Fired Up Podcast: A Trade Collective Production

The Trade Collective

Fired Up Podcast: A Trade Collective Production Welcome to the Fired Up Podcast, a local production focused on the Evanston community and the approximately 10 mile radius surrounding it. This show is a dedicated space for the conversations that matter most to our local students, families and businesses. We are exploring how to bridge the gap between high school education and the high paying, dignified careers waiting in the skilled trades. For too long, our community has looked elsewhere for talent while our own students navigated uncertain paths after graduation. We are here to change that narrative. Hosted by Patrick Hughes and Dr. Pete Bavis, this podcast brings together parents, industry leaders, and educators to explore what it actually means to be trade ready in the modern workforce. What to expect on the show: Industry Insights: We sit down with local experts in manufacturing, automotive, plumbing, and other sectors to understand the real world demand right here in our own backyard.Educational Reform: We discuss the two pieces of paper vision, which emphasizes the power of a high school diploma paired with a professional credential to create immediate career security.Community Connection: We share stories from the shop floor and the classroom, highlighting the spark that happens when a student discovers a passion for building and creating.Candid Conversations: These are sincere discussions about how we can better support our youth and strengthen our local economy through direct industry exposure. Meet Your Hosts: Patrick Hughes: The Founder and Chief Connector of The Trade Collective. Patrick is an Evanston entrepreneur and advocate who has spent decades building inclusive partnerships through organizations like Natural Ties and Inclusion Solutions.Dr. Pete Bavis: The Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction at Evanston Township High School. A veteran educator with over 16 years of leadership, Pete is a champion for academic rigor and ensuring every student has access to a successful pathway. Whether you are a parent looking for options for your child, an employer searching for your next great hire, or a neighbor invested in seeing Evanston thrive, it is time to listen in. New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Join the movement: Website: thetradecollective.orgSocial Media: @The Trade Collective Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up!

  1. 17h ago

    Fired Up Podcast Ep.17 | Building Ryan Field With Evanston

    When Northwestern decided to build a new football stadium, they agreed to support the local Evanston skilled trades workforce in their hiring. Zola Smith came to Evanston to see this mission out and went on the search for local union workers. She quickly learned how this mission was more nuanced than it appeared.  Working out of The Trade Collective, Zola found that Evanston’s supply of union laborers was small.  Welcome to Episode 17 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. Hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with Zola Smith of Turner Construction and former Evanston 2nd Ward Alderman Peter Braithwaite to discuss local hiring on the New Ryan Field project and what this project revealed about the local skilled trade workforce. She and Peter talk about what they learned working to close the local employment gap, and what they would build at ETHS so the next large, local project starts with a large pool of Evanston skilled tradespeople. 🎙️ Zola Smith is the Director of Community and Citizenship at Turner Construction and community manager for Central Street Consortium; the Turner and Walsh Construction joint venture building the New Ryan Field. In this position, she worked with The Trade Collective before we even had chairs meeting members of the community to support the project's local workforce development initiative. Zola believes strongly in promoting skilled trades career pathways in the Evanston community.   🎙️ Peter Braithwaite represented Evanston's 2nd Ward on City Council for more than a decade, then joined Northwestern as Director of Procurement Diversity and Community Engagement, where he was Zola's point of contact on Ryan Field. He now runs his own consulting firm. In this episode, we discuss: 🔥 What skilled trade workforce does a city need in place before a project like the New Ryan Field shows up? 🔥 How would a pre-apprenticeship program at ETHS change who gets hired on the next project? 🔥 Who checks that a "local" company is actually local? New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

  2. Oct 8

    Fired Up Podcast Ep.16 | Auto Racing Teaches You How to Do Life

    Episode 16 takes the Fired Up Podcast from the school auto shop to the speedway at Daytona. When you watch motor sports you see cars going faster than seems possible, what you don’t see is everyone on the tarmac and behind the scenes that make it possible. Welcome to Episode 16 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. On today’s episode hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with IMSA President John Doonan and The Community Garage’s Dr. John Santiago to talk about the automotive technicians that put the motor in motor sports and how we can use motor sports to grow young people’s interest in the automotive industry. Listen to hear the ins-and-outs of a day at the racetrack and the people in our community that are training the next generation of automotive technicians. 🎙️ John Doonan has always loved motor sports. He went to his first race at just six weeks old, and how he’s spent more than 20 years working in the sport as the Director of Motorsports at Mazda, he led the grassroots racing series for 18 automakers into a success. He became the President of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) in 2019. John has always championed the future of the automotive industry regularly making time to meet with young people who share his passion for cars and sport.. 🎙️ Dr. John Santiago  teaches philosophy at College of DuPage, and founded The Community Garage, a nonprofit that shares space with The Trade Collective and uses motorsports to teach young people mechanical skills and accountability.  When their Mustang lost its transmission a week before a race, he turned the setback into a lesson, guiding his students through the swap, taking ownership and getting the car back on track. Dr. John’s deep commitment to teaching the next generation of automotive technicians has left a lasting impact on many students in the Evanston community. In this episode:  🔥 What a 24-hour race teaches about pressure and accountability when the green flag waits for no one  🔥 How kids in shop class were written off in the 1980s, and what an auto technician career looks like now  🔥 John Doonan's idea for a job fair at an IMSA race New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

  3. Sep 19

    Fired Up Podcast Ep.15 | Growing A Trade Guild One Connection At A Time

    A guild is an organized group of people who share the same job, trade, or common interest. In this episode, the mic goes to two people who are building a guild right here at The Trade Collective that’s composed of current and future local tradespeople. An electrician who runs his own shop and a union pipefitter who trains apprentices may have very different roles in the skilled trades, but they share a vision of a tight-knit local trade community and knowing the need to train the next generation. Welcome to Episode 15 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. Hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with electrician Dru Taggart and union pipefitter Clark McCarthy to discuss how they decided to bring together professionals across multiple trades for their recently launched Trade Guild. Together they discuss the importance of getting young people interested in the skilled trades, the absolute need for hands-on experiences and how building the Guild can open up these opportunities for local young people. Listen as Dru tells the story of a new hire whose certificate came from an online course, and what happened when he picked up a band saw. Both guests make the case for having more skilled trades workers living and working in Evanston. 🎙️ Dru Taggart grew up with tools in his hands; taking apart TVs and washing machines next to his father, an electrician. Halfway through business school, he decided he wanted a job with more screwdrivers in it. He earned his Illinois electrician's license and founded Taggart Electric Inc. in 2005. These days you’ll find him all over the Chicagoland area building and servicing commercial spaces. 🎙️ Clark McCarthy was a bike messenger when his uncles told him to go take the test. Fourteen years later, he's a pipefitter with Pipefitters Local 597 and teaches steam and hydronics to third-year apprentices at the union's training center. He grew up in Oak Lawn and has made Evanston his home. The Trade Guild meets once a month at The Trade Collective and will be led in its first year by Charlie Schaefer of John J. Cahill Plumbing. In this episode, we discuss: 🔥 What does a certificate mean if you've never held the tool?  🔥 Who fixes Evanston's buildings, and where do they go home at night?  🔥 Why an electrician isn't worried about AI taking his job New episodes drop every other Thursday. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

  4. Sep 5

    Fired Up Podcast Ep.14 | Never Held a Pipe Wrench: Sam Gordon and Robyn Gabel

    Fired Up has never had a guest introduced by his mother-in-law...or had the privilege of speaking to the Illinois House Majority Leader. Sam Gordon started his own HVAC company four months before this conversation. His mother-in-law is the Majority Leader of the Illinois House. They sat down together in the Sauce Studio to discuss how a person with no tools and no plan found a career in the skilled trades, and what needs to change for more young people to access to similar careers. Welcome to Episode 14 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. Hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with Illinois House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel and Sam Gordon of Gordon HVAC Services to discuss how young people find their way into the skilled trades, and what a regional training center could do for Northern Cook County. 🎙️ Robyn Gabel wanted to be an anthropologist; her hero was Margaret Mead. Instead, she decided to run for political office, trading writing other people's speeches for writing her own legislation. She has represented Evanston's 18th District in the Illinois House since 2010 and has served as Majority Leader since 2023. Before taking office, she ran the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition for 22 years. 🎙️ Sam Gordon had never held a pipe wrench. But he learned thermodynamics running extraction equipment out of a trailer on a California apple orchard. With a baby on the way, he moved back to Chicago, took a couple of classes at Oakton College in Des Plaines, and got into HVAC. He credits most of what he knows to Cornelius, the trainer at Shavitz Heating and Air Conditioning, who made him do every job himself during a six week stint together seven years ago. Now he runs Gordon HVAC Services. In this episode, we discuss: 🔥 When should a kid first get to experience the skilled trades? 🔥 How much of HVAC is science? Who gets to teach it? 🔥 What would a regional training center in Northern Cook County actually change? New episodes drop every other Thursday. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

  5. Aug 13

    Fired Up Podcast Ep.13 | Putting the STEAMe in Our Engines to Inspire and Connect Our Youth

    Every November, ETHS reports to the school board on their new graduates' next steps. The students who enroll in a traditional 2- or 4-year college program get counted precisely; the 25 percent of students who don’t choose a college path get missed. The answer given for these students has been that there isn’t a way to track their paths. Until now.  Welcome to Episode 13 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. On this episode, hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with Rachel Kohler and Dr. Nichole Pinkard to discuss a system to track workforce development and training to career opportunities called STEAMe.  STEAMe is being built to track an ETHS graduate’s progress toward career  opportunities on the local level. Those students who do not choose a traditional college path will no longer fall through the cracks. They will be caught by STEAMe. Rachel Kohler and Dr. Nichole Pinkard talk to The Trade Collective about where these young people end up and who is helping them find a career path. The work is funded by The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Family Foundation and anchored by Northwestern University, with The Trade Collective serving as a partner. This conversation highlights the need for the Evanston community to embrace more than one pathway to future success for young adults. 🎙️ Rachel Kohler grew up in a family business that makes toilets and sinks, and she has heard every joke about it. Her father, Herb Kohler, spent most of his life in service to the building industry, and one of his last acts was funding the Skilled Labor Fund at the National Housing Endowment, , which supports organizations like The Trade Collective. Rachel is co-founder and CEO of STEAMe, the Chicago technology company building the digital and data infrastructure for community workforce systems. Before STEAMe she was CEO and co-owner of NowPow, which reached 13 states and made 11 million social care referrals before its sale in 2021. 🎙️ Nichole Pinkard was a rising ETHS senior who had a first-hand opportunity to see how kids perceive their options during a field trip to Chicago’s south side. On the way back, someone asked the group a question she has carried ever since: would you be on this bus if you perceived your opportunities differently? She wants all of our graduates to see the thousands of opportunities that exist locally. Dr. Pinkard is the Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences at Northwestern's School of Education and Social Policy, co-founder and Chief Systems Officer at STEAMe, and president of the District 65 school board. She also co-owns Free Flow Kitchen on Simpson Street, which she describes as the Evanston Fifth Ward’s version of Cheers. In this episode, we discuss: 🔥 What happens to ETHS graduates who do not choose the traditional college path? Who is responsible for knowing? 🔥 More than 1,300 skilled trades jobs sit within ten miles of Evanston, most of them paying $75,000 and up. What changes when a high school sophomore learns about these opportunities and is connected with the people to get them there?. 🔥 Eight out of ten certificates students earn in work-based learning don't connect to an actual job. How do you create viable programs to connect graduates to local openings? New episodes drop every other Thursday. Igniting the future of the skilled trades.  Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media.  Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

  6. Jul 23

    Fired Up Podcast Ep.12 | 22 High Schools, A Shared Tech Campus, and What "Trade-Ready" Really Means

    In this episode we continue the conversation about what we as a community are doing for the quarter of our students who are not heading to college and those currently in high school who want to take a more hands-on approach. This episode goes an hour north to Grayslake, where Lake County Tech Campus has been answering that question since 1977. It is one building where 2,400 juniors and seniors from  22 high schools go every day  for 19 skilled trades programs their local schools can't run alone. Welcome to Episode 12 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. Hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with Dr. Sebastian Kapala and Tris O’Shaughnessy to discuss how a shared tech campus is built, funded, and kept relevant to the skilled trades. 🎙️ 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚 grew up an immigrant kid in Skokie whose teachers never expected much of him. His story has taken him much farther earning a doctorate and has been leading the Lake County Tech Campus for the past twelve years. He was recently named one of the Top 100 Education Influencers of 2025.  🎙️ 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐎’𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐲, the Executive Director of The Trade Collective, spent 30 years in Oregon studying college and career readiness at the University of Oregon's Center for Education Policy Research before returning home to the Chicagoland area. Her aha moment came in a Lake County Tech Campus lunchroom, watching two students explain, with total confidence, what they were doing at the school and where they planned to take it.  In this episode, we discuss:  🔥 What "trade-ready" actually means, and where the phrase came from  🔥 How you build a shared skilled trades campus with 22 separate high schools  🔥 The unique career experiences students get from working in the skilled trades New episodes drop every other Thursday. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

  7. Jun 23

    Fired Up Podcast Ep. 11 | A Path to More Than Cutting Grass

    Commercial landscaping has both a staffing and a perception problem.  - 600 positions are open right now within a 10 mile radius of Evanston, and most people still think the job is just cutting grass. Episode 11 goes inside that gap. We find out what commercial landscaping actually looks like from the inside, why the industry is struggling to find people, and what a five-week course at Oakton College could mean for someone ready to get started. Welcome to Episode 11 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. Hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with Jamie Wallace from BrightView and Leah Kittner from Oakton College to talk commercial landscaping, workforce development, and a new Landscape Technician program where participants leave equipped for entry-level technician roles in landscape maintenance. Meet The Guests: 🎙️ Jamie Wallace: Jamie started as an operator and spent the next 40 years working through estimating, project management, branch management, and sales in the construction and landscape industry. He now leads business development and recruiting at BrightView, the world's largest commercial landscape company, with crews working on projects across the country including SoFi Stadium and the Pentagon Memorial. He came to The Trade Collective about two years ago because the industry has a staffing problem, and he wanted to be part of solving it. 🎙️ Leah Kintner: Leah is the Senior Program Developer for Workforce and Community Education at Oakton College. She's an ETHS grad and spends her time building fast, nimble non-credit programs that connect people to industries that are actively hiring. The Landscape Technician course is one of the newest, developed in direct collaboration with BrightView after Leah and Jamie first connected at The Trade Collective. In this episode, we discuss: 🔥 Why commercial landscaping is one of the most misunderstood fields in the skilled trades, and what the work actually looks like beyond the lawn mower 🔥 What a $468 certificate opens up, from field labor to estimating to running your own business entirely 🔥 How Oakton and BrightView built this course from scratch, and what the 10 available seats could mean for someone in the Chicagoland area right now The Landscape Technician course starts July 8th. Space is currently available and scholarship and stipends exist.  Active recruitment is included in the course. Register here: https://ce.oakton.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=10990448 Join the Movement: New episodes drop every other Thursday. Stay tuned and make sure you are following so you never miss an episode. Follow our journey on social media! Contact & Support: General Inquiries: info@thetradecollective.org Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

  8. Jun 12

    Fired Up Podcast Ep.10 | Building From the Ground Up: Two Young Carpenters take on Ryan Field

    We have talked a lot about getting the next generation into the skilled trades. This episode, you hear it straight from two young people who are doing it, on one of the biggest construction sites in the area. Welcome to Episode 10 of the Fired Up Podcast, a production of The Trade Collective. Hosts Dr. Pete Bavis and Patrick Hughes sit down with Quintin Hamilton Jr. and Anthony Medina, two carpenter apprentices from Evanston who found their way into Local 58 through The Trade Collective. Quintin tells his story from a scattered start after high school to writing his name on a stud inside Ryan Field. He talks about the years he spent figuring things out, the connection that finally opened the door, and what it feels like to wake up ready to go to work. Meet The Guests: 🎙️ Quintin Hamilton Jr.: Quintin grew up in Evanston and graduated in 2020, the year of remote learning and COVID shut downs. His dad was a plumber in Local 130 and his coach growing up. After a few years of false starts, a connection through his girlfriend's mom brought him to The Trade Collective. Now he is a carpenter apprentice with Local 58, framing the hydrotherapy pools and  the family-friendly Mothers Room”at the new Ryan Field. 🎙️ Anthony Medina: Anthony is 20, grew up in Evanston, and graduated from Evanston Township High School. He ran his own junk removal business before a community connection named Genaro pointed him toward Hire360 and The Trade Collective. He got the acceptance text with the confetti, joined Local 58, and has been working on the Kellogg Building at Northwestern. In this episode, we discuss: 🔥 How do you go from no direction after high school to a union apprenticeship and a career with benefits? 🔥 What does the job site teach a young person that a classroom never could? 🔥 What would these two say to a seventh grader, a freshman, and a parent who is not sure about this path? Join the Movement: New episodes drop every other Thursday, and we just moved to Thursdays! Stay tuned and make sure you are following so you never miss an episode. Follow our journey on social media! Contact & Support: General Inquiries: info@thetradecollective.org Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 New episodes drop every other week. Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up! 🔥 Follow our journey on social media. Contact & Support: info@thetradecollective.org

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About

Fired Up Podcast: A Trade Collective Production Welcome to the Fired Up Podcast, a local production focused on the Evanston community and the approximately 10 mile radius surrounding it. This show is a dedicated space for the conversations that matter most to our local students, families and businesses. We are exploring how to bridge the gap between high school education and the high paying, dignified careers waiting in the skilled trades. For too long, our community has looked elsewhere for talent while our own students navigated uncertain paths after graduation. We are here to change that narrative. Hosted by Patrick Hughes and Dr. Pete Bavis, this podcast brings together parents, industry leaders, and educators to explore what it actually means to be trade ready in the modern workforce. What to expect on the show: Industry Insights: We sit down with local experts in manufacturing, automotive, plumbing, and other sectors to understand the real world demand right here in our own backyard.Educational Reform: We discuss the two pieces of paper vision, which emphasizes the power of a high school diploma paired with a professional credential to create immediate career security.Community Connection: We share stories from the shop floor and the classroom, highlighting the spark that happens when a student discovers a passion for building and creating.Candid Conversations: These are sincere discussions about how we can better support our youth and strengthen our local economy through direct industry exposure. Meet Your Hosts: Patrick Hughes: The Founder and Chief Connector of The Trade Collective. Patrick is an Evanston entrepreneur and advocate who has spent decades building inclusive partnerships through organizations like Natural Ties and Inclusion Solutions.Dr. Pete Bavis: The Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction at Evanston Township High School. A veteran educator with over 16 years of leadership, Pete is a champion for academic rigor and ensuring every student has access to a successful pathway. Whether you are a parent looking for options for your child, an employer searching for your next great hire, or a neighbor invested in seeing Evanston thrive, it is time to listen in. New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Join the movement: Website: thetradecollective.orgSocial Media: @The Trade Collective Igniting the future of the skilled trades. Let's get fired up!

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