Ryan Lucas | Powerline Podcast

Dr. Kevin Rindal | Vimocity

You can't string wire without being a proficient communicator. It's the single greatest skill you can learn. What would you say to people who maybe are like, "I don't wanna do anything with AI"? Change your mindset to an AI-first mindset. It doesn't mean don't go to human beings. I think the key thing that you said there is not just putting stuff out there, but also read the room.

Some of my best connections I've made with real human beings came from my least viewed videos. By all metrics on the internet, they were flops.

In 2019, a journeyman lineman in Canada bought a microphone, sat down across from another lineman, and pressed record. Six years later, that podcast is in the top 1% of shows globally and was acquired by one of the largest infrastructure companies in North America. My guest today is Ryan Lucas. Ryan is a second-generation lineman, the founder and host of the Power Line podcast, and the creator behind Electric Life Media and Impact Mastery.Ryan, welcome to the WorkReady Podcast.

Dude, thanks for the intro. I love it. I'm glad to be here, dude. Before we get into the how, I wanna start with the why. What is gonna be different for the person listening to this conversation by the time they pull into their driveway tonight? I kind of hope that they realize that everyone has a unique story, all right?

I hope they get some confidence to share that story. Actually, some confidence to share the story publicly because people wanna hear from people. Stories are the way people learn. It's the way we've learned for generations and generations. For human history, everything's been passed down in stories.

It's actually the way we love to consume anything. So we all have important stories. We've all come from somewhere. We've all overcome hard things and done things in our lives. And so sharing those things, I, I hope that this episode gives people the confidence to start doing that from whatever walk of life they're coming from Ryan, one, one of the reasons why I think I've really connected with you is you spent 15 years in the trade, second generation lineman.

I spent 15 years as a chiropractor, second generation chiropractor. We both walked away from like really, I think, great careers to pursue something totally different. When was the moment that you decided, uh, that you were gonna take a step into this new world and, and start podcasting? I, I just wanna walk our listeners through what was going through your head and when you're like, "Yeah, I'm gonna do this."

Sure. I'll, I'll paint, I'll paint the picture a little bit the best I can. So I'll, I'll try to be a storyteller here. Okay, so it's 2019. I'd, I'd been in-- I'd been on the tools as a journeyman lineman for about 15 years, and like you said, a second generation lineman and actually grew up around linemen because my dad not only was a lineman but owned his own small power line company in a small town.

So we often had linemen staying with us on rotation all the time because it was hard to get linemen from Canada to come work in a small community and, you know, pay them living out allowance or per diem. And so we would often put them up in our own home and make them food and give them a bed to sleep in and kinda in lieu of that, um, because it was hard to do that, right?

So linemen grew up in my home. I grew up around them. I became one. I spent 15 years on the tools. It's just been a massive part of my life. I'm passionate about that. There's this transition that a lot of tradespeople face, not just linemen, but this transition that a lot of tradespeople face when they, they have this option to go from the tools, working in the field, to an office position.

Not everyone gets that opportunity or not everyone wants that opportunity. Lots just stay on the tools. Some family scenario that I had, family situation I had took me into the office and, and I had to take a manager type role. So I was two years into this management position, and to be straight up honest, transparent, I, I, I didn't like it.

It's just not the same. Like there's a, there is a cultural difference going from the field to the office. It's like the best way I can describe it if nobody's ever gone through it, it's like just like going from the country you grew up in to some completely foreign land where they speak a different language, they eat different food, they have different values.

Like everything is different. That's what it's like. And I wasn't-- I was fitting in because I can. I'm a bit of a chameleon. I can do that, and I was doing all right. There's aspects of it that I did like But I didn't love it. I missed my brothers in the field. These guys that I had built blood, sweat, and tears with for 15 years, uh, I missed them.

So a part of me was wanting really badly to connect and reconnect with these guys because I didn't get to see them that often. So I thought about, okay, well, I've got some really cool stories. I've met some really amazing people through doing this job, and I've done some really cool work all over North America.

So I wanna talk about that. I don't really feel comfortable starting to write a book. I thought about maybe writing a book, but I was like, I- I'm dyslexic and ADD, I don't think I can get through writing a book, right? So I thought, okay, well, I can maybe start a podcast. But this is 2019, all right? 2019, there is 750,000 podcasts globally.

Like, globally. And out of that 750,000, maybe 200,000 of those uploaded on a monthly basis, some sort of regular basis. So I- it wasn't really something that you could find out a lot of information about. They definitely weren't really clipping it for social media, um, all of these things. It was hard. I had no idea how to do this.

N- zero idea. There-- I went to YouTube, University of YouTube, to figure it out. I found a guy named Pat Flynn on YouTube that talked about how to start a podcast. So I'm like, okay, I'll get a microphone. I'll get a laptop, figure out the software. I guess I gotta start a social media account, start reaching out to people what-- in my, in my own text messages, and then find people on social media that I can connect with and ask if they wanna sit down on a Zoom call and, you know, have a conversation, and I'll put it out into the world publicly.

So that was kind of the beginning of Power Line Podcast, was really just like I wanted to connect with my brothers and sisters again in the field. I just wanted to talk about our stories and share them for whoever was listening. I love that story. And, you know, I think one of the biggest barriers to someone listening doing that same thing is just th- the fear of what people are gonna think about them for doing that.

Like, how did you overcome some of that fear or trepidation about, like, how people were gonna view that? You're-- "Ryan, what are you doing? You're leaving the trades. You're, you're starting a podcast. What is this?" Yeah. Oh, great question. Like it, it's not easy, but it is simple. To, to quote somebody, uh, I look up to online, uh, Michael Smoke from Higher Up Wellness is his account name.

He says this after every one of his videos. Uh, it isn't easy, but it is simple. And it, it just is. It's not easy to put yourself out there and do these hard things, especially when you're not like a communicator. Like I, I wasn't really a communicator at that time. I wasn't good at it. It's not that I'm incredible at it now.

I've learned a lot of things and I've come a long way. I still have a long way to go, but it was hard. What would you say to someone who is sitting in tr- their truck right now and they have an idea that's just been in the back of their head and they can't get rid of it, and they're like, "Oh man, I wanna do this."

What is that first step to starting? 'Cause I mean, I think you continued as a lineman or continued, uh, to work for several years while you were launching this podcast. I'd say if it's a passion of yours, like this sounds, this sounds harsh, but you're going to die. So like it's going to happen. I'm going to die.

You're going to die. It's going to be over. How many of us know our grandfather's name? There's-- Most of us know our grandfather. How many of us know our great-grandfather? I was just talking about this in a group chat of mine the other day. This, uh... I got a friend of mine that's comes from the Mormon community, so his, his genealogy is well-recorded.

He goes back to kings and queens from the old ages. It's incredible to see. And I was looking at that going, "Man, I don't even, I don't even really know my great-grandfather's full name. I don't know where he was born. I don't know what he did for a living. I don't know how he supported his family. I don't know when he came to...

Like I don't know anything about them." Two generations back, three generations back, nobody's going to remember me, talk about me, other than maybe my children and my grandchildren, maybe. But to speak on that again in a second, I'll, I'll talk about that a little bit. That's another reason why I do the podcast now, not then, but another reason why I do it now is so that there's something left behind for my family if they care to know, which is, is kind of a, a cool way to think about it as well.

But I would say to answer your question, you just have to start. You just start, and don't, don't care. Like if you have an idea, if it's a passion of yours, if, if you're at all passionate about it, explore it, do it. And I think the thing that stops most of us from doing it is we just worry too much about what someone else thinks about us for doing it Simple.

And, and Ryan, I think another barrier to people starting is that they're like, "Um, I gotta get a, you know, $5,000 camera. I've gotta get a mic set up. I've gotta get a studio." And you just start putting all these things in, in a line, and you're like, "There's no way I can get this off the ground." But I mean, maybe you could share how somebody can start with just taking one step, and it doesn't have to be perfect.

It's just getting it out there, and it's refining it, whether that's a social media post or it's starting a podcast. So you can start really, really basic and simple. And actually, there's more and more people talking about this today, about starting a podcast in, in a different way than we traditionally started.

It's different than myself and yourself started by, like, actually getting some gear and, and doing long form, is to start with short form. So start an Instagram account or a TikTok account or both, and then start the idea of your podcast by recording short form versions. You, you clip that, you post it to short form, and you see if there's a-- you see if there's a response from the public.

Like, it's a testing... It's a way to test against the public whether this is a good idea or topic or a good idea for a podcast. So test it and then turn it into long form. You can certainly start the other way like we did, start with long form and then chop down. But a great way to test your idea, start a social media account, run the idea a few times, and see if it gets a response from people.

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Ryan, I think you're a pretty phenomenal storyteller. Like, that's a real strength of yours. And when did you first identify that that was a skill that you had? And what would you say to someone who, you know, maybe they have a skill, but they see themselves or their identity as like, "Oh, I'm a lineman. I'm good at being a lineman."

But you're like, "Yeah, but I'm also good at these other things," and maybe that's the opportunity that they have to exploit so that they can start a business or start something that they're passionate about. I love this because I think we're all creators. Like, we are all storytellers, every single one of us.

Like, storytelling is the way everything has been transferred throughout history, right? It started around a campfire passing down generational wisdom about chasing lions. Like, anything we've done, know, do in life is through storytelling, and it's how humans love to consume anything, whether it's entertainment, whether it's knowledge, learning, any of that.

The best way that we understand it fully is through storytelling. So in-- that makes us inherently all storytellers. It's in us. We understand it. Whether we understand to communicate in stories, I believe that's part DNA and, and then part learned. It's a learned ability. It's a learned skill. So maybe you learned it very, very young because your grandfather was a great storyteller, and you'd sit around the kitchen table, and he would tell stories, and you just inherently picked up on how to tell great stories.

Or maybe it's something that you actively pursued learning. For me, I don't think I was a great storyteller until I actively started pursuing storytelling, and I had to read books. I had to, like, watch YouTube videos, podcasts. Like, I started listening to podcasts. When I became a podcaster, I started listening to podcasts from the perspective of the interviewer, not the person answering the questions, because those are two different ways to listen to a podcast.

If you listen to Joe Rogan ask questions and how he asks questions, his inflection, his body language, all... If you study that versus just listening to what his, what his, uh, the per- the guest is saying, it's a completely different point of view. So it's things like that. I'd say if you think you have some storycaping, capable-- storytelling capabilities, just explore developing them, learning them.

So, like, there's learning, and then there's testing too. Like, you have to put in those reps. You have to try new things constantly to develop your storytelling. You shared a book with me, How to Talk to Anyone Anytime by Larry King. Can you tell us a little bit more about how that book shaped, um, your learning as it relates to communication?

Yeah, like it was one of the first ones I found. Again, it was like I was just exploring communication, and there wasn't a lot of, honestly, a lot of great books, or there was no content on it. Because again, this is like 2019. I know it doesn't seem like a long time ago, but in the world of content and the, and the internet, it's, it looked totally different.

Videos weren't the same. Reels didn't even exist. Like TikTok was, wasn't even a thing yet. TikTok didn't explode until 2020 during COVID. So really when I started, there was nothing to learn from. So I, I searched out on Amazon or something. I found this book by Larry King, and Larry King's a, a master, was a master at communication, right?

Just an absolute icon of communicating and interviewing. So he wrote this little book. It's super thin, and it's super dry. Like honestly, it is-- I had to listen to it. I couldn't get through reading it with my eyes. I had to ear read. And it's super dry, but if like I'm telling you, if you can get through it, it's incredibly tactical and, and s- super relevant to anything.

It talks about things like, um, about your, like, like I say, tonality of your voice. Um, it talks about body language. It talks about things like, uh, like listening and how we're all in here. Like most of us are not really great listeners. We, we hear what other p- people are saying, but while they're saying it, we're constantly thinking about ourselves and thinking about our own stories and how we can immediately turn it a- and make it about ourselves essentially by sharing our own story, our own opinion, instead of just like actually leaning in, listening to what the person has to say, and giving them that space and time to fully run through an idea or concept, and then maybe even asking them a follow-up question to pull on another thread instead of offering your opinion.

It goes over things like that in detail, and once you start thinking about it and actually applying those principles, it completely changes the way you have conversations. What are, what are some key takeaways? If somebody listening to this episode were to step away with three things from a communication skill perspective or even just asking questions, what would those three things be?

Oh, good, great question. Okay, um, being okay with a pause, like I just did there. I stopped and paused, and not having to think that you have to fill the space with talking. So like if you really think about when you're listening to something like a podcast or even when you're just like sitting at a table having a conversation with a couple of people, if there's a pause in the conversation It, it doesn't mean you have to fill it with noise.

It doesn't mean you have to talk, and it's okay. Like a lot of people, especially when they first get started with something like interviewing people, they get all anxious and worried if there's a pause in the conversation. Like, they think the audience is gonna be lost at that moment because this is such like an, an attention-grabbing, uh, economy.

But really, you're in a different mindset when you're listening to something like a podcast. So that would be the tip number one is just be okay with silence. And in fact, uh, just allow it. Like when you ask a question, even if somebody starts to answer but then like holds back for a second, just give them a second to 30 seconds, whatever it takes to just like fully think about responding.

They'll let you know if they don't have something to respond with, and then that's okay, too. You just move on. You, you're-- Be prepared then as a follow-up to like jump back into something else and just, you know, give-- relax them by saying, "Yeah, that's fine. That's totally cool. I was just curious if you had a response to that.

Okay, well, we'll move on to this," and be prepared for your next thing. That's a, that's a key element to being a good interviewer, too, is just being prepared for the next thing. So allow that space and time. Um, another thing I would say is, oh, geez, great communication, listening. Like I said, I, I never truly learned to listen until I started to work on it by trying to develop my podcasting and, and interviewing skills.

It's something I totally-- And you notice it now everywhere you go. You'll notice it in other people when you're talking to them, too. They're, they're cutting you off at the wrong times. They're cutting other people off at the wrong times with their own story, their own opinion, and the whole conversation sometimes feels like, man, I wasn't even asking Sally about that thing, and she just took the whole conversation over with s- her own stories when I really wanted to talk to John about what he, his experience was.

And so being a great interviewer is, is knowing how to like guide that I guess, uh, and then really listen. Like listen with the intent to listen, not, not respond with your own opinions 'cause I think that some of the great, some of the greatest podcasts I've ever listened to, it wasn't a bunch of facts and knowledge that came from the host.

The host just facilitated the conversation. They maybe added to it through an experience of theirs, and that's the, that's the other like key element to it as well. Like know when to jump in, know when to add your own perspective or your own story, but really allow your guest the space and time to respond, and then guide that through pulling on those threads of curiosity, those threads of interest to let your guest fully develop And, and talk about what that topic is.

So I don't know that that was three. There's probably a lot, a lot more than three in there, but, like, I'd say, like, those, those two are, like, the top two. Allow space and time and, and, um, be genuinely interested in what they have to say through listening. I, I love that. I have a, a communication coach that I work with, and he would reinforce exactly what you said.

So he calls it pregnant pauses, and he's like, "Make it so uncomfortable that everyone is like, 'Uh, somebody needs to say something here.'" But he's like, that's when you capture people's attention 'cause people are more attentive 'cause they're waiting for what's gonna come next. Um, number two is, uh, ask questions and be curious, and be genuinely curious.

It's not a fake curiosity. It's, it's really trying to understand that person. And then number three, uh, get the other person to talk. The 80/20 rule. You should only be talking, like, 20% of the time, and get that other person to talk 80% of the time 'cause that's when you're gonna get to the gold. So I think it's a rare skill to actually approach conversations thinking about what am I gonna give to that-- this other person?

What am I gonna pull out of them to help them be able to have their voice, uh, be made known? And so, yeah, I think those are really, really good, uh, recommendations, so thank you very much. If, if there's one more I'll add to that, Kev, actually, is this one's kinda underrated sometimes, but it's like knowing your audience, right?

Absolutely. Because the better you know your audience, the, the more that you can kind of like guide the guest into answering it to help-- like, to best help your audience, right? Instead of like-- 'cause a lot of people can answer questions in a lot of different ways, but how they tell their story, they will, they will speak to your audience if you help them guide.

Help them, help them understand your audience and help them understand who they're speaking to. So if you-- the better you know your audience, the better the conversation's gonna be and the better the information that they get from the guest is gonna be as well 'cause it'll feel like it's more spoken to them versus just, you know, broadly.

Absolutely. That's great. And Ryan, I would say that communication is probably one of the greatest skills to have if you wanna move up in your career too, because everything in life is communication. So whether you're just on a crew and you're communicating with a peer, or you're the foreman who's communicating to your crew, or you're going in for a job interview, having that skill of communication is-- it opens up doors, and it creates opportunities.

How have you seen the skill of communication open up doors for you? It's been everything. I c- I, I wouldn't be where I am without it, without learning it, without developing communication. And this g- I just, I just got to say this on a stage in DC the other day, actually. I was in Washington, DC for a big safety symposium.

There was 300 to 500 safety professionals from the trades all throughout... The, the largest, you know, the largest utilities' safety departments were represented in this room. So it was a b- it was a big audience to speak to. And one of the topics I spoke directly to was how in the trades, you're not typically taught great communication skills from the start, but they're incredibly important.

Like, the most important thing, I think. You're taught all these other skills. Like, y- as a lineman, you're taught to climb a pole. You're taught to hang cross arms and string wire and do all of the technical skills of the trade. But the really important parts, the really important part is communication.

Like, you can't string wire without being a proficient communicator. you can't set poles through hot phases without being able to communicate with your crew. You can't move up to a foreman-level position without fully understanding how to deliver a pre-job safety meeting, tailboard, whatever you wanna call it.

That stuff's so important. Like, we've, I've all-- Like, we've all sat with those guys that have delivered pre-jobs that kinda stare at the stones, kick stones, and say a few words, and then we go to work. Those guys, they're not gonna go anywhere else because they can't be... So, like, the earlier you can learn com- communication skills, the better.

And they, they will take you just to the moon. Like, you have to be able to write or speak clearly in order to lead, and that's how you get anywhere above where you're at is learning leadership, and you can't be a good leader without being a good communicator, so the two go hand in hand. It's the s- it's the single greatest skill you can learn in order to, like, maximize what you make in life, profits, y- the job position, just anything that you wanna do.

Be successful at home, even. Have a successful relationship with your spouse, your kids, your friends, any of that. The better you get at communicating, the better that relationship's gonna be, period. Absolutely. So to the 19-year-old who's just entering the trades, what is their first step to start to pay attention to communication?

What can people do on a day-to-day basis to improve that? That's a really great question 'cause I used to, I used to give-- I, I used to get this question from young people all the time about wanting to get into the trades, and they'd say like, "What skills do I need to learn that'll set me apart to get into this industry?"

And I used to say like, "Go learn some first aid, get a CDL, um, you know, learn some basic electrical skills." I used to give them all of these, like, technical things before I really understood the value of communicating and communication. So now I tell them two things: learn how to communicate and learn how to lead.

They're kind of both intertwined, so you can't learn how to lead without learning how to communicate. But like what does that mean and, and like how does somebody actually start to do that? It means putting yourself in uncomfortable situations on, on repeat again and again and again until you learn the things that you need to learn in order to, like, master that.

It, it's not hard. Again, it could be starting a social media account and making daily videos as a challenge to become a better communicator. Like, that's a great way to do it, and I think that that's what everyone should use social media for in the beginning, especially if you're not using it to, like, run a business and you're not looking for lead gen and all of this.

Use social media as a, as an internal self-development tool. Day one, Ryan posting a video was scared. I didn't know how to string together a thought. I did not... I would make 100 takes on a topic and then patch together. And now I'm, I'm not great, but now I can do one or two takes on a topic and just riff that topic, trim the front, trim the back, and post it, and I, I don't care how it performs.

It was something I was passionate about. It was an idea I had. I talk about it, and I post it. It's a test, right? Some of them do well, some of them don't, but the more you do, the more metrics you get back as well. The more, the more, uh, opinions from others you get back, which are good because it tells you something.

It tells you that that's either good or bad. Not that it's good or bad. It's, like, whether it's received or not received from the public. It also tells you if it's a topic, what topics you're passionate about speaking about. So pick a bunch of topics. Judge them against the market. The market tells you what they wanna hear from you.

So you get a twofold answer to that. You get what you like to be passionate-- what you're passionate about speaking about, and then what the market likes to hear back from you. And then once you figure that out, it's like, okay, I got a handful of things that I like to talk about, the market likes to hear from me.

I'm just gonna start talking about those things. But you can't do that without starting. So social media is another great place to test, you know, becoming a better communicator and practice becoming a better communicator. I think the key thing that you said there is not just putting stuff out there, but also be willing to be an honest critic of yourself and not get defensive and to read the room.

Like, how are people responding to this? Because you'll know right away, and it, it's easy to get caught up in the number of likes or the number of reposts and all that other stuff if, if you're talking about social media. But if you are out speaking, I mean, you start to actually understand what the audience is resonating with, and you can see it in their faces.

You hear it in the comments or the questions, and then you can also see when, man, stuff doesn't land, and it's like, okay, learn, learn this time. Some of my best connections I've made with real human beings came from my least viewed videos So they were videos that by all metrics on the internet, they were flops.

They, couple hundred views, few hundred views, under a thousand. You know, when in comparable, you're making some stuff that hits 100,000 views or whatever, you'd consider this a flop, or the, the, the market would consider it a flop. But I've made some of my best personal connections with actual human beings through those so-called flop videos.

They were s- the thing that somebody needed to hear at that specific time, and they were made for that person. Like, there's no other way to explain it than the universe just connects people with the things that they need at the right time. And so if it was a video that was meant for just one person and that one person heard it and got what they needed out of it and it helped them, mission accomplished, done.

And, and I've seen that because they've responded. They've, they've direct messaged me back. They've DM'd me back saying, "This is what I needed," and then we've started a relationship that way. And then the thing is, is understanding that each one of those views is an actual human being on the other side of it, and that's what we forget all of the time I'm not sure if everybody out there listening has, like, seen those photos of what an audience of 100 people looks like, what an audience of 1,000 people looks like, and what an audience of 100,000 people look like.

100,000 people is an entire football stadium. It's bigger than that. It's insane how big that is. Uh, I would challenge anybody to stand up in a group of 100 people and feel comfortable immediately talking to 100 people. So 100 human beings matters. One human being matters, and sometimes we forget that, that you're connecting with an actual person.

So that's the goal of this whole thing, and once you connect with that person, you have an actual human out in the world that is a fan and a supporter of you, and that means more than a million follows and a million likes on Instagram. 'Cause we all know those people as well, those influencers with 2.4 million followers, and they couldn't sell a shoe to someone who's never owned one before.

Like you know? So we forget that often, that it's actually about people. Well, Ryan, you started, uh, what we call an Business Impact Mastery, uh, Class. I'm a part of that. It's been so valuable, so a little plug for you on that through your company, Electric Life Media. Uh, one of the things that you walked us through the other day was the character diamond, and that was just a framework that I found really helpful for understanding how to put together stories or how to just think through, um, you know, what I was gonna put together for some posts.

So could you walk us through the character diamond framework and how you learned that yourself, and then how you implement it? Yeah, for sure. It was taught-- The character diamond was a framework taught to me, taught to me by Dan Martell, and Dan Martell is an avid business person and his social media presence now really, like, fastest growing personal brand, um, in today, bar none So I was part of one of his groups, and he taught this, this framework called the character diamond.

So think of it in, in regards to whether you're building out a fictional character or whether you're trying to build out a character that is you. It's not gonna be fully you, but it's just a way to, like, pick a few things to create some depth and actually build out a character. So it's a good practice for anybody to go through anyway, just to, like, help figure out who you are and actually, like, say it out loud and write it on paper, even if you know it.

It's cool to-- It's cool to go through this exercise. So think of a diamond. At the top of the diamond is your North Star, and the North Star is the thing you're most known for in the world. Um, it's the thing you do, the thing you pursue, the thing you talk about all the time. So from my, my own example, right now, I'm known as a lineman, tradesman, podcaster, storyteller.

You know, I promote the trades. I'm a supporter of the trades. I try to raise awareness of that. That's what I do through storytelling and through my background as a lineman. I'd say I could put that as my North Star. That's like when I go into my podcast or social media, that's the thing I'm thinking about all the time and I'm putting out into the world is that.

So the opposite of that, at the bottom of the character diamond, you need to create some depth. And by creating depth- you have to go with a kryptonite or a flaw. So it's kind of like the opposite. So if you think Superman, you know, Superman had all the powers in the world, but he had his flaw and his flaw was his kryptonite.

So that's what we're going for. So this has been a struggle my entire life. This is one of my greatest flaws is I am an extreme introvert. I'm shy. A lot of people that see me and know me for the thing I'm known for in the world would say, Ryan, you're full of shit. But I am completely happy and content just being by myself.

And I try to, I will come home and the house will be like full of people. We'll be having a party, whatever. And where's Ryan? Ryan had to disappear after a couple hours. And I'm up in my bedroom, just laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, just being alone for a little bit because it's just too much. I'm an extreme introvert.

I'm not the type of person to walk up to somebody in the room and shake their hand and say, hi, I'm Ryan Lucas. How are you? What are you? I don't, I just don't do that. I wait for the conversations to come for me, come to me. So like a flaw that I've had to work on my whole life is being more like that, being more extroverted because that's what I do.

I have to reach out to people. I have podcasts. I have to put my face on social media, make videos. So again, social media, podcasting has been a way for me to practice that my whole life and get better at that. And I have, but I'm still that person. That's still my kryptonite. So think of your own, right?

What's that thing? Um, maybe it's like you're a fitness influencer, but you've got a weak spot for peanut butter and chocolate. Like, I don't know, and you can't get enough. Every time you walk by it, that's your, that's your thing, whatever, and you struggle with that your whole life. Um, just think of what that thing is, and it starts to create some depth now in that character, right?

So now let's look at either side of the character diamond. On one side, we have your quirk. Like, what's a quirky thing about you? I don't know how many people pay attention to human design out there, but it's a great way to also learn about who you are as a person in the world, right? I've learned that I'm a reflector.

I'm a part of a one percent of the world's population that is this thing called a reflector. It's a quirk. I know. You're laughing. You're like, "What is this? It's pie in the eye. It sounds like astrology." Whatever. I get it. It's quirky. But it means that I will give you the energy you give me. It's just something I do.

If you're s- happy, positive, giving me good f- I, I will just reflect that back to you. If you're, if you've got great ideas, business ideas, thoughts, I'm gonna get s- behind it and support it and get some energy behind it and just feed into it. If you're a dick to me, I'm just gonna g- I'm gonna give that right back.

It's gonna be horrible, and I just do it inherently. It's a weird, quirky thing, and it just happens. Um, so that's what my quirk is, but maybe somebody else's is a little less weird than that. Maybe they just, like, really love reality TV or something like that. And then on the other side, to, to round off this character diamond, the other side of the diamond would be something you're extremely passionate about in life.

And again, these things can all change. They're not... Like, there's multi-layers to humans, so this could just be for a period of your life. But I'm extremely passionate about this stuff, about podcasting, about communication, about social media, photo, video, creating content. Extremely passionate about that stuff.

So that's kinda like my passion, so I talk about that. So if you're gonna go, "Okay, let's relate this all to a podcast," or, "Let's relate this all to, like, creating content for social media What's my North Star? I'm gonna talk about that, the 80/20 rule again. Let's go 80% is that thing that I'm known for in the world.

That's the thing I can talk about all day, every day. Let's talk about that the most, 80% of the time. And then we'll divide the, the other three up to 20%, 'cause it gives you a little bit of depth. It introduces people to you a little bit and, and creates human connection as well. Like, maybe there's somebody else out there that also loves photo and video and connects with you through phot- the photography part of you, but is also thinking about getting into the trade, so super interested about that.

It connects them with your world, right? Maybe there's somebody out there that is also extremely introverted, 'cause I know there's tons of you out there like that, so you connect with that introvert part of you, and they learn something through your story about becoming more extroverted or getting over that or overcoming that in order to do something s- something special in the world.

Maybe they connect with you over that. So see where it goes, but the character diamond is just a great framework. It's super simple, and it's a good way to, like, I don't know, figure yourself out and figure out how to make content in the world. Yeah, that framework really resonated with me because I think in social media there's this tendency to wanna portray yourself as everything's perfect.

Like, 100% of the posts like, are the highlight reels and you never show the low ri- lowlights. But what I've found is the people that I follow the most and that I enjoy following are the people that show, you know, the crap, that, uh, show the, you know, the flaws, the quirks, all those other things just so that you can relate to them a little bit more.

Is that part of what you've found as you've started to post this stuff? 100%. You, you can't just show the highlights e- especially today. I think that that kind of, that portrayal of that influencer, "Look at me, I'm flying on private jets. I'm going to all the sweetest spots in the world. I hang out with all the best people.

I drive the sweetest cars." Nobody cares about those people anymore. It's like it can be some- it can be a part of your story, but that's the cool thing is like... Here's another example. D- Dan Martell again, um, really great example of like loving cars, owning-- he owns a bunch of supercars, like a whole bunch of them, 10, 12 amazing Ferraris, Porsches, Lambos, everything.

Everything you could ever want. He loves those, but he uses them in his content and in his world to help support the thing he's passionate about. So if you go back to the character diamond, the thing he's passionate about is he comes from a harsh background. He went to juvenile, uh, detention. He was imprisoned as a youth, so youth juvenile, and as a youthful person, it was a leader in the prison that kind of, like, changed his perspective on who he was.

Said, "Dan, you don't belong here. This place isn't for you. You gotta figure it out, but you don't, you don't belong here. You're not like everyone else here." And he made Dan see that in himself. So now Dan uses his cars to get young boys and young men to come listen and learn about business, technology, AI.

He uses it as a way to draw them in. So it's a great way to s- to spin it and use it for good versus bad. So yeah, like to-- Long story short, to answer your question, I think the influencer era is dead, so it's important to show your flaws, the things that, you know, you struggle with, but you don't have to do it in a woe is me way either.

You just use it as part of your story. No, that's great. Thank you for, for sharing that. You mentioned AI. I think that that's something that's, uh, top of mind for a lot of people, and for creators, it's probably one of the greatest opportunities that we have to, to accelerate what we create, and I mean, there are so many shortcuts there.

Even this podcast, I mean, the ability for me to research guests and to prepare for, uh, these interviews, AI has been transformational for me. What would you say to people who maybe are like, "I don't wanna do anything with AI"? How can AI help them from a creation standpoint or leveraging their voice?

Change your mindset to an AI-first mindset. So anything you do, just go to AI first. It doesn't mean don't go to human beings. Don't bounce it off of human beings. Certainly do that because that's where you're gonna actually make it valuable for your own life and get a human perspective and make a human connection, and we need to live in real life, like in the real world.

But it's like AI can help with so much, so much. So like don't shy away from it. Use it every day And for those who I think hear all these doom and gloom stories about how AI is gonna take over all of our jobs, what would you say to those people regarding the trades? How is AI gonna change the trades?

Because I, I think that the trades is actually one of the things that, uh, the industries that's gonna thrive with the use of AI, but would love to hear your perspective on that. So I have a power line background, like we already talked about. I got a media background, and right now I sit as the head of craft media for the largest supplier of craft skilled labor in North America.

70,000 plus employees, we'll probably be 80,000 plus by the end of this year. We are looking for human beings. This isn't tech. The trades is not technology. It's not the tech industry. It's actually moving physical matter from one spot to another, and that takes humans to do that. We are actively looking for more human beings.

We're not laying off. Again, this isn't tech. We're not laying off 4,000 employees. We're looking for 40,000 employees. If we could get more craft skilled labor employees to be doing things for us today, like there's-- it's actively looking for something like... The IBEW says it needs just inside wiremen, so electricians, needs 100,000 more by the end of 2026.

How is that? Like that's just in one trade, one skill with a union representation that's not even outside being a union, outside the IBEW. That's just in, within the IBEW. 100,000. That's the demand. We're not People get scared about AI taking the jobs because they see all these videos of these robots in China doing power line work.

And if you look at what they're actually doing, it's so far... Like, you don't get full perspective. You don't get the time it took them to set that up, and if they got it wrong, if they got it right, and all this stuff. It's not that robots won't do our job in the future, 'cause I'm sure they certainly will.

They're getting super advanced, and they're doing incredible things. I'm sure they will eventually. But if you're just starting in the trades right now, I think you still have a full career doing the, doing what you do, doing-- working in the trades. I think we need to think about it more like AI assisted, robot assisted, but you as the line workers are still gonna set it up in the right position, in the right working position.

You're still gonna work the boom. You're gonna go up in the air. You're gonna do the job that you do with that truck, but it's gonna drive itself to the job site and drive itself back to the barn. Be like, "Okay, cool. That's not really the job I wanted to do anyway." Like, unless that's the funnest part of doing line work was driving the truck, the human's still gonna do the work in the trades for the foreseeable future.

You're just gonna be using AI in different ways to help you do your job better, quicker, safer, faster, all that stuff. Based on what I'm seeing too, I mean, you have drones, you have all these other, you know, robots that might be able to do the high-risk work, or at least do the assessment so that you don't have to put a human in that situation.

So, I mean, hopefully we're gonna see people break down less. You know, there's gonna be less wear and tear on a human's body over the course of, um, their career just because we have these new tools, these new technologies that are gonna assist with that. Yeah, 100% agree. Well, Ryan, we've, we've talked a lot, a lot about, uh, storytelling, building a brand, um, how to get yourself out there, AI.

Let's move to the next section of, uh, this podcast, which is some myth busting. So myth number one, you need to wait until you're an expert before you start posting on social media. Yeah, complete myth. Just if you've got any sort of tug in your heart to do it, just do it. You don't understand the opportunity that exists through reach and reputation, and the best way to gain reach and reputation today is to use these free tools called social media, Instagram, TikTok.

Gain your reach and reputation, and through that, you'll get opportunities that you didn't know existed Myth number two, trades and social media do not mix. Real workers do not post. You have to meet the new generation where they're at, and where the new generation is is on social media. That's where their attention is.

It used to be in print. It used to be in books. It-- The printing press was amazing. The radio was amazing. TV was amazing, but now we have this cool thing called the internet and social media, and every tradesman has a story, has value to share. They should be making content, sharing what they know, and someone will learn from it.

Myth number three, long form podcasts are dead in the age of short form content. It's, it's and not or. So it's not short form or long form. It's short form and long form. Short form is a great way to get noticed. It's a great way to put out yourself in the world and get immediate ability to, you know, be seen by thousands and thousands of eyeballs.

And then long form is where you build depth and trust with the people that do decide to pay attention, listen, follow, whatever you wanna call it, view your stuff. Uh, long form is where you, you create depth. You create real, uh, connection with actual people through long form because you can explore the topics deeper, and you can't really fake long form like you can fake short form Final myth, a personal brand is just a fancy word for an ego.

Now, the funny thing is, is like every single human being has a personal brand, whether they call it that or not, or whether it relates to social media. Your personal brand is what people are saying about you in the rooms that you're not in. And, you know, you can deny it all you want, but human beings talk about other people.

So what are they saying about you in rooms that you're not in? That's, that's your brand. That's who you are Love it. Let's move to a few short form, uh, rapid fire questions. So Ryan, what's the best piece of advice you ever got about storytelling? Don't be fake. Don't try to like portray a character that isn't you, because you can get away with it a little bit in short form.

Um, but the second you get asked to go on a podcast now, and you have to like sit for an hour again and share your thoughts on the things that you've talked about in short form, and you were extremely fake in short form, you'll get called out in long form 'cause you won't know what you're talking about.

You won't know how to string that thought together and speak to these topics properly. So just don't be fake. You'll get called out. That's, that's the best advice I could give you. Ryan, what have we not covered that you wanna make sure we leave our guests with? Dude, we've covered a lot. Um, just honestly, pursue your passions.

Pursue your dreams. Don't take no for an answer. This is the other thing that maybe I'll just quickly touch on too. When I started Powerline Podcast, if I go back to the beginning, I heard no a lot, and no in the form, in many different forms. Um, no came in the form of, "Why would you wanna start a podcast for linemen about line-- Like what are you just gonna talk to linemen about line work?

Like, who's gonna listen to that?" Like, I heard that, those exact words so many times. Uh, I've constantly since 2009 tried to convince people, 'cause my two passions in life were line work and, and actually content creation, photo, video. Like I said, it's been a passion forever, not just a new passion. Uh, I was always the guy, always the lineman packing a camera around, and I was trying to convince people that they need to make content, this industry, that they needed to make content and put it on the internet.

And this is 2009, so for some context, YouTube started in 2007. So this is like two, two years after YouTube. Video didn't exist on social media. You could kind of post a few videos to Facebook, but reels didn't exist. The reach didn't exist. It was a completely different landscape. But I still was trying to convince them that the thing to do is make content, put it on the internet.

I had so much pushback, and I still do in, in this industry. They're incredibly resistant to making content in the, in the line industry and in the trades. It's incredible. They're, it's-- I'll call 'em right out, they're stupid for that fact, honestly. Um, just because I've been saying this for years, so I'll say that flat out 'cause they've treated me that way with regards to it.

Um, so just I kept, I kept up with it is the point I'm trying to make. I just kept pursuing it. And I heard that with starting a podcast too. Like, it's, it's not gonna land. It's dumb. It's stupid. It's dumb idea. Pursue it. Just do it. Just don't rely on other people to fund it, support it, whatever. Just keep freaking doing it, and it can become something.

The only time it And the only time it stops is the, is the day you decide to quit. Other than that, there's opportunity there. So yeah, keep pursuing. Ryan, you started a, a media company and a coaching program. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah. Like I said, my second passion in life, other than line work, is content creation and social media.

I'm extremely passionate about it. When everyone's saying, "Put your phones away and get off social media," I'm saying, "That's ridiculous. You should get on more of it and be on it more." Um, which is crazy to think about. So I've learned a lot since 2009 about content, about content creation, about social media, about podcasting, communication, all these things.

When I started Powerline Podcast, I needed to start and form a media company as a way to take in some revenue, ad dollars, those sorts of things. When I sold the podcast, I sold it as an asset, but I kept the media company. So I decided to keep the media company going and, and move into the, a coaching space.

A coaching space on content creation and all these things, podcasting, communication, that sort of thing. So I have a program called Impact Mastery. Uh, it's an online program, which you said you're part of it. Um, I'm sure, I won't speak for you, but I'm sure that you've got some value out of being a part of that.

And it's something I've just been slow rolling, growing very slowly. But, um, it's something I wanna pour into a little bit more because I'm passionate about it. I like teaching people. I wasn't sure how I, how I would be with actually teaching the stuff. That's another thing, doing hard things. That was a area that I was unsure how, if I was gonna be good at it or not.

So I had to force myself into the scenario of, like, finding people to be a part of this, and then actually going through teaching them about the things I know, and I've, I've come to know that and found that I really like it and enjoy it, and I feel like I'm fairly decent at it, so I wanna keep, keep it up and grow it.

So it's called Impact Mastery Creator Mastermind. It's a mastermind community for content creators, podcasters of the like. So if you're interested, just get a hold of me, find me on social media, Ryan W. Lucas on Instagram, and shoot me a DM. I'd love to have you a part of it. I can give you the details.

Ryan, I'm so grateful for your time here. I think that you're such an inspiration for so many people. Make sure to subscribe to the Work Ready podcast. We're on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And when you do, just make sure that you get, uh, those push notifications for when new episodes drop, which is, uh, every Tuesday.

So until next time, take care of yourself, take care of your people, and stay work ready. Thanks so much.