I think it's kinda ridiculous that we expect an 18-year-old kid to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt without them having any idea what it is that they wanna do.

>> Pretty much what they preached about in school was either you had to go to college, you had to join the military, or you're gonna be stuck with a dead end job.

But they never elaborate on the trades and the other kind of options.

>> I'm right now in the process of choosing where I want to be.

I don't know where my path's gonna go and what's gonna happen, but I need to start making money.

I feel like exploring the trades, exploring the skills that are out there.

>> For a lot of us, a four-year degree is just not feasible.

I feel there's kind of a stigma doing trade.

>> I never really saw any other option than going to a university.

[MUSIC] People aren't focusing on just like a specific type of work with their hands, and their craft, and making money.

>> You like work with your hands, or doing makeup, or being a chef, like >> Everyone's gonna need a mechanic one day Everyone's gonna need someone to build their home.

>> I'm ready to do some interviews and just see what all these veterans of the skilled trades have to say.

[MUSIC] >> This December I'm taking off with Shyanne and Ryan.

>> Gonna hop in a green RV.

>> It's gonna be 21 days, 3,200 miles traveled.

>> On this trip, I'm just trying to see what kinda different trades there are out there.

>> I really hope to see something that really sticks out to me it's because I'm still a little bit lost about what I wanna do for a living.

>> There's stuff out there that I'm sure I have have no idea even exists, and it might be what I love to do, and I have no idea that it's even out there.

[SOUND] I love coffee.

[LAUGH] I didn't like it til I started working in the cold, but I'm all about some coffee.

[MUSIC] For a living, I do heating and air, refrigeration, we do minor electrical, plumbing.

Probably looking at few heat pumps now that we're starting the heating season.

When I was younger, my dad would take me into his office, and he's like an IT guy cooped up in a cubicle all day.

It just looked like a jail cell to me.

[LAUGH] I got too much energy to be sitting there all day.

[LAUGH] I love working with tools and getting to go to a different place every day.

But when you're in the crawl space or up in the attic, just sweating away, sometimes I kinda and wondering if there's something better out there for me.

It would be nice being able to use my mind for work more than I do.

But, for a lot of us a four-year degree is just not feasible.

I don't have any kind of set life plan at the moment.

I didn't even ask my boss, I had to spring it on him one day.

Said, hey, I'm leaving for a month, going on a road trip.

It'll be quite an experience.

I'm ready to do some interviews and just see what kind of advice they have for a young person like myself.

And from this trip, I'm just trying to see what's out there, and see that you can do trades and be successful.

And, love what you do.

>> I'd bought these ski gloves, didn't know if I need them or not.

>> It's cold areas, in general that I'm not used to.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> I was born and raised in Southern California.

[MUSIC] >> I love the water.

[MUSIC] The ocean is just a new world.

[MUSIC] So, growing up, I wanted to try everything, and I still do wanna try everything.

But soccer has always been my number one passion.

I played throughout high school, and then I got invited to play on a scholarship at college.

I really enjoyed it, I felt like I was part of a team.

[MUSIC] But I broke my ankle pretty much the last month of my season and I got asked not to come back.

I was devastated.

[MUSIC] It was the dream that I had at the time and I failed.

I moved out right after I graduated from college and I started living with my cousins.

And I had to start paying for everything, my parents weren't gonna help me.

>> Hi, how can I help you?

>> I'm with Uber, I'm here to pick up for Siquo.

>> Next window, please.

>> Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Have a good one.

>> I work as an Uber driver and I work for a temp agency.

Accounting, taxes, bookkeeping, it's not something I wanna do, but I'm good at it.

Something to give me money.

[LAUGH] So you've gotta pick stuff that you can do.

I'm gonna have to figure out what I really want.

I'm right now in the process of choosing where I want to be, and where I feel comfortable being.

[MUSIC] I'm gonna be a sponge for this trip.

[MUSIC] I'm just trying to see what's out there.

See what kind of work is going on and ask the questions that I wanna ask.

I don't know where my path is gonna go and what's gonna happen, but we're just here to learn right now.

>> I just got a couple sketchbooks, clothes, some makeup, so I think I got everything, pretty much.

I'm from a small town called Splendora, Texas.

There's really not much to do.

In the blink of an eye, you can see the entire town.

My dad is Sioux native, and we lived on a native reservation.

[MUSIC] My entire youth, my parents were alcoholics.

My parents had one of the biggest party central places, and that is what I was exposed to a lot as a child.

[MUSIC] I wasn't a huge fan of school.

[MUSIC] We're about to pull up to my first job.

I've been working here for about two years and it's called Pump It Up.

[MUSIC] It's an inflatable bouncy house place for children.

[MUSIC] It's not really the work made for me or the type of environment that I want to work in long-term.

A lot of times in school, you're kinda pressured by dead- end jobs or college, you gotta pick one.

They never even once brought up the option of trades schools.

[MUSIC] I have been falling for animals a little bit more.

Just getting to work with animals all day.

I think that would be something that I'd be interested in doing in the future.

[MUSIC] I do feel stuck, I feel like I want to do more with my life, and something that like, I really enjoy doing.

Rather than doing stuff just because you kind of have to.

>> Buckle up.

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> We've got Screaming Eagle, Rubber Ducky, and Baby Shae.

Those are our radio names for when we need to communicate while moving the RV [MUSIC] [SOUND Screaming Eagle, you gotta make a left in a quarter of a mile, over.

[SOUND] [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> We started out in LA.

>> We're going to our first interview today.

>> Lisa Lejohn is a world- renowned welder.

>> She is a professional welder/teacher.

>> She let us weld, it was pretty crazy, I was kind of nervous at first.

I've never done any welding, but she fired up the torch and let us have at it.

>> Fire in the hole.

>> I was curious, I didn't know what welding was, when I took the class in high school, I fell in love with welding.

I think everybody should know how to weld.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] Ladies and gentlemen, how do you like welding?

>> [APPLAUSE] >> So, we're all in our early twenties, and I am still trying to figure out where I belong.

And I was wondering, what certificates, what college did you go to, to get to the point you are?

Or did you not take that route, just started jumping in the field?

>> I went to Hollywood High, and they offered a Regional Occupational Program.

At the Watts Skills Center on Saturdays, and I was reading everything they offered.

And I saw welding, and I didn't know what welding was, but what captivated me is the instructor came out.

And he said, welding is the art of fusion, and I was captivated, didn't have a clue what fusion was.

>> [LAUGH] >> But his presentation just captivated me, welding is the art of fusion, that was it, struck the arc and fell in love.

If I could take something so small, eighth of an inch, and it could hold 70,000 pounds per square inch.

If I welded that electrode correctly.

[MUSIC] >> How difficult is it to get started in this type of work?

>> I don't think it's difficult.

First, I would say graduate high school, not if you didn't try to get your GED.

Even if you don't have a high school diploma, you can still enter into a community college.

And give it a try, take a class, take a course.

The average aged welder in America they say is 52, so the industry has to be replenished.

You don't have to feel like you're a failure, because you don't want to go to a four-year university.

Even if you go to a trade school you are still being, what?

Educated.

[MUSIC] [SOUND] >> Closer to the metal.

>> I actually really enjoyed it, she gave us a little bit more instruction once we started.

>> Making a circle about the size of a pin head.

There you go.

>> Then saw like, huge improvement.

>> All right, right there, so look at the difference, here's the first time, and just in a matter of, what?

Seconds.

[MUSIC] >> What advice would you give people who are still looking for their passion.

To keep an eye out for while they're still learning?

>> You have to explore in order to really find out what you like, but don't let opportunities pass you by.

They're not gonna always come and knock on the door, you have to go look.

Put effort into taking care of you, being the best you, invest in you.

Because if you never make any deposits, what's gonna be in your bank account?

Zero, empty head, zero, empty heart, zero, no money, zero, plus zero, plus zero, is who?

Zero, why should society invest in you if you want to be zero?

You could do that all by yourself, that's what I tell my daughter, cuz guess what?

My mom told me that, you could be nothing by yourself.

Now, if you want to be something, come to work, call some of them numbers, could I take a tour?

Can I come over and see what this is about?

Go and look, go on, observe.

And if it sparks you, find a class and try, so it's about wanting, knowing, and preparing, yourself.

To get that prize, or to get that dream.

[MUSIC] >> After Lisa, we interviewed Laura Zahn at Ally Woodshop.

>> The core of our business is the collective woodshop, we have eight furniture makers that come in everyday.

Are using the tools, are making their own work, and running their own businesses.

And also, we went to go meet Lee.

>> Guys a little tour of the space.

>> Lee helps run Nick Offerman's woodshop.

>> It was cool being in Ron Swanson's woodshop.

[MUSIC] >> Nick Offerman started this shop 15 years ago.

I met him right about when he got his big break acting job on Parks and Recreation.

We built a canoe together, and I fell in love with this space, and never left.

[MUSIC] >> When I was a bit younger, my dad built a lot of his own custom furniture.

I got to mess around a little bit with tools, I just didn't think of it as like a profession.

I was mostly, like I just had it stuck in my head that I could only help, whereas these women just run it.

>> I worked in climate change policy, I worked as an environmental organizer.

I thought the work was very important, but at the end of the day.

I wasn't very happy with how my time was spent during the day.

I come from a family of people who make things with their hands, that's kind of how I got into woodworking.

It's something that keeps me feeling like I'm connected to my roots.

>> From a young age, I was always drawn to making things, real interest in putting things together.

I took a kids carpentry class and sort of started building skateboards, and I don't know.

I just kinda would build whatever I wanted to play with, but I was sort of down in the basement.

With my handsaw and scrap wood making wooden walkie talkies, and spaceships.

[LAUGH] And that kinda stuff, so that's really where it started.

[SOUND] >> I was finding myself in jobs where I was behind computers, I was on the phone.

I didn't have the satisfaction of working with my hands to put something into the world.

And then so I eventually took a year-long certificate program of furniture making.

And then slowly over time, I shifted to starting Allied Woodshop, and it was gradual.

When I started the shop I had a full time job, and then I went down to part-time work.

And then I went to consulting, and now I'm finally at a place where my full-time job is running Ally Woodshop.

And teaching furniture-making.

>> Spent a lot of time looking for jobs on Craigslist, I was kinda patching it together, I had multiple jobs.

Few years building theater sets, building cabinets for five years.

And then I did a three-week summer course in really fine woodworking.

And that was really instrumental from taking my woodworking practice from that to high-end furniture.

Furniture, there are a number of different paths to get started.

Community colleges that have woodworking programs, you can also just get an apprenticeship.

Reach out to the furniture makers, or the woodworkers in your areas, a way to just learn on the job.

[MUSIC] >> Did anyone ever make you feel like you weren't capable of achieving your goals, or?

>> Definitely encountered more sort of impatience definitely being a woman in this field.

Until I really had the skills to show for myself at a shop, I didn't get the same respect that a man would in the same position.

>> But that never affected me, from the beginning knew that Allied woodshop would work.

And, it was that certainty that led me to just sign the lease and jump.

[MUSIC] >> Get your hands dirty.

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> It was pretty awesome leaving LA, we hadn't really taken out the RV out for an extended period of time, so we hit the road to Vegas.

[MUSIC] >> Hard left rubber ducky hard left [SOUND] >> Getting to actually drive is kinda one of my favorite parts, in all honesty, about the road trip.

[MUSIC] So we got into Vegas, we went and interviewed Leticia.

>> The executive chef at the Bacchanal Buffet, >> Fantastic place.

>> Half the food I didn't even know what it was, it was just so fancy.

Probably the fanciest place I've ever been in my life.

>> I love cooking but never really thought of it as being a profession of mine.

>> Here we have nine stations, and our menu changes three times in a day.

We have a body of 124 cooks and eight chefs, so it takes about 45 cooks in the morning to set up the breakfast.

I go from one end of the line to the other with about 200 spoons in my pocket, tasting everything.

Here we go, this is our seafood station.

So this is our American station, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, soup and bread station.

The Mexican station, we do tacos, al pastor, carne asada, chicken tacos, churros.

All of our juices are freshly made every day.

We have ramen, udon.

Over here, rice and noodles.

We have our Japanese sushi.

You name it, we got it.

>> It was all incredible.

I made sure to have some biscuits and gravy that is reminded me of home.

I'm gonna eat till I throw up.

>> [LAUGH] And then come back [LAUGH] >> For a buffet, we have a five star rating, it's incredibly hard.

We have hundreds of dishes that have to come out perfectly.

Whereas, a restaurant they have a limited menu, and so it's easier to control.

It takes a whole team of people to make that happen, so I am glad and honored to be apart of it.

>> Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into being a chef?

I grew up in Mexico, and my family, it's all about food.

Cooking and everybody gathers around and moles and tamales So I started to just fall in love with it.

I realized that food was my passion when I was about eight years old.

But it, cooking is something that you develop a skill throughout the years.

And you keep getting better and better at it.

And it just becomes a part of who you are.

I have to cook something every day or else I'm not right.

[LAUGH] >> How do you deal with the stress of running a bufett this size?

>> So here's the thing.

[MUSIC] Life prepares you for everything.

32 years has prepared me to deal with 124 cooks, thousands and thousands of guests.

People say it's so much and so stressful, but it really comes easy for me now because your toolbox, I guess, is filled with more tools for the things that come in.

You know how to fix things.

You react quickly to the challenges because you have the experience behind it.

And you really have to be in love with what you're doing because life has many ups and downs.

You fall down, you get up, and there is that love that keeps you going every day, for more, and more, and more.

[MUSIC] >> She's the executive chef at the top buffet in the world.

It's a true testament to what people can do if they are willing to push the envelope.

It really made me reevaluate the things just in a sense that, sometimes I question if maybe I'm selling myself short and not exploring other opportunities.

Certainly I'm not as passionate about heating and air.

To me, it's something I kind of do it's not really something I love.

So I feel like I need to spend more time searching and trying to find something that I can enjoy and try to make a career out of it.

[MUSIC] I don't really know what makes me happy at this point.

I don't know if I feel stuck or if I feel like I'd be running away.

But, I feel like I maybe could use a fresh start and recreate myself somewhere else.

[MUSIC] >> When we got into Santa Fe, freaking, freezing place.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> We interviewed Peter Page of AMENERGY.

And Mark Georgetti of Palo Santos Designs.

>> We went to the home that they built together.

[MUSIC] >> I have looked into sustainable building before, but I had never actually seen a product of it.

>> I mean, there's so many different systems working in concert here.

You can see how the direct sunlight comes in and fills more than half of the floor space.

These particular adobes allow the interior temperature of the home to self regulate.

And in fact, there's no AC in this house.

It wasn't until I was about your age that I ever even picked up a power tool or built anything.

I stumbled across this book about Earthships.

These people who are building homes that didn't require any connection to the grid or any type of other energy input the principals behind it were the thing that sort of inspired me.

Looking through this book and I said, Taos, where is Taos?

And, eventually, I basically just drove to Taos, took a road trip like yourselves.

And I found that I just sort of had a natural affinity Towards this kind of work, and working with my hands, and sort of merging that, the creative process of physically building things with my bent towards environmental conservation was a natural fit.

It was fun, and I just kept going with it.

I decided to go out and get my own contractors license and launch an idea, and eventually built a small company.

>> So this system connected with stand alone system for their own power.

It has batteries.

>> My father was kind of an innovator.

In fact, he was born in 1900.

He bought a property.

It was an island off of Greenwich, Connecticut.

And there was no electricity to it, you had to drive a boat to get there.

So we put a wind turbine up on top of one of the buildings that he built, and stored the energy in batteries.

That was the way that I grew up.

I think that helped give me confidence for when I ended up moving to New Mexico, because I chose to live in an off-grid location.

I initially got into renewable energy because of independence and necessity.

I didn't have electricity.

Right over here you can see that bank of solar collectors.

Fluids are pumped out to that solar array.

They capture the sun's heat, bring it back and run it through the floor.

And it also preheats the domestic hot water that comes out of the showers, the taps.

>> Seeing how the energy is used was pretty eye opening, because now I see what I could do with it.

>> I'd say, have an open mind.

If you're exposed to something that's kind of connected to you, you can see it's directly connected to you, I would act on that.

>> Nice place.

>> [LAUGH] >> Make it fun.

[LAUGH] >> I asked him if he was hiring because I will drive to Santa Fe right now and go start working for him.

Just knowing that he was able to tear out and make it work, seeing him to do that was inspiring.

[MUSIC] >>Seeing how pos... possumate [LAUGH] Cut Seeing how passionate everyone was about their work is very inspiring.

Lisa the welder, she was incredible, she loves it.

The word workers, as well.

Ms Nunez at the buffet, she just loves what she does and she's been doing it her whole life.

And we kind of have, I guess, an old school idea of what trades are, just kinda like back breaking labor and that's not really the case.

Getting out of the small town is nice to see what else is out there and just see that there's so many different things going on in the world.

They're that passionate about their work, it means that I can be that passionate about my work.

In every part of the country, there are different trades and different things that one can do.

And a lot of them don't require a four year degree.

>> I'm just ready for the second half of the trip.

[MUSIC] I love Ryan and Shyane.

They're awesome.

Great people.

>> That's a portal to another dimension.

You gotta turn around three times and be here at midnight.

>> My God, it's beautiful.

>> [LAUGH] Living with Ryan and Alex is something else.

I feel like Ryan's favorite game is to find what annoys me and then just keep going.

>> I've been singing the meow song, meow meow meow meow meow, and she doesn't like that at all [LAUGH].

>> Yeah, he tends to do that a lot.

>> We were working as a team to empty the black grey water in the RV.

>> Ryan was smart and he some gloves, and he was gonna be the one that did it.

[MUSIC] >> Perfect.

>> Alex thought he was gonna try to help and he put his shoe over the hose so that way it would go down into the drain.

>> Fire in the hole.

>> Whoo.

>> God.

>> That was hilarious.

>> Whoa whoa whoa.

>> I was holding, I opened the door which I thought was enough contributing.

>> What am I gonna do with it?

[LAUGH] >> Why would you do that man?

>> I didn't have any gloves to control it.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> I really appreciate just getting to hang out with them, just kinda us all chilling.

I am not looking forward to going back to Texas.

I am surrounded by a lot of negativity back home, and I'm afraid to go back and feel stuck again.

So it's been cool to kinda get away from that for a little bit.

[MUSIC] >> We stopped on route 66.

>> We pulled over into this little museum and we saw a gentleman out there with his horses.

>> My name is cowboy.

At least they call me that, I don't know why.

>> So that was just like a mysterious interview that we ended up doing.

>> I rescue horses.

This is Ridler.

Ridler has a question mark on his forehead.

A buddy of mine was a border patrol agent and they busted what they called ghost riders.

50 horses hauling drugs up from Mexico.

Come on!

49 of those animals got euthanized.

My buddy said, look, I got one horse left, come and get him or we're gonna have to kill him too.

I was walking through Kennedy Park and one little girl caught my attention.

She had muscular dystrophy.

She had braces up both her legs, up her chest, she couldn't walk.

And she grabbed me by the arm and she says mister, mister can I ride your horse, please?

And I get her up on the horse and all of a sudden, that little girl was she's doing something none of them other kids was doing >> Yeah.

>> And I was just gonna rescue horses and train them and sell them but it never occurred to me, to actually turn them back into something.

I'll never sell a horse.

I'll rescue them, train them, won't give up on them until the day I die.

[MUSIC] And then he looked at Shyane, though, and he said >> You've got problems, and I was like, I know.

And he's like, >> You're the only one you gotta be good to.

Anybody else that comes in your life and they're not good to you, you say look I'm sorry, I have no time for you.

Just tell them the truth, tell them the truth and say, hey look, there's a better place, somewhere more that you could be more valuable.

Find your niche, stand up to it, accept it.

Take your place.

[MUSIC] >> I feel like humans get a little bit lost in their mindset and they judge you, and animals don't do that.

They're very kind and they love you.

They're like, my God, you're giving me attention.

You're giving me food.

You're the best.

I really enjoy talking to passionate people who work with animals all day.

>> Our next stop was in Oklahoma City where we went to the Oklahoma City Zoo.

It was awesome.

[MUSIC] We interviewed Kim.

>> I have, I think, the coolest job in the world.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] I am so lucky I get to work with every single animal in the zoo.

That's over 1400 animals.

I'm always assessing, looking at, providing for and making sure that they have a quality life.

>> What reached out to you to want to work at the zoo?

>> When I was five years old, I was able to have an interaction with an animal.

It was a dolphin and I was able to look that animal in the eye and that was it for me.

I wanted to dedicate my life to working with animals.

As curator of behavioral husbandry and welfare, I get to watch animals and let them tell me what they need.

>> Wow.

>> And this is where you really have to start thinking like a bear.

So.

>> [LAUGH] >> Grizzly bears have an incredible foraging ability, they can smell food.

And we are going to see how, basically, how hard we can make it for them to find food.

We want them to have to look for it, just like they would if they were not in our care.

So, you guys can literally put it anywhere that you'd like.

It's all about being creative.

I spend a lot of time in the zoo, I spend a lot of time in front of animals, getting dirty and going, okay what can I build?

What can I provide, what can I do that stimulates this animal and gives this animal opportunities?

[MUSIC] >> Shia had been talking the whole trip about how she just was in love with sea lions and wanted to see one.

So we didn't tell her that she was gonna get to meet any.

>> Yes!

>> So we have a sea lion pup by the name of Cash.

[LAUGH] And we're gonna show you where training starts.

So this is a toy of his.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] This is very positive for him to be able to interact with you guys.

He really is learning that strangers are not something to be afraid of and that new experiences can be fun.

So that opens them up to other new experiences down the road.

[MUSIC] >> [LAUGH] Kim was saying the she was always waiting for people to get that, like, aha moment.

And I think, if I had anything that felt like it, it might be with the seals.

Is it okay if I?

>> Yeah, you can pet him.

>> My goodness.

>> [LAUGH] >> He's so precious.

He feels so soft.

>> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] >> You're not crying, are you?

>> That's pretty cool?

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah?

>> [LAUGH] Nah.

>> They call me sassy.

>> Whoa!

I love the seals and I haven't had contact with them that close.

And it was just probably one of the best moments of my life.

I'm not gonna lie, I was super excited, I still am [LAUGH].

I fricking love seals.

>> One thing you find in this job in particular is every person finds their own path.

So some people do go to college, but a lot of people don't.

And even when you go to college, this job in particular, there's a huge apprenticeship.

I have been doing animal behavior for 20 years, and I will continue to learn for the next 20 years.

There really is a huge on-the- job training aspect that you can't get in a book.

You have to go out and start doing it, and learning and making mistakes, and building upon it.

>> This will be pretty awesome, though.

That seems like something I could do.

[MUSIC] They say the best way to get in is volunteering.

And if you're super passionate about what you do and super passionate about the animals, you can just get a job.

I really think that would be something that I'd be interested in doing in the future.

[MUSIC] I've always had that kind of fear of jumping into something, right?

But worst case scenario, you just jump into something else.

Try it out, don't like it, try again.

[MUSIC] When you get a lot further than just staying in one spot and looking at all these opportunities flashing by.

[MUSIC] Let's go get lost So we can be found >> We stopped at the GE Aviation plant in Auburn, Alabama.

It was something else.

I've never really seen any of the technology that they had there.

Seeing them building the parts for the jet engines and just how efficient and clean the place was was pretty crazy.

>> You can look at actual parts being 3D printed.

These will go in an engine.

See the laser dancing around in there.

That's a bed of powdered metal.

It has the consistency almost of flour.

And the laser's coming down, it's actually melting the material for a split second.

And then it's solidifying right there on the spot.

So we're able to create complex geometry and real metal parts just by melting powder and re-solidifying it right there.

This part was 3D printed.

So if you can think it, you can print it.

>> So up.

Do you see that vacuum hose back there?

You wanna grab that vacuum hose.

And you're just gonna start removing powder off of that middle area right there.

[MUSIC] My name is Christine.

I am a technical associate here at GE.

I have the responsibility of running the DMLM machines, that's digital melting laser machines.

[MUSIC] I have a high school education.

I actually got my GED and graduated on time with my class.

I did not go to college, but I was raised where a good day's work is a good day's pay.

I've worked manufacturing majority of my life.

What brought me here to GE was a news report talking about 3D printing machines.

I just felt like that was something that I was very interested in, and I tried hard to get on out here and thinking the whole time that I wouldn't get in out here.

Because there was such a stringent criteria that you had to go through to become hired out here.

I was really proud that I did get in the front door.

And I'm proud to say that I was the very first female that got the opportunity to work in the 3D printing area.

>> How important do you think it is for our generation to get into manufacturing or 3D printing?

>> I think it would be a very important step.

3D printing, it's a wave of the future.

It's a big field, and it's gonna be wide open.

>> We actually use a robot to remove the parts of the build that we don't care about.

Hey.

[LAUGH] >> That's pretty cool.

>> [LAUGH] >> The world is your oyster right now, because you are young and you have so many opportunities ahead of you.

If there's something you're passionate about, just work hard, just do it to the best of your ability.

I think your work ethic speaks for you.

If you're a good person and you do the best you can, I think that things will come to you.

[MUSIC] Follow your passion because that's truly what I believe you should do.

>> Christine, she didn't have the technical background, and now she's in 3D printing and manufacturing.

It's really cool.

What made me think about not hiding, and we're not accepting the fact that I can just be comfortable with what I have.

And just figuring out that you really do need to struggle if you really want to see your passion grow.

So the job that i'm gonna working at after this trip, I'm gonna be a tax agent.

And with this whole experience rattling in my head, I just don't really think I wanna [LAUGH] do it anymore.

I don't know, it's gonna be.

[MUSIC] I don't really wanna say that being a tax agent is a horrible thing, it's not.

But right now I kinda wanna stray from it.

I'm just trying to see where life takes me.

[MUSIC] We are on the way to Miami.

We are driving down the coast.

We will be there in about four hours.

The Screaming Beagle is driving us, and it is the last long haul that we have.

>> Ryan, I'm sick of him, I'm ready to go.

No, I'm just kidding, I'll miss him.

>>We have a plot to steal the RV >> You're not supposed to say that when the camera's in the hallway.

It's top secret.

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> We interviewed Bill.

>> Welcome to Miami.

>> A master diver, scuba instructor, and also a scuba store owner.

I have my open water certificate already and I am a certified life guard.

And I really wanted to talk to somebody who is a small business owner, because I eventually wanna be a small business owner.

I wanna sell scuba gear or snorkeling gear and stuff like that.

>> He was a lawyer who quit practicing law to open up a scuba diving shop.

>> You either have the time or the money.

Now you probably have the time but not the money.

Later in life you might have the money but not the time.

So I just wanted to make sure that time didn't run out before it was too late to kind of try something that I would enjoy.

>> He left the desk.

I'm on the desk right now and I don't wanna be on it anymore.

And [LAUGH] it definitely is much more enjoyable days than being in an office and writing memos and briefs and everything.

>> Can you tell us more about your program and how long it is?

>> So, here, we do any kind of certification that you would want, from your beginning certification.

You can start with a Discover Scuba in the pool, all the way up to your first certification, which is Open Water.

And then we do Advanced, Rescue, Divemaster, all the way through Instructor.

So we can actually certify you to be a dive instructor here.

With diving, you have a lot of different options, especially once you get to the professional level.

So at that point, you can actually start assisting with other divers, assisting with students, helping out with classes, and actually working in the industry.

And that's pretty cool because there's dive shops all over the world.

We also do commercial diving, something more technical in the sense that you have a specific task every day.

You can also be a treasure hunter.

And the treasure hunter is on the east coast of Florida called the Treasure Coast, pulling up billions of dollars worth in gold every year from the ship wrecks.

I mean anything is possible with diving.

It's really great to see that, he's diving, taking photos, doing the things that he loves.

Also, teaching people how to do those certain things, and I can do that, too.

If you think that you like something, and you wanna pursuit it, pursuit it.

The last thing you want is to kind of be stuck in a career for 20, 30 years and hate it.

And by the time you realize that, you're ready to retire and you don't have any other options.

Now is the time to kind of explore that and see if it's something that you really like.

>> Always do what you love and what makes you happy.

>> Thanks Bill, [INAUDIBLE].

[MUSIC] >> We had checked out this waterfall.

[MUSIC] >> Alex decided it would be a good idea to jump off the waterfall.

[MUSIC] I didn't think that he was actually serious.

>> 90 feet, I will not be jumping.

I was actually dreaming about it the night before.

I was dreaming about how I was gonna do it.

I walked over with my GoPro.

[MUSIC] I looked once or twice, I hesitated, I looked again, and then just jumped.

[LAUGH] One of the things that I've learned on this wonderful trip is that there's a point in life where you've just gotta pick.

And if you don't pick, you're gonna be still stranded in the middle.

It's all choice, but you try not to let that fear control you.

[MUSIC] That was really, really life changing.

[MUSIC] We went to Orlando.

We went to Universal and we got to see the Blue Man Group.

It was really fun.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> It takes a team of I don't know how many people to put that show on.

We got to interview the makeup and wardrobe artists there.

>> I'm Nancy Feldman.

>> The audio engineer.

>> I'm Scott Dahl.

>> And the musical instrument technician.

>> My name is Mike Hall.

I'm the head of the musical instrument technician department.

We take care of all the musical instruments in the Blue Man Group show.

And it's 14 shows a week.

That is a full-time thing.

It goes from day-to-day maintenance to building the instruments in many cases.

There is not a marked path to where I'm at.

[MUSIC] >> In audio, everything that you do is heard by the audience.

And hopefully they don't perceive that.

Hopefully they're just enjoying the show and having a good time.

There is a sense of nervousness every time that you sit down at that desk, right before you start a show, and you have 5, 600 people that are watching every move that you do.

And you never really get over that, but at the same time it's kind of, it's what drives you.

>> I did not go to college.

I'm not necessarily recommending that, it is another path though.

I wanted to be a rock star.

Didn't quite work out, even though you think you're going here, you might end up over there.

>> Can you tell us exactly how you get them blue?

>> It feels like melted crayon.

>> It kinda smells like it, too.

It has a- >> What does it taste like?

I'm just kidding >> I have no formal makeup training.

But I've been trained through the Blue Man process.

They put on their bald cap which is a whole process that involves prosthetic adhesive and all that good stuff.

And then they just slather this on.

Theater has always been a really important part of my life.

When I wasn't in shows, I would go, well, I wanna do something.

And so I started working back stage.

I love costumes.

I've always loved costumes.

I'm gonna dress these shows.

And I loved it.

And after I graduated, I didn't know what I wanted to do.

Do I want to go into wardrobe or do I want to go into fashion?

I just don't know.

I was kind of where you guys are now.

And so, I ended up getting an internship at NBC.

I looked for any phone number that I could find for NBC.

I couldn't find NBC HR, so I found a number.

I said, I'm really sorry, I'm trying to get through the HR department, do you have their number?

And I just did it, and called and found their number and ended up with an internship, started working in television.

And I got to work on Broadway, which was amazing, it was a dream.

And then this position at Blue Man Group came up, and I thought that sounds awesome.

There you go, see.

>> No, you gotta do the little mark.

>> Whenever I was at other jobs, I would think, what's the next step?

Where do I go?

And being here, I just really enjoy what I do.

[MUSIC] Finding a place where you really feel at home is really important.

>> [LAUGH] >> Any advice you can give us finishing up our trip here?

>> You have to look for your own opportunity.

No one is gonna hand it to you.

You want that job, you get on the phone and you call them.

[MUSIC] >> [LAUGH] >> You have to go and send your resume around and get out there.

I walked the entire theater district, handed my resume out.

I just went to each stage door, it was incredibly terrifying cuz what if somebody judges me?

I just did it, I just said I can do this.

[SOUND] And I would drop off the resume, and I would follow up with phone calls.

But it was so important, don't wait for someone else to find it for you.

You have to look for it.

Ready?

That was terrible.

>> [LAUGH] >> Yes.

>> [LAUGH] That's better.

That's more like it.

>> [LAUGH] >> That's more like it.

>> If at first you don't succeed.

>> Awesome, thanks so much.

>> See, look I turned it to advice.

I'm so good at this.

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> It's bittersweet that it is coming to an end.

[MUSIC] I'll miss traveling around.

>> It did go by really fast, honestly.

It was a blur.

>> I feel like I'm still gonna be processing this trip a little bit after it's already over because it's just been so much.

>> What's your definition of success?

>> I once read it's not where you are, but how far you travel to get there.

My theory is, we're all a little broke, but I've never seen a broken crayon you couldn't color with.

[MUSIC] >> I want this positivity, and motivation to last as long as possible so where I can get where I wanna be.

These are very successful people that are doing extremely well with their lives.

And to be able to connect with them on a personal level, it clicks, we're all people.

If they're there, that's where I wanna be someday, I can get there as well.

>> Fantastic experience.

I feel like I'm more awake cuz this is brand new for me, being in an RV, traveling across country.

I got to stop and talk to the people, and see what is out there and see what people are doing, and see inside of the buildings instead of outside of the buildings.

And you got to see what kind of work is going on.

What I received from all this experience is that there are jobs out there.

There are people having fun doing them.

>> We have this idea that you're almost stuck doing a trade, like it's people that can't do something else.

So they do a trade but every single person we talked to was doing what they really enjoyed doing.

>> I fell in love with welding.

>> I realized that food was my passion.

>> It was fun and I just kept going with it.

>> That was it for me.

>> Follow your passion.

>> Being here, I just really enjoy what I do.

>> Most of these people were just having fun.

>> There's hope for my future and there's something out there for me.

I feel like now that I see other people not accepting the comforting life that's provided with a desk job makes me happy.

I really want to get into scuba diving, I'm ready to take on what's next.

Don't be afraid to wander off to find where you're supposed to be.

>> There are way more options than I would've assumed initially.

I feel like I have a lot more motivation, for sure.

I want a sign in the back so when people come in here and they're going to start packing and stuff, they're going to be like bam, unexpected advice.

People go through tough stuff, but I promise for every low in my life, I've gotten an extraordinary high.

Stay with it, even if it gets difficult.

[MUSIC] >> I've been putting better in quotes because I think everyone's idea of better means making more money or like the lawyer, doctor, whatever.

And the reality is not everybody wants to do that.

This trip was pretty huge for me.

I didn't even know that a lot of these careers existed.

All I knew was go to four year university.

[MUSIC] Hopefully, people can see that there are other routes.

You gotta risk it to get the biscuit.

>> [LAUGH] >> Coming from the small town, working day in and day out, it felt like I would never get out of there and now it seems like I could do pretty much anything.

I feel like the sky is the limit at this point.

[MUSIC] >> To learn more about how to get involved or to watch interviews from the road, visit roadtripnation.com.