Filling the Gap in America’s Workforce Shortage
With Wyatt Smith, Founder and CEO of UpSmith
Wyatt discusses the shortage of skilled labor, the role technology plays in tackling this issue, and its broader impact on the economy. Wyatt and Sid address ongoing challenges in the skilled trades industry, and what innovative solutions lie on the horizon.
Listen now:
ServiceChannel
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar.
The podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
On today’s episode, we talk with Wyatt Smith, founder and CEO of UpSmith. UpSmith builds technology to address skilled worker shortages, starting with gamification software to help skilled trades companies and technicians win.
About the Guest
Prior to UpSmith, Wyatt led business development for Uber Elevate, Uber’s aerial ridesharing business unit. At Uber, Wyatt led a team responsible for 25+ commercial partnerships across the air mobility value chain, generating more than $5B in private sector investment. Prior to Uber, Wyatt served as a consultant at McKinsey. He began his career as a corps member with Teach for America, receiving the 2013 Sue Lehmann Award as a national teacher of the year. Wyatt holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School and a BS in Human & Organizational Development and Political Science from Vanderbilt University, where he served as student body president and as a young alumni trustee on the Board of Trust. Wyatt grew up on a family-owned cattle ranch in rural Alabama. He and his family live in Dallas.
“If you get trained well and get a good mentor and you’re out there and you’re finding success and earning money along the way, you stay.”
— Wyatt Smith
TIMESTAMPS
** 00:48 – About UpSmith
** 01:29 – Wyatt’s journey
** 04:36 – What is UpSmith solving for?
** 10:21 – UpSmith’s North Star
** 16:14 – How did we get into a trade deficit?
** 26:25 – Today’s uses for AI
** 35:10 – Future thinking
** 39:41 – Where to find Wyatt
** 40:16 – Sid’s takeaways
SPONSOR:
ServiceChannel brings you peace of mind through peak facilities performance.
Rest easy knowing your locations are:
- Offering the best possible guest experience
- Living up to brand standards
- Operating with minimal downtime
ServiceChannel partners with more than 500 leading brands globally to provide visibility across operations, the flexibility to grow and adapt to consumer expectations, and accelerated performance from their asset fleet and service providers.
