Episode 198:

<p>Are we really struggling to find the next generation of technicians… or are we struggling to TRAIN them?</p><p><br></p><p>On this episode of Commercial Kitchen Chronicles, I sit down with Ty Branaman, CMHE — Head of Training for The GRIT Foundation, Field Trainer for Kalos Services, Love2HVAC edutainer, Aether Training consultant, and the one and only Banana Man.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.love2hvac.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.love2hvac.com/</a> </p><p><a href="www.youtube.com/@love2hvac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">www.youtube.com/@love2hvac</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/love2hvac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.instagram.com/love2hvac</a></p><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@love2hvac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.tiktok.com/@love2hvac</a></p><p><br></p><p>This conversation goes way beyond the usual “Gen Z doesn’t want to work” argument.</p><p><br></p><p>Ty has spent years working with technicians, students, instructors, companies, and young people entering the skilled trades. We talk about what he’s actually seeing from the next generation and whether some of the problems we blame on Gen Z might really be problems with how we recruit, teach, mentor, and develop technicians.</p><p><br></p><p>Are we training them wrong?</p><p><br></p><p>We get into:</p><ul><li>Why curiosity is one of the most powerful tools in training</li><li>Using questions instead of simply giving technicians the answer</li><li>Allowing trainees to make controlled mistakes and learn from them</li><li>Why great technicians don’t automatically make great trainers</li><li>Hands-on training versus simply reading a textbook</li><li>Teaching troubleshooting instead of memorizing answers</li><li>Why different technicians need concepts explained in different ways</li><li>Airflow, refrigeration, electrical, brazing, piping, tools, and diagnostics</li><li>How teaching can make the instructor a better technician</li><li>The role YouTube, social media, and industry educators play in HVAC/R education</li><li>Our responsibility to pass knowledge to the next generation</li><li><br></li></ul><p>We also dive into The GRIT Foundation and its hands-on camps, where young people get the opportunity to actually experience the trades.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.thegritfoundation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.thegritfoundation.com/</a></p><p><br></p><