Part 2 Insights From 30+ Years as a Journeyman Carpenter with Clyde King

Welcome back to part two of our conversation with Mr.Clyde king.We pick it back up on the story he has around the apprentice that he lucked out and just happened upon And if this is the first time you're listening to the learnings and missteps podcast.Welcome.And thank you for showing up.We're all about enhancing the image of careers in the trades.And we got a library of episodes for y'all to listen to.So after you finished this one,go back and catch part one and then go back and catch the other ones and the other ones and the other ones.Cause there's a bunch of them.And keep coming back.We love having you here.this part of the conversation has that real juicy.Nugget of the learning and misstep that Mr.Clyde had.He talks about ignoring his instinct and then it coming back and biting them in the behind.It's a good one.All my construction peeps out there.I know you've had this happen to you,so it may give you a little bit of flashbacks.episode is releasing in the blueberry very beginning of June,which is an exciting time because we're going to be launching the decentralized conference coming up.It's going to be a virtual conference.I will be streaming exclusively on the learnings and missteps YouTube channel,because guess what?We got us.So YouTube channel,we're going to have a dozen construction influencers,six on Friday,six on Saturday,starting at1:00PM central.You can pop in at any time when you show up,leave us a comment,let us know that you're there.Uh,and I'll be releasing here over the next week or so some.Some teasers about who's going to be there and what they're going to be talking about.here we go to mystic clad king.

they happened to be doing an orientation test.For a bunch of new apprentices.So I sat in to help the instructors,just talking to'em,watching their work.This kid aced everything.He's gonna be a real good apprentice.After he's done with his four years,he's gonna make a hell of a journeyman.

So you seen him and you scooped him up.Huh?You said,Hey,you

yeah.I kinda lucked into him.He was going to give his company,a couple week notice when they called him and he was looking to get,a couple week notice on when he could start.A rep called him and he happened to talk him into starting that next day.So he quit his job.Wow.The company backed out.Didn't need all these guys.So Mike calls me and goes,can you use Logan?I feel really bad.And I said,hang on.I said,give me a couple minutes,let me talk to the other guy.He goes,yeah,you can bring an apprentice in,cuz I was there by myself at the time.He goes,yeah.He says,we're gonna start getting some more guys.So I called Mike,I says,yeah,tell him to be here in the morning.So I lucked into having him with me.

Wow.Wow.And so what is it about developing an apprentice that you appreciate most?

Being able to work with them and teach them.How things are done and why they're done a certain way.And watching them grow.Yeah.I've been fortunate since2006,I've had two that I've pretty much worked with the whole way through their apprenticeship.Yeah.To watch them go out.And then I've had other ones,they'll come in for a couple months with me and then,Boom,they're off to somewhere else.But yeah I like passing that knowledge on.I haven't figured out what I'm giving Logan yet,that last job I was on,I had two apprentices and one we were working with setting some doors.And I've got an impact screwdriver.You snack with the hammer.Yep.Yep.I've got a bunch of'em.When we finished up after I showed him how to use it,in that one,he left me.I gave him one of those impact screwdrivers to carry with him.And then another one I had to get the handsaw out and I gifted him a handsaw to keep with him but that's something I'm gonna try to keep going as long as I'm out on the site.Even if I'm a superintendent,if I got an apprentice there on a job.Cause.Especially a first year,they're starting out,their tools were like brand new.Oh yeah.Pulled the rappers off.This is what gave me the idea for this one retired carpenter had passed away.His family gifted a complete set of his tools to the app apprenticeship to give to one of the apprentices.So they had a legacy to start with.that gave me the idea.It's you know what,I've got doubles and triples of mostly everything I use.So I'm gonna try to keep,when I've got an apprentice with me to give them a tool to stick.So they have it for the next job.

Oh,that's amazing.Clyde.That is super,super amazing.What are some qualities that in an apprentice that help you decide yeah,I'm gonna pour into this

kid.The willingness to learn.They've gotta have that mindset that they definitely want to learn.Cuz I've had apprentices that seem like they're just there for the paycheck.

Yep.Do you have any like me that knew everything?

Um,Yeah.Yeah.I've worked with a couple journey,but that they known everything too,that all of a sudden they were like,Hey,that makes sense.Why are you doing it that way?Cause this is the way it should be done.

yeah.I worked with Papa one.He was probably the second or third plumber that I worked with that wasn't my father.And he was retired,so he would only work like two or three days out of the week.And every time he came,they would put me to work with him and man,that guy was,He was awesome.Great teacher and he just set me straight real quick.I was probably a third year apprentice.And,just give it to me.I'll do it.Gimme the plan,I'll do it,I'll do it,I'll do it.He said,Hey.He said,look,Jess,I've forgotten more than you're gonna know.Yeah.I wanna teach you some stuff and I'll teach you,but I need you to slow down.Watch me,ask me questions and listen to what I'm telling you.He said,just do that today and then let's talk about it.And I said okay,whatever you want me to slow down,I'll slow down.And man,there were a couple of little things that he showed me that I didn't have to work in a rush and I was still able to get the same amount of work done.Oh yeah.And I said,Okay,Mr.Juan whatever you got you.I'm,I am listening.

I think the first job I ran as a foreman somewhere at the end of93,94,and I had one gentleman we called him the door doctor when we'd be sitting door frames and then swinging doors and doing all the closures I got to work with him on quite a few of my jobs and he showed me so many little tricks.Yeah.For setting frames and so on and so forth Corky's nickname the door doctor was well worth it.Sad to say that he's no longer with us.I think he passed away in,I think,2003or2004,but,That man was full of knowledge as far as doors in that,and I love doing door frames.I love doing cabinets.I love doing acoustical ceilings.My body's getting too old.Beat up to be slinging drywall day in and day.Yeah.Especially12foot sheets when I'm five foot four.Oh my goodness.

No,

that's hard on the body.But yeah had the opportunity to work with some very knowledgeable people over the years.

Oh man.Yeah.Yeah.So apprentices out there,if you're listening,you may not know it,but that journeyman right now that's trying to pass on that knowledge.They got some skills if you just be quiet for a little bit and listen,ask some questions.They can save you years of wear and tear on your body.Yes.And make you faster,right?If you just pause and listen for a little bit.Man,so you got plenty.Decades and decades,half a century almost of experience in all kinds of stuff.So designing.You served as a marine race car designing.I'm sure you did some race car racing also,huh?

Oh yeah like I said,you'd seen my helmet back there behind me.I'd read some unlimited go-kart stuff.I never did get into micro sprint I've been in a full blown sprint car and ransom fort rear wheel drive,four cylinder stuff.Back in the day when the early eighties,a lot of that's when you had the Pintos and the Mustangs and the guys were racing the four cylinder class?I drove them for a while and then I just started turning wrenches and learning what makes'em go fast to make with today's late models.Just in the rear end alone,there's so many adjustments you can do with the four length cuz when the car hikes up,the right rear tire goes backwards a little bit and the left rear tire comes forward to put rear steer in the car.And then depending on the angle,depending on how much traction you're getting you can either make yourself really fast or you can die yourself right out of the ballpark for you can't get outta your own way.But now my brother talked me into it we get the second car done,we're going try to run two cars with both of us driving.

Woo.That is exciting.So through all those Learnings and all those experiences,my gut tells me you have at least one story,one learning that was the result of a painful misstep.I'm very curious to see what that is.

I told you about the one,but one on the construction side was running a job and.It was push,push,push,push.And I'm looking,it's like it wasn't on the drawings.But we had all the ceilings in,a lot of'em were hard lit,so I had to frame drywall,acoustical,grid,and then hang the drywall on it.And then all of a sudden they decided they needed a sprinkler system into place.Boo.After you had

rocked it?yeah.No.

Should have known better,but I was still young on running the crew at that time,or as a superintendent.Yep.And it wasn't on the drawings,but I should been known by the specs as far as the fire marshal and everything that.Yeah,this whole area should have a sprinkler system.Oh.

So when that was happening,did you ever have that spidey sense that and something's off

here?Yeah,I was like I said it seemed not right,but by the drawings it wasn't there.One of the things,sometimes it.They always say built of the drawings,but then sometimes the drawings will fight you in the ass.

Oh man.Yes.There's an interesting thing.I've worked on a few hotels and so I'm a plumber,right?So I know they got an ice maker every so many floors.Some places some have'em on every floor.And a couple of times,they had the water supply.They had the ice machine,but they had no floor drains for'em.And I'm like,that's dumb,but that's what the drawings show.Yep.And then guess what?

Back it was late nineties.Like I said,I was brought up with an architect.Yeah.I've known about when you're detailing everything,you're doing your vellum paper,you're doing overlays to make sure things will line up as far as your toilet flanges and everything,so on and so forth.Yep.I'm laying this job out to help the plumber fresh concrete floor probably.Oh,I'd say a.About a50,000square foot floor.Okay.Now in and out for an assisted living home.So I'm talking lines and he's getting ready to cordial the first two toilet flanges right into a bar joist.Oh yeah.So I call the architect,can you move the wall?Yeah,I bet there was15or20of'em on that floor.This is a young architect.I was like,didn't you do an overlay to check with the structural steel?He goes,honest to God,his words,what's an overlay O?

Yeah.

I was like,you're kidding me?I was taught that in high school on mechanical drawing classes.But now in today's technology with BI and that,And you can do the3D modeling,you can eliminate90%of them if everybody's paying attention.

Yes.Oh yeah.Again,back to the technology.I remember,I thought I was hot stuff because we created like a light box,right?We get a light and create a buck,put some laminate over it,and we'd layer the drawings Yep.And the light under it so we could see what was going on there.And then I was extra fancy cuz I would highlight my drawings with highlighter,give my systems different colors and man,now everything's in3d and you can navigate and zoom around in it.It's a little frustrating

to wait.You still get into issues with that?

Sure.But here's the thing,I've threatened people with my24inch pipe wrench before,and when I say people,I'm talking about sheet metal duct work,electricians,pipe sprinkler guys because of the conflicts the design conflicts.It wasn't because I didn't like'em most of the time.It was cuz these design conflicts Yeah.We were fighting like fighting back in the day we used to throw down on the top.Oh yeah.You know that.Yeah.And nowadays with that technology,even though it's not perfect,That kind of emotional burden or strain on the human being,a lot of it is reduced.There's still clashes,there's still problems,but not like it used to be.I used to get up there and go to town with my storm drain or my domestic water mains,come back a couple days later to start testing it.And they cut stuff outta my line because they wanted to run their duck through it or whatever it was.And it's what the hell's going on here again,because it was a lack of clash detection,it was just kind of field verify and figure it out.

Yeah,everybody was fighting for that real estate above the acoustical ceiling.And then they'd lower everything down to work.There was quite a few jobs that I literally had to put the ceiling towel in as I was putting the grid together because of the clearance issue.Yeah.

Yes.I wonder if there's ever gonna be that one project that it just,it all clicks and flows together.I've seen some come,again,a huge focus on the coordination during design and through BIM and et cetera.And it's gotten better,but man,there's still a lot of room,a lot of room for improvement to make those things better.

Yeah.Like you saw,today's random thought was about the traditional.Project method.Yep.Design,bid,build.Yep.Tomorrow's about an I P D.Ah.The next day is about CM a R,and then Thursday's about a regular design build.Okay.With the I P D and the CM a r.You can eliminate a lot of that if you get the contractors in that in early enough in the design phase to talk about products clearances.Yep.And everything else as the design's going on.Now,it doesn't work on every job.Yep.But people are gonna start finding out that construction manager at risk or a true I P D is going to change the way we build things.Yes.And I'm a firm believer to get the general contractor,his site superintendent minimum in there,extremely early to talk about things.

absolutely.The people that are gonna be putting their hands on the damn thing,the earlier we can get'em involved rather,not just like planning it out.But building relationships amongst each other.Yes.That's the thing.Because ain't nothing gonna be perfect.We're gonna have weather.No,we're gonna have material shortages,we're gonna have labor shortages.We have all kinds of stuff that impacts every single project.But when we have healthy relationships,we can work through those things together.Yeah.As opposed to it's your fault.No,it's your fault.No,

it's your fault.Yeah.You've gotta be able to.Be open thinking wise.Yes.And be able to adapt daily.Daily,hourly,I've been improvising and adapting daily with this company.Yeah.Cause they've got a couple jobs going.They're only using us on this one.There's times that I get in there in the morning right at six30cuz even though we're not starting to seven I'm a firm believer,the foreman that should be there30minutes early.Yep.For one,go walk the site,check,make sure,get the tool trailer unlocked.There's quite a few times where they've hijacked tools that I was planning on using that day to take'em over to the other job.So I've had to.

Oh,man.Mr.Clyde,I know you've had a huge impact in just a short period of me interacting with you on social media.And you've been on this world and in the trades for a very long time,so I'm wondering,What footprint do you intend to leave on the world?

I hope to leave a legacy where I can get everybody's mindset to be in a learning mindset.To cooperate and adapt out on the site.Hopefully I've got.Three years till I can retire.But I'm hoping to continue on in like a consulting tape role.Yeah.Maybe open my own consulting business where I can go travel and talk to people.So who knows I got10years plus left.

Yeah,for sure.And you've already started sharing that knowledge out there so I know you're on LinkedIn.What other platforms are you using right now?

I can't remember if my Instagram account's still active or not,but I haven't done TikTok.I'm working to getting some of my stuff over to YouTube I've got my own Facebook page,which is just Clyde King.That's mainly family stuff.And then race team stuff cuz we have a race team fan page there.And I also started king Brothers Motor Sports page on LinkedIn.That I'm working at getting some stuff up onto there couple different areas.people talking to me about getting a podcast going and it's in the works,but not sure where to go with it like right now I'm trying to upload my construction talks unfiltered,which is like my podcast type thing.I haven't had any guests yet,but it's just me talk more in depth on stuff with my random thoughts.Trying to get a few of them uploaded on the YouTube.

I am inspired and I applaud you for the way that you have embraced and leveraged.Technology,social media,all the stuff,particularly because you're doing it to transfer knowledge,you're doing it to give back to the trades and the industry that afforded you a pretty,pretty awesome life.Oh yeah.And sharing that with our youth as they continue to come in.Did you have a good time today,

sir?Oh yeah.Had a blast.Good.Good Hayden had me on Built with Build.Okay.And I think it posted in January.Then Walker Davis had me on and now onto this one.So yeah,we're rocking and rolling.Having a good time.

That's amazing,man.The snowball starts building and building.Again it's the body of work that you've produced.I mean,For me,of course,I always want to interview folks that have built a career in the industry and then it's like an extra special treat for me to interview and share with the LnM Family folks that are actually contributing.And doing something more to leave this industry better than they found it.So thank you for

that,sir.One thing we didn't touch on,like you've noticed my construction talks unfiltered,always have music of some sort.Yep.There's a reason for that.I've been a musician since I was probably eight or nine.That's what I did with the Marines.I was in the United States Marine Drum and Vehicle Corps.Oh.So the music was nine Palms and we traveled with the field unit and then the drum core,the only one of the drum and vehicle cords that are left is the commandant zone at eighth.And I,all the other field units have been disbanded.Just for cutbacks from everything else.But yeah,music's a big part of my life music is such a universal thing to change,a mood,to help somebody's train of thought.But that's the reason behind always being some music of at least an intro or like me acting like a fool trying to play ellwood blues.

Yes,sir.A hundred percent.I love the way you pointed out that it can change the mood or inspire a mood because it totally can.It brings back memories just like that.Mr.Clyde,I appreciate your time

today.Not a problem.It was a pleasure.I had a good time.

Oh,man,that Clyde is an awesome,awesome dude.He really does inspire me the way he's navigating learning.Seems to have always been up-skilling throughout his life,in his career in construction.I'm wondering where you were surprised as I was to find out that like he's a rocker,a percussionist.I had no idea.And that's just another example of.Like all our construction professionals out there at first glance,it's easy to,to paint a dull picture of who they actually are,but when we spend the time to get to know them and listen to them,Uh,we find out all the amazing stories behind their life.So go out there and connect with the construction professional,because there's some pretty awesome,inspiring people.you know,what,if you struggle with connecting with people,I know of a group that is practicing some pretty awesome stuff.That really helps deepen meaningful connection.And most of all just drives.Uh,miles and miles of self-awareness and that's the emotional bungee jumpers.I invite you to check them out.There's links down there in the show notes.And because you're a member of the LnM Family,if you click on that link and use the coupon code,Jessie.Uh,with no,I.J E S S E.You get yourself a little discount.Love to have you be a part of the crew.remember sharing is caring.So I invite you to share this episode or this podcast with your people,the folks that you think it's going to,provide some value to be cool.And we'll talk at you next time.Oh my goodness.You're either driving down the road or just so enthralled with,uh,with this whole podcast that you went all the way down to the very,very,very,very end of it.And we appreciate you and just,we're going to take this as an indication of your dedication so we got a little special request of you,a call to action,because everybody tells us that like,you need to have a call to action.So here's the call to action.Be kind to yourself,go out there and share a smile with someone