We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Haley Taylor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Haley below.

Haley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

The main goal of the Blue Collar Baddies Podcast is to inspire and empower women in the trades. In the past, there has been such a stigma about not going to college, or following a certain type of career path, and I want girls specifically to be aware that they have so many more options than that. Everyone should have the opportunity to follow a career they’re passionate about.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve always been a bit interested in working with my hands and being outside. From working in the garage, to doing farm stuff, there were always new things to learn. My family is full of hard workers, and my parents have always encouraged and supported me in whatever I wanted to do. At one point in high school, I’d considered going to tech school to be a mechanic. I ended up going for graphic design instead, which has honestly been extremely useful for the podcast, and many other projects.

Fast forward 13 years – I was waitressing when the pandemic hit, so they had to shut down the restaurant, and my boyfriend Joey asked me to come work for his sprayfoam company (Outlaw Spray Foam) until everything went back to “normal”.

After a few weeks of the long hours, and hard physical labor, I decided I loved it, and didn’t want to go back. The feeling of always being able to learn something new – operating equipment – getting my hands dirty – understanding how things work. I’m obsessed, and wish I’d joined a trade a long time ago.

My passion now, aside from sprayfoam, is encouraging other girls to just go for it. They CAN overcome the feeling of not belonging or not being strong enough. It’s all just a matter of (at the risk of sounding cheesy) believing in yourself, and not letting anyone talk you out of the things you really want to do. 🤘🏼

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The podcast idea had been weighing on my mind for a few months, before I finally decided to go for it. Knowing we were already so busy, and I was running multiple social media channels for a few different projects, a new podcast wasn’t exactly the ideal thing to do. But I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wish there’d been more encouragement towards the trades when I was younger. So I talked to some friends about it, just to make sure I wasn’t totally crazy, and ultimately decided to go for it.

I started designing the logo and setting up the website/socials. Making the first trip to South Dakota to get the first round of interviews was such a rush. I’m not a super social person, so hosting a podcast takes a bit of mental energy. 😅 But it was such a great experience, and everyone I’ve met during each trip since then has only made me more passionate about the whole thing. We now have over 100 girls on the list to do an interview. I can’t wait to see where it goes.

In some ways I think a clear objective and strong motivation, have more impact on starting a business than the actual money does.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I’ve had to unlearn is the idea that a few viral posts or having tons of social media followers will automatically bring in money. I feel like that’s a big misconception these days, and can be discouraging when you’re trying to build a brand. Social media presence is important in most cases, but in my opinion, building a community of people who truly enjoy your content and have a common goal or passion is a much more important factor to focus on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://BlueCollarBaddiesPodcast.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluecollarbaddiespodcast/profilecard/?igsh=MTl0Njl6dnJtcWhiaw==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/byXXamaM8dmhE9H2/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@bluecollarbaddies?si=I9pT6Pk0pvilQF6T
• Other: TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@bluecollarbaddies?_t=ZT-8v1NFy8vris&_r=1

  Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/user/31wgvypjsqfhpmu5jsbqek7hhw2e?si=0f052186614140e0