being handed off to someone else, and I want to do my life thing. That's cool. I don't, I don't hate you for that, like do what you want to do. But if you're somebody who in their mind is like I want this company around for 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, I want this to be around when I'm dead. That is something you need to invest in. And it has to be structured like the only way a company can truly survive for those periods of time is with education, with training in place documentation that is structured and changing. As generations come in, as new thoughts come in new people come in changing that, to not just appease them, but to work with them constantly. It's a living organism like your business has to be living, breathing, and growing just like we all do. As we age and we change your business has to adapt sometimes. I think we look at it too dramatically. When we start investing in some of that stuff, and it's it we think everything has to be a one to 1.5 ratio handoff where I'm going to give you $1 And I get $1.50 back that means I made money. That's that's good business, right? I should never do a one to one Why would I give you $1 If I'm gonna get us $1 Doesn't make sense. I think we look at some things in our business when it comes to marketing education, publicity as a one to one ratio and it's not it.
Travis Miller:Yeah. So what are what are some things let's, let's focus on the people who want to build a legacy company they want what are some things that they should be doing, they should be focusing on to ensure that the industry is in a place where their legacy can thrive.
Jacob Sanchez:Yeah, I'm going to start with with ways that they need to be doing ways they need to be taking the action that they take, whether the action that you're taking is investing in a tech center, whether it's doing more posts on social media, whether it's going to more schools, the way you need to go about that action is with consistency is number one, there's two things number one is consistency. Do not think you can just do this for three months, once every three months, and you're gonna see an impact. Don't think he can do it twice a month, for three months, and you're gonna see an impact. Consistency is the biggest failure that you will face in anything but it's where you're going to grow. And my me My channel is a testament to that when I started my LinkedIn in automation, which I was a CNC machinist guy. I knew nobody in automation, I moved to Michigan new nobody here all my family's back in California. I started a LinkedIn channel not knowing what the heck, I just wanted to get out there I wanted to create again. And I stuck with it. Like if I didn't have consistency. And that doesn't mean it was all good. Like I had terrible posts. If you look back at how I would write and what I was posting about, like, it was terrible quality. But consistency saw me through consistency got me to my first 1000 followers consistency got me my first 5 million viral post. That's what happened. It wasn't that I was naturally good at this stuff. It was consistency. So please, whatever you do do to move forward with your legacy. Do it with consistency and be okay with failure. We need to start accepting failure as something to celebrate. Not something to hide from your boss. You know what I mean?
Travis Miller:I do. What was your- I think you know, because I know mine. What was your your worst video?
Jacob Sanchez:It wasn't even. I had a lot. So I gotta think of I mean, the worst. The worst one wasn't a video for me. It was a it was a meme that I tried to do, because I wanted to try to be funny. And I was like, this is a hilarious meme. It was the one where the guy pulls out like the scroll of truth. And then it has something written on it. And then he throws it. And I posted that too. I put effort into that and it got like, it got like 20 views, and I deleted it. I was so distraught. I was like wow, nobody thinks I'm funny.
Travis Miller:When I first started and this was see so this was two offices ago so this had to be at least seven or eight years ago, maybe even longer. And I wanted to start making video job posts and are remember I was made a video job post for a plant manager for a dairy company out in Nebraska or something. And I was I was so animated and I'm leaning into the camera I got my face up like this close and I'm just stipulating like a like a Gallagher up there where did I come up with Gallagher Who this new this is gonna know who Gallagher is. But anyway and then I posted it and I don't even think I had it on LinkedIn. I'm not sure you there was even video content at LinkedIn at the point but it was on YouTube two views and then I thought about like tell me a dairy plant manager in Nebraska who is on YouTube searching for for job postings and like that was the that was probably not a good use of my time. But consistency is the key gotta start somewhere.
Jacob Sanchez:So yeah, yeah, consistency, consistency is a big one. And then the second one is going through trials. And a trial is not trying something it failing. And that you not doing that again. That is not a trial that is seeing something that failed you not liking it and running away. trials or doing something seeing that it failed, see where you can make a 5% 10% adjustment and doing it again and doing it again. Insanity is only when you repeat the same thing and are expecting a different outcome is when something should be labeled insanity. This is not this is experimentation. If this is trial and error, this is consistency. You're also learning consistency in this process. And it is going to end if you collect that data and actually make changes, it is going to change the way that you do your business. And this is I'm talking from a marketing content creation standpoint. But even machining, even when I was a machinist, and I was learning feeds and speeds, I would set up my feeds and speeds. Go run my steel when I was learning how to machine 316 stainless. I'm roughing it. And I'm running and I'm like, okay, my feet per two says probably favorite tooth for that was probably like a point 045 When I was first starting out, so not that aggressive aluminum can go up to point 01 Thau. But this was 316 stainless and then I would just on the Haas control panels, you have a little 10% button on your spindle speed and your feed rate. And I would just hit I just hit the button. 10% I'd listen. Okay, sounds good. 10% I'd listen, it doesn't sound good. I go 1020. So I kept going up, I didn't go back to what I thought sounded good. I went higher. And I was like, oh, that sounds great. I had to get past that point of garbage. To get to this really good stuff. If I would have went back, I wouldn't have been able to get here. And sometimes when I was doing that, breaking in Mill, then you bump it back 10 20% Then you run it. That's trial and error. And that's something that I think a lot of businesses can learn to incorporate into their business development, their product development is being okay with doing trial and error and recording that data. Don't don't just do it. And then forget about it. Like actually record that stuff.
Travis Miller:You still got your hand in it all? You still do any machining.
Jacob Sanchez:Oh, dude, season two episode one of how to sew my'How To Series' went great last year, season one. They loved this so much for doing season two, doubling the amount of episodes. Episode One was at a machine shop, NTL industries in Detroit. He's running Nitronic 50 and exotic material. I'm there with the Seco tool representative, the shop owner, and we're talking shop dude, like he's running his feeds and speeds. And I was like, Hey, I've never ran Nitronic 50. But like, I've ran titanium and eco like, why aren't you go in this, like, what's your feed per tooth and he was like, oh I'm bumping it up. And we started chatting about it. So when I go like film, when I host certain things, or when I go speak at machine shop programs and stuff around the country, like I still get in it. I don't just walk in there with like a suit and tie like in a button up. And pretend I don't know anything like I get in there phase. And I think that's a that's something that I make sure that I can do in any industry. I'm not an expert in anything. There's various levels. I am a damn good machinist, I can really battle it out with anybody when it comes to five access programming, ball tracking, I am very good. On a lot of other industries, like plastics, I'll know enough to be dangerous. I took an additive manufacturing course from Oxford University and being dangerous I feel like is when you can go up to that expert or somebody that's evolving in their career. But they that's what they do for a job every day. And you can challenge them. I think being dangerous is being able to have enough information, the right information to go up and be like, hey, like, why aren't you doing this? Like, have you thought about this and get their wheels turning? I think that's something that I do very well as make sure that I stay dangerous at least.
Travis Miller:Where do you see the industry going? If somebody's new or new ish in it? Where do you think they should be focusing their efforts so that they can continue to be dangerous in three to five years?
Jacob Sanchez:So I think I think some really thriving spaces right now. I'm in the robotics field. And automation has blown up quite a bit just since I've been in the industry. Back in 2020. I filmed the CRX from FANUC getting unveiled for the first time in America. People didn't care about Cobots back then even for a lot. They've been around way longer than that. But now people are really adopting Cobots I think you're seeing more. You're seeing more machine shops venture into like the the ITAR registration type of jobs which is like government jobs and stuff. So I think if you start learning about ITAR, registration, ISO, certain ISO certifications, and you can help level up the shop in that way. That's going to be a big deal because those jobs are nuts. Not everybody can take them not everybody can do them. I'll come and that's going to open up why are they so well because well, because those are you can only get those jobs with those certifications, certain type of ISO certification And then the ITAR is for not just government jobs, it's it's government, aerospace, certain medical, and it's due to the high precision, the exotic materials, the industry that's going on, like if you're making, what do they call the titanium kneecaps, okay, like that gets made at a job shop. But that can't just get made at a mom and pop shop, like you have to have a certain set of requirements and the documentation for this stuff, too. Like when we did aerospace, the documentation is like, this thick, and it has to have every signature, everything has to be perfect. So you can't like fudge that stuff. When you're a machine shop of that caliber, there is no getting around those things like on some other jobs, where you like, Oh, I'm going to skip this inspection and do every five instead of every one or something. So I think getting into that, or helping a job shop or a business get into that I think you bring a lot of value. I t i t and cybersecurity I'm not in, but I've heard a lot of conversations lately about just that sector in general, I think that's going to be a big deal. Not something I'm in but something I think people should look out for.
Travis Miller:Yeah, I see, cybersecurity keeps getting crazier and crazier and more and more lucrative to take advantage of companies. And I just think it's going to become a much bigger problem unless more people are investing the time and getting good at it.
Jacob Sanchez:Yes. I agree. I have no idea about that sector. But I've been hearing a lot of conversations about it.
Travis Miller:Well, I'm amazed we've made it, it's 32 minutes into a podcast focusing on technology without talking about artificial intelligence. What do you see that? How do you see that affecting the future of this industry?
Jacob Sanchez:So it's, it's a little different for me. And I guess that's why I don't I don't bring it up a lot. Because people's perceptions of aI have just been interesting, like, like people have been branding AI, like vision systems in our industry for the past, what, like four years or something three years. So I think I got desensitized to it early. On the let's start from like a marketing content perspective, I use AI all the time, I'll have aI helped me write a baseline for like, quotes, proposals to guide my thoughts. Like I write stuff down so much in general, that when I can use AI as like a sounding board, for helping me get what's in my head out, like I'm not, when I use AI, I don't take from it, I help it take from me. So the information that I'm trying to get out of this AI isn't just what it spits out, I'm trying to get what I have in here, I just can't do it without a sounding board and somebody to like, get my ball rolling, you know. So I use that in the content marketing business development world. I'll have it helped me like, hey, what do you think about this idea that I'm working with this company on? Helping them get unlimited vacation time, and blah, blah, blah. So I'll bounce ideas off like that. When it comes to our industry, man, I mean, you've seen, you've seen smart, intelligent vision systems for a while now you've seen vision systems that are able to for pick and place but for 3d been picking you've seen, you can teach vision systems, a lot of stuff where you say, hey, look for this part in this orientation. And if it's not in that orientation, take a picture and make it that orientation. So I wrote a code one time where I loaded this thing in, and I was like, look for this, grab it. And the robot, depending how the part would come in, it would move on its own. To pick up that part. I didn't train it to do the motions that it would do to grab it, it did it itself. So that kind of stuffs been around for a while. I think companies need to not look at AI as something that like is going to replace a person. I think companies need to look at AI as people using AI AI is good or good to replace the person. me as a user of AI will replace somebody that is not that's how you should be looking at AI.
Travis Miller:Yeah, you're not you're not the first person I've I've heard put it that way. But I think that's a really good way to think about it like anything. It's it's a tool. You know, I think about it in terms of the recruiting industry, which I can speak to a lot better than then in the industrial technology industry, but you know, for, there's always something that's going to come along, that's going to kill the recruiting industry. Job boards are going to kill the recruiting industry, Career Builder is going to kill the recruiting industry, LinkedIn is going to kill the recruiting industry, virtual interviews are going to kill the recruiting industry, artificial intelligence is going to kill the recruiting industry. Nothing's killed it yet. But people that haven't adapted to those new technologies are the ones that have have really struggled to succeed. And I think it's, it's just embracing a new tool. But the people that embrace it and use it well will have an advantage over people that don't.
Jacob Sanchez:Yeah, and that's, that's something that you see a lot with, when I'm talking about like education, I'm talking about training, like the same exact thing, like that's just another asset that you can use to develop your business. And people that do that and invest in that are going to perform better than people that don't you know what I mean? Like, it's not just a, it's not a dream of mine, that more companies start getting involved with education and training, internal and external, I'm not talking just reaching out to people, I'm talking about training the people, you have well, to keep them. That's not like a fantasy of mine. Like I'm telling people, like if you do not do this, like you are going to fail, not now, but five years, 10 years, 15 years from now, I'm already seeing a big wave just this year alone. And I've been talking about this way for the past two years, this year, you're seeing a lot more shows and trade shows invest in education initiatives, whether that's them announcing they're having bigger pavilions, they're having a longer education date, you're seeing this start to come out more from the tradeshow perspective. And it's only going to grow from there.
Travis Miller:Why do you think that is? Why do you think this, this wave is finally starting to crest?
Jacob Sanchez:They because people are finally figuring it out? I think people are finally, I think people are finally seeing that, oh, robots are filling these gaps for jobs that we can't get people to fill. So that's cool. We're starting to get robots in there. But robots aren't going to help you do your sales, your marketing your project management, because again, AI can't replace that stuff. Not fully. So you still need bodies doing these things. And there are no bodies that have the skill set that you want out there right now. So you need to, you need to do something different. You need to move things around internally, to have more development externally coming in. That's something that I've been harping on more the past, maybe like six months, I realized that I was talking so much about reaching out to education, doing stuff with schools doing so for training, and I kind of forgot about, like, it's more than just about the kids. Like when I say kids, and like the reason I've started my NFG kids website, our mission kids website, but the kid word for me isn't just like an age. It's like a It's a personality, almost like it's like a feeling like I believe like the some of the my favorite old old people and I call them old because they're actually 70 All right, they're not they're not 40, they're seven years old. My favorite ones I've met in the industry, they're like kids still. And that shouldn't be an insult that that should be a compliment for any age. So I just wanted to harp on that real quick, too, is that we need to not just be looking at training, the kids getting the kids excited, but we also need to be focusing on our people, and how can we provide a better environment for them to grow professionally and help the business grow as well?
Travis Miller:Well, it's, it goes all the way back to the very beginning of this conversation is companies that can embrace the kid that have a culture of play and autonomy that allow people to enjoy the work that they're doing, not just the results of their work. I think those are the ones that are able to attract the best people and allow those best people to thrive.
Jacob Sanchez:Imagine you didn't have certain workers because a lot of businesses they have Oh, Joe is always angry or Joe's feisty or something. Joe goes home and doesn't want to talk about work with his family and kids because it makes him mad and before Daddy gets home Mommy has to say oh don't don't mention work to Dad remember this just don't talk like why would you want that for a person like, like even not wanting them for a person nobody should ever have to go through that like not a family not a person. You should never hate your job so much that the mere mention of it and sites rage and I'm not saying that everybody has to be all hunky dory and love their jobs and blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, I'm just saying they shouldn't have to hate it with every fiber of their being. And nobody wants to work every single day for the rest of their lives. All of us would love to go to Cancun, we go to love to Europe whenever we want and stuff, but we shouldn't dread work every single day, we shouldn't dread going to our eight to five, nine to five, whatever you do, and then just waiting to get home for 10 hours a day, eight hours a day, that not stress that puts on your body and on your mind. Imagine if we can cultivate workplaces where it's just enjoyable, where it's just a part of life. It's something that you can either choose to do, and have a good time doing it or you can go out on your own. And you can be a freelancer, you can be an adventurer, you can go and try doing capitalist things, entrepreneurial things. So I just think that's something we need to start feeding it to more especially in our industry, man we've been we've been kept in the shadows for so long.
Travis Miller:Well, it's evident that you certainly don't detest your job, so.
Jacob Sanchez:No, I love what I get to do. I love the people that I get to be around the adventures I get to have the conversations that I have. The the emotions that I have, man, I've had people come to me with tears in their eyes before I've had DMS of people saying that, like you talked about this mental health thing, and it really helped me and now I make like mental health tiktoks And then the emotions I get, man, as I'm getting older, I'm only 25. But as I'm getting older, I'm finding myself more emotional. When I really live my passion now and I talk about certain things. Like at the end of news and brews last week, this awesome event for ATX West, IMU West, incredible team came together for interviews and conversations with industry on the shop floor. At the end of it, I asked my directors like hey, do you mind if I gave a speech did I was fine. Before this speech, I start talking and telling the people about how this may be a job to us, like you came here to just do your job. But to people out there to somebody out there, like this could have changed their life. And I can't point to you and say it was that person it was that person we changed that person's life. But I know for a fact something we did today this week is going to change somebody's life now, a month from now a year from now. It will affect them and like take pride in that and I start getting all choked up and then I had to stop talking. I was like alright, everybody go back to work.
Travis Miller:Yeah. Yeah. Well, Jacob, this has been great. I really appreciate it you're you're really a tremendous advocate for the industry and the people in it and creating environments where people really have the opportunity to thrive at great companies. So kudos to you my man. If people want to reach out to you what's the what's the best way for them to track you down?
Jacob Sanchez:Yeah, LinkedIn is like texting for me, like DM on LinkedIn just Jacob Sanchez. You'll see this mug next to like a little spotlight with a microphone. That's texting for me and then I have a TikTok now, Jacob makes MFG kid where I'm starting to do more just fun, creative videos on there. But those are the best ways right now.
Travis Miller:Well, hopefully your your TikToks get better traction than your scroll memes.
Jacob Sanchez:It's already doing very good. So I'm happy.
Travis Miller:This has been HIRED! The Podcast, thanks for listening everybody. Make sure to subscribe if you want to make sure you're hearing the latest podcasts. Big thank you to our producer Noah Cuff. I'm Travis Miller with Jacob Sanchez today this has been HIRED! The Podcast talk to you later.
