The blue-collar industry is often overlooked and passed over during conversations bordering career prospects and financial freedom. However, John Seaman understood early how vital this category of workers is in the grand scheme of business. With his knack for leadership and creating solutions, he got on the path of combining the expertise of blue-collar tradespeople and how they can help his leadership role.
Over the years, Seaman has challenged the career stereotypes that have placed white-collar careers over manual blue-collar labor. He has made himself an entrepreneur of repute who cares about the less glamorous parts of business and work. “I grew up in a rural suburb in North Carolina where I was surrounded by men in the blue-collar industries of trade and construction. My youth helped me to acquire the skills that those hard-working blue-collar employees had, but I knew I’d never be satisfied with a lifestyle that kept me living paycheck to paycheck,” Seaman said.
He got into the business world by getting a job at a company that offered energy management for different properties all over the United States. Within a short time, his leadership quality shone through, and he got promoted to project manager, the highest position at the company. Despite the dramatic progress he was enjoying in his career, John Seaman’s ambitious spirit never waned, and he began to work on building his own empire. He launched JC Construction shortly after, leading to the start of a launchpad for professionals and blue-collar workers. “I knew as soon as I got my first job after tech school that I was meant to do more. I wanted to lead and answer to no one but myself, so I did what I had to make the dream a reality,” said Seaman
At the core of Seaman’s journey, he learned everything he needed to run a business successfully. He equipped himself with the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools. “Growing up, I knew many competent tradesmen, contractors and construction workers- yet very few of them knew how to run a successful business. I saw so much wasted potential and an opportunity to capitalize on all of it,” he revealed.
Through JC Construction, John Seaman was able to deliver people’s property needs, helping people own their dream homes while at the same time providing jobs and opportunities to people of diverse skill sets. “The issue of blue-collar vs. white-collar employment rates dates back to when we were young kids, and we were told college was necessary to make something of ourselves,” he shared. “We were primed to believe that success could only be associated with traditional occupations like that of lawyers, doctors and corporate CEOs. With so many kids being brought up to believe that a blue-collar job wasn’t something to consider because it wasn’t given a fair amount of integrity, we are now dealing with a scarce amount of prospects to fill important manual labor positions.”
Having attained multi-millionaire status and recognizing the different entities that got him to that point, John Seaman hopes to continue inspiring others to explore areas they are competent in, whether blue-collar or white-collar. “People should be encouraged to do what makes them feel competent and passionate. Suppose we keep teaching our youth to measure their worth through oversaturated occupations because of stereotypes. In that case, we will continue to see a drought in necessary occupations that we will all suffer from. Kids should be encouraged to follow their gut and know that there are no limits on income in any industry as long as they have the ambition. I’m living proof of that,” Seaman said.
