Trade Up

By: John Finan, Lisa Brandt

Narrated by: Derek Botten

Gone are the days of working an entire career—40 hours a week for 40 years—doing the same type of work for the same company. Today's young people want something different. They want more. They’re highly educated, talented, and looking to take on new challenges every few years. But their ambitions are being squashed by massive amounts of student debt.

Trade Up follows the fictional journeys of several young people who find their futures in skilled trades. Madison’s dream of becoming an electrician means she must reconcile with her parents’ hopes that she’d become “someone who carried a briefcase to work”. Jordan, Madison’s mentor, weighs his options as a family man and busy journeyman. Jacob discovers his love for working with his hands, just like his grandfather. Fuuads chooses a completely different path from the one his parents planned for him. Bob has built a career not unlike John Finan’s own. Now, he finds himself opening a new chapter of his working life that he never imagined. And none of it would have been possible without a start in the trades.

©2022 John Finan (P)2023 John Finan