Keep the Flame Alive: Apprenticeships, Retention, and Building a Training Culture in the Trades (with Manja Horner)

Jesse hosts the Learnings and Missteps podcast and interviews Manja Horner, founder and CEO of Boost Learning Design, about solving skilled-trades workforce shortages driven by retirements and the long push toward college over trades. Manja introduces her book, “Pass the Torch: A Call to Rescue the Future of Trades,” and explains her “talent flywheel” for retention: strong onboarding, trained supervisors who give clear feedback, clear expectations and standards, and career pathways with training and advancement. They discuss why training succeeds only with leadership buy-in, clear business impact, and protected time, contrasting failed and successful rollout examples. Manja outlines a learning ecosystem (attitude, strategy, content/knowledge capture, trainers/technology, and skill practice with deliberate repetition). They cover apprenticeships as an industry responsibility, Manja’s path from violin teaching to trades training via her family’s restoration business, and close on thinking bigger.Get the Book: https://www.boostld.com/pass-the-torch-bookGet the staff onboarding blueprint: https://www.boostld.com/onboarding-blueprint00:00 Apprenticeship Wake Up Call00:27 Meet Mana Horner02:43 The Skilled Labor Cliff05:52 Pass the Torch Book06:54 Retention Talent Flywheel13:10 Career Pathways That Work17:38 Training Buy In Story24:14 Learning Ecosystem Framework32:19 Why Apprenticeships Matter33:31 From Violin To Trades39:29 Transferable Skills Mindset41:10 Collecting Experiences Lesson42:25 No Credentials Needed43:20 Preboarding To Orientation46:11 Role Onboarding Structure47:25 AI And Constant Learning48:29 Talent Choice And Culture54:17 Let Kids Figure It Out59:00 Skill Stacking Plan01:03:35 School Mismatch InsightsGet the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-pageSubscribe to the Monday Morning Hugs Newsletter for thought provoking topics to accelerate your growth: LinkedIn Newsletter  Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be