Despite making a name for himself in entrepreneurship by selling his snack company KIND to Mars in 2020 for $5 billion, Lubetzky says young people could make a killing going down the skilled trade route. “Vocational training and learning how to be a carpenter or a mechanic or any of those jobs is a huge field with huge opportunities that pays really, really well,” he adds.
“We’ve made a mistake in society in not sufficiently celebrating builders, not just builders of schools and of KIND bars, but builders of physical bridges and builders of gears,” Lubetzky says.
“We in society need to start celebrating those professionals more.”
The 56-year-old adds that universities have “failed us” over the last 20 to 30 years by neglecting to teach young people how to be critical thinkers and listeners—or in his words, a “builder’s mindset,” meaning prioritizing curiosity, creativity, compassion and courage.
“Having a builder’s mindset is so essential to our society and under curiosity fits critical thinking, critical listening, all of those things,” Lubetzky stresses.
But either way, Lubetzky says trying something out and deciding you don’t like it—or failing—can be critical to advancing through your career.
“Sometimes a failure is more valuable than a success,” he says.
