Discovery Channel ’ s Mike Rowe On The Power Of Authenticity In Communication To Influence Your Audience
Mike Rowe ’ s mother , Peggy Rowe , always finds a way to outdo her son — and she does so in a way only mothers can .
“ I am so brutally and relentlessly upstaged at every turn by my mother ,” Mike said .
Peggy Rowe is a retired teacher , mother of three boys , wife of more than six decades , and the author of two books , but it ’ s her simple , tell-it-like-it-is one-liners ( with a mother ’ s touch ) that Peggy is known for . They dig at the root of the stories she ’ s uncovering as a journalist , author , wife , and mom .
At least , that ’ s what happened one day when Peggy called Mike about his grandfather , Carl . As Mike explained , everyone knows a man like Carl . He was the product of a seventh-grade education , but he could solve more problems with his hands than a mathematician could with a calculator .
“ By the time he was 30 ,” Mike explained , “[ he was a ] steamfitter , pipefitter , mechanic , welder , amateur architect — a jack of all trades . I was determined to follow in his footsteps as a kid , but the handy gene is unfortunately recessive . So , I wound up with a very different toolbox .”
That toolbox led Mike through a career in the arts . He sang on stage as a Viking in the Baltimore Opera , landed a gig selling random trinkets and items at 3 a . m . on QVC shopping channel on a $ 100 bet , and , at the time of his mother ’ s greatest guilt trip to date , hosted the San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX ’ s “ Evening Magazine .” On the show , Mike would fill the role of expert , leading just a handful of viewers through winery openings and art galleries .
It was a standard day for Mike at that TV station when Peggy felt compelled to dial up her son about his 92-year-old grandfather and say to him , “ It sure would be great before he dies if he could turn on the television and see you doing something that looks like work .”
That was what Mike calls the beginning of his peripeteia , the Greek word for a turning point upon which a protagonist ’ s perspective changes . His mother had planted the seed that by coasting for the past 15 years , picking up little acting
22 | WWW . IT-RADIX . COM gigs and hosting jobs to pay the bills , Mike was actually heading down a path he hated .
“ My business model all the way up to ‘ Evening Magazine ’ was a controlled failure ,” Mike recalled . “ I didn ’ t want a hit show . I was looking to have 4 – 5 months off a year and work three weeks [ each month ] tops .”
Since that phone call with his mother , Mike ’ s peripeteia has sent him on a spiral into the world of hard work , exposing some of America ’ s “ dirtiest ” jobs and simultaneously becoming an advocate for trades and skilled-labor education . Mike shared his journey into the grimy yet powerful work that keeps America churning with Robin Robins and select members of Robins ’ Tennessee-based marketing company , Technology Marketing Toolkit . From singing in the opera and hosting Discovery Channel ’ s hit series “ Dirty Jobs ” to narrating countless other series and creating a foundation to fight for America ’ s trades , Mike continues to live out the request his mother had for him all those years ago , proving yet again that getting your hands a little dirty is the best formula for success .
Discovering Authenticity At 3 a . m .
From the moment Mike hung up the phone after that life-changing chat with his mom , his mind raced . He had been at KPIX for 15 years at that point , a stop in a climb he had begun in Baltimore as a member of its opera