Mike Rowe

On any given day, you never know who is going to walk into mikeroweWORKS World Headquarters, or what they’re going to be holding. Here for instance, is Captain Duncan Smith of The Naval Special Warfare Recruiting Directorate. Captain Smith is a Navy SEAL. He stopped by the other day to present me with an official Navy Seal Flipper. It’s a very nice flipper, studier than most, and made of what appears to be vulcanized rubber. Unlike most other flippers, this one has a plaque on it, thanking me for a small service I was happy to offer the SEALS last Read More

One of the fun but annoying things about being me is the inability to read a simple headline without becoming immediately transported to a specific moment on Dirty Jobs. Here for instance, is an article about the men who maintain the Hoover Dam – one of the greatest engineering and architectural wonders of the modern era. Apparently, a big chunk of these men are about to retire. And guess what? There’s no one to replace them! This is potentially unfortunate news for the many millions of Americans currently addicted to the electricity provided by The Hoover Dam. For that reason, I Read More

Today’s comment off the wall comes from David Brugh. “Mike – what’s your take on the Feds calling technical schools “for-profit” and claiming these schools are predatory? I think – and my teenagers, for whom your mikeroweworks campaign has really resonated – think this is bullcrap.” Hi David – I think your kids have summed it up nicely! Many technical schools are in fact, “for profit.” But comparing a for-profit trade school to a for-profit, on-line university is a bit like confusing Robinson Caruso with Gilligan. True, they were both castaways, living on an island. But beyond that… At issue, Read More

  Today’s Off the Wall comes from Shelby, and a few hundred others who posted similar comments about a situation in Illinois. Shelby says: “Quite a story brewing in small town Ottawa, Illinois after the high school board voted for raises for the administration then cut the building trades class. Students, parents and tradesman protest. 2 days in a row now. Local business owners send food etc…” Here is the full article from the local Times’ website Quite a story indeed, Shelby. Thanks for posting. Couple thoughts. In general, I don’t support many protests. I don’t object to them – protests Read More

On Sunday, November 10th, 2013, a woman named Candace purchased a “Work Smart AND Hard” poster for $12,100.00. (Plus shipping and handling.) That’s right. Twelve THOUSAND, One HUNDRED United States DOLLARS. (Plus shipping and handling.) The poster in question is identical in almost every way to the hundreds of other autographed posters we routinely sell for $12,000 less than what Candace paid. The only difference?  On this particular poster, my signature is accompanied by Glenn Beck’s, along with a few highly personalized, completely original, and decidedly juvenile artistic embellishments. So – what can we deduce from the unexpected popularity surrounding this Read More

I used to have an office. Now I have a space where I sign stuff and get in the way. Apparently, several thousand of you have suddenly purchased our Work Smart AND Hard poster, which means that hundreds of glossy and full-sized representations of yours truly are being rolled and stuffed in cardboard tubes on a daily basis – labeled, stamped, sealed, and trundled off to the nearest post office, bound for parts unknown. Not that I’m complaining. These posters are catching on, and popping up in schools and offices across the country. Very cool. They’ve raised nearly $40,000 so Read More