On this week’s Bucket Talk, we talk with plumber George DeJesus, who calls in from Morris County, New Jersey. He learned how to be a plumber at an early age, taking a plumbing job in midtown Manhattan fixing up five-star hotels. After some time on the job, he realized that there was an opportunity to grow outside of the confines of contracting, so he decided it was time to be his own boss. From there, he got his own gear, started doing his own marketing and built a company that lets him do work on his terms.

George DeJesus began his career as a plumber in New York City, leading crews in high rises in downtown Manhattan. He realized that a job as the leader of a plumbing crew was his calling after working some jobs in NYC where he was able to learn and thrive on the job in a really short time.

“My dad was a general contractor and he used to take us to work with [him] because that was just a way for daycare to kind of watch us during our day instead of having someone watch us he took us to work…I'm a plumber, I chose the plumbing trade, because…I just happened to enjoy more of just putting stuff together.”

Working in hotels and in other parts of New York City, he was able to not only see some crazy vistas at the top of high-rises, but he learned skills and work ethic that helped him grow into the plumber that he is today — and the skills that equipped him for a steady career. After some time working with volatile contractors, though, he realized that he was leaving a lot of work, and money, on the table. He was ready to work for himself, in spite of the challenges that lay ahead.

“[My friends] kept telling me, you know, you should be working for yourself. I don't want to do that. I already failed one time. I don't want to do it again. I'm afraid, I don't want to do it. You know, and, and I just fought myself and I came back…I made it to the point where I'm like, yeah, I should be on my own.”

George made that vision a reality — he’s now his own boss, no restrictions, nobody to report to. He has taken on his own clients and does his own marketing, meaning he can work when he wants to. Not only is he crushing it in his day job, but he’s also gained a huge following on social media, reaching over 38,000 followers on Instagram by posting videos of the work he’s doing. Check out George on Instagram @georgetheplumber.

On this week’s Bucket Talk, we talk with DIY interior designer Cori Bosco, who calls in from her home in Florida. She began her career as a PE teacher but in the late 2000s, she got her real estate license and started flipping houses on the side. Fast forward 10 years, she has amassed a following of over 5 million on TikTok as East Coast DIY, sharing her journey as a house-flipper and designer. Listen in as Eric and Jeremy chat with Cori about getting into real estate

Cori Bosco - known as @eastcoastfloridadiy on Instagram and East Coast DIY on TikTok - has been flipping houses for a long time now. After starting her career as a teacher, she started flipping houses on the side. When her and her husband bought a house in late 2019, they suddenly had a bunch of time on their hands thanks to COVID. Her kids told her about TikTok and she decided to post videos about her journey flipping houses and designing their interiors.

“So in May of 2020, I [make] my first post, and I didn't think it was gonna go anywhere. Like I was never out to, you know, try to get followers or anything like that…my first post which was of our kitchen, our family room and then out to like the view of it in our backyard view and it like within the first day got like 2.2 million views. Wow, like, oh my gosh, this is kind of cool.”

By December of 2020, Cori had amassed 500,000 followers, posting photos and videos of projects they had done around the house along with some videos of her favorite Amazon finds. Around that time, she entered a competition through Jeffrey Court tile to see who could do the best renovation of one room in their house using their tile. Just when she found out she got selected, though, her husband got activated for the Army Reserves and had to leave for a year.

“We had our little thing, where I would do some parts, he would do some parts and we made a great team, but [this time] I'd have to do everything on my own. I was like, I don't know if I'm up for this, no, you know what, I can do it, I can do this…if I remember correctly, it was the same week he left that I had to start this project and I'm like, What am I getting myself into…but it ended up being awesome.”

This was a turning point, not only for Cori, because she learned so many new skills, but for her TikTok. Once she realized that social media was a viable source of income, she went full steam ahead, creating content around the house renovation she was doing. One thing she realized was that to keep gaining followers, she needed to be constantly creating new content.

“We're excited to see what happens, you know, and what renovations and stuff we have coming up. So I definitely can't sit still, I know I'm gonna be busy, you know, doing stuff. And with my followers expecting new content, you know, every day every other day, I gotta come up with something new.”

Moving forward, Cori and her husband Vinnie are taking on new projects, currently working on a condo they bought. The plan is to keep flipping houses, with Cori eventually getting her contractor’s license to unlock the ability to do bigger projects without jumping through hoops.

On this week’s Bucket Talk, we talk with Jason Costello, a landscape curber based in Southern California. Over 20 years ago, Jason and his family all needed some curbing done at their homes. Rather than pay out of pocket, they bought a machine and did it themselves. Jason has been curbing ever since. Listen in as Eric and Jeremy chat with Jason about becoming a landscape curber, incorporating his family into the business, and making some of the most satisfying TikTok videos out there.

Jason Costello, known by Jason Costco on social media, has been landscape curbing for over two decades now. After realizing the exorbitant cost of having someone else outfit his new home with landscape curbs, he decided to take matters into his own hands and buy a curbing machine himself. This allowed him and his family to do their own projects, while taking on some others to pay off the machine.

“...how I got into it, [is] kind of a funny thing because it was actually an accident…I started looking through the phone book and found someone that actually offered landscape curbing. Call them, get an estimate…and by the time I was done with the math on what I wanted to put in my yard, the total was pretty good. So the idea came about…I wonder what one of these machines would cost.”

At the time, there was no YouTube to turn to for instruction and the only classes he could take were hundreds of miles away, so everything he learned was through trial and error. A curb didn’t come out right? Tear it up and do it again. Since then, he has taken some real classes to hone his craft, but to get his start, he did it all the old fashioned way.

“So I had a couple phone numbers that I called kind of, you know, pick these guys brains a little bit and ask how they did certain things. And, you know, if you have a bump here, how would you do that? Why is my curb doing this? So it was kind of just, ask some questions, trial and error.”

There is an art to landscape curbing. Many landscapers see it as a specialty job, which has helped Jason get work over the years. He comes in to build a specific part of the landscaper’s vision, then moves on to the next gig.

“I'm kind of a specialty guy… basically like a framer, [who] would, for the house, come to your framing and get out of there. When I come in, the landscapers will either have a line painted on the ground, or a landscaper that just comes out and freehand. He'll just start dragging designs on the ground and say, ‘Hey, can you do this?’”

Jason has also managed to find a cool way to get involved with social media: his oddly satisfying TikTok videos. Mixing the ASMR of his trowel gliding across fresh concrete and the satisfaction of watching a curb take the perfect shape, his videos not only take you through a bit of the curbing process, but leave you feeling better for having watched them. This has led to his account, @jasoncostco, having over 725,000 followers and over 8,000,000 likes.

“The real message is, for us anyway, is to try to just get more people that are inclined to work with their hands to do so. I mean, I feel that some people are just pushed away because that's not what they're supposed to do when really, they were born to do it.”

On this week’s Bucket Talk, we catch up with James Smith, also known as Lion Dad. James is a caretaker of exotic animals in Stanton, Missouri. After getting his start cleaning horse stalls, he worked his way up into working with wildlife and the rest is history. Listen in as the guys chat with James about transitioning into being a caretaker, what it is like working with wolves vs. coyotes, playing with a 300 pound lion, and a bunch more.

James Smith, aka Lion Dad, has been working with animals for almost two decades. He started out scooping poop and cleaning horse stalls, and eventually came to the realization that he wanted to work with wild animals. Despite having minimal experience, he was hired on. He attributes this to his willingness to really put in the work.

“I tell everybody, even the people that come through the facility, or all the people that message me and comment, how do we get this job, it's one of those you've got to try, it's a hard job to get. You're going to hear no a lot. But when you finally get that, yes, it makes all of it so worth it.”

Currently, he works with lions, wolves, coyotes, and a handful of other wild animals in Stanton, Missouri. Currently, he spends most of his time with their wolves — and he even spent the last nine years raising a few of them himself. When he’s not spending time with his wolves, he takes care of other exotic animals at the facility.

“If I continue to do this for the rest of my life, working underneath someone and just raising animals and spreading the positive side of these big cats and these wolves, I'd be completely fine with that.”

We got a little insight into his future and what he has planned out. Rather than open his own wildlife facility, he is passionate about his job, and couldn’t see himself doing anything else than what he’s doing right now. The thing that got him involved in the first place was his passion for the animals themselves, so maximizing personal time with the wolves and big cats is what he enjoys most.

This week we’re joined by beekeeper Santos Vasquez, aka @isavebz on Instagram. After taking over for his beekeeper ex father-in-law, Santos has spent the last 18 years keeping bees as both a honey producer and bee removal specialist. Eric and Jeremy get into it with Santos, chatting about becoming a beekeeper, making honey, dealing with stings, and much more.

Santos decided he was ready to join the beekeeping trade when his ex father-in-law showed him the ropes. After some time in the trade he realized it was his responsibility and desire to take care of bees for the rest of his life.

“I didn't know a single thing about bees - I learned on the job. And that's pretty much the way you have to learn. You got to stick your hand in the beehive otherwise you're not gonna need and you go from there.”

Once he acquired a few bee hives of his own, he knew it was time to take it to the next level. Not only was he relocating large groups of bees, he was also adopting groups of bees for himself, harvesting honey to keep the dream of beekeeping alive.

“My [ex] father-in-law's dad always said if you take care of the bees they’ll take care of you. And it's it's really that simple. You know, they're gonna do for you what you're going to do for them.”

Santos and his partner Shawn White have built a company that specializes in everything from honey production to bee removal services. Their native, pollen-absorbing honey is one of the largest parts of the business and being able to sell it directly to his customers in person is one of the his favorite parts.

“We want to be authentic as possible and that's why we are so transparent. On Instagram, on TikTok.. we just want you to know where your honey is coming from, that you get the best quality product and that we are true beekeepers.”

After almost two decades of beekeeping, Santos plans on continuing to add hives in hopes of being able to add pollination to the company’s repertoire. Through determination, dedication and a healthy respect for the bees he takes care of, Santos has made something that will only continue to propel him to the top of the industry.

Mt. Phillip Metal Works is a metalworking studio that forges and fabricates a variety of metal goods, from small tools to enormous vintage-inspired pieces to art and sculpture. At the helm of Mt. Phillip is this week’s guest on the podcast, Chris Cash. Along with being a metal fabricator, Chris also co-hosts the Axe and Iron Podcast, a weekly show that highlights badass makers. Join Eric and Jeremy as they get into it with Chris about podcasting, the difference between a blacksmith and a metalworker, working on cars, and much more.

Chris got his start working on cars, doing production auto body work in a collision shop. This is where he began tinkering with vintage tools, finding a niche that he was able to make his own. After years in the auto world, he decided to make the transition to forging and fabrication, a transition that lets him do anything he sets his mind to.

“So I was the young guy, the young punk in there. And I decided to take that on and learn the system and learn the machines that we were using. And then I ended up becoming very successful at it and was making a really, really good living.”

He’s currently running his own business, Mt. Phillip Metal Works, where he makes and sells his work. He’s also got a podcast of his own called Axe and Iron, where he and his buddy Roy Scott highlight other badass makers in the metalworking world. Chris was also able to hop onto Instagram at the perfect time, allowing him to amass well over 30,000 followers.

“It's like, yeah, if you're not happy where you're at, it doesn't matter how much money you're making, how great your insurance is, it really doesn't. Like in the grand scheme of things, I get these comments like, oh, you probably made a killing doing that. It's like, not, I didn't really but waking up with a smile on my face. As cheesy as it sounds, is so much better than any amount of money that I get.”

He’s always on the move, which is one of the benefits of working for himself. If he has to go to Indiana to pick up a part, he can. If he has to spend all day in his car, he can. He’s had a unique journey through the trades, but that is exactly where he wants to be. Working seven days a week sounds like a burden to some, but Chris says he’d rather spend every day in his shop than do anything else.

To kick off season 4, we’re back with Maggie Rogosienski, aka Electric Mags. Back home in Wisconsin by way North Carolina, Maggie is working as an electrician in Milwaukee. Not only is she moving swiftly through the ranks of her trade, but she has grown a following of almost 14,000 on her Instagram where she talks tools, the trades, and being a mom. Listen in as Jeremy and Eric talk with Maggie about switching careers, being part of a union, and being a woman in what is largely a male-dominated industry.

Born in Wisconsin, Maggie escaped down to North Carolina where she planned on going to medical school but ended up getting into personal training instead. After some time in the South she ventured back home to the midwest and eventually fell in love with Crossfit, enough to open her own gym. She even double-dipped into the fitness world as a USA Weightlifting-certified lifting coach. After some big life changes and a bit of time off, she was inspired to join the trades by her cousin, who works as a seam-fitter. Though she was skeptical at first, she and her brother jumped into electrical work head-on.

“You could never have paid me enough to believe I would actually be here talking to you about being in construction, but it fits perfectly with what I feel like my personality is. I'm pretty, pretty much a tomboy, got two brothers that beat the hell out of me. And so I've learned to be humble, and also just stand my ground.”

A year after her brother joined, Maggie got an apprenticeship with a union in Milwaukee and is now years into her work towards her journeyman’s card. She speaks on her experience as a woman in a male-dominated career:

”I know that as a woman, I got to prove that I'm not here to just take it easy, and let the guys you know, pick up the work, you know, whether or not they choose to do more, whatever. I never said no or, oh, ‘I can't handle that’ before. I've actually busted my ass to try to do something.”

After some uncertainty surrounding the future of the trade and what things would look like during (and after) the pandemic, she has found a place she wants to be for the foreseeable future. Along with her apprenticeship she has found a steady crew of followers on Instagram who keep up with her life in the trades through workplace memes, tool reviews, and her life as a mother.

A natural-born jack-of-all-trades, Lucas D’Angelo has been taking on a handful of projects since an early age. Based in Massachusetts, Lucas has dabbled with various hobbies throughout the years from woodworking, to metal fabrication, to restoring vintage equipment. Listen in as Jeremy and Eric sit down with Lucas to learn about his career, setting up shop, tool restoration, future plans, and much more in this very exciting season finale of Bucket Talk.

Coming from a family of woodworkers and carpenters, Lucas D’Angelo got his start in developing a handful of skills at an early age. As a kid, Lucas would work on small woodworking projects with his uncles, such as making pens, picture frames, cutting boards, and other items. This interest continued through high school, where he began customizing his 2002 Subaru and eventually started dabbling with metal fabrication.

“I got to learn a little bit of metal fabrication to work on this. So, you know, I learned how to weld and I really found that while woodworking was cool, you know, metalworking I really loved it because it almost felt like you were taking something so innocuous and turning it into something totally different, you know? And so it just really, I mean, it went from there.”

After high school, Lucas went to college initially for video production, before switching to a business major with a minor in tech education. Meanwhile, he continued working his way up at Ace Hardware, from a stockperson to store manager to director of facilities.

“Ultimately what I do right now is essentially director of facilities. And that's a pretty multifaceted job… we have four retail hardware stores, and a total of five properties… And so with that that's a lot to take care of. They're all older buildings being in Massachusetts, you know, so there's always stuff to fix to repair.”

To this day, Lucas continues his dayjob at Ace Hardware, while making time to focus on his various hobbies and side hustles. With a shop at home which has grown over the years, Lucas particularly enjoys taking on very unique projects for his clients. He has set up his shop to handle every step of the fabrication and restoration process, so that he does not need to subcontract anything out for any given project.

"I don't do the traditional kind of… make cutting boards or make the kind of stuff that I think is a very common thing to see out of a hobbyist or side business woodworking or metal fabrication, but I do a lot more kind of unique job to job stuff. So someone might say… I need this fabricated you know, here's some drawings or I need this repaired, I don't know how to do it or I need this. That's my bread and butter. That's the stuff I really enjoy doing because it's a lot more of a creative problem solving situation…”

One of Lucas’s main hobbies-turned-side-business is restoring and repairing vintage machinery, tools, and equipment. Luca’s began fixing old equipment out of necessity, since newer machinery can be very costly. Once he began to dive in, he learned that there is a whole community for vintage equipment, and a market of people willing to buy these restored tools because they are better quality. From full factory restorations to “resto mods” or customized restorations of vintage machinery, Lucas takes on a variety of projects for client, such as this drill press he found half buried in Long Island.

“To make it a perfect restoration that would have been, you know, brought back to factory paint factory colors, all of that. And to some people, that's what they want. But what I've found is so many people want something that's, you know, unique for them or fits their style. So for this one, he wanted it painted… Mohito green… cause he's got a couple other things that color… I did that colorway [with] gold accents. And so that's sort of a ‘resto mod’, but that's exactly what he wanted. And to him that's got all the value in the world and he can turn around sell it, because it's unique, but it's mechanically perfect. Whereas… being restored back to factory condition in factory color and factory everything that is its highest worth its highest value.”

Looking to the future, Lucas is playing things by year as his skills, side business, and career continue to grow. Among renovating apartments, restoring machinery, working a dayjob, and managing his social media presence, his main goal is to continue growing in his skills and sharing his knowledge with the world.

As an ironworker for over two decades, Larry Roughton has become a seasoned veteran on the job. A member of Ironworkers Local 55 in Toledo, Ohio and recent inductee of the International Ironworkers Hall of Fame, Larry puts in long hours on the job, while also making time to document his day-to-day life to over 189,000 followers. Listen in as Jeremy and Eric sit down with Larry to talk about his early career, raising a family of ironworkers, the dangers of ironworking, being part of a strong union, and much more.

Born in Ohio, Larry Roughton was introduced to the trades early coming from a family of boilermakers. As a hockey player throughout high school and college, Larry always had the drive to push himself to the limits within his team. However, there came a point when he realized he needed to find a way to pay the bills. He took his competitive drive and turned it towards ironworking, after a high school friend inspired him to take an apprenticeship.

“I'm super competitive. So I was like, Well, I'm gonna do it and be the best I can be. You know, and that's kinda how it started. I was tired of working odd jobs and holding on to a dream that wasn't gonna happen. So I went in, went down to the apprenticeship and applied, and maybe… six months later, I get a phone call, 'Hey, come do the test.' And that's kind of how it all began.”

Now in the trade for well over 20 years, Larry is a seasoned veteran and has passed the lineage to his sons, who are all ironworkers themselves. As a leader on the jobsite, Larry conducts safety meetings and trains new apprentices, among other responsibilities.

“As far as like training and stuff… we have a four year apprenticeship, you go in, and you learn, you go through the basics of rebar, and then you go through like year two, year three, year four. Same thing with welding, steel erection, post tensioning, all those various aspects…”

Larry has found a niche TikTok, amassing a huge following as he documents day-to-day life on the job. His videos cover just about everything, from something as simple as forgetting your lunch to how the benefits of a strong union make life on the job a bit less stressful.

“I was like, What are you guys watching? TikTok. It's young people stuff dude. And I'm like, what? So I started watching it. I’m like, I can be funny and so I said alright, challenge accepted.”

Every year, Larry attends the International Ironworkers Festival in Mackinaw City, MI. Along with winning several trophies over the past 20 years, Larry has also been inducted into the International Ironworkers Hall of Fame, becoming the first in his union to ever receive the accolade.

“They had told my kids and a couple other people that they were going to induct me, and then they did it on the day that I was, you know, getting my other trophies for winning this year or whatever. And they pulled me to come up there and gave it to me and was like, ‘Yeah, you know, you've put so much time into this tournament so much time in the ironworkers as a whole promoting ironwork and safety’ and this and that and you know stuff and you know, trying to make me be all in my feelings and stuff.”

With three sons and an ever-growing TikTok presence, Larry still continues to grow every day on the job as an ironworker, as a father, and an online personality whom many look up to.

From a self-taught hobby to fully-realized craftsmanship, Dustin Loftis has turned his passion for art and western lifestyle into a tangible living. Owner of Dusty Hide Leather Company, Dustin has specialized in creating one-of-a-kind custom leather goods for the past 10 years. Listen in as Jeremy sits down with Dustin to learn about his start in tooling leather, custom upholstery, teaching, horseback riding, and more.

With a background in art from an early age, Dustin Loftis has always wanted to apply his artistic talent to a craft he can earn a living from. He had considered tattooing and other crafts, but working an unpaid apprenticeship was not a practical situation. One day, a friend introduced him to leather crafting and let him design a belt.

“I had no idea how to draw Western floral patterns at the time, but I drew some out, kind of Googled some stuff. And then, you know, figured out kind of where I wanted to go with it. I knew a few things. And I was good at art. So I drew a pattern out, gave it to him, and he put it on the belt. When I got it in the mail a few months later, man, I thought it was the coolest thing ever.”

Dustin has now been making custom leather goods for almost ten years. What started off as a self-taught hobby flourished into his lifelong craft - from making custom belts for a few close friends to owning a full-fledged business. Throughout this process, Dustin has become disciplined in his artistry through striving to master his craft.

“I mean, essentially, I learned how to tool leather off of YouTube. And so it was kind of funny because I was by myself, I've always pretty much done it on my own...I filled up sketchbook after sketchbook just drawing patterns, trying to figure out what is my main goal… And I told myself, you know, I want to be one of the best, if not the best down the road… as long as I'm doing the highest quality work that I can do... I wanted to be known for doing really, really good work.”

Expanding into other mediums, Dustin has more recently been taking commissions for custom automotive interior detail. His journey into this space began when a friend gave him a center console to work on. After learning his friend’s truck burned down, he finished the piece anyway and found success.

“I didn't have a customer in mind for it or anything, I made a couple videos of it and kind of put the word out there to try to generate some interest in it. And then it blew up, I was really surprised at how much interest I got, and put it up for auction on eBay. And I think that one ended up selling for somewhere around 1400 bucks.”

Looking ahead, Dustin wants to continue growing his business to take on more automotive interior projects. By expanding, he can continue with his core business in creating smaller leather pieces, and take on bigger commissions that require a longer lead time.

“I would like to build an addition off in my shop, to where someone could put their vehicle in and leave it with me for a couple of weeks. And I'm, you know, I'm able to really go to town on the interior. And to me, getting into that crowd and everything with the passion that I have for, you know, fixing up vehicles and stuff, I think it's a really good fit for me.”

Dustin also teaches a wide range of students how to craft leather, along with having written a couple ebooks and guides. From a self-taught hobby to fully-realized craftsmanship, Dustin Loftis has turned his passion for art and western lifestyle into a tangible living.