While many of his peers juggle student loan debt and uncertain job prospects, 23-year-old Jacob Palmer of Concord, North Carolina, is debt-free and running a nearly six-figure electrical business.
After high school, Palmer tried online college during the pandemic. “School looked drastically different doing online classes and Zoom calls. It felt very intangible,” he told Fortune. He added that it didn’t work for him and that he hated it.
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Finding His Path
Instead of continuing college, Palmer took temporary jobs at a FedEx warehouse and a factory in Virginia. “I had a general interest in working with my hands, fixing and making things, as well as a basic understanding of electrical theory from my time in AP Physics class,” he said. He eventually began an apprenticeship with a contractor in Charlotte, North Carolina, starting at $15 per hour.
In January 2024, after passing his licensing exam at 21, he launched Palmer Electrical. By the end of that year, he grossed nearly $90,000, according to documents reviewed by Fortune. So far in 2025, he has already surpassed that figure.
The New Ambition: Trades Over Tuition
“College is just a vehicle for getting training and skills for whatever career you want, and that might take you a year, it could take you six weeks, it could take you four years,” Marlo Loria, director of career and technical education at Mesa Public Schools in Arizona, told Fortune. She said that more students are questioning debt-heavy college pathways and exploring skilled trades like electrical work, which are in high demand.
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Loria added that her district has rolled out academy models that blend college prep with career training, offering students multiple routes into the workforce. Social media has also shifted expectations, she told Fortune, as young people now want clear reasons for pursuing education beyond high school. And in Arizona, she noted electricians are especially sought after as data-center projects from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL)), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) are fueling a surge in need for skilled workers.
The interest in skilled trades is showing up in national data, too. Jobber’s 2025 Blue Collar Report found that only 16% of Gen Z parents believe a degree guarantees long-term job security, even as three-quarters of Gen Z still plan to pursue college. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of electricians to grow 9% from 2024 to 2034, far above the 4% average across occupations.
Social Media Adds Fuel
Palmer has supplemented his trade work with a growing YouTube presence. His channel “Palmer Electrical” drew fewer than 1,000 views on its first video, while a later hit received about 88,000 views. He added revenue rose from roughly $450 a month when he started to about $1,300 in August, Fortune reported. Palmer is now weighing content creation as a larger part of his business.
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In Southern California, 19-year-old HVAC technician Itzcoatl Aguilar said he started working at 16 and now commutes to job sites around Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire while building an audience on YouTube. Aguilar told Fortune his channel, “EwokDoesHVAC,” has nearly 30,000 subscribers.
Both men say social platforms are helping them diversify income and raise the profile of trade careers.
Building Independence
For Palmer, the appeal of this path is clear. He is booked out a month in advance, has no student debt, and owns his business outright. “I don’t owe anybody anything,” he told Fortune.
Still, the independence comes with trade-offs. Palmer noted that he only took one vacation in the last year, and said, “If I stop, the checks go to zero.” Even so, he sees entrepreneurship and multiple income streams as worth the grind.
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