This featured article is based on a conversation with Carl Murawskia 44-year-old business professional and content creator who lives in Connecticut. Edited for length and clarity.
I am a licensed electrician, construction contractor, and YouTuber who teaches my audience why crafts are the future.
I have an Associate’s degree in general studies, Connecticut E2 electrician’s license, Class A CDL, and OSHA 30 and HAZWOPER 40 certifications.
I was a mechanic and truck driver for the first five years of my career before switching to the electrical industry. For the next ten years, I worked for a small local electrical company, learning residential and light commercial wiring. I then moved to a larger contractor as an assistant project manager, and in 2016, I joined my current employer as a project engineer.
I wear whatever hat is needed: project coordination, quality assurance, quality control (QA/QC), and employee tracking. I’m making six figures and I don’t regret going into business.
Entrepreneurship was my path from uncertainty to stability
I grew up in a single parent family, I started as a mechanic, then an electrician. Twenty years later, I’ve created a life where I can comfortably support my family – all without a bachelor’s degree or a lot of student debt.
It is proof that there are many ways to build success in America. Combining my work as a licensed electrician with my YouTube channel, which I started in 2016 and reaches over 200,000 people, I have created financial stability and a purpose to do important work.
Here’s how I measure my workdays
Normally, I’ll edit videos an hour or two before I leave the house for work. I like to be at work at 6:30 a.m. I spend weekends filming. My income from my day job is enough to support my family, so everything I earn from YouTube goes back into the business.
Every video is different, but I usually pick a topic from a list of ideas in my notes app. I have a standing rule that I will not accept free product or monetary compensation for a review, as I feel it distorts the objective. I will buy any products a few weeks in advance to start testing.
To help finance the videos, I work with the agency to get funding for the near (non-competitive) market. Filming takes place when my wife takes our children grocery shopping on the weekends.
Many days as a trainee electrician in a work trailer
I go over plans with the manager and resolve any issues. After the workers leave our yard, every day is different, that’s why I enjoy it.
Some days are spent visiting work sites, and others are spent with posting and organizing issues. Having worked in many jobs over the past 20 years, I am uniquely equipped to multitask, which keeps things interesting.
Our workers return between 2:30 pm and 3 pm, after which I lock the gate and go home.
With all the worries about AI affecting office jobs, business may be the last safe haven
Our type of work cannot be outsourced or automated. This job requires skill and dedication. We work as a team to build amazing things and celebrate our successes together.
Breaking into the mid-career industry is not easy, but I see a lot of people coming into our industry coming from white-collar jobs. Sometimes they want to be perfect, sometimes they don’t need to because their conditions were removed. I welcome them all because we need them.
Lately I’ve seen a lot of middle-aged white professionals out of their jobs because of their outsourcing conditions or AI taking over their jobs, especially in the insurance industry.
My work gives me great satisfaction
Working a blue collar job while running a content creation business isn’t easy, but I’ve been doing it for ten years. There are many things that I have learned the hard way in my career that I hope will help the new generation of blue-collar workers, and that is what keeps me going.
Every job has its own pros and cons, and it’s up to you to weigh them. Businesses can be a good fit for someone looking for work throughout their work day instead of looking at screens.
For those who want to see the results of their hard work in the finished work, job satisfaction is more difficult.