The Clocked Podcast

What turns a job into a career?

In this episode of The Clocked Podcast, I sit down with John Smith, Surface Water Plant Manager for the City of Victoria, Texas, to talk about his journey from California to Texas and the experiences that shaped him as an operator and a leader.

We get into what it takes to build a career in the water industry, the managers who helped John find a real passion for the work, and his approach to leadership: being the manager each person on your team needs you to be.

We also talk about accountability, complacency, and the small things operators sometimes overlook that can make a big difference in plant operations. John shares his perspective on developing employees, creating opportunities for the next generation, and why there is still so much room to build a meaningful career in water and wastewater.

This one is about more than operating a surface water plant. It's about leadership, growth, taking ownership of your work, and the people who can change the direction of your career.

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BBQ isn't just a weekend hobby anymore. For some students, it's a competition.

On this episode of Clocked Out, Daniel brings his daughter Nevaeh into the studio to talk about competing on her school's BBQ team, learning how to cook brisket, and what it's like stepping up to the pit against other student teams.

We get into brisket, smoke, competition, what she's learned along the way, and just how serious these young pitmasters are about BBQ. And of course, we had to put some of it to the test ourselves.

It's a different kind of Clocked Out conversation, and a pretty cool look at the next generation of Texas BBQ.

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Data centers are exploding across the country, and so is the conversation about how much water they use. But are they really the problem they’re being made out to be?

Daniel and I sit down for a fast-paced conversation about AI, data centers, water consumption, wastewater infrastructure, cooling systems, and some of the massive numbers being thrown around online. We dig into where those numbers actually come from, why every data center isn’t created equal, and what utilities should really be paying attention to when one comes to town.

The impacts are real, but so are the misconceptions. And in some cases, the data center might not even be the biggest problem facing the water system.

A shorter episode, a hot topic, and plenty to unpack.

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Cross connections might not sound exciting, but some of the things you find in the field definitely are.

In this episode of Clocked In, Mike sits down with his dad to talk about cross connections, backflow prevention, and why protecting the public water supply matters. They break down the basics, share some real-world experiences, and get into a few of the strange and unexpected things they’ve come across over the years.

Two generations of water guys talking shop, swapping stories, and explaining an important part of the industry that most people never see.

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Four guys. One boat. No real agenda.

For this episode of Clocked Out, Mike, Jerry, Daniel and Cam hit Lake Ray Hubbard before sunrise for a day of fishing, questionable decision-making and whatever conversations came up along the way.

What started as a morning on the water turned into conversations about getting away and resetting, hiking trips, our dads, friendships, life, and some heavier subjects we didn't necessarily expect to get into.

There was also the minor issue of Mike leaving his microphone muted for the entire episode... and forgetting, for the second fishing trip in a row, to tell Katie that everyone made it safely to the water.

This one isn't polished around a topic or built around an interview. It's just four friends, a boat, and nowhere else they needed to be.

We're Clocked Out.

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Built in the Trenches | Jerry

Some careers are built in offices. Others are built underground.

In this episode of The Clocked Podcast, Jerry joins us to talk about a career spent in the trenches of the water and wastewater industry. From C&D and underground utility work to decades of experience with the City of Garland, Jerry brings the perspective of someone who has spent years doing the work most people never see.

We get into the realities of working underground, the differences between public and private operations, lessons learned over a long career, and some of the stories you only collect after years in the field, including his experience during the Garland tornado.

No scripts. No corporate talking points. Just stories, experience, and a conversation with someone who knows what it means to put in the work.

Built in the Trenches.

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In the first Clocked Out episode, Mike sits down with his wife, Katie, for a conversation that’s a little less polished and a lot more personal.

They talk about life outside of work, family, old photos and videos, stories from over the years, and the side of life that doesn’t usually make it into the professional conversations on Clocked In.

This episode is also the beginning of what Clocked Out is supposed to be: real conversations with real people about who they are when the workday ends. Sometimes that’ll happen in the studio. Other times it might be on the boat, fishing, hunting, cooking, or wherever life takes us.

No titles. No resumes. Just life outside the clock.

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In this episode of The Clocked Podcast, Mike sits down with Cameron Justice to talk about what it really looks like to work your way into leadership in the water and wastewater industry.

Cameron’s path has taken him from technician to operations, out of the industry and back again, through inspections and a lead technician role, and ultimately into management. Now an Operations Manager at just 30 years old, he shares how each stop along the way changed the way he sees the people, responsibilities, and decisions that come with leading a team.

The conversation gets into perception vs. perspective, management vs. leadership, earning credibility, and the reality that wanting to be the boss and actually being the boss are two very different things.

It’s a conversation about growth, experience, and how your perspective changes when you become responsible for more than just your own work.

The Journey to Leadership.

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Daniel Burchfield has seen the water and wastewater industry from more than one side of the fence.He got his start working alongside his dad in septic, moved into collections and distribution, became an operator, worked on both the public and private sides, stepped outside the fence to work with an engineering firm, and eventually found his way into sludge hauling.In this episode of Clocked In, we talk about Daniel's path through the industry, what he learned from seeing the work from different perspectives, and how each stop along the way changed the way he looks at the job today.Different roles. Different sides of the industry. A whole lot of experience picked up along the way.The Clocked PodcastClocked In | Conversations about Water & WastewaterYou in or out?

Welcome to The Clocked Podcast.

In this episode, Michael Gonzales Jr. sits down with Michael Gonzales Sr. to discuss more than four decades in the water and wastewater industry. From leadership and operations to unforgettable stories from the field, this conversation is about the people behind the profession.

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