Articles - DWD Community

The Power of Community: Why DWD’s Approach to Financial Literacy Stands Apart

This entry is part 9 of 9 in the series Improving Wellness.

At Dealing With Debt, we’re not just teaching financial literacy. We’re building something bigger—a community-based learning environment. And that one difference changes everything. Most financial education programs are transactional: a class, a course, or a booklet you read once and set aside. At DWD, we know that real change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when people learn together, share experiences, and support one another on the journey. That’s why our use of community-based learning…

TwinCityMama September 1, 2025

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Ego, Energy, and Ears: Learning to Listen in a Loud Job

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series The Calling.

This career is loud. Sirens. Radios. Yelling over roaring engines. The constant beat of urgency. What’s the real noise? It’s the stuff in your own head—the pressure to prove yourself, the fear of messing up, the temptation to tune out or show off instead of showing up. To survive this work and to grow in it, you’ve got to master three things: Your ego, your energy, and your ears. Miss one, and you become a…

shoe1971 August 27, 2025

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Will Your Bending Break Your Best People?

This entry is part 11 of 11 in the series Workplace Success.

Every manager has them—the employees who always deliver, handle challenges without drama, and can be trusted with the “mission critical” tasks. It’s natural to want those people on your most important projects. But here’s the hard truth: when resources are tight, high performers can become the default safety net for everything the rest of the team can’t—or won’t—do. And while that may solve a short-term problem, it can create long-term risks: burnout, resentment, and even…

TwinCityMama August 16, 2025

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What Happened to Our Creativity, and Can AI Help Us Get It Back?

This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series Improving Wellness.

In our recent Level Up podcast episode, “Trades, Tech, and Tomorrow,” we sat down with Mikhail Reece—a sharp, dynamic thinker who said something that has stuck with me ever since. Mikhail said that as kids, we are all naturally creative. It’s part of who we are. But somewhere along the way, that instinct fades. It got me thinking—what happens to our creativity? Why do we start operating in more rigid, structured ways as we get…

DigitalNinja August 15, 2025

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When Being the Goat Becomes a Lot

This entry is part 10 of 11 in the series Workplace Success.

In every organization, there’s a quiet truth: the better you are at your job, the more people lean on you. You’re trusted. You’re capable. You make things happen. That’s wonderful—until it isn’t. In today’s “do more with less” workplace, high performers often find themselves carrying workloads that spill beyond their job description. And while it’s flattering to be the person leaders count on, the reality is that this trust can turn into an unspoken expectation:…

TwinCityMama August 13, 2025

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Is It Time for Universities to Welcome the Trades?

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Career Minded.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the students who start college full of hope, only to leave before finishing. Maybe they discover the traditional academic path isn’t for them. Maybe life circumstances change. Maybe they’re drawn to work that’s more hands-on and directly tied to building, fixing, or creating. The recently published ‘Some College, No Credential’ report puts a number to this—over 40 million Americans have started college but left without earning a degree….

DigitalNinja August 10, 2025

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From Consumer to Owner: How to Stay on Track for Decades

This entry is part 14 of 14 in the series Seeds of Wealth.

There’s a line you cross at some point in this journey. It’s not a dollar amount. It’s not a promotion. It’s not the size of your portfolio. It’s a shift in identity. You stop seeing yourself as someone who’s just trying to “get ahead,” and you start seeing yourself as an owner. That’s the moment the whole game changes. Because owners don’t just earn money. They keep it. Grow it. Direct it. And more importantly—they…

MoneySprout August 8, 2025

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Teaching Entrepreneurship in the Trades

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Building Trades That Last.

Skilled hands can build just about anything—homes, machines, entire systems. But when it comes to building a business? That’s where many tradespeople hit a wall. For generations, trades education has focused on technical expertise. But with more workers striking out on their own—and many more dreaming of starting a business—we need to treat entrepreneurship as a core part of the trade itself. Because mastering your craft is just one half of success. The other half…

DigitalNinja August 7, 2025

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Financial Literacy Is a Skill

This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Building Trades That Last.

When we talk about skills in the trades, we usually mean things you do with your hands: installing wiring, fixing HVAC systems, laying tile, tuning engines. But there’s another skill—just as essential, just as practical—that rarely gets taught in trade school: Financial literacy. From cash flow to credit cards, from budgeting to business pricing, understanding money isn’t optional for tradespeople. It’s critical. Because in the real world, you’re not just managing tools—you’re managing your livelihood….

DigitalNinja August 3, 2025

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Welcome to “The House”

This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series The Calling.

You survived the academy. You earned the badge. Now comes the real test: stepping into your new family. Every shift has its own rhythm. Its own language. Its own culture. And if you think your training was the hard part, think again. Life is real and knowing how “the house” works can be tricky. Because entering a house or any first responder station isn’t just about doing the job. It’s about becoming part of a…

shoe1971 August 2, 2025

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