Mike Rowe on work, passion, opportunity, and the keys to a good life.
In a recent
episode of “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek and Mike Rowe discuss opportunities in the trades, the lack of skilled workers, work ethic, and the meaning of a productive life. Mr. Rowe is the Emmy award-winning host and producer of the TV Series “Dirty Jobs” and founder and CEO of the
mikeroweWORKS Foundation.
Jan Jekielek: Mike, you’ve said something that a lot of people found controversial. You said that you shouldn’t follow your passion.
Mike Rowe: People hated that. I didn’t say they shouldn’t be passionate, I said you should take your passion wherever you go and not just follow it around like a dream. I learned many lessons from “Dirty Jobs,” but the big one was the day I realized that so many of the people we profiled were passionate.
They were happy. They were having a weirdly good time, which confused viewers. We featured at least 350 dirty jobbers, and probably 40 or 50 of them were multi-millionaires. Nobody knew it because they were often covered in filth and because we never made a big deal about it.
Time and again, after talking with septic tank workers, bridge builders, and this endless variety of odd jobbers, I found people who didn’t follow their passion into that career, but rather followed opportunity. Once they got the opportunity, they figured out how to be really good at it. Then, at some point, they figured out how to love it and to be passionate about it.
Mr. Jekielek: I’ve heard that people aren’t working as well since the pandemic. Have you heard about this?
Mr. Rowe: Everybody watching this program has been to a restaurant in the last year-and-a-half and seen a sign that says, “We’re sorry for your wait. We can’t find enough people to be fully staffed. Thanks for your patience.”
Yet right now, 7.2 million able-bodied men in the prime of their working lives are not only not working, but aren’t looking for work. They’re home 2,000 hours a year looking at screens. So something is amiss in the wide world of work.
In my organization, we talk a lot about work ethic. In fact, our scholarship program is called the Work Ethic Scholarship Program.
What is work ethic? It’s enthusiasm. It’s delayed gratification. It’s a positive attitude. It’s all those things that some kids today look at with suspicion when they’re told they have to pay their dues. If they’re told they have to start at the bottom, that rankles them and I’m not sure why.
Mr. Jekielek: The Smithsonian had this graphic that described whiteness as a pejorative. It listed these white traits that we should be suspicious of, which included hard work, being on time, and other things related to a good work ethic.
Mr. Rowe: It’s not just the Smithsonian. Every major company in the country has been pulled into ESG [Environmental, Social and Governance] and DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion]. I'll give them every benefit of the doubt and assume it’s as well intended as it could be, but it’s also one more way to virtue signal. I have a buddy who works for a big recruiter, and he’s placing people in multimillion dollar positions. The initial qualifications for those positions now all begin with gender, race, age, ethnicity, and sexual preference, which is going to impact everything and everyone.
Mr. Jekielek: Tell us about those scholarships your organization is offering.
Mr. Rowe: Today, there are close to 11 million open job positions, most of which don’t require a four-year degree. Student loan debt now stands at $1.7 trillion, but our society is still arguing for a four-year degree for everyone. We’re still warning parents that if their kids don’t go to college, they’ll wind up turning a wrench as some sort of vocational consolation prize.
What people don’t understand is that you can make six figures welding with no college debt, within a couple of years of getting your certification. There are good jobs like this for electricians, pipefitters, mechanics, and others in the trades.
And another big lesson from “Dirty Jobs” was that these people are happy and living balanced lives. Not everybody is a millionaire, obviously. Some work their 40-hour weeks, coach Little League, and go to the PTA and church. They live a prosperous life because they mastered a skill that was in demand, not because they went to college.
We award Work Ethic Scholarships to the young man or woman who says, “I’m not going to follow my passion, I’m going to take it along with me. I’m going to show up early and stay late, and make myself indispensable. I’m going to make my boss love me.” You show me that person, and I will train them. We started the foundation on Labor Day, 2008. Since then, we’ve given away close to $8 million and helped about 1,800 people learn a skill that’s in demand.
Mr. Jekielek: As we finish up, do you have anything to add about the mikeroweWorks Foundation and how you think you’re turning the tide?
Mr. Rowe: The goal of the foundation isn’t just to raise money to train people so they can work and live a productive life. The big goal is to have them share their stories with the world. People will listen to the 25-year-old Mexican kid who’s making $140,000 a year in his chosen trade. They'll listen to the 27-year-old female welder who’s making the same.
My job is to tell the stories of those who applied for and received a Work Ethic Scholarship, to talk to people like you and challenge some of the stigmas and stereotypes about certain jobs. Success can look different from what we’ve been led to believe. One version of that look is a skilled trade.
This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.
