Raised in the Projects, Powered by Purpose Terry Taylor

Terry Taylor grew up moving 40 times before graduating high school, attending 25 different schools, and finding his path through sports instead of the wrong crowd. In this raw and honest episode, Terry shares how basketball and football taught him the perseverance, competitiveness, and accountability that propelled him from an hourly worker to plant manager at one of the biggest aerospace companies in the world all without a degree.Now with his MBA earned at age 50 (graduating summa cum laude with a 3.97 GPA while working full-time), Terry opens up about the personality traits that made him successful but also held him back. From starting with zero empathy to learning patience in a Gen Z world, he discusses the evolution required of leaders today. Terry also reveals how a business card nearly thrown in the trash revolutionized his entire hiring system through Veryable's hands-on interview platform and why going straight to the COO instead of HR is the real secret to implementation.Get ready for stories about chef's throwing pans, union negotiations, watching candidates get out of their cars during interviews, and why A-players actually want to be held accountable.HighlightsA nearly-discarded Variable card replaced Terry's entire hiring system and solved labor shortages in both union and non-union facilities.Terry's journey from scoring zero on empathy tests to understanding why patience matters when leading Gen Z workers.The best employees respect high standards while poor performers constantly push boundaries on attendance and commitment.Go straight to the COO or president who feels the operational pain instead of getting stuck with defensive HR teams.Subscribe to Blue Collar BS for more unfiltered conversations about leadership, generational differences, and what really works in the skilled trades. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear Terry's story.Terry's Book RecommendationGet in Touch with Terry:LinkedInGet in touch with us:Check out the Blue Collar BS website.Steve Doyle:WebsiteLinkedInEmailBrad Herda:WebsiteLinkedInEmailThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrpOP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy