Working Man

It is isn't always easy for people to understand how a Catholic trade school works, especially when you consider that the school combines skilled trades training with intellectual and spiritual formation. And frankly, it is not always easy to explain. So today, we're going to attempt to show you instead of tell you, if only in a small way. In today's episode, we'd like to give you a little glimpse of what it sounds like to study the humanities in the context of the skilled trades. We're going to do that by publishing part of a lecture from one of our humanities classes, God and Man at Work. In this lecture, you'll hear a talk that helps make a turn from the first part of this class (where students study the Theology of the Body) to the second part, where they begin laying a foundation for a Theology of Work. This lecture is about J.R.R. Tolkien's poem, Mythopoeia. If you're like our students, you'll wonder how a poem on mythmaking can help lay the groundwork for a spiritual understanding of work. But argued in this talk, our work is actually part of a very fundamental way of existing in the world, a way of existing that might be best understand by approaching it from the side—in this case, through considering what a poet does. This is just a little glimpse of how Harmel works, a sample of the discussions we have here, and we hope you enjoy it. If you know anyone who might be interested in our work—students, donors, partners, priests—would you please send them our way? You can find us on the socials, or at HarmelAcademy.org

Working Man is back for Season Three, and today's guest is a special one. Adam Mills is an award winning brewer in Cincinnati, Ohio. In fact, in the time between the launch of this episode and the recording of this interview, Adam's brewery, Cartridge Brewing, was awarded a Bronze Medal, a Silver Medal, and Gold Medal in the US Open Beer Championship, which, much like Ron Burgundy, is kind of a big deal.  Today, we discuss the relationship between brewing beer and the spiritual life, the importance of simplicity and attention in both, and why chickpeas aren't a common ingredient in craft beer.

Today on Working Man we are joined by a mender of soles. Petr Kovarik is a bootmaker and owner of Liberty Footwear in Grand Rapids, MI. Today he talks about how he sees his work as the opportunity to serve those around him, and how trusting in God in everything you do is at the core of your work. If you are looking for a good pair of boots head over to libertyfootwear.com and check out Petr's work.

If you listen to this podcast, you likely know already that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has declared this to be the Year of St. Joseph. Our guest today, Fr. Donald Libby, is the pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan, and he will give us an introduction to the Holy Father's Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, and help us understand how St Joseph shows us what fatherhood is all about.

We've been waiting to have this conversation for a long time...

Today we're talking with CNC Machinist Dan Grabinski. Dan and Dave talk about the state of modern manufacturing, the challenges of finding good people to fill good positions, the cultural side of learning a trade, and the attitude it takes to enter into a tradition of craftsmanship. At the end of the episode, we'll also share a short passage from John Paul II's encyclical Laborem Exercens. That's an encyclical we talk about a lot on this show, and sometime in the future, we'll do a deep dive into what are sometimes called "the social encyclicals." But for those of you who have not had time to curl up and read these texts, we'd like to start sharing parts of them here for you to reflect on them as you get Working Man jammed into your ear-holes.

Today, a talk given by Harmel Academy's President and Co-Founder, Brian Black. Brian gave this talk this fall in Traverse City, Michigan to a charitable organization named Martinus. In it, Brian does a deep dive into the meaning of work, and if you're interested in taking a look at the philosophical DNA of Harmel, if you want to spend some time examining movement and gears of the cloak that is this Academy, this is the talk for you.

Our guest on today's episode is Andy Newland. Andy is the president and CEO of Hercules Industries in Denver Colorado. Until very recently, Hercules was a family business that manufactures HVAC products, but when the family looked ahead to how it wanted the company to continue, they decided to turn it into an ESOP. In this episode, you'll learn what that means, how companies create culture across generations, and one company's insight into how the principles of Catholic Social Teaching can move from theory on a page to practice on the shop floor. Andy's insights are excellent, and you're really going to enjoy them.

Andreas Widmer is the Director of the Arthur & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship  at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America.  He is also a former tech executive, but  many of you may familiar with him from his book The Pope and the CEO where he details the lessons he learned in his former life as a bodyguard to St. John Paul II. You read that right. Think about having “Saint Bodyguard”  listed on your resume. This was just such a great conversation, and I walked away with it with about a dozen things I wanted to integrate into my work and  prayer and life and thinking, and I think you'd going to like it a lot. 

Our guest today on Working Man is Phil Sotok. Phil is an entrepreneur and businessman with over twenty years experience in the automotive industry. Phil is also the founder of DPMC North America, a firm that helps companies reorient their cultures around unifying purposes. On today's episode, Phil and I discuss two core virtues for building a healthy, life-giving community in a business, how virtuous leadership is different than competent management, and why it's important to make sure that what you say you value is reflected in what you actually do at work. Phil is a thoughtful guy who cares deeply about helping people remember that business is essentially a human enterprise, and you're going to like what he has to say.

The guest today on Working Man is Dr. DC Schindler. Dr. Schindler is Professor of Metaphysics and Anthropology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America. Dr Schindler is has written many book and articles, and he is renown for, among other things, his work on Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, postmodern thought, and more recently, the philosophy of work. On today's episode, we discuss the philosophy of work, the dangers technology can pose to how we think about our work, Matthew Crawford's excellent book, Shop Class as Soul Craft, and the first step to finding God in your work. Also, our last guest on Working Man, Dr. Jordan Ballor, has very generously donated copies of two of his books for a podcast giveaway. The first is Makers of Modern Christian Social Thought: Leo XIII and Abraham Kuyper on the Social Question. And the second is Get Your Hands Dirty: Essays on Christian Social Thought (and Action). Dr. Ballor has offered to inscribe them and send them to ten lucky listeners for free. (FREE BOOKS, YO!) So here's how you can win one of these books: STEP ONE: Hop over to Apple Podcasts and Working Man a review. (Be honest with us. If you hate it, and give us half a star—that won't affect your chances. If you love it, and give us all the stars, but that won't affect your chances either.) STEP TWO: Sign up for our Newsletter at HarmelAcademy.org. When you sign up, be sure to include: YOUR APPLE REVIEW HANDLE and YOUR ADDRESS so we can mail you the book. (If you are already signed up for our newsletter, just the contact form on our website to tell us you've reviewed us and to leave us your address). The first ten folks to complete these two steps will win one of these two books. So thank you very much Dr. Ballor.

As many of you know, Working Man is the official podcast of Harmel Academy of the Trades, and as some of you may also know, we are located on the campus of Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, MI. Now, Harmel Academy is a Catholic school, and Kuyper College is a reformed school, and so you may be wondering how that works.  Well, one way of getting into that conversation is to talk about Kuyper College's namesake, the Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper. And on today's show, we have just the fella to help us do that.  Beside being an old friend of mine, Dr. Jordan Ballor is a reformed theologian who edited the volume “Makers of Modern Christian Social Thought: Leo XIII and Abraham Kuyper on the Social Question”.  Pope Leo XIII is often regarded as the father of modern Catholic Social Thought, and so I've asked Dr. Ballor to reflect on some of the significant points of overlap between Leo XIII and Kuyper. Today's show gets Catholic chocolate in Reformed peanut butter and Reformed peanut butter in Catholic chocolate, but if you think this is somehow going to be an exercise in dull theological speculation, you've got another thing coming.  And there's even a brief appearance of boxing legend Mike Tyson (in reference, if not in actuality).

Today on Working Man, you get two for the price of one. Our guests on this episode are Daniel and Michael VanderHyde. Daniel and Michael are two of ten kids, and all six boys in their family followed in the footsteps of their dad and grandad by working in the trades. Both Daniel and Michael have their own companies: Daniel's is in heating, cooling, and plumbing, and Michael's is in construction. Today we learn about how a good tradesman needs also to be a good educator, why endurance is crucial to the good life, and why going into business for yourself means you're actually going into business for others.

Several years ago, when our co-founders Brian Black and Ryan Pohl began to search for models of a residential trade school, they were able to find only one: Williamson College of the Trades, just outside Philadelphia. Williamson is a residential trades college for young men, and while it isn't a Catholic or Christian school per se, it was founded by a Quaker businessman over a century ago and holds faith as one of its core values, alongside integrity, diligence, excellence, and service. Williamson provides a superb trades education and truly forms its students to be men of character and skill, men that are highly sought out by businesses across the country. It was clear that there was a lot about Williamson that could serve as a model for Harmel Academy, and when Brian visited their campus, he was welcomed with open arms by Williamson's president, Michael Rounds. Mike is a husband, a father, a Catholic, and he came to Williamson College of the Trades after a career in the Army. Since that initial visit, Mike's become an advocate, mentor, and friend of Harmel Academy and he is our guest today on Working Man.

Today's guest on Working Man is Mark Albert. Mark is the Editor Emeritus of Modern Machine Shop Magazine, a publication he worked for from 1980 until 2018. In his nearly forty years writing about manufacturing, Mark has seen some tremendous changes in technology and technique, but he's also had a lot of time to discover the deep meaning of what it means to make things. On today's episode, we talk about how Star Wars, in its small way, has helped to perpetuate stereotypes about manufacturing, how modern manufacturing isn't what a lot of people think it is, why humility is a key traits for anyone who wants to learn anything, and what manufacturing can teach us about the nature of the Holy Trinity—yup, you read that last one right. Mark is a fascinating guy, and whether you make flanges or firecrackers, manifolds or muffins, he's going to change the way you think about making stuff.

It's not uncommon for guys to think about their careers in terms of retirement. Plenty of fellas are out there counting the days until they can leave work behind them and spend their days on the golf course. But our guest today on Working Man — well, you might say he went in the other direction. Craig Leidel is the father of nine who is now the general manager of a historic building restoration company. But he didn't enter the trades until he was forty years old after careers in sales and— are you ready?—golf. Yes, Craig left a life on the golf course — first as a golf pro and then as a salesman who did a lot of business on the golf course — to enter a career in the skilled trades. Clearly, you don't make a move like that without a great deal of thought and introspection, and with Craig, you're going to find a guy who thinks deeply about the spiritual importance of working with his hands. In this episode, we talk about why a healthy spiritual life should include to some degree of working with your hands; how work can offset the challenges of anxiety and an overactive imagination; and why it's a bad idea to judge dusty people in the grocery store checkout line.

Today's guest on Working Man is Dr. Nathan Schmiedicke. Nathan is a farmer who also happens to teach biblical theology at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Seminary in Denton, Nebraska. In this episode, we talk about what God was up to when he placed man in the garden and gave him dominion over all the earth, and why that question is not simply something we should ask, but why it is something we ought to live. Nathan is clearly a guy who has spent many years contemplating and living out that question, and what's more, he can tell you a ton about what the Holy Scriptures teach us about our vocation to work and how it is related to God's work in bringing about his kingdom.

Today's guest on Working Man is Deacon Dominic Couturier. For 23 years before entering the seminary, Deacon Dominic worked at his family business, Couturier Iron Craft, makers of beautiful, custom stairways and railings. After working as a metal fabricator, project manager, and member of the company's board of directors, Deacon Dominic discerned a call to apply what he had learned as a working man to the priesthood, and this summer, he will be ordained a priest of the Diocese of Grand Rapids. In this episode, we talk about why humility is not only a fundamental virtue, but an especially masculine one, and why it is important to learn to tame wild stallions. If you're looking to learn how to be excellent to one another, I think you'll enjoy hearing from the good deacon.

Today on Working Man we've got a guest with a very unique resume. He's a priest, a moral theologian, and the rector of St. John Fisher Seminary in Stamford, Connecticut. Before being ordained in 1997,  he worked in air freight, and prior to that, he spent several years in the Marine Corps as a tank commander.  That's right. A Marine tank commander who is now a priest.  His name is Fr. Paul Check, and he knows a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to fatherhood, manhood, and  forming young men in holiness. On today's episode, we talk about the correct understanding of virtue, discipline, authority, and freedom, why men need a correct understanding of these things in order to flourish, and who is—aside from our Lord and Our Lady—Fr. Check's favorite character in the Bible. I'll give you hint: it begins with a C and it rhymes with “enturion.”

Our guest today on Working Man is Cal Schroder. Cal is a husband, a father, an electrician, and a graduate of Thomas More College. If you want to understand how an integrated human life requires both the work of your hands and the work of the mind, Cal's the guy to talk to. In this episode, we talk about Cal's journey from a liberal arts education to a career in the trades, why discounting the trades and romanticizing them are equal and opposite errors, why work and leisure are not exactly opposites, and what Greek philosophy has to do with running conduit in an apartment building. Cal's a thoughtful guy with a real balanced and nuanced view of the good life, and I think you're going to like this one. In this episode, we reference Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Joseph Pieper, an excellent reflection on the difference between a ‘totalitarian' view of work, and a truer, healthier view of work and leisure. We also reference Cal's article, “Toward a Rehabilitation of Uselessness.” Don't forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform, to check us out at HarmelAcademy.org, and to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thanks for listening! The music in this episode is “The Grind” by Justin Mahar, “I Feel Like Partying Right Now” by Nat Keefe and Beat Mower, and “I'll Follow You” by Density and Time.

Ryan Pohl is a machinist, former shop teacher, and the owner of Praeco Skills, a company that designs and delivers customized training programs for various industries. He is also the cofounder of Harmel Academy of the Trades. This is a guy with a ton of energy and insight into the challenges faced by working men, what the Church has to say about it, and how work, when approached with the right understanding, becomes an occasion of joy and creativity. In this episode, we talk about the current state of the skilled trades, how the trades slid into something of a crisis, why the trades are set for a serious rebound, and Ryan's experience with what he calls his “work conversion.” It's a story that has to do with a nurse and boat motor and you're going to want to listen. We recorded this talk in the middle of the coronavirus shutdown. To get a workable signal, Ryan had to phone into the interview from his truck perched on the highest point of his property. So while the audio quality may not be the best, I think you'll find his insights and passion more than make up for it. Harmel Academy of the Trades Consecration to St. Joseph by Fr. Donald Calloway

Welcome to the first episode of Working Man, the official podcast of Harmel Academy of the Trades. Harmel Academy is a residential, Catholic trades academy that forms men in their Catholic faith while training them in a high-demand, skilled trade. For more information, please visit us at HarmelAcademy.org or you can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Our guest today on this inaugural episode is Brian Black, the co-founder and president of Harmel Academy of the Trades. Before co-founding our academy, Brian spent decades in the skilled trades working as general manager of Grand River Builders in Grand Rapids, specializing in historic building restoration. He and his wife Diane homeschooled their seven children, but now that all seven are raised and out of the house, they've turned to their next adventure: founding the first residential, Catholic trade academy in the country. In this episode we talk a little bit about the reasons Harmel Academy exists, what the Church has to teach us about the deep meaning of human work, and the virtues a man must have to learn to work well. This episode was recorded literally hours before the state of Michigan went into quarantine for the coronavirus pandemic, and so the audio is a little wonky. But since we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, we're rolling with it. I hope you enjoy it. The music in this episode is “The Grind” by Justin Mahar, "I'll Follow You" by Density and Time, and "I Feel Like Partying Right Now" by Nat Keefe & BeatMower.

Welcome to Working Man, the official podcast of Harmel Academy of the Trades. Harmel Academy is a Catholic, residential trade school in Grand Rapids, MI, and our mission is to share the Catholic Church's teaching on the human enterprise of work, and to provide to the Church and to the world men of integrity, men formed in holiness and skilled in their trade, working men who stand in solidarity with one another and with Jesus Christ. We do this through a unique blend of robust skilled trades training, job-site experience with collaborating businesses, and academic and spiritual formation that's delivered through a custom-built humanities curriculum. Our inaugural program, Machine Systems and Technology, launches this fall, and future programs will include construction trades, electrician training, and more. So even though we're busy preparing for our first class, we've decided to fast track another initiative of Harmel Academy—namely, extending what we do out into the public square. And this podcast, Working Man, will be the first step in doing just that. Eventually, Harmel will host conferences, lectures, and publications of various sorts, but since so much of what we do is about taking the deep insights of the Gospel and making them practical to working men, we thought we might as well start right here, in your earbuds, as we face what is turning out to be a very interesting 2020. Perhaps you are a man already established in your career. Or perhaps you're looking to change careers. Or perhaps you're a younger man in the middle of discerning your life's vocation. Perhaps you're a mom or dad looking for post-high school options for your son, or you're a priest looking to better connect with the working men of your parish. Regardless, Working Man will share what the Church teaches about the very human enterprise of work, to dive into centuries of prayerful insight about the essential role work plays in our human existence, to learn how Christ, in revealing man to man, teaches us, and exemplifies for us, the true meaning of our work. We'll be chatting with working men of all stripes — electricians, machinists, builders, designers, — as well as with theologians, philosophers, and priests— all to help set the stage for a new conversation that's sorely needed in our world— a new conversation which is, in fact, a very old conversation, a conversation that started the day God gave man a garden to tend and a world over which to exercise his dominion. So, there's lots to say, and lots to learn, and we're excited to get started. So we hope you'll listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast app. In the meantime, if you're interested in learning more about Harmel Academy of the Trades, please pop over to harmelacademy.org, and poke around our website. Or reach out to us directly—you can contact me at dmp@harmelacademy.org. Our theme music is "The Grind" by Justin Mahar.