Jeff McKinlay, a man of experiences, from milking cows to construction; building steel buildings and rockcrawlers. Jeff has the work ethic to knock everyone out of the park; he’s the best at all he has done. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
5:38 – Wrestling was what I was good at; ended up four-time state champion, that’s what taught me a good work ethic is the wrestling and the training
12:58 – I realized it’s really hard to get paid when you’re not the guy in charge of the money
20:45 – Kevin was at his shop and had an old Twisted Customs rear steer buggy, I was like, “what in the world is that?”
26:20 – Anybody that’s crawled with Kevin knows that you don’t spot and you don’t help, you better keep up or you’re just getting left.
34:10 – I remember at my youngest son, Kade’s funeral, people were saying, “you did more with that kid in 17 years than most people do with their kids in their entire life.” That was a compliment I feel really good about.
Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:39.460] – Big Rich Klein
From humble beginnings, my next guest has experienced the ups and downs and overcome challenges to become successful. From working Ag and cutting firewood as a kid, to Little Caesar’s Pizza, to running a construction company, Jeff McKinley has experienced life. All right, Jeff McKinley. So glad you’re able to join us this morning on Conversations with Big Rich. I’m really looking forward to this interview. You’ve done a lot of things in your life, and I’m looking forward to finding out about more of them. Thank you for coming on the air.
[00:02:14.120] – Jeff McKinlay
You bet. It’s good to be with you on there, and just good to talk to you again.
[00:02:19.260] – Big Rich Klein
Yeah, so here we go. First question, the easy one, where were you born and raised?
[00:02:24.850] – Jeff McKinlay
I was born in Newdale, Idaho. I spent Almost 18 years there.
[00:02:32.180] – Big Rich Klein
Newdale, Idaho. And I’m not… I mean, I spent a lot of time in Blackfoot for years, but where is Newdale?
[00:02:43.550] – Jeff McKinlay
Newdale is on Highway 33 between, between Rexburg and Driggs, right in the middle there.
[00:02:50.210] – Big Rich Klein
Oh, okay. All right. Pretty rural. Not a big, not a big community.
[00:02:55.740] – Jeff McKinlay
Yeah, we were just under 200 people in the town growing up.
[00:02:59.640] – Big Rich Klein
Okay A lot of, lot of Ag. Were you, was your family in the ag business?
[00:03:07.780] – Jeff McKinlay
No, we weren’t in the ag business. My dad just, he loved hunting and fishing so much. He wanted to be closer to where all that was, and then he would drive to work. We just grew up in a rural community full of farmers, but there was others that lived out there that commuted for work.
[00:03:24.750] – Big Rich Klein
Same thing. What did your dad do for work?
[00:03:28.910] – Jeff McKinlay
For a long time, he was a contractor, but then he hired on with the site, the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. So he spent 30 years out there.
[00:03:39.540] – Big Rich Klein
Oh, wow. Okay. That’s a good career.
[00:03:42.660] – Jeff McKinlay
Yeah.
[00:03:43.890] – Big Rich Klein
So growing up pretty rural there. How many kids in your family?
[00:03:49.990] – Jeff McKinlay
There was five, including me, one boy and three girls.
[00:03:54.270] – Big Rich Klein
One other boy and three girls. Okay.
[00:03:57.690] – Jeff McKinlay
Yep. All right.
[00:03:59.020] – Big Rich Klein
That was the first thing. Wait a second. That’s only four. Oh, I get it, including you.
[00:04:03.490] – Jeff McKinlay
Yes.
[00:04:04.300] – Big Rich Klein
Sometimes I don’t catch on real quick in the morning. So where do you fall in that range of kids?
[00:04:12.650] – Jeff McKinlay
So I’m the second oldest. I have a sister that’s older and a sister just younger than my younger brother, then my youngest sister.
[00:04:22.410] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. And did you guys… Was there a school there in Newdale, or did you guys have to bus to record?
[00:04:29.770] – Jeff McKinlay
No, we had to bus to Sugar Salem.
[00:04:32.230] – Big Rich Klein
Oh, Sugar Salem. Okay.
[00:04:33.800] – Jeff McKinlay
Yep. It was about six miles away, six or seven right in there. All right.
[00:04:38.800] – Big Rich Klein
What’s it like riding a school bus in the winter?
[00:04:43.970] – Jeff McKinlay
Well, That bus driver goes through quite a bit. The plows are actually really good over in this area compared to other places just because we deal with it so much. But yeah, I mean, there was times when we got off the road and stranded and wait for another bus to come or your parents would come pick you up. I mean, living in Newdale with the equipment, I actually pulled school busses back on the road back in the day. READ MORE
