A childhood friend, now a plumber doing work for high-security installations was making more than me. He is not the smartest. His dad is a lifer from the system

A childhood friend, now a plumber doing work for high-security installations was making more than me. He is not the smartest. His dad is a lifer from the system and his mom is on the zoning comish. Trades that are easy to learn build a fence around themselves, just like everyone else. Certifications, permits, mandatory insurance and lack of documentation. You are expected to earn less as an apprentice to "pay off your dues". A different trade with "make your bones" comes to mind. So to learn yourself, you also have to learn to identify niches that would be easy for you to enter, but not for the competition. That is hard.