Author: Shari

Fast Company’s 30 Second MBA ~ Class is in Session!

Shari

Mike Rowe | Host of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, Founder of mikeroweWORKS Mike Rowe has had more jobs than you. In fact, Mike has had more jobs than anyone. As the creator and executive producer of Discovery Channel’s Emmy®-nominated series DIRTY JOBS WITH MIKE ROWE, Mike has spent years traveling the country, working as an apprentice on over 200 jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid. From coal miners to roustabouts, maggot farmers to sheep castrators, Mike has worked in just about every industry and shot in most every state, celebrating those hard-working Americans Read More

Safety… do I hear 1? 2? 3?

Shari

11/23/09 Hi All – Tonight’s episode of Dirty Jobs is a repack called Safety Third. In it, I look back at some of the bumps and bruises we’ve accumulated in the process of putting this show together and offer a few observations about the role ofrisk in the workplace. The observations made are mine and no one else’s, except where attributed, and reflect nothing but my own experience over the last five years. Like Brown Before Green, the expression itself – “Safety Third!” – has already prompted some to accuse me of deliberately trying to stir up trouble – a charge to which Read More

Mike Rowe: The Dirtiest, Busiest Guy In Television

Shari

Comcast ~ Fancast Blog by Daniel Frankel Whether you’re a regular Discovery Channel watcher or not, you know the voice: Mike Rowe’s baritone has been heard on ads pitching everything from Tylenol to, more recently, Ford cars and trucks. And, of course, if you do watch Discovery, you recognize the 47-year-old San Francisco resident immediately as the voice of ‘Deadliest Catch,’ as well as dozens of other network specials and one-offs. But the thing Rowe is most closely identified with is ‘Dirty Jobs,’ the five-year-old Discovery nonfiction series that profiles some of the more gooey, icky and dangerous professions you Read More

Bailouts, Ball-caps, Chit-Chat, and the Birth of a Commercial

Shari

The Water Cooler  some interesting points about my appearance in some recent Ford ads. At issue, is the level of authenticity in past spots, as compared to the Mike you know from Dirty Jobs. I want to show you one of the most recent commercials I shot for Ford. It’s called “The Plan,” and I’m fairly certain that it will not change the face of advertising as we know it. However, I find this spot interesting for several reasons, and think you will too. I shot this in Chicago a few weeks ago, along with a dozen other commercials for Read More

Safety Third – Huh??

Shari

So, you are asking yourself, what is going on? The man that has graced the cover of Grainger’s safety catalog and has done public service announcements for the Army’s “Own the Edge” campaign, is now publicly taking the position that safety is not important? How dare he? What kind of role model is this for a man that frequently finds himself in dangerous (not to mention dirty) positions? Something must be done! Waitaminute now. Before you start writing letters to complain to anybody, listen *carefully* to his message. What Mike’s saying is that while safety equipment, procedures, OSHA and all Read More

So… The New Site is Like the Old Site Only Newer and Dirtier

Shari

July, 2009 Aloha, from somewhere over the Pacific. As I prepare to re-enter the contiguous 48 for the second time this  month, I can finally begin to see the light at the end of a particularly nasty tunnel of production – one that has succeeded in kicking my butt harder and more consistently than any of its predecessors. Not that I’m complaining, but this last week in Hawaii has confirmed once again that hard work and paradise seem perfectly willing to share  the same lanai. The boys and I had a jolly time washing windows and making tofu on the Read More

25 Ways to Jump Start the Auto Industry – Mike’s Alt Version

Shari

Mike often writes articles for magazines but because of issues like space constraints, his work is often edited down. We thought it might be interesting to post what Mike actually wrote for this one in particular a few years’ back for Fast Company. 25 Ways to Jump Start the Auto Industry (unabridged) Mike Rowe is the Executive Producer of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, and the CEO of mikeroweWORKS.com, an on-line resource dedicated to reinvigorating skilled labor. He is also a spokesperson for Ford Trucks. Regarding the specific issues facing The Big Three, I’ve got too little expertise and too much bias to weigh Read More

How Will You Know If mikeroweWORKS Is A Success?

Shari

I know that mikeroweWORKS is not even a year old, so this is probably going to be an impossible question to answer. What has to happen for you to consider this a success? Is merely getting the word out to the masses and those in power enough? Do programs have to be started/implemented? Does trade school enrollment have to bump up? Or is it simply a matter of not going up in a spectacular ball of flames? Success is a tricky word. Do I really believe I can single-handedly launch an effective PR campaign for hard work? No, I don’t. Read More

U.S. News: Why Dirty Jobs are Green

Shari

The Discovery Channel star explains the nitty-gritty of Dirty Jobs By Liz Wolgemuth Posted: July 1, 2009 Mike Rowe’s moment of illumination was properly cringe-inducing for a man whose television show is called Dirty Jobs. The articulate and intrepid Discovery Channel star was in the middle of a lamb castration, weighing the widely used method of wrapping bands above the animal’s testicles to cut off circulation against the method he had just witnessed—with dismay—which involved teeth. However unorthodox, the latter approach was quick and seemed relatively painless for the lamb, while the former had left the lamb temporarily immobile. Stripped Read More

United We Stand? Are Unions Still Relevant Today?

Shari

What are your views on the effectiveness and usefulness of Union organizations and the decision to go on strike to achieve their goals and demands? The role of unions, and their relevance, has changed over the years. Personally, I’m of the mind that certain industries still justify their existence, while other do not. But one thing is certain – once a union is formed, it will not go gently into that good night. Like any other group, they are loath to disband, ever. I have mixed feelings. As a believer in the individual, I will always support a persons right Read More

Father’s Day al Fresco Fiasco – by Mike Rowe

Shari

When I was eight years old, my Father bought a picnic table at a yard sale for a dollar. A whole picnic table, complete with two separate benches. For one dollar. He brought the thing home in the back of the old station wagon – the one with fake wood paneling on the side – and summoned his wife and sons to examine another tangible expression of true thrift.   “Gather round boys and have a look. They wanted twenty-five dollars for this down at The Sears. Can you believe it? Twenty-five dollars! Your old man just picked it up on Read More

Career Choice Priorities

Shari

Letter to Mike and company I saw your talk on TED.tv..and wanted to tell you..  I have a 19 year old son who watches your program religiously. He’s a very bright kid; talked for a long time about going into law. A year or so ago..I stopped hearing so much about that. He graduates from highschool in a week or so. Two weeks ago, he sat down with me and said..mom? This is what I want to do. This summer, instead of heading to Oregon to work for his uncle, he’s enrolled in an apprentice program for carpentry. Its a Read More

What Color Is Your Collar and Does It Limit or Matter When Looking For The “Good Life”?

Shari

From the MRW Water Cooler In reading some of your writings I wondered if you feel blue-collar workers are better, work harder or are happier than white-collar workers? Is wishing for a better life for our children limited to one or the other “collars” or is it just the universal hope for “the good life” for our families? — M The reason I think blue and white are so tough to balance, has to do with he fact that we tend to see them as opposites, like weights on different ends of a seesaw. A healthy society knows that each Read More

William of Occam, the American Economy and Jumping Off Buildings – huh?

Shari

From the MRW Water Cooler: Q:  At the risk of sounding like an anarchist, or worse, “anti-American” (whatever the hell that means) can I postulate the obvious..Ocham’s Razor, as it were… Won’t most Consumers want to pay the best price for the best version of the commodity they wish to purchase, be it a car or a house or a Washing Machine? Deep down, when dollars are tight, will the averge American-Joe chose to spend more for a car that was “built American” or “built by a non-bailout company” if they can get a better car for less cash elsewhere, Read More

From the Water Cooler: Ford Pays for its Prudence

Shari

May 30, 2009 I was waiting at the Toyota dealer for my 30,000 checkup, it took forever. While sitting with other people in the same situation (i.e. trapped without our vehicles) we began talking, of course about cars and bailouts and dealerships. Several people said their next car would be a Ford, they wanted to reward them for not taking bailout money. I thought this article was an interesting slant on the situation. Quote: “While General Motors and Chrysler will emerge from the government restructuring wringer with significantly reduced debt, Ford will still likely be obliged to repay its lenders. Read More