Jul 2, 2024 · 43m · bigdeal
I Discovered the Highest Paying Jobs in 2024
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Host Codie Sanchez and Pink's co-founder Brandon examine why skilled blue-collar trades and service-based businesses offer superior financial returns, personal fulfillment, and career autonomy compared to debt-heavy corporate desk jobs.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Codie holds 61.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Codie as informed peer 3.6 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 0.7 Codie pushing back 0.7
speaking balance: gold is Codie, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:30 Rejecting mentor warnings about blue-collar careers
Brandon details rejecting mentor warnings and corporate expectations to pursue manual window cleaning.
Hardest push from Codie ▶ 31:37 Questioning corporate surveillance claimsCodie asks whether corporations genuinely track active mouse movements or if it is mostly employee perception.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 32:45 Explaining the premium value of judgment over raw knowledgeBrandon articulates how ubiquitous internet information makes discernment and decision-making the core business differentiator.
Codie holds their own ▶ 18:59 Analyzing psychological impacts of professional uniformsCodie draws on military parallels to explain how uniform design shifts personal identity and customer trust.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Codie as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Codie pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hook and Preview: White Collar Versus Blue Collar Realities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Introductory host monologue reviewing macroeconomic statistics, trade school enrollment figures, and student loan debt comparisons between marketing majors and trade workers. | |
| Lessons from the Underground: Coal Mining and True Camaraderie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Solo storytelling segment where Codie details her personal visit to an underground coal mine and reflects on the mindset and camaraderie of the miners. | |
| Escaping Corporate America to Build Pink's Windows | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Brandon joins the conversation, detailing his corporate trajectory from Walmart to finance before co-founding Pink's Windows. Codie establishes common ground and comments on the branding and uniform aesthetic. | |
| Defying Stigmas and Embracing Physical Teamwork | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Discussion centers on overcoming social stigmas from mentors regarding blue-collar work. Codie shares her filming experiences in Austin heat to validate the physical reward of manual labor. | |
| Company Culture, Paid Team Lunches, and Professional Uniforms | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The conversation covers company culture innovations such as daily lunch stipends and uniform design. Codie connects their dress code strategy to psychological signaling and military principles. | |
| Overcoming Insecurities and Finding Pride in Service Work | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Brandon describes cleaning a peer's home during COVID and mentally reframing the experience into pride in service work. Codie builds on this with an example of rural Japanese infrastructure collapse. | |
| Sunday Scaries and Franchising Nationwide with Resi Brands | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Brandon recalls corporate burnout and explains why he partnered with Resi Brands instead of executing an outright sale. Codie discusses franchise models and operator alignment. | |
| Faith, Dating Confidence, and the Real Value of Judgment | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | The dialogue explores faith, dating confidence, and the shift from knowledge work to judgment. Brandon cites Naval Ravikant regarding judgment as the primary commodity in an AI era. | |
| Modern Branding Strategy and Viral Pop Culture Cameos | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Both analyze Pink's marketing strategies, including video skits, complimentary cleanings for local venues, and a cameo appearance in the film Hit Man. | |
| Deal of the Week: The Rise of Blue-Collar TikTokers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Closing host monologue examining viral blue-collar creators on social media and concluding with philosophical reflections on manual trades versus academic paths. |
Statements from this episode (9)
Sanchez: Enrollment in vocation-focused community colleges rose over 16% since 2018
“More than 16% increase in vocation-focused community colleges since 2018.”
Sanchez: US average commute time has increased by 30% since 2020
“The average commute has increased by 30% in the U.S. Since 2020”
Sanchez: Skilled trade grads earn up to $100K, out-earning marketing grads
“The average marketing major makes somewhere between 60 to 80,000 dollars a year. The average skilled trades worker after they graduate can make up where of 75 to a 100,000 dollars a year.”
Sanchez: Appalachian coal miners earn six-figure salaries
“And in a part of Appalachia, where, ah, the average income is below poverty level, coal miners make six figures a year.”
Downer: Hybrid office workers only do three hours of real work daily
“People that are just working in an office, and they have, like, they're probably working from home three days a week, and they are not being fully used.
Like, they're working for really three hours a day, but they have to stretch out their work to make it an e…”
Sanchez: Knowledge work defaulted to measuring time instead of actual output
“I think for a lot of jobs post the industrial revolution, where we became knowledge workers instead, we just flipped how we measure work.
And so now,
Instead of measuring output, we didn't take the time to figure out how to measure output for knowledge workers…”
Downer: Judgment will be the most valuable commodity as information commoditizes
“So the knowledge is there, but in, like, the coming years, what he says is, like, the value commodity amongst employees or workers or business owners
It's judgment.
We all have access to the same information, but what are the decisions we make based on the inf…”