SkillsUSA: Skilled Trades Careers, Competition, and Opportunities with Brooke Gatchell

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:00:00

And what's really interesting about that welding sculpture competition is that not only are they creating this beautiful piece of art and they're taking the skills that they have learned in their programs and demonstrating it in a really gorgeous and visual way. But there's so much more to that competition. They have to have a notebook prepared a certain way that meet the technical standards that the committee has put across to them. So the notebook is getting judged and really has to be perfect if you want that top slot on the podium getting gold.

Andrew Brown [: 00:00:35

Hi, I'm Andrew Brown. You're listening to the Lost Star of the Skilled Trades podcast, a show that shines the spotlight on careers in the skilled trades that are high paying, honorable, rewarding and fulfilling. The trades are the backbone of the economy that keep us running. And without them, our world would sink, cease to exist. Today we have a special guest, Brooke Gachel, social media specialist at SkillsUSA. Welcome, Brooke, to the show.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:01:10

Hey. Hi. Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

Andrew Brown [: 00:01:12

It is great for you to be here because I'm super excited to talk about SkillsUSA. And before I kind of get into it, I just want to give a some clarity, some context to it for the audience who doesn't know about skills. USA and especially the championships, they take about 6,000 to 6,500 kids and they compete down in Atlanta. And I look at it as like the Olympics for the skilled trades, where they compete in welding, robotics, carpentry and a lot of other trades. And it spanned over a handful of days. I was down there, it was super hot. I remember it's like 100 degrees in Atlanta. I'm like in a jacket and I'm walking around there.

Andrew Brown [: 00:01:51

I must have did 20,000 steps a day. SkillsUSA, tell us about the mission of SkillsUSA and what it's all about.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:01:59

So SkillsUSA is the number one workforce development organization for students in the country. We really work to empower our students with the career readiness skills needed in order for them to be workforce ready right out of high school.

Andrew Brown [: 00:02:15

How many trades does SkillsUSA in the competition that they have now? This goes on throughout the year. It's not just down in Atlanta. It's. It's regional. I guess it's per state, but how many different trades does it touch?

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:02:28

All 16 career clusters, if you can believe it. SkillsUSA is incredibly diverse, whether it come to the students and educators, but also the skill trades that we cover. Like you said, we have everything from welding to baking to photography. Anything you can really think of, we have a competition for it, and it even Goes further than that. Not only do we have the skilled trade competitions, but we also have leadership competitions as well. And these are consisting of job interview, job skill demonstration, which one of my favorites, because you can think of it as doing a YouTube tutorial. These students, dependent on what trade area they're in, they will do a demonstration of a skill. So if you're in culinary or say if you're in baking and you want to demonstrate between three and five minutes how to make a rosebud out of frosting, you would do it start to finish while demonstrating the skill, teaching and instructing the judges on how to do so.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:03:24

There's so many different opportunities in SkillsUSA if you don't want to be on the ground with your boots on and with the tools in hand. We have so many leadership opportunities as well.

Andrew Brown [: 00:03:36

And when does the competition start? Does it start the first of year? And then throughout the year, whoever the winners are, they go to the next competition. How does that work?

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:03:46

Typically it is different state by state. A lot of the classrooms will definitely start the first of the year. A lot of schools will have school wide competitions dependent on interest, of course. Whoever wins those gets to go to regionals. Whoever wins the regionals gets to go to states. And of course your gold medalist at state goes to the national leadership and skills conference in Atlanta. So it's really dependent on the size of the state, the size of your school. Texas has multiple regions, so it's incredibly, incredibly competitive there.

Andrew Brown [: 00:04:19

I equate it to the Olympics because it's the best of the best and it filters out certain people. And then you get down to the championships. I saw it in the kids faces like they were like game on. And they were like locked in and locked, loaded. And I remember going by the welding fabrication area and just watching them and seeing all the equipment there and I got to see actually what they made. They made all these different. Someone made an owl. I was like, how do you do that? That's talent.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:04:48

I'm still trying to figure it out. Our students are some of the most impressive and many others would attest to it in the country, in the world even. Of course, as we just experienced, we had a bronze medal winner internationally at the World Skills Competition in Lyon, France. So it is true, we have some of the best in the world. And what's really interesting about that welding sculpture competition is that not only are they creating this beautiful piece of art and they're taking the skills that they have learned in their programs and demonstrating it in a really gorgeous and visual way. But there's so much more to that competition. They have to have a notebook prepared a certain way that meet the technical standards that the committee has put across to them. So the notebook is getting judged and really has to be perfect if you want that top slot on the podium getting gold.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:05:40

And not only that, there is an interview portion. So you have to show your technical skills, your workplace skills and your personal skills in order to do well in that competition.

Andrew Brown [: 00:05:50

Now how do you prep for something like that? Because again, I go back to the Olympics, like you're trying to hone your skills in and you're working on it, you know, monthly and like even the whole year. How do these kids work on that? And then on top of their own schoolwork. That's a lot of work.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:06:06

It's really dependent on the school chapter and the student as well as the competition. We'll go back to the welding sculpture. That sculpture is something usually they won with it at the state conference and then they ship it to the national conference. So they really need to focus on interview and perfecting their notebook at that point. So most of the work, the heavy lifting is already done there. But when it comes to something like culinary arts or baking or carpentry, cabinet making, the most important thing to practice is time management. As you saw, for each portion of competition, they're only given a certain allotment of time. And if you don't finish this phase within that amount of time, it really doesn't set you up for success.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:06:50

So time management, overcoming obstacles is the best thing that students can do to get practice, especially in those time constrained competitions.

Andrew Brown [: 00:07:00

And what's the typical age range of a competitor?

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:07:04

That's a fantastic question. Because it's anywhere from 10 to 11 to 99. We have had competitors who were 85 years old in culinary arts. We really celebrate our post secondary members and our lifelong learners. A lot of our post secondary students are retired veterans who are coming back and learning new skills to get back into the workforce. We have so many retired veterans. It's never too late to learn a skill. It's never too late to change your path.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:07:35

And now more than ever, it's so needed. So if you needed a sign to go into the skilled trades, here it is.

Andrew Brown [: 00:07:41

I love that that age is not a factor here. If it's a veteran, someone who's in their 70s or 80s is coming to compete in a trade that it's just never too late. Because sometimes I get pushback on social media that, you know, there's a certain age where it's just. It's too late. And I'm always like, it isn't too late. I know of a handful of people who are in the trades who are older, that have gotten in the trades because the other path that they were in, they were like, this is wrong for me. So it's great that the age range is all over the place. I remember if 11 or 12, and at that young, I don't even know what I was doing at 11 and 12.

Andrew Brown [: 00:08:20

I'd had no direction at that point. But they know that they want to do a work with their hands is outstanding.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:08:26

And we in the past 10 years have integrated middle school more and more and more. Everyone's really inspiring in their own right, but those students, especially because you see the future in them. When you feel so down on the worlds sometimes, and you see these students who are passionate, energetic, a lot of them in stem too, it gives you so much hope. It really does. And something that we say at SkillsUSA is there has never been a better time to be skilled than right now.

Andrew Brown [: 00:08:56

I'm a big advocate as a whole for the trades, and I'm always advocating for the trades, whether it's on social media, whether it's on this podcast, whether it's on a live event, or I'm standing on stage across the country and speaking about the skilled trades. But the amount of energy, the advocacy that is there, and I see all the kids in their. In their red jackets, and unfortunately, I couldn't make it. There was a couple events outside of that. I think there was a couple of parties or I was around there, and I was just in awe of watching these kids. And I was also watching the construction side. They were building these structures. I guess they give them a blueprint, and after a few days, they have like three or four people on their team.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:09:34

I think you're talking about teamworks. I consider that to be one of the hardest competitions. It's really hard to rely on others and trust others in a competition. It's not just you who is working on time management, and you have different skill sets. You have carpentry, plumbing, masonry. I don't know how those students accomplish what they do in only 48 hours, but you saw they got it done. They found a way. Those are the students who will really be set up for success.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:10:04

Learning how to manage your time is probably one of the hardest skills, no matter what industry you're in. And in SkillsUSA, you learn it hard and fast. It's fight or flight, and I don't Think there's any better way than to learn, like right on the job?

Andrew Brown [: 00:10:19

It's time crunch there. Like you said, it's only a certain amount of time that you get to build the actual structure, but it sets you up for future success. All these skills that you're learning, and especially during this competition, that could be used into real world examples. So what do you see what happens to the winners? Tell us a little bit about what happens when you win.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:10:40

If we're talking about the moment, a lot of tears, a lot of smiles. It varies so much across so many different things depending on what you're talking about. But competition to competition is dependent on the type of sponsorships and partnerships that we have. For instance, if you win first place in culinary or baking or restaurant service, you get a full tuition scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America in New York or Johnson and Wales in either Providence or Charlotte. So by winning that competition, you're set up for two to four years tuition free, which really means debt free upon graduation of post secondary education. These look like job offers. Again, it's really dependent of that partnership. And the SkillsUSA National Conference competition floor is the place that companies want to go to recruit.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:11:30

You can see them in person, in the flesh, exhibit the skills that industry needs and demands. And they're doing it to an exceptional point. They really are the best of the best. So if you're a company listening and you are trying to fill jobs, the national conference in Atlanta is the place that you want to be if you want these students who are hirable reliable and they will come to you prepared with the career readiness skills needed to be successful in any field.

Andrew Brown [: 00:12:02

Like you said, it's the best of the best of the pool. And some of these larger companies that were there that were represented has the pick of the litter of all these individuals. This is the next generation and these are the really good people in welding and carpentry and robotics and other trades just to be represented down there. When you say SkillsUSA, people light up. And I remember being at a vocational school in New Jersey and I was walking through different departments and I walked through one of the departments and they had the SkillsUSA flag on there and it was like a badge of honor when you win. It really is.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:12:37

I have been in SkillsUSA for 12 years, been through the motions. I was a chapter, state and national officer. I've been a competitor and I've been an advisor. And through my experiences, both student and professional, it felt really nice getting medals as a student. It was exhilarating. It was gratifying. It was motivating. What felt better? And I'm going to try not to cry here, the only thing that felt better than that is training students to then go on and win those medals.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:13:10

There's no better feeling. So advisors and instructors absolutely feel the sense of pride. And it's not really for their own ego, but it's for, hey, the energy and time that I put changed this student's life. And oftentimes the lives of students that we're changing are the ones who really need it. CTE and SkillsUSA is transformative. I've heard many stories, but I personally have had students who were not going to graduate high school, and their one motivator was making it to the national conference. And guess what? They graduated high school. They made it to the national conference.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:13:49

There's thousands and thousands of stories just like that. And SkillsUSA provides a community that is really hard to find other places. Everyone has this sense of understanding because all the time we're always promoting the skill trades, and all the time we're always fighting against the narrative that it's for students who don't want to go to college, it's for students who can't complete their normal coursework. So when we all come together singing the same song, it's a great feeling.

Andrew Brown [: 00:14:22

And I feel a passion for you. I know you were getting emotional. When you speak to a lot of people about a SkillsUSA, they get emotional, especially if they've competed it before, they've won, or they maybe came in second or third, they get really emotional. But when they talk about it, they just have that sense of pride. You're talking about SkillsUSA. How does someone get involved? If you are, you're thinking about SkillsUSA, but you just don't know much about how do you get involved?

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:14:49

In order to be a member of SkillsUSA, you need to be a member of a chapter. So really it would come down to district and administrative support of getting that chapter up and started in the district, or the Career and Technical Education Center. If you're an instructor educator who wants to invite SkillsUSA and fully embrace it into the school, the first place to start is administration and really explain to them what the ROI is around SkillsUSA. The ROI can look different for different people. In Rhode island, the rules changed. Where usually students would have to go to the school that they live in, the district of, the rules changed. If their district CTE center didn't have a specific program, they could go to a different CTE center across the state. Their pick for that program.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:15:41

So then the schools started becoming competitive with each other because they want these students to come into their school and be a part of their district. SkillsUSA is so wonderful for that because you know for a fact that these students, by being a part of SkillsUSA, which is integral with the career and technical education programs, they are going to come out with those readiness skills ready to go. They have the stuff they need to be successful. You know, medals and banners look really good. They look really good hung up in a school, if you're touring it. They look really good on the newspaper. It's really like in sports, those championship flags that they wave. SkillsUSA, we are the champions of the skilled trades.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:16:29

We really are. Another thing that I really love about SkillsUSA and why I think a lot of people are attracted to it, is that celebration piece. A lot of the students who are in CTE aren't recognized the way the athletes are. And that's why we create a national signing day. Usually happens first week of May. We have signing day for our SkillsUSA members who are going into apprenticeship, post secondary education, studying a trade, or going straight into the world of work. They're signing on with a local union or a local company, whatever it may be. So I truly believe that SkillsUSA is the largest celebration of the skilled trades.

Andrew Brown [: 00:17:10

It certainly is. And I can imagine it was just apprenticeship week last week. Exciting to see all the different apprenticeships out there and just the support. I mean, you know, the statistic probably better than I do when it comes to the shortage with 40% retiring over the next five or 10 years. When you're at the show, you don't feel that. You just don't feel it. I mean, obviously when you look at the whole picture, you start to see, yes, a lot of people in the trades are older and then they're retiring. I even had somebody who just did H Vac work in my house.

Andrew Brown [: 00:17:43

He was retiring and he was saying, we're looking for people in H Vac, but we can't find them. And I was talking about SkillsUSA and he just didn't know about SkillsUSA. But you can find a ton of kids who are interested, who are the next generation coming up at SkillsUSA, who have tremendous skills to really do well. And on top of it, they also have the soft skills as well. Because that's the other side of it, that's not always taught.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:18:07

And that's why the framework is so important. Not only does it create a common language between the students, educators in business and industry, it really sets the Standard sets the bar on how to assess what skills they need, how far they are in attaining them, and then goal setting as well in order to really hone those in. And we break it down by three components. Technical skills, grounded in academics, which is safety and health. Those skills that you're learning in your CTE programs, whatever it may be. Depending on the trade, we could go on and on and on, or computer literacy, because computers now are needed in almost every single thing that we do. And then you have your workplace skills. Teamwork, leadership, multicultural sensitivity, awareness, planning, managing, organization.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:19:00

And then my favorite personally is the personal skills component. Integrity, responsibility. If you hire a SkillsUSA member or alumni, you know that they will come fully packaged and ready with those career readiness skills. Whether they be the personal, workplace and the technical skills, they really are the full package.

Andrew Brown [: 00:19:23

And they can probably demand more money as well because they have that skill set.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:19:28

I encourage it.

Andrew Brown [: 00:19:30

I mean, why not? You're getting individuals who have competed and the ones obviously that have placed as well, that they have that skill set. So it is possible it almost exceeds or extends your package overall. But even from a wage standpoint, that could possibly increase your worth by having that certification or having winning that particular competition says a lot, pulls a lot.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:19:56

Of weight for a student in CTE. SkillsUSA is a fantastic experience, but it also is the best resume builder. In order to Compete in a SkillsUSA competition, they are required to submit a resume. So in Every program that SkillsUSA offers, students are constantly improving themselves, whether it be intrinsically or within having a resume. Knowing how to write a cover letter, shake a hand, speak publicly, be professional. I think we're finding a lot of times that students don't know how to separate their professional and personal life. But not SkillsUSA students. They know how to do that.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:20:37

But yeah, like the skilled trades are already high paying jobs, but SkillsUSA students definitely are set apart because of what you call soft skills.

Andrew Brown [: 00:20:50

If you have both, you have the package of both technical and soft skills. I mean, you can do very well and you can move up that ladder relatively quickly with all those skills. Tell us, when is the next championship competition coming up? In 2025. That people, if they wanted to go, where is it and when is it?

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:21:07

If you're out there and you want a taste of SkillsUSA and you don't want to wait until June, which I understand. I'm excited too. You can look at your state association's website and see when the state competitions are. They start at the end of January and they go usually through April. A Lot of them are open to the public. Or if you're someone in industry and you want to volunteer your time, everyone is always looking for judges. If you want to be a part of the action and see the students firsthand, up close, and maybe even hire them, that is the place to go if you would like to see it. The millions of square feet of competition space, the largest showcase of skilled trades in the country.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:21:49

Absolutely. Come down to Atlanta, Georgia. It'll be June 22nd through the 27th.

Andrew Brown [: 00:21:56

I will definitely be down there around that time frame. I might even be actually at the welding Fabrication competition. I believe Tom Kostreba, if I'm pronouncing that right, runs the competition there. And I won't be there as a judge, but there as support and maybe speaking to kids. So I'll definitely be roaming around and getting my steps in the entire day, but taking it all in. And also had a chance to stop by Skills Jam as well, which is the booth. It was somewhere in the show they were going around interviewing kids and talking about the opportunities in the trades, which is great. Got to see everything that was going on there.

Andrew Brown [: 00:22:36

Now. The tools of the trade. This has been an amazing conversation. But before we leave the studio today, what is one of your special tools of the trade? Actionable step that someone can take to support the SkillsUSA mission if they wanted to.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:22:56

There is nothing more valuable in this world than time. If you're a parent or an industry member, your time means the world to everyone in SkillsUSA. If that means you're assisting in fundraising efforts so students can get to the national competition in Atlanta. Or if you're an industry member volunteering your time at a local, state or national competition, it goes such a long way. It is so appreciated. And then you're there to witness firsthand the CTE and SkillsUSA experience. So then you can become an ambassador of the skilled trades. And so that together that shared message will be amplified and we can really, really, really, really turn around the outlook on the skilled trades, which means a smaller skills gap in the future, which also means a structurally sound country where there's prosperous economic growth.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:23:52

I don't think people understand how far it goes. Not only is it affecting the lives of young people, but but it is affecting our day to day lives in this country. If we don't have our skilled tradespeople, we don't have a future. It is so true. So make sure that you are spreading the message. You're taking the time to listen to students and their stories and then amplifying their stories. And then for students, man, same deal. I think it's really important for students to tell their stories, to be very open about it and willing to share.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:24:28

A lot of our students can be really shy, but sometimes they don't realize how loud their message resonates with people. No matter the age, no matter where they come from, SkillsUSA is the best. We are the number one workforce development organization for students in the country. You can tell that we're successful in our mission by the quality of the students that come out of these programs. You can tell how impactful it is by all of the alumni who come and support us year after year after year. So just do it. Get involved, take that first step and come join us.

Andrew Brown [: 00:25:04

Brooke, those are great steps. I mean, if you want to give, you can fundraise or you can give support to the skilled trades organization. You can volunteer your time. I'm volunteering my time. I just want to be there to support people in the trades. You said it. Without people in the skilled trades, and I even say it when I start the podcast, that the world would cease to exist, which is true. We need the men and women, the next generation, getting into the trades.

Andrew Brown [: 00:25:31

You need to advocate it to the next generation so they see the opportunities and the opportunities are there. And SkillsUSA is a great way to show off your skills in front of potential employers who are looking for top tier people in the trade. So it's great if you want to get down there and support it any way that you can. If people want to find out more information about SkillsUSA, what website, social media, what's the best way to find out more information?

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:25:58

Yeah, our website is full of any resource that you could possibly need, whether you're a student, parent, educator, or industry member. That will be ww.skillsusa.org if you would like to get a sense of the multiple offerings of programming that SkillsUSA has, our Instagram page is a great place to go. And that'll be hillsusa. On Instagram, we have coverage of our Washington Leadership Training Institute. We have coverage of when we just went to Worldskills, as well as coverage of national leadership and Skills conference. So if you want like a first person perspective on what that looks like, what we are, who we are, Instagram page is the place. And I'm not just saying that because I manage it.

Andrew Brown [: 00:26:44

There's a lot of resources out there. Definitely check out the website, check out social media, and just get a breath of what it's all about. Once you see those red coats, it's super exciting. Brooke, it's been great having you on the show. Thank you for being here.

Brooke Gatchell [: 00:26:59

Thank you so much, Andrew. It was nice to meet you and.

Andrew Brown [: 00:27:01

Thank you to our listeners. If you're looking for a dynamic keynote speaker to elevate your next event, head over to andrewbrown.net and review some of my speaking topics. Topics Trades awareness, career exploration, advocacy, and addressing the trade shortage. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss another episode. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to the Lost Art of the Skilled Trades. Visit us@AndrewBrown.net for more resources and tips. Join us next time for real stories and meaningful initiatives as we celebrate our men and women in the skilled trades and shape the future together.