Nate Bargatze Is (Sort Of) Leading By Example

It’s a bit hard to believe that Nate Bargatze, one of the biggest comedians today, met his wife while working at Applebee’s in Tennessee. Or that on his first job overseeing the dog kennel in an amusement park (apparently a thing), he let the dog out (“it was a whole thing … and that was kind of the end of the dog kennel”). Or even the basic fact that at the height of his career he decided to move back to Tennessee so that his teen daughter might have a more normal life. Bargatze’s life, like his comedic work, reads like a folksy tall tale. It draws you in with the details and lulls you with its sense of warmhearted authenticity — then lands a punchline.

But authenticity matters to him, in his storytelling and what he’s learned over the years. He recently brought some of his experience to Ford’s Accelerate conference, where he is a spokesperson for what they’re calling the “essential economy” — of skilled technicians and tradespersons, a group that, according to economists, is in short supply and needs to grow. Bargatze is an interesting choice for this forum, a comedian with a high school degree and no formal trade skills besides those he learned onstage. He went to community college for a year and worked a variety of jobs, from waiting at Applebee’s to reading water meters. But he gets the value and opportunity in trade school. “I relate to it very much, because I’m someone that should’ve went to these trade schools. I did not go to college ... They’re going to really learn something and have a craft and know how to do something that is going to be, I believe, important for just the future.”

He also is thinking about this because his 14-year-old is not too far from entering the workforce. “Right now it’s like, yeah, I don’t know if she’s wrapping her head around it. But then, as she continues to get older, she will wrap her head around it. She doesn’t have a sense of urgency of cleaning her room, so you work on that and you just keep saying it and you need to [instill that urgency] as a parent. And if you don’t, your kids watch you. So if you don’t have any kind of sense of urgency, they’re going to pick that up from you.” Which all boils down to a most authentic parenting philosophy: “Be a good example, basically.”

Tell me about what you’re doing right now at this Ford Accelerate event.

What Ford is doing with this event that we’re at right now, where they’re showing kids going into trade schools ... letting kids know that this is kind of the future, that they’re going to have jobs. And it’s like we don’t know where jobs are going with AI and all this stuff, but the trade schools… We need that. I relate to it very much, because I’m someone that should’ve went to these trade schools.

I worked the water meters. I did not go to college. They’re going to get more college than I did. But they’re going to really learn something and have a craft and know how to do something that is going to be, I believe, important for just the future. I think they’re putting themselves in such a great position, probably better than they realize now, but they’re going to, I think, look back and just be like, “Man, that was such a good call.”

I’m wondering, since we’re talking about work, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned about work in your life?

I always go back to when I waited tables at one point and our manager there always talked about a sense of urgency. And that’s always stuck with me for some reason. It was just going to a table and just have a sense of urgency. It goes a long way when you get to that table and they really feel like they’re being taken care of. I think I’ve just kept that even as I’ve gone forward. If you respond to emails or my team is talking to you, I don’t want to be like, “I’ll get to them next week.” You kind of want to just be like, “No, let’s get to them and let’s make sure that we stay on top of it.”

Speaking of people who don’t have it, how do you instill that sense of urgency in your kid without them fighting back?

You say stuff as a parent, you don’t know what’s sticking and what’s not sticking. You keep talking about it, and the older she gets — she’s 14 now — the more she’s going to see examples of it. Right now, I don’t know if she’s wrapping her head around it, but then as she continues to get older, she will wrap her head around it. She doesn’t have a sense of urgency of cleaning her room. So you work on that and you just keep saying it and you need to do it as a parent. And if you don’t do it, your kids watch you. So if you don’t have any kind of sense of urgency, they’re going to pick that up from you. And so, be a good example, basically.

Then what’s one thing you wish your kids had today that you had during your childhood?

I think not the internet, maybe. That would be something, even though it’s great and the connection and it’s all this stuff, you just wish they would’ve had a little more... I think innocence lasted longer when we grew up because you just weren’t pounded with information all day long.

What’s your wife love about you?

I hope me for being me. We’ve been together before any of this started. We met at Applebee’s. Our 20th wedding anniversary is Oct. 13. I think it’s taking time to get used to it, but we’re along this ride together and just the surprises. We don’t know where everything’s going to end up or what’s going to happen. I think that she sees that I work hard at stuff and has been behind the scenes and loved me before any of this and loves me now. So it’s just to have the support from her, I wouldn’t be here without her. And she very much kept me grounded in a world when you come up in comedy that you could not be... It’s easy to not be grounded.

On the flip side, what do they maybe find annoying about you?

She doesn’t like eating near me because she thinks I’d chew loud. I don’t think I’m too loud. I think it’s very normal. But she gets very uncomfortable if she’s like... I mean, if she’s on the couch and I’m at the table right behind the couch, she cannot stand it. So I eat outside now — and I only do soups.

What kind of dad are you? How would you describe yourself as a dad?

I like to be... You find moments to talk to your kid. As they get older, they have friends. She’s young and all that, so they want to run with their friends. A big part is finding the moments of when they can get very talkative, and so you can find these little pockets and really try to home in on those.

She knows I’m a fun time. She can take me for a ride, where her mom can put her foot down a little bit more. She knows where to go. She thinks very much like me, and she can work you if she wants something, and she works me quite a bit.

Coming back to the work thing, what was your first job?

My first job, I worked at Opryland Theme Park in Nashville. I was 15, and so I was a sweeper. I walked around and just swept up the park. And I also did the dog kennel. After the sweeper, I got promoted to dog kennel.

The dog kennel?

Well, because people would bring their pets because they’re on vacation and they’d travel with their pets.

Oh.

So you can’t bring them to the park. And so people would bring their dogs in or whatever, their cats. I think we had a chicken. People travel with some weird animals. But one dog got out, and so it was a whole thing. And that was kind of the end of the dog kennel. I think I went back to sweeping after that. But he got out, and so we had to call the... again, pre-internet, so you got to announce to the park, “Whose German shepherd got out in the parking lot?” And then they got to go search for this dog and it was under a parked car. And yeah, I still talk to that family today.

I’m sure you don’t. They don’t want to talk to you.

No. But I bet they still remember it. We both still remember that.