The Exchanges

Q How did you get your first student? Did you, like, were you creating the content as you were looking for students or did you create the content and then test it on someone you knew? Did you do free trials? Like what did you do?

A It's kind of a funny story because I, um, for several months we just concentrated on building the curriculum, right? I mean, we literally went through every question in the quizzes from the curriculum that we were using and then looked up What, what page number and what paragraph the answer was on because I wanted to be able to navigate it. And so after these months, we're getting close to finishing our online system. We'd chosen a learning management system and LMS and we were programming and everything. And I said, okay, turn on the Google ads. I want to see, you know, how long is this going to take? You know, I didn't know really. I mean, I had some idea on Google ads, but I didn't understand, you know, would it take a little time to ramp up? So we, We turned it on and the phone rang like an hour later and someone was saying, yeah, I'm interested in your training program. And I, and I was so surprised. I remember just kind of going, ah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Um, you know, Um, and I remember calling my web designer and say, shut it off, shut it off. We're not ready yet. But it was exciting to know that once we turned it on, all of a sudden the phone started ringing, right? So we use Google ads for, for, uh, several years until we built out enough content and, and mastered our SEO to, you know, pretty much own the first page of Google like we do now. So organically. Which is nice.

AI assessment note: “We turned it on and the phone rang like an hour later”

Q Okay. You said the term non-destructive testing. I was going to say it in the intro, but you might as well tell us what it is. What is it?

A Yeah, I guess. Yeah. You know, it's funny because people say, you know, uh, electrician, plumber, HVAC, roofer, everybody knows everyone's nodding when you say that. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. And then you say non-destructive testing in their head. Tilts, and they look at you a little funny. So, you know, non-destructive testing is utilizing radiography, so taking x-rays, um, is the layman's term. You know, we do radiographic inspections, industrial, ultrasound, magnetic particle, liquid penetrant, visual, eddy current acoustic emissions, all these different modalities to test structures during the manufacturing phase. Define flaws, discontinuities, something that might, uh, be a problem and create the product to fail. So, um, non-destructive testing really touches on so much that we really don't know, like all the lug nuts on your cars while they're being manufactured are batch tested. To make sure the quality is good, right? Um, structures, spacecraft, aircraft, bridges, nuclear facilities, pipelines. We do training for Lockheed Martin, Boeing, SpaceX, Blue Origin, um, you know, uh, manufacturing companies across the country, across the world. And, uh, so it's really a quality control. It's during the manufacturing and then after it's in use, right? Every time people have probably been on a bridge before walking and they feel cars and it rumbles, right?

AI assessment note: “non-destructive testing is utilizing radiography... all these different modalities to test structures”

Q So how long did it take you to go from idea to execution on being able to actually start training people?

A Well, I started with, I would say probably six months of, uh, deep research. Um, I was still doing my career in Alaska. Uh, the one thing, the benefit of having that career, even though you're so remote, is you work 21, 12 hour days in a row, and then I flew home to Minnesota for 21 days off. So in my off time, even though I was an inspector up there in Alaska, I would have three weeks off every three weeks. And so I started just by, you know, all right, get on Google. Who's, who's the competition? What are they offering? How are they delivering it? What are the prices and all the other, you know, hundreds of questions you need to ask yourself before you start a business, right? Um, how can I, Uh, deliver it better. Um, you know, why am I doing this? You know, what, what, what's the purpose and what are my intentions? What are my goals? What is my vision? What would I like to see in one year, two years, five years, 10 years, right? I think everyone needs to ask those questions. And so I built a comprehensive spreadsheet of all the competitors out there and there's not a lot, but it's pretty niche business. Maybe a dozen other. Ones that I would consider competitors around the country. Um, and then just broke down what they're offering, what their content was, how they were delivering it and what price point. And so I, I'd say about six months, um, before I decided, all right, i…

AI assessment note: “I'd say about six months, um, before I decided, all right, it's time”

Q So you solve the financing. What was your next struggle?

A It really, it came down to, uh, marketing. I think, um, For this. I mean, Google AdWords worked, but then how do you, there's only so many people, and I still struggle with this a little bit today. I mean, our, our name is out there in a lot of referrals, but biggest struggle was there's only so many people typing in non-destructive testing schools because nobody knows what it is. If your buddy isn't working in it or your dad wasn't working in it, or Right? You know, word of mouth. I mean, like I said, walk up to the next 10 people you know or see and say non-destructive testing. And I, chances are there may be zero that know what it is. So that was the, the struggle is how do you cast a net big enough to capture people? And then, and then they, wow, that sounds interesting, but then you got to educate them on it. Right. You know, just like the easiest products out there is, you know, sell a screwdriver. Everybody knows what a screwdriver is for. Right. Um, sell a jacuzzi. Everybody knows what a jacuzzi is for.

AI assessment note: “It really, it came down to, uh, marketing.”

Q How did you feel leaving Alaska knowing that it was going to be the last time you were there?

A You know, I had been an entrepreneur in my previous life, quote unquote, and I, and I had some failures and successes and, and I'd sold a company, a marketing company, and then took a couple of years off and then decided, all right, what am I going to do with myself? And, um, this was at 38 and I, and I rebuilt, um, uh, You know, my life basically just said, okay, I'm taking some time off. Uh, what am I going to do with myself? I got to get back to work. And, uh, anyway, kind of a, in a long way to explain it is when I finally did leave there eight years later, I remember waking up that morning, just feeling. You know, kind of bliss that I was back in, back in the game, back to being an entrepreneur, and, you know, with all this future ahead of me and another challenge, so I, I, it was, I guess the career changed more than just leaving Alaska, but, um, I, I flew home every three weeks to Minnesota, so I, I didn't live up there full-time, but, uh, when you're on the north slope of Alaska, you're pretty isolated.

AI assessment note: “I remember waking up that morning, just feeling. You know, kind of bliss”

Q What do you think the future of training looks like beyond what you've just described? What's the next big change or the big innovation that's coming?

A You know, there's a lot of people going for thinking virtual reality. And I just, I, I'm not a big fan of it for non-destructive testing. And there's probably going to be people that are might prove me wrong or, or it might make it work. Um, You know, ah, so I don't know, I think, I mean, virtual reality, right, or augmented reality, I think is gonna be even more in, I think augmented reality is gonna be much more used than virtual reality in the future. But for, for training, um, yeah, I think, you know, virtual or augmented reality is gonna play a role in it, and I just don't exactly know how now. There's, the one thing about our industry is you have three parts to our education and certification. You have your theory training, which we provide, and then you have your on-the-job training, so it's like an electrician, you graduate, you're not an electrician, you have to go work With an apprentice, right? And, and be an apprentice and then work with a master electrician and then become one yourself. And that's how ours works. So it's really hard. To replace that knowledge of that person who's seen a thousand welds or a thousand structures and a thousand radiographs or thousands of radiographs and, and to be able to interpret the results of the inspections is something that is, is just really hard to replace without just good old hands-on experience. So, and, uh, so I don't know…

AI assessment note: “augmented reality is gonna be much more used than virtual reality in the future”