How Leaders and Entrepreneurs Can Embody The Values of Blue Collar Success

Do the entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow need to hang out in the C-Suite to gain success and be inspired? Or inspiration lurks beneath the ground’s surface, and all it takes to find it is a shovel and a little ditch digging.

Skilled trades offer rewarding careers without the need for a four-year advanced degree. They also provide career advancement opportunities and longevity. These careers, often unfairly, are not “labeled” as the portrait of professional success. Importantly, that does not mean that financial security, and a rewarding career cannot be obtained through these important industries. Success is depicted by mindsets, the ability to evolve, and the desire to be a lifelong student of knowledge; all key principles for professionals within skilled trades.

Power Up with Manal host Manal Keen always looks for the innovative and inspirational. Talk about inspiring; at 19, Ken Rusk, President of Rusk Industries, traveled across the country helping open ditch-digging construction franchises. It wasn’t long after Rusk opened his own construction business in 1986. So, how does a self-made business owner go from construction to author? That’s one of Keen’s questions for Rusk when he joined her on Power Up.

“When you have a staff of two hundred, and most of them, it’s their first or second job, over a thirty-five-year span, you’re going to hire many people,” Rusk said. “I’ve probably hired over two-thousand people in that period. I noticed a change in how well-prepared people were. No one knew how to think about their future. I became almost this involuntary life coach.” The more Rusk taught essential life lessons, the quicker he realized a solid book idea existed.

Keen and Rusk discuss his book and the following topics:

• Rusk’s belief in culture and leadership philosophy as cornerstones for success
• Understanding how to change your organizational leadership mindset to help drive forward company momentum
• Overcoming challenges as an entrepreneur to move forward and persevere

About Ken

Ken Rusk is an entrepreneur and a proud advocate of following one’s dreams. In addition to his work with Rusk Industries, he is the author of Blue-Collar Cash. Rusk believes everyone must find a path to success that works for them, and he is determined to help people realize their dreams through career fulfillment.